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Section 508 was created in 1986 when Congress added this section to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The Rehabilitation Act contains comprehensive prohibitions against employment discrimination by the Federal government, 29 U.S.C. §791, by contractors for the Federal government, 29 U.S.C. §793, and by programs and activities receiving Federal financial assistance. 29 U.S.C. §794. In the 1980's Federal agencies significantly increased their dependency on electronic office technologies. Section 508 was added to ensure that such E&IT would be accessible to individuals with disabilities. Pub. L. 99-506, Title VI, §603(a); Title I §103(d)(2)(A), (C), as amended, Pub. L 100-630, Title II, §206(f); Pub. L. 102-569, Title V §509(a), codified at 29 U.S.C. §794d.
Section 508 guidelines were initially released in October 1987, and adopted by the GSA in Sept 1988. In January 1991 the GSA published Bulletin C-8 containing these guidelines as amended, in the Federal Information Resources Management System (FIRMR). In April 1987, the GSA had published Bulletin 48 in the FIRMR that sets forth requirements for agencies to provide accommodations designed to meet the needs of employees with disabilities when replacing the agencies' computer systems.
In 1997, the Federal Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Compliance Act was introduced and incorporated into the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, revising Section 508 through the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998. Pub. L. 105-220, Title IV, §408(b), codified at 29 U.S.C. §794d. Section 508 places strict requirements on Federal agencies that develop, procure, maintain, or use EI&IT that is accessed by both Federal employees with disabilities and individuals with disabilities outside the government who need government information, unless doing so would impose an undue burden. The law specifically directs Federal agencies to provide access to information and data to people with disabilities that is comparable to the access available to individuals without disabilities. Where providing access would result in an undue burden, agencies are directed to (1) provide documentation on why compliance will create an undue burden and (2) provide the information and data through an alternative means of access.
The amended version of Section 508 directed the Access Board to publish standards by setting forth (1) a definition of electronic and information technology, and (2) technical and functional performance criteria necessary to achieve electronic and information access. The definition of electronic and information technology established by the Access Board had to be consistent with the definition of information technology contained in the Clinger-Cohen Act. 40 U.S.C. §1401(3). This was completed through the formation of the Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Advisory Committee (EITAAC). The revised provisions of Section 508 went into effect in June 2001. The Attorney General also prepared the first biennial report to the
President on the extent to which electronic and information technology available within agency was accessible and usable by individuals with disabilities. The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council was to revise the Federal Acquisition Regulation and each Federal agency had to revise its own Federal procurement policies and directives to incorporate the new Section 508 standards. The amended Section 508 allows individuals to file complaints against Federal agencies alleging noncompliance with Section 508 in procurements or for an agency award to be protested by a contractor or vendor bidding on a contract. Agencies receiving such complaints are directed to utilize their existing complaint procedures for Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
A separate law, the Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1988, Pub.L.100-407, later replaced by the Assistive Technology Act of 1998, as amended, Pub.L.108-364, 29 U.S.C. §3001 and now known as the AT Act, requires States to provide an assurance of their compliance with Section 508 as a condition to receiving Federal funds for the State Grants for Assistive Technology. The 2004 amendments to the Assistive Technology Act of 1998, clarified the scope specifying that the assurance apply only to the State Assistive Technology Program. However, many states have adopted or adapted Section 508 accessibility requirements in state law, executive order, legislation, or other policy initiatives. As a result, the new Section 508 standards will have wide reaching impact at the state level.
Section 255 was enacted as part of the amendments to the Communications Act of 1934, contained in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104-104, codified at 47 U.S.C. This section requires telecommunications services and equipment to be accessible to and usable by people with disabilities, where readily achievable.6 Where not readily achievable, such services and equipment must nevertheless be compatible with existing peripheral devices or specialized customer premises equipment (CPE) commonly used by people with disabilities to achieve access to telecommunications, again where this is readily achievable. Readily achievable is defined as "easily accomplishable and able to be carried out without much difficulty or expense." In determining whether an access feature is readily achievable, the FCC has directed entities to weigh the nature and cost of that feature with the overall financial resources of the manufacturer or service provider, including such factors as the type, size, and nature of that company's operation.7 The legislation contemplates that manufacturers and service providers will consider access needs during the design, development and fabrication of their offerings, as well as whenever a natural opportunity to review the design of the service or product arises, so that expensive and burdensome retrofitting for access will not be necessary.
Section 255 directed the Access Board to develop guidelines for accessibility of telecommunications equipment and CPE within eighteen months after the legislation's enactment. In order to accomplish this task, the Access Board created a body similar to EITAAC – called the Telecommunications Access Advisory Committee, or TAAC. After meeting over a period of seven months, TAAC presented its proposed guidelines to the Access Board in January of 1997. The contents of these proposals formed the basis for the Access Board's Section 255 guidelines, released to the public on February 3, 1998, 63 Fed. Reg. 5608 (Feb. 3, 1998) codified at 36 C.F.R. Part 1193, and effective as of March 5, 1998. The FCC then used these guidelines to develop its regulations to implement Section 255's mandates for telecommunications equipment and service providers. Those rules, released in September 1999, also created procedures to enforce Section 255's provisions with respect to telecommunications services, telecommunications equipment, and CPE.
The Access Board's guidelines on Section 255 created detailed requirements for the accessibility, usability, and compatibility of telecommunications equipment and CPE. 36 C.F.R. §1193 et. seq. Among other things, the guidelines contain requirements for input, output, display, control, and mechanical functions to be accessible by individuals with varying disabilities and functional limitations. The compatibility requirements focus on the need for standard connectors, compatibility of controls with prosthetics, and TTY compatibility. In order to identify access needs and solutions, the guidelines directed manufacturers to consider consulting with individuals with disabilities, and suggested including individuals with disabilities in market research and the validation of access solutions. The rules defined "usable" as access to information about how to use the product, and directed that "instructions, product information … documentation, and technical support" be functionally equivalent to that which is provided to individuals without disabilities. In order to monitor the industry's progress in making telecommunications equipment accessible, in January 2000, the Access Board compiled and released a "market monitoring report," that identified the state of the art of CPE and telecommunications equipment, as well as problem areas and solutions that have been used to achieve access to these products.


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|Potential Fees:
Fees: $25.00 (Required)
Applicable discounts not applied and Taxes included in price.
The 2020 Annual State Trail Pass Allows You To Utilize Many Wisconsin State Recreational Trails Including The Fox River Trail And Mountain-Bay Trail. Bicyclists, In-Line Skaters, Roller Skiers, Skateboarders And Horseback Riders Age 16 And Over Are Required To Purchase A Trail Pass When Using This Trail. There Is No Fee For Walking On The Trail. Fees Collected Go Into A Segregated Account And Are Used For Maintenance And Operation Of The Trail. Trail Users Under The Age Of 16 Do Not Need A Trail Pass. All Fees Kept By Brown County From Trail Pass Sales Are Used For Maintenance And Improvements Of The Sections Of The Fox River Trail And Mountain-Bay Trail Within Brown County. We Appreciate Your Support And Enjoy Your Time On The Trails! Please Note That This Is A State Trail Pass And That It Does Not Apply To Brown County Park System Owned And Operated Trails. This Pass Is Valid From January 1st To December 31st Of The Year The Pass Was Purchased In.
Your Annual State Trail Pass Will Be Mailed. If You Are Looking To Use Your Annual State Trail Pass Before Receiving It (Within Brown County), Please Show Park Staff A Printed Copy Of Your Receipt And/Or A Digital Copy On Your Smartphone.

subset: commoncrawl


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Specific treatment for flu will be determined by your physician based on overall health, medical history and many other factors.
Influenza is an easily spread respiratory tract infection. It is caused by a virus. About 5% to 20% of people in the U.S. get the flu each year. The flu usually starts abruptly, with fever, muscle aches, sore throat, and a cough.
The flu can make people of any age sick. Although most people are sick with the flu for only a few days, some have a much more serious illness. They may need to go to the hospital. The flu can also lead to pneumonia and death.
The flu viruses continually change. Currently, three different influenza viruses circulate worldwide. Vaccines given each year to protect against the flu virus strain expected to cause the illness that year.
The flu is caused by a virus. Viruses are generally passed from person to person through the air when an infected person sneezes or coughs.
But the virus can also live for a short time on objects like doorknobs, pens, pencils, keyboards, phones, and cups or eating utensils. So you can also get the flu by touching something that has been recently handled by someone infected with the virus and then touching your own mouth, nose, or eyes.
Each person may experience symptoms differently. The flu is called a respiratory disease, but it can affect your entire body. People usually become very sick with several, or all, of the following symptoms:
Fever and body aches usually last for 3 to 5 days, but cough and fatigue may last for 2 weeks or more. The symptoms of the flu may look like other medical problems. Always talk your healthcare provider for a diagnosis.
The flu is diagnosed based on your symptoms. Lab tests may be used to confirm the diagnosis, if necessary.
Specific treatment for the flu will be determined by your healthcare provider based on:
The goal of treatment for the flu is to help prevent or decrease the severity of symptoms. Treatment may include:
Talk with your healthcare provider for more information.
The most common complication of the flu is pneumonia. It can also cause serious muscle and central nervous system complications. Of those who get the flu, between 3,000 and 49,000 will die from it or from complications. Most of these deaths happen in people ages 65 and older.
A new flu vaccine is made each fall. Everyone ages 6 months and older should get a flu shot each year. It is usually recommended for specific groups of people, as well as for anyone who wants to avoid having the flu.
The flu shot is safe. The CDC and the FDA closely watch vaccine safety. Hundreds of millions of flu vaccines have been safely given across the country for decades.
The flu shot can't give you the flu. The most common side effects from a flu shot are:
If you have them at all, these side effects are usually mild and last a short time.
The effectiveness of the vaccine varies from one person to another. It can depend on factors such as age and overall health.
The following may also be helpful for preventing the flu:
The flu causes complications that may develop into a more serious disease or become dangerous to some people. This includes older adults and those with chronic medical problems. Always talk with your healthcare provider to find out if you should receive the flu shot.
Although the flu shot is safe, some people should NOT be vaccinated. These include:
The CDC recommends getting the flu shot every year, as soon as it becomes available in your community. Flu season can begin as early as October and most commonly peaks in the U.S. in January or February, but flu seasons are unpredictable. The flu shot takes 1 to 2 weeks to become effective.
The CDC recommends that travelers have the flu vaccine at least 2 weeks before planned travel to allow time to develop immunity. Talk with your healthcare provider for more information.
For most people, the flu can be treated at home without treatment from your healthcare provider. However, if your condition or situation makes you more susceptible to complications from the flu, tell your healthcare provider when you suspect you have the flu. If your symptoms get worse or you have new symptoms, let your healthcare provider know.
Tips to help you get the most from a visit to your healthcare provider:


