meanwhile congress leaves town with much left undone. as yet another senate tea party candidate bounces yet another establish candidate in texas. >> when we started they said this was impossible. and you know what, they were right. i couldn't do it. but you could. gwen: covering the week, amy walter of abc news. david wessel of "the wall street journal," susan davis of "usa today" and karen tumulty of "the washington post." >> live from our nation's capitol, this is "washington week" with gwen ifill, produced in association with national journal. corporate funding is provided by -- >> we know why we're here. to chart a greener path in the air and in our factories. >> to find cleaner more efficient ways to power point. >> and harness our technology for new energy solutions. >> around the globe the people of boeing are working together to build a better tomorrow. >> that's why we're here. >> this rock has never stood still. since 1875, we've been there for our clients through good times and bad. when their needs changed, we were there to m

they have 30 days to tell congress how congress' rule would affect the administration effectively and i believe the deadline is going to be on the day that the president is accepting his party's nomination. what's going to happen at the end of the day? >> this is a bizarre situation where congress essentially passed a law asking the administration to plain to them how -- floodplain to them how -- explain to them how a law they passed will be implemented. really the only discretion was whether or not they exempt military personnel. they are already going to do that. all that's left to do is read them back the law and tell them what it says. >> there's actually a second thing the administration can do and that was maintain unnoble gaited balances to reduce the -- unobligated balances to reduce the impact and pool of which sequestration could take. which will focus the cuts even more on fy 13. but the reason the administration can't answer the question is they can't answer a much more fundamental question. what kind of defense do we need going forward and how do we prioritize doing that?

if congress wants to do something, then congress has to act in this way. so i don't question that the supreme court made the decision. i accept that. it was a 5-4 ruling, that's the way the our system works. the other part of our system is that free-thinking members of the united states house of representatives and of the senate come together to do what's right for the american people. so, mr. speaker, here's what i would say, in closing, millionaires and billionaires are doing what ordinary citizens can't do anymore. and you know, they have all the string. and i can understand, mr. speaker, there are people at home who just really aren't sure where they sit in this system. they aren't sure what it means for their elected officials to be responsive for them because they believe there is somebody out there who has more money and as a result, more power, and as a result, more influence than they do at home. and i have traveled all across this country and i have to tell you, it doesn't matter whether you are in maine or montana or all the way down through the

would be extremely easy for congress to find a resolution. part of the problem is the two parties fundamentally disagree about how we solve almost every problem facing this country whether it's how we deliver our mail, our we build our roads or how we help america's farmers. the house passed a bill, a multimillion dollar to assist farmers with cattle that's being affected by the drought. republicans passed a farm bill. they passed a five-year farm bill something they say will bring down the deficit over the long-term even though it will spend a lot of money up front. and house republicans they don't want to spend money on anything. the best thing republicans can do on the hill is keep their heads down and let barack obama and mitt romney be the focus of american political talk. gwen: even with that action, we didn't expect a lot to happen. but i was is surprised with the things they didn't do especially with the drought. >> everyone's punting. there's this idea that this lame duck session after the election between the next congress there's g

government congress is trying to get tough on those who spill state secrets but why are lawmakers excluding themselves r t shines a light on the hypocrisy. and it was a scandal that rocked washington and the world reagan's administration sold arms to iraq to secretively fund nicaraguan contras twenty five years after the iran contra hearings wrapped up where are the key players from the scandal and how does history judge them. as violence spreads inside syria are you getting all the facts is the western media giving viewers a fair representation of what's really going on inside the conflict our t.v. questions more. it's friday august third ten pm here in washington d.c. i'm liz wahl and you're watching our. we begin this friday with congress's attempt of plug government leaks in the wake of some high profile leaks congress is pushing to prevent classified information from being made public the senate's ansi leaking bill cracks down on government agencies but not all branches are created equal exam from the bill are members of congress congressional staffers and igs the executive branch inte

