e.j. dionne, how does the president play this? >> first of all, i do think he needs to raise the issue more than he has. he's proposed this. he's proposed an infrastructure bank. congressman delaney's idea, actually, is an interesting, sort of addition to the president's idea. and he's got to remind people that we built ourselves as a country over 150 years. this goes way back to a time when republicans, and wigs for that matter, like clay and lincoln, all the way through to eisenhower, knew that if we wanted to be a country that was moving forward, we had to make these investments. they are legitimately investments. this isn't just liberals trying to paste the investment label over spending. >> i want to finish with you as well, e.j. dionne, because why does it seem like major media people in this country are afraid to say 38 months of private sector job growth and 6.8 million jobs created? it's almost as if we're ashamed of these numbers. nothing's ever good enough anymore? what's happening? this is a hell of a run. >> well, i'v

>> joining me now is joy reid and "the washington post," e.j. dionne. joy, let us start first with the choice sound bite from rush-bo, memo, to the republican party. remember we're the party of angry white people. honestly, you want to say yes, rush, you do need to change your position on all of those issues. >> it is yes, yes, yes, and indeed, yes. that is the answer. you figured it out. this is hysterical, the person i pity is lindsey graham. you have to feel sorry for him. he gets it. he knows he has to do this, but from the right, one of the angry white guys coming from his state, saying how dare you let all the illegals come into the country? they will understand that it is dragging down their party. they can't stop themselves. >> you know, e. j., for a long time we talked about the difficult position the president was in. he had no one he could play ball with on the right because speaker john boehner was so weak. and now you almost feel sorry for people like lindsey graham, trying to pass this in congress. and i will draw your attention to a profi

joy reid and e.j. dionne join me. i want to make things more secure. [ whirring ] [ dog barks ] i want to treat more dogs. ♪ our business needs more cases. [ male announcer ] where do you want to take your business? i need help selling art. [ male announcer ] from broadband to web hosting to mobile apps, small business solutions from at&t have the security you need to get you there. call us. we can show you how at&t solutions can help you do what you do... even better. ♪ . >>> speaker john boehner, the representative said you will lose your job. do you think that is accurate? >> maybe. >> house speaker john boehner doesn't plan to risk his speakership on immigration reform. >> i don't see any way of bringing an immigration bill to the floor that doesn't have the majority support of republicans. the senate bill is weak on border security. i think the internal enforcement mechanisms are weak, and the triggers are almost laughable. and so if they're serious about getting an immigration bill finished, i think the pres

dionne looks like the activist leader of america, in all due respect to e.j., what are we talking about? where is the leadership of those that are standing behind this president? >> well, i think, you know, a lot of the democrats and i'll say for republicans, though, look, the last president they had was elected and then re-elected, ran as a compassionate conservative and he cared about people at the lower end, a different policy solution. how are they going to be the party of compassion when they are cutting for people who are hungry in the richest nation on the planet? >> jamal, when you look at how unfairly they have gone after this president on the other side, very aggressively, and i think unfairly, i mean, look at how they label him a socialist. let me show you some of the outrageous claims of the president's of socialist? >> barack obama is a socialist. he believes in socialism, in redistributing wealth, in confiscating hard-earned dollars. >> we have a president who wants to turn america into another european style social welfare state. >> this might be the last election to turn

e.j. are very distinguished scholars of public opinion, and that helps, but it also helps that they have access to more information than anyone has had on this issue before. they crossed tabs in ways that no one has ever even conceived of. you will get the fruits of their research in just a moment. a word about each of them -- you can read bios on your own, so i will keep the short. phil is a senior fellow here at brookings, the holder of the chair in brookings governance studies programs. he is a participant in six presidential campaigns. i'm trying to work out how you get to six. i was going to say, was it smith or was it rosenfeld? [laughter] he is the author of eight books. e.j. dionne, to his left, also well known to you as the syndicated columnist for the "washington post," well known to us at brookings as a senior fellow here and a professor in the foundations of democracy and culture at georgetown university a great title, by the way. i would like to have that on my business card.

joining me now is melissa harry-perry and e.j. dionne. >> glad to be with you. >> the president knows his base doesn't agree with him on everything but he says he needs them. how will the base respond? >> i hope the base responds differently as we move toward the 2014 elections that happened in 2010. we are currently still reaping the world wind from the refusal of so many in the democratic party coalition that elected president obama into 2008 to show up in those 2010 midterms. the impact that had on state houses across the country as well as on the republicans in congress and the ways in which they then were able to gerrymander and redraw the districts is so much of why we have seen gridlock in washington. we saw the return of that obama coalition in 2012. the issue is whether or not without president obama at the top of the the ticket they will show up at those local races. we learned in the last mid term that's the key. unless the base can give president obama a democratic house representatives and nancy pelosi back as leader

. >>> well, today actually "washington post" columnist e.j. dionne, i always like to read him, echoed a theme i've been hitting. it was his original thought, too, the president has to get on offense. state his goals out there for the country and tell us how he's going to get there. "what is president obama fighting for? what is point of his second term? his ability to answer these questions in a compelling way will have more to do with his success or failure than all the republican congressional investigations combined." this week, announcing three nominees to the d.c. circuit court and putting insiders susan rice and samantha power in powerful security and foreign policy positions. he certainly did that. he showed he's ready to give efforts of conciliation a rest and push forward with his agenda, the one he believes in and the people he believes in. joan walsh is msnbc political analyst and editor at large for "salon." nira, is president for center of american progress. i want to start with you then to joan. it seems to me this president is a

dionne, thank you so much. >> by the way, that's a great point by e.j., local banks have a reason. they have an incentive to invest in small businesses. it grows a local economy, makes them more money. great point. >> all right. today's business headlines. >> thank you, e.j. >> cnbc's michelle caruso-cabrera. [ whirring ] [ dog barks ] i want to treat more dogs. ♪ our business needs more cases. [ male announcer ] where do you want to take your business? i need help selling art. [ male announcer ] from broadband to web hosting to mobile apps, small business solutions from at&t have the security you need to get you there. call us. we can show you how at&t solutions can help you do what you do... even better. ♪ can help you do what you do... always go the extra mile. to treat my low testosterone, i did my research. my doctor and i went with axiron, the only underarm low t treatment. axiron can restore t levels to normal in about 2 weeks in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18 or men with prostate or breast cancer. women, especially those who are or wh