Christie, Matt Entenza>
ED SCHULTZ, HOST: Good evening, Americans, and welcome to THE ED SHOW, tonight from New York. These stories hitting my hot buttons at this hour.
Breaking news today. After 87 days, BP has finally plugged the damn hole! Now, let‘s hope it just doesn‘t blow again. There are no guarantees at this hour. But the pain hasn‘t stopped for the people of the Gulf Coast, like the fishermen who can‘t go out in those polluted waters. I‘ll talk to the attorney representing hundreds of fishermen and oystermen coming up in the show.
There‘s a report out today that big business has the money to start hiring more workers, but they‘re sitting on all this cash instead of creating jobs and putting our middle class back to work. I think it‘s all political. I‘ve got a commentary on that coming up in just a moment.
And you‘re not going to believe this one. A Republican gubernatorial candidate in Minnesota thinks it would be just fine to slash the minimum wage for wage earners and servers to just $2.13 an hour, the Democrats responding big-time in my “Playbook“ on that one.
And Wall Street reform passed today with 60 votes in the Senate, a big victory for the Obama administration. We‘ll tell you if it is really reform.
But this is the story that has me fired up tonight. Now, in my opinion, the United States Chamber of Commerce and the Republican Party—they are working hand in hand, and they are acting un-American. Nothing more American about (ph) creating jobs. Elected Republicans have done all they can to block any and all progress President Obama and his agenda with the Democrats have been trying to provide for desperate Americans who need jobs, better health care and a decent shot at life. Righties like Mitch McConnell actually seem to take joy in accomplishing the mission. McConnell told his fellow Republicans, quote, “We‘ve got our groove back.”
Harry Reid, deservedly so, is disgusted.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: They‘re betting on failure. They think that the worse the economy is come November, the better they‘re going to do election-wise, as was indicated very loudly in the health care bill. You know, one Republican senator said that they wanted this to be Obama‘s Waterloo. The other senator said he hoped somebody died during the night so that we couldn‘t get our 60 votes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: OK, Harry. I‘m with you. Now we got to take that message on the road with passion and make sure the American people know that. It‘s far more than just Republicans trying to break the president. According to “The Washington Post,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent time at their jobs fair ripping the Obama administration for dumping onerous regulations on businesses. They claim the president has created an environment of uncertainty which is causing firms to hold back on hiring.
Give me a break! Look at their profits. They‘re using regulation as an excuse to be tight with a buck and defeat the Democrats. Wall Street and big businesses are making record profits, while millions of Americans have nothing, zero, nada, and are losing their homes? The last report I saw said that we could lose a million homes this year.
But meantime, JPMorgan Chase just reported a 70 percent -- 76 percent, excuse me, I was a little low there—increase in profit for the second quarter! Now, let me ask you the profound question tonight, my friends. How‘d you do in the second quarter? Did your family do a 76 percent increase or better? I doubt it. The last remnants of the most selfish generation are trying to destroy President Obama‘s agenda before it really ever has a chance to work.
Now, according to the same article in “The Washington Post,” a survey a month ago of more than a thousand chief financial officers by Duke University in “CFO” magazine showed that nearly 60 percent of those executives—well, they don‘t expect to bring their employment really back to pre-recession levels until 2012 or maybe later. Gosh, I wonder if white-collar America is hoping this president fails. Did you hear that, 2012 or later?
Now, I believe that this is no coincidence. Big business knows that if it doesn‘t hire anybody, the unemployment rate stays where it is or maybe even goes down, and so the American public can just turn on the president and the Democrats and we can see a power shift. Then they can use, you see, these unlimited donations via the Supreme Court to pick up candidates who will dump regulations and protect tax cuts for the top 1 percent in this country. You want to see this play again?
Now, there‘s no sense—to me anyway, there doesn‘t seem to be any sense of any economic patriotism in this country anymore. American companies, what are they doing? Well, they‘re shipping jobs overseas, and they hide their profits in foreign banks. When they faced financial ruin, where did they go? Well, they went to the American taxpayer, who bailed them out. Now, when Americans and American workers desperately need their help, they‘re sitting on piles of money and sitting on the American dream. Does that sound American to you?
Yes, the Republican Party and the Chamber of Commerce in this country, in my opinion—they are acting very un-American. Tell me what you think in our telephone survey tonight, folks. The number to dial is 1-877-ED-MSNBC. And my question tonight is, Do you think corporate America is trying to stop the Obama agenda? Press the number 1 for yes, press the number 2 for no. I‘ll bring you the results later on in the show.
In this mid-term, it is all about jobs, and there‘s going to be a lot of pressure on the Democrats to make something happen before November. Joining me is Iowa senator Tom Harkin, chairman of the Senate HELP Committee. Senator, good to have you with us tonight.
SEN. TOM HARKIN (D-IA), HELP COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Hi, Ed. Good to be back with you.
