to keep an eye on mr. ryan. but mr. ryan has gotten away from mr. sr. more quickly than those weapons of mass destruction that he once said were hidden in iraq. what comes next? traveling on separate planes to campaign events where enthusiasm is low and tension is high, the false smiles and pretense of a love affair that only survives when the cameras are on them? and then some final bickering and a bitter divorce. romney and ryan a marriage of convenience, if ever there was one. thanks so much for watching. chris matthews is next. >>> breaking away. let's play "hardball." ♪ >>> good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. leading off tonight, i want you to watch and listen to the next few minutes here.

that was mr. ryan's well rehearsed stump speech. like a p 90 x for the truth where he bends and stretches his way around the facts, he gets even more of a workout during interviews like trying to walk back that line blaming the president for the jamesville auto plant that closed under president bush. >> in my opinion, it seemed like you were unmistakebly trying to link the president's promise with the closing of that plant, which you know obviously closed before he became president. >> the promise was -- that he was going to open the plant. he said if we pass the stimulus unemployment would never get above 8%. >> yes. when you bend one truth to its breaking point, just move right along to the next set of flexible facts. what about their plan to pay for a gigantic tax break for the wealthy by closing loopholes? >> tax policy and chick growth. >> others have looked at your plan to close loopholes and you can't cut taxes in the way you say and raise as much money by going after loopholes. they've looked at every single one and you don'

is it mr. ryan or the stench? >> i don't know about the stench but that's -- zhou don't think it's the stench to blame? >> i do -- >> romney? >> romney has made itficu fo ryaau r like you said, paul ryan was brought on because of these bold ideas. most namely, the ryan plan, the ryan budget proposal. and no sooner had he been brought on, mitt romney was retreating from it and paul ryan was not referring to it at all. ,itt ryan -- zoo excuse me, mitt romney was -- >> just call him the stench. >> asking him about the $716 billion in medicare cuts that the paul ryan plan would put into effect, one of the more controversial portions of it. mitt romney backtracked and said, i'm the guy rning id n i think that in a nutshell sums up the predictment of paul ryan. he can't play to his strengths. >> is it time for more republicans to stand upwind of mitt romney? >> look, i think with 41 days- re g tt to say it. i'm not saying it, martin. >> okay. >> with 41 days left in the campaign, and the grumbling we're hearing about le

is mr. ryan a compulsive liar? given his lies about the closure of a gm plant in janesville, his lies about medicare, the deficit and the downgrading of our credit rating also suggest that mr. ryan has real problems telling the truth. but this wasn't how it was supposed to be. when mitt romney selected paul ryan as his running mate, there was widespread relief from republicans that this man was the complete opposite of sarah palin. while she was said to be vacuous, ill informed and superficial, mr. ryan was described add a policy wonk, a man who obsessed over the details. but here's the truth. sarah palin had a much stronger grip on reality than paul ryan.

is mr. ryan a compulsive liar? given his lies about the closure of a gm plant in janesville, his lies about medicare, the deficit and the downgrading of our credit rating also suggest that mr. ryan has real problems telling the truth. but this wasn't how it was supposed to be. when mitt romney selected paul ryan as his running mate, there was widespread relief from republicans that this man was the complete opposite of sarah palin. while she was said to be vacuous, ill informed and superficial, mr. ryan was described add a policy wonk, a man who obsessed over the details. but here's the truth. sarah palin had a much stronger grip on reality than paul

no wonder mr. romney picked mr. ryan. mr. romney will get less than a 1% -- he'll be in a 1% tax bracket. that's what the experts saivment caexperts --that's what the exp. can you imagine? while his secretary and everybody else pays through the nose. this is an important time for you these next 60 days or so many of and i want to thank my friend from iowa because i was very interested in laying out some of these issues, but he encouraged me to do so. i'm very delighted to be here with him, and i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. harkin: madam president, let me thank my colleague, senator boxer, for always being on point and for always being very he wil eloquent in her focn her exposition, i would say, of the fallacies of the ryan-romney budget and how it's going to affect our middle-class families in the future. madam president, since we recessed here in -- around the 1st of august, i guess is it was -- since we recessed, we have bun bee been out of sessio, congressman paul ryan, our colleague

