ED SCHULTZ, HOST: Good evening, Americans, and welcome to THE ED SHOW tonight from New York.
Oh, we‘ve got a list. And these stories are hitting “My Hot Buttons” at this the hour.
Sarah Palin says the Tea Partiers, they‘re not racists. She should prove it by condemning the Hitler signs and Birther talk that‘s going on.
My commentary on that, plus reaction from Reverend Al Sharpton, in just a moment.
House Republican Whip Eric Cantor went before a crowd that got millions in stimulus dollars to say that the stimulus program, well, it‘s not working. Congressman Alan Grayson will give him a reality check in the “Playbook.”
And it sounds like the wheels are coming off “Psycho Talker” Michele Bachmann‘s re-election campaign. Her staff members, well, they‘re dropping like flies, leaving for some reason. And I‘ll get the latest from the Democrat who is trying to take her seat in the House, Tarryl Clark out of Minnesota.
But this is the story that has me fired up tonight off the top.
Members of the Tea Party have spent the last year basically spitting on black members of Congress, calling them the “N” word and carrying signs of President Obama as a witch doctor. Now they‘re upset because the NAACP had the guts to call them out for what many people think they are, racists.
The queen of the Tea Party is playing, well, of course, the victim again. Here‘s Sarah Palin on “Mr. Intellectual Honest Show.”
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN ®, FMR. ALASKAN GOVERNOR: The Tea Party movement is a beautiful movement full of diverse people, diverse backgrounds, folks of all walks of life who, for the most part, happen to oppose President Obama‘s policies, not the color of his skin. They don‘t care that he‘s half white or half black.
It‘s very unfortunate that they‘re taking this tactic, because it‘s a false accusation that Tea Party Americans are racists. Any good American hates racism. We don‘t stand for it. It is unacceptable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Did she say diverse? Gosh, I‘d like to see that tape.
Many of the good American who kneel at the altar of the half-term governor are the ones holding those racist signs at these rallies. If she had a shred of character or credibility, she would tell any member of the Tea Party who thinks President Obama is not an American to just get the hell out.
She should tell people to stop holding the Hitler signs at rallies and quit using the “N” word. She hadn‘t done that.
Palin should also denounce anyone who encourages violence in the Tea Party and stop yelling to them “Reload!” If she wants America to take her seriously, and her Tea Party seriously, she needs told rein in these racist behaviors, I would say, ASAP.
If she‘s serious about running for the presidency in 2010, the nomination, she should start by condemning across the board the ugly Tea Party behavior in the Hawkeye State. You see, this billboard in Mason City, Iowa, set off a national firestorm on the very day the NAACP passed its resolution to condemn Tea Party racism.
The North Iowa Tea Party—yes, you know, those guys up north, in the northern part of Iowa—they‘re responsible for the sign comparing President Obama to Lenin and Hitler. After taking all kinds of heat, they removed the billboard today.
North Iowa Tea Party leader Bob Johnson originally tried to explain the image by saying, “The purpose of the billboard was to draw attention to socialism. It seems to have been lost in the visuals.”
You think?
“The pictures overwhelmed the message.” Yes, ,I would agree with you on that. What message though? Passing health care is equal to killing six million Jews? Or stimulus package is the first step towards a Russian revolution?
I mean, these people are absolutely nuts. And many of them are racists.
If there‘s a brain trust in the Tea Party, they need to face up to this ugly behavior, quit whining about the NAACP, and show some guts the way they did. And clean up your own House, Tea Partiers.
Get your cell phones out, folks. I want to know what you think about this.
Tonight‘s text survey question is: Do you think Tea Party leaders are doing enough to condemn racism? Text “A” for yes, text “B” for no to 622639. I‘ll bring you the results later on in the show.
Joining me now is civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton, president of the National Action Network.
Reverend, good to have you with us tonight.
REV. AL SHARPTON, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK: Good to be here.
SCHULTZ: What should be said about these billboards? They constantly are put up around the country, comments are made from time to time, and then all of a sudden the message is sent. But then the Tea Party people, oh, that‘s not us. That‘s not us.
Reverend, what‘s the play here?
SHARPTON: I mean, I think, clearly, that there have been people at the rallies and elements in this Tea Party that have said some racist things. I‘m here in Kansas City today speaking at the NAACP convention.
But what is even more disturbing is what you raised, Ed, is what the type of government that they‘re advocating is really anti-civil rights. So, at one level, Palin needs to condemn those that are racist or have done racist things at their rallies. What she really needs to explain is, since they are for this pro-state‘s rights kind of move on immigration, on labor and civil rights, she, Glenn Beck and others are talking about going to Washington on the anniversary of Martin Luther King‘s speech. And as you know, we‘ll be there in our own rally in another part of town.
How do you embrace Martin Luther King, who was for federal intervention to protect us against states‘ rights when you‘re leading a states‘ rights movement? So, even if they had racial feelings that I disagree with, their political philosophy is anti the civil rights movement that they‘re trying to claim they come in the name of.