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On the big screen, fictional insider-trading sleazeball Gordon Gekko exhorted: "Greed … is good." In real life, cream-of-the-crop Wealth Advisor Peter M. Weintraub counsels: "Don't deviate from being ethical, moral and truthful."
This is one FA who's giving the industry a good name. Indeed, he counts his code of ethics as an advisor's No. 1 priority.
Weintraub, 68, has been with UBS Financial Services for 41 of his 42 years as an FA, having joined UBS's predecessor, PaineWebber, in 1976.
First and foremost, his eight words to live by build client trust. "People need to know that you have their interest at heart, that it's not the firm saying you should be making [this investment]," says the genial Weintraub, who boasts a glass-half-full outlook: "I've always given people the benefit of the doubt. Rarely have I been disappointed."
He is partners with Harvey E. Demsky and son Daniel Demsky in the Demsky Weintraub Wealth Management Group, with assets of more than $500 million under management. From offices on swank Rodeo Drive, in Beverly Hills, Calif., the team, including two service associates, specializes in high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients.
Weintraub, named to the firm's prestigious President's Council, is so valuable to his complex director, that the manager likens him to almost his partner. "Peter is the soul of the office. He represents all that's good about our business and the nobility of helping others. He operates with a deep sense of compassion for his clients, the office and me," says David Bigler, complex director-managing director.
As for Weintraub and Demsky, they've been an advisory team for 36 years now, having met as rookies at PaineWebber's Beverly Hills branch. Today, the two and Daniel Demsky work in close partnership splitting revenues under one production number. All three sit together in one office at one big desk. They like it that way: Prior to an office remodel, they occupied separate side-by-side offices with a sliding window for, um, communication.
"We used to yell and scream back and forth. Now we have a much more efficient way to share ideas," Weintraub notes.
The two original partners are complements to each other. "I might look at some opportunities that may be a little more aggressive. Harvey probably brings a bit more calmness and less volatility to the team. But both of us look at [investments] that are beneficial to the client on a risk basis more than [on] what the ultimate returns could be," Weintraub says.
A people-person without a doubt, the veteran FA is particularly skilled at talking sense to rattled clients who can get caught up in the hype of overwrought financial TV reporters and their guests.
"If you watched one program, you would be a buyer; if you watched another, you'd be a seller," Weintraub laments. "Noise and information overload is one of the biggest problems for financial advisors today."
He continues. "But you have no control over the direction of the market. So you try to take some of the emotion out of it—both for yourself as well as your clients."
An even more pressing issue for FAs, he notes, is record-low interest rates. "You need to find [investments] where you can get returns without taking on an inordinate amount of risk. We'll do premium bonds and [callable] cushion bonds," for instance. "And we'll look at short-term bonds, so that if rates do go up, it's not as though you bought a 30-year bond paying 2.5% or 3%—and now rates are much higher."
Chicago-born, Weintraub moved to Southern California with his family when he was 10 years old. There, his father started out in real estate buying and selling houses that were blocking construction of the Harbor Freeway—moving more than 100, on wheels, through the streets of L.A.
Growing up with a successful entrepreneur dad and investing a bit of bar mitzvah gift cash in stocks, Weintraub got a taste for finance. As early as high school, he targeted a business career.
Graduating from the University of California at Los Angeles with a bachelor of science in business administration, he began studying at Golden Gate Law School. It didn't take long to realize, however, that "being a lawyer wasn't for me. I think the law is better off for it—and so am I," he jokes.
That was when he decided to become a stockbroker, partly to get exposure to a variety of businesses and thus discover the field for which he was actually best suited.
Weis, Voisin & Co. hired him; but in the weak market of 1969, Weintraub's start date was put on hold. No prob: The twenty-something sailed the Caribbean for seven months.
Upon his return, he stayed at Weis, Voisin for about a year, then joined PaineWebber but opted against mapping out long-term plans.
"I made myself a commitment that I would try it for two years, and then I could renew my contract after that. Needless to say, I've renewed my contract for a lot of years! Some clients have become really good friends, and that," he says, "is very special."
As new brokers sitting next to each other at PaineWebber's Beverly Hills branch, Weintraub and Demsky tossed ideas back and forth. They even spoke of partnering up.
But when a managerial slot opened at another PW office, Weintraub recommended Demsky. He snagged the job, though soon discovered he didn't care for managing brokers. Whereupon, he phoned Weintraub: "About the partnership, let's talk about it."
Weintraub calls theirs "a terrific 36-year 'marriage.'"
From the start, the advisors built their solid practice by developing relationships—way before it was industry SOP. One approach was cultivating spheres of influence. Integrity was central to gaining these professionals' trust—and referrals.
"I think the reason people helped us build the business is that they knew that if I made a mistake, it was a mistake," Weintraub says. "It wasn't as though I made it with some ulterior motive.


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|Joe Kubert (center, top) and his students with Adam Kubert (bottom right)
This afternoon, I was honored to participate again in the Scholarship Ceremony at the Joe Kubert School. Joe and his son, artist Adam Kubert, were both on hand to present students with cash awards for outstanding work--monies that we hope will help them in their training before they head off to work in the very competitive field of comic art.
From Joe Kubert:
"THE GENE COLAN SCHOLARSHIP was established by writer Clifford Meth in memory of his friend Gene Colan, who passed away last June. Gene is regarded as one of the most influential and beloved artists of Marvel's Silver Age. He worked for Marvel for 64 years--longer than anyone else to date--touching nearly every major Marvel character and defining many including Daredevil, Iron Man, Tomb of Dracula and Howard the Duck. In the last decade of his career, Marvel and Dark Horse stopped assigning inkers to Gene's work--his pencils were regarded as too perfect to cover up. This is the first time the GENE COLAN SCHOLARSHIP has been awarded and the award is presented for outstanding craftsmanship with a pencil."
"THE DAVE and PATY COCKRUM SCHOLARSHIP was established by Dave's widow Paty and their friend and collaborator Clifford Meth. Paty was a production artist at Marvel during the last years of the famed Marvel Bullpen, where she also did occasional pencils on Marvel's British magazines and such U.S. books as Amazing Spider-Man and Claws of the Cat. Her husband Dave Cockrum, who passed away in 2006, was considered by many the the greatest character designer Marvel had after Jack Kirby and John Romita. Cockrum's designs and creations for Marvel included Nightcrawler, Storm, Colossus, Mystique, Thunderbird, Ms. Marvel, the Black Cat, Starjammers and the Futurians among others. Having trained under Murphy Anderson at DC, Dave spent most of his career at Marvel. The annual DAVE and PATY COCKRUM SCHOLARSHIP is awarded for creativity and outstanding story-telling ability."


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At the Nittany Lion Inn and The Penn Stater, we're committed to practices that benefit the environment—from purchasing local, organic foods to using eco-friendly packaging to repurposing solid wood furniture.
Sustainability isn't a new idea for Penn State Hospitality Services—we've been taking the lead in green efforts for over a decade. In fact, in 1999 the Nittany Lion Inn received the Waste Watcher Award—recognizing outstanding efforts in recycling and waste reduction—from the Department of Environmental Protection, the Public Recycling Officials of Pennsylvania, and the Pennsylvania Industries Association.
In 2009, The Penn Stater was honored with a Waste Watcher Award for exemplary performance in recycling, waste reduction, reuse, and composting, as well as the GREENS Award at the Annual Global Renewable Energy Expo Networking Summit. In April 2018, The Penn Stater was honored as one of the Centre County Green Business Partners for their commitment to sustainability and sustainable practices.
Here are a just few examples of Penn State Hospitality Services leadership in sustainability:
- Composting food waste
- Purchasing and using local and organic foods
- Using energy-saving light bulbs
- Recycling newspapers and other items from guest rooms
- Repurposing old furniture – old wooden tables have been retooled as shelving units and tiered display units for banquet tables, and bed headboards from renovated rooms have been made into recycling containers in The Penn Stater
- Using bulk food for breaks instead of individually wrapped packages
- Using corn-based biodegradable cups, flatware, and to-go shells, as well as wooden stir sticks
- Using office paper that is 30 percent recycled content and bleach free
- Offering optional towel re-use program for guest rooms
- Offer on-site EV Charging Stations