ryan. good day, sir. >> hello, martin. >> you heard mr. ryan in august. he said he got two-thirds of what he wanted in the debt ceiling deal, and that, quote, that's why i think most republicans will support this. let me repeat that, i think most republicans will support this. what's happened? >> well, you're going to have to ask republicans, but it's clear that mr. ryan didn't have a very good handle on not only -- not only didn't have a good handle on the people he served with but also i think it also indicates he had no intention of actually living by the agreement that he made and the vote he cast. first of all, they're both walking away from that deal now, but i think when you couple the fact that the republicans and all the negotiations back last year walked away from one deal, for instance, there was a 5 to 1 cuts to revenue deal that the administration offered and another one that was about 2.5 to 1, they had no intention of ever accepting a deal that increased revenues. so i think the entire exercise was disingenuous. i voted against the budget c

ryan is welcomed back to his real home, the halls of congress, stay with us. >> well, mr. president, it's nice to see paul ryan back here in congress. it will be even nicer to see him back here as a full-time member in january. ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ male announcer ] now you'll know when to stop. [ honk! ] the all-new nissan altima with easy fill tire alert. [ honk! ] it's our most innovative altima ever. nissan. innovation that excites. ♪ his morning starts with arthritis pain. and two pills. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve. and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ [ female announcer ] and try aleve for relief from tough headaches. now we need a little bit more... a little bit more vanilla? this is great! [ male announcer ] at humana, we believe there's never been a better time to share your passi

. >>> next, the president is taking his message right to mr. ryan's backyard. stay with us. ♪ constipated? yeah. mm. some laxatives like dulcolax can cause cramps. but phillips' caplets don't. they have magnesium. for effective relief of occasional constipation. thanks. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. with a vial and syringe. me, explaining what i was doing at breakfast. and me discovering novolog mix 70/30 flexpen. flexpen is pre-filled with your pre-mix insulin. dial the exact dose. inject by pushing a button. no vials, syringes or coolers to carry. flexpen is insulin delivery my way. novolog mix 70/30 is an insulin used to control high blood sugar in adults with diabetes. do not inject if you do not plan to eat within 15 minutes to avoid low blood sugar. tell your healthcare provider about all medicines you take and all of your medical conditions, including if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. most common side effects include reactions at the injection site, weight gain, swelling of your hands and feet, and vision changes. other serio

ryan and mrs. ryan had somehow managed not to report an additional $61,122 in their original submission. this means that their original tax filing made well before mr. romney shot to fame as the vice president pick had denied the federal government almost $20,000 in revenue. so unlike mitt romney who chose to overpay the irs so that he could claim an income tax rate of 14%, mr. ryan actually underpaid his taxes. it's tough to keep up with these two. now, we're happy to report that mr. and mrs. ryan have made good on the underpayment and they also paid a penalty for their miscalculation. but isn't there something mall ode russ about a man who claims to be the model of fiscal discipline and personal integrity but somehow manages to overlook almost 20%

take paul ryan, for example, mr. romney's running mate. on stimulus, a stimulus that provided tax cuts and enabled states to continue employing teachers and police officers, this is what paul ryan said. >> the stimulus was a case of political patronage, corporate welfare and cronyism at their worst. >> not only is that untrue, it's entirely hypocritical because now, we know that mr. ryan l lobbied for stimulus money and got $20 million for the wisconsin energy corporation. $740,000 for the milwaukee area technical college and he secured $240,000 for the energy center of wisconsin. and then of course, there's mr. ryan's other target of venom and deceit, the affordable care act and here's what he said about that. >> obama care comes to more than 2,000 pages of rules, mandates, taxes, fees and fines that have no place in a free country. >> but once again, we learn that mr. ryan actually wrote to the department of health seeking moneys that are only available because of the affordable care act. his letter in which mr. ryan supports a grant pre

ryan and mrs. ryan had somehow managed not to report an additional $61,122 in their original submission. this means that their original tax filing made well before mr. romney shot to fame as the vice president pick had denied the federal government almost $20,000 in revenue. so unlike mitt romney who chose to overpay the irs so that he could claim an income tax rate of 14%, mr. ryan actually underpaid his taxes. it's tough to keep up with these two. now, we're happy to report that mr. and mrs. ryan have made good on the underpayment and they also paid a penalty for their miscalculation. but isn't there something mall ode russ about a man who claims to be the model of fiscal discipline and personal integrity but somehow manages to overlook almost 20% of his income? and when you add this to other revelations like his

