Romney rips into Biden “chains” remark - NBCNews.com
>>> 100 days he's going to let the big banks write their own rules. they are going to put you all back in chains.
>> good morning, everybody. i'm thomas roberts . topping the agenda, hate, heated rhetoric and the heated campaign. joe biden draws fast and furious fire after telling an audience that mitt romney 's policies would put them back in chains and that set off a chain reaction after rip iping into biden 's remarks late yesterday. take a listen.
>> the president's campaign is all about division and attack and hatred. these personal attacks i think are demeaning to the office of the white house and the comments yesterday by the vice president diminished the white house that much more.
>> vice president biden tried to clarify his remarks while unloading against the rhetoric of the romney campaign.
>> and i'm told when i made that comment earlier today in danville, virginia, the romney campaign put out a tweet, went on the air saying booiden was outrageous. i have a message for them. if you want to know what's outrageous, it's their policies and the efs of their policies on middle-class americans. that's what's outrageous.
>> let's dive right in. joining me is the executive director of the democratic national committee and former obama white house political director. did they go too far? he was asked about biden 's comments earlier on " morning joe ."
>> i think it takes things to a new level. a level of negativity.
>> that byte was from "the today show ." how do you respond to the ak sigs that the president has become unhinged?
>> thanks for having me on. i want to make sure i'm clear on the clip you just showed. was that the same gentleman who compared the president of the united states to the captain of that sinking italian ship i'm pretty sure. it's pretty clear that mitt romney , when he entered into florida a couple days ago saw the headlines about his pick for vice president and about how seniors in that state were profoundly concerned about the impact of his budget. he need to change the conversation and he's decided had he would do this by being absolutely hypocrite call and acting sank moanhouse about being questioned an his pick, being questioned on the ways in which he'd like to unshackle wall street . so i understand why he's trying to change the subject, but clearly for a guy who ran a 99% negative campaign to get past gingrich, santorum, and perry, it's beyond hypocrite kl for him to say that.
>> this was said of the remarks in the paper today. he knew what he was doing. if this were the last presidential election , the one of hope and change, obama would have to dump him for sure. but now the president is fighting for his political life and they will do what they all do, fight to win. whether it's in an alley or a mud pit. do you think they think this is what they need to do? that's what the biden and obama ticket represents. do you think they are painting a good enough vision for that instead of droning on?
>> to respond to that, barack obama is not fighting for his political life . he's working hard every single day on the behalf of the middle class and is looking for the opportunity to have positive change for all americans on the economy and on health care and securing the future for young people in this country. as it relates to the kind of vision that came out of this campaign, they made it clear the president continues to double down on his investment on clean energy . we're going to do all we can to make sure young people have opportunities through investing things like pell grants that romney and ryan would basically x out in their budget. we're also going to continue to draw a sharp contrast between what this president has done for seniors, making it possible to get prescription drugs as opposed to what romney and ryan called for in their budget. i also want to say i understand that mitt romney thought he could run a presidential campaign without being questioned. when he was in the private sector, he was unassailable when cutting jobs, laying off workers and eliminatie ining pensions. but running for president, there's a different measure of accountability.
>> let's talk about medicare . they are doing so with this new ad. take a listen.
>> you paid into medicare for years. every paycheck. now when you need it, obama has cut $716 billion from medicare . why? to pay for obama care.
>> the romney camp seems to think it can turn the tables and make this about the president's health care plan. could that strategy work?
>> clearly, it's not working for them. you all saw the approval ratings for the ryan pick. the lowest approval rating since dan kwail was selected as a vice presidential nominee . even sarah palin had higher ratings. so their tactic is not working. seniors know because of the savings that barack obama found in medicare were able to close the door hole for them and provide all matter of screenings that are critical. they know the same savings that romney and ryan put in that ad, ryan himself accounts for those savings in his budget and house republicans who want to repeal obama care have voted twice now to preserve the savings that the president found that extend the life of the medicare program out to 2024 . so mitt romney can duck and weave and throw out lies about medicare , lies about welfare reform , but the american people are more sophisticated than that.