SCHULTZ: You bet. I want to talk first about the unemployed. What‘s going to happen, if anything, before the Senate goes on recess? What do you think?
HARKIN: Well, first of all, I want to thank you for your commentary. I listened to the whole thing. You‘re right on the mark. You got to ask, where‘s the patriotism of these countries—of these companies that are holding all this cash? You know, if they hire people, then people have money and they can spend it, and we get the wheels of the economy going. But these big businesses aren‘t doing that. So I thank you for your commentary.
SCHULTZ: Well, I think that this has been going on for a long time, and I think we‘ve seen this train coming. There‘s no reason, with their profits that they‘re showing, that they can‘t invest in the American workers to expand our economy. Do you think the Republicans are trying to do everything they can to ditch this economy before the mid-terms?
HARKIN: I have no doubt about it, Ed. I watch what they do here every day. They‘re hand in glove with the Chamber of Commerce. They‘re sitting back, thinking the more that they can get people mad in this country, then people will take it out on Congress. And obviously, who runs Congress? The Democrats. So they‘re blocking things.
For example, Ed, you said, what are we trying to do before we leave here in August? We‘re trying to increase the unemployment benefits. That puts money in the hands of people that are unemployed. They can then go out and buy things and spend money and get the wheels of the economy starting to go again. Republicans are opposed to that. They‘ve been opposing it for months now, just to help people who are unemployed.
You tell me. Does this sound like it‘s Americanism? Does this sound like people that are really interested in helping our country, or are they only interested in winning the election?
SCHULTZ: We can‘t be afraid to say it, Senator. I‘m not. It‘s un-American. It is absolutely un-American for a political party to use the tool of the filibuster to stop the jobs bill when we‘re in the worst financial straits that we‘ve been in since the Great Depression. I don‘t know why Mitch McConnell—and I want your insight on this. Why doesn‘t he just, you know, take pride in going home and saying, You know what? We helped on the jobs bill and we want to put Americans back to work. How can he not see that as a victory for America? I don‘t get it.
HARKIN: Well, I think quite frankly, the Republicans have figured out that the more they can block things up here and stop us from putting people back to work, people get angry. They get upset, and they‘ll take it out on whoever the incumbents are. And let‘s face it, Democrats are more up than Republicans this year. They think—they‘re gambling on this, the Republicans are, along with the Chamber of Commerce. If they can just keep things blocked up, keep us from getting unemployment benefits out there, that people are going to take it out on the Democrats.
And quite frankly, Ed, some of the history is on their side. In 1993, you know, under Bill Clinton, we passed an economic package that every Republican voted against in 1993. Every Republican voted against it.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
HARKIN: And it started the biggest economic growth since World War II. We put people to work. We had the economy booming. We left a surplus for George W. Bush when he came to office, a surplus of $237 billion.
SCHULTZ: Senator, in all of your years—decades, I might add—in the Congress in, in the Senate, to your knowledge, has the Democratic Party ever filibustered a jobs bill the way the Republicans are now?
HARKIN: Never. I can unequivocally tell you we‘ve never done that. And I‘m telling you, these Republicans, they‘re saying, you know, Look, we can‘t have unemployment benefits because it increases the deficit. But we can keep the tax breaks for the wealthy, even though that increases the deficit. So you tell me where their loyalties lie.
SCHULTZ: Senator, good to have you with us tonight. Thanks so much.
Thanks for speaking up.
HARKIN: Thanks, Ed.
SCHULTZ: For more on the politics on all of this, let‘s bring in Democratic strategist Steve McMahon. Steve, good to have you on tonight. Another legislative victory for the president today. Wall Street reform did get 60 votes. How does this play, if at all, into the mid-terms when jobs is the focal point of where the American people are right now? What do you think?
STEVE MCMAHON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I actually think this plays in a significant way because there are a lot of bank and credit card regulatory reforms that were included here, and those are pocketbook issues for all these people who are working families and for everybody who‘s unemployed who has a credit card. The amount of interest that they‘re paying to big banks, the amount that they were paying, the amount of credit card, debit fees and other things that have been taken on in this legislation I think are significant, and the political benefit to the Democrats should be significant.
The Republicans, of course, as you know, Ed, are already calling on Congress to repeal this...
SCHULTZ: Yes.
MCMAHON: ... before it‘s even been signed by the president. But I think this is good news for working families, frankly.
SCHULTZ: Here‘s the president late this afternoon after the 60 votes came in. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: With today‘s vote in the Senate, the United States Congress has now passed a Wall Street reform bill that will bring greater economic security to families and businesses across the country, reform that will protect consumers when they take out a mortgage or sign up for a credit card, reform that will prevent the kind of shadowy deals that led to this crisis, reform that would never again put taxpayers on the hook for Wall Street‘s mistakes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Well, it sounds like the president is very proud of what the Congress did. This is his second big legislative victory. But here you have the Republicans—as you said, Steve, they want to repeal it if they get the power back. Is their strategy going to backfire? What‘s the next move for the Democrats to call out the Republicans when they‘re filibustering everything? And how do you play that going into the mid-terms?
