Guests: Ron Mott, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Leo Hindery, Roy Sekoff, Laura Flanders, Karen Hanretty, David Winston, Jane Hamsher
(MUSIC)
ED SCHULTZ, HOST: Good evening, Americans. And welcome to THE ED
SHOW.
Tonight, from New York—these stories on the table and hit my hot buttons that this hour:
I can‘t believe this is happening in America -- 30,000 people in Georgia fighting to get on a waiting list for public housing.
Today on Wall Street, people who have been out of work for nearly two years rallied to ask: where‘s the recovery for the middle class? I talked to a number of ‘em and heard their stories. I‘ll have commentary on all of that in just a moment.
The White House is finally going after John Boehner, saying he wants Americans to lose their jobs. I think they should keep repeating that all the way to November.
And Sharron Angle is backing out of a Tea Party rally on the border on the same day her opponent, Majority Leader Harry Reid, passes a $600 million bill to secure the border.
But this is the story that has me fired up tonight—and this story will touch every community across this country. People are desperate for all kinds of help across America.
Yesterday, it was tens of thousands of people looking for housing help in Georgia. Today, I attended a rally of professional Americans who have been displaced by corporate greed and out of touch politicians. A passionate crowd of 99ers rallied at the federal hall here in New York, the shadow of Wall Street.
They had one basic question: where are the jobs?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to be working again. But where are the jobs?
CROWD: Where are the jobs? Where are the jobs?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: These are average working-class Americans who want Washington to wake up and hear what they have to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
TOM DONOVAN, 99ER AT RALLY: To all the people out there who believe that we‘re sitting on the couch all day long, drinking beer and watching television, we‘re not. We‘re actively looking for work. We‘re actively looking for jobs that are not there. I‘m (INAUDIBLE) and I don‘t know what more I can do.
SCHULTZ: What would you say to President Obama if you had a chance to talk to him?
CONNIE KAPLAN, 99ER AT RALLY: I know exactly what I would say to President Obama. I would tell him today, you actually have the legal power to sign an executive order for an emergency or crisis. This is a crisis. I don‘t have money to buy food. By November, I have no more money from my savings to pay for my rent.
If people can be helped in Afghanistan, and people can be helped in Haiti, why aren‘t the American people considered a crisis?
SCHULTZ: If you had a chance to talk to President Obama, what would you say?
BOB KAHAN, 99ER AT RALLY: I would say don‘t forget us. We‘re out here.
SCHULTZ: Do you think he has?
KAHAN: I think that we‘re not exactly at the top of his list. We‘re on the list somewhere. But we‘re not a priority.
KIM GREEN, 99ER AT RALLY: I know he (INAUDIBLE) at hand, but things are a mess right now. It‘s hard. But I would just say Obama, please help the people. Help the people get more extension. More 99ers out here, he or she out today, we need help.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
SCHULTZ: Both those gentlemen were professional people that actually worked on Wall Street and worked in companies and they, of course, were downsized and knocked out of the economy. And they‘ve been out of the economy for several years. What are we supposed to do, Republicans?
I‘d like to tell these people that Washington is listening, but the reality is: members of Congress are back home trying to save their own jobs.
You could see the passion in the eyes of the 99ers today. They just want a chance to work. That‘s it. There‘s no magic to this stuff.
But keep in mind, the Republican Party has fought every jobs bill, every unemployment bill and every social safety net that the 99ers have looked for and all Americans need. Republicans care about the people inside those buildings on Wall Street. They don‘t give a damn about the middle-class and the folks who are out of work. Americans need a break right now.
Meanwhile today, people in East Point, Georgia, returned applications for public-assisted housing. The unemployment rate in Fulton County where East Point is located is 10.8 percent.
The pictures of these Americans swarming officials should be all the wake-up call the Congress needs when it comes to the question being answered, where in the hell is our country going. Do we care? Do we have a moral compass anymore?
The Republican Party has been on a crusade against the middle class and the poor for the last 30 years. We‘re now seeing the wreckage of that race to the bottom line culture.
The president knows how important unemployment and housing and how that problem is and how it‘s got to be addressed. So, today, his administration announced that it will spend about another $3 billion to help unemployed people pay their mortgages. That‘s a great step forward.
California is going to get $476 million; Florida, $239 million;
Illinois, $166 million; Ohio, $149 million; and the state of Georgia will get $127 million in help when it comes to housing. These are the areas that have been hit hard.
Now, I would like to see Republican Senators Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss meet with these 30,000 constituents that you just saw on video today in East Point, look them in the eyes and tell them that they voted against unemployment benefits.
The picture is getting worse. Today, a government report showed weekly jobless claims at a five-month high -- 484,000 new unemployment claims were filed in the week ending August 7th.
And you know what, folks, you can lay this right at the feet, right at the altar, let‘s genuflect now, right at the altar of the Republican Party who blocked $30 billion small business bill not long ago. Republican obstructionism is absolutely tearing this country apart at the seams. It‘s dividing America.
