will weaken him with independents. people won't like being ruled by mr. 1%. >> romney has said some things that are just amazing to me. he's never thought about getting a pink slip before. of course he gave a fistful of cash to unemployed woman attending a rally. joy-ann, your response to that? >> a guy born on third base and thinks he hit a triple. he has never experienced insecurity and trying to relate to people is not his strength. even today when he tries to give this woman, african american woman in south carolina, $50 it came across at least to me like some old guy from the 20s throwing a nickel and tusseling their hair. it didn't come across as genuine compassion. i don't know it was an empty gesture made her look bad, like she was needy. >> if he wanted to do something to help this woman he could have a tax plan and economic plan that wouldn't in all likelihood raise her taxes to fund another tax cut for him and his peers. that is why this comes across as continue in gener disingenuous. you have a plan that goes to the pocketbook of lower and middle income folks, that will

. >> good to have you with us tonight. mr. romney is getting attacked by his enemies and his friends aren't helping. newt gingrich says he will release his own tax returns tomorrow and says that romney should do the same. >> we can confirm. me be clear. the 21st century has an optional 15 kris flat rate for every american. michael. >> my goal is not to raise the mid rummy's taxes but to let him pay his rate. i will not criticize ronny but say that shouldn't we all have the option of the flat tax at the same time. >> he stand to gain a lot from his own tax policies. citizens for tax justice brought down the tax proposals. under the president's plan, romney would be taxed at 24%. under his own plan he would be taxed at less than 15%. his new friend, chris christy, tried to run interference for him this morning. he may have done more damage. >> the way i have conducted myself all along is i have released all of my tax returns and did it during the campaign. i released them every year after i filed them, right after i filed them so they could see everything. that is what i would tell gov

vote. rick santorum, ah, he's the cheap candidate. 73 cents, mr. efficient with his money, right? retail politics works again. iowa, i think, is just a reminder that, you know, mitt romney, he just can't fire anybody up. doesn't matter how long they look at him, doesn't matter how much they know about him or how much he's been around. he's even worse off in iowa. now, he was in new hampshire today getting an endorsement from mr. excitement, john mccain. but other candidates like jon huntsman, they want to capitalize on this enthusiasm gap that's out there surrounding romney. >> i was struck by the fact that 75% of those who voted basically rejected the establishment's favorite, mitt romney. which suggests to me that there's a lot of open space in this election. >> something about huntsman, every time i see that guy, i think he's trying to sell me a vacuum cleaner. but anyway. huntsman wants moderate voters to see him as the alternative to mitt romney. good luck. he's not polling very well. romney is also taking a real beating from conservatives who see romney as really weak after

base. who is more apt to energize them? santorum, who is from them, or romney, who is desperately seeking enthusiasm?" well put, mr. will, and on target i think. the santorum surge is really very real. very real when it comes to social conservatives. if he has any problem drawing a contrast between himself and mitt romney, he should take this john mccain ad from four years ago out and play it over and over again and attach his name to it. ♪ >> i believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. >> i will preserve and protect a woman's right to choose and am devoted and dedicated to honoring my word in that regard. >> i am pro life and favor that legislation. >> you will not see me wavering on that or be a multiple choice, thank you very much. >> you can go back to youtube and look at what you i said in 1994. i never said i was pro choice. but my position was effectively pro choice. i said that time and time again. >> there is no doubt new hampshire is in an uphill battle for santorum. in the latest new hampshire poll he has moved into third place behind romney and

do. >> mr. romney, you were not for the loan, you know you weren't. mitt romney can't hide from his past. he killed jobs as a corporate ceo, he wanted president obama to kill jobs in the automobile industry and his policies will kill jobs if he's the president of the united states. his opponents are figuring it out, that is why they are going after him. not because they think he might get the nomination. this guy has a chance to destroy the republican party based on his business model. we're in a country that is trying to create jobs. he has a record of butchering labor. i must say all of the republican candidates don't have a good word to say about labor at all. santorum said president obama didn't save the automobile industry, he saved the unions. really? tell the other side of the story, mr. santorum. talk to the unions about how they took a haircut and came back with a reduced package to keep that industry alive and saved millions of jobs. get cell phones out. the question will more americans receive pink slips if mitt romney becomes president. a for yes or b for no. 622639. go