SCHULTZ: What about the billboards, Reverend, and what about the constant barrage of rhetoric that comes from the Tea Partiers?
(CROSSTALK)
SHARPTON: We‘ve not heard condemnation of that. We‘ve not heard Palin, we‘ve not heard any of these people say this is wrong, take it down, you‘re not allowed to use the “N” word at my rallies, signs using KKK.
They should condemn it. If they don‘t condemn it, then what can anyone conclude from that, particularly given the political philosophy that they‘re trying to run and the policy they‘re trying to run?
They trying to turn government back. They talk about restore the dignity? They‘re trying to restore states‘ rights.
SCHULTZ: I want to talk now about Rush Limbaugh and his comments about George Steinbrenner. I want your response to this. You put out a statement in response to this today, and I‘d like to hear what you think.
Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: George Steinbrenner has passed away at age 80. That cracker made a lot of African-American millionaires. And George Steinbrenner, the classic capitalist.
Everybody around him became wealthy. Like most successful capitalists, he made the people around him wealthy. And a lot of African-American millionaires along the way, and at the same time he fired a bunch of white guys as managers, left and right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Is that racist, Reverend?
SHARPTON: Well, absolutely. I think that it is outrageous.
First of all, for him to have said this less than 24 hours after George Steinbrenner died—you know, George Steinbrenner and I knew each other 20 years. We agreed, we disagreed. We would quarrel.
In his later years, we got kind of close because his granddaughter and my daughter, ironically, became roommates doing a play together, and we got to know each other well.
He and his family didn‘t deserve that. To my most adversarial opponent, I would not put that on their family less than 24 hours after his death. You start calling him names and bring up race?
Why doesn‘t Sarah Palin condemn Rush Limbaugh? To enter race and a racial term when someone hasn‘t even been buried is absolutely outrageous.
And here was a man that you and I would criticized for saying he shouldn‘t own an NFL team about a year ago. This guy wants to own an NFL team, and then he gives a racist eulogy to a Major League Baseball owner?
I think this is an outrage, and I challenge Ms. Palin and them to tell us what they think about this kind of language from one of their big cheerleaders.
SCHULTZ: Reverend Sharpton, always a pleasure. Good to have you on tonight. Thanks so much.
SHARPTON: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: For more on racism within the Tea Party, let me turn now to Iowa Congressman Bruce Braley. The billboard of Obama, Hitler and Lenin was put up in his state.
Congressman, does this speak poorly for the state of Iowa? Your thoughts?
REP. BRUCE BRALEY (D), IOWA: Well, it‘s a deplorable act that every Iowan should condemn, Ed, especially when you look at the long history of tolerance that our state has always been known for.
In 1839, the very first decision of the Iowa Supreme Court, when we were still a territory, reached the exact opposite conclusion of the Dred Scott decision, one of the most abysmal decisions of our United States Supreme Court. In 1839, we were the state that gave George Washington Carver a bachelor‘s degree and a master‘s degree. We are the only Division I football stadium in America named for an African-American in Iowa.
There is no room for this type of despicable behavior in our state.
SCHULTZ: What about your colleague, Congressman Steve King, on the other side of the aisle, who has said some pretty rough stuff about President Obama? Has he fueled this kind of behavior and outrageous talk in your state?
BRALEY: Absolutely. And to get to one of your earlier comments, Ed, it‘s ironic that the Northern Colorado Tea Party disinvited Steve King because they found his comments so offensive.
And that‘s what we need to keep in perspective, is this Tea Party movement is very fragmented around the country. You can‘t judge every member of the Tea Party movement by what happens in these despicable acts, but there needs to be strong condemnation from every one of their leaders, because this is unacceptable in America.
SCHULTZ: Does Sarah Palin play well in Iowa?
BRALEY: Well, ,it depends on who you‘re talking to. I mean, I think she plays well to a certain element, but she‘s going to have to be accountable.
She‘s spending a lot of time in our state. It‘s obvious she considers herself to be a player in the 2012 Republican presidential nominating process.
SCHULTZ: What do you make of her comment saying that this isn‘t the Tea Party? But these billboards keep going up around the country from time to time, and then they, of course, quickly distance themselves. But they don‘t tell anybody not to put them up.
BRALEY: Well, why isn‘t Sarah Palin taking the initiative and calling for these things to be taken down immediately and urging other Tea Party activists not to repeat this offensive behavior? She‘s not doing it.
She‘s only responding to these allegations and these crises when they‘re presented to her and she has to justify her association.
SCHULTZ: Congressman, good to have you with us tonight. Thanks so much.
BRALEY: Good to see you again, Ed.
SCHULTZ: You bet.
Bruce Braley from Iowa here on THE ED SHOW.
Coming up, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is fuming. She lashed out at Robert Gibbs so harshly, the Republicans joked, she ate him for breakfast. Congressman Elijah Cummings brings the straight talk on that at the bottom of the hour.