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Questions & Answers
1.Who pays for the wedding?
2.Where do I start with my guest list?
3.Who do we invite if we're getting married abroad?
4.Who sends the invitations and when?
5.Should I set a dress code?
6. What time should the bride & groom get to the ceremony?
7.Do my bridesmaids enter before or after me?
8. What duties do the best man and ushers have?
9.Can my pet dog be part of my wedding?
10.Do we have to have favours?
11.Do we need a receiving line?
12.Should we offer a choice of food?
13.When are the speeches and in what order?
14.When should we register our gift list?
15.Can we ask for cash instead of presents?
16. Should I hire a wedding videographer?
17. Looking to celebrate a birthday not a wedding? See your21st.co.uk for gift ideas to impress
Want more
THE ENGAGEMENT MARRIAGE is still in 2017 the world's most popular social ...
THE ENGAGEMENT MARRIAGE is still in 2017 the world's most popular social institution. In England, especially, more people are marrying more often than ever before. For both men and women the danger of being 'left on the shelf has been steadily diminishing since the start of the century, as indeed has the average age at which both sexes will make their first marriage.
Not only has the quantity of marriages made in the U.K. each year increased, so, many experts believe, has the quality of those marriages. It used to be said that 'marriages are made in heaven'. This can never have been more true than in the last quarter of the 20th century when the 'love match' has become the rule rather than the exception. Indeed the arranged marriage is so rare as to be virtually restricted to those members of immigrant communities who cling precariously to their own cultures rather than accept the customs of their host nation. Today couples look forward to sharing not just a home and an income, but a whole new life-style.
Modern wives-and husbands-have to accept the pooling of the often considerable salaries they previously spent purely on the gratification of personal whims. Husbands can expect to be co-opted to help with household chores, especially in the early stages of a marriage when both husband and wife / partner are likely to be bread-winners. When babies begin to arrive, most modern fathers will want to share the chores, as well as the joys, of raising the family, the timing of which was probably a plan carefully discussed before-hand by both parents.


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This soft hand spun scarf in this season's print can be draped over the shoulders of a tailored coat, or wear it in place of a light jacket. It's also a great piece to have on hand during long flights.
Amanda Wakeley would like to use cookie data to offer you a more personalised website experience. Find out more


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Beyonce Rides Coney Island Cyclone for New Music Video
With her world tour over and done with, many are hoping they'll hear some material from Beyonce's upcoming solo album. Her recent video shoot at Brooklyn, N.Y.'s Coney Island hints that perhaps fans will get that opportunity sooner than later.
The songstress was spotted riding the famed Cyclone roller coaster on Thursday (Aug. 29), donning a white tank top and a baseball cap with the Notorious B.I.G.'s likeness on it. Of course, Beyonce was riding in the front car. What a daredevil!
It's a normal activity for regular folk, but since it's Beyonce, a joyride on the 86-year-old roller coaster becomes an event.
"This is the craziest and best thing I've seen in my whole life," Shawnette Duncan, a 19-year-old Beyonce fan from Brooklyn, told the NY Daily News. "I came out to Coney Island for the day. It was a lucky day."
There aren't many details about the upcoming music video other than it has scenes at Coney Island and is shot by fashion photographer Terry Richardson.


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- Stocks To Watch
Avon: Fine Fears Overblown, Fundamental Concerns Not
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Avon's (AVP) shares have plunged 20% since the multi-level marketer announced that the government was seeking a much larger-than-expected fine for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Morgan Stanley says those fears about Avon are overblown.
Analyst Dara Mohsenian and team write:
For short-term oriented clients, we believe FCPA concerns are over-blown, as our estimated ~$750M market cap impact stemming from FCPA concerns, implies Avon would receive the second largest FCPA fine in history. We view this as unlikely given Avon is a direct seller, and not directly involved in government contract bids, which was the case at each of the top ten historical FCPA fines. In addition, AVP FCPA risk is more pronounced in China around the granting of direct selling licensees; however, Avon's low China profitability limits the risk of China profit disgorgement.
So Avon's a buy, write? Well, not quite. Mohsenian explains:
While we do believe FCPA concerns are overblown short-term, longer-term we are very worried about the forward implications of weak Q3 results. However, the weak Q3 result and execution hiccups in some of these markets, signals validity in our prior concern that the business turnaround at Avon would be a difficult fix, even with improved management. Our concern that AVP will be a difficult fix stems both from Avon having issues in multiple areas (brand equity/systems/rep morale/integration across AVP/etc), and also that direct sellers are sensitive business models where changes under a large restructuring can often have negative unintended consequences.
Mohsenian maintained her Equal-Weight rating on shares of Avon, which have fallen 2.2% t0 $17.86 today at 11:34 a.m. Coty (COTY) has dipped 0.1% to $15.49, Revlon (REV) has gained 1.7% to $23.74, Inter Parfums (IPAR) has risen 0.7% to $35.45 and Estee Lauder (EL) is little changed at $69.91.


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Last week we started a discussion on investment management, specifically on the topic of diversification's place in portfolio construction. This week, I'd like to continue this broad theme and discuss a potentially large flaw in the usage of Monte Carlo simulation. I'll forgo the explanation and assume we all have a working knowledge of the topic.
Monte Carlo Simulation
Monte Carlo simulation has become extremely common in today's advisory community. Common, yes. But is it being used properly? Often, the answer is no. I was introduced to MCS about 14 years ago. One of the first things I noticed is how most software programs used asset class data instead of data pertaining to the specific investments being analyzed. The problem is that the performance of any given investment can, and usually will, vary to some extent from that of its asset class. Hence, under these conditions, the simulation would yield erroneous results. When an investment strays far from its category, it is said to have a high "tracking error," which we'll discuss next week.
An asset class consists of a universe of similar types of investments, but the variance of the universe will range from small to large, depending on the particular asset class you are using. For example, the variance between short-term bonds will be much lower than that of small-cap stocks. Hence, using asset class data will greatly skew the results.
Remember the term "GIGO?" We all understand that better input equals better output. Therefore, if we are using asset class data for a portfolio and the specific investments tend not to track well with their asset class, the result will be unreliable. Therefore, rule number one should be to use actual investment data and forgo asset class data when utilizing MCS.
Even if the program allows for the use of specific investment data, there remains the question of what data to use. For example, should you use the entire period from 1926 to 2012? I recall that during the late 1990s, the 10- and 20-year trailing returns on the Dow were somewhere in the neighborhood of 14% to 18%. I may not have those figures exactly correct, but the point is that the returns over this period were far above the norm and using numbers based on it would have led to many unhappy investors.
If past returns are so unreliable, what can be done? There are several organizations that prepare capital market assumptions. Often, these assumptions are designed to be forward-looking based on expected economic data, earnings, etc. Of course, if they are wrong, then again, the results will be flawed.
Ironically, this is why MCS has become so popular. MCS forecasts the probability of future occurrences, and although it is a great improvement over the single-point, deterministic forecast, we need to be careful with our input. MCS does have a lot of sizzle, but let's make sure we don't burn ourselves by placing too much emphasis on it. I do use it and believe it offers a significant benefit. Unfortunately, it's not a crystal ball, even though that's the name of the Monte Carlo product I use. Ironic isn't it?
Thanks for reading and have a great week!
See Mike Patton's latest feature story from Investment Advisor on his process for choosing mutual funds.
View all of Mike Patton's blogs and feature articles on his AdvisorOne home page.


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Petition This American Life to use Ogg Vorbis
Make your voice heard and help us reach 1,000 signatures!
This American Life's recent episode "When Patents Attack!" brought much new awareness to the problems that software patents and patent trolls create; problems we also highlighted in our film Patent Absurdity.
So it's ironic that the show is only available for download and streaming in MP3 format: patents cover many aspects of encoding and decoding MP3s, and those have been the subject of several high-profile infringement suits over the years. This American Life is putting itself and its listeners at risk of facing similar suits in the future by distributing its episodes in this format.
Fortunately, Ogg Vorbis offers a ready, free alternative to MP3. Ogg Vorbis files provide cross-platform audio quality and compression ratios that are competitive with MP3. More importantly, Ogg Vorbis was designed with an eye toward avoiding patent risks; the problems that have plagued MP3 won't be an issue here, because the authors of Ogg Vorbis have explicitly said any patents they have on their work are free for everyone to use.
The FSF wrote to the production crew of This American Life asking them to use Ogg Vorbis, and plenty of others joined us, but they haven't responded yet. Please sign the petition below asking them to make the show's downloads and streams available in Ogg Vorbis. We'll deliver the first batch of signatures shortly after we collect 1,000 of them—sign now and make sure you're part of it!
This American Life: Patents have already attacked MP3. Please help defend your listeners and the public interest by offering downloads and streams of the show in the unencumbered Ogg Vorbis format!
The declaration is a public show of support, so your name may be made public after you click the link in the verification email. We will not publish or share your email address with any party outside the FSF. See our privacy policy for more information.
You can see a list of all verified petition signers.


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A Strong Start: Positioning Young Black Boys for Educational Success
June 14, 2011
Washington, D.C.
View a Statistical Profile (PDF) from ETS's Addressing Achievement Gaps Symposium.
Today, 15.5 million children in America live in poverty. More than 20 percent of children under the age of five are poor, and over 40 percent of these children are Black. At nine months of age, poor Black children are already behind their higher-income peers in cognitive development; the gap is even wider by 24 months. By kindergarten, poor Black children have to beat the odds to catch up — and as various tests reveal, many never do.
Is It Possible to Write a Different Story?
Much of the story about Black males and the achievement gap has focused on long-term outcomes, such as low graduation rates and the low proficiency scores of minority students in grades four, eight and 12. Too often, we hear that the problem is too big to solve. If we focus our efforts on the education and development of 3.5 million Black boys under the age of nine years, however, is it possible to write a different story?
Identifying Opportunities for Success
This year's Addressing Achievement Gaps Symposium, "A Strong Start: Positioning Young Black Boys for Educational Success," was devoted to the issues facing Black boys in their early years. ETS partnered with the Children's Defense Fund to explore the challenges facing this vulnerable population, and the opportunities to position young Black boys for educational success.
The symposium concentrated on the following:
- focus attention on the challenges, needs and opportunities facing young Black boys within the larger picture of Black male achievement
- illuminate the connections between early cognitive and social/emotional development and later readiness for success in school
- examine the role of a high-quality, seamless PreK–3rd grade continuum of education in supporting Black male achievement
- identify promising, realistic policies and strategies to affect the path of the 3.5 million Black males under the age of nine
Highlights from the symposium can be found in the Fall 2011 issue of ETS Policy Notes — Positioning Young Black Boys for Educational Success (PDF) (Vol. 19, No. 3).