experiences give mr. romney the unique skills and capabilities to do what president obama has failed to do -- focus on job creation and turn around our nation's faltering economy." i'm joined tonight by dr. james sanderson, president of the united steel workers local union 7898 in georgetown south carolina. mr. sanderson, good to have you with us tonight. we keep hearing these stories about bain and mitt romney's involvement. what can you tell us about this? what happened here? what is the public in your opinion need to know? the first thing i'd like to say is good evening to everybody in the labor movement, the brothers and sisters that also understands the dilemma that we face here in south carolina. south carolina has over 10% unemployment right now, and we are very much in need of jobs. and to hear mitt romney running around this state, talking about that he's a job creator is very disturbing and is not true. he does, indeed, like to fire people, like you already said. we go back to 1997, whenever bain capital became very much involved with our plant at georgetown steel, and he b

you what, mr. reich, it just seems to me mitt romney's releasing of the tax returns is the right place at the right time for a good political discussion in the country about fairness, what do you think? >> it's not just a political discussion, ed, it's an economic discussion, discussion whether we're on the same boat together as americans. look back in the 1950's under dwight eisenhower, republican president, nobody ever accused of being a socialist, the top tax rate was 91%. now you have mitt romney earning $20 million a year, more than anybody, how many people do you know who are earning $20 million a year, top one-tenth of 1% taking in more money than a percent age of total income since the late 1920's and he and most other very wealthy people are paying 15%. we have a budget deficit, we are laying off teachers, our roads are impassable. we don't have money to do what we need to do and here you have the wealthiest people in america getting off not doing their patriotic duty. it's morality. >> you win the crowd you win the issue. it seems to me if the democrats will win the con

disclosure forms, mitt romney made $374,327 in speaker fees in one year. that ain't bad on the rubber chicken circuit, folks. that is what mr. out of touch thinks is not very much? no it's real good. the median household income in american is just $49,445. so you tell me, is he in touch? romney's speaking fees were more than seven times the median household income in this country? today, newt gingrich had fun with romney's tax rate. >> he ought to release taxes and find out whether or not it was really 15% and second, i think that we ought to rename our flat tax. we have a 15% flat tax, this will be the mitt romney flat tax that all americans could then pay the rate romney paid, that is terrific. >> let's turn to bob, professor at new york university great to have you with us tonight. romney and his 15% tax rate, you know, there are wealthy people out there that say hey, that is the law, we'll work the system the best we can, this is the way you manage your money in contemporary times, but the disconnect and then the comment about the $374,000 in speaker fees as not being very

surrogates to go further than you. >> well, it just wasn't surrogates, mr. mccain. that is what john mccain told "the new york times" about mitt romney back in 2008. as head of his investment company, he presided over the acquisition of companies that laid off thousands of workers. pretty good surrogate work there, senator. mccain is singing a different tune about bain capital today. >> to go after him on really what is the essence of what we republicans believe in about economy, i think is a serious mistake. and, frankly, i think it's the last resort of a very desperate campaign. >> but that's not what you said in 2008. mccain says romney's tenure at bain capital is the essence of what the republican party is all about? here's the essence, john mccain is defending. robbing 45rd working americans of their pensions and putting the excess dealt on the back of the united states taxpayer. in 1993 bain capital became the majority shareholder of a kansas city steel mill, according to reuters, the mill was pad locked and some 750 people lost their jobs. workers were denied the severance pay

come out on him as the left and say, but mr. romney, you said you would vote for him. mr. santorum, you said you would vote for him. i'm the only one on this stage that said i wouldn't vote for ron paul. i would use it as a stick so as much as rachel is right, they'd seem to divorce themselves but when they were asked the question would you vote for ron paul, santorum, and romney said they would vote for him extremist baggage and all i would hang that around their neck like a medallion. >> ron paul has tapped into something that the republican party hasn't had -- young people socially liberal fiscally responsible and they don't want anything to do with war. it's almost like a movement. and when i was down in iowa his stump speech is almost exactly what he says in the debates. he never talks about the iowa manufacturing or the iowa farmer or the small town health care. i mean, it's all this big talk about how bad america is and what we've got to do with the fed and everything else. you know the routine. but young people are gravitating to him. i saw that in the room in newt in iowa.