da-dah da-dah: congress since the tea party took the house in 2010, congress has congress's already crummy approval itrating has taken a nose dive. who is the leader of the flawed tea party congress? actually not speaker john boehner. in reality, the de facto leader of the house republican caulk caucus is paul ryan. ryan has been a leader in congress's refusal to compromise with president obama and the democrats. he publically trashed the deficit deal. he -- which of course led us close to the brink of default and, of course, there is his own toxic budget which president reagan's budget advisor david stockman today called an empty conservative sermon and a fairy tale in "the new york times." nonetheless, 98%, 98% of all republicans in congress -- and that's all of these right here except for maybe those little ones right there, all of these republicans in congress voted for ryan's budget. and for its blueprint to turn medicare into a voucher system. all of them. and mitt romney, by picking ryan, he has effectively yoked himself, handcuffed himself to that toxic congress and ryan's radioact

to help not even addressing the problem coming up we'll show you how big the disconnect is between congress and the people they claim to represent. the good evening it's monday august sixth six pm in washington d.c. my name is christine from and you're watching our team. a big story today on the front page of the washington post it's an article about president obama's two thousand and eight campaign manager david plouffe and how he has links or supposedly at least to iran plus apparently accepted a one hundred thousand dollars speaking fee from a company that does business with the government of iran the company is a subsidiary of the m.t.n. group a south africa based telecommunications company now the article states that pluff was paid for two speeches he made in nigeria back in december of two thousand and ten and it goes on to suggest that although nothing he did was illegal for a close obama aide to have accepted payment from a company involved in iran could prove prove troublesome for the president as the white house toughens is stance toward the islamic republic of iran of course one

>>> congress is on vacation. the presidential election is less than three months away and audacious claims are being made on both sides. you will eventuly decide the outcome with your vote and many of you will cast your ballot with your money on your mind. i believe there is an economic storm heading our way there is hope. i told you about investing in real estate without buying property. there are problems in washington that can darken the economic picture and leave us ill prepared for the economic

. -- in all of congress. [applause] >> he just told me i had five minutes. what do you think of this program? [applause] it is about time. i want to thank francis and fong. i think this is the very first statewide heritage month held with the mayor of san francisco. let me say something about heritage month in san francisco and your mayor. in the old days, you remember san francisco was known for passing all of these anti- chinese ordinances to limit the movement, the productivity of chinese in the city. we know two things. change happens. maybe the state of california is the state of golden opportunities, where we have a chinese-american mayor of san francisco. 35 years ago, congress members passed similar resolutions in both house and the senate to formally recognize the first 10 days of may as asian-pacific heritage week. one year later, president jimmy carter signed into law a joint resolution to officially designate the annual celebration. 11 years later, president george bush extended the weeklong celeb

the congress says, 'oh, we'--somebody in congress stands up and says, 'we should disavow that,' and the others say, 'wait a minute, let's just think this through.' it's--oh--an important moment, in other words, that the newest com--and they'd also heard that, as the report went, the king's army had--or navy, as it happens, had burned norfolk, virginia. and how long are they going to go on saying, 'we don't really want independence' as the king piles one atrocity on the other, as they understood it? so it--he--"common sense" is published at a point where the information arriving in america is starting to make the congress think, 'you know, maybe that's where we're going.' c-span: did "common sense" sell? >> guest: "common sense" sold. it was at a low price. it had a kind of a language that common people could relate to. so it was enormously popular. and there's no doubt in my mind that he helped change popular sentiment in favor of independence. but what was very interesting--and this is a sort of inadvertent discovery--that when the state--when these local people started explaining why

the one hundred twelfth congress has done everything in its power to help the rich get richer in america while abandoning everyone else with wars on labor and women's rights and policies that only help the oligarchy is the ten percent approval rating for congress really much of a surprise also thanks to pennsylvania's radical voter suppression id law nearly half the city of philadelphia may not be able to vote in november what are groups doing to fight back against these types of laws and how can we stop conservatives across the country from rigging the election and for decades now social security has helped millions of americans stay afloat and avoid living in absolute poverty and now conservatives want to do away with social security and them struggling seniors to a life of hardship what's going on here. so remember back in two thousand and ten when for three months we all watched oil gushing into the gulf of mexico as b.p. fumbled around trying to cap the macondo well that was spewing fifty three thousand barrels of crude every single day. we knew that eleven men died on that rig we l