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From HR to HR: How human resources policies improve human rights
The Fair Labor Association (FLA) is one of the best-known organizations supporting and promoting fair labor conditions inside factories. FLA's Participating Companies include mostly apparel and footwear companies such as Adidas, HandM, Nike and Patagonia. This year, Apple signed on after it came under fire for the working conditions at Foxconn, the largest producer of Apple products. It is the aim of the FLA to identify root causes for the unsafe and unfair working conditions in factories. To that end, it is currently rolling out a Sustainable Compliance assessment methodology to improve conditions in factories from the core rather than with a Band-Aid approach.
Lo and behold, many of the solutions to address the root causes of factory violations lie in human resources policies and procedures. My column usually covers the sustainability-human resources connection played out in the United States. Today's article looks at human resources policy as a contributor to improving the rights of workers globally. The FLA's Sustainable Compliance assessment methodology will play a critical role in helping companies and other stakeholders ensure a holistic assessment approach that can sustain good working conditions over the long haul.
Empowered stakeholders recipe for comprehensive compliance
This new methodology underscores employee-responsive management systems and higher levels of worker engagement in the design, application and evaluation of human resource policies. FLA identified the functions essential to the employment lifecycle of a factory worker:
· recruitment, hiring and personnel development;
· health and safety;
· termination and worker retrenchment;
· compensation;
· hours of work;
· industrial relations;
· grievance system; and
· workplace conduct and discipline; and environmental protection.
Each employment function is analyzed through the lens of six management functions, namely policy and procedures; responsibility and accountability; review process; training; implementation; and communication and worker involvement. This methodology creates a standardized reporting tool that can produce scores for each of these employment and management functions, offering stakeholders the ability to benchmark, compare and track improvements.
These metrics give consumers and civil society organizations the tools to make better purchasing decisions and businesses the incentives to go beyond just rudimentary labor practice requirements. As Christine Bader recently wrote, while it's positive many companies are being more transparent with their labor practices, how does a consumer really know what's behind the product if "they aren't part of the best-known (at least to me) certification schemes like the FLA, which has primarily large companies sign on (and pay) to have independent monitors inspect their factories."
FLA is using the Sustainable Compliance assessment methodology in all factories visited for the 2012 independent external assessment cycle and beyond. It also plans to conduct worker surveys, or SCOPE Assessments, in a subset of the factories this year. The new tool's protocol is centered around training FLA assessors to weed out the various facets of how a factory deals with and executes these crucial functions. It may look for the existence of an established policy, how thoroughly the policy is conveyed to workers and managers, how reliably the policy is applied, and what the policy's impact on workers is.
FLA finds a strong recruitment function can improve worker conditions because many issues like hiring young workers or discrimination typically have a trail that leads back to the absence of a recruitment policy or poor enactment of such policies. For example, if a factory does not have an established age verification system, the factory risks non-compliance as a result of holes in the management system, regardless of whether the factory shows the assessor at the time of audit that they in fact do not have underage workers present. A traditional audit may only detect underage workers, but not necessarily avoid the factory committing this same violation down the road.
Worker health and safety game changer
Health and safety is another employment function that will see vast improvement using the new methodology. Let's say in a traditional assessment, it is revealed that a factory worker is not wearing the appropriate hearing protection equipment in a high-noise area. The auditor might come to the hasty assumption that management is at fault for not providing the correct equipment. Upon further inspection, the auditor discovers management did provide equipment to the worker with written information emphasizing the importance of wearing it.
In contrast, utilizing the Sustainable Compliance methodology, an FLA assessor can get down to the heart of the matter to uncover that the written instructions were not in the worker's native language, nor did they instruct how to use the equipment properly. Whereas a traditional audit may have marked this as a missing protective equipment violation, the new tool goes a long way toward helping guarantee workers' future use of such equipment.
Rehabbing retrenchment and transforming termination
If workers don't understand their legal entitlements, there is a high risk that they will not seek proper compensation or they will not receive the wages and benefits they are owed should a permanent layoff or retrenchment occur. Additional risks are posed to workers if factory management does not consult with them or with their union representatives about alternatives to avoid temporary or permanent layoffs or retrenchment, which arguably could result in poor labor relations at the workplace.
During conversations with factory management and a review of existing procedures, an assessor using FLA's Sustainable Compliance methodology might discover that management does not see the need or the benefits of consulting with workers or their representatives regarding termination. In this case, the assessor might recommend the development of policies and procedures to ensure that workers or their representatives are consulted when layoffs or retrenchment are being considered, and that all workers and managerial staff are trained on the implementation of these procedures.
Compliance gets a mental health makeover
Your run-of-the-mill audit clearly has some gaps due to using what FLA deems an incomprehensive "checklist" methodology that may address negative labor practice indicators, but ignore the fundamental unsound practices themselves. This leaves room for the same violations to reoccur, which is indeed the definition of insanity -- doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.
FLA wants to help businesses get on the sane side of compliance and monitoring history, designing this new methodology to be the catalyst for a major paradigm shift in the social compliance world that steps away from one-off, short-term solutions and moves toward sustained progress in employment functions. Ultimately, FLA anticipates that the Sustainable Compliance assessment methodology will be the industry norm for social compliance monitoring.