sharpest contrast to that mr. czar has drawn with mr. romney is on family values issues. things like abortion, even in rick santorum's case he's campaigned against contraception and things like that. if that's the sharpest contrast he can draw between himself and mitt romney is there fertile ground for that among new hampshire voters. >> well, actually, no, because but i do think another thing he's done, he's the only candidate that said we got to revitalize the manufacturing base. you know, he's a little bit -- he almost is talking about having government help get involved to revitalize the manufacturing sector. and that is something that can resonate there. remember, new hampshire has this conservative populist streak that was able to launch pat buchanan back in '96 so there is -- i do think there is an economic populism aspect to rick santorum in his message on the manufacturing -- trying to revitalize the manufacturing sector that could connect there. i think if he runs a campaign only on social issues, he wouldn't be able to i think go toe to toe with romney but you know what, h

, not about making good jobs with good wages and making things. >> mr. reich, romney's response, that ad we played a moment ago, that is a good response, is he going to be able to get this off to the side of the road or is this going to dog him throughout the entire campaign? >> well i think we'll find out more and more about bain capitalism, ed. my prediction is that where bain capitalism ultimately leads, whether you want to call it leverabled buy outs or private equity management, where it leads is to the heart of financial, to the heart of wall street, to the heart of what's happened to the american economy, no longer produces things and money and the movement of money and financial transactions that benefit a very few people who are cluesered around the financial industry. this what is we will learn, there is a very important distinction between bain capitalism, financial capitalism and real capitalism. >> ought to be a softball for the obama campaign. robert reich, thank you so much. >> the obama campaign weighs in. mitt romney was a corporate raider who closed plants and

place, when mr. gingrich's star began to soar. so i think that's the biggest part of romney's advantage. but florida is nope for very close races. so i suspect when all the dust is settled and all the money is spent and all the accusations are made, that it will probably be a very close race. >> how big is the foreclosure issue in florida? i know the housing market has been a real issue for a lot of homeowners in that state, a lot of foreclosures. it's really hurt a lot of people. what about that? >> it's a huge issue. florida is a real estate-based economy. of course, we are diverse state and we have many sources of economic growth, but the real estate industry, both the residential and the commercial side, have been particularly hard hit, and floridians of all political stripes are particularly sensitive on the real estate issue. the other thing, ed, that i think is important to point out, is the issue of immigration. florida is a very special mix. of course, the cuban american community has a special place in the law, and the puerto rican community, they're citizens of the

? >> i have never -- i don't think i've ever seen a candidate close a campaign as badly as mitt romney has, and he really seems to have a keen ear on this. i've been trying to think what else could go wrong, go out and say he roots for mr. potter over george baily, bad banker over the good banker in "it's a wonderful life"? it's not just stuff has come out, it's romney's own responses just haven't been good, suggesting that $375,000 is not very much money, the way they've sort of tried to say well, yeah, sort of on the cayman islands, but he's not really taking any tax breaks. i think it's about his personality and how he thinks about this as much as any of the specific revelations. >> it just reminds me of the clinton/dole campaign back in 1996 and after bill clinton won, he beat bob dole, bob dole did some commercials and at the end said you know, i just can't win. in this case, it seems like mitt romney, you know, i just can't close. i mean, he just does not -- he's not the closer that he needs to be. jonathan alter, e.j. dionne, great to have you with us tonight. thanks so much. re