>> thank you for your time. we want to bring in our power panel. erin mcpike, great to see all of you. as we look back at the arkansas koo archives, i want to show everybody who said it first and get reaction on the other side.
>> because they will put you in chains called obama care and you will be dependent upon government and never break away .
>> that was rick santorum comparing the affordable care act to chains in august of 2011 . why isn't what's good for the goose good r for the gander?
>> it's worth noting that rick santorum is not the presidential candidate and so comparing what biden --
>> but he's not the presidential candidate here. joe biden is not the presidential candidate either. we're talking about the type of rhetoric that's going back and forth that's led mitt romney to call president obama angry and unhinged.
>> it's also worth noting that when we're talking about this whole rhetoric thing that while obama care would force people to pay into a system that's just subsidizing somebody else. it forces the young to pay for senior care that they will never actually receive themselves. i think it's fair game to say that it's problematic. that was the point santorum was making. but he's not the person on the top of the ticket right now.
>> let's talk about nbc's first read comparing the criticism of biden bringing a gun to a knife point. what's the strategy on the part of the romney camp and coming out so forcefully against those words used in their own party?
>> i think that it's a problem for mitt romney to be the one who is accusing president obama of these kinds of tactics. we saw hillary clinton do that against barack obama in the 2008 primary in march in ohio. that didn't work out very well for her. of course, she won ohio, but she lost the primary. newt gingrich was also complaining about mitt romney 's tactics in the primary this year and he lost. to be the candidate and complain about the other candidate's tactics is not a good strategy. it looks like you're complaining and losing. you appear to have the weaker hand. mitt romney should be trying to come out of this by talking about policy in his own campaign.
>> my grandmother used to say he who carries the least has the most power. so why point fingers? just move on with the big ideas , what you want to drive home. as we talk about the words here, the slogan for obama and biden is forward. but they are not talking about moving forward as they are trying to demonize what it would mean going backward if mitt romney were select elected.
>> what erin said is people don't like whiners and complainers. the obama campaign is pushing forward because they are creating a vision of what america will be like in the next four years under the obama presidency. and the differences are stark. it's a $700 billion cut that they are talking about in medicare . that's the same cut that ryan has in his budget proposal, but it's not a cut to current beneficiaries, it's a cut in savings. i don't think they are talking about that because this campaign is operated on distortion and honesty from the very beginning. the idea that mitt romney , the guy that newt gingrich called a liar is now complaining about campaign tactics seems hypocrite call.
>> so people are eager for clarity. paul ryan was asked about his ticket's platform on medicare . here's his answer. take a look.
>> i joined the romney ticket. what mitt romney is proposing to do is repeal all of obama care.
>> ryan is distancing himself from his own -- or distancing his own from that of mitt romney . what does it say about the second person in the republican ticket that he's already backing away from his own platform? the reason paul ryan was attractive is he's this budget guy.
>> it's smart for them to revisit and put out a newer plan. one they can both agree on. that makes perfect sense. but to go back to one of the points mentioned earlier. when ryan has been developing his own plan, he did so along with a democrat from oregon. he approached this in a bipartisan way. every plan he's come up with has been done with a bipartisan consensus, to some extent. that's not true of obama care. in terms of the amount of money that's cut, we shouldn't be get sboog a back and forth as to who is going to cut more. what are we going to do with the savings? obama wants to put it into obama care and a new entitlement for health care . whereas ryan wants to put us on a more sustainable fiscal path. that's a big difference.
>> he wants to put us on a sustainable fiscal path, why won't he raise revenues? why doesn't his plan reduce the deficit? it doesn't deal with the debt that the republican plans have actually added on? paul ryan is the guy who voted for the tax cut that added trillions of of dollars to the debt. he voted for tarp. he voted for the automobile bailout. now he wants to be a deficit hog. it just doesn't add up.
>> i hear your point.
>> i think the american people can see through it.
>> real quickly, i want to play something. take a look.
>> i think we're either today going to escalate into nuclear war , duh this is not the campaign either candidates want but it's really escalated.
>> are we watching a game of political chicken?
>> i think so. only 80 some odd days left and that's what it's going to be from here on out.
