narrator: freecreditscore.com.
>>> mitt romney is batting down the hatches for a fight over the affordable care act , going back and forth on the tax question, while congressman alan west is likening the president's agenda to slavery and newt gingrich is warning americans of the grave threat posed by he electromagnetic pulses and you thought the deficit was bad. it is tuesday, july 3rd and this is "now." joining me today, msnbc contributor, robert traynham . demos vice president heather mcghee. lizz winstead , co-creator of "the daily show " and "new york times" magazine editor in chief, hugo lindgren. the message from down ballot republicans is crystal clear . the mandate is a tax and the affordable care act is too costly. this is what florida republicans are saying.
>> you're going to pay more with these exchanges. they don't work. government involvement in health care has only caused health care costs to go up. it's rationing care. it's devastating for patients.
>> i believe that president obama has been misleading and actually probably lying to the american people when he was there in front of george stephanopoulos and he was asked if it was a tax. he said absolutely not.
>> congressman alan west also went at the president's policy more broadly and this what is he had to say.
>> he does not want you to have self-esteem of getting up and earning, to have that title of american. he would rather you be his slave.
>> sharp words there, heather mcghee. on some level, are we surprised that there is still a lot of argument and discontent regarding the affordable care act , but as we look towards 2012 , setting aside the presidential race, how much of an issue is this for republicans and democrats seeking re-election or even election to office?
>> i think the polls are showing that the american people actually want the partisan bikerring over health care to go away, that this was a fight for an entire year while the country was reeling and they're really sick of it. i think as people started to get over a billion dollars in rebates from hmos and insurance companies that have been overcharging them, they will start to see benefits. we have over six million young people able to be on their parents' insurance, a lot of times when they're out of work because of obamacare. i think people will start to see the benefits, they will get subsidies. small businesses are already seeing the benefits and it's just going to sort of move from the really intense political atmosphere into people's every day lives and they will see it's actually a benefit.
>> i am inclined to agree with that assessment given the fact i think once americans have concrete real world experience with the aca, it sort of is a game changer. robert, i want to read this quote from american crossroads, not surprisingly thinking this is going to be an arrow in their quiver for november. the ceo says while we would have preferred to see obamacare struck down, this decision will drive republican voter intensity sky-high. the last time obamacare was litigated in a general election , republicans picked up an historic number of seats in the u.s. house and made big gains in the u.s. senate . the cook political report says he believes a majority of the 87 gop freshmen elected in the 2010 shellacking are in good shape but he predicts no more than an eight seat gain for democrats .
>> i believe what the american crossroads said is partially true. is it going to be sky-high, probably not. but there will be some mobilization on the republican side for or against, if you will, obamacare. let's be honest. the majority of the people that were for obamacare are voting for president obama and the folks against it clearly will vote for governor romney. the real question is, hopefully we'll have this conversation, is whether or not health care is going to be a major issue for down ballot individuals that are running on state-wide offices come november. probably not. it most likely still will be the economy. we saw a recent poll that came out today that said 44% of americans still frankly do not understand what obamacare is and that's still not the number one issue for them. it still is the economy. at the end of the day if you're running for u.s. congress , running for governor, running for senate , i don't think it makes a difference. if you're running for attorney general, perhaps it may make a difference because clearly you will be the one implementing the state regulations on this.
>> lizz, we talk about this a lot in terms of message management. the gop is fairly adept at managing the message and getting everybody to march in lockstep. democrats are not as good. on something like the affordable care act , it always -- this is a highly beneficial piece of legislation and yet, you have so much, 2010 was obviously a major walk-back in terms of democrats not wrapping their arms around it. we already know that 15 republican governors are saying they are not going to enact the medicaid provisions. you wonder where is the response from the left, from the democratic party , saying wait a second, expanding medicare rules to cover 17 million americans is a good thing or at least something we can try and run on.
>> what i think is so interesting is as this unfolds, we are actually finally learning about what is in this bill. regular folks, my job is to be an observer of the likes of you guys and what you say and the information we get, then --
>> and to make fun of you.