MCMAHON: Well, as you know, Ed, if you look at any polling data anywhere in the country, Wall Street and Wall Street financial titans are not at all popular. And if you make the Republicans defend the practices on Wall Street that created this mess and if you make the Republicans stand against reasonable and moderate reforms that this bill contains and call for repeal of that bill, I think that puts the Republicans in a defensive position that they don‘t want to be in.
What Democrats want to do is basically make the case that this president held Wall Street accountable, this president stopped bail-outs that taxpayers would have to fund going forward, this president got some of these lending practices and trading practices under control and that is what is going to benefit every single American taxpayer for the next generation.
SCHULTZ: Steve McMahon, great to have you with us tonight. Thanks so much.
MCMAHON: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: Coming up, breaking news. For the first time in 87 days, there is no oil flowing into the gulf. We will go live to Venice, Louisiana, for the absolute latest. And later, I‘ll talk to the attorney representing the fishermen BP has been stiffing as of late.
And one of the biggest crybabies in the business, the Beckster, is mocking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for getting a little teary. I‘ll give him something to sob about in “Psycho Talk.” All that, plus a big win for the president today. Michael Steele says the tea partiers aren‘t racist? Well, who put up the billboards? And with (ph) all the help that Fox News has been giving Sharron Angle, because she is just raking in the dough and she says she likes going on that network.
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. Oil is no longer gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. Best news we‘ve had in a long time. It‘s been 87 days after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded. BP says a new containment cap has successfully stopped the flow of the oil. President Obama called it a positive sign but emphasized the cap was sill in the testing phase.
NBC‘s Mara Schiavocampo joins me live from Venice, Louisiana. Mara, I have to ask right off the top, how are the folks down there responding to this news?
MARA SCHIAVOCAMPO, NBC CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is certainly a relief, to be sure. I mean, just to see that image and to see that it is no longer spewing out that oil, it‘s like people can sigh a breath of relief for the first time since this started because this is something—as one man said to me, I go to bed with it at night, I wake up with it in the morning. It never leaves you.
People have been walking around for 87 days with a pit in their stomach because they can‘t pay their bills. They‘re seeing their—you know, one man said, It‘s not just our livelihood, it‘s also our diet. It‘s also their recreation. It‘s also their back yard. So this is everything that they value rolled up into one.
But you do have to take a look at the fact that this is by no means the finish line. Even BP will say that they have managed to stop it for now but that they are not certain that they can keep it stopped for the permanent—as a permanent solution. The goal right now is to complete this test, to do it for 48 hours, and then depending on what information they glean, they may have to open those valves back up, and then we‘d be in the same position we were in this morning.
So we need to approach this with some cautious optimism. It is definitely a beautiful sight to see and a step in the right direction, but it may not be the finish line for this phase of this disaster—Ed.
SCHULTZ: What is BP saying about the timeline to finish this job? We‘re in the preliminary stages right now of stopping the oil leak, but how confident are they they can do it, and what‘s the timeline for getting it done totally?
SCHIAVOCAMPO: What they‘ve said is that this test will take up to 48 hours, and they‘re going to be evaluating it every six hours. And what they‘re evaluating is the pressure information. They‘re looking for high pressure readings because low pressure would mean that there‘s a leak somewhere else that they need to deal with.
And we should keep in mind the reason this was stopped—this was supposed to start on Tuesday. The reason it was postponed is because members of the administration stepped in and said, Wait a minute, let‘s put the brakes on this, let‘s put it off for a minute so that we can discuss the possible risks, because there was a very big risk calculation here that this test, the test that‘s happening right now, could make the well—could damage the well further and make the leak worse.
And that is a big concern, in that, you know, because—just because we‘re seeing this oil no longer gushing out does not mean that we are out of the woods because it is possible that this test could make things worse. And so every six hours, BP will be evaluating the information that they‘re getting to insure that they‘re not making things worse. And at the end of this test, they‘re going to have to look at all the information they‘ve gotten and determine what the next best step will be.
There are two options here that they hope they‘ll have as options when all of this is done. They can either use this to shut in the well, as essentially, they‘re doing right now, or they can use it as a containment cap, which is what they said all along this would be used for. They can use this to siphon off all the oil to surface vessels. But either solution would be a good temporary solution because both of those options would keep fresh oil from flowing into the waters of the gulf until they get a permanent solution in place—Ed.
SCHULTZ: NBC‘s Mara Schiavocampo, thank you for that report tonight.
So obviously, it‘s positive news. It‘s one that we will follow throughout the evening and in the next 48 hours, and hopefully, it will hold. There are a lot of livelihoods that are depending on this. Thanks so much, Mara.
