He complained of the establishment being mean to him like he was an 8yearold in the recess yard. He presents himself as the one whos been wronged. He speaks of challenging the bosses even though theyre his partys elected leaders. And he or any other republican senator is free to run against him. He speaks of people saying mean things about him as if he wasnt the one that brought the government to a shutdown. But who do the people rally that its not true. That hes the innocent. That hes the bystander when he is the very figure who fired on ft. Sumter, not the other way around. But is the right so dizzy that it cant tell up from down or north from south or victim from troublemaker. John favreau was the speech writer, and john feehery is a republican strategy. I want to start with you in the Republican Party because you really know it. Its your home turf. Its made of the party we grew up with. Moderate to conservative. B now it has a new wing. Whos winning . Well, i think the establishment wing, if you want to say it, is not winning. They are taking on some more water. Theyve got to fight back in the primaries. Theyve got to be able to make these members honest so they dont keep on going to the right. The most important thing why is everybody afraid to challenge the hard right in the weeks of the Government Shutdown . So much they stayed in line until they got the permission slip from the speaker its now okay to vote the way you think. They were worried about a primary. Most members are risk adverse. And they worry about there is a populism going on in the country. Not just the republicans but also the democrats. Theres a disgust with washington. Theres a disgust with new york. And i understand that and republicans whats the new york zbloinlsds wall street. People with the jackson attitude. Theres this big disparity of wealth. And people are frustrated. And we appreciate that. Have you looked out the window and seen the poverty driving through north philly, its not all rich up there. Its not. But you get my point. Theres a sense of the populism out there. But they have to channel it. And being against everybody is no way to govern. To you see nihilistic . I say nihilistic. Lets talk about this. You have been writing for the president. Hes looking out for the white house right now and sees the other party, theyre not in disarray. The republicans are an organized group of people. But theres an Unusual Division going on where you can see across the masondixson line. The south is insurgent right now. I said this in my column. I think we have to be on the side of the moderates. I think the president wants to be working with john boehner, he has to make sure when he makes a deal with john boehner hes going to have some republicans come along with him. Have you seen him do a good job of that . Is he doing a good job of sitting down with john boehner in private and working . I think the two men get along well. How come every time something is said like i cant stand working with you, it leaks within hours . Because thats washington. I might and in all due respect to john, i think the president would like to see the republicans go over the edge. And i think he eggs them on because he wants the democrats to take over control of the house and have the whole run of the thing in the last two years of his presidency. You think hes thinking that far ahead. I do. Anyway, the Republican Partys conflicted about how much focus it should place on social issues. Abortion, gay marriage, opposition to both. After the election the rnc put out an autopsy as we know. Arguing it needs to be more welcoming and inexclusive on issues like marriage equality. But a new report out today from a social conservative group blame the partys losses last year on the fact that too many republicans called a truce on those issues. Quote, we believe the conventional explanation emerging from the rncs autopsy report get the core issues wrong. Social issues especially the life issues do not hurt gop candidates. They help them win elections. In other words, Business Leaders not regular people who have to get a job. You agree with that . Which is right . There was a lot of good stuff in that report. The new report. The new report. We are the prolife party. I think in economics we cant be the boss party. Weve got to be the worker party. Theres a lot more worker bees than boss. So youre with Rick Santorum. I think thats the Rick Santorum argument. There is an economic populism and we have to understand it and come up with philosophies thats not just let the rich be richer. That we have to understand that there is a place for helping people. And i think santorum rwas right on that. Theyll say on fiscal issues im conservative. Youre saying the real angle is looking out for the working class guy like santorum and being concerned on issues like abortion and samesex marriage. Wheres the action . Whe wheres the emerging of the country . I agree with john. Theyre not going to run away from their position on how about other social issues . Do they stick to their guns . I think they cant run away. I think they have to run away from candidates like todd akin talking about legitimate rape. On economic issues, there are legitimate concerns about income inequality and wage differential and job security. One of the things in the report, 5,000 scholarship. Can the republicans