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Guests: Ed Rendell, Hampton Pearson, David Corn, Jonathan Martin, Nia-Malika Henderson, Cynthia Tucker, Bob Casey, Barney Frank
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Herman squirmin`.
Let`s play HARDBALL.
Good evening. I`m Chris Matthews up in Boston. Leading off tonight:
Staying alive. Herman Cain is brushing off calls from his own party to get
out of the presidential race. Cain`s still reassessing his campaign, but
late today he talked about Ginger White, the woman who says she had a 13-
year affair with him, and said people put her up to it. And he blamed
distortions by the media, the establishment, and said the charges are all
part of a Democratic strategy to make Newt Gingrich the nominee. Wow!
Plus, Mitt Romney`s feeling the heat as Newt Gingrich does rise in the
polls. He got a tad testy in an interview with Fox.
BRET BAIER, HOST, FOX NEWS "SPECIAL REPORT": Climate change,
abortion, immigration, gay rights -- how can voters trust what they hear
from you today is what you will believe if you win the White House?
MITT ROMNEY (R-MA), FMR. GOV., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, Bret,
your list is just not accurate. So one, we`re going to have to be better
informed about my views on issues.
MATTHEWS: Wow. Anyway, Romney probably figured he`d get a much
easier ride from the folks at Fox. But that`s just it. After five years
of campaigning, Mitt Romney still can`t seal the deal with conservative
Republicans, and it must unsettle him a tad to see Newt doing so well.
And President Obama campaigns for white working-class voters. He`s in
Scranton, Pennsylvania, today, Hillary country, pushing Congress to extend
the payroll tax cut. But will those voters from Scranton, Pennsylvania, to
Oshkosh, Wisconsin, go with the president next November?
And he`s been one of the smartest members of Congress for three
decades, and he`s leaving office after this term. Barney Frank comes to
HARDBALL tonight for his official exit interview.
And "Let Me Finish" tonight with how heroism like John Kennedy`s is
just what America needs today.
We begin with Herman Cain. Jonathan Martin is with Politico and Nia-
Malika Henderson is with "The Washington Post."
We watched that thing late this afternoon. I have never seen so many
charges coming to defend a guy who seems guilty but yet believes everybody
else in the country, from -- let`s get it straight -- the media, the people
who put her up to it, as he puts it -- this is classic Anita Hill stuff.
He says that the establishment`s after him. He said the Democrats are
secretly planning to get Newt Gingrich as the nominee and not him.
I want to go to Nia-Malika on this. This is -- this does remind me of
the right-wing attack on Anita Hill during the Clarence Thomas hearings.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, "WASHINGTON POST": Yes, I mean, except at this
point, he has himself stopped playing the race card and stopped invoking
Clarence Thomas. And as well, he`s lost a lot of support of people who
were also playing that race card for him and comparing this to Clarence
I think you`re exactly right, though. In Herman Cain`s mind -- and it
seems to be only his mind -- there is this vast conspiracy against him,
this plot to bring him down, which, you know, in order to believe him, we
would have to believe that all of these women are reading from the same
script. They, of course, don`t know each other. There`s no evidence that
someone else put them up to this. What would the motivation be for all of
these women to come out?
And you know, in this interview, he is saying that it was just a
friendly relationship that he had with this woman, that he`s just very
generous. And I think what`s also interesting about what Herman Cain has
been saying all along -- it`s that there could be more people that come
out. He said this from his first interview, that there could be more women
to come out...
MATTHEWS: Yes.
HENDERSON: ... because he`s just so generous. So it`s like he`s been
preparing us that...
HENDERSON: ... there are more shoes to drop on this thing.
MATTHEWS: Yes, he`s preparing us for that. Jonathan, respond to
this. Here Cain is late today saying there`s an effort out there to
assassinate his character. He lists a lot of villains here. Let`s watch.
HERMAN CAIN (R-GA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a character
assassination on me. Why? Because I was doing so well. There`s no other
reason to basically explain it. Secondly, this Ginger White was having
financial problems, and I was trying to help her. And then, boom, out of
nowhere, she decides that she`s going to go public, you know, with this
MATTHEWS: Boy, you know, sometimes he sounds like Trent Lott. This
is very ironic, but the same accent. Anyway, your thoughts, J-Mar. This
guy has gone through so many villains. You wonder whether he believes any
of the things of what he`s saying or it`s just ego talking and self-
JONATHAN MARTIN, POLITICO.COM: Yes. The challenge for the claim that
people are trying to hurt him because he was doing well politically is
undercut, Chris, somewhat by the fact that the three women who have made
public claims are not terribly political. You`ve got a career employee.
You`ve got a marketing rep in Chicago. And now you`ve got a -- a lady in
Atlanta who doesn`t seem to have any real political ties. So I don`t know
how he really makes that case.
As for Democrats wanting to face Herman Cain in the general election -
- I`m sorry, as for Democrats being scared of Herman Cain in the general
election, you would think that the DNC or President Obama`s campaign would
have been highlighting the stories against him for the past month. In
fact, they have not sent out one single press release in the course of a
month. So I`m not sure how he can make the case that the Democrats are
scared of him next year.
MATTHEWS: Yes. I don`t think anybody`s scared of him.
MARTIN: But Chris, this is the paradox, though, of Mr. Cain`s
campaign, is that he recognizes that he`s got to be more disciplined, I
think, to a certain degree. But yet every time he gets in a new spot of
trouble, he can`t help himself from going on TV, and he goes on TV, and you
know, makes some accusations that then spawn more stories. And the sort of
pattern keeps repeating itself here.
MATTHEWS: Yes. Well, Jon, I think he`s deluded. I know you`re being
very fair here and very straight, but I think he`s deluded into thinking
he`s still a hot contender for the Republican nomination. Here he is...
MARTIN: Well, Chris...
MATTHEWS: Let`s see -- here he is now blaming the Democrats again for
what`s behind all this. Let`s watch right now, his latest set of
CAIN: The Democrats want Newt Gingrich to win the nomination so they
can then go after his personal life. But they need to knock me out now.
My star was shining and rising too fast.
MARTIN: Well, again, Democrats...
MATTHEWS: Well, Nia, that`s...
MARTIN: Yes.
MATTHEWS: That`s astounding. That`s -- that`s -- Nia -- I`ve got to
go to her on this. Nia, this is astounding because he`s suggesting a
brilliant strategic mindset on the part of the Democratic Party, which
imagines saving Newt for the last, getting rid of Cain so that they can get
to Newt and his three marriages as -- because it`s so appetizing to run
Maybe he`s right in terms of ideal opponent, but I don`t think they`re
that smart to figure this one out.
HENDERSON: Well, yes, and sometimes it`s hard to keep track of this
whole conspiracy that he is -- is weaving there. But I also think that the
Democrats would love to face Herman Cain in the general, given what he --
the material that they have so far, given his lack of experience in foreign
policy, given some of the gaffes he`s made and given all of the baggage
that he`s collected over these last weeks and explaining this and not doing
so well.
So this idea that he is the Democrats` worst nightmare, as he said it,
also just doesn`t hold up to scrutiny.
MARTIN: Hey, Chris, the point...
MATTHEWS: Jonathan, respond -- Jonathan, I want you -- we have to get
through this -- Jon, we have to get through a couple points here. Respond
to this. Here he is, almost Houdini-like, responding to the 61 text
messages between him, Cain, and Ginger White over the several-month period
here, as early as 4:25 in the morning when these calls -- these texts have
been sent out. Let`s listen to how he handles it, and then you jump in
CAIN: That by itself doesn`t tell you the whole story. If she were
texting me at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning wanting to know if I can help her
with her rent or help her with her car note, that doesn`t mean that I was
calling her.
The other thing about those phone calls, which we have requested that
we be given access to them, my attorney and I -- is what really was the
pattern of those? All it says was 61 calls. I talk to a lot of people 61
times. We don`t even know over what period of time.
MARTIN: Right.
MATTHEWS: Well, apparently, Jonathan, that`s four or five months.
But go ahead.
MARTIN: Yes, that`s the challenge that -- that he has here. Every
time he goes on TV, Mr. Cain damages his campaign more. Saying that you
text and call a lot of people 61 times is a sound bite that you`re going to
hear again and again because for a lot of voters out there, when they hear
a married man is texting and calling over a period of four months a woman
who`s not his wife 61 times, that tends to raise suspicion.
But Chris, there`s an important point here to consider. Mr. Cain said
that he`s going to take several days to reassess whether or not he`s going
to stay in this campaign. You know how politics works, Chris. That is
going to be the only story line that is dominating his campaign for those
period of days.
And so what`s going to happen is voters are not going to do anything
but flee from a candidate who has said that they are reassessing whether or
not to stay in the campaign. He is effectively torpedoing his own campaign
by saying he`s going to string out a decision whether or not to stay in the
race or not. I mean, his poll numbers as a response to that statement are
really going to take a hit.
MATTHEWS: Well, Cain was asked to respond to Ginger White`s assertion
this morning, actually, that she thought he wasn`t fit to be president.
Let`s watch his response to that charge.
NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS: On Ginger White, why would she say -- she`s
known you 13 years, and you say a non-amorous relationship. Why would she
say out of the blue, He`s not fit to be president?
CAIN: Neil, I have no idea unless the people who I believe are
putting her up to this -- maybe that was one of the lines that she was
supposed to use. Neil, I have no idea. I honestly don`t.
CAVUTO: Who do you think`s putting her up to it?
CAIN: We don`t know. We have no idea who it is.
MATTHEWS: So Nia, do you follow that logic? We don`t know who it is,
but we know that there`s a he or a she or somebody, probably a he, who put
her up to this. There`s an assumption there that`s -- I don`t know what
you call it except somehow condescending. It can`t possibly have been an
autonomous decision by another individual and a professional woman. It has
to be a group behind her, probably white guys or whatever.
I don`t know what these -- you know, it`s the usual suspects kind of
thing here. You know what I`m talking about, the establishment.
HENDERSON: Yes, I mean, I don`t know if they`re white guys or black
guys or guys at all. I have no idea. And again, it`s just hard to follow
this logic. It`s the same logic -- conspiracy theory is really what it is
-- that he was using to explain...
HENDERSON: ... Sharon Bialek coming out, essentially, that somebody
was putting her up to it...
HENDERSON: ... that these women didn`t have their own agency, which
again, like you said, I think is very condescending.
MATTHEWS: Exactly. It`s Anita Hill stuff. I remember it well, and