And a Fox Newser just dropped a bombshell. He says W. and Cheney could be indicted on criminal charges. I‘ll show you the tape and get “Rapid Fire Response” from the panel on that one.
All that, plus Bachmann. Her opponent tells me the battle plan later in the show.
And Sharron Angle. She‘s a flip-flop champion. You won‘t believe it.
And, of course, we‘ve got a bevy of “Psycho Talkers” tonight. Let‘s see—“Slant Head,” “Turd Blossom” and “The Beckster.” They‘re all in the “Zone.” You won‘t want to miss it.
You‘re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW and thanks for watching tonight.
Somebody‘s got to put a stop to the twisted chorus of Republicans who say unemployment benefits discourage the jobless from work—looking for work in this country.
Tom Corbett, the Republican candidate from Pennsylvania, is really unbelievable when he jumps on the bandwagon saying this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM CORBETT ®, PENNSYLVANIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: The jobs are there. But
if we keep extending unemployment, people are just going to sit there and -
I‘ve literally had construction companies tell me, “I can‘t get people to come back to work, people don‘t want to come back to work while they still have unemployment.”
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Corbett ended up having to walk that one back, saying, “I regret that in that one statement, I may not have been clear or complete as I possibly could.”
Now, I don‘t buy this. This wasn‘t a gaffe. He‘s just sorry that he got caught saying it out loud.
This is how Republicans think.
Senator Jim Bunning kicked things off in February by blocking an extension of unemployment benefits. Then a whole bunch of other righties fell in line like Rand Paul, Jon Kyl, Sharron Angle, Tom DeLay, Judd Gregg and Dean Heller. And the list goes on and on.
This is who they are. They all say that they‘re worried about the deficit, but Americans are worried about jobs.
A new poll shows that 70 percent of people think that reducing unemployment is more important than reducing the deficit. Only 28 percent want the deficit to take priority. And, of course, this is what the Republicans have been spouting about all over the country, that it‘s the deficit.
Joining me now is Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania.
Governor, good to have you with us tonight.
GOV. ED RENDELL (D), PENNSYLVANIA: My pleasure, Ed.
SCHULTZ: This growing list that is constantly out there on the Republican side painting the picture that unemployed Americans in this country are lazy, they don‘t want to work, they‘re gaming the system, what‘s your response to that? You‘ve seen the hardship in your state and other states.
RENDELL: Well, it‘s either an incredible insensitivity to the plight that ordinary Pennsylvanians and ordinary Americans are feeling, or it‘s just they‘re totally out of touch.
I mean, let‘s take Tom Corbett‘s assertion that there are people who are staying on unemployment rather than going back to work. The average Pennsylvanian, Ed, gets $350 a week from unemployment comp.
Now, if you‘ve got a family of four, I defy Tom Corbett or anybody else to tell me how you are going to live, how you‘re going to make your mortgage payment, how you‘re going to make your car payment, how you‘re going to feed your family on $350 a week. And you have no health care, no COBRA payments. You are SOL (ph), you‘re out of luck. And anybody who thinks that people sit back and say, oh, I‘m getting $350 a week, I don‘t need to go back to work, is crazy.
And when the attorney general had the chance to identify the companies that told him that, he went south and wouldn‘t ID them. I think this is either total insensitivity to the plight of working people—sure, Pennsylvania, we‘re on a slight resurgence. We‘ve gained $80,000 jobs, private sector jobs, added in the last four months. I think it‘s second only to Texas in the nation.
But we still have an unemployment rate over 9 percent. Over 9 percent. And that‘s the hard unemployment rate. Actually unemployment is probably up around 14 or 15 percent.
SCHULTZ: Governor, do you think that the Republicans are trying to gut the economy until the midterm because they want power back?
RENDELL: I believe that this is all about politics. And it‘s unfortunate.
I believe that some brilliant guy like Frank Luntz has convinced them to say deficit, cut the deficit, cut the deficit, cut the deficit. And they‘re misreading the American people. And I‘m not surprised.
This is the first I‘ve heard of that poll, Ed, but I‘m not surprised.
That‘s what the American people think.
We can take care of the deficit in the long run. You know, David Walker, the very highly regarded president of the Peterson Foundation, which has been a deficit hawk foundation, they said we can make the short-term investments to protect people and boom our economy, get our economy back running. And at the same time, do long-term deficit reductions. We can do both.
And Mr. Walk is dead on. And we‘ve got to start doing it.
And let me tell you, they‘re all hypocrites, too, because this pay as you go, it has to be paid for. Well, you remember Ed, when President Obama put in pay as you go legislation which the Republicans --
SCHULTZ: They were against it.
RENDELL: -- had—they agreed to it at first, and then, when it came time for a vote, they were against it. So, how hypocritical is it for them to say now that we‘re not going to help people who are unemployed, we‘re not going to give money to the economy, we‘re going to force the states to lay off—like in Pennsylvania, if we don‘t get the Medicaid extension, we‘re going to have to lay off 20,000 policemen and firemen and case workers and teachers and things like that.
