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The Ed Show for Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

Read the transcript to the Tuesday show

Guests: Hilary Shelton, Anthony Weiner, Joan Walsh, Elijah Cummings, Joe Madison, Ron Christie, Mike Papantonio, John Boyd

ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC ANCHOR:  Good evening, Americans, and welcome to THE ED SHOW tonight from New York.

These stories on the table and hitting “My Hot Buttons” at this hour. 

The Tea Party has taken control of the GOP, don‘t you think?  Leaders like Rush, Palin, Beck, they are fueling some extremism, and the White House is finally calling them out on it.  Yay. 

The NAACP is taking action as well, and it‘s time for all of us to join them.  The NAACP‘s Hilary Shelton and Congressman Anthony Weiner will sound off on all of that in just a moment. 

President Obama unloaded on “The Tan Man” of being the symbol of no, and this fight has just begun.  He‘s now got a plan to hammer Boehner in his own back yard.  I love it.  Congressman Cummings is going to be here to tee up on that one in “The Battleground.” 

And a radical right-wing pastor plans “Burn a Koran Day” on September 11th.  General Petraeus says it puts our troops in danger.  Protesters are burning American flags, chanting, “Death to America,” and this pastor could care less about the damage he‘s doing.  Whatever happened about responsibility of freedom of speech in this country? 

That‘s all coming up in the “Playbook.”  Stay with us on that one tonight.

But this is the story that has me fired up tonight. 

Liberals and every other American who voted for change just 22 months ago, you need wake up, get it together, get engaged.  Don‘t pay attention to the polls.  We‘re a long way from Election Day.  I don‘t believe that people put a 22-month deadline on turning this country around, the mess that we were all handed. 

The NAACP, that‘s why thousands of working class Americans will flood the National Mall, the Lincoln Memorial, on Saturday, October 2nd.  I‘ll be one of the featured speakers there.  We‘re going to stand there and we are going to be one nation together, a One Nation rally. 

Were at a very critical time in this country‘s history, and the choice couldn‘t be more clear.  America, if we don‘t keep moving towards social justice and equal rights and advocate for the middle class in this country, the power is going to be handed right over to the Republican Tea Party and their hate merchants in the conservative media. 

President Obama‘s senior adviser, David Plouffe, is finally awake. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID PLOUFFE, SR. ADVISER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA:  I think right now—and this is a problem for them long term—I do think that Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, they are the leaders of the party.  There is an intolerance in that party and an extremism that I think is where the real energy is, ad so I think as you see in ‘11 and ‘12, with that presidential primary, those are the people who are going to come out to vote. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  It‘s just too bad we didn‘t have that kind of conversation coming from Rahm Emanuel and other leaders in the White House to protect the president when we were fighting for health care in this country.  But here we are. 

The liberals in this country, the dedicated base, have been frustrated that there wasn‘t enough fight.  Now there‘s all this talk about Rahm Emanuel leaving.  Fine. 

I didn‘t vote for Emanuel.  Did you?  I voted for change.  I voted for somebody who was going to get in there and fight. 

And right now saying that it‘s the conservative media, that that‘s really our problem, no, it‘s not.  Our problem is that the White House has not convinced liberals, the base in this country that put them in office, that they can be trusted, that after the November election, after the midterms, that they will turn around tell the Republican Party to take a hike. 

That would motivate the base. 

If the Democrats are worried about turnout, what the Democrats need to do is say it‘s going to be a new day dawning in dealing with Republicans when we keep the majority, and this is what we‘re going to do, and this is how we‘re going to play the game, and this is where we‘re going.  I don‘t hear enough of that.  Of course, Democratic voices have been actually pretty silent as of late. 

So this is one of the reasons why we‘re having this One Nation march on October 2nd.  Look, there‘s no doubt that the real energy in the Republican Party is in the hands of the Tea Party and some of their racist followers.  I‘m glad to see the White House has finally got that together. 

That‘s why the NAACP has decided to get serious and put the Tea Party on notice.  If people push racism at Tea Parties, they are going to be called out. 

The NAACP has joined forces with Media Matters and Think Progress to launch a new Web site called teapartytracker.org.  I like it. 

The Web site will monitor any extreme activities by Tea Partiers and make them public.  The tracker site highlights video interviews with people who attended Glenn Beck‘s rally restoring honor, that one in D.C. just not long ago, right?  You know, where they had—you know, I think they had 10 million people there.

It also shows a picture of this guy who attended the rally.  His shirt points out that “Blacks own slaves in Africa and Haiti.”  No, no racism there whatsoever at all. 

Dick Armey‘s FreedomWorks had a lot to do with a lot of what was at that rally.  He‘s already cooking up a conspiracy theory to discredit the site. 

Brendan Steinhauser, director of federal and state campaigns for FreedomWorks, said, “A lot of the signs that are going to end up on the site are going to be from left-wing groups infiltrating these rallies.  It‘s so clear that they are holding up signs to make us look bad.”