The people you see flooding the streets begging for help, begging for an opportunity, are victims of the Republican agenda just to make sure that President Obama fails and doesn‘t have any success.
I do believe that when the Republicans, not long ago, blocked money to community banks for small businesses to be able to get credit and get access to capital to go out and do business in this country, I think that set the tone to strangle this economic recovery for months to come. It was the most un-American thing the Republican Party has ever done.
What do you have against small business? What do you have against giving someone an opportunity?
Now, on one hand, the Republicans they say no to the 99ers. They say no to more unemployment benefits. And then on the other hand, they say, well, no, we can‘t help out small business either. I‘d like the Republican Party to stand up and say, whose side are you on?
They‘re not on anybody‘s side, folks. All they want to do is see President Obama fail. They don‘t like the fact that someone who cares about people is in the White House. And someone who actually did something about health care in this country that‘s going to save lives, that party‘s going to get is the credit for it. So, there‘s going to be more lies spewed about our economy between now and November, more obstruction than you‘ve ever seen before.
And this is going to be gut check time for the Democrats and for the progressives who have been squabbling for the last few days. How much do we really care about one another? Can we come together as a people and pull this country out of the hole?
It‘s going to take a hell of a lot of leadership. And it‘s unfortunate—it‘s unfortunate that this recess is taking place now when this country needs leadership at this dire hour.
Tell me what you think in our telephone survey tonight, folks. The number to dial is 1-877-ED-MSNBC. My question tonight is: Who do you blame for is the economic chaos in America? Press the number 1 for the Republicans; press the number 2 for President Obama. And I‘ll bring you the results later on in the show.
Joining me now is Reverend Jesse Jackson, the president of the Rainbow/Push Coalition.
Reverend, great to have you with us tonight.
REV. JESSE JACKSON, RAINBOW/PUSH COALITION: Thank you, Ed. You lay out a tremendous commentary. We must now work on fixing the problem, not just fixing the blame.
You know, we inherited this (INAUDIBLE) thousands a month job loss and it seems that that hemorrhage won‘t stop, but we bailed out the banks with that (INAUDIBLE) from lending and reinvestment. So while banks are on the deck of the ship, we have this home foreclosure out this thing, the whole modifications, and unemployed people cannot pay the house notes.
SCHULTZ: It‘s a horrible situation. I look at that videotape from Atlanta and see those folks with their hand out. They‘re trying to grab a piece of paper to get an application is what they‘re doing.
JACKSON: Well—
SCHULTZ: And I think that what is happening here is that the right wing media in this country is painting the picture that this is what these folks want to do, that they are just so dependent on the government. That this is the way they want to live. Look at these people putting their hands out.
JACKSON: You know, Ed, in the cities, we‘re talking about 27 percent to 30 percent unemployment. So, it‘s already a depression. Not just 9 percent.
We‘re laying off bus drivers of mass transit and racing fares and cutting services. We‘re closing public housing and private—and foreclosing on private housing. And closing public schools and yet, we‘re quick to find fund more for Afghanistan, $100 billion. We‘re quick to maintain the tax cuts for the wealthy. And that obstruction is not good for our country.
SCHULTZ: It is not good at all. I want to play this sound cut from FOX News this morning. Michelle Malkin—this is their mindset.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE MALKIN, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: There‘s a larger question here about the failure of these federal housing programs to really solve the problem. And in fact, what they do is create an endless cycle of dependency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Do you agree with that, Reverend, an endless cycle of dependency?
JACKSON: No, the poorest people work the hardest, they drives the furthest to work and they make the hardest hours and make the least amount of money. And it is unfair and down right mean to say those who work the hardest and get the least have no will to work.
For example, that you cut public transportation. It‘s illegal if you‘re on welfare to own a car. So, if you cut public transportation and lay off those drivers, as they have done there in New York and in Chicago, you cut public transportation and you raise fares and cut services, you can‘t get from welfare to work without access to public transportation. This kind of defeat President Barack Obama at all costs, it‘s hurting the country.
And I see states like Georgia where those senators are against the president, they want the resource out on the table.
SCHULTZ: Absolutely.
JACKSON: South Carolina fought hard against the stimulus but then they got it.
We need stimulus part two. The first stimulus bailed out banks and into some extent, insurance companies with the public policy option. We need to reinvest in the kind of bottom up and put America back to work. It has to be the top priority.
SCHULTZ: Reverend Jackson, great to have you with us tonight. Thanks so much.
And we do have a long way to go. The NBC News/”Wall Street Journal” poll—U.S. economy has hit rock bottom. Only 29 percent of the American people are saying that and 64 percent say it could get worse.
Joining me now is NBC‘s Ron Mott, reporting from Atlanta tonight.
There was follow-up to that meeting yesterday, that gathering yesterday.
Ron, what did you see today in Atlanta?
RON MOTT, NBC NEWS: Hey there. Good evening.
Well, today was a much different day. The tone was far different. The order was obvious there down in East Point today. People driving up, dropping off applications you saw them desperately asking for yesterday from police officers and anybody who had them yesterday.