and nasa isn't the only one taking a backseat congress seems to be taking a vacation from tackling the u.s. unemployment problem all their constituents suffer coming up we'll show you how big the disconnect is between congress and the people they claim to represent. is monday august sixth four pm in washington d.c. i'm christine for you're watching our t.v. . the washington post broke a big story today it turns out after serving as president obama's two thousand and eight campaign manager david plouffe accepted a one hundred thousand dollars speaking fee from a company that does business with the government of iran the company is a subsidiary of the m.t.n. group a south africa based telecommunications company and the article states that pluff was paid for two speeches he made in nigeria in december two thousand and ten it also goes on to suggest that although he did nothing that was illegal for a close obama aide to have accepted payment from a company involved in iran could prove troublesome for the president as the white house toughens its stance toward the islamic republic iran of c

we in congress have failed. it's great to get this off our chest and point out to the american people how you've wasted their tax dollars but who are the enablers? it's congress. we've allowed these agencies to do this. if anybody understands zero based budgeting we implemented a fundamental actice that most businesses use. rather than allowing agencies to budget by what they spent last year and this is what we're requesting this year, zero based budgeting would eminate all this. we wouldn't be having this hearing today. every agency would start out with the same amount, zero. you would have to justify every line item. they would never be able to budget millions of dollars for bonuses. this would never happen. this congress can't pass a budget. the senate hasn't voted for a budget in three years. this is like paren who is are going away on vacation and they load their house up and are going to leave their teenage children at home but before they leave they load the house up with booze and leave the credit card o

and nasa isn't the only one taking a backseat congress seems to be taking a vacation from tackling the u.s. unemployment problem while their constituents suffer coming up we'll show you how big the disconnect is between congress and the people they claim to represent. it's monday august sixth five pm in washington d.c. i'm christine and you're watching our t.v. . well this morning there was a big story on the front page of the washington post it turns out after serving as president obama's two thousand and eight campaign manager david pluff accepted a one hundred thousand dollars speaking fee from a company that does business with the government of iran the company is a subsidiary of the m.t.n. group a south africa based telecommunications company and the article states that pluff was paid for two speeches he made in nigeria in december of two thousand and ten and it also goes on to suggest that while nothing he did was illegal for a close obama aide to have accepted payment from a company involved in iran could prove troublesome for the president as the white house toughens its stance

government congress is trying to get tough on those who spill state secrets but why are lawmakers excluding themselves are shines a light on this hypocrisy. and it was a scandal that rocked washington and the world ronald reagan's administration sold arms to iran to secretively fund nicaraguan contras twenty five years after the iran contra hearings wrapped up where are the key players from the scandal and how does his head how does history judge that. well how much is your cyber safety worth that's what the government is currently trying to figure out in efforts to crack down on cyber attacks details coming up on how much it would cost to cyber proof the u.s. . it's friday august thirty pm here in washington d.c. i'm liz wall and you're watching our t.v. . we begin this friday with congress's attempt to plug government leaks in the wake of some high profile leaks congress is pushing to prevent classified information from being made public the senate's leaking bill cracks down on government agencies but not all branches are created equal exempt from the bill are members of congress congress

reform for congress as well -- multipoint reform for congress as well, that if congress does not fulfill its responsibility to pass the budget on an annual basis, it does not get paid. we had several members of congress saying they support this. for voters or non-voters who are increasingly disgusted with congress, taking a little bit apart in knowing that there are dozens and dozens of members of congress and both bodies who are willing to support legislation that would require them to give up pay if a budget is not passed. and your viewers can get the full list of those members of congress on our website, no labels.org. host: antoinette in ohio. caller: i am so glad i got out. -- got up. i think more emphasis should be put on the economy. this country is in deep trouble. anytime you owe $16 trillion to another country, i don't see how we can even survive like that. more emphasis should be put on this problem. and why we have obama with all his promises and promises and no results, more debt. guest: boy, antoinette, i am so glad you asked that question, and, libby, we're lucky we got he