Coming up, the Beckster sure cries a lot of crocodile tears. Get out your hanky, Beck! I‘m about to make you really whimper when I put you in “The Zone” where you belong.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And in “Psycho Talk” tonight, let‘s give the Beckster something to cry about. He‘s in “The Zone.” On his TV show yesterday, Glenn Beck played a clip of Nancy Pelosi last September when she got choked up talking about the violence that led to the 1978 murder of Harvey Milk. Watch how Beck reacted to the clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLENN BECK, HOST, “GLENN BECK”: Nancy Pelosi, she‘s so scared of the violent rhetoric (INAUDIBLE) tea party (INAUDIBLE)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I saw—I saw this myself in the late ‘70s in San Francisco...
BECK: Open your eyes a little more. Somebody blow in my eyes!
PELOSI: ... this kind of rhetoric was very frightening, and it gave -
it created a climate in which violence took place.
BECK: Yes!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Glenn Beck mocking Nancy Pelosi for tearing up. This is Glenn Beck.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECK: The cavalry has arrived. FOX is here! I‘m sorry. I just love my country!
Read the Scriptures every day because they are—they are—they are alive! You‘re not alone. I‘m turning into a frickin‘ televangelist!
I am not a journalist. I‘m just a guy who cares—I‘m sorry! I‘m just a guy who cares an awful lot about my country!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: What are you crying for, Beckster What, did they screw up your direct deposit over there? You don‘t give a damn about the country. The king of crocodile tears making fun of the Speaker of the House for choking up? That‘s fraudulent “Psycho Talk.”
Coming up: Well, the Beckster, he‘s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Foxters being heartless. Brian Kilmeade said something awful about the unemployed. I‘ll show you the tape when we come back. And Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio will put him in his place next.
And the “turd blossom” thinks he‘s figured out what his biggest mistake has been. Karl, I‘m going to help you rethink that one in “The Playbook,” what your biggest mistake was. All that, plus President Obama wins one for Main Street, Mitch McConnell thinks the GOP is grooving, and Tiger is back in the hunt overseas at the British Open.
You‘re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW. In the “Battleground” story tonight, blaming the jobless. How rotten can it get? Congressional Republicans and their allies in the right-wing media won‘t stop attacking America‘s unemployed. Their m.o. is to blame victims. This is the worst economy since the great depression with nearly one in ten Americans in need of a job. But according to the right wing attack machine across the street, if you‘re unemployed it‘s because you‘re lazy or a deadbeat or an addict. On “FOX and Friends” this morning, they were asking the question whether jobless benefits are hurting business. Brian Kilmeade seemed convinced by the end of the interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN KILMEADE, “FOX AND FRIENDS” HOST: Some people say that‘s callus to think that if you don‘t extend unemployment, one of the reasons you don‘t extend unemployment benefits is because is lazy to get a job, it‘s easier to stay home. You‘re saying that‘s reality. Maybe the benefits will get people to sober up and take some of your offers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Sober up, interesting phrase, interesting description. That‘s how they think. For more, let me bring in Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, a member of the Senate Help Committee. Senator, good to have you with us.
Thanks, Ed. Good to be back.
SCHULTZ: There seems to be not only an attack on the economy to ditch it from the republicans but also an attack on those who are in desperate need. Your thoughts on how this is playing out this narrative that‘s taking place in America that there are people gaming the system. What do you think?
SEN. SHERROD BROWN, OHIO: First of all, I think that some of these think tank people and I don‘t know where that guy works but places like Heritage and Cato and some of the FOX news anchors, and some of those people unlike you and unlike too may senators, again unlike you and unlike some others, they don‘t know people—I guess they don‘t talk to people who have lost jobs who have then lost their insurance and in some cases lost their homes. So, we know the humanitarian side of this. But even the economic side of it, we know from even from John McCain‘s top economic adviser in his presidential race, a dollar spent on unemployment stimulates the economy and because of the so-called multiplier effect that dollar gets spend, it‘s spend on groceries, it‘s spent on rent, it‘s spent on utilities, it‘s spent buying clothes for the kids. I mean, a dollar, you know, $300 check a week really gets spent over and over and over in a neighborhood, in a community. So, it‘s good economics not to mention the right thing to do for people.
SCHULTZ: Yes. Senator, the president told Chuck Todd today in a one-on-one interview that the—we are headed, the country is headed in the right direction but the trade deficit numbers, they are going in a wrong direction. What do you make of this? Where are we and are we making progress?