>> as i am reading this and hearing things, i am learning along with the american people that you do not qualify for medicaid in florida if you are single mom that makes more than $3300 a year. i don't think people know that. when they hear that information, when you talk about states like texas and talk about florida and you hear these governors saying we're not going to take any of this, and you think oh, my god, if people are screaming that we don't want to pay for people to go to the emergency rooms and we want to send this money, you know, that's a windfall for your state and you do not want to help people who make $3200 a year --
>> talking about families of four who make $29,000 a year and they would get -- the federal government would pick up the tab basically through 2022 .
>> you're still talking about sm small story, though. compelling but small. the problem for health care vis a vis the democrats is the story is complex and also an abstraction. it doesn't exist yet. the benefits are not ones people know about, that they're receiving, so i think what it really does for the republicans, it fits very nicely into an economic message which is like this is going to be part of the jobs-killing program of the obama administration, this massive tax, this huge bureaucra bureaucracy. you look at the aggregate and have an easy story to tell why it's to fear.
>> i don't know. i think expanding coverage to the poor, the jobless and disenfranchised is a strong narrative. i guess the thinking is you get bogged down in policy details so if you're --
>> not just policy details but also something that doesn't yet exist.
>> well, some parts of it don't.
>> it's really hard to argue on behalf of that. it's really easier to argue for something people are used to receiving, something they know the value of, because people don't trust a lot of these things. they just don't.
>> but that said, i'm speaking from --
>> from the heart.
>> look, you look at the polling among tea partyiers two years ago, they want government out of their backyards but don't touch social security and medicaid . they like the entitlement programs.
>> it goes back to my original point. it's not about health care . it's about the economy. what the democrats should do if they were in -- i was about to say if they're smart, but they are smart, is connect the dots this is an economic issue. they have not done that yet. i think the reason why is because they must have some internal polling data that says every time they talk about it, people switch the channel, they tune out and say no, no, you don't understand, i need a job. the reason why i want a job, i can get my own health insurance . i don't want the federal government involved in any way, shape or form. now, god forbid if i lose my health insurance , i want there to be a safety net but i want to make that decision.
>> i like that you have a notion that democrats en masse have some sort of internal polling that gives confidence to people who don't think
>>> mitt romney is batting down the hatches for a fight over the affordable care act , going back and forth on the tax question, while congressman alan west is likening the president's agenda to slavery and newt gingrich is warning americans of the grave threat posed by he electromagnetic pulses and you thought the deficit was bad. it is tuesday, july 3rd and this is "now." joining me today, msnbc contributor, robert traynham . demos vice president heather mcghee. lizz winstead , co-creator of "the daily show " and "new york times" magazine editor in chief, hugo lindgren. the message from down ballot republicans is crystal clear . the mandate is a tax and the affordable care act is too costly. this is what florida republicans are saying.
>> you're going to pay more with these exchanges. they don't work. government involvement in health care has only caused health care costs to go up. it's rationing care. it's devastating for patients.
>> i believe that president obama has been misleading and actually probably lying to the american people when he was there in front of george stephanopoulos and he was asked if it was a tax. he said absolutely not.
>> congressman alan west also went at the president's policy more broadly and this what is he had to say.
>> he does not want you to have self-esteem of getting up and earning, to have that title of american. he would rather you be his slave.
>> sharp words there, heather mcghee. on some level, are we surprised that there is still a lot of argument and discontent regarding the affordable care act , but as we look towards 2012 , setting aside the presidential race, how much of an issue is this for republicans and democrats seeking re-election or even election to office?
>> i think the polls are showing that the american people actually want the partisan bikerring over health care to go away, that this was a fight for an entire year while the country was reeling and they're really sick of it. i think as people started to get over a billion dollars in rebates from hmos and insurance companies that have been overcharging them, they will start to see benefits. we have over six million young people able to be on their parents' insurance, a lot of times when they're out of work because of obamacare. i think people will start to see the benefits, they will get subsidies. small businesses are already seeing the benefits and it's just going to sort of move from the really intense political atmosphere into people's every day lives and they will see it's actually a benefit.