congress is tilted as it is that means that the working class people who care about the working class to still nail. yeah certainly in order to become elected to any office these days even you know local more local you know city council members seem to have to raise a lot of money and they're not going to be able to raise a lot of money from those people with minimum wage jobs you were talking about some numbers there i want to take a look at some numbers compiled by the pew research center that shows sort of just how a representative of congress actually is. we have it you know education with people with bachelor's degrees or higher ninety two percent of house members ninety nine percent of senators and thirty even though it's only thirty percent of americans over twenty five years old some other numbers that we have here too when it comes to wealth the net worth is over one million nearly forty seven percent of congress and only nine percent of u.s. households you know some really interesting things and then of course something that's very apparent and that is gender sixteen point e

i think that the congress post- 9/11 congress has abrogated its historic responsibilities in terms of providing the proper balance of power between the executive branch and the legislative branch. >> and finally i asked senator webb the question i posed to many of the departing lawmakers. was there any one vote he would want back if he could do it all over again. >> my great regret on that is that i believe the whole health care issue could have been handled differently by the administration and over here. i think the way that the process was put forward without a clear set of principles from the administration caused a lot of fear in the country. we had seven different or five different committees boiling up 7,000 pages of contradictory information. it at a time. >> so you regret the vote. >> at a time when the country was in a recession and people were talking about this other stuff. so i think that could have been different. >> do you regret. >> i voted with the republicans 18 times but in the end, i voted for it. i thought we do need to move forward. we need to find different ways

>> congress can pass legislation that can push for greater disclosure. they can push for legislation that would require, for example corporations to seek approval from their shareholders before they spend the money in elections but these are things that really kind of slow down the machine but don't stop it. what citizens united did was really render a whole range of legislation, not to mention at the federal and state level unconstitutional. so if they attempted to set reasonable limits on spending by the so-called outside groups it would literally be unconstitutional. >> this court would say? >> that's correct. >> unless anthony kennedy our john roberts said we have to realize we were wrong. >> they put the pour in our hands. we have to say no. actually, we believe that our government and the people should have tools to guard against the corrupting influence of money in. >> recently, the court had an opportunity to, if they wanted to go back and look at what's it been now? two years since citizen united? >> uh-huh. >> it's been two years. let's see how

even addressing the problem coming up we'll show you how the big disk big the disconnect is between congress and the people they claim to represent. the washington pro post broke a big story today it turns out after serving as president obama's two thousand and eight campaign manager david plouffe accepted a one hundred thousand dollars seeking fee from a company that does business with the government of iran the company is a subsidiary of the m.t.n. group a south africa based telecommunications company and the article states that pluff was paid for two speeches he made in nigeria in december two thousand and ten it also goes on to suggest that although he did nothing that was illegal for a close the obama aide to have accepted payment from a company involved in iran could prove troublesome for the president as the white house toughens its stance toward the islamic republic. iran of course one of the biggest chiefs boogie mans in this presidential campaign with governor romney just back from a trip to israel in which he pledged the utmost support and here he is a couple months ago at a campa

is this particular to this congress or something congress has been doing for awhile? and what have been the consequences of this? the phone lines are open for republicans, democrats, and independents. as always, you can tweet, e- mail, or post on facebook. why does congress kicked the can down the road? good friday morning. harry truman 60 years ago coined the phrase "the do nothing congress" as he was campaigning for his bid to the white house. this year a favorite metaphor seems to be "kicking the can down the road." both sides are using it. [video clip] >> the house is going to pass a one-year extension of current policies. they want to buy some time, kicked the can down the road. now it's time for the house to do its job. >> let's start actually paying for things in the years in which we are going to spend the money and let's not kick the can down the road. >> what's happening today is that this kicked the can down the road initiative bill is costing jobs. >> the national debt now tops $15.30 trillion. where is his vision for how to repair all of this? he could of