>> okay. erin mcpike, j.p. frair, and keith stick around. thanks to all three of you
>>> 100 days he's going to let the big banks write their own rules. they are going to put you all back in chains.
>> good morning, everybody. i'm thomas roberts . topping the agenda, hate, heated rhetoric and the heated campaign. joe biden draws fast and furious fire after telling an audience that mitt romney 's policies would put them back in chains and that set off a chain reaction after rip iping into biden 's remarks late yesterday. take a listen.
>> the president's campaign is all about division and attack and hatred. these personal attacks i think are demeaning to the office of the white house and the comments yesterday by the vice president diminished the white house that much more.
>> vice president biden tried to clarify his remarks while unloading against the rhetoric of the romney campaign.
>> and i'm told when i made that comment earlier today in danville, virginia, the romney campaign put out a tweet, went on the air saying booiden was outrageous. i have a message for them. if you want to know what's outrageous, it's their policies and the efs of their policies on middle-class americans. that's what's outrageous.
>> let's dive right in. joining me is the executive director of the democratic national committee and former obama white house political director. did they go too far? he was asked about biden 's comments earlier on " morning joe ."
>> i think it takes things to a new level. a level of negativity.
>> that byte was from "the today show ." how do you respond to the ak sigs that the president has become unhinged?
>> thanks for having me on. i want to make sure i'm clear on the clip you just showed. was that the same gentleman who compared the president of the united states to the captain of that sinking italian ship i'm pretty sure. it's pretty clear that mitt romney , when he entered into florida a couple days ago saw the headlines about his pick for vice president and about how seniors in that state were profoundly concerned about the impact of his budget. he need to change the conversation and he's decided had he would do this by being absolutely hypocrite call and acting sank moanhouse about being questioned an his pick, being questioned on the ways in which he'd like to unshackle wall street . so i understand why he's trying to change the subject, but clearly for a guy who ran a 99% negative campaign to get past gingrich, santorum, and perry, it's beyond hypocrite kl for him to say that.
>> this was said of the remarks in the paper today. he knew what he was doing. if this were the last presidential election , the one of hope and change, obama would have to dump him for sure. but now the president is fighting for his political life and they will do what they all do, fight to win. whether it's in an alley or a mud pit. do you think they think this is what they need to do? that's what the biden and obama ticket represents. do you think they are painting a good enough vision for that instead of droning on?
>> to respond to that, barack obama is not fighting for his political life . he's working hard every single day on the behalf of the middle class and is looking for the opportunity to have positive change for all americans on the economy and on health care and securing the future for young people in this country. as it relates to the kind of vision that came out of this campaign, they made it clear the president continues to double down on his investment on clean energy . we're going to do all we can to make sure young people have opportunities through investing things like pell grants that romney and ryan would basically x out in their budget. we're also going to continue to draw a sharp contrast between what this president has done for seniors, making it possible to get prescription drugs as opposed to what romney and ryan called for in their budget. i also want to say i understand that mitt romney thought he could run a presidential campaign without being questioned. when he was in the private sector, he was unassailable when cutting jobs, laying off workers and eliminatie ining pensions. but running for president, there's a different measure of accountability.
>> let's talk about medicare . they are doing so with this new ad. take a listen.
>> you paid into medicare for years. every paycheck. now when you need it, obama has cut $716 billion from medicare . why? to pay for obama care.
>> the romney camp seems to think it can turn the tables and make this about the president's health care plan. could that strategy work?
>> clearly, it's not working for them. you all saw the approval ratings for the ryan pick. the lowest approval rating since dan kwail was selected as a vice presidential nominee . even sarah palin had higher ratings. so their tactic is not working. seniors know because of the savings that barack obama found in medicare were able to close the door hole for them and provide all matter of screenings that are critical. they know the same savings that romney and ryan put in that ad, ryan himself accounts for those savings in his budget and house republicans who want to repeal obama care have voted twice now to preserve the savings that the president found that extend the life of the medicare program out to 2024 . so mitt romney can duck and weave and throw out lies about medicare , lies about welfare reform , but the american people are more sophisticated than that.
>> thank you for your time. we want to bring in our power panel. erin mcpike, great to see all of you. as we look back at the arkansas koo archives, i want to show everybody who said it first and get reaction on the other side.