And one of the things that a lot of the reporters here in the Atlanta area who covered that story yesterday were bringing to light is this inane process that was set up by the East Point Housing Authority to put these people outside in the summer heat in Hotlanta to have them stand there for hours. Some people started camping out on Monday for a four-hour registration process to get these applications.
And it was so undignified, the way that they were presenting themselves to get what they consider gold in a lot of ways. In a lot of respects, this is a lottery ticket that they‘re getting. There are 30,000 people who showed up over those three days.
Yesterday, handing out 13,000 applications. There were absolutely no vouchers available today. And it may be six months before the first vouchers become available. Some of these folks will wait on this list really for the rest of their lives, Ed, with no shot at getting into public subsidized housing.
And the real shame for me as a reporter is that, you know, I‘m told to keep my emotions in check and the first emotion I had when I showed up to that scene yesterday, I was sad and then I just got angry that these people were stripped of the last thing really that they own and that is their own dignity, having to beg for an application that really, for most of them, will not turn up housing that they can afford.
And I think one of the things we have to do as an a country, if you have a heart and if you feel, you‘ve got to wonder what we‘re going to do to try to build more affordable housing so that we don‘t have people who are not in prison, who are law-abiding citizens living in worse conditions than this nation‘s prisons.
And that‘s what I went to bed thinking last night, and I wake this up morning thinking, we‘ve got to do something about this problem in this country. My heart broke. I grew up in public housing. And it was a tough life.
But I was able—with a lot of the support—to build a better life, to find a way out of that circumstance. But a lot of these people don‘t have that support and to have other people around this country thumb their noses at them and treat them and put those images on the news we saw yesterday was just heartbreaking. I thought I was another—in another country, Ed.
SCHULTZ: NBC‘s Ron Mott, reporting from Atlanta tonight. Ron, thanks so much for helping our program out tonight. Thank you.
MOTT: OK.
SCHULTZ: Coming up: Tea Party queen, Michele Bachmann, says that patience of the American people has worn thin and that the solution to our problems is to make the Tea Party agenda mainstream? We‘re going to rip into that one in the playbook.
The White House finally tees off on the tan man. Too bad they‘re fighting the battle like wimps in my opinion. Roy Sekoff of “The Huffington Post” will blast off on that one tonight. And Third Blossom is losing it and Day Quayle‘s son gets down and dirty in the zone.
You‘re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Coming up: this is what is every Democrat ought to be talking about—when it comes to rescuing the automobile industry, the Republicans fought the president‘s loan program of General Motors tooth and nail. Today, General Motors turning a profit—a huge profit. And the righties? They are dreadfully silent.
I‘m throwing the naysayers in the ditch—next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW. Thanks for watching tonight.
Well, the automobile loan program seemed to have worked. General Motors also known as “Obama motors,” “government motors,” raked in over $33 billion in revenue last quarter. It‘s G.M.‘s strongest performance in six years. To top it off, the company is set to go public again, possibly as soon as Friday.
Now, this is I think an unbelievable success story. This was a great American company on the brink and the ripple effect would have been unbelievable. And what did President Obama do? He put a team together that came in and fixed it.
The bottom line: government intervention sometimes works. Folks in Washington should be looking at how they can do the same thing in other sectors of the economy but, of course, the Republicans aren‘t for that.
And, you know, it‘s interesting, we don‘t hear any Republican naysayers today. They‘re out there being so quiet because this is a successful story. The ripple effect if the government had not loaned G.M. the money, it would have been so strong, there would have been hundreds of thousands of jobs lost across our economy.
Joining me now is populist hero, Leo Hindery, managing partner of Intermedia Partners.
Mr. Hindery, good to have you with us tonight.
We have—we‘ve had quite a battle with the White House in recent days about the professional left. I would say that this is a pretty good story to start off on to go in a different direction, wouldn‘t you think? This is what they ought to be talking about.
LEO HINDERY, INTERMEDIA PARTNERS: You know, Ed, I think I was labeled one of the professional left earlier this week, but, you know, I love being on this show. But I‘m going to push back a little bit on your accolade for G.M. And we should take pride as a nation that the bailout did produce the profits that you describe.
But we‘ve got to be real honest about what‘s going to happen here over the next decade. There will be more jobs created in Mexico by the Big Three automobile manufacturers than will be created here in the United States. So, these profits are important. But we didn‘t put—we didn‘t put any quid with the quo so to speak and we didn‘t demand that the growth in these three companies, the recovery of these three companies be found here in American workers.
And you and the Reverend Jackson just spent a compelling 10 minutes or so pointing out that the only thing that matters right now is the real employment, and in converse, the real unemployment of Americans. And I‘m distressed when I hear that G.M., especially, just committed in the last week or so, $500 million more to yet another one of its plants in Mexico.
So, give them a pat on the back for sure. But don‘t give them too big a pat because they‘re not creating jobs here in the United States.