ryan disliked its policy and was concerned that a deal would pave the way for mr. obama's easy re-election. congressman peter welsh is a democrat from vermont and the chief deputy and delighted to say he joins us live from charlotte. good afternoon, sir. do you believe that congressman ryan put party before country n and startling the grand bargain because he feared it would not only help reduce the deficit, it would also help the president. >> he did. that's exactly what happened. i mean, ryan is -- literally becoming the fibber in chief in this election. you know, he was the decisive vote on whether or not that simpson/bowles proposal would go for an up or down vote. every member of the commission was in a tight spot but you had people like senator durbin of -- very respected liberal, and who voted for it. to have congress vote. and you had -- you had senator coburn, very conservative republican, voting for it. he didn't like a lot of things in it. but it was the one chance that con would have had to be put on the spot to vote yes or no on the debt. ryan's vote m

ryan, or mr. ryan and mr. akin co-sponsored bills. >> this is the vice presidential candidate. >> yes but they drafted bills that would draw distinctions between rape victims and whether they deserve access to the abortion care they need. it allowed us to talk about that dr. willke, who is but fourth these ideas about women's bodies some have been able to prevent impaired nation because it was a sexual assault is someone who mitt romney colorado "an important surrogates" for his pro-life agenda. that is imported for folks to know before they go into the voting booth. it is unfortunate that we do not have a way of seeing more close to what is happening in congress. i'm glad it brought it to light. >> i want to share with you a comment about candidate todd akin. when i asked one of the minnesota -- rather, missouri delegates at the republican convention, about his colleague, this is a man named george engelbach who isn't a blank look alike. he got a lot of attention because he truly looks like abraham lincoln. a

yet, mr. ryan and mr. romney say, no, no, they're going to -- everyone over age 55 stays -- they all have the same medicare system, they don't get voucher care. iit is only under age 5. well, there must be something wrong with it then. if it's so darn good, why don't you put everybody in there right away? or, conversely, if you're protecting everyone over age 55, why don't you protect everyone under age 55? got it? if you're age 55 and under, you're unprotected, you're voucher-care. that's the dirty little secret they're not telling you. well, again, by repealing -- by repealing the affordable care act, obamacare, 439,000 ayatollah seniors will be forced into these vouchers, 60,000 iowa seniors will be forced back into the doughnut hole paying more for their drugs. and 400,000 iowa seniors would pay more for preventive services that they now get at no cost. more than 30 million people, more than 30 million people would be denied coverage under the ryeian budget. -- the ryan budget. obamacare ensures more t

so if mr. ryan and mr. romney were to be elected to the presidency and vice presidency, they would be able then to move this through, their budget through under a little known kind of procedure known reconciliation. kind of a fancy word, but all it means is that it would go through with 51 votes. now i think it's important for the american people to know what's in that budget, what's in that blueprint for america. and that's why this week i have taken the time to talk about the impact of the budget on health care and on education. today i'd like to talk about the impact of this budget on where i live, rural america. in the midwest where the occupant of the chair lives, in the midwest. what is the impact of the ryan budget on those of us who live in small towns, rural communities, who live on farms, ranches in the west. what's the impact? well, i think, first of all, it's important to step back and sort of take a look at his budget blueprint overall. what it really does is it further decimates the middle cla

so mr. ryan cannot run from his record. >> talking about records, women at the dnc made a strong case to re-elect president obama. watch this. >> president obama understands women. he trusts women. and on every single issue that matters to us, he stands with women. >> we cannot trust mitt romney to respect our rights. >> he believes that women are more than capable of making our own choices about our bodies and our health care. that's what my husband stands for. >> do you think the case was strong enough for women voters on behalf of the president, sandra? >> you know, the president makes it easy to make a case to women voters for him. because he's been a consistent champion of the issues that we care about. and that's what cecile laid out. it's fabulous to see women responding to him that way. >> you make it easy for us to stand with a young courageous woman like you. >> thank you, reverend. >> thank you for your time. >>> coming up, i'll talk to two of the most important -- in america abou

