and louisiana governor bobby jindal calls republicans the stupid party. how about that? and then there is an unconfirmed scandal. i say unconfirmed. did senator bob menendez sleep with underaged dominican prostitutes? this is "the kudlow report" and we begin right now. >> all right. first up, our most optimistic story tonight, stock continue their bull run, the s&p 500 and dow closing in on their all-time highs from october 2007. brian shactman joins us now with all the details. good evening, brian and good work today. >> you touched on the s&p details having its best streak in terms of winning streaks days in a row in eight years but how about the dow. we're now 105 points shy of 14,000. eight components hit new highs today. beyond the five on your screen, utx, pfizer and p & g also doing it. now, speaking of history, historically life is good, larry, as you well know when the dow transports show leadership, up another 3% for the week. apple used to be leadership but not right now. the stock hitting a 52-week low and has lost the distinction of being the world's most pr

>>> and later, bobby jindal leads the effort to rebrand the republican party. but there is one problem. they're selling the same old policies. karen finney and eugene robinson will join me. stay with us. we're right back. >>> welcome back to "the ed >>> welcome back to "the ed show." today is january 25th. it's been three weeks since the congress and the president raised taxes to prevent the fiscal cliff. before the election they called it taxmageddon. many said all they needed was mitt romney to save them. even mitt romney was in awe of mitt romney's awesomeness. >> they'll probably be looking at what the polls are saying, but it looks like i'll be winning the markets and the markets will be happy. it looks if the president were to win the markets would not be so happy. my own view is if we win on november 6th, there will be a great deal of optimism about the future of this country. we'll see capital come back, and we'll see -- without actually doing anything, we'll actually get a boost in the economy. >> i mean, there would be no way the economy could sustain

. >> bobby jindal. talks republican revival. >> no, the republican party does not need to change its principles. >> with the same old lines. karen finney and eugene robinson take on the losing strategy. >>> senator saxby chambliss of georgia is a lame duck. tonight we look at his flawed legacy. >>> and more on the fallout from the pbs documentary "the untouchables." why isn't wall street on trial? mike papantonio, head of the national trial lawyers association is here to explain. good to have you with us folks, thanks for watching. the fight is on. republican attempts to steal the next presidential election by rigging the elect roll college are facing resistance and the resistance is working. earlier today rnc chairman reince priebus was rewarded for his failures of the 2012 election by being reelected as head of the republican party. good news. priebus told republicans to start looking at a broader electoral map. >> it's time to stop looking at elections through the lenses of battleground states. we ha

bobby jindal wants people to pay $400 a month for insurance. for a governor who oversees one of the poorest states in the nation, bobby jindal should be ashamed of himself for cutting assistance basically to the people who have no political influence. they're not going to be shaking down the pockets or lining the pockets of any politician. it's a cheap way to go, governor, and it's heartless. for more, let's turn to dr. rani whitfield, also known as the hip-hop doctor. and he is the associate medical director of the national association of free clinics in new orleans. doctor, good to have you with us tonight. >> ed, thanks again for having me. >> you bet. >> it's great to be here. >> how much is this going to hurt the residents, the poorest residents in louisiana? >> significantly, ed. it seems like our governor is building his budget off the backs of the poor and those that are most vulnerable are least considered. our poor women and children, those with disabilities and mental health issues. and up until this week, those with hospice benefits

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is that what bobby jindal's talking about? >> i don't think that's the problem with the republican party right now. they do have a messaging problem. they also have a legislating problem. and what he was talking about, stupid comments that people have made, talking about there might be a legitimate case for rape, there might not be. what's the debate about rape. why is everybody talking about rape? why sjt anybody talking about contraception? these weren't off-the-wall comments. these are bills that were introduced in many, many states across the country, starting to restrict contraception. it gets people afraid. i want somebody to help me bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan. they want people to deal with the economy and that's not what the republican party did the last time around. i think jindal has a prescription to how to fix it if the republicans are willing to follow it. >> here's the thing. in 2010 when they said washington needs to rein in the spending, we won big, we won huge. in 2012 when the republican party

we've had enough of that. >> john: bobby jindal is right. the g.o.p. is march marginalizing their party and telling them to stop being stupid is bobby's way of positioning himself in the presidential. who else to admonish against stupidity than the governor who proposed education cuts while signing the academic freedom act which allows teachers to talk about the design theory in design class. governor jindal supports the constitutional amendment banning flag burning but opposes the fairness doctrine because that might infringe on free speech. he's against abortion in cases of rape and incest like the two guys he's calling stuff stupid. i guess you wants you to stop being the willfully stupid party. only on current tv. >> john: where there is oil there are humans fighting over it. could this explain the recent surge in taliban violence in afghanistan? that's what investigative journalist antonia juhasz has found after a three-week undercover investigation. she writes, the result is clear and far from unique to afghanistan. as the development of oil and