SCHULTZ: Well, but they are saving jobs, are they not, Leo? They did save a ripple effect of plastics, of electronics, of upholstery, of tire and glass that would have been even more devastating than the economy that we saw?
HINDERY: Right. And there is—there‘s a sharp line, a bright line, Ed, between saved jobs and created jobs.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
HINDERY: We need both. But what we didn‘t get out of G.M. or Chrysler is a commitment to create jobs here in the United States. And that‘s why I pat them on the back for saving a bunch of them, and I couldn‘t be happier for the state of Michigan, the state of Ohio, and the state—Upstate New York.
SCHULTZ: But moving forward is your concern, and moving forward, it should be a concern based on the news that came out today. The CEO of General Motors, Ed Whitacre, is going to be stepping down and he‘ll be replaced by Daniel Ackerson. He is a managing director of the Carlyle Group.
Now, the Carlyle Group is known for one thing, and that is shipping jobs overseas.
How troubling is this move in your opinion?
HINDERY: Well, it‘s very troubling because that is Dan‘s modus operandi. And nothing we‘ve heard in the last several weeks and we were all surprised by Mr. Whitacre‘s announcement today. But we‘ve not heard a single word out of this company about committing to American jobs.
So, they‘re going to grow and they‘re going to grow based on taxpayer money, tens of billions of dollars.
SCHULTZ: So, what should the president do at this juncture? Get a commitment? Try to get a commitment or where do we go? Where is the loyalty?
HINDERY: Well, I think Secretary Geithner let the nation down when he just gave them money and didn‘t demand that they create U.S. jobs. Again, I like the fact that we saved a bunch of ‘em. But we need to find, Ed, 22 million jobs to put this nation back at full employment. And we need our big manufacturers to be stable and growing here in the United States. And G.M. and Chrysler made no such commitment when they took our money.
SCHULTZ: Mr. Hindery, always a pleasure. You do great work. I love reading your stuff on “Huffington Post.” I appreciate your time tonight.
HINDERY: It‘s always a privilege to be here, Ed. Thanks.
SCHULTZ: You bet.
HINDERY: Coming up, Dan Quayle‘s son is ripping on President Obama and threatened to knock the hell out of Washington? OK. We‘ll knock him right into the zone.
Next --, serious looking dude.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And in “Psycho Talk” tonight: Dan Quayle‘s kid, Ben—he‘s running for Congress down in Arizona. And he just put out a new campaign commercial that makes his dad‘s gaffes seem like small potatoes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN QUAYLE ®, ARIZONA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Barack Obama is the worst president in history. And my generation will inherit a weakened country, drug cartels in Mexico, tax cartels in D.C. What‘s happened to America?
I love Arizona. I was raised right.
Somebody has to go to Washington. And knock the hell out of the place.
My name‘s Ben Quayle. And I approve this message.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: John Wayne, partner. Knock the hell out of the place?
Buddy, you look like you couldn‘t punch your way out of a wet paper bag.
You know, I‘m not—I‘m not buying that stuff “I was raised right crap.”
Ben Quayle has admitted to writing a racy Web site called Dirty Scottsdale. This is a family show. So, you‘re just going to have to look that up on your own to see what he did.
And on the site, he allegedly went by the “Boogie Nights” porn name Brock Landers—another proud chapter in the Quayle family history.
Ben Quayle saying President Obama is the worst president ever and then threatening to knock the hell out of Washington is laughable “Psycho Talk.”
Coming up: Sharron Angle knows how to run away from more than just the cameras. Now, she‘s running from a Tea Party rally she promised to attend on the U.S./Mexico border.
And Charlie Rangel, he just won‘t give it up. I mean, he was cutting a rug last night which is pretty cool, but he was up early this morning running his mouth.
And I just want to know, Charlie, did you cheat on your taxes or not?
Answer that question. We‘ll get rapid fire response.
All that, plus the White House just took a shot at John Boehner.
Maybe that means they‘re finally figuring out who the real enemy is.
“Huffington Post” co-creator, Roy Sekoff, is going to be blasting off on that one on the battle ground. Stay with us.
You‘re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW. The Battleground story tonight, the White House should quit attacking progressive base. And focus on the real enemies. Let‘s all be friends and get along and go after the righties. This is a pretty good start. Vice President Joe Biden‘s top economic adviser Jared Bernstein dismantled John Boehner‘s talking points on a White House blog today saying, quote, “John Boehner wants a lot of people to lose their jobs. We were awfully surprised to hear representative Boehner come out killing jobs en masse in his own state and district by stopping the recovery act, taking away middle class tax cuts, leaving unemployed workers unexpectedly high and dry without an unemployment check halting road and bridge projects.” Now, the president also took a shot at the Boehner head of Tuesday‘s House vote to save 300,000 jobs, including the jobs of 160,000 teachers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA (D), UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: I heard the republican leader of the House say the other day that this is a special interest bill. And I suppose if America‘s children and the safety of our communities are your special interest, then it is a special interest bill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Well, the bottom line is this. The White House says, the midterm elections is about choice. They need to remind voters every day between now and November that voting for the Republicans means putting the people‘s house in the hands of the tan man. A guy who plays golf last year 119 times and spends more time tanning than the Jersey Shore crowd. Boehner is clearly out of touch with the needs of working Americans.