How hypocritical is it?
SCHULTZ: Well, Governor, another issue here. It is about jobs, no question about it. Dealing with the unemployment obviously is what the Democrats want to do. But it is about jobs.
And this stimulus package, eventually, the money will run out. And today, Bill Clinton and Warren Buffett were over at the White House talking jobs with the president, which makes me kind of feel that, do they have a plan to actually create new jobs in America that will hold—jobs that will hold up in this economy and won‘t have a deadline of funding running out?
RENDELL: Right.
SCHULTZ: And if the Democrats don‘t address this and come up with a plan, and articulate it to the public, don‘t you think that this could be a disastrous midterm? I mean, ,it is about the jobs.
What do you make of this?
RENDELL: Right, we have to be clear as a bell. And there is good stuff in this job extender bill that the Republicans are holding up. There is good stuff for small businesses, really good stuff—tax cuts for small businesses, a lending pool for small businesses, and that‘s important. That‘s very, very important.
But I think the thing that we can do that would most guarantee good American jobs, construction jobs, manufacturing jobs—and you‘ve heard me saying this before, Ed—we ought to go on a long-term program to repair the American infrastructure.
SCHULTZ: No doubt.
RENDELL: The infrastructure jobs are the ones that have been the best product of stimulus. The best of product of stimulus.
Not only jobs on the construction side, on the bridge or on the road, but jobs back in the factories producing the steel and concrete and asphalt and aggregate. That‘s what we ought to be doing.
And if we were to commit ourselves over the next five years to rebuild our infrastructure, not just our transportation structure—people out there know our water and wastewater systems are in desperate need of help. In Pennsylvania, the price tag for doing those water and wastewater systems, $20 billion. If we were to do that, it would create better. long-term employment, solid employment for a half-decade to come.
SCHULTZ: Well, that‘s going to be the challenge for the Democrats.
They‘re going to have to articulate that.
(CROSSTALK)
SCHULTZ: The Republicans aren‘t doing it. They‘re just vilifying everything.
Ed, good to have you on. I appreciate your time.
RENDELL: I‘m glad you gave me a chance, because Tom Corbett knows better.
SCHULTZ: Yes, I would think everybody would know better. You bet.
Thank you.
Coming up, Fox News seems to have a plan for 2012. Some new “Psycho Talking” tickets might be on the docket. Sean Hannity is nominating “Turd Blossom,” and in return, Bush‘s brain is nominating “Slant Head.” And this is truly frightening. At least I think it is.
People are begging “The Beckster” to run. Here‘s my decision: they‘re all going in the “Zone” next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And in “Psycho Talk” tonight, well, there was a lot of sickening right-wing presidential ego-stroking going over on Hannity‘s show last night. “Turd Blossom” Karl Rove was talking about who could run for president in 2012. Then Hannity weighed in, and then it just went downhill from there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS: I‘m thinking you might want to get in the race. I don‘t know.
KARL ROVE, FOX CONTRIBUTOR: I don‘t know. I‘m going for Hannity. I‘m going for—I want—the country would be better off if it was Hannitized.
HANNITY: And you‘re going to—you would vote for me and run my campaign?
ROVE: If you ran.
HANNITY: OK.
ROVE: Might well do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: If you think the words “President Hannity” are scary, this next part will really terrify you. One whack job group out there is trying to recruit “The Beckster” to run for president whether he wants to or not.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My coalition, Main Street Bites Back, is inviting Glenn Beck to run for the office of president of the United States of America. And you‘re invited to sign the petition.
What did you say? Glenn Beck doesn‘t want to be president of the United States? Neither did George Washington, and look how that turned out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Well, if you can listen carefully, you could hear George Washington turning over in his grave.
The right-wing network is—well, they‘re really—you have to give them credit. They‘re covering all bases for 2012.
The list of potential Republican presidential candidates reads like a who‘s who of Fox News Channel. Of course, it also reads a who‘s who of pure “Psycho Talk.”
Coming up, the not-ready-for-prime-time Tea Partier Sharron Angle proving to be a bigger flip-flopper than John Kerry ever was. We‘ll get “Rapid Fire Response” to the stunt she just pulled.
And after getting smoked by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is backtracking about the midterms. Congressman Cummings has a lot to say on this one ahead.
All that, plus a dead woman found a way to hammer Harry Reid from the grave? You know it‘s bad when you‘re getting nailed from six feet under.
Also, outrage hits the boiling point over the Ground Zero mosque.
That‘s coming in the “Playbook,” coming up.
You‘re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW. The Battleground story tonight. Well, I guess it‘s the democrats versus the democrats in this circular firing squad in Washington. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is reportedly furious with the White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs for saying that it‘s possible the democrats will lose the majority in the House in November. Well, guess what, you don‘t mess around with Nancy Pelosi. Today in a press briefing, Gibbs tried to walk back his comment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The work that the house and the speaker have done over the past 18 months in making tough choices and making tough votes, and then passing the agenda of this president have been monumental. In 3 ½ months or so, we‘re going to have an election that will be based on a very clear choice. I think in that choice, we are going to do very well, and as I have said, throughout this, I this think we will retain the House and the senate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Joining me now is Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings.