. >> well, ryan gives us two dilemmas e, i thineei insquare and overreacting or is it a problem for mr. ryan who has to protekt his brand for the future andf he decides his future is atrisk, what haenses if he does go roguwrong? >> well, in some sense ryan can help himself and romney at the same time. in other words, by deflecting the spotlight by him and saying, no, you're right, romney is the guy at the top of the ticket, romney is the guy you should be paying attention to, that also absolves him of some of the responsibility for what a lot of people are thinking is going to be a debacle on election day so ey can say, romney is our leer ary t f when the ticket stumbles, they say, romney was on the top of the ticket. it wasn't me. >> well, your paper, nia-malika, recently reported that they are worried out how th campaign ot fron article in the washington post, there's been mounting concern among republicans that the pick has made ryan look more like romney, vague, utious, aim t preset talki points. >> that's right. i think there was a sense that ryan was this bold, brash young guy wi

ryan dan senor, decrying the middle east messiness. why don't you rebut him, chief spokesman for the coalition provisional authority in iraq, a more junior dan senor >> democracy we often said when we were there that democracy is messy. if you want clean and tidy there's dictatorship but right now these iraqis political leaders are immersed in their first sort of democratic experiment >> jon: i get you, man. it was the early to mid, man. everybody was experimenting with democracy then. what's up? you know what [bleep] i'm out of here. just go at it, you two. >> just a reminder of the chaos that a lot of the policies of this administration have sowed. chaos in the arab spring. chaos for allies in israel. there are certainly areas that are problematic. we are having some tough days. we'll have tough days ahead. what we've seen in the last three days is a product of policies that have been building over the last three years. if we are successful in building some modicum democracy, it will be an enormous success. you think the president's

mr. romney some slack. to be fair, the area that he is up is until budget deficit and he's winning in the polls 4%. it's the only area that he beats the president 4% in terms of the deficit. but before you celebrate that -- >> i'm celebrating that. >> -- the bloomberg poll finds that 50% of americans view him unfavorably. 50%. that's the worst september rating for a presidential challenger in three decades of the poll. the worst. >> it's really bad. and you've got republicans saying, just wait for the debates. that's when people are going to tune in. >> every time he's had one of these moments -- and every time he's had one of these moments, not only has he failed to capitalize on them, in fact, he's fallen further behind. i don't think mitt romney is up to the task of turning this thing around and i don't think there are enough undecided voters left. >> bob, he's still digging in, feeling he could win white working-class voters in ohio on this welfare claim. he's sticking to his guns on

tavis: to your mind, has 13 a clear advantage to picking mr. ryan as his running mate? >> no. i do not think there would have been anyone in phnom romney was considering taking. i do not think he was serious about taking condoleezza rice. she could have changed the conversation, but the senator from ohio or paul ryan or tim pawlenty, i do not think any of them fundamentally alter the race, and i also think we have to be careful to put too much weight on any payback in terms of deciding the overall race. i do not think sarah palin helped john mccain, but i do not think anyone he picked held that election. people are going to vote for the person who is going to be president of the united states. can the vice president held? yes, but i think we overblow it, thinking it is going to alter the broad base. -- broad base. tavis: what is your sense of whether there is an international issue that might change this race? >> i always say if something they have been in existence, and you live with that uncertainty. that being said, i do not think that winds up being a new issue for most vo

the reagan -- the ryan plan is a monstrosity. mr. president, if anybody seriously studies the ryan budget, you have to conclude that mr. bartlett is correct because not only does he cut taxes in a very dramatic way for the richest among us -- let me just be clear. first thing he does is extend all the bush-era tax cuts. then on top of that he cuts the top rate from 35% to 25%. that provides over a trillion dollars of additional tax cuts for the wealthiest among us. and they refuse to do anything to close the tax loopholes that are allowing certain wealthy people to avoid paying taxes in this country entirely. i've shown on the floor of the senate many times a picture of a five-story building in the cayman islands called the ugland house. the ugland house claims to be the home of 18,000 companies. a little five-story building in the cayman islands claims to be the home of 18,000 companies. i say that's the most efficient building in the world. can you imagine 18,000 companies operating out of a little five-story building down in the c

tavis: to your mind, has 13 a clear advantage to picking mr. ryan as his running mate? >> no. i do not think there would have been anyone in phnom romney was considering taking. i do not think he was serious about taking condoleezza rice. she could have changed the conversation, but the senator from ohio or paul ryan or tim pawlenty, i do not think any of them fundamentally alter the race, and i also think we have to be careful not to put too much weight on any payback in terms of deciding the overall race. i do not think sarah palin helped john mccain, but i do not think anyone he picked held that election. people are going to vote for the person who is going to be president of the united states. can the vice president held? yes, but i think we overblow it, thinking it is going to alter the broad base. -- broad base. tavis: what is your sense of whether there is an international issue that might change this race? >> i always say if something they have been in existence, and you live with that uncertainty. that being said, i do not think that winds up being a new issue for mos