You know, I know liberals in this country.  They are serious about issues.  They are not into making Tea Partiers look bad.  They are just into telling the truth. 

Isn‘t that what “The Beckster” wants, the truth?  Did you see where Beck admitted where he was lying the other day?  Let‘s see, that real was on Saturday.  It took him until Thursday to figure out that he was lying, and finally admitted, well, he thought it would be a lot easier. 

This is how they operate. 

Now, I do want to tell you that at the rally on October 2nd, I‘m not going to have a script, and I promise you I won‘t lie to you. 

The Tea Party still refuses to face its biggest problem head-on. 

That‘s racism.  They are always looking for a liberal to blame.  Blame me. 

The NAACP is on an offensive to expose racist politicians.  The question is, will the Tea Party be smart enough to avoid a moment like this one? 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. GEORGE ALLEN ®, VIRGINIA:  This fellow over here with the yellow shirt, “Macaca,” or whatever his name is, he‘s with my opponent.  He‘s following us around everywhere. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  Yes.  Well, we‘ll see if they are stupid enough to stay stuff like that in public. 

This is why the One Nation rally is so important for the future of the country.  It‘s time for us to come together and mobilize for progressivism in this country and be proud of the fact that we‘re putting on this rally and this march on October 2nd and we‘re going to fight back. 

We‘re going to fight back with our ideas because the Republicans don‘t have any.  This isn‘t about Ed.  It isn‘t about Glenn Beck or Sarah Palin or any other righty over there.  This is about supporting the change that you voted for 22 months ago.

And I know that we didn‘t get everything we wanted, but after 22 months, do we want to throw in the towel?  Apathy is our enemy. 

This is exactly what liberals need to do, get the fire in the belly and get back after it.  And the October 2nd could propel us to a lot of great things in November to maintain the majority.  Confidence is a big thing. 

Now, the conservatives, what they want you to do is quit.  They want you to give up.  And if the Democrats don‘t get together and turn out at the polls the way they did in 2008, the way they did in 2006, we‘re going to turn this country right back to the crowd that has divided this country. 

Now, the other day on this network Savannah Guthrie asked Tom DeLay, do you have any new ideas?  And his answer was to repeal everything.  Think about that, repeal everything. 

Mr. DeLay, do you want to take away equal pay for women in the workplace? 

If you‘re a soccer mom, tell the truth.  Are you really in favor of that? 

This is who the Republicans are. 

I could go on for hours, and I will go as long as I can on October 2nd to tell the truth. 

With no script, Beck.  And I won‘t lie.  I‘ll speak for the middle class.  I‘ll speak for the working folk of America. 

And I don‘t believe all of these polls out there that there is a tsunami coming.  There‘s no tsunami coming.  There‘s a snapshot in time that‘s out there right now that says that we as a country are divided and we need to unite. 

We need to get around workers.  We need to face people who have had their jobs shipped overseas and say we‘re going to change this.  That‘s what this rally is all about. 

You can go to the NAACP Web site.  You can go to the AFL-CIO Web site.  Or you can go to my Web site at wegoted.com for all the details in how you can get involved.

And yes, I do think we‘re going to have over 300,000 people, but we‘ll see.  I wouldn‘t say it if I didn‘t believe it. 

Tell me what you think in our telephone survey tonight, folks.  The number to dial is 1-877-ED-MSNBC. 

My question is: Do you believe Beck, Limbaugh and Palin are fueling political extremism?  You think?  Press the number 1 for yes, press the number 2 for no.  We‘ll bring you the results later on in the show. 

Joining me now is Hillary Shelton, a senior vice president for policy and advocacy at the NAACP. 

Mr. Shelton, good to have you with us tonight. 

HILARY SHELTON, SR. VICE PRESIDENT, POLICY & ADVOCACY, NAACP:  It‘s great to be with you. 

SCHULTZ:  Why this Web site?  Why is it important?  Why do you need to do this? 

SHELTON:  Well, we‘ve gotten reports from all over the country, various Tea Party exploits.  That is, those in the name of the Tea Party that have involve themselves in everything from racially-insensitive to even racist signs, to even painting pictures and swastikas on the side of the office buildings of members of the Congressional Black Caucus, not to mention the assaults we saw happen when the health care bill was being voted on, on Capitol Hill. 

And we saw members of the Congressional Black Caucus and Barney Frank being attacked.  Members of the Congressional Black Caucus even being spat upon and Barney frank being called the F-word.

SCHULTZ:  Yes.

SHELTON:  So we know those things are awful, and somehow or another we have to treat the Tea Party the way we‘ve done other extremist organizations. 

SCHULTZ:  And the One Nation rally, do you think this will set the tone for the progressive movement in this midterm? 

SHELTON:  Absolutely.  What this march is all about is reclaiming those things we find essential to our nation, to our democracy, if I might say. 