Congressman, good to have you with us tonight on this issue.
REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS (D), MARYLAND: It‘s good to be with you, Ed.
SCHULTZ: You bet. A lot of Americans, democrats want to know what‘s going on here with in-house fighting. Now, they‘re saying that Robert Gibbs on “Meet the Press” was speaking off the cuff. I find it hard to believe to go on “Meet the Press” and speak off the cuff. And I think democrats want to know is there somewhat of a different mood between the White House and the folks on Capitol Hill who are running for re-election. Are the democrats worried about losing the majority?
CUMMINGS: I think clearly Mr. Gibbs, I think was trying to send a message, I think that‘s what he was trying to do to say that we have to work hard to make sure that we do win. And I think he probably was trying to stir up the troops. That‘s what I think. But the fact still remains is that the American public wants democrats to be democrats. And Ed, one of the things that I teach my proteges, I tell them that your constituency have to believe that you believe in what you‘re doing. They want us to be democrats, they want us to continue, I mean, to stand up for things like health care for climate change, things that have nature. And so, we have to do that, Ed. And I think there‘s a frustration and there‘s no doubt about it that Nancy Pelosi has been the biggest ally and most powerful ally of this administration. No doubt about it.
SCHULTZ: If it had not been for Nancy Pelosi, there would not be a health care bill. No question about it.
CUMMINGS: That‘s exactly right.
SCHULTZ: So, given that was her response appropriate, correct, and the right thing to do?
CUMMINGS: I think that she had-to-do exactly what she did. I‘m sure she didn‘t want to do it but she has to remind, basically what she was doing was reminding the president and reminding everyone that democrats came into office to bring about certain change. And those changes are very, very important to end that, you know, the republicans have been standing on the sidelines throwing spitballs and basically not presenting any kind of real agenda. And so and Nancy Pelosi is a fighter. And she does not give up. And so you know, I mean, look at what we‘re doing right now with Wall Street reform. The fact is that you got to pull and tug at three republicans to vote for something that basically toppled this very country. So, go ahead.
SCHULTZ: Is the mood in the House that the democrats will keep the majority?
CUMMINGS: The mood in the house, talking to my colleagues, we believe that we will keep the majority but we also believe that democrats have to be democrats. We have to stand up for the issues that are the main and those that help people and lift people up and keep in mind, by the end of the night, Ed, 53,500 people will go without unemployment benefits.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
CUMMINGS: And by the end of the week, you‘re talking about close to 300,000. That‘s a lot of people.
SCHULTZ: No doubt about it.
CUMMINGS: And a total of over 2.2 million.
SCHULTZ: Well, one party is trying to do something about it, and one party doesn‘t want to do anything about it. I want to shift quickly here about jobs because this midterm is going to be about job creation. A lot of the Americans are going to be making decisions on that. Now, today, at the White House, Bill Clinton and Warren Buffett were called to meet with the president. Which signals I think to some Americans that this White House is still looking for answers on job creation. What does that message send to you?
CUMMINGS: What that message sends to me is that the president is on course. He realizes that the one thing that he must do over and over again is find every single way he can to create jobs. In spite of the republicans who have done every single thing they can do, Ed, to stand in his way.
SCHULTZ: No doubt.
CUMMINGS: Everything they can do. So and I think—I know he‘s reaching out trying to pull in all forces to make this happen and we‘re going to make it happen. You know why, Ed? Because we‘re on the side of what is right.
SCHULTZ: No doubt. Congressman, I appreciate your time tonight.
Thanks so much.
CUMMINGS: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: Now let‘s get some rapid fire response from our panel on these stories. Sharron Angle, flip-flops again on her old website. Now she says she‘s glad Harry Reid reposted her old positions even though she was still threatening legal action as recently as this week.
The White House says, the stimulus has saved or created roughly three million jobs in America. A new poll shows Americans, well, they are not buying it but they are far more concerned about unemployment than the deficit.
And a FOX News analyst says, Bush and Cheney absolutely should have been indicted over Guantanamo Bay, torture and spying.
With us tonight, Laura Flanders, author of “Blue Grit” and the host of Grit TV on Free Speech TV and also, John Feehery with us tonight, republican strategist. All right. Let‘s get after, right away here. We‘ve got Sharron Angle, first she doesn‘t want her stuff posted. She threatens a lawsuit and now she‘s saying that well, actually, she‘s really glad Harry did this. John Feehery, make some sense of this candidate for a moment.
JOHN FEEHERY, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, the only thing I can say to you, Ed, about Sharron Angle is the latest polls have her up three. People are frustrated with Harry Reid. Harry Reid said today that he didn‘t think there were any illegal immigrants working on construction projects in Nevada. I think, the reason he said that is that there are no construction projects going out in Nevada because the unemployment rate in Nevada is 14 percent which is killing Harry Reid in this election. And I think, you‘re absolutely right, I‘m going to skip ahead the other topic which is jobs. This election is about jobs.