Joining me now is Roy Sekoff, founding editor of the “Huffington Post.” Roy, I think we‘ve made some progress in the last 24 hours. They‘re figuring out playing golf that much might be a soft underbelly for the republicans, is the White House headed in the right direction?
ROY SEKOFF, “HUFFINGTON POST” EDITOR: Oh, absolutely, Ed. But I‘ve been watching the last couple nights and that is the most effective bashing with a golf club since Tiger Woods wife picked up the 9 iron. You‘ve been nailing it. But I got to say, here‘s what I want to see. Jared Bernstein, great blog was on the “Huffington Post” as well as the White House site. And when he needs to walk over to Robert Gibbs office and used to put his hands on his shoulders and turn around and say, hey, you see the direction I‘m firing at the republicans? That‘s the direction you need to be firing, not at the professional left.
SCHULTZ: Well, you know, I have to tell you that this golf commercial we have been running by Jason Coussoule who running against John Boehner, we have gotten so much response from that. It would seem to me that the White House would instead of kind of wimpy like go out on a blog and say, hey, Boehner‘s, you know, not the guy, I mean come out and just get after it. When is that going to happen?
SEKOFF: There‘s no question, it‘s a no brainier. The memo‘s got to the go from Jared all the way into the oval office because here‘s the thing. It‘s like they did with Gingrich in ‘96 and ‘98. They got to make Boehner the overly tan face of the GOP because you know, scientific studies, I don‘t know if you know they said have shown that Boehner is up to 100 percent more mockable than Gingrich. And it‘s not just the tan and it‘s not just the yelling hell know and it‘s not just the golf. It is the blindingly obvious hypocrisy, Ed. I mean, here‘s the guy who comes out and they say, it‘s all about the deficit.
Unless it‘s about the Bush tax cuts expiring. Then they don‘t care about the deficit then. Then they‘ve got to save the richest two percent of the American population or they come out and they say that the stimulus was a waste. It didn‘t work at all. And yet, we‘ve seen that over half of the republican members of the House, all of whom voted against the stimulus bill have gone back to their home states to ribbon cutting ceremonies and patted themselves on the back saying, look at all the money that I brought into our district via the stimulus bill. The hypocrisy is blindingly obvious and they got to pound on that.
SCHULTZ: Mr. Boehner was in Pennsylvania today. And he is a live wire for democrats, all of the teachers in Pennsylvania got together and made the statement, obviously, they are not special interests. It would seem to me that with the obstruction, the party of no, all of the things despite what the economy where it is right now, it‘s an easy case for the democrats to make and for the White House to lead on that. Don‘t you think?
SEKOFF: It‘s an easy case when you‘ve got a guy like Boehner. If you saw him on “Meet the Press” on Sunday, he couldn‘t answer a question. How are you going to pay for the tax cuts? Well, I don‘t want to have that discussion. I mean, he knows that he‘s lying and they just lie anyway but they don‘t lie very well. So, it‘s right out there in front of them. And I think you‘re right, it has to be in attack mode from now until November.
SCHULTZ: Roy Sekoff, always a pleasure. Good to have you with us.
Thanks, buddy.
SEKOFF: Thanks, good seeing you.
SCHULTZ: Now let‘s get some rapid fire response from our panel on these stories tonight.
Sharron Angle, oh, all of a sudden, backing out of a Tea Party rally on the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona on the same day her opponent Majority Leader Harry Reid passed a $600 million bill to secure the border.
Unanimous consent in the righties are for something? Congressman Charlie Rangel just won‘t stop talking. He threw a lavish birthday party for himself last night and held another press conference today.
And Congressman Mike Pence is the latest republican hypocrite on the recovery act. He slammed the stimulus while praising an Indiana jobs fair where some companies took money for job creation from the stimulus. They have no boundaries.
With us now tonight is Laura Flanders, author of “Blue Grit” and the host of Grit TV on Free Speech TV and Karen Hanretty, republican strategist. Let‘s start it out tonight with Sharron Angle. Did this bill that got so much money to help on border security, Laura, change the mind of Sharron Angle because she can‘t go down there and not agree with border security?
LAURA FLANDERS, GRIT TV HOST: No, I mean, I think what changes her mind is the same thing that changed, well, let‘s see, Rand Paul‘s mind and Scott Brown‘s mind which is once you‘ve got the nomination, you‘ve got to actually get some other voters to agree with you. And it‘s a message back to those Tea Partiers. You know, what are you thinking? You‘re not going to find candidates running on an anti-government platform who are going to end up in government because a whole lot of other folks are not going to vote for them. It‘s reality hitting, well, it should be hitting the Tea Party folks who pulled out for Sharron Angle that she‘s not really in their camp. She‘s pushing to get herself elected in the very body she spent the last part of the season vilifying.
