of a problem. republican-backed voter i.d. laws designed to keep democrats from voting. we begin with the fight for 234e middle class. david corn is washington bureau chief for mother jones magazine and the author of the book "showdown." robert costa is with national review. today the president tried to turn the conversation to a message of tax fairness and called on congress to pass an extension for part of the bush tax cuts for people making less than $250,000 a year. the tax cuts are set to expire at the end of this year. >> we all say we agree we should extend the tax cuts for 98% of the american people. everybody says that. the republicans say they don't want to raise taxes on the middle class, i don't want to raise taxes on the middle class. so we should all agree to cut the tax cuts for the middle class.

let's agree to do what we agree on. right? let's not hold the vast majority of americans and our entire economy hostage. while we debate the merits of another tax cut for the wealthy. >> at the white house afterwards, jay carney took it a step further saying the president would not sign any bill if it included the extension of the tax cuts on the wealthy. later mitt romney accused the president of a massive tax hike on job creators. >> what the president's proposing is therefore a massive tax increase on job creators and on small business. small businesses are overwhelmingly being taxed not at a corporate rate but at the individual tax rate. so successful small businesses will see their taxes go up dramatically and that will kill jobs. that will be another kick in the gut to the middle class in america. >> robert, the president says look, we have such little agreement among us on different

sides of the fence. at least we can agree here's a group of folks who ought to have a continuation of the bush tax cuts. why don't we at least take care of that piece of business. what's the response? >> two big take aways from today. one on the politics. looks like an attack to the center. in the general election campaign he's trying to throw a bone to frustrated middle class voters saying i'm with you. make sure your rates stay at the rate they are today. but politics on capitol hill are a little different. two years ago, president obama extended the bush tax cuts as part of the lame duck 2010 session. this was the first in the 2012 lame duck politics. obama's signalling to people on capitol hill, but laying out the stakes for that lame duck discussion this year. >> why not do that for which at least there can be agreement on. he or she who's making $261,000 a year is going to enjoy the bush tax cut for the first 250 of that.

in other words, everybody would be a beneficiary in this scenario. >> you're committing the sin of talking sense. it was a question our pal didn't answer when he gave his response to you. this is because, you know, the president is saying we can agree on 98%, let's go with that. but republicans are holding that 98% hostage as they did back in 2010. knowing that it's very difficult to justify continuing these tax cut bonuses for the rich. the only way they can get them, they can't on their own. the only way they can get them is if they hold the 98% of the rest of us hostage. they did that in 2010. that's your strategy again and they're just going to try to steer the president down and claim this is a tax hike. listen. the tax cuts which bush brought into existence were designed to be temporary. so if you go back, if you revert to the original rates, you can call that a tax hike.

but that's really semantics and it's double talk. it's you know, you have to keep voting to keep these things going otherwise they revert back. they want to make sure the rich get the breaks. they can only do it by coupling them to the tax cuts for everybody else. >> robert, republicans want all the tax cuts extended. including on the wealthiest americans. the rich they argue are job creators and the more money they have, the better it is for growth. here was former mississippi governor haley barbour today. >> the united states is in a global battle for capital and labor. if we're trying to attract capital so we can hire more people, so we can be innovative, deploy technology and improve benefits. what do you think that $850 billion is going to go? it's going to go to government instead of for more employees, higher wages and expanding the economy. that's pretty simple.

>> robert, a skeptic would say wait a minute. if we kept the bush tax cuts for the wealthiest americans, why do we still have this funk, this malaise in the economy? they don't create jobs. your response would be what? >> to blame this recession on the bush tax cuts which came into effect ten years ago and saying this is happening because tax rates are too low, i think most republicans and conservatives shake their head at that. financial collapse of 2008 is the significant factor in the recession. but to say the low tax rates, what romney was saying the president effectively writing off all voters making over $250,000. it's a class warfare argument. he's trying to win the voters making 250,000 or less. but for those with sole proprietorships, obama doesn't even wachbt to speak to them. >> i guess what i'm asking is whether there's anything quanti quantifiable, here are jobs