>> i am inclined to agree with that assessment given the fact i think once americans have concrete real world experience with the aca, it sort of is a game changer. robert, i want to read this quote from american crossroads, not surprisingly thinking this is going to be an arrow in their quiver for november. the ceo says while we would have preferred to see obamacare struck down, this decision will drive republican voter intensity sky-high. the last time obamacare was litigated in a general election , republicans picked up an historic number of seats in the u.s. house and made big gains in the u.s. senate . the cook political report says he believes a majority of the 87 gop freshmen elected in the 2010 shellacking are in good shape but he predicts no more than an eight seat gain for democrats .
>> i believe what the american crossroads said is partially true. is it going to be sky-high, probably not. but there will be some mobilization on the republican side for or against, if you will, obamacare. let's be honest. the majority of the people that were for obamacare are voting for president obama and the folks against it clearly will vote for governor romney. the real question is, hopefully we'll have this conversation, is whether or not health care is going to be a major issue for down ballot individuals that are running on state-wide offices come november. probably not. it most likely still will be the economy. we saw a recent poll that came out today that said 44% of americans still frankly do not understand what obamacare is and that's still not the number one issue for them. it still is the economy. at the end of the day if you're running for u.s. congress , running for governor, running for senate , i don't think it makes a difference. if you're running for attorney general, perhaps it may make a difference because clearly you will be the one implementing the state regulations on this.
>> lizz, we talk about this a lot in terms of message management. the gop is fairly adept at managing the message and getting everybody to march in lockstep. democrats are not as good. on something like the affordable care act , it always -- this is a highly beneficial piece of legislation and yet, you have so much, 2010 was obviously a major walk-back in terms of democrats not wrapping their arms around it. we already know that 15 republican governors are saying they are not going to enact the medicaid provisions. you wonder where is the response from the left, from the democratic party , saying wait a second, expanding medicare rules to cover 17 million americans is a good thing or at least something we can try and run on.
>> what i think is so interesting is as this unfolds, we are actually finally learning about what is in this bill. regular folks, my job is to be an observer of the likes of you guys and what you say and the information we get, then --
>> and to make fun of you.
>> as i am reading this and hearing things, i am learning along with the american people that you do not qualify for medicaid in florida if you are single mom that makes more than $3300 a year. i don't think people know that. when they hear that information, when you talk about states like texas and talk about florida and you hear these governors saying we're not going to take any of this, and you think oh, my god, if people are screaming that we don't want to pay for people to go to the emergency rooms and we want to send this money, you know, that's a windfall for your state and you do not want to help people who make $3200 a year --
>> talking about families of four who make $29,000 a year and they would get -- the federal government would pick up the tab basically through 2022 .
>> you're still talking about sm small story, though. compelling but small. the problem for health care vis a vis the democrats is the story is complex and also an abstraction. it doesn't exist yet. the benefits are not ones people know about, that they're receiving, so i think what it really does for the republicans, it fits very nicely into an economic message which is like this is going to be part of the jobs-killing program of the obama administration, this massive tax, this huge bureaucra bureaucracy. you look at the aggregate and have an easy story to tell why it's to fear.
>> i don't know. i think expanding coverage to the poor, the jobless and disenfranchised is a strong narrative. i guess the thinking is you get bogged down in policy details so if you're --
>> not just policy details but also something that doesn't yet exist.
>> well, some parts of it don't.
>> it's really hard to argue on behalf of that. it's really easier to argue for something people are used to receiving, something they know the value of, because people don't trust a lot of these things. they just don't.
>> but that said, i'm speaking from --
>> from the heart.
>> look, you look at the polling among tea partyiers two years ago, they want government out of their backyards but don't touch social security and medicaid . they like the entitlement programs.
>> it goes back to my original point. it's not about health care . it's about the economy. what the democrats should do if they were in -- i was about to say if they're smart, but they are smart, is connect the dots this is an economic issue. they have not done that yet. i think the reason why is because they must have some internal polling data that says every time they talk about it, people switch the channel, they tune out and say no, no, you don't understand, i need a job. the reason why i want a job, i can get my own health insurance . i don't want the federal government involved in any way, shape or form. now, god forbid if i lose my health insurance , i want there to be a safety net but i want to make that decision.
>> i like that you have a notion that democrats en masse have some sort of internal polling that gives confidence to people who don't think