Economy remains out of balance, favors the rich

>>> we all know when it comes to politics this country is very divided. it is tough to get people to agree on anything, but you know what americans do agree on, injustice in this country. 87% of democrats think the economy is out of balance and favors the rich. 79% of independents think so, too, and get this. 61% of republicans agree. those are amazing numbers. aside from mom and apple pie , can you think of another thing some americans agree on? more than three-quarters of all americans , yet on this issue, fairness, the people's will is clear, and today president obama showed he is listening.

>> a country where fair play applies across the board. that vision in contrast to a vision that basically says you are on your own is what this election was about in 2008 . it's what this election is going to be about in 2012 .

>> but you know who is playing deaf and dumb, the republicans who want his job? according to the tax policy center newt newt's tax plan gives more than $600,000 in tax cuts to people making more than $1 million a year. in fact, newt's plan gives the very rich nearly $2 million in tax cuts each and every year. those are jaw-dropping numbers, but they put newt right in the mainstream of his party, the party of the 1%. joining me now is national political reporter for the associated press, casey hunt, and joe madison , host of "morning with madison" on sirius xm radio . thank you both for being here.

>> thank you, al.

>> casey , doesn't newt's plan to help the rich seem at odds with a broad majority of the american public?

>> well, one thing that is -- that you can note about newt's plan is that it's actually significantly different from one of his rivals, mitt romney . romney , of course, has fought off accusations or charges from critics that he's too moderate to win the republican nomination. romney 's tax plan is actually different from gingrich 's in that he would end capital gains taxes and taxes on dividends only for people who make $200,000 a year or less, whereas gingrich 's plan essentially eliminates those taxes for everyone.

>> yeah, but it's -- you're right. it's different, but it goes in the same direction. if you're going in the wrong direction does it matter if you're going 70 miles an hour or 20 miles an hour? you're still going in the wrong direction.

>> that's certainly what president obama is going to argue. you start to see him lay out this broad philosophical case as you mentioned about this speech that he made in kansas saying that this is a fundamental, philosophical difference between republicans and democrats. we're looking for a square deal whereas republicans want to let you fend for yourselves. he's counting on that argument to carry him through what promises to be a pretty nasty general election .

>> joe, when you look at all of the plans on the other side of the argument in terms of the republicans . when you look at newt's plan. when you look at willard's plan. when you look at rick perry 's plan. they all want to lower taxes for the rich, lower taxes for corporations and repeal financial reform so they really all are basically saying the same thing.

>> and here's another graphic that you ought to consider at some point in time. in other words, what does it mean to the treasury? most experts will tell you that it probably will be an $800 billion cut in the treasury. now, that means something else is going to have to be cut, and then when you follow the ideological line of newt gingrich , of mitt romney , of perry and the other republicans , you know what's going to be cut. those very programs that you talked about earlier, medicare and -- and i would also imagine social security would be on the table. you know, i thought in coming over here this -- and also, you know, newt's plan allows you to op out for a flat tax , so that means --

>> right.

>> that means that the middle class will pay, if you make about 40,000 to 50,000, you're going to pay about 12.7%. the very wealthy will pay less at about 11%. it's what i refer to as the 7-eleven plan. why do we go to 7-eleven? because it's convenient. what happens at convenience stores ? you pay more for bread. you pay more for milk. who needs it the most? it's the middle class people so they will rend up really paying more.

>> well, it -- it does sound like that, casey . it also sounds like for me poor people a wish sand wish, two slices of bread and you wish you had some meat, wish you had a job. but let me ask you. given these numbers how do the republicans plan to win? i mean, casey , the politics of this, are they tone deaf , or do they don't care, or are they so much idealogs that they can't get beyond their commitment to their grover norquist kind of commitments or pledges or ideology.

>> well, as far as trying to figure out how to win, i think you've seen some challenges in recent days on the republican side . newt gingrich and mitt romney have room -- have really gone after each other. gingrich has accused romney of laying people off and making money from it and romney has accused gingrich of taking money from freddie mac and has challenged him to in fact return that money, so right now the republican party is having a conversation about which one of its millionaires should give its money back to which private organization and in the long run that's something that you've seen in recent days the obama officials and folks that are planning obama's re- election campaign basically sitting back and smiling about.

>> the banks seem to speak as to who they are supporting with their dollars. president obama does get some money, $198,075 but donations to willard are $813 p 300, so clearly when you're looking at banks who were bailed out, by the way, that would give a possible nominee as insurgent much, much more than the incumbent, that makes a statement within itself.

>> well, you know why? it's -- it's the dodd/frank law. all of them have pledged to repeal t.banks would love for that to happen, and look what happened, and then we have these banks sitting on top of trillions, trillions of dollars to the point that small businesses can't even get loans. talk to most small business people right now who want to either maintain the division that they have or start a new division or restaurant. they can't get money from the banks and that's why you're seeing them because they are pledging to go right back to deregulation of these banks that got us in the trouble to begin with when we had regulation, so that's what you're seeing here.

>> casey hunt, joe madison , thank you both for your time tonight.

>> thank you.