Transcripts For CURRENT Full Court Press 20120710

unhealthy fast foods. why should the olympics put mcdonald's up on a pedestal? don't they know better than that? we'll talk about that and a whole lot more. but first we start out by getting all of the latest news from our current news update and here in los angeles lisa ferguson. good morning lisa. >> good morning. we've got plenty of money talk going on this morning after two tax issues came to light yesterday. one, of course, president obama's call to extend the bush era tax cuts for those making less than $250,000 a year. the other renewed push by democrats for romney to release his full tax returns. romney is saying there is nothing hidden in the unreleased returns. in an interview with iowa radio he said everything is legal. he doesn't manage them. he doesn't even know where they are. so maybe that's the real reason why he won't release them, he just can't find them. >> haley barbour is jumping into the debate saying yesterday on cnn he would release his tax returns if he were in romney's shoes. all of this along with the obama campaigns attacks on outsourcing under bain capital has romney working to put itself on the offensive. a new web site calling obama the real outsourcer in chief. the web site obama nomics said he took money from the stimulus package and sent it overseas. "the washington times" reports it offers no citations or public documents. >> by contrast, stephanie cutter has used twitter to post a link defending the president's record on protecting u.s. jobs. that document gives detailed links to news articles for each and every point. we're back with more money and politics at the top of the next hour. and you can join us live in chat right now current.com/billpress. authorities found him alone and unconscious in his car after a couple of accidents outside of l.a. over the weekend. he's back in d.c. and does face felony hit and run charges for >>(narrator) we are the trailblazers, the truth seekers. we are the idea no one wants to hear until it grabs you and won't let go. we push, we prod until the truth reveals itself. we are fearless, independent trendsetters, problem solvers, and above all, we are politically direct. the young turks with cenk uygur at 7, viewpoint with eliot spitzer at 8, the war room with jennifer granholm at 9, the gavin newsom show fridays at 11. and there's only one place you'll find us: weeknights on current tv. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: hey what do you know? it's now official, january to june 2012 the hottest six months in recorded history! yeah. who says there's no such thing as global warming. good morning everybody. happy tuesday. it is tuesday july 10, here on the "full court press." coming to you live all the way across this great land of ours every corner of the united states of america from our studio here on capitol hill in washington, d.c. and booming out to you on your local progressive talk radio station god bless them on sirius x.m. this hour only and all three hours on current tv whether you're listening or watching or streaming, good to have you with us today. thank you for joining the program to find out what's going on today here in our nation's capital, around the country and around the globe big news out of the white house yesterday. president obama will kick off there starting with his proposal to give 98% of americans a tax cut. texas is fighting the department of justice over their voter i.d. laws and a lot of other stuff to talk about today which will not only get into but give you a chance to join the conversation by giving us a call at 1-866-55-press. it is a two-way street here. you join the conversation any time. take your seat at the table by giving us a call and saying hello to our whole team here. got a great line-up starting with team press. peter ogborn, dan henning. >> hey hey hey. >> good morning. >> bill: videographer cyprian bowlding. almost relaxed. carol and i ate outside. didn't have to crank up the air. 85 degrees. and? >> i was just going to say, you know how you see -- you don't see the monitor when you say hello to cyprian. he just put up a sign saying happy anniversary to his wife. [ laughter ] >> bill: isn't that nice? >> oh, gosh. good for him. >> bill: happy anniversary. >> yes indeed. >> bill: how many years? >> how many years, cyp? >> two years. >> two years. >> bill: oh, get out. >> two years. >> that's nothing. >> bill: all right. let's see if he says happy a year from now. >> yeah. we'll see how out of his way he goes when it's nine years. >> bill: oh, man. how about it. you know what was -- really nice yesterday, i began my national television career on crossfire on cnn. had six good years there with bob novack, pat buchanan, tucker carlson, john sununu, a whole gang of right-wingers and started out with geraldine ferraro on the left as well. they brought backcrossfire. we're in reruns now in jordan. and this is what the crossfire show in jordan sounded like yesterday. [ speaking foreign language ] >> bill: i lost control there. >> did you just throw a shoe? is that what the slamming sound was? >> i threw a shoe at bob. that was actually a television broadcast of an interview on jordanian television. two members of parliament arguing over a piece of legislation and one of them picked up, threw a shoe at the other guy. he throws his shoe and then same guy pulls out a gun. on live television. pulls out a gun. at which point boom, the moderator runs around the desk and tries to separate them. i'm telling you it never got that wild on crossfire. >> no? >> novack pulled a knife on you once but never a gun. you could really hurt somebody with that. >> bill: you would think they would have to surrender their -- we do that here. "full court press." before our guests come into the studio, dan frisks them. makes sure they're not packing. we don't want anybody packing in this studio. >> a member of congress walking around carrying a gun. he's got it tucked into his baste band. he doesn't -- doesn't his waistband. it isn't holstered. like a gangster. >> bill: the nra would allow members of congress to do that. they would. they would think it would be great. every member of congress ought to have a gun because you never know. you need it to defend yourself on the floor. >> we should ask congressman frank about that when he's in here later on today. whether or not he wanted to carry a gun. >> bill: barney frank will be joining us later. jim moran congressman will join us. it is tuesdays with judd. judd legum from think progress. but first... >> this is the "full court press." >> some other headlines making news on this tuesday, the london assembly is calling for a ban of two of the biggest sponsors of the upcoming olympic games. they want coca-cola and mcdonald's gone because of their fast food and soda that contributes to obesity. >> bill: what about diet coke? not cherry coke. >> coke is the longest running sponsor of the olympic games. they've been there since 1928. olympic organizers admit they would be under serious financial strain without those two companies. overall cash generated by all of their commercial partnerships account for over 40% of olympic revenue. >> bill: wow! sell out to fast foods to put on the olympics. >> that's amazing how much money they create. >> mcdonald's put out a statement saying they do offer salads, chicken wraps. >> how many people go to mcdonald's for a salad. coke offers water. >> the lifeguard fired last week for helping rescue a distressed swimmer outside the perimeter of his watch zone in florida was honored by the city of hal an dale beach yesterday. officials gave thomas lopez the keys to the city and thanked him for what he did. the company contracted to protect the city's beaches offered him his job back saying they fired him too hastily but he declined the offer. >> bill: i like that kid. the other lifeguards who said they would do the same thing it just -- the epitome of the security cop mentality. on his part, on the part of his bosses who said no! that's your post. and unless they're right in front of your post, you cannot save anyone's life. you let them drown. it is classic narrow-minded security cop. >> prince fielder hit a final round 12 home runs to win baseball's home run derby last night. the detroit tigers first baseman won his second title in four years joining ken griffey jr. as the only other player to win it more than once. he beat jose batista 12-7 in the final round. >> bill: does anyone care about the home run derby? >> absolutely. >> i think so. i went out of my way to watch it. >> bill: really? what does it mean? >> they throw slow pitch baseballs. >> bill: they're like kids in the park. they hit the ball and feel good. >> my kid doesn't knock it out of the park. >> he will some day. >> maybe. >> bill: you keep slowing him slow pitches. >> you don't like watching a home run at a baseball game? >> i do at a real game. that's my point. when you have real pitchers, real batters real games real stuff on the line but just to go up there and -- it is like going to the driving range at the golf course. that's not a game of golf. you watch them hit long drives. >> okay. i'm not going to get into it with you. if you don't like it, you don't like it. >> he's going to throw a shoe at you. >> i'm going to reach back. get my gun out of my waistband. >> bill: all right. get outta here. the big news yesterday president obama coming into the east room of the white house. they moved it from the rose garden because it was not such a great day yesterday. looked like it might rain. at any rate, the president made the big announcement. i want to get your take on what the president said. let me put it in context for you. every day i believe it's more and more clear about the choice facing voters in november and the choice is more -- the contrast could not be more clear. it is developing on so many