SCHULTZ: Karen, is she reversing course here, getting away from the Tea Party?
KAREN HANRETTY, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: No, this is smart politics. Laura is right. Look, you do—everyone knows, republicans tend to run to the right, democrats run to the left in primaries. Then they go to the center because she needs to get a lot of those independent voters and all of those democrats in Nevada who are very unhappy with Harry Reid according to all of the polls. And so, she needs to focus on I think the issues that every republican should be focusing on around the country which is unhappiness with the economy, government spending, government expansion and the deficit. And so, she needs to focus this campaign back on Harry Reid and take the focus off herself.
FLANDERS: Except we want more spending on the border, more spending on police left right and center. So, you know, there is a contradiction here, an inherent contradiction. And I don‘t think she can just run away from it and say, it‘s politics. She‘s got to deal with the reality of, you know, hypocritical commitment that she‘s made.
HANRETTY: No, she‘s not changing her position on illegal immigration. But look, it‘s a campaign. It‘s a professionally run campaign now, thank goodness. I think she actually has a real chance to be much more competitive with Harry Reid than I think most of us thought about a month ago. And so, she‘s going to stick to the issues that are a top concern to the Nevada voters. They‘re very unhappy with Harry Reid. All of the polls show that, nothing‘s really change there. So, you know, good for her. This is a referendum on Harry Reid at the end of the day. And that‘s how she needs to focus this campaign.
SCHULTZ: All right. Charlie Rangel, is he becoming baggage for the democrats? Last night he had his 80th birthday party. Was in a good mood, has a lot of political support there and then this morning, he comes out and holds another presser talking about the situation he‘s dealing with the ethics committee. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. CHARLIE RANGEL (D), NEW YORK: If you take a guy that people describe as a big shot and tell him to resign without a hearing, what will you do to a new member with no money that can‘t defend themselves? That would just be run out of office because they couldn‘t help themselves. Those who have been my advisers that say you know, stay away from everything, that‘s the best way to do. If I‘ve done something wrong, I guess we can have another press conference to deal with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: The charges that Mr. Rangel is facing, there‘s 13 of them. These are the major ones, using congressional office for fund-raiser for the Rangel center, lobbying for federal tax dollars for Rangel center, also failing to report assets on financial disclosure forms. I think that is the big one. Not paying taxes on a Dominican Republican vacation home. He should have known about that. And really hasn‘t spoken too much, using rent stabilized property as fundraising office. I‘m all for Charlie Rangel getting a hearing. But I think he ought to be thinking seriously about what kind of damage he might be doing to the party after Nancy Pelosi said that she wanted to drain the swamp. Laura Flanders, what do you make of all of this?
FLANDERS: Well, you know, his timing could have been worse for the party this week. I think that‘s in the Nancy message but I‘m with him. I think he should get a hearing. No question, why not, and not the day before the election either. If we‘re going to worry about, you know, abuse of money, I‘m still a little bit curious about that $9 billion lost in Iraq. But Rangel, you know, there‘s no question the guy‘s been there too long. There are serious things that need to be looked at. And, you know, well, he had the party, certainly not in his district will a suppressed turnout come November, bring down the number of black voters, I don‘t think so but it is sure a distraction when we need to be talking jobs, jobs, jobs.
SCHULTZ: Karen, what about the ethics committee? Are they slow on this in your opinion and is it hurting him?
HANRETTY: Yes, they‘re slow on this. This has been going on for two years. At the end of 2008, at the end of that campaign cycle, republicans were trying to use Charlie Rangel and all of these very charges against democrats. It didn‘t stick because I think it was too new to a lot of voters. I agree with Laura, look, it‘s not going to suppress the African-American turnout. It‘s not going to—Charlie Rangel is probably not going to become a household name but for two years, these allegations have been out there. Plenty of evidence has been out there. They‘ve even admitted to not paying taxes on the house in the Caribbean. So I‘d love for him to have an immediate trial. I think it should be speedy. I don‘t think that we should drag this man through it anymore. Let‘s just get it out there and let‘s watch him defend himself.
SCHULTZ: This is Congressman Pence on Tuesday on the house floor bashing the stimulus spending. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE PENCE ®, INDIANA: At this very hour, more than 1,000 Hoosiers are gathered at a job fair in my district. Some 65 companies have come together with a few cherished openings. Congress ought to be taking action but not this. Not more of the same. Here we go again. Another jobs bill, another bailout. Washington, D.C. now after a year and a half of failed economic policies of stimulus and borrowing and spending and bailouts and takeovers says, we need to do another jobs bill so let‘s do another bailout, 26 billion dollars to states.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: And here‘s the response from the democrats. The DCCC spokesman Ryan Rudominer, he says, “If such blatant hypocrites like Mike Pence and Eric Cantor and John Boehner had their way, the jobs in their districts that they‘ve been trying to take credit for wouldn‘t even be there.” The bottom line is at that job fair there were companies that had dipped into the stimulus package. Laura, what do you think?