win the election next time. Forget the names. If they run on the platform of hostility to legal abortion, hostility to samesex marriage. Not national. You said they cant run away from positions. Get it straight. Do you believe theyve got to keep it in their platform . It depends on the economic issue. No their platform. Theyre going to. You said they cant win if they keep it in. I think they cant run away from the issues. I think voters will decide. So it doesnt matter if they keep them. It doesnt matter. George bush won on that platform. The fact of the matter is you cannot run away on the prolife thing but you also cant scare people. Like cuccinelli on contraception. We have to have a thing and theres a you mean those what do you call them . Unmarried women in Northern Virginia came to work might be scared off by someone who wants to outlaw Birth Control . You need to focus on the issue at hand. Im teasing because of of absurdity. Latourette of ohio is defending main street trying to take on the tea party and promote republican candidates next year. He said quote, hopefully well go into eight to ten races and beat the snot out of them. When you say theyre going to knock the snot out of them, youre already pulling punches. We dont usually talk like that in speech writing. Stay away from that. Do you think thats going to work from your view . I hope for the sake of the country it works. Because we cant afford to see what we did the last couple weeks. What you need to have are republicans who believe in governance. I dont believe having the big business sector coming in saying this is our candidate. But you need the candidates that believe in rational governance. These ron paul candidates, i like rand paul but ron paul is going through this libertarianism that is not republicanism. We need to find the candidates that can make the race. Heres one guy that will be hard to take on the hard right. Rob jezner. Hes saying, quote, this conflict could be the new nor l normal. Until we have a nominee in 2016, biel in the wilderness for awhile. I think hes senator, this guy. I dont know him, but hes a staff guy like we used to be. He says basically until the Republican Party goes head to head in their day of reckoning when they pick the candidate to run against hillary, thats when well know if its a party of the hard right a la ted cruz or back to the center right. There is no single dominant strain of conservatism. Its all regional and based on your own beliefs. Until theres a president ial candidates that sorts it all out, were going to have this conflict. Dont you fear that as a republican that you might go into the field in 2016 in election, you ought to be competitive in. Because no party holds the white house more than eight years easily. Its always a struggle. And you find yourself with the middle taken away because Hillary Clinton has moved to the senator where she already sort of is on foreign policy. And youre stuck with a hard right candidate like rand paul or ted cruz. I think were going to have a governor. I think its going to be someone who has actually made hard decisions and can understand how this all works together. And i think is that walker youre talking about . Im thinking john kasich. Really . I like john kasich. I do too. This debate is not unhealthy. There is this shift in the country. Heres another moderate republican, the former republican governor of pennsylvania addressed the log cabin republicans last night. He had a stark warning for his party. For many observers, the gop has become intolerant, judgmental, and selfrighteous. Perhaps worthy of the pilgrims in 1620. But hardly attractive qualities for hundreds of years later. Is the Democratic Party lucky, fortunate in having as its opposite a party which is basically outmoded in terms of social issues . I think outmoded in social issues makes them lucky. But were talking about the economic movement. The 47 thing. Yeah. The 47 and the idea of job creators. Look at mitt romney. That guys face said i made money. And youll never make as much. Mitt romney was the richest candidate weve ever put forward in history. And rich people are actually very unpopular. So it was not good. That was odd for your party. The Democratic Party has always been the party of the very high, the roosevelts and kennedys and people like that. And your party thats your party. Your party has been the middle. This is why i think johns right. Thats why we lost. People didnt necessarily trust romney on social issues. The hard core conservatives didnt like romney. He was equivocal on abortion. Hows the president doing . Hes great. Is he happy . He is. Is he happy . Hes realistic. Whats the biggest thing he wants to do before leaving office . I think Immigration Reform. And bipartisan bill across the senate. Will he get Immigration Reform through . I think theres a good chance. The less he talks about Immigration Reform, the better to get it passed. I think its going to be a congressional fight and closely run. And they better be in mood to enforce. Im not for another joke. We passed a law, we got to believe in it and be proud to enforce it. Or dont put your name on it and dont vote for it. Thank you. Coming up, republicans in texas are shifting hard to the right to copy their new idol ted cruz. Theyre calling for impeachment, no direct elections of senators anymore. And even expulsion of blue states from the union. You can be sure cruz doesnt want what happens in texas to stay in texas. Plus want to know why republicans are voting so hard to kill the Affordable Care act . They were wrong on Social Security, medicare, if theyre wrong on the president s plan and it succeeds where are they going to be . And jay leno takes a shot at secretary sebelius. Finally, let me finish how i got here from the peace corps. And this is hardball, the place for politics. The most Free Research reports, customizable charts, powerful screening tools, and guaranteed 1second trades. And at the center of it all is a surprisingly low price just 7. 