BROWN: Well, the economy is getting, I mean, we lost, you know all this 15 months ago when the president took office, we were losing 700,000 jobs a month, now we‘re gaining jobs, we‘re not getting them nearly fast enough. And there are a lot of reasons for that, but one of the things we need to do long-term and start never too early to start is a manufacturing policy and a trade policy that no longer incense companies to go offshore through taxes and trade policy but encourages them to stay here. And the president to his credit, has unlike his predecessor and predecessors plural, has actually begun to enforce trade rules resulting in jobs in Youngstown, in Warren, Ohio, in Findlay Ohio, and other places because they‘ve stood up to the Chinese on this. They haven‘t done enough yet but they‘re in the beginnings of a real manufacturing policy. With that needs a new direction in trade. And I‘m mildly optimistic the president‘s moving in the right direction on that but it‘s not clear on trade yet.
SCHULTZ: And what about the republican strategy? Do you believe what Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that basically the republicans are out to ditch this economy so they can get back in power? Do you think that there is a strategy to make sure that no jobs are created and Americans are going to suffer between now and the midterm?
BROWN: I don‘t know. I don‘t like to think that but I‘ve also sat and watched for, not sat, sometimes up and screamed, but watch the republicans for 18 months vote no on almost everything. You know, right from the beginning, before President Obama, they‘re almost, before he raised his right hand on January 20 of the year and a half ago, they started voting no and saying, can‘t spend your way out of this recession. You shouldn‘t be doing a stimulus. I mean, right from the beginning, they oppose, it wasn‘t like, you know, eight months into it or a year and a half into it, they started voting no. So, they, you know, and a lot of people they take their direction from, Rush Limbaugh for instance says, he wants the president to fail. And I know that Rush Limbaugh next to the “Wall Street Journal” editorial page is the greatest both cheerleader and disciplinarian and cheerleader for and disciplinarian for the Republican Party.
SCHULTZ: Can you get unemployment benefits passed before the recess?
BROWN: We will get unemployment benefits passed on Tuesday though, while the West Virginia senator will be sworn in. We‘ve been one vote short for most of the last month and we will get this passed Tuesday night. I am 95 percent certain. And you know, what‘s amazing about this is a lot of these 40 republican senators that vote no believe that unemployment insurance is welfare. It‘s insurance. I mean, we‘ve got to remind our listeners of that that you pay into it when you‘re working, you get out help when you‘re not working. And I stand up as you know on the floor, Ed, day after day and read letters from Ohio constituents and people, these are people that have been employed for 20 years and they can‘t stand being unemployed, they‘re trying like hell to get a job. They‘ve always worked. And these frankly idiots on FOX and some of the people that get on from the think tanks, when they have the gall to say these people don‘t want to work, it‘s pretty shocking.
SCHULTZ: They‘re heartless. It‘s all they are. Senator, good to have you with us tonight. Thanks so much.
BROWN: Thanks, Ed. Thank you.
SCHULTZ: Now let‘s get some rapid fire response from our panel on these stories. RNC Chairman Michael Steele hits back at the NAACP saying that the tea partiers, oh, they are not racist. Tea Party Senate nominee Sharron Angle admits she likes going on FOX because it‘s essentially an infomercial to help her raise money for her campaign. And Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is bragging about all the republican obstructionism in the senate, he says, it‘s proof the GOP has its groove back.
With us tonight, XM Satellite Radio Talk Show Host Joe Madison and also Republican Strategist Ron Christie with us tonight. Gentlemen, let‘s talk about Michael Steele. I‘m sure that he saw the billboard in Iowa admittedly was put up by a Tea Party group but Mr. Steele, Joe has decided to say that they‘re not racist. What do you think of that?
JOE MADISON, XM SATELLITE RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: The NAACP said the same thing. At least they agree. And I think Michael Steele should have read the resolution or talked to one of the members, 36 members of the resolution committee like I did today. Matter of fact, I thought their resolution was moderate. They simply asked that you purge yourself of those elements that we‘ve all seen on this network and other networks. You know, isn‘t it ironic, was it not about a year or two years ago that we asked candidate Obama and many of us in the civil rights movement to purge ourselves of a Jeremiah Wright? I served on the board of the NAACP for 14 years and I can tell you, we don‘t even allow delegates or we didn‘t and they still don‘t allow delegates to boo candidates that speak before their convention.
SCHULTZ: This is Mr. Steele‘s response to the Tea Party. He says, “Tea Party activists are your mom or your dad, your local grosser, banker, hairdresser or doctor. They‘re a diverse group of passionate Americans who want to insure that our nation returns to the founding principles that honor the constitution. Limited government‘s role in our lives and support policies that empower free markets and free enterprise. Enough with the name calling.”
I got to ask you, Ron Christie, what was that billboard we saw in Iowa? They did take it down to their credit after they got heat. But doesn‘t this put Michael Steele in some pretty dangerous territory?