different issues. i mean let's take iraq, right? president obama wants to get all of the troops out of iraq. mitt romney says uh-huh, that's a mistake. we ought to keep them there. healthcare president obama says we've got a good plan. not perfect. let's build on it and go forward. mitt romney, no. we're going to repeal healthcare. clear choice, iraq, clear choice healthcare. now clear choice tax cuts. president obama yesterday saying here's what i want to do. we got the bush tax cuts. they go all across the board. but they mainly benefit like the vast majority of the tax cuts, most of the money goes up to the upper 2% of americans. those making over $250,000 a year. the president says let's give -- let's extend the tax cuts but only for those making $250,000 or less. very, very clear. mitt romney says nope, they have to go to millionaires, too. president obama pointed out this is -- continues what he's tried to do from the beginning which is direct most of his policies to trying to help working class families to help the middle class. this is the ultimate populous thrust of the obama administration. here's the president yesterday. >> i believe our prosperity has always come from an economy that's built on a strong and growing middle class. >> bill: right from the bottom up. >> afford to buy the products our businesses sell. middle class, they can own homes and send their kids to college and save enough to retire on. that's why i cut middle class taxes every year that i've been president. by $3600 for the typical middle class family. >> bill: and as the president pointed out this -- if you went to congress, okay, not everybody -- not everybody is going to agree on tax cuts for millionaires but if you went up to congress and this makes so much sense i thought it was such a strong point. if you go up to congress and you say should we extend the tax cuts for the middle class everybody agrees on that. you can get 535 votes on that in congress. the president says let's take what we agree on and do that and then we'll fight about the other stuff. late agree -- let's agree. >> i believe we should be able to come together and get this done. while i disagree on extending tax cuts for the wealthy because we just can't afford them, i recognize that not everybody agrees with me on this. on the other hand, we all say we agree that 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. we should all agree fixed in the tax cuts for the middle class. let's agree to do what we agree on. >> bill: i love that. let's agree to do what we agree on. it makes so much sense. then the president says we'll have an election in november. and that election, let's decideú on that election whether the millionaires get another tax cut or not. >> obama: the fate of the tax cut for the wealthiest americans will be decide by the outcome of the next election. my opponent will fight to keep them in place. i will fight to end them. >> bill: sure enough right away, right away, mitt romney came out and said nope. he opposes what the president's doing because the tax cuts, everybody should get a tax cut. in other words what mitt romney is saying is -- and he said the congress should vote against it unless his buddies get a tax cut, too. unless the people that he hangs around with, the people he was in the hamptons with on sunday, the koch brothers, $50,000 a plate. ron pearlman, he had a big fund-raiser at the hampton raised $4 million, unless his buddies in the hampton and buddies who have the nascar teams and buddies who have the nfl teams unless his buddies who have the dressage horses, all get a tax break then mitt romney says he would deny a tax break to 98% of americans. he would tell middle class families 98% you go screw yourselves, you're not getting a tax break unless my wealthy friends get a tax break. all i'm saying is there's the choice. you could not have a more clear choice on tax cuts. it is a tax cut for 98% of americans or tax cuts for nobody. and you got barack obama for the middle class. mitt romney either for nobody or for his hampton buddies. 1-866-55-press. i think it is a winner for barack obama. 1-866-55-press. damn it, what the president said is absolutely true. the middle class deserves a tax break that will grow this economy and the wealthiest americans who have had a tax break for the last 12 years doesn't deserve one don't need one and we can't afford to continue to give them that tax break. we're going to do anything about the deficit or the debt. i think obama's on the right track. what do you say? 1-866-55-press. off to a good start this tuesday morning. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. thanks to head and shoulders for men. four shampoos that give men game-winning scalp protection, great looking hair... and confidence [ male announcer ] up to 100% flake free with head & shoulders for men. dose of politics from a fresh brought to you by expedia. what's my secret for sunday lunch? my little helpers... and 100% natural french's yellow mustard. it has zero calories for me, and a taste my family loves. >>we talk a lot about the influence of money in politics. it is the defining issue of this era. the candidate with the most money, does win. this is a national crisis. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: ta minutes after the hour. and of course, republicans right away said no, no, no, no, no, no this will hurt the job creators, the millionaires, they're the job creators. we've heard that before. they sound like a broken record, don't they? and as the president pointed out, we tried that out dudes. you might have made that case ten years ago. but for eight years the millionaires and billionaires had a tax break under george w. bush. and where did the jobs go? eight million jobs lost. doesn't work. under president clinton 22 million new jobs created. president obama just wants to put the tax rate -- top tax rate back to where it was under bill clinton, the best period of economic growth in modern american history. john's calling from lake city, tennessee. hey, john, what do you say? good morning. >> bill: john, are you there? hey, john, wake up. let's go out to -- get your chance john. you can't be asleep at the switch dude. barbara is calling from chicago. what do you say barbara? >> caller: good morning, how you doing? don't cut me off. >> bill: i wouldn't think of cutting you off. >> caller: president obama was right. for giving the middle class a tax break. we're the ones that go out in this country and buy stoves, reic from raters and cars in homes. what about them three democrats pelosi mendez and chuck as usual, can't be on the same page. wow. and then when you give tax breaks to people like mitt romney, he takes his tax breaks and send it to the cayman islands, how about that? >> bill: now barbara you're right. i want to point out first of all that chuck schumer yesterday did say look, if that's what the president wants i'm on board. he got off that million -- million dollar bandwagon. >> caller: why do it in the first place. giving the republicans something to talk about. that's all i hear this morning. >> bill: that's why you gotta watch morning bill, barbara. >> caller: i do, i do. i tear into you all when i don't want to kick the tv out. >> bill: all right. you got it. you're right on. thank you barbara. chuck schumer said let's give it up to a million dollars. so did nancy pelosi. chuck schumer says this is what the president wants i'm he on board. >> bill: andy, quickly from wilmington delaware. >> caller: it is very clear the republicans are going to hold 98% of us hostage for that 2%. the reason why they're not going to cut us a break. the president's totally right and let me tell you this. the more plainly barack obama speaks on these issues, the more folks will fall in his column. >> bill: it was language everybody could understand. he laid it out and the republicans look like fools trying to contradict him. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." and i'm just blanking a little bit. i think his phrase for it was feed the beast right? ♪ take just one more ♪ it's been dumbed down ♪ long before romney ♪ ever did ♪ >> thank you . >> stephanie: 45 minutes after the hour. we'll be back as we close "the stephanie miller show." >> on "the stephanie miller show" in suburban america this >> announcer: this is the "full court press," the "bill press show" live on current tv. >> bill: what do you say? good to see you. welcome to the "full court press." coming to you live from our nation's capital brought to you today by the international association of ironworkers. indeed, the good men and women of the ironworkers union under president walter weiss. the sky's the limit for them and you can find out -- great buildings that they build and bridges and all of that other good stuff. visit them and find out more about their good work at their web site, www.ironworkers.org. i read this morning peter, i think in "the washington post," today is the 75th anniversary of the writing of our new national anthem. this land is your land. >> is that right? >> bill: how about that. i love that song. once in awhile, we talk a lot of politics here. we'll continue to take your calls about president obama's big proposal to give 98% of americans a tax cut. mitt romney is against it. because he's there for the 2% only. but we also talk about other stuff like hey big all-star game tonight. the blade runner hitting the olympics competing against humans should, should he allowed to. we turn to the sports editor for the "nation" magazine, dave zirin. great to you have back. >> great to be here, bill. >> bill: are you like really, really excited to watch the all-star game tonight? >> i haven't been really, really excited to watch the all-star game since 1984. >> bill: thank you! >> i think -- maybe it was '83 fred lynn was the mvp. the a.l. won 14-4. i remember precise details about that