95. In fact, fidelity gives you lower trade commissions than schwab, td ameritrade, and etrade. Im monica santiago of fidelity investments, and low fees and commissions are another reason serious investors are choosing fidelity. Now get 200 free trades when you open an account. Well, the plot thickens about the unnamed Republican House leader that told president obama quote, i cannot even stand to look at you. The Huffington Post is reporting it was pete sessions. But the white house says it never happened. And the episode was a misunderstanding. The story first came to light when senator dick durbin of illinois cited a house leader who insulted the president at a white house meeting. The Huffington Post says now harry reid revealed it was sessions. The chairman of the rules committee in a private meeting last week with democratic senators. Well, sessions denies having said it. Wouldnt he . And the white house today released the Statement Today saying the president , the quotes not accurate and there was a miscommunication about that meeting. Well, well see. As i said, the plot thickens. Well be right back. Baron of the buildout. You need a permit. To be this awesome. And you. Rent from national. Because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. And go. You can even take a fullsize or above, and still pay the midsize price. aaron purrrfect. vo meeeow, business pro. Meeeow. Go national. Go like a pro. Help the gulf when we made recover and learn the gulf, bp from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. I can tell you safety is at the heart of everything we do. Weve added cuttingedge technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a stateoftheart monitoring center, where experts watch over all drilling activity twentyfourseven. And were sharing what weve learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. Our commitment has never been stronger. Ive spent the past month in washington, d. C. And it is terrific to be back in america. What a cheap shot that was. Welcome back to hardball. Ted cruz came home to a heros welcome in texas as you saw last week. The only thing he achieved in washington was to become the leader of a failed strategy that left his party with plunging poll numbers as we know. And its House Majority in peril next year. He took a victory lap across the state where he was greeted with welcome home rallies and cheering audiences for as one supporter said going to the mats. Under cruzs influence, republicans in texas are lurching further and further to the right to win primaries and making dramatic appeals to do it. Calling for the impeachment of president obama. Calling for a rollback of the 17th amendment that allows for popular election of u. S. Senators and imposing benefits for Illegal Immigrants as well as any discrimination laws. If successful, could cruzs influence expand nationally and more so could we see an attempt to replicate this strategy and do to america what hes done to texas . Let me go to the mayor. Mayor brown, this cruzzism is a different strain than what weve seen. This fella has declared war on watch which he considers foreign territory. People around him consider california now foreign territory. Theyre talking about getting your state out of the union, getting new york out of the union. I realize this is rhetoric, but what does it mean actually to the people who are cheering it . Hes trying desperately to get the nomination of the Republican Party for 2016. He apparently believes that he needs to be as radical as he possibly can be with that collection of people that have been his traditional supporters. He hopes to marshal texas in that vain. This is a guy incredibly smart in his own assessment. He ran into equally smart people in the house and senate in this last struggle, but hes come away making his people think that in fact that collection of people did not know what they were doing and what theyre talking about and for him its working. Hes getting more contributions and more attention than hes ever gotten in his life. Do you think he loves texas even more so far the reason you left it . I think his love affair with texas is he love of convenience. Nothing else. Let me go to joan on this. Youre also a californian from the northern part of the state. It is unusual because Barry Goldwater got in big trouble and he was not a bad person. He was just a total libertarian. He got into trouble for getting in the face of scariness to his party by saying i want the generals in the field to decide when to use Nuclear Weapons or not. People say my god hes giving them the decision, the black bag, they decide when to go to nuclear war. Thats what killed him, i think. Right now we