RON CHRISTIE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: No, it doesn‘t. I think his response to this was 100 percent absolutely right. Look, you‘re always going to have fringe elements in whatever party you‘re a part of. I remember in the Bush administration, there were members from code pink that had President Bush burned in effigy and having him the Hitler outfits. And I never thought that Bush spoke for all of the members of the Democratic Party. So, therefore to, suggest that the Tea Party which is not a political party, which is not a national movement. Its moms, its dads, concerned citizens about the role and the scope of government when they speak out? Peacefully I might add and say that they‘ve had enough of Washington intruding on their lives, I applaud that. There are always going to be fringe elements.
(CROSSTALK)
MADISON: Ron, here‘s the point I‘m making. If some of them are NAACP members, the NAACP and I‘ve read the resolution, never said that the people in the Tea Party were racist. They asked them to do what you just said to, just eliminate this element, to call for, as a matter of fact, they encouraged people to join you the Tea Party.
SCHULTZ: What about that, Ron?
CHRISTIE: Well, I think the NAACP should frankly focus their attention elsewhere, they should focus on their own house. Look, you had you a member from the NAACP legal defense fund who was at the Justice Department, asking the Justice Department to drop the case against the new Black Panther Party. That is a real specific case of voter intimidation. That is a real specific case of racism. And I‘m very concerned that this once venerable institution has done more to caused problems and will caused problems of race relations in this country by crying wolf against a majority of Americans who are very peaceful.
MADISON: I‘m disappointed in Ron, he knows the NAACP legal defense fund is not part of the NAACP that met in Kansas City. They are two separate organizations that split at least three decades ago.
(CROSSTALK)
MADISON: Be intellectually honest. Not the same organization.
CHRISTIE: Let me say this back to Joe, let‘s be intellectually honest. I think it is a shocker to me that the NAACP legal defense fund separated in 1957 would go to the Justice Department and suggest that the new Black Panther case should be dropped when that‘s a clear case of racism and intimidation. My point is that this organization, the NAACP, has its focus on the wrong spot. Black unemployment in many of our cities is 35, 40 percent and they want to have an issue with the Tea Party? That‘s insane.
(CROSSTALK)
SCHULTZ: Well, it‘s not insane. Wait a minute. Hold on.
MADISON: With all due respect, 70 resolutions came out and that was one of them.
SCHULTZ: OK. Back to the billboard for a moment. Michael Steele is saying that they‘re not racist. Now, I would make the argument, Ron, that the code pinkers are not democrats. OK?
CHRISTIE: Oh, OK, they‘re not democrats.
SCHULTZ: No, they‘re not democrats. You know they‘re not democrats. They‘re anarchists in many respects. The fact is that these were Tea Partiers, admitted Tea Partiers who put up this hither, Obama, Stalin or Lenin sign up there, and here‘s Michael Steele saying, well, they‘re not racist. This is the head of the Republican Party defending this billboard.
CHRISTIE: No, he‘s not defending this billboard. I stand shoulder to shoulder with Mr. Steele on this. A 99 percent of the people and show me the evidence other than one billboard. I remember specifically the health care vote where you had African American members of Congress.
SCHULTZ: You saw the signs of their protest, Ron, come on!
CHRISTIE: Ed, I‘m saying that there are going to be bad actors but they don‘t speak for an entire movement.
SCHULTZ: OK.
CHRISTIE: What I‘m suggesting to you is I was offended when you heard that African-American members claimed that racial epithets were thrown at them by members of the Tea Party. It was never proven. I was there, I didn‘t hear it, I didn‘t see any signs. I‘m more concerned, Ed and Joe about people playing the race card which will do more to harm this country.
SCHULTZ: The videotape.
MADISON: I would take John Lewis‘ word who is a legitimate hero to both of us, and if John Lewis said what he said, then John Lewis is not known in this country or around the world as a liar and you know that.
SCHULTZ: All right. Let‘s go to the republicans‘ obstructionism now. Here‘s Mitch McConnell saying that they‘ve got their groove back now that they‘ve stopped a lot of legislation. Here it is with the filibuster.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, MINORITY LEADER: Virtually every survey you look at shows that Americans have lost faith in the democratic leadership and in the government, period. As it turns out, when your entire pitch to the American people is that the government will solve your problems, people get upset when government can‘t deliver. We broke out of the Washington echo chamber. And fought the government driven solutions to democrats were proposing. In short, you might say we got our groove back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Got the groove back on the day they pass Wall Street reform.
Ron Christie, what do you make of that?
CHRISTIE: God bless Mitch McConnell. I am so enthusiastic about this November Ed, I can hardly wait for it.
SCHULTZ: Are you enthusiastic about the filibusters that they‘ve done at a record pace and also in the jobs bill.
CHRISTIE: Oh, gee, I seem to remember in the Bush administration that Senator Obama, Senator Biden, Senator Clinton filibustered republican nominees sensuously and aimlessly to get instill the republicans actually vote to allow nominees to come out of the committee.
SCHULTZ: But you all admit that this has been a record number of filibusters in this session, correct?