not happily. Anyway, thank you, Jonathan Martin.
MARTIN: Thanks, Chris.
MATTHEWS: And thank you, Nia-Malika Henderson.
Coming up: Mitt Romney can`t be thrilled to see Newt Gingrich rising
in the polls, and he showed it in an interview -- he just gave this
interview to Fox. Wow, he is really sweating. Is the Republican race
boiling down to these two candidates? Mitt versus Newt, what a choice!
That`s ahead.
You`re watching HARDBALL, only on MSNBC.
MATTHEWS: I`m in Boston today, where later tonight, I`ll be speaking
about my book, "Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero," at the John F. Kennedy
presidential library. Thursday, I`ll be addressing a public forum out at
Springfield, Massachusetts. On Friday, I`ll be in Portsmouth, New
Hampshire, speaking at Writers on the New England Stage. And then on
Saturday, I`ll be in Rhody, Rhode Island, at Barrington Books. If you`re
in any of those areas, come out and help celebrate our heroic 35th
We`ll be right back.
MATTHEWS: Welcome back to HARDBALL. In a testy interview last night
with Fox News`s Bret Baier, Mitt Romney took an opportunity to go after his
number one challenger, Newt Gingrich. Let`s listen.
ROMNEY: Speaker Gingrich is a good man. He and I have very different
backgrounds. He spent his last 30 or 40 years in Washington. I spent my
career in the private sector.
I think to get President Obama out of office, you`re going to have to
bring something to the race that`s different than what he brings. He`s a
lifelong politician.
MATTHEWS: Well, in response, Gingrich told "The Washington Post,"
quote, "You`re talking to a guy who was dead in June. I`m now being
attacked by the former front-runner." Wow. Well, what`s less appealing
here, do you think, a sweaty Romney or a triumphant Newt?
David Corn is Washington bureau chief for "Mother Jones" and an MSNBC
political analyst, and Cynthia Tucker`s Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist
and a visiting professor at the University of Georgia.
I want you both to take a crack at what`s going on right now, just the
setting right now. For the first time, it looks like we have two fairly
equally matched candidates, Mitt Romney, the sort of establishment guy
that`s sort of a class act, and the somewhat mad dog Newt Gingrich, at each
other`s throats right now. Let`s watch in a minute, but I want your
reactions right now.
Do you sense that Mitt Romney`s getting rattled? Do you sense that
Newt`s getting to be arrogant as hell again, neither picture being that
attractive? You first, David.
DAVID CORN, "MOTHER JONES," MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, the way I
look at this, Chris, is that life doesn`t get much beyond high school. And
you have the big man on campus, the student body president who looks good,
Mitt Romney, may not be liked by everyone as much as he thinks he`s liked
by them. And then you have the head of the AV club, Newt Gingrich, the
snarky, nerdy guy who knows how to get under the other fellow`s skin.
You know, if this -- if the race stays this way -- and remember, Newt
has yet to go through the full scrutiny that everyone else has gone through
in these flavor-of-the-nanosecond episodes we`ve seen. But if he stays at
this level, the two of them could have a real death spiral between each
The personalities don`t mesh, and they`re going to be at each other`s
throat, as you said. And it`s going to be either fun or not so pretty to
watch, depending on your perspective.
MATTHEWS: You mean there`s evil beneath the evil of Newt Gingrich...
MATTHEWS: ... beneath the obvious evil? You mean, there`s something
below we haven`t seen? Let`s go right now to...
CORN: I was just going to say there`s a lot of acting out yet to
MATTHEWS: OK. Cynthia, your view of this matchup right now. It
looks to be the matchup that`s going to go all the way down South in the
early months of next year.
CYNTHIA TUCKER, UNIV. OF GEORGIA: Absolutely. I mean, unbelievably,
incredibly, polls are showing Newt rising everywhere, overtaking Mitt
Romney in some places, surpassing him in others. Some polls show Newt
comfortably out in front, for example, in South Carolina.
David said this will either be fun or ugly to watch, depending on your
perspective. I think it might be ugly to watch for establishment
Republicans. It`ll be a great deal of fun for journalists.
You know, Mitt Romney has had the luxury of not having to respond to
any of his rivals so far, Chris, because none of them came up to Mitt. He
could stay comfortably above the fray and just attack Barack Obama. As the
-- he was trying to portray himself as the inevitable nominee.
But the simple fact of the matter is Newt is not as smart as he thinks
he is, but he`s smart enough to engage in a rhetorical battle with Mitt
Romney. And so we`re going to see a lot of snarkiness going forth.
MATTHEWS: Well, here`s some of it now. I`m beginning to see right
now, thanks to Bret Baier, who`s done a very good interview here for Fox --
I see Mitt Romney starting to get tagged as he`s never been tagged before,
and he`s starting to sweat a little. Watch his leg crossing, which he
never does. It`s an odd bit of secondary characteristic. But this guy
never moves when he`s being interviewed. Here he is, readjusting his
presentation in the middle of an interview. Mitt Romney was pretty much --
avoided so far one-on-one interviews this political election, but perhaps
now we know why.
Take a look at some of the more awkward moments, as I said, in this
interview on Fox with Bret Baier. It`s yesterday. Let`s watch.
BAIER: Climate change, abortion, immigration, gay rights -- how can
voters trust what they hear from you today is what you will believe if you
win the White House?
ROMNEY: Well, Bret, your list is just not accurate. So one, we`re
going to have to be better informed about my views on issues.
BAIER: But I`m sure you`ve seen these ads, using videotape of you in
previous years speaking on various issues. And it seems like it`s in
direct contrast to positions you take now.
ROMNEY: Well, I -- I`m glad that the Democratic ads are breaking
through, and you got to Fox...
BAIER: Do you think a mandate -- mandating people to buy insurance is
the right tool?
ROMNEY: Bret, I don`t know how many hundred times I have said this,
too. This is an unusual interview.
ROMNEY: All right. Let`s do it again.
BAIER: You did say on camera and other places that, at times, you
thought it would be a model for the nation.
ROMNEY: You`re wrong, Bret.
BAIER: No, no. I mean, there`s tape out there.
ROMNEY: Yes. No, Bret, Bret, no, the tape out there -- keep --
continue to read the tape.
MATTHEWS: Well, David, it looks like he flip-flopped with his legs
there, because...
MATTHEWS: ... finally, the guy who is a human statue finally actually
crossed his legs, like, give me a break here.
CORN: Yes. Yes.
MATTHEWS: I don`t know what the body language people are saying about
that particular gesture, but he didn`t like that interview one bit.
CORN: No. I think it seems like Mitt Romney is running not for
president, but he`s running for bishop. And these questions have come up
in the debate.
MATTHEWS: I think he already is a bishop, actually.
CORN: Yes. Well, maybe he is.
CORN: These questions have come up in the debate about his flip-
flops, and there have been some ads taken out.
But, you know, all the debate opponents who have raised this matter
have done it very inartfully. When you see Bret Baier do it or when maybe
Newt Gingrich starts to do it, these are going to be very tight corners
from which Mitt Romney will have a hard time escaping.
Now, we know -- we have talked about this. Newt Gingrich has as many
flip-flops and gyrations as Mitt does. And so he`s going to be a poor
person to make this case, but I think the Obama people are just laying in
wait. They`re just -- I mean, Mitt Romney, it all goes to the overall
narrative that there`s not a lot inside Mitt Romney.
And he, in that interview, really, in a friendly environment with Bret
Baier and FOX News, completely flubbed it. It doesn`t bode well for how he
is going to deal with this major campaign vulnerability.
MATTHEWS: We only have a couple more seconds before we go to Newt
here, but I want to ask you about Mitt.
Cynthia, it seems you can`t go hah, hah, hah every time somebody
caught with in a double-cross on an issue.
MATTHEWS: Every time the guy nailed him, he goes, hah, hah, hah, hah.
MATTHEWS: Some -- some commentator like me is going to say I don`t
know what hah, hah, hah means when I catch you double-crossing another
TUCKER: Well, he was very condescending and very uncomfortable.
But, you know, it reminds me that throughout the campaign season and
throughout these debates, commentators have talked about how polished Mitt
Romney was, how disciplined and how well he`s done in the debates. The
fact of the matter was he didn`t have any rivals who were anywhere near his
MATTHEWS: Yes. Good point.
TUCKER: Once you have somebody lobbing tough questions at Mitt
Romney, he begins to sweat. He gets snarky. He doesn`t have any good
So I`m not sure he was quite the polished debater so many people said.
He just didn`t have anybody who was prepared to throw real questions at
MATTHEWS: So he lobs, but he doesn`t lobby, right, just to be clear
on that.
MATTHEWS: OK. Let`s go to the guy who -- just accused of being a
lobby -- a lobber, not a lobbyist, Newt Gingrich.
Yesterday, he denied being a lobbyist, instead saying he was a
celebrity. This guy`s ego.
MATTHEWS: He`s a celebrity who made enough in speeches, $60,000 a
pop, not to have to lobby, just to lob.
Let`s listen to Newt describing how great he is.
TUCKER: And lecture.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I did no lobbying of any
kind, period, for a practical reason. I`m going to be really direct, OK?
I was charging $60,000 a speech. And the number of speeches was going up,
not down. Normally, celebrities leave and they gradually sell fewer
speeches every year. We were selling more.
MATTHEWS: Let me ask you, David, is his head a balloon that he`s
pumping air into all the time?
MATTHEWS: I mean, it seems to get big and bigger the more the B.S.
comes out of his mouth.
CORN: Yes.
MATTHEWS: He`s unbelievable. He -- nobody says, I`m -- Angelina
Jolie doesn`t say, I`m a celebrity. Nobody says that.
CORN: I know, I know, and "we were selling speeches," you know, the
royal "we" being used.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
CORN: I mean, Newt has always had a -- you know, a slight to
gargantuan ego problem. I think this rush of moving to the front-runner
status has -- has gone further to his head.
You know, he said at the very beginning of this race, the key question
here is whether he can be disciplined and focused enough, and the answer we
see over and over again is, no, he can`t be. But yet Mitt Romney is so
unpopular, he`s going to do well.
This guy is -- I think it seems as if the gas is building and building
and building, and eventually it`s going to have to blow.
MATTHEWS: Well, I would hate to be the Republican -- a Republican...
MATTHEWS: I`m sorry. I have got to end this.
I would hate to be the Republican Archie Andrews trying to decide
between this Betty and Veronica act.
MATTHEWS: Because imagine choosing now between these two guys, Mitt
and Newt.
Anyway, thank you, Cynthia. Thank you, David.
Up next: Cain`s loss may be Newt`s gain, but Jon Stewart has an
interesting take on that phenomenon, and that`s ahead in the "Sideshow."
You`re watching it, HARDBALL, only on MSNBC.
MATTHEWS: Back to HARDBALL. Now for the "Sideshow."
First up: With Herman Cain`s campaign reassessing his prospects in
the 2012 race, a lot of people are asking, which of the other candidates
will his supporters turn to? Could it really be Newt Gingrich?
Jon Stewart captured the irony of that news on "The Daily Show" last
night. Let`s watch.
JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART": The scandal has
taken its toll on the Cain campaign. Reports are now emerging that he