have a guy just as explosive in terms of bringing down the government, bringing down our national debt. Lets go default. Anything goes in my lexicon of weapons. Well, and i think if he ever got the republican nomination, chris, he would lead to the same outcome that the republicans suffered in 1964. It would be a profound drubbing. But the danger here, its interesting. A lot of us blue state people from california or new york, sometimes we turn up our noses at texas. Sometimes we say theyre a bunch of crack pots. Let them secede. They have their mccarthyites and crazies. But it is part of the united states. It is . Yes, it is. The america that is struggling to be born is also being born in texas. I see. Demographicicly. But not politically. And in the cities, politically. And theres a rising power of latinos. If we had the latino population of texas voting in the numbers they do vote in california and new york, texas would be more purple. Texas is a purple state, we just cant quite see it yet. And youre going to have the candidacy of wendy davis creating this Great Alliance between latinos, women, young people. It may not be enough to do it, but ted cruz is taking texas as well as the country on a course of demographic suicide. It feels good to the people terrified of what the country is becoming. But not good for them in the long run. I remember what general custer said before the battle of little big horn. He said some day were going to outnumber you, but not today. Not today. And right now heres whats going on in texas right now. Republicans running for office in texas are vying to be the most cruzlike and are making appeals to get the furthest to the right in republican primaries. All four Lieutenant Governor candidates support repeal of the states landmark 2001 law offering instate College Tuition to Illegal Immigrants. Lieutenant governor David Dewhurst said that obama should be impeached not only for trampling as he says on our liberties, but what he did in benghazi. Three candidates for attorney general oppose a nondiscrimination ordinance in san antonio that includes protections for Sexual Orientation and gender identity. And dewhurst and his challenger support repealing the 17th amendment called for popular election of senators. And they want to have new york, california, saying quote, think about how different our country would be if new york and california werent the tail wagging the dog. And those other states. Its not america. Going back to the use of the term america. It seems in the lexicon of these people to mean white conservatives. I mean, that may be a too broad a definition. How about white right wingers. But they call that america. Its almost like one of those groups in south africa that says were going to put the, you know, the big logger around us and form a little town somewhere. These guys are unbelievable. Go ahead, mayor. Im sure you have an attitude about these guys. They really are. But let me tell you, chris. One of the odd things about mr. Cruz is nobody has said a word about the fact he was born in canada. Can you imagine the conversation that will ultimately take place if the republican world when they find out. Do you think they will . In the republican world, they will have a conversation on that issue. And the other part is latino. His name is rafael cruz. I think they make exceptions for their point of view politically. I think theyre willing to accept anybodys papers. I think he is a natural born american. I wish we were going to see some integrity you know, i we as democrats are open to the broadest spectrum of people participating. Im not going to become a birther about ted cruz, but if you had a bit of political consistency on the other side, there would be paranoia about this guy born in canada. Theres not going to be that because they dont have that kind of intellectual or political consistency or integrity. Im all for his background. Its a Great American story. Cubanirish. I think itd be fun, a group of people like that getting together. Mr. Mayor, you think theyre going to jump on this guy out of the reason when they suspect want to suspect the president was born in kenya for some bizarre notion of history and conspiracy that once they find out that he is in the worst case scenar scenario, theyll jump him. Do you think theyre that consistent . I think the Republican Party is capable, literally, of having membership on every side of any issue on any given day. And believe me, i think when the fight really starts for that nomination, theres going to be somebody among the republicans who are going to call him to task. And theyre going to ask about all the things that are inconsistent with really good judgment. Theyre going to ask why is it you wouldnt study when you were in law school with people who didnt graduate undergrad from harvard or yale or one of those places. How is it that you come off as being so superior to everybody else . That dialogue is going to take place. And just as it did in the congress, cruz is not going to be able to handle it. What do you think that new york city immigration officer, i think his name is donald trump, checks everybodys papers. Do you think hell have a consistent view when he emerges with an opinion on ted cruz . Absolutely sure. Im sure hes got his researchers, his guys are up in canada right now looking for the real birth