CHRISTIE: What I was saying is that the republican minority in the senate is exercising their constitutional responsibility to limit the size of government from an irresponsible democratic majority.
SCHULTZ: Joe, you got the final word.
(LAUGHTER)
MADISON: I mean, you‘re right. You‘re right, Ed. It‘s record. He wouldn‘t answer the question. Will you please get opponents on the show who at least answers your questions?
CHRISTIE: I always answer the question, my friend.
(CROSSTALK)
CHRISTIE: You guys have no problem when the democrats filibuster.
SCHULTZ: Ron, there are absolutes. It‘s either a record number of filibusters or it‘s not.
MADISON: Oh, it‘s not.
(LAUGHTER)
CHRISTIE: Well, I think we‘re going to have a record-breaking election in November and the republicans are going to come back in the majority. We‘ll have fun talking about that.
SCHULTZ: Gentlemen, good to have you with us tonight. Thanks so much.
MADISON: Always a pleasure.
SCHULTZ: Ron Christie and Joe Madison, here on THE ED SHOW. Coming up, get this, the republican running for governor in Minnesota is so psycho, he actually wants to lower the minimum wage for restaurant servers? Picking on the wager owners. I think it is shameless. Matt Entenza, one of the Emmer challengers is sounding off right here on THE ED SHOW. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And it‘s still not too late to let us know what you think. The number to dial tonight is 1-877-ed-msnbc. Tonight‘s telephone survey question is, do you think corporate America is trying to stop the Obama agenda? Press one for yes, press two for no. Again the number to dial is 1-877-ed-msnbc. We are right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And in my Playbook tonight, wage earners in this country are starting to push back against the righties who‘s keep tipping the playing field further in favor of the rich. Minnesota republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer is under fire for proposing to lower the minimum wage for servers in state of Minnesota forcing them to rely even more heavily on tips. NBC affiliate Kare Labanos (ph) in Minneapolis, St. Paul has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: In the battle for governor, servers like Connie Macoia (ph) -- Cafe in Roseville have taken center stage.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: It hasn‘t been a real good experience for me.
I‘ve taken it very, very personally.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: She‘s upset with what Republican Tom Emmer said last week.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: There has to be a tip credit.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: That mean employers could pay servers less than the minimum wage because they make tips.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Well, I‘ve been in the business for long time and there are days you need your minimum wage to supplement your tips too.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: In a town hall meeting today, Emmer told servers, he does not want to lower their minimum wage.
TOM EMMER, MINNESOTA REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Somebody reported that last week I talked about cutting server‘s wages, I‘m here to look everybody in the eyes and tell you, I never said that. I would not—go ahead and laugh all you want. I would never say that.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Still it was a tense meeting at times.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: They don‘t come in, I get cut, I lose my wage, I lost my hour, I lost my tips for that night. I count on every penny I have to take care of my child. I just think anything money coming out of our pockets on this is not a good idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: And that worker right there speaks for so many folks across the country who were just looking for a fair shake and republicans like Emmer just keep getting away with it and their tactics.
Joining me now is Matt Entenza, he is running for the democratic nomination for governor in Minnesota. Matt, good to have you with us tonight. Tell us about this republican candidate, did he or did he not propose that?
MATT ENTENZA (D), MN CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR: Well, Ed, this guy is so incredibly radical, a few years ago, he said the minimum wage was socialism and proposed abolishing it completely. Last week, he was talking about a tip credit which means that companies could pay less than the minimum wage. He is backpedaling as fast as he goes, stumbling over himself. But no question, he won‘t support us to increase the minimum wage which we nee to do here in Minnesota. It‘s over back less than the federal minimum wage, and it‘s another sign that the national republican playbook is tripping over itself and not working in states like Minnesota because they want to balance our budgets on the backs of low wage workers like waiters and waitresses.
SCHULTZ: What struck me about that story was the passion of the people and what is happening there. Are the people in the middle of the country fired up for this midterm when they see and hear situations like that?
ENTENZA: Absolutely. You know, Mitch McConnell might think that obstructing things in Washington, D.C. is a road forward. But what we‘re clearly seeing here is that people are looking for jobs, they‘re looking for prosperity and hope. And when republican leaders like Tom Emmer are saying that the solution is to literally to lower the minimum wage or get rid of it completely, they know that they‘re being sucker punched, and that‘s why we would see a lot of enthusiasm.
SCHULTZ: Matt, would this take money away from workers? Would they be were soft if this goes through?
ENTENZA: Ed, you‘ve got it absolutely right. What this is as part of a national trend where they‘re trying to back off the minimum wage. In Emmer‘s case repudiating it, unwilling to even agree that the minimum wage should exist. And let‘s face it, when people are under stress, minimum wage is hardly enough to make ends meet. They‘re talking about lowering it beyond that.
