mr. president, take your campaign the division, anger, and hate back to chicago and let us get about rebuilding and reuniting american. >> eliot: those remarks triggered by vice president biden's claim that romney would undo wall street regulations if reelected. >> he would let them write their own rules. unchain wall street. they're going to put y'all back in chains. >> eliot: an obama campaign called romney's comments, unhinged, but it did not stop romney from broadening his attack. when asked how his campaign was about hatred, he found it part of a political sin. >> divisive based on income, age, ethnicity and so forth. >> eliot: it's the so forth that really does it. needless to say president obama disagrees. on biden mr. obama said when put in context the vice president said you consumers the american people, will be a lot worse off if we repeal these laws as the other side is suggesting. while it may not have been di divisive ryan claimed that the president cut $700 billion from the medicine said to pay for the healthcare act. >> we do not cut to add to the budget. >> eliot: fact, it claims the same $700 billion in cuts that the president does leaving romney to try to cut himself out of one thing ryan i don't ryan's and mr. obama's cuts include the same plan. >> those cuts will be restored if i become president and paul ryan becomes vice president. does romney protest too much? >> the affordable care act does not cut benefits. it strengths the program. >> protesters outside of the las vegas hotel that ryan was inside a he made a pitch to sheldon adelson and other deep-pocketed donors. >> that is something that we think we should do in the light of day. >> eliot: in other words, no way i'm going to answer that question, and please stop asking for more than two years of romney tax returns. that's from ann romney who echoed her husband when asked if more years would be forth coming. >> we have done what is legally required and there will be no more tax releases given. it will just give them more ammunition. >> eliot: more ammunition. when the romneys put it that way, it sure sound like there might be something there that we would be interested in. for more on paul ryan and the parallel university of wealthy conservatives and far-right think tanks, i'm joined by the political reporter for "the new york times" who detailed those items in this week. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> eliot: we have this midwestern who stumbled on the national change. in fact, he has a long and deep relationship with the koch brothers and the right-wing think tanks. explain it to us. it's an interesting story. >> it's important to remember that back in the bush years in the second term there were a subset of donors and activist who is had become exasperated with what they viewed as the bush's administration departure whether it's deficit spending or medicare part-d. around this time, 2005, 2006, you saw these seminars that cook brothers were convening. these are not the same donors who were contributing to the republican national committee. these were different donors. at the same time paul ryan was participating in some of the grassroots events organized by some of the off shoots like americans for prosperity which has a lot of grassroots now. it had it's fourth chapter in wisconsin. over time as he became the house budget chair in 2010 after being the ranker for a couple of years, all of a sudden he was in this position of great influence. quite surprisingly too people who might have watched miss voting record for the bush years, he southedvoted for all those things that conservatives did not like, he started advocateing to sharp cuts to government spending. >> there was almost as if there was an epiphany on his part or he was persuaded by the fact of his relationship with the koch brothers, i won't suggest that he was being bought, but there was the transition there because his voting record is very traditional big spending conservative republican helping out the major corporate interests in every way. he's not the libertarian that those groups pretended to be. why did they latch on to him so aggressively? >> i think he's what some people call policy entrepreneur on the hill. he passed only two bills in congress the whole time he has been there. he has been there since '98. his real job was to create inside on paper and then from the outside-in build support for them in the republican caucus, think tanks, leaders on the right, editorialists. then in 2010 that's the real pivot. all of a sudden as it was put in a new york article, there were tea party freshmen who wanted to cut government and had no idea ho to do it. they began to turn to paul ryan. >> eliot: and paul ryan began to embrace their ideology and then embraced it. it's not as though he had been propagateing this ideology for many years. and the two bills. one rename the post office and the other is the excise tax on bows in archery. and then there is the sheldon adelson relationship. meeting with him in vegas. where does this come from, and why does adelson now embrace ryan and vice versa. >> i think the point of the event last night the finance