This is where we truly wrap ourselves in the flag and talk about the freedoms and liberties that we have, and claim an agenda that allows every American to be able to fully participate to create jobs, create opportunity, and the protections that are part of being good, hard-working Americans.  That‘s what this march is all about. 

SCHULTZ:  Mr. Shelton, I‘m looking forward to it on October 2nd

Thanks for your time tonight.  I appreciate it so much.

SHELTON:  Oh, my pleasure.  Great to be with you.

SCHULTZ:  For more, let‘s bring in a congressman who tells it like it is, New York Congressman Anthony Weiner. 

Congressman, the numbers for the president aren‘t very good right now. 

Is the Tea Party message working on America?  What do you think? 

REP. ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK:  Well, I don‘t know.  I mean, for one thing, we don‘t know where the Republican Party is with the Tea Party, who is in charge of what. 

I mean, we do know that we haven‘t done a very good job letting the American people know that the Republican Party said they‘re going to privatize Social Security when they take over, they said they‘re going to  roll back the funds that are going to seniors for their prescription drug coverage.  They are going to roll back the regulations that have been put on banks that are going to prevent another Great Depression. 

Look, the problem is that Plouffe put it right.  You know, right now Sarah Palin and these Tea Party activists are effectively the spokespeople for the Republican Party, and I want the overwhelming number of Americans who are somewhere in the middle—they aren‘t an extreme of any sort, they just want what‘s best for their kids—to think about that long and hard, because that‘s what‘s at stake in this election.  The Tea Party movement is on its way of taking control of Congress, and I think that‘s something to be concerned about. 

SCHULTZ:  This is David Axelrod.  This is what he had to say about the Tea Party. 

He says, “I saw that Joe Miller said that he would abolish Social Security if he had the chance.”  And he said, “He‘s not alone.  This is akin to what Sharron Angle has said in Nevada and also a number of these other Republicans.  So this could go one step beyond the policies of the Bush administration to something more extreme than we have seen.” 

Is that fear-mongering from the left, to say that the Tea Partiers and some of the people that could get elected are worse than Bush?  That‘s basically what he‘s saying. 

WEINER:  Well, I‘ve got to tell you something.  It is not a fringe element of the Republican Party that is talking about privatizing Social Security.  It‘s the person who would be the chairman of the Budget Committee. 

These aren‘t fringe elements that are out saying that they would repeal the financial reform bill.  That is, the minority leader who would be the Speaker. 

You see, this is what‘s going on.  I think the American people are right to be angry.  I‘m pretty upset myself at the way things are going.  But the question is, when we get to November and Americans are making this binary choice between who they want to lead, they have to realize that the other team is putting up a pretty aggressively radical agenda -- 

SCHULTZ:  Yes. 

WEINER:  -- including privatizing Social Security and eliminating the prescription drug benefit for seniors. 

SCHULTZ:  And Congressman, finally, your quick take on the Rahm Emanuel story?  Mayor Daley is not going to run for mayor again in Chicago.  There‘s a lot of talk about Rahm Emanuel leaving the White House. 

Do you think he should leave the White House?  Does the president need new leadership on his team? 

WEINER:  Listen, I like Rahm Emanuel.  I think he would make a great mayor.  But I don‘t—you know, I‘m not going to give advice. 

What we really need is not the staff of the president.  We need the president of the United States getting back his mojo from the 2008 campaign. 

SCHULTZ:  Did he do that yesterday? 

WEINER:  He‘s getting there.  He has to hit pretty hard to get up to the meter that I would like him to be at. 

SCHULTZ:  All right. 

Congressman Weiner, good to have you with us tonight.  Thanks so much. 

WEINER:  Thank you. 

SCHULTZ:  Coming up, a “psycho” pastor in Florida is turning 9/11 into “Burn Koran Day.”  How disgusting.  This puts our troops even in more danger, according to General Petraeus, and has led to the “Death to America” protests overseas. 

Mike Papantonio will blast off on that at the bottom of the hour. 

He‘s always got a lot to say.

And The Beckster‘s backup says his rally was “the largest gathering in American history”?  I‘ve got a history lesson for him.  In the “Zone,” that is. 

All that, plus the president burns “The Tan Man.”  And I‘ve got a message for the White House chief of staff: Run, Rahm, run. 

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.

There‘s been a lot of talks about the midterms being a Republican wave election.  Yes, right.  Now there are reports predicting a righty tsunami. 

Hard-core conservatives can‘t wait to vote in November.  They are way more fired up about the midterms than progressives are, apparently. 

Americans are worried.  They are growing more pessimistic about the job market and the overall economy. 

The confidence in the economy hasn‘t been this low in over two years.  Only 26 percent think that things will improve next year, but I think this is far from over, especially now that the president is going on the offensive. 

