"slate's" dave weigel is here with the latest. >>> the occupy movement has moved out of the tents and into foreclosed homes. this marine from minneapolis is taking his house back. and we'll be there live. >>> great to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. president obama, if you missed it earlier today, he cleared the beach. he really went after it. you missed a dandy. his speech in kansas was a wholesale rejection, and i mean a wholesale rejection of failed gop policies leading to the great recession and creating the greatest income inequality america has seen in decades. president obama drew a straight line between republican policy and the inequality fueling the 99% movement in this country. you know, i sometimes like to talk about a defining moment, some have made fun of that. bottom line here is the president was onboard. today, the president did it himself. >> this is the defining issue of our time. this is a make or break moment for the middle class and for all those who are fighting to get into the middle class. because what's at stake is whether this will be a

from java joe's coffee house in des moines, msnbc contributor and slate.com political reporter dave weigels been spending time with all the political campaigns in iowa. dave, how are you doing? >> very good. good to see you. >> good to see you too. so from your on the ground reporting today, covering the various campaigns, what is your sense of the state of the race? >> i think you've summed it up pretty well. the romney campaign is confident in a way that's expressed in this campaign schedule. it's expressed in a way they talk and the crowd sizes at their events. they like to point out how large the crowds are. and they are impressive. an event last night, the crowd is that, one, literally went out the door. two, cops were preventing people from parking on the site of the development where they held the rally. that's also sign of some momentum. the paul campaign is not -- is apparently holding on to what it has. and the santorum surge, i was not in davenport last night. i've seen a couple -- another event where he had a good crowd. in davenport he had about 250 people. that's not always a

joining us now, dave weigel, political reporter for slate.com and an msnbc contributor. dave, thanks for being here. nice to have you here. >> thanks. good to see you. >> you have followed ron paul and his relationship with the republican party for a long time before these primaries. >> since the beginning of 2007, really. >> yeah. some of your -- part of the reason i started paying a lot of attention to you as a reporter because i thought you were trenchant and insight sightful and not dismissive of ron paul in a way that really resonated with me. is he more acceptable to the republican establishment than he used to be? or in the same relationship with them that he's always been in? >> he talked in 2007 about building up the republican party, adding more people to it. i think he actually succeeded in part bringing people who might have been up for grabs. i talked to ron paul voters in 2007 who liked barack obama and liked ron paul. i was one of those voters. once they were disappointed by what barack obama did in office, they've remained in his camp. if you talk to youn

let's turn to dave weigel, msnbc contributor and political reporter for "slate" magazine. dave, great to have you on. has the news letter controversy hurt ron paul? he still has a slight advantage. what is all this controversy doing to his campaign right now? >> things like this take awhile to percolate and show up. i think it was helpful to paul that this story was resurrected right in the christmas period when people were writing about politics but people weren't paying as much attention about it. that's not to say paul handled it particularly well. i mean, i think there is an expectation that ron paul could give what newt gingrich was referring to. there's an explanation he could give which is probably like the one in the '90s. instead of that he's hoping we stop asking questions. i think that's harmful to people who like ron paul. he has independent support. a lot of caucus support. one of the reasons i like him is they don't think he's a politician who slips and slides and makes things up. >> what about the undecided number of people? that's in double digits as well.

sam youngman of reuters and dave weigel join me with the latest of what to expect in the home stretch. the mitt romney campaign disinformation continues. this time it's on jobs. we'll fact check the governor with ezra klein. >>> simply put, it's time to move on. >> conservative democratic ben nelson of nebraska is stepping down. i'll tell you why this could be a win for the middle class. >>> i can't go back in time. now all i can do is move forward. >> were you on track, governor? >> yes and no. >> the effort to recall scott walker is going strong. but the governor is worried that mickey mouse is signing the recall petitions. wisconsin state senator is here to tell us why walker is in fantasyland. >>> good to have you with us tonight, folks. let's start with iowa where all the political action is taking place. and basically iowa is up in the air. the first caucus in the 2012 presidential race happen one week from tonight. and the republican party still has no clear direction. the latest average of multiple polls in iowa show ron paul with a lead. the real story is mitt romney mounting

here to help us keep our promises for 2012 aids trib u's weigel. >> how would you feel if your spousethey were 99 percent faithful. >> i would not feel good about that answer. here are some tips for keeping your new year's resolution. >> get a resolution buddy. make a motivation board. again these goals have to be realistic i know i will never become the president of the united states so your goals have to be realistic. you also have to know eight will not be easy. >> no one wants to steer that there will be pain and suffering.. >> if you think it will be easy you are in for a surprise. >> forget what other people think what does that mean. >> how much you care about what people think of you. >> probably on a scale from one to ten a one. >> then you were on the road to success. and lastly be honest. you have to hold to your answer or gold and stick to it. >> before you leave do you have the new year's resolution. >> i do not. i try to set goals it year-round. >> thank you again for joining us. still ahead the big change is coming to the taste of chicago and tom skilling is up next wit