event that is in the found razor fundraiser ryan does not have a vip with adelson. his issues are israel, iran, that's where he has focused his dollars. he has a tangential connection to ryan through the young gun movement that eric canter calls the current generation of youngish house members who are on the right. he and paul ryan are friends and colleagues and partners in that effort. so sheldon adelson had been very involved with the young guns. he has given money to eric canter's pac. but paul ryan is a budget guy. that's not sheldon adelson's things over the years. the point of that meeting putting it bluntly kissing the ring. they understand how important sheldon adelson's spending to those on the right is going to be in this election. they wanted to make sure that he had a chance to hear from the pick for vice president. >> eliot: in a way it's more likely that the right wing groups the koch brothers and sheldon adelson their universe will be happier. mitt romney was not their first choice. in a way i have a sense that they will look to ryan to be their voice in the white house should the romney-ryan ticket win, of course, because he'll be carrying their loyalty and would have worked with them over many mother years than mitt romney. >> that's true. it's policy and personality. paul ryan everybody ised in the choice with chris chikolo head of the club for growth. he was on the staff committee for the freedom works the tea party organization that is active around the country. he received an award for those brands of americans for prosperity. he has a connection with those guys. romney was more of a traditional republican businessman, and so i think for these groups having ryan on the ticket is a fresh reason to vote or advocate for and give money for mitt romney as opposed to really against barack obama. >> eliot: the way i see t that's exactly right. the koch brothers showed adilson that universe is for the president as opposed to barack obama, which is something that we already knew they were. spectacular articles that you wrote this week about the emergence of paul ryan. thank you. >> of course. >> eliot: for more, i'm joined by a great congressman friend, barney frank, from the state of massachusetts, ranking member on the house financial service committee. sir, thank you for joining us. >> good to be here. >> so everybody says paul ryan is wonderfully nice, decent guy but i read his budget, and it seems like a fraudulent document. smoking mirrors. >> absolutely. by pleasant, look, he's an amble guy. you can have a pleasant conversation with him as long as you don't talk about anything substantive. essex treatmentist. he brags in this budget at a time when we've got these terrible deficit problems, etc. that he proposes that we increase real spending on the military. that's his phrase. we increase real spending. that is increase military spending at a time we're withdrawing from iraq, and we're going to get out of afghanistan if we have any brains, and we're going to cut back on nuclear weapons. he's boasting how he's going to give the pentagon even more. you hold the taxes at best, maybe a drop and you allow the military increases and you're going to cut the deficit. there is nothing left to promote the quality of life here. but even on his own terms if you increase military spending above inflation--you should be reducing it--and you give the wealthy people taxes that's why he cannot come close to closing the deficit. >> he does not close the deficit until after 2030, and the magic number is 3.5% which is what he's willing to spend on defense and everything else. and mitt romney says he needs 4%. that leaves zero to improve the quality of our lives. >> we're talking here, by the way, we're talking about policemen on the streets of our cities. we're talking about highways. we're not talking about execs exotica. this would give us the federal government of coolidge and hoover. >> eliot: if people bother to read the history books which the other side of the aisle clearly-- >> i'm glad you made the point on the economics. when you cut back substantially you're not doing just social harm but economic harm because you do not have the spending power. it's now clear we would have unemployment below 8% if it weren't for the fact that republican policies have forced cities and states to layoff 700,000 people. firefighters, police officers, teachers public works employees, people who collect the garbage. people who shovel the snow. because they've been hit by the property tax collapse. they've been losing. we tried to help them out and the republicans said no, we got to preserve tax cuts for the wealthy and send money overseas to the military in unuseful ways, and the result has been 700,000 jobs lost from state and local governments over these past couple of years. >> and in a different domain, one that is near and dear to your heart certainly he said he wants to repeal dodd frank. he wants to go back to the self regulatory era that worked out so well leading up to the crash of '08. i don't even understand his framework for financial services. >> there was this great comment about the french kings who