Block richard cadre, president obamas pick to head the Consumer Financial protection bureau. Thats the agency Elizabeth Warren set up to make sure big banks dont prey on regular americans. But, today, 43 republicans sent a letter saying theyre worried the agency has too much power over the banks. And they wont allow the nomination to go ahe. This is outrageous. The right wing is doing everything it can to block this president. To stand against working class people. And to stand up for wall street. That i had theyre even willing to hurt the economy itself. Its thats what it takes to hurt the president , theyre willing to do it. Any immediate economic setback or the perception of one could weaken obamas clout. Maybe a sour economy is worth it if it will distract obama. Theres a lot of talk these days about how the gop can come back politically. The quickest possible way politically with a contracting economy, if it happened again in the next quarter, thats a recession. Shrinking the economy is a gop plan for a quick comeback . A sowerer economy is worth it if it distracts obama . Folks, they really mean this. But despite it all. , the economy is improving under this president. We now have 35 straight months of private sector job growth. Weve also learned today the economy added over 2 million jobs last year. The best year for the jobs since 2005. Republicans are playing politics with peoples lives. Theyre obsessed with cuts instead of jobs. Theyre focused on spending instead of hiring. The president kept his job because the American People trust him to create jobs for them. Republicans just dont get it. Joining me now is Melissa Harris perry and dana millbank. Republicans say this Consumer Bureau could hurt wall street. But, today, the dow closed over 14,000 for the first time in six years. So whats this really all about . Well, look, this is the mind trick. This is the game of redirection that the republicans have been playing really for the first four years of president obamas first term and theyre continuing to play it. And it is this. The thing that caused the economic crash in 2008, the home values, the evaporation of wealth, the loss of jobs were the decisions made by those one percenters on wall street. And what happened is they redirected, they changed the conversation so that suddenly wed be worried about the deficit instead of worried about wall street. This Consumer Financial bureau, the protection bureau, set up under elizabeth warpen, this focus on regulating banks the reality that we had been raided by wall street, that all of that got turned around so that instead, it somehow became a govpt deficit problem when it was never that. And it was that deregulation that caused us to have a problem. And dana, if we go back, because a lot of people forget where we came from and how we were able to overcome some insurmountable odds to get where we are today even though we have a long way to go. If you go back to when president obama came into aufsz office, 2009, on the eve of february 2009 jobs report, which turned out to be the worst in 34 years, the president called for action on the stimulus package. Let me show you what the president said. The time for talk is over. The time for action is now. Because we know that if we do not act, a bad situation will become dramatically worse. And i refuse to let that happen. We cant delay and we cant go back to the same, worn out ideas that let d us here in the first place. That was at the very beginning of his first term. He says we cant go back to the same ideas which was deregulation which was tax cuts for the top, all of that. Then they want, again, change the language as melissa says, we went from talking about stimulus to deficit. And like we could cut our way out of debt. And when you look at the comparison between private sector job growth under president obama and under george w. Bush, more than 650,000 private sector jobs were lost you should bush while so far more than 470,000 private sector jobs had been added under president obama. So when you look at where we started, look at the comparison theyre really trying to play with our minds. Theres a terrific irony going on here. Each month you have the republicans saying a ha, the job growth isnt as high as it should be. Or saying a ha, the economy isnt growing at the pace that it should be. Well, why isnt it . Thats because the republicans succeeded in getting the government to cut back its spending. So the reason the jobs growth has not been higher is because just as private sector job growth is increasing, government jobs are decreasing dramatically. So thats held back. Why did the economy contract in the Fourth Quarter . Well, consumer spending, con instructor spending, all of that is fine. So now theyre saying, look, obama is failing because of the contraction their policies that we forced h imto put into place. And these are actual numbers, melissa, 9,000 government jobs were lost in january. 74,000 government jobs lost in 2012 alone. 