we have jennifer weigel of trib- u ... it's a very individual thing ... one person's form of luxury differs from another's ... so you need to ask yourself what does this expenditure mean in my life? you need to know if you're having it is harmful ... are there any telltale signs? are you hiding things from your spouse are you lying about your spending ... and set limits allocate your credit card for certain types of ... and then there are those misconceptions about quality when shopping ... we spoke to some narrow specialistsbrain specialists about behavior'ss when it comes to decision making with consumption ... if it is controlling you and you are not controlling it meaning spending and choices ... you need to work this out. your checkbook and your calendar do not lie how you spend your time and how you spend your money are important factors in your ability to balance these tasks and habits ... to read more or for other life lessons please take this one head over to chicago tribune .com/trib-u a federal judge has ruled that a chicago tribune reporter do

the phone pole first reported by dave weigel thursday at slate.com asks about obama versus mitt romneyobama versus newt gingrich and obama versus jeb bush. who appears not to be running for anything anywhere. the deadline for getting on the ballot for the new hampshire republican primary was back in october. jeb bush could not get on the ballot now no matter what dynasty he's from, no matter how unhappy republicans are with their current choices. no matter what. so who is polling about jeb bush in new hampshire? karl rove said that he asked jeb bush and mr. bush, himself, said no. i guess that would rule out both karl rove and jeb bush being behind this. last night i floated the crazy, crazy idea that a new group called americans elect might be doing it, americans elect is on the ballot in 12 states already and in all likelihood will be on the ballot in every state on november. if jeb bush wanted to be a choice for new hampshire voters this fall, he could make a bid for the americans elect nomination and get on the ballot that way. but americans elect told us, no, they are not the ones

dave weigel at slate.com reports that paul ryan is lobbying right now, in this video right here, lobbying that anybody saying his plan kills medicare should be accused of telling the lie of the year in politics. the thing is the paul ryan budget does kill medicare. instead of medicare old people will have a system where they have to buy private insurance on the private market, and paul ryan will give them coupons to get discounts. so if you want to call a system like that medicare, telling granny to go buy private insurance on the open market but with a coupon, then sure, call it medicare. call it macaroni. i don't care. but what everybody understands medicare to be, guaranteed government health insurance for old people, for what medicare actually is, the paul ryan plan kills medicare. almost every republican in the house and the senate voted to kill medicare, when they voted for the paul ryan plan, this there was much rejoigs on the democratic side, and that's because democrats knew they could stop this thing from actually becoming law. president obama would never sign anything like that

but how else do you explain this going on in new hampshire right now in dave weigel at slate.com reporting today that new hampshire residents are starting to receive phone calls asking them the following questions. do you have a favorable or unfavorable view of mitt romney? do you have a favorable or unfavorable view of newt gingrich? do you have a favorable or unfavorable view of jeb bush? jeb bush? somebody is paying for those calls to go out right now in new hampshire. what's that all about? finally, there is one other option, which is that maybe the newt gingrich bubble just won't go away. it does seem to be ending. it does seem to be getting to the end of its natural life span. time for the fox to be born. but what if the newt gingrich bubble were artificially resuscitated? what if it were rebuilt with a lot of money? politico.com reporting today that one donor, one person, a man by the name of sheldon adelson may be about to give gingrich a lump sum payment of $20 million. not directly to newt gingrich but to a pac supporting newt gingrich, which is essentially the same as giving it

dave weigel from slate.com posted these photos on twitter tonight. the d.c.rotesters say they wanted to send a message that their frustration with the political process is a bipartisan frustration. in arizona this week occupy phoenix protesters have been occupying a conference of alec, the american legislative exchange council. it's a conservative corporate political organization that doesn't immediately try to shape the leng slaigs written at the state and local level by conservative politicians. alec often just writes the bills outright. the cops used pepper spray on the occupy alec protesters. the occupiers say they were demonstrating peacefully when it happens. the police contend they were provoked. >>> and in new york city tonight thousands of protesters, many of them union members, marched on union square. the central labor council organizing a march for jobs and economic fairness today in conjunction with occupy wall street, saying it was for everyone who is frustrated and worried about the growing economic disparity in this country. this movement has

to give him the option of facing court-martial weigel resigning from the army command grant said to some of his comrades i would rather resolve to leave could resign from the army than half julia know that i was court-martialed for being drunk. so he did indeed resign. seven years later when the civil war began in 1861 he returned to the army starting as the commander of a regiment with less than a thousand men he rose to become general chief of the entire union army of a force of more than a million. in the process, and here's the point that so many have missed, he became a transitional figure in history of warfare, in 1862 he was writing back-and-forth right behind the lines of his infantrymen firing of the nearby confederate ranks. by the time that abraham lincoln came in 1864 to command the entire union army and to oppose robert e. lee in northern virginia he was communicating with his corps commanders by telegraph from his headquarters miles behind the front. contrary to the myth that he was often drunk had at no time during the war was he incapable of effective action deutsch to co