certificate. Of course not. Of course not. Because this a cover for race and it always has been. Theyre not going to give ted cruz a hard time about it, i dont think. The mayor may be right. He knows more than i do. There are people on the hard right that think the country should be more like us as they see it. And hawaii is suspect a bit. Last thought from you, mayor brown. I think that dont underestimate the potential of the purple nature of texas to reveal itself in the next election. In spite of what ted cruz is doing please register out there and please vote. All americans should vote. Register and vote and youll have power. Without it, you wont. Thank you mayor brown and joan walsh. Up next, you know youre in a tough spot when youre on the receiving end of late night jokes. Thats whats been happening to hhs secretary Kathleen Sebelius on the rollout of the Affordable Care act. Anyway, this is hardball, the place for politics. Life with Crohns Disease or Ulcerative Colitis is a daily game of what ifs. What if my abdominal pain and cramps end our night before it even starts . What if i eat the wrong thing . What if . What if i suddenly have to go . What if . But what if the most important question is the one youre not asking . 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[ delavane ] we can go to any country and spend money the way we would in the u. S. When i spend money on this card, i can see brazil in my future. [ anthony ] i use the explorer card to earn miles in order to go visit my family, which means a lot to me. Back to hardball. Time for the sideshow. Kathleen sebelius has been taking heat from for the rollout of healthcare. Gov. Something makes me think shes not the most technologically sal technologically savvy person. Did you find it challenging . The product is there. The prices are good. It will not sell out and the prices wont change. The president did say that he was angry about this. And do you know when he first hello . How old is that cell phone . Next up, mitt romney took a lot of heat during the 2012 campaign for owning a total of six houses across the country including one with an elevator for his car. But now hes building another. And some journalist dug up the blueprints of house number seven. They found something that caught their eye. It was a secret room. It sounds like something out of the board game clue, but its for real. Just look at the blueprints. A wall of shelves labeled hidden door. And behind that wall office supplies. Innocent enough. We know he likes to stock up at staples. Maybe thats where his keeps his binders full of women. Up next, why republicans have fear if the president S Health Care law succeeds, they lose. Youre watching hardball, the place for politics. Ge deepsea fuel technology. A 50,000pound, ingeniously wired machine that optimizes raw data to help safely discover and maximize resources in extreme conditions. Our Current Situation seems rather extreme. Why cant we maximize our. Ready. Brilliant. Lets get out of here. Warp speed. If i was a flower growing wild and free all id want is you to be my sweet honeybee and if was a tree growing tall and green all id want is you to shade me and be my leaves grown in america. 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It is lit up pink in support of Breast Cancer awareness month. Now back to hardball. Welcome back to hardball. Later ill talk about the president personifies the role of washington in american government. Fdr. First, as president obama has pointed out republicans have made it their holy grail to destroy the president S Health Care program. Theres quite literally nothing republicans wont do if it means a chance to harm the health care law. Even if they harm themselves in the process. Today republicans began a witch hunt in response to the rollout of healthcare. Gov. It began with the testimony from the Government Contractors who helped build the website itself. When it will end is anybodys guess. Republicans in todays hearings used it as another opportunity to try to frighten and scare people about the law. But they took heavy fire from the laws defenders. Here it is. How in the world can this be hippa compliant . This explicitly says in order to continue you have to accept this condition that you have no privacy or no reasonable expectation of privacy. Once again here we have my republican colleagues trying to scare everybody. Would the gentleman yield . No i will not yield to this monkey court or whatever it is. Do whatever you want, im not yielding. I am trying to tell you the problem here protecting american citizens is a legitimate concern of this committee. The preexisting conditions, theres no Health Information in the process. Why are we going down this path . Because you are trying to scare people so they dont apply and so therefore the legislation gets delayed or the Affordable Care act gets defunded or its repealed. Thats all it is. Hoping people wont apply. Frank pallone is who you saw defending the law. Hes from new jersey. Jennifer granholm as well. What do you smell in the water . Whats going on with this effort . Somebody once said people dont do their best work when theyre being dumped on. This idea that somehow if we dump on it enough, if we negative cheer like we used to do in high school, negative cheerlead over and over and over again, get the young people