were restoreed after napoleon. someone said, oh, they seem to have forgotten everything about what caused the evolution when they came back. they said, no, no, they have forgotten nothing because they have learned nothing. that's the republicans. they haven't forgotten they haven't learned it. they did not understand the cause of this terrible crash. by the way they talk about partisanship. every responsible and thoughtful republican appointee of george bush to deal with financial matters agrees with us. ben bernanke was a bush appointing. sheila bear, head of fdic, hank poulson. the republicans who are have hands-on experience are supportive of what we're doing legislatively. it's only the abstract iran theorists who are just beyond--we'll take another historical phrase. they're invincebly ignorant. they have a theology that so encrusts them that no facts break there. >> eliot: and most of them have been in the private sector. the ones who are smart enough to learn from the record, including sandy wyle who was willing to acknowledge that his brainchild was fundamentally flawed. >> i annoyed jamie dimon when i said that his salary shut be on the chopping block, he said that he agrees. lloyd--these are people who yeah, left to their own they're going to be under the competitive pace. yes, it was the success certificate of wyle when i asked him why, you remember the sibs that were debts kept off the books. i said why don't you put them on your books? they are debt of the bank. he said, well, if i put them on my books i'll be at a competitive disadvantage to beat goldman. the intelligent ones >> eliot: they also had one of the best lines a number of years ago when they ask about issuing the debt. they said as long as the music is playing we'll continue to dance. >> you got to dance. >> eliot: which is my response was, who is supposed to turn off the music if you won't. clearly ghost had to. >> that's us. we have to say okay, you're going to take a break. you know, the republicans in the congress were trying to go back to that. but reality hit them in the face. they had a bill that they were going to bring to the floor of the house that would have said american regulators cannot regulate derivative transactions from the overseas branches of american banks. and then jpmorgan chase considered a very well run one by comparative standards loses more billions than they know that they lost in england. reality has not been kind to them. i'm glad, by the way, that as people understand that we're making gains. there was a very good article in "the new york times," we're well on the way of getting control of the irresponsibility in commodities. a, we had a good law. b, we had a good regulator. >> eliot: he was met with skepticism but he has done a great job and he deserves to be paid for it. >> well, sometimes it takes someone on the fringe. the head of the fcc joe kennedy. he said it takes someone who knows this to stop it. >> eliot: time runs short. the one and only congress man barney frank. we'll miss him deeply after he retires. thank you for joining us. >> thank you eliot. >> eliot: you want to vote in pennsylvania? show us your papers. that's coming up. um, miss ? you have hard water stains and that cleaner's not gonna cut it. you need lime-a-way. it's 4 times more effective at removing limescale than the leading bathroom cleaner. lime-a-way is specially formulated to conquer hard water stains. for lime, calcium and rust... lime-a-way is a must. hey joe, can you talk? sure. your hair -- amazing. thanks to head and 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[ male announcer ] the inventors of twix had a falling out, so the production of twix was divided between two separate factories. left twix factory cascades caramel and chocolate onto cookie, while right twix factory flows caramel and chocolate onto cookie. today they share nothing but a wrapper and a driveway. try both and pick a side. >> eliot: republicans keep condemning president obama no matter what the issue. so it's no surprise they're blaming him for the weather. which brings us to the number of the day. 64%. that's how much of the continuous united states has been hit by drought. and according to a statement from john boehner's office monday, that's obama's fault. after the president said paul ryan helped block a farm bill in congress, the house speaker released a statement saying, quote, obama continues to blame everyone and anyone for the drought but himself. why stop there? the speaker also could have said the sun is going to collapse in 5 billion years, and obama refuses to accept responsibility. okay boehner misspoke. he later issued a clarification saying that the president is blaming others for failing to respond to the drought. but republicans have a developed mindless habit of blaming obama first and then sometimes correcting later on. 1cccm00426 scussion of what paul ryan's selection as running mate means in the selection of the mitt romney campaign, there is a direct impact on the direction of the entire nation. in florida connie mack faces an uphill battle in november as he goes against two-term democratic senator bill nelson. and