shot of the international partnership and the best part is we have no clue what exactly happening even congress is being left in the dark we'll look into the secrecy shrouding the trans-pacific partnership talks straight ahead. plus it's no secret that congress needs to make some serious cuts to spending but their arsenal of rhetoric is no match for the firepower of the pentagon coming up i'll ask a retired colonel if there's a safe way to slash the bloated military budget without putting national security on the line. and be careful where you point out things secretly recording police officers could land you behind bars for decades we'll tell you about one journalist who's paying the price for doing his job. it's wednesday august eighth six pm in washington d.c. i'm christine you're watching our t.v. let's talk now about a controversial international agreement which hasn't been picking up too much attention by the mainstream media i'm referring to the trans-pacific partnership known as t p p while the obama administration to boast about the trade benefits that come with a closer partnership wi

: from congress? >> yes. >> laura: could they have come from congress, colonel hunt? i may be missing this. >> there is a level of we are talking about special compartment intelligence. the congress doesn't have that clearance. there is no question where the leaks are coming from. that's why the secretary of defense was so upset. the operations who prepare 10 years intelligence special operations guys and pilots don't want that kind of credit. what they don't want also is supreme talking about the name of the dog -- >> laura: the agent and all of that stuff. >> exactly. >> doesn't have anything to do with that at all. >> burnishes credentials and gutsy call kind of deal looks like grandstanding. i appreciate it colonel hunt and ms. de janeiro, thank you very much. more evidence that the mainstream media are in the tank for obama? you are not go going to want to one. jay leno mocking the media a funny clip you don't want to music: "make someone happy" music: "make someone happy" ♪it's so important to

at an international partnership and the best part is we have no clue what exactly is happening even congress is being left in the dark we'll look into the secrecy surrounding the trans-pacific partnership talks straight ahead. plus it's no secret that congress needs to make some serious cuts to spending but their arsenal of rhetoric is no match to the firepower of the pentagon coming up i'll ask a retired colonel if there's a safe way to slash the bloated military budget without putting national security on the line. again the show with a look at the state of texas there last night a mentally disabled man was executed marvin wilson was convicted of killing a police informant twenty years ago he had an i.q. of sixty one well below the average of seventy the number considered to be the bare minimum to determine competency after months of appeals that reached all the way to the u.s. supreme court wilson lost his battle taxes of course is no stranger to the death penalty have currently is at the top when it comes to executing prisoners on death row perhaps you know it's no surprise then when gov

congress, you say yes or no. host: two other ideas are making parties pay for presidential fundraising, but also using the line item veto, but with a twist. guest: let's come back to line item veto and a second, because the first of the two he raised sends a powerful message to the people did president obama, like president reagan and pleasant clinton before him, traveled very frequently to raise money for his reelection campaign. what is standard operating procedure for both parties is to attack on a single official event along with a series of campaign fund-raisers said that the american taxpayers can pay for the cost of air force one and secret service and all the other attendant costs it takes to move the president around the country. we don't think that is fair. that is an unfair cost imposed on the american taxpayer. what we're proposing is that any political activity takes place during presidential travel, the president's party, the democratic national committee or the republican national committee, is goi

congress, you say yes or no. host: two other ideas are making parties pay for presidential fundraising, but also using the line item veto, but with a twist. what is the twist? guest: let's come back to line item veto and a second, because the first of the two he raised sends a powerful message to the people did president obama, like president reagan and pleasant clinton before him, traveled very frequently to raise money for his reelection campaign. what is standard operating procedure for both parties is to attack on a single official event along with a series of campaign fund-raisers said that the american taxpayers can pay for the cost of air force one and secret service and all the other attendant costs it takes to move the president around the country. we don't think that is fair. that is an unfair cost imposed on the american taxpayer. what we're proposing is that any political activity takes place during presidential travel, the president's party, the democratic national committee or the republican nationa

