anytime you challenge the status quo, it s going to be bold. but it s a very modest request of our government workers all across the state. when i was traveling around the state, it s something worth repeating. we ve been hearing it time and time again when people contacted us. when i was talking to blue collar workers across the state earlier this week, it reinforced to they re paying anywhere from 25 to 50% of their health care costs. most of them don t have pensions and those who have 401(k)s, many of them have seen the contribution from their employer has been suspended in the last year or two, i should say. as the economy has made it difficult in order to preserve jobs. that s in contrast to the modest request we re asking for, a 5.8% crick to the pension system, and a 1.6% contribution from state workers. that s half the national average. to the workers i talk to around
that seat that is now in democratic hands. with just 50 days to go before the midterm elections, president obama seems set for a showdown with senate republicans. the president wants to extend bush-era tax cuts. but republicans say those cuts are just not enough. jake tapper has more. reporter: the president met with middle-class voters in fairfax, virginia. i m a massage therapist. i ve got a crick in my neck right here. i bet you do. reporter: and there he continued to push the idea that republicans have a stranglehold on a middle-class tax cut and are holding it hostage until it s extended to wealthier americans as well. because wages and incomes had flatlined for middle-class families, they should definitely get an extension of the tax cuts that were instituted in 2001, 2003. reporter: over the weekend house republican leader john boehner essentially gave in, saying he d go along with continuing those bush tax cuts for middle-class voters even if the cuts for higher
now a pittsburgher s howard fineman joins us msnbc political analyst. and amy walter who has been so good on these topics lately. you first this time. this sestak ad has been criticized by the people working for arlen specter, by crick nhr nicholas, as shameful, because it shows arlen when he was getting chemo, when he was looking particularly bad. is that unfair to show an ad with his picture in that condition. your thoughts, amy? or is it all fair in love and war? these are the last few days here of this campaign. now i m actually surprised. when you look at that ad that you just put up there, that s a pretty soft comparative ad this wasn t exactly, this is not slash and burn. compare this to what s going on in arkansas, which is much more contentious. and you re going to actually get whoever comes out of this primary, they ve been banged up a little bit. but this has not been the sort of dirty tricks kind of thing that you ve seen in others.
have to be careful anyone with religious bias or conservative bias would be trying to unduly influence these textbooks. you ve got to think about other touchy issues, things like creation and environmentalism, those kinds of things that come into the equation as well. we talked to a panel of parents this weekend and they agree that s one of those topics that s tough when it gets into the crick lup. here s what one mother has to say. with all due respect to all of us, this is a public school system, and then you are teaching to our children it crosses a barrier, i think, that if we choose to educate our children in public schools is being overstepped. reporter: so including things like religion, obviously, very touchy for a lot of folks. we ll see how it plays out in texas. megyn: shannon bream, thank you so much. we see your questions and he s going to answer some of them live, radio talk show host dave ramsay joins me live from nashville in three minutes and the lines are open
solar eclipse occurs? the sun, the earth, the moon, they line up somehow? i don t know. i don t like science. hours away from the total solar eclipse, we hit the streets to test your celestial knowledge. watters world, where sun s always shining, begins right now. welcome to watters world, i m jesse watters. big news coming from the white house. chief strategist steve bannon is out after months of controversy. joining me now is new rnc spokesperson caylee mckenney. now, i know steve bannon personally, i think he s a fantastic strategist and was very helpful as an adviser to the president during the general election and then in the white house. but apparently, he just became too much of a distraction? was that what you re hearing? look, you know, i can t speak to the inner workings of the white house, but what i will say is we value his crick, we value his time. anyone who serves, we value