game and might be the last time i remember details about the all-star game that didn't involve me saying to myself what is that look on bud selig's face? why is he calling the game? what is wrong with this man? other than that, it's been awhile. >> bill: i really don't get the point. i guess it is tradition why they do it. >> that's the worst part about it right now. because if it is going to be spectacle, let it be spectacle. let it be for the die-hard fan. but bud selig in his infinite wisdom and wisdom, i'm doing air quotes with my fingers. >> bill: i got it. >> infinite wisdom has decided the winner of the game gets -- that's the league that gets home field advantage during the world series which is so ridiculous. >> bill: asinine. >> it is written into the collective bargaining agreement that players can't bail on it unless they have a note from their doctor that's been notarized by the secretary of state. like they've turned it into this horrible deal that's so rough that 19-year-old bryce harper, the youngest position player in history to be in the all-star game, he also has back problems and he's playing for a team, the washington nationals your washington nationals my washington nationals actually have a real shot at winning the world series this year and bryce harper was asked how does it feel to play in the all-star game as a 19-year-old. he had a look on his face like he had just been sentenced to a minimum security prison. >> bill: he would rather be anywhere else. it is about as dumb as a home run derby don't you think? >> that's a special kind of dumb though. the home run derby. let me say something, like i think it would send amnesty international into an absolute outrage if it was found out that people who were being detained by the u.s. government were being asked to watch the interviews with players in between. there's no worse television than so how's that? with the home runs? that just happened. and the person like -- well, let me tell you. i don't want to be here. >> bill: i know. i hate to admit that peter and dan earlier were saying how much they loved it last night. got their rocks off on it. >> i agree with dave they make it into something it shouldn't be. do i want to hear about the guys talk about the home run they just hit? not really. i like watching big guys with big sticks hit the long ball. i know it is sort of a cave man mentality. i really get a kick out of it. >> bill: go to a ball game and sit there in anticipation that you're going to see a home run maybe one or two before the end of the game. >> i gotta say i'm with bill on this only because it is batting practice. >> bill: yeah, yeah. >> i actually like watching batting practice because players are trying to hit and it is interesting to watch from that perspective. but this is them just trying to hit bomb after bomb after bomb. and after awhile, you're just like hey how about that. >> bill: now that we're on a roll dave, dave zirin here for the nation, follow him at thenation.com. oscar pastorias, south africa. when i first heard the story here's a guy who lost both legs and is able to compete in the olympics. oh, my god this is such a heartwarming story. it would be unfair to compete against him because you've got legs and he doesn't. but the advantage may be on his part huh? >> yeah. it works both ways. and -- >> bill: should he be allowed to compete in the olympics? >> i think if he has the ability to compete with people with two full legs top to bottom, flesh and blood have at it. why not. i've gone around the bend on this in my head many, many times. it is like the debate a few years back about should that one young man be allowed to have a golf cart on the tour. >> bill: absolutely. >> this is the conclusion i've come to on this. i'm not with the golf cart on the pga tour because my goodness walking from hole to hole is the closest thing to exercise these guys do. but when it comes to the olympics, the whole thing is such spectacle at the end of the day. and there's been so much mechanization of training in the first place. i mean having super-duper space age legs made out of the latest in metallurgical technology, it is only the extension of the degree to which they're part robot any way. >> bill: it does give him a technical advantage over someone who has to drag two legs around the track. there is an -- the more i looked at it, thor -- the more i saw there is an advantage to the artificial limbs. >> i think you're right if you're talking about there is a race at the local high school track and my kid's gotta compete against somebody who is known as the blade runner, i would be like oh, crap, this isn't going to be good. when you're talking about something at this point that is just so much more about spectacle than sport it's like line it up. let's see what happens. we're out here watching this for the same reason. it is not because we've been following the careers of this particular 200 or 400 meter runner over the course of their lives. particularly in these days, in 2012. so it is like let's go for the spectacle. >> bill: another spectacle on top of the game or or on top of the sport for a long time, lance armstrong, how the mighty have fallen right? suing yesterday and his suit was thrown out over the doping allegations. what's up to date on that? >> the thing about lance armstrong is he finds himself in a very, very particular purgatory because he really is past the time where -- in the united states, the playing field and we've seen this with everybody from michael vick to alex rodriguez. the playing field is lords. you go on the field to play no matter what you've been accused of, no matter how horrific it is if you can perform all is forgiven. but if you are lance armstrong if you're roger clemens if you're barry bonds and these allegations, they come on you even if you're like roger clemens and you go to court and a jury finds you innocent only because your key witness andy pettitte is like maybe i did misremember, even with all of that, it sets in stone in terms of who you are. there's no getting out of it. there's no getting back to lords. so he finds himself in a very particular kind of purgatory at this point and no matter what he does no matter how many people he tries to sue no matter who he tries to speak with, he's, i think, always, always going to be considered a tarnished figure and i mean honestly, you've got the joe paterno level of falls from grace which i think is more profound than anybody in the history of sports. maybe even in the u.s. popular culture. and then after joe paterno you've got pete rose and then after pete rose you've got -- we got the lance armstrong level. >> bill: wow, how sad. the more evidence that comes out or evidence at least allegations and the stories keep coming out, it is hard to believe in him anymore right? it is hard to believe his story he never never never did any of this. i don't know where that all leads but -- and finally i guess, i gotta ask you dave, did you ever see an entire nation weep over a tennis game? i watched it twice on the news and i was crying watching andy murray. >> there's no crying in tennis. >> there is actually a lot of crying in tennis. >> i know. you're right. >> the irony of it as i saw it is serena williams, brilliant three set match on saturday. she was asked the question that it seems like women athletes are always asked which is right there on center court right afterwards, she was asked how are you able to control your emotions? when you were on the court. as if it is like i almost went into this frenzy of hysterics! good thing i had a valium and was able to take a nap with betty draper before i went back on the court and won. so it is ironic you had that and serena sort of looked at the questioner like get away from me now. and then on sunday, you saw the real emotion. you saw what it really was all about. i thought it was a little bit in poor taste for david cameron the prime minister of course of the u.k., i thought it was a little bit in poor taste to issue a press release that andy murray is now scottish. no he didn't really. [ laughter ] just kidding. >> bill: you know what? he's a great player, great athlete. i think we'll see a lot more of andy murray, too. >> you're saying that. god bless you for saying that. i gotta point out -- i believe it is 29 of the last 30 u.s. majors on the u.s. men's tour have been won by three people. if your name is not federer or djokovic, it is a pretty thin group. i would love to say you'll get them next year, andy but the reality is this might have been it! >> bill: all right. hey, dave, thanks for getting up early for us. appreciate it very much. always good to have you with us. >> my privilege. >> bill: dave zirin for the sports editor the nation. you can follow him on twitter at the edge of sports. we'll be right back. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. let's hear yours. politically direct means no b.s. just telling you what's going on of sununu, you're wrong. mitt romney, you're wrong. we need more teachers, not fewer teachers and more cops and more firefighters that support our >> romney you can take it. >> a new ad we will play for you when we come back here with lynn sweet, chicago sun times methderr death shiner from row call and bill cress part full-court press. you are welcome to join our conversation at 866-55-press. we will be right back. >> this is the bill press show. >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. >> announcer: on your radio, on tv the "bill press show." new on current tv. >> bill: how about it. 11 minutes before the top of the hour now. before we get back to the news of the day. here's a good question. how much extra money do you need at the end of each month? well, that's what the people at incomeathome.com would like to know. once they know they maybe can help you make it. you've heard me talk about incomeathome.com before. they are america's leading work from home business. doing business in over 80 countries today. this is something that all of you can do. no matter your age education experience or whatever you can literally be earning money from your laptop, your own kitchen table and do it 24/7. all you need is a little extra time and extra coaching from the folks at incomeathome.com. so at least it is worth checking out. don't you think? if you are sick of living paycheck to paycheck, worrying about job security or retirement. you would like to earn some extra money from home part-time or full time, incomeathome.com is where to go. they're adding my listeners in record numbers, even giving away $1,000 to somebody just for checking them out. that somebody could be you. of course. so check them out today at incomeathome.com. that's incomeathome.com. a little bit later congressman jim moran will be joining us in the next hour. jim moran democrat from virginia. our third hour together today congressman barney frank from massachusetts just married last saturday to his partner. jim ready. barney frank in studio with us this morning. stay around. two good reasons to stay around. also talk to judd legum from think progress which we do every tuesday. yesterday you might have heard. we talked with the lead scientist from acuweather who said well, you know, this could be global warming or maybe not global warming and i told him i thought he was full of hot air if he didn't recognize it was global warming. speaking about hot air we've seen a lot of it. in fact, right after this guy was sort of poo-pooing the evidence this is really global warming, nasa came out yesterday, just yesterday and said the last six months, january to june 2012 have been the hottest six months in recorded history. 2500 temperature records have been broken in the last week alone! 25,000 temperature records broken since the beginning of the year. and american weather conditions like in the midwest around kansas kansas city and that area yesterday were as hot as temperatures were in saudi arabia! can you image than? think of that desert land, saudi arabia kansas. if it continues going with the drought conditions and the crops dying and the corn dying, kansas is going to look like saudi arabia and they're people out there say what? what global warming? it was either glaciers melting the icecaps melting and yesterday, here's a scientist from australia telling us they're also seeing the coral reefs disappearing. peter doherty is his name. >> we have seen an alarming and unsustainable decline in the reefs. it is the lowest it has been since the start of that. >> bill: lowest it's been since the start of monitoring. i keep asking questions, how much more evidence do we need? that we are in the process of destroying this planet and when are our elected officials finally going to get serious about doing something about it? i hope before it's too late. i'm just not sure. it is the "full court press" on current tv and progreiv x.m. sirius satellite radio. we'll be right back. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv, the "bill press show." not the first time john sununu doesn't know what he's talking about. he's dead wrong. i would like to see the evidence -- i would like to see his evidence, number one for the fact that there are cities out there who still have more teachers than they need where there are fewer students yet they haven't gotten rid of any teachers. i would like to see the evidence of that. the other thing is we learned what's my secret for sunday lunch? my little helpers... and 100% natural french's yellow mustard. it has zero calories for me, the real world and politics collide on "the gavin newsom show". this week: can a futurist really predict the future? find out on "the gavin newsom show". only on current tv. >> announcer: taking your >> announcer: taking your e-mails on any topic at any time, this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: okay. lots of comments back and forth on facebook and twitter about mcdonald's sponsoring the olympics. one comment is bill press personal choice and freedom. if people don't order salads at mcdonald's that's their decision. i'm just saying nobody goes to mcdonald's for a salad. >> i got a salad at mcdonald's because i'm a health nut. >> bill: if you're a health nut, you wouldn't walk into mcdonald's in the first place. you can get fat by inhaling the odor ins a mcdonald's. >> bill: what about the acuweather guy yesterday. nice try with the acuweather guy but lee ann hicks says that questions like why glaciers don't melt and didn't melt in the '30s are too hard for climate deniers scientists to answer and understand. carol points out you can bet that if president had offshore bank accounts in bermuda and switzerland, we would never hear the end of it from fox news republicans and the rest of them from now until november. you know that's right. peter, someone wants to defend you about the horse meat, hungarian apple pie comment. fran says i thought it was hilarious. olph you were joking. and the idea of apple pie horse meat combination is so disgusting, that's precisely what makes it funny. i hope you didn't apologize to the idiot who took it seriously. >> of course i didn't. fran is my kind of woman. >> bill: peter did not apologize. he never will. he never apologizes for anything. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: good morning everybody! good to see you today. welcome to the "full court press" here on current tv! it is tuesday july 10. lots to talk about today. including this. you think there's no difference -- i hear people say that all the time, no difference between barack obama and mitt romney? try this out. barack obama announced yesterday he wants to give a tax break to 98% of americans and mitt romney immediately jumped in and said no no, no, no, no, screw the 98% of americans unless my top 2% millionaire buddies get a tax cut, too. see what i mean? clear choice in november. we'll talk about that and a whole lot more. first we get all of the latest. today's current news update here in los angeles standing by, lisa ferguson. good morning, lisa. >> good morning, bill. good morning everyone. bill said it and we're talking about it too. all money this morning after president obama's call to extend the bush era tax cuts for those making less than $250,000 a year. romney, of course, pounced on that announcement yesterday calling it another kick in the gut to the middle class. house republicans would rather see the tax cuts extended permanently for both middle income and wealthy americans. but think progress is out with an article on why letting tax cuts for the rich expire will not hurt the economy. republicans main claim is that taxes on the rich harm job creation and economic growth but according to data from the center for american progress, both job creation and gdp are actually stronger when the tax rate is higher than it is today. today's taxes are in fact, historically low. in 1945, the top rate was 94% compared with 35% today. a new poll from the "national journal" shows most americans actually do prefer president obama's tax plan over mitt romney's 60% of people say it is very important to extend the tax cuts for families making less than $250,000 while only 40% say it is very important to extend those cuts for all taxpayers. the poll also shows people favor the democrats plan to create jobs through federal spending rather than the republicans to cut taxes for businesses. on the international money front, the euro zone will now give spain an extra year to bring its budget deficit back in line with bloc rules meaning the 3% of the country's gpd. 30 billion euros will be available by the end of the month to start bailing out the banks. back with more arrive the break and live in chat at current.com/billpress. we have a big, big hour and the i.q. will go way up. how are you ever going to solve the problem if you don't look at all of the pieces? >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >>you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. >>sharp tongue, quick whit and above all, politically direct. >>you just think there is no low they won't go to. oh, no. if al gore's watching today... unwrap your paradise. soft, sweet coconut covered in rich, creamy chocolate. almond joy and mounds. unwrap paradise. take the gamble out of stain removal. only resolve all-stains has two formula chambers to remove all types of stains. using shout or oxiclean? that's just playing the odds. don't chance it, resolve it. see a resolve difference or it's free. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: president obama says let's give 98% of americans a tax cut. mitt romney says screw the middle class unless my millionaires get a tax cut too. there you go. hello, everybody. signs are pretty clear, aren't they? more and more every day. it is tuesday july 10. good to see you today. thank you for joining us here on the "full court press." booming out to you live all the way across this great land of ours. from our nation's capital and our studio on capitol hill right here in the shadow of the capitol dome and the heart of the action. we'll let you know what's going on here in our nation's capitol around the country and around the globe and give you a chance to weigh in on what it means to you and to your family. give us a call at 1-866-55-press. good to see you today and hope things are going well on what looks like an already beautiful tuesday morning. things have cooled down just a little bit. that patch of 100 degree plus temperatures has shrunk to the very middle of the country now. so the rest of us at least get a little bit of relief except for the new saudi arabia. that's what they're calling kansas. pretty scary. take your calls at 1-866-55-press. let's say hello first to team press here. peter ogborn and dan henning hello, guys. >> hello there. >> good morning. >> bill: everything good? >> yes indeed. >> bill: cyprian bowlding celebrating his second wedding anniversary today. mr. and mrs. cyprian. say hello. >> two years look, congratulations! if you make it to any anniversary, that's a big deal. >> bill: kehlia. >> mrs. bolding. >> i never call her by her first name. i just call her mrs. bolding. two years is big. let's see how they're doing in a few more years. >> we'll see how much effort they put into it. >> bill: a volvo will last longer. that's a segue to this gentlemen, irvin gordon is his name. get this. he bought a volvo in 1966. still ticking. >> i'm stunned by that. >> bill: i wonder how many engines he's put into it. he loves this volvo. >> the car has almost three million miles on it. i bought the car new on june 30, 1966. i bought 1500 miles on the car the first weekend i owned the car. i'm still driving it. it is on the road and still dependable. >> bill: how do you put three million miles -- where do you drive? where do you go? >> he's done several cross-country trips. >> bill: yeah. i think he's always on the road. >> he's driven 3,000 miles just to find a good cup of coffee. he's always on the road. it is a little two-seater volvo. correct me if i'm wrong i'm no car expert but i would assume it is the original engine because you put the miles on the engine, not on the car itself. the odometer is registered to the engine. the odometer keeps going. >> bill: i hear what you're saying. >> if you replace the engine then the odometer resets. that's not true. >> bill: i don't think that's true. >> i don't think that's true. >> because you could put a new engine in a car five years and say i've driven three million miles but not on the original engine. >> bill: but the car has. they're not the original tires either right? >> right. every few thousand miles you're getting new tires. >> bill: anyhow. that's a damn good volvo. he got a good buy is all i gotta say. >> look -- >> bill: he's taken good care of it. >> at three million miles the only thing that's original that's probably just the carriage on it. everything else is probably been replaced several times. put it that way. >> bill: a new radio. >> yeah, right. >> bill: probably got tv in there. he's got the whole thing, all right. coming up, congressman jim moran, democrat from virginia, good friend will be here a little bit later this hour. we'll start off this hour with sam collender economist from quorist communications. congressman barney frank in studio with us for the next hour. two democratic members of congress. we'll take your calls again at 1-866-55-press. but first... >> this is the "full court press." >> well, out of hollywood tom cruise and katie holmes have reached a divorce settlement. no details were released. "people" magazine reports katie will likely get custody of their 6-year-old daughter, suri. tom will get generous visitation rights. all are waiting for details on the role that scientology is playing in this. >> bill: we're also waiting on details on how much money she gets. they must have had a prenup to do it that fast. i hope so. >> outspoken conservatives activists and musician ted nugent is voicing his displeasure are the supreme court's healthcare ruling and a piece for "the washington times," he calls chief justice john robertas turncoat. he said things might have been better if the south had won the civil war. >> come on! >> bill: anybody who listens to ted nugent about anything, he's just an idiot. a total idiot. >> fixing our nation's washington monument -- >> bill: what he has done? who the hell -- i would rather listen to the hot dog vendor down here on pennsylvania avenue. he's got as much to say as ted nugent does. >> he said the south should have won the civil war. that's just -- credibility killer. >> bill: he should run for president with alan west as his vice presidential running mate. >> fixing the washington monument after last year'sate quake will be a much bigger deal than originally thought. national park service officials announcing yesterday they need to erect scaffolding to get to the top of the 550 feet structure. it will stay closed until at least 2014. it will take about $15 million to fix the damage. >> bill: you know what i want to say about that is right after we moved to washington, right they were repairing the washington monument and they put scaffolding on the washington monument and it was phenomenal. it was so attractive because the scaffolding on the outside then they lit it from the inside. i'm telling you, it was like up for about a year. everybody was saying this looks better than the real thing. [ laughter ] >> bill: do you guys remember that? >> i don't. i do not. >> bill: i'm sure you can find pictures of it. it has been like ten years ago. i remember distinctly. it was a beautiful structure with that scaffolding around. i'm looking forward to it. >> the earthquake did $15 million worth of improvement. >> bill: here and in arkansas. >> exactly. >> bill: president obama making a big announcement yesterday at the white house saying let's cut through the crap here. since everybody agrees the middle class ought to get a tax cut. 98% of americans those making under $250,000 a year, let's just do it. do you think this is going to fly? stan collender we turn to often and for -- advice on the economy and on jobs and the whole business front joins us now on our news line this morning. he's usually in studio with us. hey, stan, good to talk to you again. >> good to talk to you as well. i'm going to open a hot dog stand so we can talk more often. >> bill: i might trust you more. if you had a hot dog stand. so, stan, let's start with president yesterday. i thought he made a very strong point that 98% of americans we all agree the middle class ought to get a tax cut. let's agree on what we agree on and give them a tax cut. think it is going to fly? >> ultimately, yes. not before the election and not before the republicans try to rip him a new one for doing what they agree on. >> bill: right. how dare he, right? >> how dare you propose a tax cut when that's our issue. >> bill: when did we start defining the middle class as people making $250,000 a year? >> about the 2008 election basically. he's not talking the statistical sense. he's talking in terms of what -- in some cases aspirational. but he's also -- the president's also talking let's be honest about where the preponderance of votes are. in this case, he's trying to distinguish very clearly between those who really could afford the pay and should pay more in taxes and those who -- even the $250,000 for a family of four given the mortgage situation over the last couple of years et cetera. i wouldn't say it is a struggle with the upper part of the $250,000. it is everyone up to $250,000. even people making $30,000 $40,000, $50,000 would get a tax cut. >> bill: those over $250,000 would pay the higher rate back to the clinton rate which was 37%. >> 36 -- yeah, 36.9% i think is what it is. they would also get a tax cut for everything up to $250,000. >> bill: they would pay a higher rate of taxes, again, i thought it was 37%. >> it might be. it is early in the morning. >> bill: but they would pay that higher rate only on their income over $250,000. >> they're getting a tax break as well. >> bill: so mitt romney yesterday immediately came out and said no, i'm totally against this. unless the top 2% get a tax cut too. i guess my question -- from a policy point -- there is a policy and a political point of view. from the political point of view it seems what romney is really saying, i'm willing to raise taxes on 98% of americans unless 2% of americans get a tax cut as well. >> don't forget. he made that statement the day after that big fund-raiser out in the hamptons. so he had just talked to those people who said don't you dare raise our taxes. we can't afford to give back a penny even though we're driving ferraris and things. that's exactly what romney was saying and the president saying just the opposite. he's also -- don't forget -- keeping a campaign pledge he made in 2008. and he's offering -- the most interesting thing to me was that the president was offering to do this on his own terms. rather than waiting for negotiations republicans can claim they pushed him into it. let's not forget the economics here. the last thing you want to do in the current economic environment is make it more difficult for consumers to spend money. it is the right economics and it is certainly the right politics. >> bill: sure because those people and hilda soliz the labor secretary was in studio with us yesterday, she made that point. you give a tax break to people at that level they're going to spend it. they're going to buy a new car or clothes, kids going back to school or whatever. the president also yesterday -- >> don't forget the people over $250,000 are more likely to put it in an unnamed swiss bank account. >> bill: or the cayman islands. >> something like that. >> bill: i want to play a quick clip of the president yesterday. he made this point too. he knew what they were going to come back with, right. well we can't hurt the job creators by raising taxes on them. here's the president. >> we've tried it their way. it didn't work. at the beginning of the last decade congress passed trillions of dollars in tax cuts that benefitted the wealthiest americans more than anybody else. we were told that it would lead to more jobs and higher incomes for everybody and the prosperity would start at the top but then trickle down. and what happened? the wealthy got wealthier. but most americans struggled. instead of creating more jobs, we had the slowest job growth in half a century. >> bill: pretty hard to refute that, isn't it, stan? >> absolutely. corporations are sitting on the biggest hoard of cash in american history at the moment. hundreds of billions of dollars in money they have. they're