SCHULTZ: We‘ll get to that in a moment.
FEEHERY: And in Nevada it, it‘s killing Harry Reid which is why Sharron Angle still has a pretty good shot at winning this thing.
LAURA FLANDERS, GRIT TV: Sharron Angle is doing a great campaign for a democrat I would say on this question. And she‘s, you know, the Tea Partiers who are out there supporting her through the primaries have got to realize they‘re about to be Scott Brown, you know, loved and leaved. And that‘s exactly what she is doing here. As for Harry Reid, you know, Michelle Obama never said she was ashamed of this country. I don‘t think Al Gore ever said he had created the internet and Harry Reid did not say, there are no undocumented people in Nevada. He said that a national estimate was overblown and he was right. That same survey showed that it was not true of Nevada. The reality of what he‘s saying about jobs is in order to lift the floor for everybody. We have to have universal comprehensive immigration reform.
SCHULTZ: Why is he behind her?
FLANDERS: There are no illegal people.
SCHULTZ: Then why is Harry Reid behind in Nevada?
FLANDERS: Oh, you know, you could go through every possible ploy of the polling. His campaign, I think you haven‘t seen anything yet. And of course, Sharron Angle keeps getting the attention. She keeps getting the coverage, she‘s got those Tea Partiers are at her back for now. But I think everybody gets it in that Tea Party crowd that this isn‘t a woman who is going to stick to her guns when she gets any further down this race.
FEEHERY: Let me just throw in, I think the answer to your question, Ed, Harry Reid is very unpopular because he‘s out of touch with what‘s going on in Nevada. Second all, things are bad in Nevada, they‘ve been bad and he‘s not doing anything.
(CROSSTALK)
FLANDERS: And she proposes nothing to make it better.
FEEHERY: Beginning of President Obama‘s term, he said people should not go to Las Vegas, they shouldn‘t go and visit—take their conventions to Las Vegas. And that‘s killed tourism in that area.
(CROSSTALK)
FLANDERS: Sharron Angle has zero prescription, she has zero prescription for jobs. She said the unemployed were simply lazy. They‘ve been coddled, they‘ve been spoiled by our unemployment programs. Those two million people that we were just talking about, they‘re spoiled? You know, you talk to people who are unemployed out there today.
SCHULTZ: All right. The White House says, they have created a stimulus package, created or saved three million jobs although recent polling shows by CBS news that not everybody in this country is buying that. When it comes to the stimulus package, 23 percent of the people think that it‘s made it better, 18 percent made it worse and 56 percent no impact. You‘re either creating a job or you‘re not. The economic problem, number one, jobs, unemployment 38 percent. The debt, deficit and spending, only at ten percent. It‘s pretty clear if we don‘t create any jobs, somebody is going to pay a political price in November on this. John Feehery, is this—we‘ve had several people come on this program, elected officials say that the republicans are trying to gut the economy, so they can get the power back in the house. Do you think that—is this the reason why they‘re not working on the jobs bill?
FEEHERY: I don‘t think so, Ed. Matter of fact, I think what the problem, the reason republicans are opposed to democratic policies is they believe that they don‘t work. And they don‘t work. And that‘s why they oppose them. If you look at another poll, 13 percent of the American people think that they‘ve been helped by President Obama. Only 13 percent while everybody else thought, they were actually being harmed or they had no impact. The fact of the matter is that the president‘s policies have not worked which is why republicans have opposed them all along.
SCHULTZ: If they haven‘t worked John, and why are we not losing 700,000 jobs a month? That‘s fair question, isn‘t it? I mean, we‘re not having the job loss we were having before the stimulus package?
FEEHERY: Other polls show that there‘s no—the American people have no confidence in President Obama‘s leadership and that has actually hurt economic growth in this country.
SCHULTZ: Laura Flanders, what do you make of Bill Clinton and Warren Buffett being at the White House today talking about jobs?
FLANDERS: I wish he would be going through the arcades and talking about government creation of jobs, direct job creation by the government. I mean, let‘s keep it very clear here. The stimulus has certainly helped to put some kind of bandage on the wound but it‘s not going to get us back on the right track to the degree that a real jobs program would. That‘s where we need to have the conversation. And I don‘t think Buffett and Clinton are going to be bringing that message.
SCHULTZ: All right. Another interesting topic tonight, Andrew Napolitano from FOX News says that Bush and Cheney should have been indicted. Here‘s the sound cut.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW NAPOLITANO, FOX NEWS ANALYST: What President Bush did with the suspension of habeas corpus with the whole concept of Guantanamo Bay, with the whole idea that he could avoid and evade federal laws, treaties, federal judges and the constitution was blatantly unconstitutional and in some cases criminal. They should have been indicted. They absolutely should have been indicted for torturing, for spying, for arresting without warrant. I‘d like to say, they should be indicted for lying but believe it or not unless you‘re under oath.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: John Feehery, your response to that.