spooked, make them not apply for it, make everybody feel terrible then we can win the fight and prevent it from taking hold with the american people. Well, the problem is that the Affordable Care act is dependent on people signing up. In other words, the more people you have, the larger your insurance pool, the more effective it is, the cheaper it becomes. And so when youre looking at congressman barton where hes trying to scare people to say dont sign up, hes hoping people dont sign up. Theyre taking advantage. Theyre glorifying these computer glitches. Theyre trying to scare people. Their privacy is going to be impacted. Theyre trying to do whatever they can including shutting down the government to make sure that this doesnt work. And this wasnt a legitimate hearing today. Thats why i called it a monkey court. They werent trying to fix it. They werent trying to work with the contractors to figure out how to improve it, they just wanted to make people say this doesnt work. Itll never work. So lets delay it or lets get rid of it. Thats their goal. I said they dont have clean hands. They come in here with bad intent. Not really trying to fix the situation. Governor, this youre an attorney and in private sector business, you can put up the sign saying dont go to the restaurant. You cant poison a competing roerpgs. It start with the death panels. Just say something, an older person might say it and say they have death panels. Theyre coming to get me. The news is, though, chris, as these stories come out about people successfully signing up whether theyre using the telephone or the website, it will overcome all the negativity. Even these governor that have rejected obama care and the expansion of medicaid, eventually those states will all be part of this in the same way that medicare covers everybody and the same way the rollout for Medicare Part d was glitchy but everybody signed up. This, too, will be overcome by the positive stories. Yes, weve got a problem with the website. Theyve got five months now to try to fix it before people get penalized. Its going to get fixed. People will come on and even eventually those red states maybe not with these governors but with the next ones, they will come on too. To your point, republicans on the state level have done everything they can to derail the Affordable Care act. Case in point. Take a look at the states that rejected or are likely to reject the medicaid expansion. Dont forget the federal government would have paid for nearly all the expansion. Yet numerous republicancontrolled states chose to reject it simply because it was part of the law. Look at that. It looks like a typical collection result. More importantly its the same story for the states that refuse to build their own Health Care Exchange which has placed more stress on the federal site. Its more of the republicancontrolled states that want this to fail. On the other hand states that embraced the law are already seeing the benefits. Oregon for example has cut its uninsured rate by 10 in a matter of days. Congressman, this is a i dont want to start ft. Sumter and the guns firing, but theres an aspect of civil war, a return of the confederacy in this. These conservative people seem to think that theyre representing their states by basically sabotaging this program which is, in fact, part of the law. Exactly. Its all ideologically driven by the Tea Party Republicans who dont believe that the federal government should help you get health insurance. Either they shouldnt provide it you should medicaid or shouldnt subsidize it under the Affordable Care act. Its just their ideology. Speaking of states that dont take medicaid, youre talking about people that cant get insurance, no way of getting insurance and to keep them out of this so they dont get coverage is a tragedy. It is. Why does the ideology have to stand in the way. In addition to that, chris, i would just say that those governors that are rejecting federal funds, federal dollars come from their citizens too. You dont think this is a Great Campaign issue for a democratic candidate for governor in one of those red states next time to say you folks in texas, you folks in alabama, youre paying for the health care in michigan. Because youre refusing to accept any federal dollars to insure your people. But, i mean, you want your tax dollars going to fund peopleS Health Care somewhere else or keep our own . These governors in the last decade, they all would have said hell yes im going to take federal dollars because my citizens have been paying their taxes and we should get that money back home. By the way, ill also set up the exchange because i dont want the federal government coming in here and doing it. But these new breed of governors, it is a totally different ball game. And the federal government is expanding in their states as a result of them having their hands off. Nobody said the tea party was rational. Gops biggest fear i think may be that history repeats itself. In the 1930s, republicans forcefully opposed Social Security. Take a look at this clip in 1936. This is the largest tax bill in history. And to call it Social Security is a fraud on the working man. He didnt go anywhere. He lost 46 of 48 states. Same story of the 1960s when republicans had an upstart by Ronald Reagan opposed medicare. If you dont do this and i dont do it, one of these