linda mcmahon crushed sha sending close to $20 million. still that's small potatoes compared to $50 million that mcmahon spent in the 2010 senate bid. and a 70-year-old four-term governor tommy thompson held off challengers to eke out a victory. he moves on to battle tammy baldwin to see who will be elected for the retiring senator herb cole's seat. here with us, david catnee. thanks for joining us tonight. >> good evening eliot. >> eliot: let's set the stage. how many seats do the republicans need to pick up to regain or gain control of the senate, and obviously that would be the fulcrum around an awful lot would pivot. >> you're looking at four seats if president obama is re-elected. that's the baseline that we're going off of. that's how republicans are planning. and in two of these races that were last night to determine the primary, they are battlegrounds seeds that the republicans are targeting, wisconsin, herb cole's democratic seat that republicans feel very good about because of the environment in wisconsin, because of the success that governor scott walker had. they nominated tommy thompson as a throw. back to the past. you have connie mack, the fourth the son of the former senator down there who has uniform name i.d. because of his father going up against bill nelson. now, connie mack has not run the best campaign, but because of the national environment, bill nelson's numbers aren't very good, and the polls have shown him in a statistical dead heat. these are two of the three that are very key for the republicans. >> eliot: as you pointed out herb cole is retiring. he would have held that seat with some ease. he's very popular. when he announced his retirement, it set off a flurry, and at that point it looked like a democratic stronghold, but then scott walker pushed back successfully, and then the republican party is energized there. tommy thompson somewhat of a moderate could pull in voters. tommy touch son thompson in this was the winner. >> yes, it looks like what was happening in other states could happen in wisconsin the most conservative win. but the anti-thompson vote splintered allowing him to come through. republicans in washington had a sigh of relief in that outcome because he does have cross-over appeal. a four-term governor, former hhs secretary under the bush administration. this guy is tied in. everybody knows him. they call him tommy on the streets. i spent time there on the ground he did lurch in the primary. and at one point he said he would go farther than the paul ryan plan. that quote will end up in an ad. but republicans liked the match up that they had against tammy baldwin. congresswoman from madison, she would be the first openly gay senator if elected. but they're more focused on her record, which is one of the most liberal in congress. they like that thompson-baldwin match up. >> eliot: tommy thompson did 50 push ups to prove that at the stage of 70 he was young enough to serve in the senate. and mcmahon crushed in the prime minister, but can she win? she strikes me as being wwe. i don't know if she has the image to be in the senate. >> i don't know if she can pull off a makeover, that's what she's trying to do in this round. but there is polling out there that says she would have an outside shot because mainly the democrat here is a congressman largely undefined state white even though connecticut is not a huge state to get defined in. look, republicans know this is a long shot, but that if she's going to pend her own money to do it, by all means. you know, there is a very wide map. a lot of competitive senate races this year. they look at this one that could get close if she runs a smart disciplined campaign. look, there is a lot of ammunition litigated in 2010 against linda mcmahon. her wwf and wwe days, and that will all come back. >> eliot: it will come back, but the public likes it when the someone comes back and gives it a second shot. i never would in a million years vote for her but they say she made her money in the wrestling arena. she's the outsider against the insider congressman and even in connecticut this could be an important one to watch. unfortunately time runs short. we're going to ask you to come back over the course of the weeks leading up to november control of the senate is hugely important to everything issue we'll be talking about. david, thank you for joining us. >> sure, happy to be here. >> eliot: who better than the voice of mr. burns from the simpsons. joins us coming up. >> eliot: receipts check in with jennifer granholm in "the war room." good evening governor, what have you got for us tonight? >> eliot we're going to pick up where you are leaving off. we're going to focus on the american voter because obviously from all indications voters are depressed, suppressed and illusioned. it's a big problem. we're going to talk about how money is effectively disenfranchising voters. we have a well important story at the top of the of the hour. >> eliot: depressed, suppressed and disillusioned. wow. more "viewpoint" coming up next. mix. >>now it's your turn at the only online forum with a direct line to eliot spitzer. >>join the debate now.enttv