volunteering for the job is middle class.org. i would even say auditioning for the job. they are aiming to hold lawmakers accountable for how their votes in legislation impact middle america. the site includes a thumbs up and thumbs down rating for specific pieces of legislation along with letter grades as well as a voting history for every member of congress, rating their loyalty to the needs of the middle class and with the approval ratings of both parties so low, maybe it s time they started to listen. joining us to talk about middle class.org, the co-director of the campaign, roger hickey. roger, it s a pleasure. dylan, thanks for having me on. so this is a brilliant idea. i think everybody can see the merit in having this type of information. it leaves a very simple question, which is who you are. i say this with respect, not with indictment, but who you are to judge which bill and which bill is not in favor of the middle class and by what measure? well, we re the campaign f
good afternoon to you. my name is dylan ratigan. how are you? or i can just tell you that. even after a lengthy meeting this afternoon at the white house, republican and democratic leaders still not budging on the budget. we re continuing to work toward an agreement, because i do believe all of us sincerely believe that we can get to an agreement, but we are not there yet. i m disappointed we haven t been able to get something done to this point, but i am pleased that we re still working on getting there. across town the gop pushing its $12 billion stop-gap bill through the house. if it passes in the senate the president vowed to veto it. if they get it done, it s good for a week. majority leader eric cantor also telling house lawmakers to keep their weekend open for last-minute developments. the pro wrestling theater at an epic height on this fine debate. debate over the impasse and just the mention of the tea party sparking fireworks on the floor. tea party on your
better plan, not only for breaking the backs of the special interests and their hold on politics, it s got to be who s got the best plan for jobs in america. yes. the last election, obama said have faith, believe it, the economy is getting better. the republicans said send me to washington and i ll slash the government and i ll create jobs. neither of those is working, and now we ve got to test both political parties to see which one of them has a plan for jobs. that s exactly right, roger, and i compliment you on your undertaking and i thank you for your praise for what we do. get in the bus and come on down on thursday. we ll do it. see you on thursday. okay. all right, roger, thank you. roger hickey, co-director for the campaign for america s future. the event this thursday, a job summit discussing long-term solutions to this crisis. coming up on hardball, chris matthews looking at how republican presidential candidates are lurching to the right in iowa. first, lit
it s been ongoing for years now. the question is, why is no one paying for it? and who should pay for it? the people who did it? the rich in general? or maybe we should just take it out on the teachers and cops. which seems fair to you? joining us now, roger hickey, co-director of the campaign for america s future, a group dedicated to finding long-term solutions to america s jobs crisis. thursday, they re holding a summit in washington on this very subject. and what do you think is the best way to go about this? well, michael moore had it right, the conservatives are telling us that america is broke. we re not broke. we just gave a massive tax cut to the richest people in america. so, our jobs summit on thursday, which we invite you to come to, dylan you re our leader. absolutely. we need a jobs movement that will take back some of that money from the very wealthy and invest it in job creation. washington, d.c., hasn t got it
up right back at the starting line facing a government shutdown, but not facing the facts. neither party offering cuts that amount to anything more than a drop in the bucket. you just have to look at the numbers to see it. the house-passed gop bill cuts spending by a mere $61 billion. remember, we have trillion-dollar problems that amounts to 4.3% of our total debt. and the only more insulting plan when it comes to cutting comes from the democrats, who offer cuts amounting to, yes, 0.4%. meantime, neither tackles the trillion-dollar problems that are sucking money out of our country. the money as it leaves pays off a very small group of special interests, and instead of dealing with this problem, we continue to print more money to cover up the theft. so, who in washington will face the facts? who will step up for the future of this country? even loyal democrats are asking where our president is. both proposals will fail. worse still, everyone in congress knows that they wil