down in baton rouge governor bobby jindal says we have to stop being the stupid party. haley barbour warns this party to stop making stupid comments again, that word about rape. but don't lose heart. like an old car that won't turn off even when you turn the key to off, some character out in new mexico wants to stick women who are raped with stiff prison sentences if they get an abortion. she calls it tampering with the evidence. but wait a minute, crazy guys. didn't one of your republicans say you can't get pregnant in case of a rape? anyway, tonight finding our way through the crazy even as we hear the first loud barks and meows from the backyard of american politics. i have with me joy reid and "mother jones'" david corn. anytime i can get you to giggle a little bit, joy, i consider myself a success. i owe some of this material to a lot of republicans today. pegging noonan, a friend of mine and very smart, i don't always agree with her, talks about middle of the road conservative. she's got a brain. in a "wall street journal" column, quote, it became obvious this wee

hash tag, fbj, forget bobby jindal. this is a man whose policies in the state of louisiana have created a voucher program that increasingly sends children to schools that teach creationism. this man, who was a biology major, who understands what basic, scientific principles are, is sending children in a poor state with under-achieving schools to school that are teaching them with state dollars. when he says stop being the stupid party, that is pure rhetoric. as you heard there from priebus, they're not talking at all act a core change in how this party actually plans to govern. they're just talking about a cosmetic difference. >> he's also not teaching in some of those schools, siensz: >> oh, yeah, as the science course is creationism. >> yes, that's exactly right. >>> e.j., when you look at reince ps reince priebus, opportunityism working on voters but the same policies, i mean, do they get it? >> i think the newer slogan is don't worry, be happy. that happiness would be nice compared to what we have. he did say the pa

bobby jindal is an ambitious guy. for them to be viable as presidential candidates they need to change. in the political class believed you could change the base, they wouldn't be trying the shenanigans like trying to change the electoral college so the rural counties -- >> we'll be talking about that the rest of the year. they keep looking for ways to cheat. they do face a rural threat. even though they embrace hispanics, embrace the african-american viewer, they are doomed. this is coming out as fresh news. if you thought had republicans had learned their lesson on abortion talking about being the stupid party think again. katherine ann brown has brought up a bill that would make it illegal for rape victims to get abortions. tampering with evidence shall include procuring or facilitating an abortion or compelling or coercing another to obtain a fetus that's the result of criminal sexual penetration. why do they get into this stuff? what in their mind magnetized to be talking about rape and what they were through wit

i guess the only one i would take issue with is the bobby jindal characterization. i think bobby jindal remains, i guess talks a good game but remains a conservative force and tea party force. because he's trying to do away with personal income taxes. and he wanted to eliminate hospice care for medicaid patients. so this perspective on spending that the tea party brought certainly hasn't gone away. anytime you've got 36 united states senators who voted down sandy relief a couple days ago, you know that something has fundamentally changed about the way that republicans talk about government. so i think it's too early to say that they're dead, but all the things dana points to are good signs and signs of some kind of sanity seeping in. >> and dana, maybe it's all in a name. because i think what continues on for sure is this conservative domination particularly in republican primaries. i mean, here you've got mitch mcconnell being threatened now in kentucky and next year's election from the right. >> right. and the tea party's never really been an organized political f

bobby jindal obviously wants to be a standard-bearer and be part of the change. obviously the previous standard-bearer mitt romney wasn't even there. what are they saying about mitt romney? was he a topic of discussion at all? >> you know, out of sight, out of mind. in fact, any discussion of mitt romney was just kind of in hushed tones here in the hallways because he's gone. he's the past. they're talking about the future. although bobby jindal last night did take, you know, a little bit of a jab at mitt romney. made fun of his political operation, insider joke during his speech. he was also very credit calf of mitt romney when mitt romney had mentioned the whole 47%, the divided nation. bobby jindal said for the republican party to succeed, that they have to go for every vote. now, as we say this, mitt romney was in washington, d.c. today, he was at a luncheon with some friends. we saw john mccain was at the luncheon. we know his vice presidential running mate paul ryan also attended the luncheon. he's certainly kept a low profile since the election. but i tell