days you and i are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our childrens children what it once was like in america when men were free. Republicans have had to live down their opposition because medicare has become one of the most popular Government Systems ever. This is ted cruz. Lets listen. The Obama Administration plan is simple. To get Many Americans as possible addicted to the subsidies, addicted to the sugar because they know the simple fact that in modern times no major entitlement has ever gone into effect and then been undone. Exactly. So they just want as many people receiving subsidies because once that happens, i believe it is likely that obama care will become a permanent feature of our economy. There you have it. The biggest fear of the republicans is it will be popular eventually. They dont want to lose again. I see you shaking your head, congressman. Isnt that their fear on the republican side . I have no doubt. Thinking of Medicare Part d, when that was passed, a lot of democrats like us didnt like it because there were the doughnut hole an lack of coverage. When it finally went into effect, there were a lot of glitches very similar with the computers and the first few months. But we sat down even in our same committee that you showed today and we worked with the republicans to fix it because we wanted to make sure that seniors have their Prescription Drug benefit. Good for you. You believe in positive government, sir. Exactly. Good for you. It shouldnt be ideologically driven. They need to look at it as its helping their own constituents. But they refuse to do that. Thank you. When we come back, achieving greatness in a uniquely american way. Hardball back after this. Whats better than zero heartburn . Nothing, thats what . Thats why i take prilosec otc each morning for my frequent heartburn. cause it gives me a big fat zero heartburn. Woo hoo [ male announcer ] prilosec otc. The number one doctor recommended frequent heartburn medicine for 8 straight years. [ larry ] you cant beat zero heartburn. And best of all, it means i can enjoy all the foods i love. Oh, zero heartburn is awesome. Just like zero cutlery. [ male announcer ] prilosec otc. One pill each morning. 24 hours. Zero heartburn. [ male announcer ] prilosec otc. I have obligations. Cute tobligations, but obligations. G. I need to rethink the core of my portfolio. What i really need is sleep. Introducing the ishares core, Building Blocks for the heart of your portfolio. Find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. Ishares by blackrock. Call 1800ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. Read and consider it carefully before investing. Risk includes possible loss of principal. Coming up, the kind of leader democrats want today. This is hardball, the place for politics. At a ford dealer with a little q and a for fiona. Tell me fiona, whos having a big tire event . Your ford dealer. Who has 11 major brands to choose from . Your ford dealer. Whos offering a rebate . Your ford dealer. Who has the low price tire guarantee, affording peace of mind to anyone who might be in the market for a new set of tires . Your ford dealer. Im beginning to sense a pattern. Get up to 140 in mailin rebates when you buy four select tires with the Ford Service Credit card. Whered you get that sweater vest . Your ford dealer. You know how painful heartburn can be. For fast, long lasting relief, use doctor recommended gaviscon®. Only gaviscon® forms a protective barrier that helps block stomach acid from splashing up relieving the pain quickly. Try fast, long lasting gaviscon®. Were back. The debate over the role of the federal government is older than washington itself. No president personifies, by the way, the power of government more than Franklin Delano roosevelt. Hes best known for pulling us through the Great Depression and leading america to victory in world war ii. But in between those dual challenges was a pivotal event that forged his legacy, his decision to run for and win a third term. In his new book, roosevelts second act, the author discovers the president s motives for seek a third term. Many people say, greatest president of the 20th century. Got us through the Great Depression, won world war ii, to the point where people like, i was thinking, who was it, one of the joseph allenes said, people never doubted we would win the Second World War because roosevelt was our president. What power, what influence. No question about that. Tell us why he decided to run for a third term. He had planned to retire. And over a period of ten months, he gradually changed his mind. And in the end, it was the war that changed his mind. He couldnt find another democrat who would support both his domestic and foreign policies and who he thought could change the election. He pleaded with cordell hall, secretary of state, almost until the end. Wouldnt run. So he he was afraid that a more conservative guy who would run, who wouldnt want to fight the war and wouldnt want a new deal to continue. Thats right. He didnt want anybody who was about a new dealer and didnt want anybody who wouldnt support his policy of aid to britain when britain was hanging by a thread. Everybody forgets what it was like in this country. France was fallen, england was threatened, the low countries were gone, the nazis were over they had overrun