SCHULTZ: And your democratic primary is August 10th? Correct? Here is the minimum wage, server wage including tips is 9.36. Minimum wage is 5.25 to 6.15. And the tip adjusted would go to 2.13 an hour. Talk about picking on the working class of America, I mean, they‘re heartless at every corner. Matt, good to have you with us tonight. Keep up the fight. I appreciate your time.
ENTENZA: Thank you very much, Ed.
SCHULTZ: You bet. Some final pages in the Playbook. Karl Rove says, the biggest mistake he made in the White House was not sticking up and refuting charges that George W. Bush lied the country into the war in Iraq. In an op-ed in the “Wall Street Journal,” Rove says, President Bush did not intentionally mislead the nation. Sounds to me like Bush‘s brain is the professor of revising history. Last I checked, there were no WMDs and we were told we were 45 minutes to a mushroom cloud.
And finally, Tiger Woods is in the hunt in the British open in
Scotland, he shot a 67 while using a new putter. His first putter changed
his first putter change in 11 years. Woods won this same St. Andrews course back in 2000 and in 2005.
Coming up, for the first time in month, there is no oil flowing into the gulf. So, it‘s time for BP to make everyone whole, right? Well, a top lawyer for the fishermen will blast off on what the situation is, next on THE ED SHOW.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW. Finally tonight, huge news out of the gulf today. The oil leak has been stopped after 87 days. But it‘s just the first step in making this right. The economic damage shows no sign of letting up for the people of the gulf coast. Today, Obama administration Pay Czar Ken Feinberg was in Louisiana. He is overseeing the claims process.
For more, let‘s bring in Jeffrey Breit, a lawyer representing more than 500 shrimpers, oystermen and crabbers. Mr. Breit, good to have you back with us.
JEFFREY BREIT LAWYER REPRESENTING 500 FISHERMEN: Thank you, Ed.
SCHULTZ: You bet. The last time you were with us, you said the claims process has changed without announcement and the checks had stopped. What‘s the situation tonight?
BREIT: Well, I take one step forward and two steps back it seems.
Today, they gave me two different signals about what they‘re going to do. Yesterday, they told me they were going to give us $1,000 until we could prove more and then today, they said the checks will be coming but we‘re not sure exactly when. I think, honestly, they‘re trying to delay until Feinberg takes over the system which he has not done yet and won‘t do for about 30 days.
SCHULTZ: What does Mr. Feinberg say about, first a check did come and then the change in the claims process without warning and now all of your clients and thousands of others along the gulf are left hanging?
BREIT: Well, Feinberg told me the same thing that BP had told me that they would not change the system until he took over. He was very surprised and announced on Sunday shows that he was very upset with them. I‘ve been screaming at the moon trying to get them to write checks. These are people who live paycheck to paycheck every week waiting to put food on the table and all of a sudden without any reason, BP just stopped the checks. The claims people want to help, BP people won‘t let them do it.
SCHULTZ: We are seeing and let me ask you, are we seeing the arrogance of a multinational that‘s not going to be pushed around by the United States?
BREIT: Well, I think there‘s some fear of the court system. And I think that they can stand with their $20 billion fund and try to do a pr campaign. In the meantime, we‘ve got all these families waiting for checks and waiting for money and they say we‘re just not going to do it. Hopefully in August, when we have a trial judge, we‘ll be able to put some pressure on them to make sure they take care of these people.
SCHULTZ: So, they are on television with commercials telling the country and the world that they‘re going to make it right, but your clients can prove different to us tonight and the world tonight that the checks just aren‘t coming?
BREIT: They said, they were going to make it easy. This morning, I sent six of my clients over to the claims office. They were told one thing in the morning. They went back at 12:00 and were told something completely different from the same claims people. I‘m not blaming the claims people. They‘re trying to do their job. BP just won‘t let them do their job. And we don‘t know what to do. I‘m trying to explain to this people, we‘re trying to get them their checks, hopefully in the next day or two, I‘ll get these $1,000 checks. But a $1,000 is a far cry from letting these people feed their families.
SCHULTZ: Does it make you wonder if there really is a $20 billion fund ready to help people out?
BREIT: Feinberg insurance made the White House assures us that there will be a $20 billion fund. I‘m confident that once Feinberg takes over in the system gets set up, they will have some money flowing to these people who need it.
SCHULTZ: Mr. Breit, we will stay on the story. I appreciate you joining us tonight.
BREIT: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: You bet. Tonight in our telephone survey, I asked, do you think corporate America is trying to stop the Obama agenda? Ninety five percent of you said yes, three percent said no.
That‘s THE ED SHOW. I‘m Ed Schultz. For more information on THE ED SHOW, go to ed.msnbc.com or check out my radio website at wegoted.com, and you will see a very special fishing video as well. “HARDBALL” with Chris Matthews starts right now on the place for politics, MSNBC. We‘ll see you tomorrow night.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
END
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