FLANDERS: Well, it‘s reality hits the right again. Another republican against government, another hypocrite like Roy said. I mean Pence knows, I saw him recently at an event sponsored by Americans for prosperity. You know, he‘s there pitching again to the anti-government crowd but he knows that prosperity doesn‘t come from, you know, the chalk board of Glenn Beck. It comes from right now the only jobs that are out there are coming really courtesy of the stimulus spending. It‘s running out. We‘ve got private enterprise barely hiring. We‘ve got 29 million people in this country by a recent estimate. This is a crisis.
SCHULTZ: Karen, the Republicans can‘t have it both ways, can they?
They rip on the package and take the money in their district.
HANRETTY: That‘s stunning. Apparently jobs come only from the government in this economy. That‘s really stunning. Look, 75 percent of the companies at that job fair had not taken stimulus money. And you know, let‘s talk about a couple of things.
SCHULTZ: But some had. This is about purity in politics.
HANRETTY: Yes, they got tax credits for building equipment for clean energy. Another special interest the environmentalists, environmentalists and the unions, two special interests that the administration makes sure all the stimulus money goes to instead of giving money, instead of doing anything to create jobs for blue collar workers throughout America in manufacturing industries.
(CROSSTALK)
FLANDERS: If you want jobs, you want to look after people, you want to keep them, education and jobs, then you‘re a special interest, I mean, really, this is the kind of talk that‘s not helping anybody.
HANRETTY: The states are responsible for paying teachers and the states should be responsible for figuring out how their budgets are going to pay the teachers.
(CROSSTALK)
SCHULTZ: No child left behind said, Karen, that they were suppose to the get federal money that never showed up and that‘s part of the problem right there. And that‘s why local school district taxes are going up because the federal money from the Bush world and Ted Kennedy helped him on it because he said, federal money was going to be getting there and never got to those districts and that‘s what caused this problem.
(CROSSTALK)
HANRETTY: If the government is the only place that jobs are coming from, then woe is America.
FLANDERS: Woe is America, Karen. Woe is America.
(ALL TALKING OVER EACH OTHER)
SCHULTZ: Great to have you with us tonight.
FLANDERS: We agree. Woe is America.
SCHULTZ: Coming up, Bush‘s brain has amnesia. The Turdblossom just misremembered eight years of misery. I got total recall in the Playbook next.
(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. Who do you blame for the economic chaos in America? Press the number one for Republicans, press the number two for President Obama. Again the number to dial is 1-877-ed-msnbc. Stay with us, we‘re right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And in my Playbook tonight, Karl Rove is spinning his wheels trying to make us forget how much the Bush administration screwed this country. In a recent OP-ED, he argues that blaming Bush for the recession is a losing strategy for democrats.
Joining me now is David Winston, republican strategist and former director for planning for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Mr. Winston, the most recent polls that are out there show that most Americans think who is more responsible for the recession, 53 percent say President Bush, 26 percent President Obama and 21 percent just don‘t know. Karl Rove, is he cooking a book? What do you think?
DAVID WINSTON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: No, I mean, look, here‘s the situation. I mean, there‘s no question when George Bush left the presidency, the economy was in serious trouble. But I think what Carl‘s point was that look, what‘s happened in the past 18 months in terms of President Obama‘s economic plans have clearly not done what President Obama said it would. Remember, Christina Romer said that passing the stimulus, unemployment wouldn‘t get above 8 percent and it‘s now at 9.5. So, I don‘t think Karl is trying to say that George Bush left the economy in a perfect situation but he‘s also saying that trying to simply blame him as opposed to what are you going to do as a Democratic Party to change the situation is the point I think he‘s trying to get at.
SCHULTZ: He says, in this fall‘s contest, the GOP has a stronghold on the banner of change. Republican candidates can strengthen that claim by emphasizing a positive agenda of reform, “Fiscal restraint and economic growth while beating up Democrats for their miserable two years of economic stewardship.” There are some successes. One of them is General Motors. The other one, stimulus has saved jobs. But most of all, haven‘t the republicans gotten in the way of getting money to small businesses? What about that?
WINSTON: I‘m obviously going to disagree with you on a whole bunch of that. But I know you‘re stunned by that, Ed. But anyway, I mean, I think to some degree, let me lay out two things, one, there is a group within the Republican Party who says, all you have to do is blame Obama, right? And that‘s how republicans will win in the dual. I happen to disagree with that. I think that ultimately, if in fact, we‘re going to do better, we have to show a contrast. We have to lay out an agenda that‘s positive. I‘d have to disagree with some of your statements in terms of like what‘s the stimulus done. I don‘t think it‘s created the jobs the way you think.
SCHULTZ: No, it‘s saved. I used the word saved. I said saved jobs.
WINSTON: OK.
SCHULTZ: But also, the republicans have voted down, didn‘t give the president or the Democrats any help at all getting money to community banks in the tune of billions of dollars to loosen up the credit markets to get lending going.
WINSTON: No, bear with me. What I saw in terms of that bill, in terms of the reforms, the Wall Street reforms was there was a focus on the big firms but the middle sized firms that could really provide the sort of lending that small business needed were not included along with not reform...
