Obama drives economic recovery, Romney drives Audi

>>> the record straight on the economy this evening. let's start with a quick refresher course on how republicans tried to demon news the president during the election. he was called a socialist, accused of being wrong for america , labeled just a big disappointment.

>> the president hasn't disappointed you because he wanted to. the president has disappointed america because he hasn't led america in the right direction.

>> here's reality. the department of commerce reports corporate profits hit an all-time high in the third quarter of this year. profits are up more than 18% over last year. this is booming. profits have only been going up since president bush left office and the congress passed president obama 's stimulus package . here's the bad news. business owners aren't using those record profits to pay their workers. profits hit an all-time high, but workers wages have simply bottomed out. in fact, wages have hit an all-time low. let's take a look at this. it seems to be some kind of income fairness in this country. until about 2000 . wages have gone from here down to there in 12 years. have you heard the term "off the charts"? here we go. corporate profits, then the recession hit. but back at it. there's a pretty huge separation between corporate profits and wages. one line is going off the charts and the other one is going down. but there's good news. even though wages are lower, consumers are basically driving the economy. consumer confidence reached its highest point since february of 2008 . in a new report, it shows the automobile industry continues to roar back. almost every auto maker is reporting big sales gains. dodge is up for the 32nd month in a row. chrysler sales up 14% over last year. the hyundai plant in alabama is running at full capacity and can't keep pace with demand. there's no question the economy is coming back with president obama in charge. and there's one more thing we need to set the record straight on and that is --

>> my dad was head of a car company. i like american cars . i would do nothing to hurt the u.s. auto industry .

>> nothing. the car lover is now driving a brand new audi q7 . is that it? romney is spotted in san diego climbing into this brand new $46,000 ride? this car is made in slovakia. the economy is on the road to recovery. let's bring in sam stein, reporter for hu"the huffington post ." there's so much evidence that the republicans had the wrong narrative during the election. they have the wrong narrative right now. this should be really a boom for the democrats right now in the conversation world, shouldn't it?

>> yeah, like you mentioned, consumer confidence is growing. the wind is at the president's back with respect to how people perceived the economy. the factor here is what happens if, for instance, in the process of these negotiations, consumer confidence dips. people feel like they are troubled by investing money and the economy goes back into a recession nar status. that's what the president wants to avoid with this fiscal cliff conversation. that's why a deal is going to be hammered out probably before the end of the year. the president does have a little political head wind.

>> this gives, i think, labor a real opportunity to show the country the graph that we showed, the separation between corporate profits are right there at a record level and wages are going down. the republicans have been so strong to even want to take away workers voices in the workplace. but in these fiscal cliff negotiations, do you really think that the republicans see this chart and they need that economy to slow down a little bit if they are going to win th this?

>> maybe so. the income inequality in this country has been a problem but it has been for decades. it's been exacerbated by policies passed more recently. so when you go into negotiations, you ask, is it politically correct to be out there arguing that the 2% need to have their tax cuts protected? that's the problem that republicans face. labor does have a bit of an upper hand on this one. but then again, you look at all the stuff being offered as concessions. it's going to hit the working class . they know the history of the negotiations. they know the entitlement programs that the cuts that tend to be made affect them more than others. but republicans -- they have an image problem when they are out there saying we need to protect the tax rates of the top 2%. everyone knows the recent history of income inequality .

>> could the uncertainty hurt the economy? i know you have talked about that and written about that in the past. why should we be afraid of just going over the cliff, getting rid of the bush era tax cuts . they were extended in the last session.

>> that's a great point. economists have said it's not really a cliff. if you hit it, it's not like all the cuts happen at once. it's not like everyone pays a huge chunk. you can fix it in the subsequent days, weeks, months. it wouldn't have as much as an impact. except for the idea that it would affect people's confidence. wall street would be hurt by it. so you roll the dmies that limited dense. but you're hitting an important point. it's not a fiscal cliff. it's like a small slope.

>> the statistics say that corporate america has got a little bit to give. sam stein, good to have you with us.

>>> there's a lot coming up in the next half hour.

>> guns have nothing to do with the culture we live in.

>> the radical right drowns out the scent over handgun violence and they are coming after bob costas .

>> bob costas , based on our standards, deserves to be fired for these remarks.

>> dan gross, president of the brady campaign and bill rhoden of "the new york times" respond.

>>> a tribute video to hillary clinton has everyone talking about a presidential run.