He started to hammer with the Republicans for doing absolutely nothing to help. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  They drove our economy into a ditch, and we got in there and put on our boots, and we pushed and we shoved.  And we were sweating, and these guys were standing, watching us, sipping on a Slurpee. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  Joining me now is Joan Walsh, editor-in-chief of Salon.com. 

Joan, does the president still have the magic to turn this around?  Can he still connect and motivate voters to get out there and do what they‘ve got to do?  What do you think? 

JOAN WALSH, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, SALON.COM:  Well, I love the line about the Slurpee.  I laughed out loud when I heard it the first time, Ed.

So, you know, he was fired up there.  He seemed to really enjoy himself.  He needs to get out there and be among working people, union people, a little bit more, because he was fired up.  He was firing on all cylinders, and he was really bringing the message that the Republicans are going to send us back into the ditch. 

So I think rhetorically, he did very well.  And I‘m with you, Ed.  You know, we see all these tracking polls and these national identification polls.  And the Democrats are behind two things.

First of all, we don‘t vote nationally.  We vote district by district and state by state.  And there are going to be hard-fought campaigns on the ground in all of those places. 

SCHULTZ:  Yes. 

WALSH:  The second thing is, if you do believe in those polls, the Gallup tracking poll today, Democrats were 10 points behind last week, now we‘re tied.  So who knows?  It‘s—what we know is it‘s volatile, Ed. 

SCHULTZ:  Here‘s President Obama talking about how he‘s been treated by the Republicans.  Here it is. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA:  -- taking on some powerful interests, some powerful interests who had been dominating the agenda in Washington for a very long time.  And they are not always happy with me.  They talk about me like a dog. 

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA:  That‘s not in my prepared remarks.  It‘s just—but it‘s true. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  What did you make of that, Joan? 

WALSH:  You know, I think he‘s finally maybe waking up to the fact that as bipartisan as he has tried to be, Ed, they are not reaching his hands out, and that, yes, the powerful interests are out to get him. 

If you just look at the way Wall Street contributions in the last year have turned around from majority to the Democrats, to big majority to the Republicans, they think—as timid as we thought financial reform was in some ways, they are having none of it.  They are after him.  They are after the Democrats.  And he‘s got to figure, you know, which side is he on and know that most of the American people are on his side if he frames it that way. 

SCHULTZ:  Yes.  I thought that was a real moment.  He made the point that it was off script. 

WALSH:  Right.  No one wrote that for him.

SCHULTZ:  He wanted everybody to know it was off script. 

But I can see him walking by a television set in the White House, or walking into the room and turning to somebody and say, “You know, they talk about me like I‘m a dog.” 

WALSH:  Yes. 

SCHULTZ:  Which tells me this president knows he‘s fighting the right

fights.  He knows what he‘s up against.  And I—and that just tells me,

that one line, this guy wants to win for the American people.  He talked a

lot—in fact, he‘s talked more about the middle class in the last 30 days

than he ever has in his presidency the first 22 months

WALSH:  He‘s got his voice back. 

SCHULTZ:  I think he does, but he doesn‘t have the numbers. 

Which party will you vote for in the midterms?  Here it is: NBC News/”Wall Street Journal,” 53 percent Republicans, 35 percent Democrats. 

What do you make of that number? 

WALSH:  Well, it‘s what I said before.  Those are national numbers, but when you get district by district it looks very different.  Now, there are some districts where Democrats are way behind, but there are districts where Democrats are running a great campaign. 

The other thing that we have to acknowledge is that there is, as you discussed before, this huge enthusiasm gap.  You know, the firm Public Policy Polling came out with a poll last week, and they found that in five battleground states, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Illinois, Missouri, that the Democrats would be either way ahead or roughly tied if Democrats were turning out in the numbers that they did in 2008.  But as of right now, they are not. 

SCHULTZ:  And quickly, Joan, your response to Tom DeLay saying that he would want the Republicans to repeal everything? 

WALSH:  Well, I want that message to get out there.  That message of negativity needs to get out there. 

SCHULTZ:  Wouldn‘t that infuriate women though, equal pay for women? 

I mean, this—

WALSH:  Lilly Ledbetter.  You know, sorry, Lilly.  Come back, because we‘re going to have an un-signing ceremony at the White House. 

You know, it‘s horrible, their agenda.  It‘s backwards. 

SCHULTZ:  Yes. 

WALSH:  And the more it‘s out there, I think the more Americans are going to have to look at it and say, is that what we want?  And I think the answer will be no. 

SCHULTZ:  Joan Walsh, great to have you with us tonight.  Thanks so much.

WALSH:  Thanks, Ed. 

SCHULTZ:  Coming up, Fox News‘ resident judge is spending so much time with his “Fox & Friends,” he‘s acting like he‘s one of the team. 

We‘re going to bench him next in the “Zone.”  Stay with us. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  And in “Psycho Talk” tonight, Fox‘s greatest legal mind maybe ever.  Judge Andrew Napolitano joined Steve Doocy on “Fox & Friends” this morning.  The two were chatting about Glenn Beck‘s angry, old, white person rally when Napolitano threw out this whopper --  

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW NAPOLITANO, SR. JUDICIAL ANALYST:  Five years ago the Tea Party did not exist as a national movement. 