that were created by individuals because they are wealthy americans or small business people and they were able to enjoy the fruits of the bush tax cuts. >> if you do not extend the rates on those makes $250,000 or more, you will have more revenue for the federal government. and the democratic argument would be that could lead to growth. if you look at what happened over the president's spending over the last three years, with unemployment stagnant, stays at around 8%, i don't think more revenue would lead to any growth. the conservative argument has been equal growth in the economy. >> michael, quick reaction. >> we have empirical evidence. look at the bush years prior to the recession that occurred in the bush years. you cut all those taxes, cut those taxes and they didn't create a lot of growth. clinton actually raised taxes on the high end, not in the middle class but the very high end and you had growth through

the clinton years. i'm not saying this is cause and effect, but there is no empirical evidence that if you cut taxes on the rich that jobs are created. it's not an article of policy. it's an article of faith. ideology. religion for the right. [ overlapping speakers ] >> the democratic message on taxes is not just about policy, it's also personal. president obama's allies are ramping up calls on governor romney to release more of his past tax returns. this follows reporting in "vanity fair" romney has stored assets in notorious tax haven it is like bermuda and the cayman islands. >> the next four year, we're going to have to undergo comprehensive tax reform. and you know, he is somebody who has sheltered their income taxes in switzerland and the caymans and bermuda really somebody who's going to get under the hood and get us to a place of tax fairness. we need to know why he's got that money there.

>> i'd really like to see mitt romney release more than one year of tax records. because there's been disturbing reports he's got a bermuda corporation, a secretive bermuda corporation that no one knows anything about, investments in the caymans. he's got a swiss bank account. >> when it comes down to his swiss bank account, there is just no way to explain it. you either get a swiss bank account to conceal what you're doing or you believe the swiss franc is stronger than the dollar. >> robert costa, financially smart, maybe for romney as an individual, but politically unwise for a guy who has known for years that he'd be running for president. >> michael, i respectfully disagree. it's not politically unwise to do something that's entirely legal which is invest globally. mitt romney has made a career of investing globally. when it comes to disclosure, he should disclose as much as he can. the democrats may have a case there. that one year of tax returns may not be enough for the general

election. but to try to portray romney as sipping a pina colada in bermuda or switzerland, it's class welfare. and i think if romney can connect with people in the suburbs like he did in the primary, he'll be effective in the general. if he loses voters because of a swiss bank account, those voters were already voting for the democrats. >> it doesn't help you establish a common bond with middle america is what i'm saying. >> michael, your argument is that having money means or having a lot of money means you can't have any kind of common bond? i think he's trying to counteract that by going on a bus tour. it's absurd in american politics if a wealthy person because he has foreign investments is disqualified from being president. >> if i'm trying to reach middle class voters i don't know if my bona fides are advances with investments in the cayman islands. over the weekend romney raised millions of dollars from wealthy donors in the hamptons. one quote's getting a lot of attention for sounding especially town deaf. the l.a. times caught up with one donor as she was heading to

a fund raiser and the woman said quote, i don't think the common person is getting it. nobody understands why obama is hurting them. we've got the message, but my college kid, the babysitters, the nails ladies, everybody who's got the right to vote, they don't know what's going on. i just think if you're lower income, one, you're not as educated. two, they don't understand how it works, they don't understand how the systems work, they don't understand the impact. david, i'm sure you'd love a piece of that. >> that's the problem with this country, that nail ladies can vote and they don't know what's going on. it speaks for itself. i have to say in response to what robert just said, having swiss bank accounts and cayman island accounts doesn't disqualify you. what might disqualify you is if you don't have more disclosure. everyone should read the "vanity fair" piece from last week. he raises lots of real

legitimate questions that can only be answered by releasing tax returns. that's the expectation of american politics today. the fact that mitt romney is not releasing those records can only lead to great suspicion and shows he doesn't really care about disclosure and is just an o page rich guy like people suspect. >> thank you for being here. coming up, one of the leaders of the pray away the gay movement says he was wrong. allen chaim ber chambers says there's no cure for homosexuality and he'll join us. this is "hardball," the place for politics. yet the house is considering a bill to close thousands of offices, slash service and layoff over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains $5 billion a year from post office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts.