continental europe. In the middle of all of that, we had to pick a president , and Wendell Wilke got picked by the president s. He was an exdemocrat, an independent, and he came out of nowhere. Didnt roosevelt think hed be a good president . He came out of nowhere, absolutely. And the fact that wilke was picked reaffirmed fdrs decision to run. Because he knew no other democrat could beat wilke, and nobody else and fdr didnt think maybe he wouldnt beat wilke, but the real wilke story was after the election, where he came to roosevelt and said, i want to support glen lease, and he did. Glen lease, which made up america, the great arsenal of democracy, would not have passed without wilkes support and fdr always gave him credit for that. I consider that one of the great moments, in the book ive written about, bipartisan, how harry truman picked hoover to run the hoover commission. And people dont do that anymore. And the fact is that fdr said, im going to pick the guy i just beat. And i was afraid of him a bit. Im going to make him my emissary to europe. Three, two he had a famous dinner with wilke the night before his third inauguration. He stayed up until midnight talking, having a few glasses of wine, and gave him a handwritten note as his emissary. Wilke went over there, saw what was pledge was going to london, came back, and made an impassioned plea for lease, and it passed, and fdr gave him full credit for it. If he survived, he didnt have good health. Dead pretty much four years. If he would have survived, the Republican Party might be a Different Party if he had won in 48. It might very well have. But by supporting len lease, he probably ruined his chances to get that nomination in 44, as you point out. He was ill, so that precluded it. You know, ive always had three heroes, jack kennedy, franklin three heroes. Hemingway, of course, we all know hemingway as a hero, winton churchill, and more and more i find i like roosevelt. The fact that he was a bit cold and distant and tricky. What do you feel towards him, our greatest president of the 20th century. What do you feel about this guy . Theres a duality to it. He was a very principled and moraled statesman who set very high goals, but in pursuit of those goals, he could be a little tricky. He could be very manipulative, and even duplicitous. But thats who he was. Did he ever get did he ever figure out joe stalin . Did he ever figure out what a menace he was, what a killer he was, right up there in the scope of hitler . I dont have answer to that. I think its one of the great truth, did he ever get the truth about joe stalin. A very good question. The book is called roosevelts second act. When we return, let me finish with my political coming of age. Youre watching hardball, the place for politics. When we made our commitment to the gulf, bp had two big goals help the gulf recover and learn from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. I can tell you safety is at the heart of everything we do. Weve added cuttingedge technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a stateoftheart monitoring center, where experts watch over all drilling activity twentyfourseven. And were sharing what weve learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. Our commitment has never been stronger. Man [ laughs ] those look like baby steps now. But they were some pretty good moves. And the best move of all . Having the right partner at my side. Its so much better that way. [ male announcer ] take the next step. Consider an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. Like all standardized Medicare Supplement insurance plans, it helps pay expenses that medicare doesnt cover and lets you choose or keep any doctor who accepts medicare patients. Call or go online and request your free decision guide. Use this guide to help you choose from a range of aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plans. Have the right partner at your side. Consider an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan. Go long. [ male announcer ] united is rolling out global, satellitefed wifi to connect you even 35,000 feet over the ocean. Thats. Wifi friendly. Let me finish tonight. Tip and the gipper, the story of my political growing up, just hit the New York Times best sellers list for the Third Straight week. I even had someone tell me the other day that its the best book that ive ever read. That thrills me, because this new book is really about how i got from being a peace corps volunteer, riding a motor bike out there in rural africa, to being right here where im sitting. Its about my wild inside life in politics, what i saw, what i learned, and where i picked up the spirit that i had that we can make it. That this america of ours can be all that we can be. But i sometimes feel like this guy thats forced to be on the inside of history, from the first all races election in south africa to the vote for the Peace Agreement over in northern ireland, which steal means so much to me personally. Though i didnt put my name in the title, tip and the gipper is stocked with the backroom stories of my coming of age politically. You can get it right now online from amazon, of course, right now, or at barnes noble and other bookstores when youre out there this weekend. So please get a copy of account tip and the gipper and follow my trail from the senate to