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  That‘s right. 

NAPOLITANO:  Three years ago the big party—the big-government progressives of both parties laughed at it.  Now Glenn Beck assembles the largest gathering in American history, the largest political gathering in the past 40 years. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

SCHULTZ:  Zero for 2 there, buddy. 

First of all, Glenn Beck, he endlessly insisted his gathering wasn‘t a political one.  And second, even if we use Glenn beck‘s own estimate of how many people actually attended this rally, it didn‘t come close to the largest gathering in American history.  A little fact there. 

In fact, Napolitano was so off base, Doocy called him out on it. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY:  Earlier, Judge Napolitano was on the program and said that the Glenn Beck rally was the largest political rally.  But you know what?  There were a couple of other biggies like the Pro-Choice March for Women‘s Lives in 2004.  Nearly one million gathered for that. 

So we just wanted to clarify. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  Yes.  Just clarify it, but make sure you do it when he‘s not there in front of your face. 

For once, Doocy actually got it right.  But he didn‘t have to go back to 2004.  He conveniently skipped right over January 20, 2009, a pretty big gathering on the National Mall that day, don‘t you think?  About 1.8 million people, according to “The Washington Post” and the National Park Service. 

Napolitano‘s judgment is seriously impaired here.  When Steve Doocy tells you you‘re wrong, you know that you are guilty of big-time “Psycho Talk.”  

Coming up, “The Tan Man” is getting roasted in his own back yard.  President Obama is finally getting a piece of Boehner and, of course, I absolutely love it.  Congressman Elijah Cummings takes a few swipes on this one when we come back and gives us the political climate. 

And Rahm Emanuel might be eyeing the mayor‘s chair in Chi-Town.  Progressives are delivering a message to him: We won‘t forget how you left us behind.  Going to get “Rapid Fire Response” on that.

And nut job Sharron Angle has the gall to say that she‘s going to be mainstream if she gets in the Senate; a hate pastor green-lights “Burn a Koran Day”; and Jan Brewer backtracks about the headless bodies in the desert. 

You‘re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC.  Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  Welcome back to THE ED SHOW.  The Battleground story tonight, President Obama is hammering the tan man and he‘s taking the fight to his backyard.  The president of the United States will be stumping on the economy in John Boehner‘s home state of Ohio tomorrow.  In Milwaukee for Labor Day, the president took the wannabe speaker to task for calling a jobs bill for teachers, police officers and fire fighters a government bailout.  

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  The republican who thinks he‘s going to take over as speaker—I‘m just saying that‘s his opinion.  He‘s entitled to his opinion, but—but—but when he was asked about this, he dismissed those jobs as government jobs that weren‘t worth safe.  That‘s what he said.  I‘m quoting, “government jobs.”  

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  Boehner already blasted the president‘s $50 billion proposal to improve infrastructure calling it more failed stimulus spending.  The republican leader in the House might want to know the actual stimulus bill created more than 21,000 jobs this spring in Ohio alone.  For more, let‘s bring in Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings.  Congressman, good to have you with us tonight.  

REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS (D), MARYLAND:  It‘s good to be with you, Ed.  

SCHULTZ:  Has the president stepped it up in your opinion?

CUMMINGS:  The president has stepped it up, but he needs to do it even more.  I think that—I think he‘s about 65 percent to the point that I would like to see him.  He‘s got to, Ed, get back to campaign mode, that is the mode that he was in when he was running, and he has got to remind the American people that we are on a path to recovery, that it‘s going to take a while but that the things that he is doing, the things that he‘s proposing will get us there, and that‘s the key, and he‘s got to show that optimism, and I think that—the American people need to hear that because clearly when you look at what Boehner is saying, repeal health care reform, repeal Wall Street reform, take away 60,000 jobs that would be created by the recovery bill.  

SCHULTZ:  Yes.  

CUMMINGS:  And a lot of his constituents, by the way, would get some of those 60,000 jobs, I mean, come on.  There‘s something wrong with that picture, and hopefully if the president comes out there and does this over and over and over again, I think that it would help tremendously.  

SCHULTZ:  The republicans have created this narrative that small businesses are going to get a tax increase.  I have a small business, and my taxes are not going up.  I want to say that first off.  They also claim that the president doesn‘t know how to create jobs.  Tomorrow, the president is going to offer that capital improvements over the next couple of years, if businesses do this, they will get a 100 percent, 100 percent write-off on capital improvements for the next two years which would be $200 billion back into the economy and that would mean $200 billion of assets not taxed by small businesses across the country.  Now, it‘s almost too good to be true.  I have never seen a president or an economic team offer up such an olive branch.  Why is he doing this?  Is he just trying to prove a point or does he really believe it?