just not spending. >> bill: why aren't they hiring? >> there are a variety of reasons. one, there is an economic reason here they're not sure about. consumer demand. there is some legitimacy to that. i don't think there's any doubt some of the corporations are holding back on money because they don't want to hire people during the election. i don't have any proof of this but i would be shocked if someone -- if a couple of ceos or others were saying why don't we wait three months. in the meantime, we'll be rewarded by our shareholders. we'll pay dividends. >> bill: why make barack obama look any better, any stronger than he is. i gotta ask you also about last friday the job numbers came out. pretty weak. 80,000 new jobs in june. so are we ever going to get out of this rut? >> slowly. all of the tools -- this is the most interesting thing bill. number one republicans limited the size of the stimulus back at the beginning of the administration. did so intentionally. then are preventing any additional type of economic fiscal stimulus, tax cuts in this case we're talking about. we could have those today. that would help stimulate the economy. but they put incredible political pressure on the federal reserve not to do anything on monetary policy. >> bill: and they killed all of the jobs bills that president obama sent up to congress. >> exactly right. so you've got no fiscal help, no monetary help. corporations aren't spending. consumers unless they're buying an apple product aren't spending. if you go back to econ101 that's the gdp equation. this is clearly a political strategy by the republican side to limit economic growth before the election. >> bill: i love it. they're trying to have it both ways, right. so they'll kill all of the jobs bills that would have -- whether it was public employees or construction workers that will put people out there working right. then they turn around and complain because there are too many people who don't have jobs. >> they want to cut federal spending by laying off additional workers which will decrease jobs. >> bill: stan, good to have you with us. come back in studio again soon. >> my hot dog stand will be outside rough office by noon. >> bill: stan collender with corvis communications. qorvis communications. where you follow stan is capital gains and gains.com. smart guy. on the economy. we'll be right back here on the "full court press." >> announcer: radio meets television. the "bill press show." now on current tv. hershey's drops. if you missed joy behar one week only... >>hey, time flies when you're having fun. >>don't worry because she'll be back. >>where are the lefties besides on current tv? >>joy behar is getting her own show coming to current tv this fall. hershey's drops. of sununu, you're wrong. mitt romney, you're wrong. we need more teachers, not fewer teachers and more cops and more firefighters that support our >>it's the place where democracy is supposed to be the great equalizer, where your vote is worth just as much as donald trump's. we must save the country. it starts with you. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 26 minutes after the hour now. congressman jim moran from virginia coming up in the next segment here in studio with us. meantime reaction yesterday to president obama's announcement he wanted to cut taxes on 98% of americans was very, very predictable. it was swift. republicans, of course, saying no no, no, no, no, no. you can't help out 98% of americans unless you help our hamptons buddies the millionaires and billionaires that mitt romney was hanging out with sunday. johnny isakson from georgia gave what president obama knew they would say. he came out talking about small business. >> this is a tax on the one thing we need the most and that's reinvestment of earnings to hire more people to build more businesses in america. >> bill: yeah, right. they, of course, the republicans have tried to -- have killed successfully killed all of the efforts that president obama put up to save -- to help small businesses. the president pointed out yesterday that 97% of small businesses make under $250,000 a year which means 97% of small businesses would get a tax break under his plan as well. jon kyl jumps on again the predictable word, uncertainty. >> raising marginal tax rates is no way to encourage aspiration or job creation. it imposes a wet blanket on the kind of risk taking that's helped build america. it is merely redistribution under the guise of social justice. >> bill: meanwhile president obama gave -- talking points are getting so tired. president obama gave a whole series of interviews to regional stations yesterday and he made little bit of news when he was asked by reporter for a new hampshire station about what about mitt romney and all of the offshore accounts, should this be an issue in this campaign? >> you're asking the american people to place enormous amount of faith in you and it is important to be able to say here's who i am and here's what i've done. >> bill: only one way for mitt romney to do that and that is as many people are now demanding and many editorial boards are demanding, release your tax returns, mitt. let us see how much money you have in the cayman islands, how much money you have in bermuda. how much money you have in your swiss bank account. where did the money come from and what are you doing with it and how much in american attackses did you avoid by parking your money offshore. i.q. will go way up. how are you ever going to solve the problem if you don't look at currenttv ever going to solve the problem if you don't look at all of the pieces? >>tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >>you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. >>sharp tongue, quick whit and above all, politically direct. >>you just think there is no low they won't go to. oh, no. if al gore's watching today... >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> announcer: heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 23 minutes after the hour. i find it astounding that republicans would automatically come out yesterday and say oh, no, no no, no, no, no, no, we're not going to help out 98% of americans with a tax cut. uh-huh no. not unless you take care of the 2%. because they're the people that we represent. you know what? i would think if you did a little survey, you would find out that in every district represented by republican member of congress and in every state represented by republican united states senator that there are more 98 percenters than there are 2 percenters. i'll bet that's true across the board. you know damn well it's true across the board. so i think the president's on the right side of this and romney once again is on the wrong side of this. rose is calling from indiana. hello, rose. >> caller: hi. >> bill: good morning. what do you think? >> caller: well, i think the republicans are massively fools. it is like has been said before on the program this morning that not just the infrastructure but the benefit from the manpower, educating them. they benefitted from all of this that we have done with the expansion of the road systems the interstate highways. this is what's built their businesses over the years. and it is like -- the poor babies at the top don't take and get their tax cut they need to provide and put back into the economy what's been given to them. they benefit by the education of these people. >> bill: yep. rose, also they have benefitted for the last 12 years from having a tax cut. right? a temporary tax cut. >> that's what it was initiated as a way of bush to take and fix this massive economy when we were bleeding jobs in the hundreds of thousands. first time in our entire lives during bush's presidency, we ended up on food stamps because my husband got laid off. >> bill: really? yeah. the president made that point yesterday, too. rose i appreciate hearing from you. he said you know -- and they did, they came right back out and said oh no, these are the job creators. these millionaires. you can't -- you can't tax these millionaires as job creators. the president pointed out don't give us that crap. we tried it for eight years. what happened, we lost. we lost eight million jobs. taxes lower than they've been for the top tax rate. lower than it has ever been. we lost jobs. they didn't create jobs. they wouldn't this time either. darryl is out in farmington hills, michigan. what do you say darrell? >> caller: good morning. i want to express support for what the president said for how he is labeling it and phrasing it. let's do this move. i think it is the right move. right statement of the way to go. >> bill: it was very powerful. he said since we all agree on this or say we do, then let's just do it. >> politically no's no way to walk around that statement and get away clean. economic improvements, not a game and really in reality the 2% that has enjoyed a lot of the benefits from the past are actually best set to take full advantage of any improvement in the economy. so, in fact, this is not just for the 98%. it is for 100% of the country. >> bill: you know what, darrell? i made this prediction yesterday. on another station. i believe that in the end i think obama's going to win this one. i think it will be like the student loans that the republicans will huff and puff and say no, no, no, no, we're not going to keep the student loans at 3.4% unless you agree you'll get rid of all of the preventive care stuff in the healthcare bill. they kept that until the very last minute. the very last day remember. what happened? they caved in. and we got the student loan fixed. they may huff and puff on this one. in the end, they're going to have to roll over. i don't think they can afford to screw the 98% not in this election year. aubrey is weighing in from jupiter, florida. hi aubrey, welcome. >> caller: hi, thank you. yesterday the president just made it so simple and so clear. and you know, to me, it's really frustrating that you know, i feel like most of us all want the same thing. and when i talk to a lot of my republican friends it is like one team rooting for the football team and the other team -- opposing team. no matter what the facts are. they just seem to say the same thing. everybody wants something for nothing. >> bill: i know. some of the people, you will never convince. the people who are in the middle and the people who are looking out for who's fighting for them, aubrey, i gotta agree with you. i thought the president said it best yesterday. he was very, very clear on what he wanted and why. barney frank is coming up next in studio. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> romney you can take it. >> a new ad we will play for you when we come back here with lynn sweet, chicago sun times methderr death shiner from row call and bill cress part full-court press. you are welcome to join our >> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: hey it's 33 minutes after the hour now. welcome back to the "full court press" here on current tv. your local progressive talk radio station. great to see you today. there is a new biography out of barney frank by stuart wiseberg and the title is america's only left-handed gay jewish congressman. i might add to that. one of the smartest men and one of the most courageous men ever to serve in the united states congress. good friend for a long time and i think one of the greatest liberals to serve in the united states congress and he makes history today by being the first member of congress to spend his honeymoon on the "bill press show" or part of his honeymoon on the "full court press." congressman, good to see you and congratulations. >> thank you, bill. >> you and jim didn't have anything to do than to come back to washington? >> we got married saturday. we had been planning it. i'm still at work. we wanted to have obviously time before the wedding and we get one week off and several weeks on. so the best time for us to get married which we did last saturday was that because we had a ten-day -- nine days before that, we weren't in session so we took that time knowing that i'm now going to be here. he will be down tomorrow and join me tomorrow for a couple of days. then in august, we'll take some time off. >> bill: good. so i have to ask you i'm told you've said before that you felt it was very important to get married while you were still a member of congress so that members of congress would have the experience of serving with a similar sex married person -- a same sex married person if you will. what kind of reaction have you gotten from your colleagues, particularly on the republican side? >> mostly the republicans have ignored it. there have been no negative comments. a few years ago there would have been. the climate is changing. and the opponents realize that they're getting -- the country is moving beyond them. a couple of the republicans have privately congratulated me. >> bill: privately. >> privately. the democrats have been enormously enthusiastic. the problem i had was i couldn't invite as many to the wedding as i would have liked. nancy pelosi was there and a dozen other members and some -- i knew this would happen. some that i invited jim and i have gotten close to, tough campaigns. i can't expect someone to take the weekend off for my wedding when he or she is in a tough campaign. generally, the reason i said that is this. there were a lot of debates about how we have been winning the -- i think we're winning the war against this prejudice. >> bill: seven states now and the district of columbia. >> i believe three more have voted for it. there will be referenda. i'm pretty optimistic at least we're going to have some states for the first time this year vote for it. and the reason is this. people talk about what works what doesn't work. clearly what works is reality beats ignorance. and this is a prejudice that's literally based on ignorance. people don't know gay people or think they do and have this wrong view in their heads. when all but the most deeply personally bigoted are confronted with a reality that goes counter to prejudice they have to back off. so there are still people who talk about same-sex marriage as this and that, negative effect well some of my colleagues have never met, at least to their knowledge, same-sex married couple. starting tomorrow, they will. >> bill: starting tomorrow they will. speaking of people who haven't quite -- maybe arrived in the 21st century governor jan brewer from arizona yesterday asking the united states supreme court to deny all benefits to same-sex couples. >> that's just mean. we're not talking about things that cost a huge amount of money. what you're saying here is in the state of arizona -- now remember the federal level there is already a law that denies benefits. that's going forward. a couple of federal courts have said that's unconstitutional. and you know, the rule has been this. in america states have defined what marriage is. the federal government has always done whatever the state says as a valid marriage. what the governor of arizona is saying two people who are in love who work the same -- under the same rules as anybody else don't get the same benefits. they pay the same taxes. they're married. they are committed to each other. they're not married in arizona. they're committed to each other. but they can't share health benefits. they can't have the full same rights at a hospital. and it is just mean. it does not -- negatively affect anybody else. i can understand look, i'm a strong supporter of laws that say you can't discriminate based on hiring. people who say i don't like these people. i don't want to hire them. i don't think that should hold up the law. at least they've got a personal involvement. what reason can you have to deny two people in love these benefits and it is not economic because it has a negligent effect on the economy. >> bill: congressman barney frank our guest in studio on this tuesday edition of the "full court press." congressman, yesterday president obama in the east room of the white house announcing his plan asking congress -- i thought made a very strong argument since we all agree that we should not raise tax cuts on the middle class, let's do something we all agree on and give people making under $250,000 a year a tax break this year. do you think it has a prayer in this republican-led congress? >> no. because the idea logic of a republican party -- i started in politics 40 years ago. i ran for state legislator and the year i ran for the first time as a democrat for the massachusetts legislature, i was a public supporter of a public incentive for re-election. i didn't agree with him on all of the issues. he was a reasonable moderate -- >> bill: you publicly endorsed him. >> i was a big supporter of ed brooks in '72. i worked with a lot of the republicans my same year in office. i worked the republican governor to oppose a democratic redistricting of the state senate. i thought it was unfair to minorities. now i'm a democrat and a lot of issues, i'm very partisan. i've always wanted to work together. you have a group in power that repudiates that. that just have a -- they're at war with the whole notion that in a civilized society, there are things we can only do if we pool our resources which is what we call government. taxes -- all of the year i've been in government, i've never seen a tax cut put out a fire. you would think as a civilized people we need -- we can only do if we do them together. but they are opposed to that. so their insistence on reducing taxes for the wealthiest people in this country from what they were when bill clinton was in power and not undoing the great gifts to the rich that they got under george bush, they're ready to hold the middle class hostage. that's essentially it. what they're saying is no. we will not vote for leaving the taxes at the lower level for most people for 97% or 98% because they're so committed to the small percentage we're going to take everybody else hostage. i hope the public understands that. >> bill: have you ever seen the gridlock so bad as it is right now in washington, d.c.? >> no. but i want to say it is not gridlock in the sense the gears don't work. the republican party and the house of representatives in particular, to a greater extent i would like to see in the senate as well does not believe in the important role of a public sector. look at the job picture. it is disappointing. but the private sector job recovery has been pretty good. the reason unemployment has stayed higher than it should be is overwhelmingly because this group in power now and to some extent in the states has forced the firing of teachers. firefighters. police officers. people who clean the streets. people who shovel the snow. >> bill: drive the buses. >> exactly. and so it is not gridlock in the sense that there's some technical problem or people are being stubborn. you have right wing group that controls the republican party that does not understand the importance of doing some things together. of course the private sector is very important. that's how we create wealth. some of the money has to be spent. what's the best example of that? we finally -- before we left a week ago got a highway bill passed. what could be less controversial. since eisenhower in the '50s, this has been a 98% -- >> bill: five years at a time. >> the reason we couldn't get a highway bill until the very last minute was right wing republicans do not understand that no matter how rich people are, they can't build their own roads. >> bill: right. so i have to ask you so little time. half an hour together here but so much i want to ask you. you have decided you're going to step down. you're not running for re-election this year. so when you look back over your time in the