it is the duty of congress but if congress cannot do it, they ought to get out of the way and help or permit those to come forward who support the postal service. >> your colleague republican congress member darrell issa has championed a bill that would allow the phasing out of around 150,000 jobs and facilitate a faster move to five-day delivery. last year, he explained the heritage foundation why he thinks revamping the post office makes sense. >> we would be doing ourselves a favor because we would be saving wages we don't need to be paying. yes, it does mean there'll be 200,000 people will either be retired or doing other work in addition to the retirement, but that is what americans are dealing with. americans do not get to keep a job just because they work for the government. the private sector does not have that. if there is a slowdown in general motors, you are out on the street waiting to come back when times are better. in the case of the post office, the slowdown is permanent. >> that is republican congress member darrell issa. your response? >> he is a brilliant businessma

he is the author of the blog all about congress. two who just returned from the road in the midwest. i'm sure you have good behind the scenes. ed, you traveled through five districts. iowa and illinois. what have you learned about the travels of the races there? >> that they remain pretty close and voters are just beginning to form opinions. more focused on the presidential contest. many realize the vote for congress could be more important. in the end, no president could get anything done in washington unless they have support from congress. >> you make a great point. what was the perception of the presidential race? how closely are people paying attenti attention? >> very closely. it is as if they are treating it like their favorite television show in some cases. they are up and down. they have reasons why they like them for policy or personality. there is a lot of uncertainty and anxiety. some people are scared about the direction of the country which has been in polling we have seen important months. people eager to see things c

this is a congress bent on doing nothing. as you know, the republican leader in congress said my job here is to get rid of president obama, period. well if that what you think your job is as the leader of the senate, you're not serving your country very well. and i think that is what is happening. >> what about simpson bowls, would you think that is something to get us out of this? >> there are a few things about bowls that i wouldn't do, raising the allege on medicare's raising the age is dodoable, as long as you make exceptions for people who have to work with their hands and don't get the longevity. and certainly looking at benefits, raising the range, we're trying to help more people, not fewer. >> all right, howard, great to have you on the program, we appreciate you, howard dean. >>p next on the "the wall street journal report," how the inventor of computing lostts way. >>> and how about the favors of italy? the celebrity chef, lydia bastianich, on the benefits of eating well. as we take a look at the stock market, back

tying ryan to an unpopular city, washington, and an unpopular congress and the republicans in congress. you will hear that from him and joe biden through the convention and i think chairman steele is right, we will see if there's a reset after that. for the next ten days, you will hear a lot of discussion of paul ryan as an obstructionist republican member of congress. >> mark is absolutely right, it would work, but the senate is still in session. so why hasn't harry reid put a bill on the floor to address the drought? so that's the push-back. so the reality of it is yeah, you can call out paul ryan because he's a member of the house and the house is adjourned, they're not there to do that, but the senate's still here. >> how many people know the senate -- >> that's a fair point. that's a fair point. congress is painted with a broad brush but the reality of it is there's still an opening to push back and sort of diminish the impact of the initial impression you want to create going after paul ryan on something like the drought, when his own party has failed to do really anything substa

for members of congress against rising health-care costs. it is a fixed percentage, premier support as opposed to a voucher plan. as health-care costs rise, members of congress can be assured that 72% of those costs will be covered by health care -- the health care plan. they are proposing a much worse deal for seniors on medicare than they have for themselves. a much worse deal. under their plan, the way they save money is to de-link the amount that seniors receive from the medicare program from the costs of medicare. the result is that -- i guarantee this will be my last chart -- see the screen here, that represents the steady premiums support that members of congress get under their plan, 72% coverage. that red line is what happens to medicare recipients under their voucher plan. the amount that senior citizens get for medicare drops dramatically. that means that i did their costs go way up or they get less coverage and less benefits. again, at the same time, folks at the very top are getting a better deal. i will make one last point on t