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welcome back to "hardball." three years ago i welcomed my next guest to the radio program to discuss the american psychological association's repeatuation of gay to straight therapy. as president of exodus international, the largest evangelical organization dealing with this issue, alan chambers believed you could pray away the gay. let's listen. >> i'm denying the power those things had over me. people say once you're gay, you're always gay, you can't break free from that. that's not true. >> chambers even appeared with his wife in ads saying change is possible, but now, he's saying there's no cure for homosexuality and therapy doesn't wipe out homosexual desires. he is still president of exodus and husband and father of two kids and is joining me now. mr. chambers, what happened? what accounts for the change in

position? >> i want to be clear about what those changes are. my life is still as it was when i was on your radio program three years ago, and i still hold to a biblical sexual ethic where homosexuality and other forms are concerned. but i think what's changed for me is the overemphasis on this issue in ways we don't emphasize other issues in the church. specifically, with regards to repairtive therapy, so much of that type of technique and therapy is focused on changing attraction or changing temptation when i don't see there is a biblical reality that says people will necessarily change their temptations or change their struggles. so i want to be very, very clear about that. >> how about the practical reality? can you pray away the gay? do you want that repairtive therapy works? >> i think that praying away the

gay has been a lazy stereotype. that's certainly not what i did. i think it invalidates the complexity of this very complex issue. as far as repairtive therapy, for years we endorsed that and had people within your movement who did repairtive therapy. but so much of the focus is changing there where they're talking about 100% cures and using that word specifically with me in private conversations and then even introducing things like heterosexual pornography to help instigate or bring about heterosexual attraction. i don't feel that's healthy or realistic at all. >> i guess what i'm waiting for you to say is that it doesn't work because in the times, quote, he said that virtually every ex-gay he's met still harbors homosexual cravings himself included. you're married, father of two.

you have homosexual cravings, is that right? >> i have same sex attractions. you know, i think that what eric said in "the times" isn't what i said. i didn't use the word cravings nor would i use them. i'm married. i'm happy married. my attractions, if you want to know, are specifically and always towards my wife. for me, those things have changed. my life is not the the same as it was 21 years ago when i sought help, but to say that i don't have temptations or could never be tempted or don't have same-sex attractions isn't true. i think it's very important for me as a christian leader and as someone who is helping people in their journey say those things very, very clearly. >> respectfully, if you have those attractions because i think i heard you still maintain -- not that there's anything wrong with it -- but you still maintain same-sex attractions. are you trapped in that marriage of yours? >> i'm not trapped in that marriage.

i married my wife 15 years ago because i was in love with her. i remain in love with her today. what's changed for me is that love has only grown deeper. my attraction and desire for my wife has grown stronger. never in 15 years have i been tempted to be unfaithful to my wife. i love her. she is the object of my every affection. to say i don't have -- >> what would you say to a young person who perhaps three years ago at the time we first met via the airwaves listened to alan chambers and took to heart your message as it then existed and believed and pursued a career path for the past couple years hoping they could turn away from these innate feelings they had. do you apologize to those folks now? do you say i got it wrong and come back to this fold? i mean, what's the message? >> well, i think if someone hears my message and thinks i'm telling them they're never going to struggle again, that the feelings will go away or that

their lives are going to be anything like my life, i am sorry for that. that has never been my intention. my intention is to simply help people of faith who are in conflict to live either sell bat -- sell sell le bat lives. >> would a homosexual be precluded admission from heaven on the basis of their sexuality according to alan chambers? >> well, thankfully, it's not according to alan chambers. my biblical beliefs are that no one is exkplud -- excluded from heaven. i think the bible is very simple in its terms of how you come into a relationship. it says ask and you shall receive. seek and you will find. knock and the door will be opened to you. it doesn't say anywhere there's any exclusions of people who can seek, ask and knock.