SCHULTZ: David, this was a separate bill, this wasn‘t a Wall Street reform bill. This was an independent $30 billion going to small community banks around the country to loosen up the lending and the republicans did not want the government getting involved in the banking industry to loosen up the credit markets.
WINSTON: No, and but the part of that was a suggestion that this was another version of TARP and they thought it hadn‘t been worked through properly.
SCHULTZ: Yes. That was their talking point.
WINSTON: Right. And working through it. Now, having said that, that was just a policy disagreement. You‘ll obviously disagree with that and we‘ll have a difference of opinion here. But I think ultimately, going back to your basic point, look, this economy has had difficulty, right? And I think, you would have to say that President Obama would even say at this point, it‘s not where he would like it, but it‘s up to republicans I would also suggest to say, here‘s the better route. I happen to think that what he‘s implemented so far hasn‘t worked.
SCHULTZ: Well, Mitch McConnell.
WINSTON: That‘s not good enough, we have to say.
SCHULTZ: I got that.
WINSTON: OK.
SCHULTZ: Mitch McConnell says, we‘ll have a plan in September. We kind of need a plan right now. David, good to have you with us tonight. We‘ll do it again.
WINSTON: OK. It‘s a pleasure, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Thanks so much.
Final page in our Playbook tonight, psycho talker Michele Bachmann is begging the GOP to unite with her Tea Party nut jobs. She joined her good old friend Slanthead to pound the message.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELE BACHMANN ®, MINNESOTA CONGRESSWOMAN: Well, I think that unity is what we‘re all looking forward to this fall. But I think the patience of the American people is very thin. They are looking to the GOP right now for a leadership, quite frankly. We would be foolish not to adopt the Tea Party mainstream America agenda.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Yes. You got one thing right. You are foolish. Yes.
That‘s what America needs, a racist hands off government agenda.
Coming up, Florida is trying to top Arizona when it comes to immigration. This is bordering on absolute insanity. Jane Hamsher will be here to rip into this one next on THE ED SHOW. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW. And finally tonight, I‘ll tell you this immigration debate is getting out of control. The republican attorney general in Florida wants an anti-immigration law even harsher than Arizona‘s. The proposed Florida law would force legal immigrants to carry identification and go to jail if they don‘t. The law is so extreme that even Tea Party Senate Candidate Marco Rubio can‘t even get on board with it. He‘s concerned that it will lead to racial profiling. You think? That‘s the same reason Hispanic voters are abandoning the Republican Party in droves.
For more on that, Jane Hamsher, founder of Firedoglake.com. Jane, I think at this point, the democrats just be quiet and let the republicans ruin themselves. What do the republicans offer the Hispanic community?
JANE HAMSHER, FIREDOGLAKE.COM: Well, you know, it‘s scary right now. Because, you‘ve got mainstream republican like Lindsey Graham talking about repealing the 14th amendment. It‘s nuts but you know, the democrats aren‘t being much better. They passed the border militarization law today, you know, they brought everybody back for that which, you know, does nothing to address the problem. The problem at the border is not immigration, Ed. The problem at the border is the Mexican drug cartels. Americans consume $113 billion worth of marijuana every year and half of it comes from overseas.
That money is going to the Mexican drug cartels and that‘s what‘s causing the violence at the borders. That‘s why former president, Mexican president have been sent a FOX, came out this weekend and said look, you have to change American drug policy. It is destabilizing Mexico. You know, President Felipe Calderon called for the beginning of this discussion on legalizing marijuana in the United States. Where is the leadership on that? It has nothing to do with immigrants trying to come over the border to wash dishes.
SCHULTZ: Do you think the United States should legalize marijuana to pacify the situation with the law breaking that‘s going on in Mexico?
HAMSHER: You know, when we had prohibition during, you know, during the earlier part of the last century, there were tequila shootings up and down the border all the time. And gangsters like Al Capone made tremendous fortunes off of prohibition and the illegal markets. The fact is that the same thing it‘s happening right now. And in some parts of Mexico, they have the cartels have actually taken over and are charging taxes. There have been 28,000 people killed in the war with the drug cartels in the past four years. And in the United States, there are the Mexican drug cartels have a presence in 230.
SCHULTZ: So, quickly, where does cheap labor come into all of this?
HAMSHER: Well, you know, basically, you‘ve got people coming over the border because they‘re trying to smuggle marijuana because that‘s where the money is but they‘re also fleeing a very bad situation. That‘s why we have our just say now campaign to try and bring republicans and democrats together to try and find an answer to this.
SCHULTZ: Jane Hamsher, we will do it. Firedoglake.com. Thanks so much. Tonight in our phone survey, I asked who do you blame for the economy chaos in America? Ninety percent say the Republicans, ten percent say President Obama.
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, Channel 167, noon till 3:00 Monday through Friday. Chuck Todd in for Chris Matthews, next on “HARDBALL.” We‘ll see you tomorrow night.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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