mitt romney, i approve this message. >> do you really think that people in florida care about that, mr. romney? i have to ask you that tonight. as we go from georgia down to florida, newt gingrich is carrying baggage with him but that doesn't matter, this guy has all the confidence in the world right now. he wins south carolina, he's leading in florida, and the pro-gingrich super pac wrote him another $5 million check, that is coming from adelson family. gingrich you know what he's looking like? like a winner right now. the way he talks, the way he walks, the way he acts. confidence is pouring off newt gingrich right now. on top of that he's making romney look pretty weak. >> i have been told by a variety of people that governor romney has been saying unkind things. i prefer personally not to believe it. but on the other hand, if you have been campaigning for six years and you begin to see it slip away, you get desperate. such baloney. used to be pious baloney now it's desperate baloney, that is the success se shun of the ca campai campaign. >> why is newt gingrich connecting with thes

, i thought, by any of the candidates. mrs. -- mr. romney also claiming that gingrich was a lobbyist for medicare part d. >> do you have congressmen who say you came and lobbied them with regards to medicare part d. at the same time, you were taking contributions -- >> you just jumped a long way over, friend. >> another area. >> no. let me be very clear, because i understand your technique, which you used on mccain, you used on huckabee, you use consistently, okay? it's unfortunate, and it's not going to work very well because the american people see through it. i have always publicly favored a stronger medicare program. i wrote a book in 2002 called "saving lives and saving money." i brokered medicare part d for a reason. and the reason is simple. the government wouldn't give american people kidney dialysis. they wouldn't pay for surgery, but they would pay for lipitor. i am proud to say i endorsed medicare part d. it has saved lives. is opened savings accounts for medicare alternatives to escape people's choices. you've been walking around this state saying things that are untrue.

killer just a moment ago on the tape we played? well, i have a challenge for mr. romney. i'll pay for the transportation. every time i throw out something like this, it never works out, but i'll try it again. i'll get those two gentlemen and i'll get them to mitt romney's campaign and i would like those two gentlemen to come face to face with mr. romney and have mr. romney tell those two gentlemen what really happened. why did they lose their jobs? have a conversation with these people. because after all, mitt, you say you're the job creator. what about the people that fell on your watch? mitt romney and other republican candidates better come up with some real job solutions, right? don't you think? the current president's kind of on a role. he as a record of job creation and the economy is slowly improving. without any real plans of their own, republicans hope this country fails. you can only look at the way they vote in the house and the senate. they have done nothing. nothing. when it comes to job creation since mr. boehner has gotten the gavel. they've had a record number of filibuste

president. i think it is an absurdity, and it would be nice if governor romney would exercise leadership on his former staff and his major donors to take falsehoods off the air. >> mr. speaker, you have a super pac ad. >> and i've -- >> that attacks me. now, just hold on. that attacks me. it's probably the biggest hoax since big foot. we would all like to have super pacs disappear, to tell you the truth. >> gene robinson, who won that debate right there on the super pacs? >> i think gingrich probably, by a little, just because of the forceful way, you know, he kind of did push back on the super pac thing. but then it just kind of went away. and so no quarry was pursued to the den and then dispatched. everybody was kind of allowed to escape, including romney on that exchange. i just don't think they heard him. >> you know, gene, i think conventional wisdom is this is romney's to lose at this point. i kind of feel like he got out unscathed tonight. in fact, i think he was a little bit far more prepared and seemed much more confident tonight on how he wanted to handle these quest

congressman from florida's 19th district. mr. wexler, good to have you with us tonight on "the ed show." i know you're also an attorney. and i want to go right to the money here with mitt romney. will mitt romney's failure to disclose financial information, is this a real potential problem? and i ask this under two laws that have been passed. one of them, the ethics and government act, and also, the false statements accountability act, which really goes at people if they do not fully disclose. what about all this? >> well, ed, thank you for having me. and i wouldn't pretend to be a legal expert on this matter, but, certainly, if there is a discrepancy between the tax returns and the financial disclosure forms, that would certainly pose a very serious question. both a legal question and also, most undoubtedly, a political question in terms of why was this the discrepancy presented the way it was, and was something being hidden for some reason? >> how quickly do you think the romney camp has to clean this up? >> well, assuming that there is some kind of discrepancy, first we have to