that has always been our message. >> you defended repairtive therapy a year ago comparing it to a weight loss struggle. here's a piece of that tape. >> it's not picking and choosing people who are gay or lesbian. it really hits all of us. we can look at other organizations who help people dealing with other life struggles. for instance, weight watchers, which has tremendously benefitted by life. should we go after weight watchers and tell them don't say there's anything beyond obesity for people struggling with obesity and want an alternative. >> does that analogy still hold up in your view? >> you know, for me i think those things do hold up in my life. i have benefitted from weight watchers and other types of programs that have helped me in other areas of struggle in my life. i'm not telling someone that is happily gay identified or gay or lesbian that they should choose the life that i live or that god will love them more or less

depending on the decision they make. what i am saying is for me and people of faith who want to choose to live through the filter of their faith and a strong biblical sexual ethic in that regard, that they have that right to do that. and so when it comes to issues like repairtive therapy, i wouldn't say i was defending repairtive therapy a year ago. i think we broad brushed that. repairtive therapy is a small type of therapy that a few therapists use. that isn't something that exodus does today. >> in that age old question, genes versus environment. we agree. genes, right? it's the hand you're dealt. >> i think what we have to do is stop making it so simple. it's not simple. i think nature and nurture play a part in my life. we are genetic beings for sure, but we are certainly a product of the environment we grow up in. and i think to oversimplify this

is to invalidate the complexity of someone's life. i'm not willing to do that. >> thanks for being here. we appreciate it. up next, if you think we play hardball politics in this country, check this out. we'll tell you what's behind this political fight in jordan. and if you want to follow me on twitter, you just need to figure out how to spell smerconish. this is "hardball," the place for politics.

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back to "hardball." now for the sideshow. how debbie wasserman schultz managed to turn her introduction by fox news sunday guest host into a dig at mitt romney. easy. there was talk of a road trip. >> i think the headline of the day is that you just drove 2,000 miles from florida up to new hampshire with four dogs, the cat, the kids and the husband. how are you after all that?

>> and lived to tell about it and all the dogs were actually in the car, so i proved it can be done. >> can't miss the swipe. they stuck out the drive without going the romney route of putting the dogs in a kennel on the roof of a car. reince priebus made his own appearance sunday saying president obama poses a threat to the united states. >> this president can't fulfill a promise. they're living fantasy land and you know what? we're going to put this dream to an end of theirs in november. save america. fire barack obama and hire mitt romney. mitt romney has to win. for the sake of the the very idea of america. mitt romney has to win for liberty and freedom and we have to put an end to this barack obama presidency before it put an ento our way of life in america. people understand that the

president is the head of this country. the fish rots at the head. >> so, a vote for obama is a vote against liberty, freedom and america. by the way, mike dukakis tried the fish anl yes once. it didn't work out well. next, some are hoping donald trump stays far away from the republican convention. apparently, the the chances of trump taking center stage in florida don't depend on whether he scores a prime speaking slot at the convention. get this now. he is being presented with the statesman of the year award just one day before the convention kixs off in tampa. statesman. it wouldn't be the first time he's come in for team romney after romney clinched the nomination back in may, he and trump teamed up for a vegas fund raiser. the downside, trump snatched up all the attention by questioning the president's citizenship. finally it's not secret politics can get brutal, but that's here

in the united states. watch what happened during a live tv debate in jordan last week between a member of parliament, the guy on your right, and his opponent. the one on the left. apparently, the mp took issue with being called quote, a mafia thief. >> luckily, no one was injured and the situation is under investigation including how the gun made it inside the studio. this unfolded on live tv. the host described the incident as quote the wild west. up next, back to the campaign. new evidence that president obama's winning the ad war in the key battleground states. you're watching "hardball." the place for politics. ♪ ♪ why do you whisper, green grass? ♪ [ all ] shh!