>> because they will put you in chains called obama care and you will be dependent upon government and never break away .
>> that was rick santorum comparing the affordable care act to chains in august of 2011 . why isn't what's good for the goose good r for the gander?
>> it's worth noting that rick santorum is not the presidential candidate and so comparing what biden --
>> but he's not the presidential candidate here. joe biden is not the presidential candidate either. we're talking about the type of rhetoric that's going back and forth that's led mitt romney to call president obama angry and unhinged.
>> it's also worth noting that when we're talking about this whole rhetoric thing that while obama care would force people to pay into a system that's just subsidizing somebody else. it forces the young to pay for senior care that they will never actually receive themselves. i think it's fair game to say that it's problematic. that was the point santorum was making. but he's not the person on the top of the ticket right now.
>> let's talk about nbc's first read comparing the criticism of biden bringing a gun to a knife point. what's the strategy on the part of the romney camp and coming out so forcefully against those words used in their own party?
>> i think that it's a problem for mitt romney to be the one who is accusing president obama of these kinds of tactics. we saw hillary clinton do that against barack obama in the 2008 primary in march in ohio. that didn't work out very well for her. of course, she won ohio, but she lost the primary. newt gingrich was also complaining about mitt romney 's tactics in the primary this year and he lost. to be the candidate and complain about the other candidate's tactics is not a good strategy. it looks like you're complaining and losing. you appear to have the weaker hand. mitt romney should be trying to come out of this by talking about policy in his own campaign.
>> my grandmother used to say he who carries the least has the most power. so why point fingers? just move on with the big ideas , what you want to drive home. as we talk about the words here, the slogan for obama and biden is forward. but they are not talking about moving forward as they are trying to demonize what it would mean going backward if mitt romney were select elected.
>> what erin said is people don't like whiners and complainers. the obama campaign is pushing forward because they are creating a vision of what america will be like in the next four years under the obama presidency. and the differences are stark. it's a $700 billion cut that they are talking about in medicare . that's the same cut that ryan has in his budget proposal, but it's not a cut to current beneficiaries, it's a cut in savings. i don't think they are talking about that because this campaign is operated on distortion and honesty from the very beginning. the idea that mitt romney , the guy that newt gingrich called a liar is now complaining about campaign tactics seems hypocrite call.
>> so people are eager for clarity. paul ryan was asked about his ticket's platform on medicare . here's his answer. take a look.
>> i joined the romney ticket. what mitt romney is proposing to do is repeal all of obama care.
>> ryan is distancing himself from his own -- or distancing his own from that of mitt romney . what does it say about the second person in the republican ticket that he's already backing away from his own platform? the reason paul ryan was attractive is he's this budget guy.
>> it's smart for them to revisit and put out a newer plan. one they can both agree on. that makes perfect sense. but to go back to one of the points mentioned earlier. when ryan has been developing his own plan, he did so along with a democrat from oregon. he approached this in a bipartisan way. every plan he's come up with has been done with a bipartisan consensus, to some extent. that's not true of obama care. in terms of the amount of money that's cut, we shouldn't be get sboog a back and forth as to who is going to cut more. what are we going to do with the savings? obama wants to put it into obama care and a new entitlement for health care . whereas ryan wants to put us on a more sustainable fiscal path. that's a big difference.
>> he wants to put us on a sustainable fiscal path, why won't he raise revenues? why doesn't his plan reduce the deficit? it doesn't deal with the debt that the republican plans have actually added on? paul ryan is the guy who voted for the tax cut that added trillions of of dollars to the debt. he voted for tarp. he voted for the automobile bailout. now he wants to be a deficit hog. it just doesn't add up.
>> i hear your point.
>> i think the american people can see through it.
>> real quickly, i want to play something. take a look.
>> i think we're either today going to escalate into nuclear war , duh this is not the campaign either candidates want but it's really escalated.
>> are we watching a game of political chicken?
>> i think so. only 80 some odd days left and that's what it's going to be from here on out.
>> okay. erin mcpike, j.p. frair, and keith stick around. thanks to all three of you