FEEHERY: Ed, you cannot say now that the FOX News Channel is not fair and balanced. That‘s obviously fair and balanced. Napolitano is a big libertarian, he‘s someone that Ron Paul and Rand Paul are supporters of. And that‘s pretty much the libertarian line.
FLANDERS: Oh, well, I just wish it was Janet Napolitano in there, I‘ll tell you that. And look, if Ralph Nader can make television that interesting, and next time, I hope they‘ll let him in the presidential debates.
SCHULTZ: Laura Flanders, John Feehery, great to have you with us tonight. Thanks so much.
Coming up, Republican Whip Eric Cantor seems to think that he can say anything and get away with it. Not so fast, Cantor. We‘re going to separate fact from fiction. Congressman Alan Grayson is going to let him have it in the Playbook. That‘s next on THE ED SHOW. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: It‘s still not too late to let us know what you think. Tonight‘s text survey question is, do you think Tea Party leaders are doing enough to condemn racism? Text A for yes, text B for no to 622639. We got the results coming up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And in my Playbook tonight on THE ED SHOW, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor is the poster boy for republican hypocrisy. Get this yesterday, he hosted a job fair with employer who had received $52 million in stimulus funds. Hmm. But in an interview at the job fair, he still insisted the stimulus package, well, it just didn‘t create any jobs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC CANTOR ®, HOUSE MINORITY WHIP: We have seen that the stimulus dollars that have been spent have not produced jobs. The stimulus that was designed to lower the unemployment rate to keep it from going over eight percent. So, obviously, government spending money doesn‘t create jobs. This jobs fair is trying to match-up people looking for employment to be hired.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Notice the congressman didn‘t ask all of the companies that were there to give that government money back. This is a classic example of republicans making stuff up and getting away with it. A new poll shows that 74 percent of people think the stimulus bill had no impact on the economy or made it worse. But a White House report out today shows that the stimulus bill has saved or created up to 3.6 million jobs.
Joining me now is Congressman Alan Grayson of Florida. Congressman, great to have you on tonight.
REP. ALAN GRAYSON (D), FLORIDA: Thank you, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Who do you believe? Do you believe Eric Cantor or is the White House accurate with their numbers? Has the stimulus package done good things for our economy?
GRAYSON: Of course, it has. What do they think they did with that $1.6 trillion, burying in somebody‘s backyard? They spent it. It‘s created jobs. If not for that, unemployment would be 20 percent instead of ten percent. Isn‘t that obvious? It‘s just simple economics.
SCHULTZ: What do you make of Cantor having a job fair and yet, he‘s got a host of companies who actually got stimulus money? I mean, either the guy is completely clueless or he‘s a total fraud. What do you think?
GRAYSON: Well, I think of all the republicans who complained about socialized medicine who are on Medicare. In fact, think of every member of the House who actually gets Medicare or medical care from the government because they‘re on government plans. How many of the republicans complained about socialized medicine when they were benefiting from it?
SCHULTZ: Last night, Laura Ingraham and Bill O‘Reilly had an exchange about the economy and of course, this is the running narrative right now in the conservative circles that no jobs are being created and stimulus package hasn‘t work. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURA INGRAHAM, “THE OBAMA DIARIES” AUTHOR: We are seeing America slowly but surely dismantled. Our free market system is under attack.
BILL O‘REILLY, “THE O‘REILLY FACTOR” HOST: So, you‘re in the Glenn Beck zone.
INGRAHAM: I think what‘s happening is that Americans across the board, maybe they‘re not fully in the spin or no spin zone but they‘re seeing, wait a second, the fiction is that stimulus was going to create jobs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: What‘s your response to that, Congressman?
GRAYSON: I think it‘s ridiculous. You know, whatever is bad, they blame the democrats for that. Whatever is good, they try to take credit for it. I think that if I win the lottery tomorrow, Eric Cantor is going to say, because he got me a good number.
(LAUGHTER)
SCHULTZ: What is the plan in your opinion, to create jobs beyond this stimulus package? Now, the stimulus package has stopped the bleeding and created some jobs in certain areas. But we‘re not seeing the growth. In fact, China‘s imports to this country up in the last year 44 percent, 12 percent in the last month. The outsourcing continues. The trade deficit continues to mount on this country. What‘s the plan in the long-term in your opinion? What should we be doing?
GRAYSON: We‘re at the bottom of the economic cycle. And we‘ve known since John Maynard Keynes point the Dow in the 30s after the great depression started, that it‘s the fundamental responsibility of government to match national supply with national demand. We have a $14 trillion economy, $14 trillion of goods and services get created in this country and because of the mismanagement under the Bush administration, we had only $13 trillion of demand last year. Only $13 trillion demand this year. So at the bottom of the economic cycle which is where we‘re at now, the government has to borrow money to step in and sustain demand.