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here's what's happening. drought conditions in the biggest corn producing states are hitting prices. the death toll in the record heat across the u.s. now stands at 94. meanwhile, climate experts say the first half of 2012 was the warmest on record. and a relatively small number of internet users were affected by malicious software after shut down users. about 40,000 users were knocked offline. now back to "hardball." welcome back to "hardball." the political tv advertising campaign is alive and well this summer if you live in the dozen or so states that will decide

the presidential election. according to "usa today," more than three quarters of swing state voters in states you can see on the map have watched these commercials in the past 30 days. and among those who have changed their minds about the president and mitt romney because of the ads, president obama has an overwhelming advantage. 76% now support him. 16% now support mitt romney. the president also holds a narrow lead among all swing state voters in that poll. he leads romney 47% to 45%. susan page is the chief for u.s. today. and chris cillizza is the author of the new book, the gospel according to the fix, an insider's guide to a less than holy world of politic. susan, i am fascinated by this. there are people you point out. there are two americas. there are people who are only learning of the presidential race by watching news programs.

sort of oblivious to the other segments of the country where they are all inundated with all the commercials. it's all micro targeting? >> absolutely. they have to turn into "hardball" and other coverage to see the ads if they're going to see them. but in these 12 states you cannot turn on the tv to watch anything on your local stage without facing a deluge of ads by the campaigns and super pacs. it's relentless for people in the targeted states. >> and a great image, the number one markets so far for political advertisements in those 12 swing zats. it's places like richard, denver, cleveland, tampa and others. they're even spending in boston so they can reach new hampshire voters. when you're spending in boston not to reach massachusetts, but to reach new hampshire, that tells you something. >> well, you get -- you know, i am a nerd enough to know the

media markets in that state. the boston market reaches into lots of southern new hampshire. the story in the poll she wrote about is fascinating. what it does is prove what most us know. a presidential campaign is a national campaign really in name only. yes, everybody in all 50 states get to vote on november 6th. yes, all the votes count the same, but not really. it's really a series of state based races in those eight to 12 swing states that makes the difference. we could hold the vote now, november 6th or 2020 and mitt romney would probably get 218 electorate votes no matter what. so we're talking about 80 to 95 swing votes coming from those states. it's why barack obama's going to iowa which makes susan's list. and mitt romney is going to colorado. they're not going to go anywhere outside of these places. >> it's a function of how much

money both campaigns have and also, the level of sophisticate, the knowledge that they have about we the voters i think is a big story here as well. let me show you something. for a flavor of what these swing state voters are seeing on the airwaves, take a look at the recent obama campaign ad attacking romney's business record. >> i'm barack obama and i approve this message. >> the chinese are smiling all the way to the bank taking our jobs and a lot of our future. i'm not willing to let that happen. >> he made a fortune letting that happen. newly published documents show mitt romney's firms were pioneers in helping companies outsource their manufacturing to countries including china. bragging they were a one-stop shop for their outsourcing requirements. mitt romney's not the solution. he's the problem. >> and for parody, let me show you a super pac commercial that's also been run on the flip side. this is from crossroads gps. >> why isn't the the economy stronger? in the seconds it takes to watch

this, our national debt will increase $1.4 million. in 2008, barack obama said -- >> we can't mortgage our children's future on a mountain of debt. >> now he's adding $4 billion in bet every day. borrowing from china for his spending. every second growing our debt faster than our economy. tell obama stop the spending. support the new majority agenda. >> so susan page, you're saying very few minds have been changed thus far but those that have been changed overwhelmingly toward obama. how come? >> people know a lot about obama. he's been president for four years. they've made up their minds on whether or not he's doing a good job or not. people don't know much about mitt romney, so when you have an attack ad like you just showed, it has a big effect. that's what seems to be happening. it has this disproportionate

impact. the obama ads have succeeded in defining mitt romney in a negative to a lot of voters. that's why voters who say they're swayed have gone in a heavy way to the president's side. >> let me ask you something that's pure fix material. could it also be -- i agree with what susan just said -- but could it also be the obama campaign has done a better job marshaling its message? is the romney campaign hindered by an inability to make those supportive of romney are saying what they'd like to be said. >> i think that is broadly true. if you look at the spending on ads, barack obama spent about $96 million on ads thus far the vast majority has been spent? states we're talking about. are mitt romney in the general election has spent $23 million on ads. in eight swing states, colorado, nevada, iowa, new hampshire,