good morning, guys. >> good morning. >> morning. >> so, john, the stupid party, is bobby jindal right? >> i think we've made a lot of mistakes. the first thing is to understand we did make those mistakes. the biggest problem i have that we have to work on is that the average american and hard-working and lunch bucket americans don't feel we represent and fight for them anymore. the president did something very clear when he wanted to raise tax breaks or get rid of tax breaks for the wealthy in that he forced the republicans to fight for the wealthy and the average american said we no longer understand them. if we're going to really change and do better on election day and particularly get the white house back, we better get average americans to think we're fighting for them every day not just a small group of americans. >> bobby jindal offered a few details on how to, quote, stop being the stupid party. he did also say this. >> today's conservatism is completely wrapped up in solving the hideous mess that is the federal budget. the deficits, the mammoth federal death and the shortfall

it is chris christie one time and then bobby jindal and then colin powell and now it is bobby jindal again. there is so much talk. what is the party willing to do, specifically to attract more voters to the republican side? >> well, victor, it is a great question. there is a difference in what the party needs to do and what the party is willing to do. as you said, the talk is cheap. the problem with the party of stupid speech that bobby jindal got isn't that he's not calling out for what it is, it is that it is not enough. the problem with republican party right now in terms of reaching out and reviving itself isn't just perception. it is policy. the republican party has to move on policies to really reach out, to voters beyond its older white conservative populist base. until they're ready to confront the problem and start changing their policies, especially on social issues, they're going to keep having a hard time connecting to a rising generation of americans. >> i want to play more of the speech. let's listen. >> we must quit big. we're not the party of big business, big banks,

louisiana governor bobby jindal has tough talk for his party about what's wrong and how to avoid being stupid. that's his word, by the way. >>> and a deep dive today into a growing threat. find out why some u.s. troops are speaking french to fight terrorists. good morning from washington, it's friday, january 25th, 2013. this is "the daily rundown." i'm luke russert in for mr. chuck todd. vice president joe biden is taking the white house campaign to end violence into virginia this morning, a state known for its pro-gun tradition. biden will hold a roundtable discussion in richmond, with experts who worked on gun safety after the 2007 shooting at virginia tech. virginia's history of protecting pro gun rights legislation has been sustained under both democratic and republican governors. but state lawmakers have been debating a bill that would require private sellers to conduct criminal background checks on buyers at gun shows. and an online google plus hangout sponsored by the white house on thursday, biden tried to emphasize background check legislation while downplaying the importance

bobby jindal is threading the needle. it's not a bad thing to call your party stupid because that's what bill clinton did in 1991 when he triangulated and started to create a new way for the democratic party. i think it's a strong message similar to what chris christie is doing. but there's a bigger problem here, thomas. and that is that the republican party is reshuffling the decks in the titanic. it's not the color of the paint on the ship. it's not even the technology of the ship. the problem is they are heading in the wrong direction and icing an iceberg and they don't want to deal with that. they are losing blacks by 90%, hispanics by 70%. asian americans by 70%. you can't win elections like that. >> they are looking for a soul right now in charlotte. reince priebus is going to handily win re-election to chair the rnc. thanks to our power panel today. >>> breaking news to pass along to you right now from our nation's capital. a federal appeals court just ruled president obama violated the constitution when making rec

bobby jindal want to limit the state income tax and corporate tax it is time to change so people can keep their own money and foster an environment where businesses want to invest and create good paying jobs. he would hike the 4 percent sales tax and some say like it up to washington d.c., is that right or wrong? i am dave asbin. we'll go to steve and rich and mike and john, you love this idea and think it is good for the whole, country explain. >> one of the scandal is not the deficits, but the fact that federal government collects 2.5 trillion. with the consumption or sales tax, this is the lone way we can limit how much money gets to the federal government and more businesses would be created and jobs and the federal government would not be penalizing our work and we would get more work and jobs. >> sounds good to me, rick, to you? >> here's the problem. i will not touch incredibly regressive nature of this. >> by regressive, it hits the poor more than the rich? >> exactly. put the brakes on a economy, imagine what happens here. first of all, to keep the revenue neutral, you are l

melissa: what do you think about bobby jindal's plan? would you do something like that, get rid of personal income tax and get rid of corporate tax? >> we haven't looked at that wide of scope of tax reform in virginia. i do think governor jindal is good friend and very innovative. he believes in the principle i just outlined for you, melissa, consumption based taxes are better than punitive taxes that tax income or the means of production. but if you tax consumption that makes sense. melissa: if you haven't looked at it would you consider the same thing? >> i think that it's, it takes awhile to build that consensus to do that. i mean we've looked at those kind of proposals to do that. this is a more modest form of tax reform aimed at transportation but i think from a conservative republican standpoint going to consumption based taxes makes sense. it has been done in tennessee. they don't have a income tax. it has been done in texas and florida. australia, new zealand did it about 15 or 20 years ago. they had an economic bonanza. there is