not because he is running for congress. honest. . .. with all the opinions about stocks out there, how do you know which ones to follow? the equity summary score consolidates the ratings of up to 10 independent research providers into a single score that's weighted based on how accurate they've been in the past. i'm howard spielberg of fidelity investments. e equity summary score is one more innovative reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. get 200 free trades today and explore your next investing idea. . .. lou: my next guest, 12 term congressman cliff stearns and florida republican primary just received the endorsement of governor sarah palin's. joining us now, congressional candidate take your hope. good to have you with us. i guess i should, you know, i should tell you, people may not know, you are a large animal veterinarian. and i have to ask you. first, i have to say congratulations. secondly, how in the world is a man who like animals myself, while family does, how could you give of veterinary practice for politics? >>

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that congress has to fix. there have been zero bills brought to the floor to fix that. but there have been 60 bills -- 6-0, 60 bills to give new names to post office buildings. see, when you're not working on real policy, congress does messaging instead. messaging and politics and making donors and home districts happy. and the republicans in the house have chosen for their messaging and politic stunts this week. well, yesterday it was a big anti-contraception rally at which one member of congress the congressman you see here mike kelly, he called expanded access to birth control the equivalent of the pearl harbor attack and the 9/11 attack. the last round of congressional republican ranting against access to birth control this past spring, you may recall, was devastating to republican poll numbers among women voters including for their standard bearer mr. romney. but republicans in the house have decided anyway they are going for it again. so that was yesterday. yesterday was expanded access to birth control

surveyed disapprove of the job of congress, just 12% approve. joining me now, nbc news senior political editor mark murray. mark, even before this issue with congressman akin, we had this concern that congress is so unpopular, we know the president's squaring off against house republicans, and that essentially means paul ryan. >> that's right, tamron. we've known for the past year that congress has been pretty unpopular. what is striking in our poll is, though, that it actually has reached a bottom in the approval rating. just 12% of registered voters approve of congress' job. we haven't seen 12% since october of 2008. that was, of course, during the spiral, the economy, after the t.a.r.p. vote. you look in the context and all of a sudden mitt romney's added someone from the house of representatives, paul ryan, to his ticket. so that's what's new. now of course paul ryan is a respected member of the house. he's the chairman of the house budget committee. he has a lot of big fans. but there is this sense of the house brand, of congress' brand, ru

congress and by the size superman i started by two thirds. the answer as i learned the hard way during the debate is there is a legal answer and their state department has a series of tests which the w t o agreement that has a treaty but the reality the political answer is what trumps and that is if you have enough senators to vote no that's not an agreement that they insist on a treaty approval you have a treaty which is to say if there had been a simple majority which is what's needed for approval of the agreement fifty senators and said this is an agreement we're not approving this is the treaty go through the formal process it would have a tree larry tribe professor larry tribe very famous harvard law school constitutional scholar a long memo to various of the senate committees saying if this is not a treaty what the heck is a treaty it's permanent it's a lasting it's a broad scope u.s. is legally bound it has the ability to enforce and create new rules it has its own legal personality and it does not directly preempt but the way the trib

to do the things that congress should be doing. i have been a fan of bernanke during the crisis. i think i have spoken in moderate ways. at this point, the hearings and testimony, i believe he should show a lot more humility as it relates to what he can do relative to our economy? >> do you believe that congress punts to the unelected fed? puts too much weight on them to create jobs and not congress? >> absolutely. you can see it in every hearing. 5 these types of congressional hearings. congress -- the fed is almost an enabler. is an enabler, i would say. in that everybody continues to focus as you are, as your headlines are today, on what the fed's going to do. i just think that we have become way too reliant upon that. and i would say that it is becoming a distraction away from the kind of things that as a nation we ought to be addressing. really to solve our short and longer term problems. >> so then to fix it, are you going to put forth a bill? will you put out legislation that perhaps tries to change the dual mandate? >> sure