florida. in those states, super pacs, republican super pacs. americans for prosperity, restore our future, crossroads gps. they have outspent mitt romney in every single one of those states on ads. it's a remarkable thing. mitt romney spent $2 million. $9 million on ads. you can control your message easier when it's you paying for it than when it's four groups spending money. >> correct me if i'm wrong, but if the campaign decided hey, we need to marshal these forces and bring them in and let's have a meeting of these folks who are -- that would violate the law, right? >> absolutely. they can the coordinate. the public buy information. you can call the radio stations so you can get it that way. but you can't get everybody in. remember, in 2008, barack obama essentially said you know what, if you want to support me, give

it to me. don't give it to a super pac. don't give it to a liberal group. give it to me. it's why he raised $750 million. it's also, though, why the outside democratic groups are way behind financially and organizationally. >> thank you for being here. >> thanks, michael. up next, the unemployment rate isn't just a number for democrats and republicans to fight over. millions of americans don't have jobs and a new hbo documentary tells their stories. we'll meet the film maker behind "hard times" next. this is "hardball," the place for politics.

take a look at what john boehner said about mitt romney. boehner was at a fund raiser in west virginia last week and offered a surprisingly straightforward answer to a woman who asked him if he could make her love romney. according to roll call, boehner told her no. quote, listen, we're just politicians. i wasn't elected to play god. the american people probably aren't going to fall in love with mitt romney. i'll tell you this. 95% of the people that show up to vote in november are going to show up in that voting booth and they're going to vote for or against barack obama. mitt romney has some friends, relatives, and fellow mormons, some people that are going to vote for him. but that's not what this election is about. this election is going to be a referendum on the president's failed economic policies. we'll be right back. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550

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yeah, that would be cool. ♪ introducing the completely reimagined nissan altima. it's our most innovative altima ever. nissan. innovation that excites. ♪ i'm panic stricken. i'm feeling as if i have absolutely nothing. i don't want to be helped. i want to just help myself, but what we want are jobs. what we need are jobs. in my next job, and i will have a next job, i will thank god every morning and every night for that job. >> we're back. that was a scene from the new hbo documentary "hard times: lost on long island." while the monthly unemployment numbers are a fixture in the news, often lost behind them are

the people they represent. they chronicled the lives of four such families struggling to make ends meet in a new york town against the relics of their middle upper class existence. the documentary premieres tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on hbo. the director joins me now. why long island? >> well leavitttown is the birthplace of modern suburbia. so there are regions where there are higher unemployment rates. and there are regions where the housing crisis took a greater toll. we figured let's go to the heart and soul of the american dream, the suburban good life. and see the fallout of this great recession. >> the four subjects that you focused on didn't fit my notion of the stereotypical folks who are on unemployment. i don't know what that says about me or what the stereotypical vision might be. but in what way do you think people will be surprised when they watch tonight?

>> well, we are bombarded so much in the mediascape by, you know, sound bites that say they're lazy, good for nothing, free loaders, the moocher class. and i think when you start digging deeper and you meet people who really have been dislocated by this crisis and through no fault of their own, you see a totally different story. these are people that had successful lives that have done well and come all oof a sudden,e rug is pulled out from underneath them, and unlike a catastrophe like an earthquake or hurricane, it's not all in one moment. it's a slow-motion desintgration. and not only is there tremendous financial hardship, but the psychic toll is tremendous. >> the loss of a job is often the loss of insurance benefits. take a look. >> i can't go without insurance, especially now.