united states congress, what are you most proud of? >> well, you want to not sound too -- egotistical. couple of things i've worked hard on. some that i think are fairly clear. i was the first member of congress in 1987 to volunteer that i was gay. some others had come out because there were some incidents i did have a problem a couple of years later with a guy i made a terrible mistake with trusting. i had no inkling that was going to happen. i volunteered i was gay. i worked on that since i was in the legislature on trying to diminish the prejudice. i believe i've had a role on that. on the negative side, you remember this, bill. if you go back to august of 1998, there was a general sense that the right wing was going to get rid of bill clinton. i notice we have our kenneth starr poster up on the wall. i was the number two man on the judiciary committee at that time. >> bill: you were the force on the judiciary committee. >> we worked to keep bill clinton from being impeached. we were able to expose that. i'll tell you kenneth starr there, he was investigating the whitewater the fbi files, the travel office, the murder of vince foster and the lewinsky affair. before the election in 1998, he sent congress a recommendation to impeach bill clinton and convict him under the lewinsky affair. he was also -- excuse me -- investigating whitewater travel office. already concluded foster had not been murdered obviously. he didn't say anything about that. after the election when we had the hearing he then came out with a report that said by the way, on whitewater and the travel office and the fbi files the clintons did nothing wrong. he was investigating five things. three of them, he exonerated the president totally. there were four pending. three of them -- one was critical. he sent us only the critical ones. they were saying at the time -- i said to him why didn't you -- tell us that? it was basically i'm only here to tell you bad news. but anyway, i felt good about that. then of course, the financial reform bill. and one other thing that i was frustrated on. people misunderstand that. for all of my time here, i've worked hard to get rental housing here for poor people. we get blamed because of mortgages for low-income people. in fact, the liberals on our committee tried very hard to ban the bad mortgages and tom delay and alan greenspan the extreme free market people, the "wall street journal," we passed a bill, i didn't become chairman of the committee until 2007, first part of 2000. i wasn't -- i didn't have major role in the committee. i was the minority member. under the republicans that didn't mean much. what the "wall street journal" attacked us in 2007 in december for passing a bill in the house to restrict the subprime mortgages. i've worked hard for rental housing for low income people. i think that one we finally won. people understand the very poor let's build some decent rental housing. >> bill: let's come back and talk more about that. we're here with barney frank from massachusetts. this is the "full court press." if you want to join the conversation, 1-866-55-press. we'll be right back. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show," live on your radio and current tv. >>bill shares his views, now it's your turn. >>i know you're going to want to weigh in on these issues. >>connect with "full court press with bill press" at facebook.com/billpressshow and on twitter at bpshow. >>i believe people are hungry for it. ♪ take just one more ♪ it's been dumbed down ♪ long before romney ♪ ever did ♪ >> thank you . >> stephanie: 45 minutes after the hour. we'll be back as we close "the stephanie miller show." >> on "the stephanie miller show" in suburban america this ú >> on your radio, on tv, the "bill press show." >> bill: it is the "full court press" this tuesday. july 10. the one and only congressman barney frank from massachusetts in studio with us. congressman, you mention briefly, dodd frank, there are a lot of people -- it is interesting, the reaction to it. your response of course. the wall streeters say there is this thing that's going to shut us down. too much government regulation. they're trying to undo it. romney and others. and then on the other side, you've got a lot of progressives that say this is not near tough enough. look, no wall streeter is going to jail yet so we should have done more. can't win for losing. >> the comments that nothing to do with the bill. we passed a bill in 2010 under -- surprised some of the liberal friends we believe strongly in due process. one of the things about due process is you don't go to prison unless you have pretty clear information that it was illegal. we can't send people to jail retroactively. the notion you passed a bill in 2010 and no one went to jail for what they did in six seven eight, nine, i'm shocked at liberals who say that. one of the reasons why we had to pass the law was some of the things that were clearly bad weren't illegal. the problem we have not so much deregulation as nonregulation things go up call securitization. instead of being paid back by the people you loaned the money to, you sold the loan to other people who would get stuck if there was no repayment. if i'm lending you money and waiting for you to pay me back, i'm going to be more careful about lending to you than if i lend to you and it becomes somebody else's problem. the whole notion of derivatives they didn't exist 30 years ago. the republicans got a bill passed in 2000 saying no, you can't regulate them. we regulate derivatives strongly for the first time. the major fight we have in congress now on this incidence republicans want to take away the independence of the consumer bureau. for the first time, consumers have an agency whose job it is so protect consumers. not to protect the banks and then look after consumers secondarily. in addition, they're trying to rederegulate derivatives. where jpmorgan chase did lose billions of dollars. >> bill: $9 billion at least. >> that was their branch in london. earlier this year, the republicans put a bill through our committee over my objection and that most of the democrats that would have said that anything that an american bank does overseas through one of its branches in derivatives is not subject to american regulation. that one they got so embarrassed by, they're trying to stop it. we have got new rules that are stopping these. there are some other things. i'm proud under the legislation we passed, the shareholders of citicorp voted down the pay package for the leadership. now that's not binding on them but i guarantee you they're going to take it into account. the other thing is the commodity futures trading commission, obscurely-named organization is the major regulator of derivatives. we gave them all of this power. the republicans want to give them starting october of next year less money than this year. they're the people who had to deal with mf global. they're the people dealing with jpmorgan chase. they're the ones dealing -- this is the latest thing, this terrible scandal with what's called libor, the london rate where the banks apparently, many of them lying and fixing the rules, rigging it. and so there is this effort to undo it. i think what's happened is clear mistakes made by some of the large financial institutions. in some cases deliberately are saving us from the republicans effort to undermine things. >> bill: i think diamond made it less likely they're going to be able to undo everything. congressman barney frank great to have you in studio with us. congratulations again to you and jim. >> thank you. >> bill: thank you for all your great leadership in the united states congress on behalf of all of the causes that we believe in. and it is great to know you and good to have you as a friend. >> thank you. >> bill: come in any time while you're still in washington. i'll be right back with a quick parting shot. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." where's sean hannity and bill o'reilly? where's michelle , the people that accuse me of being a traitor. why aren't they out there taking on michele bachmann. that's what i want to know. why not? she's trashed the american flag. all i did was say let's dump the star-spangled banner for god bless america. >> that's way worse. way worse. hers is way worse. >> bill: there's the proof that i am a pitryiot -- patriot and michele bachmann is not. the real world and politics collide on "the gavin newsom show". this week: can a futurist really predict the future? find out on "the gavin newsom show". only on current tv. [ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> announcer: the parting shot with bill press. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: hey on this tuesday july 10, my parting shot for today, you know every day the difference between barack obama and mitt romney on so many issues becomes more and more clear. take yesterday in very convincing terms president obama made the case for giving 98% of americans those making less than $250,000 a year, another tax break. middle class families need the help. he pointed out. millionaires don't. but right away, mitt romney jumped in and said uh-huh! no. i don't like that idea. i oppose the tax cut for the middle class unless the tax -- the rich get a tax cut too. in other words says romney unless his buddies in the top 2% get a tax break he will deny a tax break to 98% of americans. yeah. who says there's no difference between the two candidates? you got it right there. tomorrow, brad woodhouse from the dnc will be in studio with us as well as karl frisch and we will be talking to governor eliot spitzer from "viewpoint" on current tv. have a great tuesday folks! come back and see us on the "full court press" again tomorrow. campbell, one of the nuns at the crone crone john fugelsang now >> kron kron crone crone. >>

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