Otherwise, the economy collapses and you have a second great depression. Now, at the other end of the cycle which is where were in 2005, 2006, we should have been saving money. That‘s what Clinton did. We have four straight years of surplus, government surplus under Clinton. We were seven years away from paying off the entire national debt through proper economic management. Now, we‘re in a much weaker position. We have to borrow. But when the economy gets better we have to save. And that means government surplus is not government deficits.
SCHULTZ: From a buy guy who has been very successful in private business, Congressman, thanks so much for your time tonight. I appreciate it.
GRAYSON: Thank you, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Some final pages in the Playbook tonight, 84-year-old Charlotte McCourt of Nevada passed away last week. She played a role in helping Harry Reid make it to the senate. But I think she was really unhappy with the way Harry ended up doing things. Her obituary printed in the Las Vegas review journal last week read like this, “We believe that mom would say she was mortified to have taken a large role in the election of Harry Reid to the United States Congress. Let the record show Charlotte was displeased with his work, please, in lieu of flowers, vote for another more worthy candidate.” Ouch. Doesn‘t that hurt?
And outrage and anger boiled over last night over a plan to build a mosque near ground zero. Nearly 100 people attended a hearing to debate if a 19th century building should be preserved as a city landmark or become a place of worship for Muslims. Critics are blasting the plan as insensitive. One man had to be escorted out by security and some of the speakers were drowned out by yelling and screaming.
Coming up, psycho sister Michele Bachmann is really a fund-raising machine. But her campaign workers, they don‘t like what‘s happening. They can‘t seem to get enough of getting away from her fast enough. Her democratic challenger Tarryl Clark in Minnesota will tell us what her plan is to take that seat in November. That‘s next on THE ED SHOW. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW. Finally tonight, this is a battle to watch in November. Psycho talker Michele Bachmann may be the darling of the conservative right base in this country but if she wants to stay in Congress, she better start worrying about her own backyard. Her operation appears to be unraveling. Her finance director just left, so did her chief of staff, and that would be the fifth chief of staff to quit on Bachmann in four years. If Bachmann can‘t keep staff, how the heck she can be able to keep her seat come November?
One person who doesn‘t want her to keep that seat is Tarryl Clark, the democrat who was challenging Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. Tarryl, thank you for being with us tonight. You‘ve created a very, I think, innovative website, Bachmann said what, and you‘ve posted all of her latest psycho talk type comments, one of them, Obama turning our country into a nation of slaves. What kind of response are you getting in the desperate to these outlanders comments?
TARRYL CLARK (D), CHALLENGING REP. BACHMANN: Well, Ed, it‘s great to be back here. And, you know, Michelle over and over, it‘s a pattern, she‘s saying outrageous things. She‘s saying things that are certainly not helpful to the people of the sixth district. Probably what‘s most outrageous is that she‘s out chasing headlines instead of doing a darn thing that‘s going to make a difference for people in our district.
SCHULTZ: You think she‘s not spending enough time in Minnesota?
CLARK: You know, I think she‘s more interested in running around the country headlining events and trying to chase headlines than doing anything that‘s going to make a difference, whether it‘s in Washington or back home. You know, she‘s not doing a dang thing that‘s helping create a job, help our seniors be able to retire and help our veterans who have served our country well.
SCHULTZ: Minnesota public radio reports that in that district, it has the highest foreclosure rate in Minnesota. What would you do to turn that around if that report‘s true?
CLARK: It is true. And it‘s very sad. We have some of the highest unemployment rates too. And first off, you know, Michele has been continuously voting against measures that would help families stay in their homes and that would help create jobs or extend unemployment. Recently voted twice against unemployment. I have a strong track record of working in the state senate, fighting against predatory lenders, helping families stay in their homes and I‘ll go work on that in Washington. Our hard-working taxpayers deserve better. You know, they‘re frustrated. You‘ve talked about it on your show. They‘re tired and frustrated that had Wall Street got build up but where is anybody there to help make sure that they‘re able to stay in their homes.
Is she being helped nationally? The fund raising has reach 1.7 million in the last quarter. You raised a very rapid-able number at $910,000, more than any other democrat. What‘s it going to take to beat her?
CLARK: Well, two things. It‘s important that we keep raising the resources that we‘re in need for the airwaves. That‘s just part of a current campaign. And we have over 24,000 donors now. That‘s a real grassroots effort. But most importantly, we‘re working and focused on cutting through the noise and going straight to where people live in their homes, in their churches, in their communities, door to door, neighbor to neighbor. This weekend alone...
SCHULTZ: Tarryl Clark, we will follow the story. Thanks for joining us tonight. I appreciate your time.
CLARK: Sounds good.
SCHULTZ: Tonight in our question, I asked you, do you think Tea Party leaders are doing enough to condemn racism? Ten percent of you said yes, 90 percent of you said no. That‘s THE ED SHOW. I‘m Ed Schultz. “HARDBALL” with Chris Matthews starts right now on the place for politics, MSNBC. We‘ll see you tomorrow night.
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