600,000 government jobs lost since february, 2010. These are government jobs. Right. And two things. Remember, a lot of these are jobs that are happening at the state level. These are governors and local administrators, even mayors, who are cutting their city and state budgets. What we know is in 2010, we had a huge overtake of these gubernatorial positions by republicans who are primary republicans who are cutting these government jobs, often jobs that provided an opportunity to lift into the middle class, so many working class people, especially people of color. This is one of the reasons why the black unemployment numbers have not gone because we are overindexed in the public sector. That the state and local republicans are cutting those programs, those agencies and those jobs. And, remember and blaming it on obama. And were overrepresented there because it is the one place where the laws of antidiscrimination have been most clearly taken care of. It has been hard to get the pry vat sector to focus affirmatively on furthering the possibility of diverse work force. But government had been able to do its at the sate level. So cutting jobs, cutting a disproportionate share of the minority jobs and then blaming president obama for doing it and then saying oh, this is all worse under president obama while having no reflection on the federal system. Whats worlst is the ability to read whats going on. If you dont fight the public sector, you cant handle those of us that have a disproportionate amount in there. When you deal with the politics that were looking at coming, the sequester, listen to what paul ryan said on meet the press. I think the sequester is going to happen because that 1. 2 trillion in spending cuts, we cant lose those spending cults. We think these sequesters will happen because the democrats have opposed our efforts to replace those with others. Sq. But the same paul riyan that said let me show you what he himself a couple of months ago. He said he wanted to make sure the devastating cuts to defense would never occur. And he warned that nearly 44,000 jobs were at stake. Now hes singing a different tune. Its almost like a hostage situation here. Theyre saying youve got to do it our way or well torpedo the economy and you, the president and your party, will be blamed for that. That is Something Like what had happened over the last couple years. The problem now is that the president just won the election. Theres a long time for the economy to recover even if they succeed in injekting more contraction their effects spoo the economy by taking yet more Government Spending out of it. Its a very dangerous theory and its not a long term Growth Prospect for the Republican Party to say well gain in popularity. And melissa, quickly, this obsession with spending cuts, everything that answers cut. What about having a good afternoon . Cut. What about where were going this evening . Cut. Look at the cut of session of republicans. We have worked all year to reduce our budget deficit and to cut spending. We have reduced the size and role of government. Weve got to cut spending. Well continue to work on finding smarter ways to cut spending. Spend less. When we know. When we know in terms of very clear, empirical evidence that austerity measures makes things worse. They will tell you as we saw governor romney do. Corporations are people, my friend. And say governments dont create jobs. Governments not only create them, but if we had allowed Government Spending to stay and to stimulate it, we would be in a position where we would have a much lower unemployment rate. Much lower and much more money out there consumers, people be spending money because theyd have it. And it would go back in the system. Dana, melissa, thanks for your time. And be sure to watch Melissa Harris perry saturdays and sundays 10 00 a. M. Here on 34rks snbc. Coming up, what a day in politics. Scott brown is not running and now Geraldo Rivera may be geraldo . Plus, george bushs brain is much, much bigger than the meltdown on fox news. America is changing. The president knows it, but republicans dont. And my thoughts of ed koch passing, my friend and political opponent for decades. Youre watching politics nation on msnbc. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro. Omnipotent of opportunity. You know how to mix business. With business. 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. I could get used to this. [ male announcer ] yes, you could business pro. Yes, you could. Go national. Go like a pro. [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat . Campbells healthy request soup lets you hear it. In your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. Great taste. Mmm. [ male announcer ] sounds good. Its amazing what soup can do. Have you joined the politics nation conversation on facebook yet . We hope you will. Today, a lot of people were talking about scott browns decision not to run for senate again. Bet says living in massachusetts, im thrilled not to have to listen to brown again. Donna says now i can truly celebrate john kerrys confirmation as secretary of state. Jennifer says smart move. Brown couldnt afford another loss. Coming up next, well talk what browns scott browns decision means ffr democrats. But, first, we want to hear what you think. Please head over to facebook and search politics nation. Like us to keep joining the conversation long after the show ends. 