romney or mr. ryan are operating that way now. >> indeed. maria, after spending a month trying to distance himself as co-sponsor of todd akins forcible rape bill, did he return to the roots of his ideology today? >> i am trying to figure out why he would go and speak at the value voters summit. they already know he has a solid base for mitt romney. what he needs to do is start going to the middle and start to appeal to women voters. attacking women's rights to choose and attacking abortion ensures women are not only going to come and vote but more than likely cast a vote against the nominee. i think what paul ryan is trying to do is curious. it is building his platform, but not making it broad enough for folks to say he understands my issues, which is not abortion and woman's right to choose but fundamentally, the economy. it is curious they're not talking about the economy. they're talking about foreign policy, they demonstrate they're incredibly trigger happy, and going after women's right to choose which are voters they desperately need.

let me start with mr. romney's divorce. why did he pick paul ryan for his running mate? certainly not for better or worse. mitt spends his days and nights acting as if he's out there all alone, that he never hooked up with ryan in the first place. i get it. romney doesn't want to get dragged down by his political mate's push for getting rid of medicare. he acts like ryan has no hold on him, but it's not the way it works. romney has slowly gotten the word that the voter out there thought the two had things worked out, that romney and ryan were in this thing together. well, they're not. romney is dying. he can't stand being tied to ryan, and all that budget cutting baggage of his. for his part, ryan is feeling the taint of having a running mate who is unwilling to stand with him, unwilling to be his kind of politician. a conviction politician. so trouble in paradise. mitt's dying to be single again, so is ryan. we all know that politics makes strange bedfellows but the word is out this pair, romney and ryan, are sleeping in separate rooms. i'm joined by msnbc political ana

mr. ryan raised that as well. what he didn't say is he was a member of that commission and didn't vote for it. >> chris: i understand. it was the president's commission and he did nothing with it. >> what the president has done he is also cutting $4 trillion out of this deficit. now, he is not cutting -- >> chris: but in a way that republicans will never buy. the other plan had bipartisan support. >> he didn't have mr. ryan's support. and you are right, it it wasn't exactly reflective of mr.-- it did have republicans and it had democrats as well. not enough of them. it should have had a unanimous support for it as a frame work, not for everything in it. and what the president has done, he has adopted $4 trillion in deficit cuts over the next ten years. what he didn't do is he didn't want to cut defense as much and he actually went beyond them in terms of tax cuts to the middle class. he does not want to cut taxes for the middle class. he would prefer closing tax loopholes and importantly allowing the bush tax cuts

now mr. ryan, he doesn't care about deficits. he only cares about tax cuts for the wealthy. well, they just believe if you just give more and more and more to the top, it will magically trickle down on everyone else. and we know that doesn't work. the romney-ryan republican plan is extreme and unbalanced. i'm not making this up. you don't are to take it that from me. even former speaker house speaker newt gingrich called it -- quote -- "right-wing social engineering." that's what newt gingrich called it, right-wing social engineering. well, newt you got that one right, anyway. his name -- the name of representative ryan is to use the deficit crisis as a pretext for degrading and dismantling everything from medicare and medicaid to education, environmental protection, workplace safety, medical and soift roix -- scientific research and on and on. he doubles down on the theory if only we give more to those at the top it will magically trickle down. today, mr. president, i'd like to focus specifically on the devastating impact of the romney-ryan budget on education. on education

romney is not generating enough excitement on his own and need mrs. ryan t fire up the pporters. you'llee he din an evident as caaign stop yesterday outside dayton, ohio. >> wow. that's quite a guy, isn't it? an romney/ryan, romney/ryan, romney/ryan. there we go. that's great. thank you. >> meanwhile congressman ryan a big green bay packers fan vented about that call on monday night football. went on to compare the nfl's reemrefs, yes, to the obama administration. >> i got to start off on something that was really troubling that occurred last night. did you watch that packer game last nig? i mean, give me a break. i half think that these refs work part-time for the obama administration in the budget office. trying to pick the winners and losers and they don't even do that very well. unlike the seattle seahawks last night,e wa toeshi victory. >> vice president joe biden meanwhile has beenle holding mock debate sessions with chris van holland and campaigned yesterday in the state of virginia, keeping romney's comments about the 47% in his line of attack. >> he attacks the 47 the am