might be considering withdrawing from the race, which I strongly discourage
him from doing.
STEWART: I have already lost Trump. I can`t lose you, too.
STEWART: But if these allegations of sexual impropriety derail Cain,
who will benefit?
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS: Herman Cain was already losing
altitude in this race. Where do his votes go?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They go to Newt Gingrich, I think.
STEWART: What?
STEWART: So, voters leave Cain because they don`t like that he had an
affair and go to the guy who had two of them.
STEWART: I guess Newt Gingrich becomes the candidate for people who
like Herman Cain, but think he was too monogamous.
MATTHEWS: Well, look, the only candidate saddened by Cain`s downfall
-- besides Cain -- is Mitt Romney.
Here`s Jon Huntsman speaking for the happy survivors -- quote -- "We
have got real issues to talk about, not the latest bimbo eruption."
Well, this whole shebang has been like the old Agatha Christie
mystery, you know the one where one by one people stuck in a house together
for the weekend are getting knocked off Well, the mystery is of course now
who is going to be the last Republican standing?
After -- or, actually, speaking of that, fresh from his most recent
flub, not knowing the legal voting age, Rick Perry has issued a warning to
some federal workers out there, should he end up in the White House. At a
New Hampshire town hall yesterday, Perry answered questions about the role
of the federal government.
So what`s Perry`s plan of action if he thinks federal employees are
not exactly acting in line with his vision for where things should be
Well, listen to this.
GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You have Health and
Human Service bureaucrats that try to block our being able to block grant
dollars back to the states, so you all can decide how best to deliver
health care in New Hampshire. I don`t think you can fire federal
bureaucrats, but you can reassign them, but you can reassign.
So reassign them to some really god-awful place.
MATTHEWS: Well, I think those government employees out there just got
a whole bunch more job security. As they say in Texas, Governor Rick Perry
of Texas is staying put in Texas.
Up next: The president`s trip to Scranton today is all about winning
over those white working-class voters, and there are a lot of them in
Northeastern Pennsylvania. Will they be with the president next November?
You`re watching HARDBALL, only on MSNBC.
HAMPTON PEARSON, CNBC CORRESPONDENT: I`m Hampton Pearson with your
CNBC "Market Wrap."
Christmas came early for the bulls today, the Dow Jones industrials
soaring 490 points. It`s the biggest gain since March of 2009. The S&P
500 surging 51, the Nasdaq jumping 104 points.
International banks agreed on a coordinated plan to lubricate the
global financial system with U.S. dollars, in hopes of avoiding any Lehman
Brothers-like collapse in Europe. But that wasn`t the only thing moving
the markets. Private sector job growth is picking up, with employers
adding 206,000 jobs in November.
The Fed`s Beige Book report showed slow to moderate economic growth in
most parts of the U.S., with the Midwest enjoying a recent surge in factory
orders. Pending home sales jumped more than expected in October, with the
biggest gains appearing in the Midwest and Northeast. And a surprise move
from China, looking to boost its slowing economy with its first reduction
in bank reserve requirements.
That`s it from CNBC, first in business worldwide -- now back to
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Are you willing to
fight as hard for middle-class families as you do for those who are most
fortunate? What`s it going to be?
That`s the choice in front of Congress. What does it say about our
priorities when we would rather protect a few really well-to-do people than
fight for the jobs of teachers and firefighters? What does it say...
MATTHEWS: Welcome back to HARDBALL.
Well, today, President Obama visited Scranton, Pennsylvania, to make
his case for an extension of the payroll tax holiday. It`s no coincidence,
however, the president chose Scranton. It`s a town considered by many to
be ground zero for the kind of blue-collar white voters Obama will need to
win in that crucial state of Pennsylvania in what I call the Oshkosh-to-
Scranton arc, those blue-collar white voters that President Obama has
traditionally had trouble winning over, I must say.
Well, President -- actually, Senator Robert Casey of Pennsylvania -- I
called you president there for a minute -- is the sponsor of that payroll
tax holiday legislation.
Senator Casey, you`re extremely connected up there. This is not
shining you up. Everybody in Pennsylvania knows you`re a connected
regular, Democratic, middle-of-the-road Democrat type. How does the
president join new in well-positioned Democratic wing of the Democratic
Party vote with white guys, to be blunt about it, and white women, not just
minority voters?
SEN. BOB CASEY (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Well, Chris, I think when you look
at Scranton, my hometown -- and you have spent a lot of time there --
Lackawanna County in Northeastern Pennsylvania, we`re suffering through the
aftermath of a horrific recession.
There`s still almost 10,000 people out of work just in the county.
But I think what -- what -- what they expect of us, whether it`s me or
whether it`s the president or any elected official, is they want you to
answer one question. What are you doing today and what have you been doing
about creating jobs?
This payroll tax cut is a really good idea, not just because it`s my
bill, because it will be a direct benefit to workers and to businesses.
That`s why it`s a -- it`s an expansion of what we did last year. This is
for the employee and the employer.
It will put a lot of people to work. It`s a great jump-starter of the
economy. It will put about 1,500 bucks in the pockets of the average
worker. So what he`s doing today is in furtherance I think of that goal of
not just making a connection when it comes to the struggle and the
sacrifice that people are living through, but in a very tangible way.
This will work. It`s not theory. It`s not untested. This will work,
and I think we need to pass the bill.
MATTHEWS: Well, among all Pennsylvania voters, Senator -- here`s some
numbers you`re familiar with -- President Obama`s favorable number is 47,
his unfavorable number 49. Not bad. It`s a gap within the margin of
error. And these are tough times.
But among white voters, it`s just 41 percent favorable, 54 percent
unfavorable. Now, let me give you another cut line. Let`s drill that down
into the number among white voters. With a college education, Obama is
favorable and unfavorable numbers are tied at 48 percent. But among white
Pennsylvania voters without a college education -- these are an important
group -- there`s a lot more of them, by the way, those people without
college educations in Pennsylvania -- the split is large.
Look, 38 percent favorable of the president, and unfavorable, 57
percent. That`s almost 60/40, and maybe it`s worse than that. It`s
roughly 60/40 against the president.
Do you feel that when you go across the state, Senator?
CASEY: I do, Chris. And it`s -- it`s a very tough time for people,
and especially folks that have lesser education. They tend to be the ones
that are most adversely impacted by this economy.
That`s another reason why passing this payroll tax cut is really
important, because what it -- what we`re saying is that the cut from last
year from 6.2 down to 4, we`re going to take that even lower to -- so, in
other words, you`re cutting the payroll tax in half for workers and for
This will directly and disproportionately, in a very positive way,
impact lower-income folks, lower-middle income workers and their families.
So I think the president is on the right track. I just hope that we can
get a few Republican senators to join us in the Senate to get more than 60
votes, so we can do this in a bipartisan way. We did it last year on a tax
bill. I think we can do it again.
Senator Robert Casey, thank you so much for joining us from Scranton,
Pennsylvania, your hometown.
CASEY: Thank you.
MATTHEWS: Actually, you`re in Washington, but you`re from Scranton.
You had to vote today.
Now MSNBC political analyst and former Pennsylvania Governor Ed
Rendell joins us.
Governor Rendell, you`re from the southeastern part of the state. And
I`m just thinking about this very simple thing, connection. Hillary
Clinton could do it. Bill Clinton could do it. They seemed to come from
middle-class backgrounds, especially the former president. He never seemed
like an elitist. He never seemed like an Ivy League guy, even though he`s
a Rhodes Scholar.
How do you get that from this president, that connection?
ED RENDELL (D), FORMER PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR: Well, I`m not sure you
necessarily have to do that. FDR certainly came from a white-laced
background and he connected.
So I think the president can, and I think he`s started the road back
with these voters by what he`s doing on the jobs bill. For instance, in
Scranton, Chris, there are a lot of unemployed or guys who are working
halftime construction workers. They are those white blue collar voters
you`re talking about. Barack Obama wants to put them to work with almost
$100 billion of new infrastructure money. The Republicans don`t.
So, I think he`s got to keep pushing the message of jobs. He`s got
to keep pushing the message of income inequality and how he wants to make
it fairer, so that 38 percent of our corporations that aren`t paying
federal income tax start paying them to help ease the burden on working
people, things like that. So, I think he`s got a very strong populist
Now, is he Hillary Clinton or Bill Clinton or Bob Casey in delivering
that message? No, not yet, but I think he`s getting better.
And I think by the time next November rolls around, remember, it
won`t be just favorable or unfavorable Barack Obama. It will be Barack
Obama versus someone. And who does that person -- who is that?
MATTHEWS: Let`s talk about that.
RENDELL: Sure.
MATTHEWS: As governor, (AUDIO BREAK), as good at this as anybody.
Suppose he runs against the guy who looks like a stiff, like Romney, who
just looks like an elite guy, never has much hair, or a guy who looks like
an SOB, Newt -- I mean, a guy doesn`t look like a good guy. I know what
I`m talking about --
RENDELL: No, I think you`re absolutely guy.
MATTHEWS: One guy is too stiff , the other guy is too mean.
RENDELL: I think you`re absolutely right.
MATTHEWS: He doesn`t look like he`s running -- he`s not running
against Bill Clinton next November, lucky for him.
RENDELL: You`re absolutely right.
MATTHEWS: So, what does he do? Who is the best opponent in
Pennsylvania for him to run against? Can you call that one?
RENDELL: Well, Michele Bachmann, but you`re not talking about
MATTHEWS: Come on, Ed.
RENDELL: She`s my choice. She`s my choice.
MATTHEWS: OK. We don`t want to take a chance on the other two.
RENDELL: I`d rather run against Newt than Mitt Romney, because Mitt
Romney does exude an air of competence, he`s run things well, like the
Olympics, et cetera, and I think that`s the issue. And he`s got a business
background. If Mitt Romney can sell the American people his initial
message, Barack Obama is a nice guy, he has the right ideas, he just can`t
make it work, that`s Mitt Romney`s best pitch. And that --
MATTHEWS: OK, let`s go with that. Let`s go with that because you`ve
-- just one second here. If you were president, is there any way you could
sell the idea of putting people to work like Roosevelt did? These times
are stuck at 9 percent.
RENDELL: Sure.
MATTHEWS: You and I know we`re probably not even getting to 8
percent next November or next five years. We`re stuck up around 10 percent
maybe. It may bubble up again.