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. At legalzoom, weve created a better place to handle your legal needs. Maybe you have questions about incorporating a business youd like to start. Or questions about protecting your family with a will or living trust. And youd like to find the right attorney to help guide you along, answer any questions and offer advice. With an a rating from the Better Business bureau legalzoom helps you get personalized and affordable legal protection. In most states, a legal plan attorney is available with every personalized document to answer any questions. Get started at legalzoom. Com today. And now youre protected. There will be a comeback in massachusetts for scott brown for now. Hes announced hes not running for john kerrys senate seat. No, mad scrambling. So hes not running. But you wont believe who is. Remember this . Im not a witch. Im nothing youve heard. Im you. No, shes definitely wasnt you christine im not a witch o continue. Shes not running in massachusetts, either. Her candidacy became a joke, an embarrassment for the republicans. But two years later, it seems republicans havent learned a thing. In georgia, paul brown appears to be running for senate. Hes a guy who thinks president obama only opposed the soviet constitution. Over in iowa, steve king isnt ruling out a run. Hes currently pushing a bill to stop what he calls anchor babies. But what can i say about this next possible candidate for new jersey . There can be a new vitalization of the Republican Party concept where we extolled the vir which yous of the Good Business and fiscal policy. Ill be here every friday until such time as its no longer legal. Geraldo rivera leading the gop comeback . I dont think so. Joining me now is e. J. E. J. , thavnnks for coming on tonight. Good to be with you, reverend. First, what do you make of scott browns decision . I think its a good decision for him. And i think democrats are very gleeful. If they dance jigs, i think harry reid is dancing one. He was the one candidate who could win that seat. He was running even or slightly ahead of markey. And while i think he was not as strong as he was going to be, he was when he first won. If the mood got a little bit bad on president obama, he could have won it again. Hes smart to be running for governor. A, he would have had to run over and over again. And d, republicans do much better. The last republican win was senator ed brook way back in 1972. So i think its good for democrats and probably good for scott brown. Now the republicans felt they had a shot with brown. And i remember when they were killing susan rice unfairly in my opinion. The thought was they really were after susan rice because they wanted john kerry and so that kerry could the seat would go to scott brown or republican. Now brown is out, they dont have a clear shot at the seat. This has to help president obama. Scott brown not running is a big win for the president if the republicans cant come up with a comparable candidate. No, i think thats right. I dont think theyll ever take a seat for granted in massachusetts again after 2009 and 20 10, rather. But i do think its a win for democrats. I dont know whether hes announced anything is former governor bill weld who just moved back up there and can run as a kind of independent republican. Hes pretty up predictable. If he doesnt run, i think its going to be hard for them to come up with smnl to take that seat. But, you know, scott brown came out of nowhere, so be ware. It was interesting. He released a statement that i think put the president in ra good light. Scott brown said in his statement about his bipartisan tenure. Not bad for brown. Not bad for the president. I think that absolutely means hes running for governor. We know that the formula is if you want to run for governor of a very blue state, you say nice things about president obama. And the best example of that is chris christie, whose popularity has soared ever since he started working with president obama after hurricane sandy. But notwithstanding that, they keep not running these far right extremist candidates. Washington post reports the names are now famous, actually infamous, i should say. Caution is the word among the republicans smarts said twice bitten, thrice shy or Something Like that. If you look around, they may be bitten a third time. You mentioned paul broun and steven king. I think the plob republicans have is you cant control your primary electorate from above. And because so many moderates have lecht the Republican Party, they have a hard time nominating more moderate kind of conserve tiffs who can actually win the election. And even though theyve got a decent shot at taking the senate in 2014, if they get another couple kand dats like they got this time and the time before, its going to be very hard for them to turn a good chance into victories. Its definitely going to be hard. Thank you, e. J. Dionne. Ahead, carl rove wrong again. And president obama is getting the lastz laugh. Well explanl. 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Eucerin professional repair moisturizes while actually repairing very dry skin. Its so powerful you can skip a day. But light enough you wont want to. Dermatologist recommended eucerin. The end of trial and error has arrived. Try a free sample at eucerinus. Com. 15 years ago, Hillary Clinton was widely mocked for calling out what she called the vast right wing conspiracy. That was trying at that time to take her husband down. The great story here for anybody willing to find it and write about it and explain it is this vast right wing conspiracy that has been conspireing against my husband since the day he announced for president. As we learned, she was right on target. Its only gotten worse under president obama. And, today, mrs. Clinton said goodbye to the state department. Shell be remembered for many things, for being a powerful leader, a force in the Democratic Party and this. Her nonstop fight against the right wings vicious attack. That story is coming up. This vacation. 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