CUMMINGS:  No, he really believes it and what he‘s trying to do—basically, what he‘s done is taking up a proposal that normally republicans would be jumping up and down about, but because now it‘s coming from President Obama they—they have no—they don‘t like it.  

SCHULTZ:  Yes.  

CUMMINGS:  Suddenly.  But the fact is that he‘s reaching out trying to get these businesses to invest and to do the things that are necessary to keep our economy going and move it forward, but they basically are the party of no, and that‘s the way they see it, and basically this is about them getting to the next election and getting—being victorious in this election coming up and so that‘s not good enough.  

SCHULTZ:  No, it‘s not.  Here‘s the president almost making a comical point about all of this.  

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA:  Even on things we usually agree on, they say no.  If I said the sky was blue, they‘d say no.  If I said fish live in the sea, they‘d say no.  

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  And on top of that you can‘t get any better than 100 percent write off.  

(LAUGHTER)

CUMMINGS:  No, you can‘t get any better than that.  But hopefully the public—we‘ve got 60 days, Ed, and hopefully the public will begin to see and realize that this president truly cares.  He‘s giving it his best and that we are on the way to recovery.  No doubt about it.  

SCHULTZ:  Well, we are on the way to recovery.  There are some positive things that are happening out there, but it would seem to me that every democratic elected official and leader is going to have to step out and say, this was not a 22-month plan, because I don‘t think we‘re going to get anything done in September and October.  

CUMMINGS:  No, I don‘t think so either, Ed, but the president has got to talk about the long range.  In other words, we‘ve got to do things now, plant the seeds so that the economy will grow, so that people will get jobs, but if we do nothing.

SCHULTZ:  Do you support him on the $50 billion proposal on infrastructure?

CUMMINGS:  I certainly—I support him, and, of course, the details we still have to see.  

SCHULTZ:  Yes.  

CUMMINGS:  But I‘m for that.  I think it‘s a good idea, and that‘s direct—those are direct jobs, Ed, and—and the proposals that he‘ll put forth tomorrow I think are very, very good, too.  

SCHULTZ:  Finally, do you want Rahm Emanuel to stay or go?

CUMMINGS:  I want the president to have the very best team that he can have, and I think that‘s a call that the president has to make.  

SCHULTZ:  Congressman, great to have you with us tonight.  Thanks so much.  

CUMMINGS:  All right.  Thank you. 

SCHULTZ:  Now, let‘s get some rapid fire response from our panel on these stories. 

Tea Party-backed Senate nominee Sharron Angle promises she will be a, quote, “mainstream” senator if elected. 

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley says, he won‘t seek re-election next year opening the door for chief of staff Rahm Emanuel to take his place.  

And the NAACP has launched a Tea Party tracker to monitor Tea Partiers for racism and other forms of extremism. 

With us tonight, Joe Madison, XM Satellite radio talk show host and Ron Christie, republican strategist.  Gentlemen, good to have you with us tonight.  

RON CHRISTIE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST:  Thank you. 

SCHULTZ:  Let‘s start with Sharron Angle, Ron, is she capable of mainstream thinking after being on record saying she wants to get rid of the Department of Education, the IRS, Social Security and Medicare?

CHRISTIE:  Well, sure she is.  Good evening, Ed.  I think she‘s certainly more mainstream than the current senate majority leader, this a gentleman who referred to the current president of the United States as a Negro who could speak with an African-American dialect when it suited him, this from a man who said the war in Iraq was lost which of course our brave men and women in Iraq prevailed through the surge.  So, if you want to talk about who‘s more than mainstream, with some of the comments that Majority Leader Reid has made, let‘s say that Sharron Angle who was not an elected official is far more in the mainstream than the number one person in the Senate. 

SCHULTZ:  Joe, what do you think?

JOE MADISON, XM SATELLITE RADIO TALK SHOW HOST:  Well, Reid apologized for those remarks because he was called to task by people like you and myself and others.  Sharron hasn‘t apologized for comments about wanting to get rid of Social Security.  I think she wanted to end public education.  You know, she hasn‘t apologized.  Of course, she‘s not going to be mainstream, and the people of Nevada aren‘t going to be fooled by, again, a pr move because the press has hammered her about being an extremist in her ideology and her political utterances. 

SCHULTZ:  Ron?

CHRISTIE:  Well, with the economy in Nevada at 14.5 percent unemployment, I think that there‘s serious leadership that‘s lacking in the state, and Sharron Angle could step in and fill that void certainly better than Mr. Reid and, of course, Speaker Pelosi and the president have done, taken the unemployment rate in the country from a national average of 6.7 percent to where it is at 9.6 percent.  They promised a lot and they haven‘t delivered.  

MADISON:  Well, remember, this is the same Sharron Angle who said that her job wasn‘t to bring jobs to Nevada, if I‘m not mistaken.  

CHRISTIE:  Well, this is the same senate majority leader but again. 