Don`t we need aggressive, what you might call radical action, to put
the working guy and working woman to work?
RENDELL: There`s no question. And, Chris, I think we do it without
make work. We do it by repairing the American infrastructure, going in a
five or 10-year program, taking returning vets, taking unemployed people,
training them to be laborers, et cetera, getting people back to work -- a
massive infrastructure repair program which the country needs anyway for
its competiveness.
MATTHEWS: I agree.
RENDELL: For its safety. That`s the way to do it.
MATTHEWS: That`s right. I`m so with you. Thank you, Senator -- I
mean, thank you, Governor Rendell for coming on.
Up again, Barney Frank is ending his career in Congress. We`re going
to have kind of an exit interview with him. We`re going to ask him what he
wants to get off his chest because he does want to say something, I think.
I want to hear him say it. He`s not running for re-election. No
worries about the voters now. We want to hear from Barney Frank from his
This is HARDBALL, coming up on MSNBC.
MATTHEWS: The tea is going cold. More Americans now say they
disagree with the Tea Party. And even those who live in congressional
districts represented by Tea Party members, they`re split over the
A new Pew poll found that 27 percent of Americans don`t agree with
the Tea Party versus just 20 percent who agree with it. Last year those
numbers were reversed.
And get this -- in the 60 districts represented by members of the
congressional Tea Party caucus, it`s a split decision: 23 against and 25
for, a statistical tie.
We`ll be right back.
MATTHEWS: We`re back.
After serving nearly 32 years in the House of Representatives,
Congressman Barney Frank announced earlier this week that he won`t seek re-
election next November. He`s been one of the most articulate spokesmen on
Capitol Hill for the liberal and progressive causes over the years. He`s a
great liberal, one of the great liberal lions, I`d say, and he joins us
right now from what we might call is HARDBALL exit interview.
Congressman Frank, I`ve liked you forever. I always think you`re a
great guy. You`re probably more important to history than Newt Gingrich or
someone like that will ever be.
So, here`s my chance. I want to know if you`ve got something you
want to get off your chest about politics, about serving in Congress, the
stuff that the average good person out there needs to hear.
REP. BARNEY FRANK (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Well, I guess I really have
tried to say these things all along, but I would make this point:
criticisms of the Congress are often legitimate but incomplete, because
they act as if there was some autonomous entity here called the Congress
into which people somehow parachuted and were inflicting these terrible
pains on the rest of the country.
The fact is -- as your former boss, my great idol, Tip O`Neill, used
to say -- nobody serves in the House of Representatives who didn`t win an
election. There`s no appointment. There`s no way you get to the House of
Representatives unless you won an election. Everybody is there because he
or she got more votes than anybody else in the last election.
In other words, as the public is critical of Congress, they got to
include some self-criticism because they are the reason we are here.
You know, if you moved into a hotel and -- and the guy banged up your
car when he parked it and the bellhop lost your luggage and the clerk
couldn`t find your reservation, and the laundry wasn`t done when you got to
the room, you wouldn`t say, my, what a strange collection of incompetent
people. You`d say who is running this place? Who hired these people?
Well, in the Congress the "who" who hired these people is the
electorate. And let me extend that to some people that I agree with on
some of the substance, the occupy people. I am sure that there are people
who didn`t vote in the last congressional elections, and I am not happy
when people who didn`t vote blame me for the consequences of people winning
elections because they didn`t vote.
MATTHEWS: You know, when people go to vote, are they trying to get a
good deal? Are they trying to get some government benefits they don`t
really want to pay for in taxes, some national defense they don`t want to
pay for? Are they -- are they trying to do what we all do when we strike a
bargain, trying to get something out of it that may not deserve? Is that
what happens, why we keep getting a Congress that won`t go balance the
budget, for example?
FRANK: It`s a mix. As far as balancing the budget, by the way, it
doesn`t make economic sense to balance the budget every year. But, yes,
there is this problem that the public wants to consume more in services
than is prepared to support in revenue.
Now, part of that is that they are misled by people who say, oh,
there`s so much waste and fraud, we can cut that out.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
FRANK: The fact is -- and, of course, there is waste and fraud in
any complex human activity. But, you know, we use the wrong metaphor.
People say we are going to cut out the fat as if the fat was made on the
side. Yes, there`s fat, but it`s marbles. There`s inefficiency in any
human activity --
MATTHEWS: Yes.
FRANK: -- and it`s hard to get rid of it.
But you also, you have a mix. You have some people who don`t like
government. What`s most frustrating to me today is, he`s a problem -- I`ve
heard you say it. Somebody say it the other day that the Democrats are
correctly seen as the party of government in that unlike our Republican
colleagues, we do believe that the private sector is the engine of wealth
creation but also that there are some things that are important for the
quality of our lives that we can only do if we pull our resources and make
some rules. And that`s what the government is for.
You can be the richest person in the world but you can`t put out a
fire. You can`t pave a highway. You can`t fix a bridge all by yourself.
You need to come together with your fellow citizens to do it.
What happens, though, is that when there are things going wrong --
and this is the most frustrating thing -- even when problems are the result
of Republican policies, Democrats get blamed for the consequences. It was
the policies of non-regulation, a little bit of the Clinton administration
but mostly the Bush administration, this violent opposition to any
regulation, the appointment of people who didn`t believe in regulation,
that`s what brought us the financial crisis.
And then the Democrats get blamed for it. So, yes, we need to do a
better job of explaining to the people that -- I`ll give you an example.
You know, I`ve had people say, well, why did you not fix Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac during all those years?
From 1995 to 2006, the Republicans controlled the Congress. Newt
Gingrich was first a speaker and then he was a highly paid historian for
Freddie Mac. You had all of the Republicans in power.
In 2007, interestingly, when we became the chairs, Chris Dodd and I
and the Democrats others took over, that`s the first time that Fannie Mae
and Freddie Mac were controlled and reined in. But I still have people who
believe this -- that, "Well, you`re the Democrats. There were errors in
government, it must have been your fault," when, in fact, they were done
under Republican control.
MATTHEWS: Let me ask you about good and evil. Do you believe in it?
Do you believe that --
FRANK: Sure.
MATTHEWS: -- we`re all a mixed bag? Or do you believe that there`s
some people like Newt Gingrich that personify one side of this Manichean
struggle in our life?
FRANK: Well, I -- I must say I dislike Gingrich and disapprove of
him. He`s been a terrible (INAUDIBLE) -- I wouldn`t call him evil. I
would -- I talk about evil, Hitler was evil. Saddam Hussein was evil.
Stalin, and many of his successors. Mugabe.
I would put people who do serious physical harm to their fellow human
beings. Beyond that, yes, we are all a mixed of good and bad.
In Gingrich`s case, there is usually a heavy preponderance, I think,
of the bad qualities. It`s interesting, he and Romney, if this is the
Republican nomination battle now, it does not speak well for being a man of
principle. Between the two of them, they have changed positions more often
than a lot of people change shirts, and they each accuse the other of doing
MATTHEWS: Yes.
FRANK: The difference is this: Gingrich throughout his career,
particularly as he was here, added to that a willingness to sabotage other
people. He got tattered reputations behind.
He got Tip O`Neill furious because he used to stand, as you know, at
the House at the time when the TV cameras only showed the speaker and
didn`t show that there was anybody there and he would say to empty seats, I
see your Democrats are traitors and if you don`t agree with me, stand up
and say so. Have the courage to say so. He was saying that to empty
That made Tip change the way the whole way that the cameras were
I know of another instance where he was just willing to attack
individuals in a way that, yes, that makes him pretty bad.
MATTHEWS: OK. Barney Frank, I hope you stick around in public life.
It`s good to hear from you. We`d love to have you on.
FRANK: Yes, you said my exit interview, Chris. Does that mean I
can`t come back anymore?
MATTHEWS: No, just your official exit interview.
FRANK: OK. Thank you. I`ll be back.
MATTHEWS: Mr. Frank, I`ve been with you at human rights campaign
events. You`re an inspiring leader. It is great to have you on the show
anytime. I mean it.
FRANK: Thank you, Chris.
MATTHEWS: I like you. I don`t mind admitting it. You like to be
grumbly and angry with everybody, but I admit sometimes I like certain
people. You know, I`m all for you. Anyway, thank you, Barney.
I don`t want to embarrass you. But thank you very much. You`re
FRANK: Thank you.
MATTHEWS: Ha! I don`t think so.
When we return, "Let Me Finish" with a story of courage and
leadership. I`m going to tell them tonight at the John F. Kennedy Library,
if you`re up in Boston. What an honor it`s going to be to be up there.
You`re watching HARDBALL, only on MSNBC.
MATTHEWS: "Let Me Finish" with this:
I`m up in Boston, tonight, and I have the honor to address the John
F. Kennedy Library about the life the 35th president.
It is, of course, a story of courage in the South Pacific, of a young
man who came home with a goal of preventing another world war, one he knew
would be far more horrible. It`s how he taught himself the unforgiving
profession of politics, how to inspire people, but also how to move other
politicians through charm and sometime tough leadership.
But the most powerful story is the harrowing set of events that were
the Cuban missile crisis, where a young president led his country in
averting a nuclear war. It`s a tale of true grace under pressure.
I`ve enjoyed traveling the country telling this story, getting people
to pick it up and read it. I want to remind people who lived through those
days that they were real, that the heroism they saw was genuine, and to
help them tell their children what they missed, and what young people today
need to demand of their leaders, true courage, true leadership through
troubled times.
Christmas is coming and time to recharge this country spiritually. I
truly believe that the story of Jack Kennedy is just the right one for this
winner of our country`s discontent. It`s time to know especially and good
to know now that we once had a hero for a president, a liberal Democratic
president who led us bravely and successfully. He thought us courage,
saved us from harm, backed civil rights and people around the world like me
in the Peace Corps and, yes, took us to the moon.
It will be a great honor to speak tonight at the John F. Kennedy
Library here in Boston and to bring it all back.
That`s HARDBALL for now. Thanks for being with us.
"POLITICS NATION" with Al Sharpton starts right now.
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