it's just not right. like, i have been working since i'm 15, straight through all the years. i never used those benefits. i worked hard for those benefits. now i'm 50 years old and i can't get them. >> what most surprised you spending time with these folks the way you did? >> the most surprising thing was the sense of isolation. the sense that they're almost invisible, they have been disappeared. there isn't collective action. there really is -- they're lost. they're frayed, and their shame. i was stunned that some people who would talk to us off the record, when they turned t eed on, they said no, we said why? my family doesn't know, my neighborhoods don't know. that man we just saw brought his sons to the premiere of the film, and that was the first time they learned their mom was going to the food pantry to get

their food. it's this internalizing that there must be something wrong with us. >> are they still looking for work. you'll hear arguments made from some who are saying these folks are mallingering who are on this for this amount of time? >> these are people who are desperate for work, not just because of obviously the financial benefits but because of the psychological benefits that it defines who they are, it defies their live in many ways. ironically, many of them have been told they're overqualified and unspoken is sometimes the sense if you're over 50 and out of work for a year, forget it. it's over for you. >> i'm anxious to tune in, watch and see how their extended families are able to cope with this. we have 20 seconds left, but give me an insight into that? >> the biggest thing going back to what you said is we always had this idea that it's them, somebody else, but if we wake

um, open our eyes, we'll realize these are our neighbors, our friends, family. it's us. >> best of luck. the hbo documentary film hard times lost on long island premieres tonight 9:00 p.m. eastern on hbo. when we return, allow me to finish with a solution in search of a problem, the strict new voter id laws that will keep democrats from voting this november. you're watching "hardball," the place for politics. [ male announcer ] if you have to take care of legal matters.

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let me finish tonight with this. they say all politics is local. for me, the ongoing debate between ballot integrity versus voter suppression is. like chris, i'm from philadelphia. he's from the city, i'm from the burbs. if pennsylvania is a battle grund state, i live in the front. that's why i can tell you the ramphics of the voter id law will have national implications. they mandate that voters produce a pennsylvania department of transportation issues photo id. when they compared driver and voter records, they found 758,939 voters were not on the driver's license lists. it is possible that some of those individuals have the alternative form of acceptable id.

that includes an id from an accredited college or university, state care facility id, or military government, or employee id issued by the federal, state, county, or municipal government. it's possible they were skewed by individuals who registered to vote with names slightly different than appear on their licenses. where it was revealed 9.2% of the states 8.2 million voters don't have the id, it causes alarm and casts doubt on the assertion than night% of voters already have the id that they require. written bucks county where i was raised, 6% lack a license.

that year, 2010, there was a single case of voter fraud prosecuted. in montgomery county where i live now, the number is 8.5%. republican reesa firmen has been the district attorney since 2007. there have been no voter fraud cases on her watch. in philadelphia county, 18% of residents don't have the penndot id. democratic district attorney seth williams has been in the job since 2010, no voter fraud prosecutions on his watch, and no for at least the last decade. it's not as if there's a crisis demanding a solution. and who are those with their voting rights threatened? they're disproportionately poor and minority. not the prototypical romney voters. no wonder at a gop state leader

meeting, they said voter id which is going to allow governor romney to win the state of pennsylvania, done. a court challenge is scheduled to be heard in two weeks. in an editorial yesterday, the philadelphia inquirer noted this, what if it was stolen by nonexistent voter fraud but as a result of voter id being able to stand. t "the ed show" with ed schultz starts now. >> welcome to "the ed show" from new york. the day after romney hangs out with a koch brother, president obama goes on offense for the middle class. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> we should all agree to extend the tax cuts for the middle class. let's agree to do what we agree on. right? >> the president puts republicans in the corner again. >> the republicans say they don't want to raise taxes on the middle class.

i don't want to raise taxes on the middle class. >> will republicans hold the middle class tax cuts hostage yet again. i have commentary. >> democrats are tearing into mitt romney's offshore accounting. >> he's the only president with a swiss bank account, with tax shelters, with tax avoid nls schemes that involve so many foreign countries. >> senator dick durbin is here tonight. >> the big panel takes on the ridiculous details coming occupant of mitt romney's koch brother fund-raiser. >> and a day after this terrifying picture was taken, the beaches were open for business in cape cod. we'll ask a shark expert if there's anything to worry about. >> we're going to need a bigger boat. >> good to have you with us. president obama has put the issue of tax fairness front and center in this election. speaking in the east room of