. >> you're saying the lame duck congress, when? this year? >> of course, they come back, they will have to do something. they already passed a sixth month budget that gets us through march of next year, they have to do some things to stall that. if the republicans take the house, keep the senate, irrespective of what happens in the senate, it will be fiscal rectatude. >> up next, they supported his election four years ago but wall street and corporate america may be closing the wallet on president obama. >> they are spending more time raising money than they are working on the fiscal cliff. new york city has been very good, one reason mitt romney has been outraising president obama already, look at these numbers. you see all of the major fimpls, goldman sachs, jpmorgan chase, citi, morgan stanley, all had a majority. 75% of their money went to a democrat, a different environment because of the situation, the dodd-frank piece of legislation. mitt romney is dominating the money. and here is what that money goes to, of course, attack

the one hundred twelfth congress has done everything in its power to help the rich get richer in america while abandoning everyone else with wars on labor and women's rights and policies that only help the oligarchy is the ten percent approval rating for congress really much of a surprise also thanks to pennsylvania's radical voter suppression id law nearly half the city of philadelphia may not be able to vote in november what are groups doing to fight back against these types of laws and how can we stop conservatives across the country from rigging the election and for decades now social security has helped the millions of americans stay afloat and avoid living in absolute poverty but now conservatives want to do away with social security and get them struggling seniors to a life of hardship what's going on here. so remember back in two thousand and ten when for three months we all watched oil gushing into the gulf of mexico as b.p. fumbled around trying to cap the macondo well that was spewing fifty three thousand barrels of crude every single day. we knew that eleven men died on that

congress tries to cripple the rugs nuclear ambition with one round of sanctions after another but even defense secretary leon panetta admits they're not working as intended as a political ploy or a last ditch effort before military intervention some answers ahead. and if you thought the kurds were closed on u.s. cyber legislation get ready for act sue the u.s. senate is where our play takes plays from fears comes new cyber legislation we'll tell you about the latest assault on your privacy and also take a deeper look at the cd dealings of the n.s.a. . and k. street near match in the age of the internet even the way in which people lobby congress is getting a high tech face what their mission find political solutions to protect a free and open internet we'll find out how they're planning to do that coming up. tuesday july thirty first ten pm here in washington d.c. i'm liz wall and you're watching arts. but we begin this hour with the mounting tension with iran congress this week has announced more sanctions on the country this time they're aimed at companies that ship goods to iraq and

: from congress? >> yes. >> laura: could they have come from congress, colonel hunt? i may be missing this. >> there is a level of we are talking about special compartment intelligence. the congress doesn't have that clearance. there is no question where the leaks are coming from. that's why the secretary of defense was so upset. the operations who prepare 10 years intelligence special operations guys and pilots don't want that kind of credit. what they don't want also is supreme talking about the name of the dog -- >> laura: the agent and all of that stuff. >> exactly. >> doesn't have anything to do with that at all. >> burnishes credentials and gutsy call kind of deal looks like grandstanding. i appreciate it colonel hunt and ms. de janeiro, thank you very much. more evidence that the mainstream media are in the tank for obama? you are not go going to want to one. jay leno mocking the media a funny clip you don't want to miss >> laura: in the back of the book segment tonight, media bias in overdrive

i blame congress for things, but it's not congress that's going to stand in the way of romney's ridiculous promise, it's the state of the u.s. economy. 12 million jobs over four years, that's what romney is promising. that's 3 million jobs a year or an average of 250,000 jobs per month every month for an entire presidency. i'm going to save my next guest some time. he'll say it's possible and it's been done before during clinton's second term. but that was a very different economy. one that was growing at an average of 4.2% a year. ours is crawling at 1.5%. you see companies need to be on solid footing to be confident enough to hire those people. i'm for big thinking, but instead we get big promises that often end up being lies. i'm joined now by david gergen. but i want to start with kevin hasset. he's one of the authors of the 12 million jobs in four years pledge. kevin, good to see you back here. you authored this claim. please give me a solid economic basis for creating 12 million jobs in four years, three million a year. on average starting in january 2013. >> right. if you've looked