MADISON:  No, she said that wasn‘t her job, so why would you bring up unemployment when she says she really doesn‘t have anything—she can‘t do anything about it and it‘s not her job to do anything about it, and I think those are her comments.  

CHRISTIE:  Well, because, Joe, my friend, the fact of the matter is that Reid, Pelosi and the president have promised that they will turn this economy around, they‘ve said that they are in the mainstream of where the American people are, and they have promised and they have not delivered on those promises.  

MADISON:  We‘re not talking about Reid, we‘re talking about her.  

(CROSSTALK)

SCHULTZ:  Ron, I got to ask you, is Obama abolished Social Security and Medicare, do you think that‘s an extreme position?

CHRISTIE:  I think that‘s an extreme position, I think that‘s one that the party hasn‘t adopted. 

SCHULTZ:  Well, she claims that she would be a mainstream.

CHRISTIE:  She doesn‘t speak for the entire party, Ed, any more than one particular democrat.

SCHULTZ:  She did say that she would be a mainstream.  Is that mainstream thinking?

CHRISTIE:  I think, she certainly more mainstream thinking, of thinking that our current system of entitlements have failed us.  We‘re trillions of dollars in the hole.  There‘s no such thing as a trust fund where this monies are going to come from.  We are in the hole.  We are paying out far more now than we‘re taking into treasury.  It‘s not mainstream to allow this to go forward.  

SCHULTZ:  But clearly the majority of Americans do not want Medicare and Social Security absolutely abolished and that‘s what she is on record saying.  All right.  Now, there‘s some trouble in the left ranks of America.  Here we have the progressive group, the PCCC is basically saying, if Rahm Emanuel leaves and he‘s in Chicago running for mayor, they‘re not going to support him.  Here is the statement coming out from Adam Green and the PCCC.  And he‘s asking people to sign this petition.  “I will not support Rahm Emanuel in any future election for Congress, mayor of Chicago, governor or other office.  He sold us out on the public option, he‘s a weak democrat who caves instead of fighting conservatives and corporate power.  We won‘t forget the choices you‘ve made, Rahm.”  They go on to say that they think that Rahm Emanuel, the PCCC, says that Rahm Emanuel is a cancer on the Democratic Party.  Joe, what‘s happening here?

MADISON:  Well, unless that person is a voter of Chicago it doesn‘t make any difference.  

SCHULTZ:  But isn‘t this a get the hell out of dodge, we don‘t want anything to do with you again?

MADISON:  Yes, that‘s exactly what it is, and a lot of people feel that way.  Here‘s what I wanted to say  today about this, and that is I think we would be better of if Rahm Emanuel is leaving to talk about who replaces him.  That‘s the most important part of the debate, because once he‘s gone, he‘s gone.  Chicago is his problem, and we‘re going to need a strong go-get him type of chief that can implement the policies of Barack Obama, so I would not spend a whole lot of time about whether he—what happens once he leaves.  

SCHULTZ:  And Ron Christie, I‘m going to play good friend partisan tonight.  I‘m not going to give you a chance to respond to that one because your poll numbers are too good right now, I don‘t like them.  

CHRISTIE:  At least you admitted that, Ed, and we‘re getting somewhere, my friend.  

(LAUGHTER)

SCHULTZ:  All right.  Quickly, the NAACP launching a Tea Party tracker.  Ron, what about this?

CHRISTIE:  I‘m a little concerned about this.  You didn‘t see an extremism or racism tracker when President George W. Bush was in the White House with some of the code pink terrible malicious things that they did about him, that they did about Dr. Condoleezza Rice and the Secretary of State Colin Powell that were  very racist, very inflammatory. 

SCHULTZ:  Joe, what do you think?

MADISON:  Well, look, I‘m the one with the NAACP experience here.  Fourteen years on the board, 25 years with the organization.  Go back and look at the history of Walter White, Charlie Houston, Thurgood Marshall, Roy Wilkins, this is exactly what they did.  The only difference is—the only difference is their tools were a printing press.  Today we have the cyberspace, so this is the history of the NAACP and what makes this country great.

SCHULTZ:  Joe Madison, Ron Christie, always a great discussion.  Great to have you with us tonight.  Thanks so much.  

CHRISTIE:  Thank you, Ed.

MADISON:  Thank you.

SCHULTZ:  Coming up, Islamophobia is out of control.  A Florida pastor is planning a Burn A Koran Day, while foreign protesters vow death to America.  General Petraeus says, it‘s putting our troops in danger.  Mike Papantonio has a message for the hate merchants, next in the playbook.  Stay with us.                            

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  And it‘s 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 believe Beck, Limbaugh and Palin are fueling political extremism?  Press the number one for yes.  Press the number two for no.  Again, the number to dial is 1-877-ed-msnbc.  We‘re right back.                                     

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  And in my Playbook tonight, a psycho church pastor in Florida planning to have a Burn A Koran Day on September 11th even though they were denied a permit to demonstrate.  The event is sparking outrage overseas, including this protest in Afghanistan, complete with burning American flags and chants of death to America.  General Petraeus spoke out against it saying, burning Korans will put American soldiers in harm‘s way.  Quote, he says, “It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort.  It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems.”  Not just here, but everywhere in the world where we are engaged with the Islamic community. 

But the radical pastor won‘t back down saying his church plans to go through with it because, quote, “we must send a clear message to the radical element of Islam.”  We will no longer be controlled and dominated by their fears and threats.  Attorney General Eric Holder met with faith leaders today to discuss the rise of anti-Muslim violence.  The leaders just told NBC News, Holder described this violence as, quote, “the greatest civil rights challenge of our time.”  They quoted him as saying the Burn A Koran day plan is, quote, “idiotic and dangerous.” 

Joining me now is Mike Papantonio, host of the nationally syndicated radio show “Ring of Fire” and activist attorney.  Mike, good to have you with us.  What do you make of all of this?  Holder is coming out saying, this puts it at a new level, don‘t you think?

MIKE PAPANTONIO, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST:  Well, Holder knows that this is naturally what flows from the fox type of anti-mosque caliber of hate and fear mongering that we‘ve seen occur in this  country.  Creepy critters like this preacher crawl out from underneath all of that filth, and that‘s what we should have expected when they started their mosque attack.  This is exactly a constant flow from it.  Every fringe group in America, all over the world, every fringe group just needs a reason to act.  

SCHULTZ:  Yes.  

PAPANTONIO:  Whether that reason comes from Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh or Terry Jones, they are always looking for that fringe nut to get them to act.  It‘s no different from the years building up to the abortion bombings that took place, building up to the abortion doctor murders that took place.  It‘s no different.  It begins with a Terry Jones. 

Unfortunately, the very fact that Terry Jones had preacher in front of his name allowed him to appear on television shows as if he‘s credible.  The media forgets the idea that you can get a preacher license overnight with a mail order, and so we‘ve got 40 oddballs and an oddball guy who calls himself a preacher that is simply a natural flow from the Glenn Beck, the Rush Limbaugh kind of hate talk that we‘ve seen since Obama took office.  

SCHULTZ:  But you can‘t put this genie back in the bottle, I mean, the fact is this hurt protesters overseas, this is hurting us.  You have the highest ranking military official doing this battle in Afghanistan on record now saying that this is putting our soldiers in danger.  So how do we fix this, if we do?

PAPANTONIO:  Well, the first thing you do is you stop giving this guy time to appear on television programs.  You talk to the producers at FOX and say, you know what?  This country matters more than your ratings.  Democracy in this country matters more than your outlandish statements about how mosques are a threat to us, how Muslims are a threat to us.  We have to begin with a real discussion by the people who put money ahead of the best interest of this country.  That‘s the root of it.  

SCHULTZ:  OK.  

PAPANTONIO:  If you follow this mosque story, this guy flows from the mosque story.  He is—he‘s no different from the fringe that that station encourages all of the time, and my bet is we‘re going to see this character on FOX more times giving a speech about hate than you‘re going to be able to count.  

SCHULTZ:  Mike Papantonio, always a pleasure.  Good you have to with us tonight, Mike.  Thank you so much.  

PAPANTONIO:  Thank you. 

SCHULTZ:  Some final pages of the Playbook tonight.  Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is admitting she lost her head.  Remember, back in June when she said this?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JAN BREWER ®, ARIZONA:  Our law enforcement agencies have found bodies in the desert either buried or just lying out there that have been beheaded.  

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  Well, she finally fessed up telling the AP, Associated Press, she misspoke about those headless bodies turning up in the Arizona desert.  Hey, at least she wouldn‘t have to debate that.  

And the infamous White House party chaser desperate to keep her 15 minutes of fame might be bearing it all in “Playboy.”  TMZ reports, the real housewives of D.C. star is posing fully nude for the magazine, but a spokesperson says, it‘s just a rumor.  Up next, this man is furious with Harry Reid and Congress.  He‘s begging them to pay up on a ten-year billion dollar debt to black farmers in this country who have been cheated for years.  He sounds off next.  Stay with us.    

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  And finally tonight, black farmers of America are still fighting for the justice they technically won 11 years ago.  In 1999 the farmers won the biggest civil rights settlement in American history.  After generations of racial discrimination, the government was supposed to pay them $2 billion, but year after year, Congress has failed to appropriate the funds.  The farmers, well, they are still old $1.5 billion, and they are ramping up the pressure. 

John Boyd is the president of the National Black Farmers Association. 

Just traveled from Virginia to New York with his mule named struggle.  Today, he stood on the courthouse steps in Lower Manhattan to call on the Senate to act. 

Mr. Boyd, good to have you with us tonight.  Appreciate your time. 

What‘s the next legal step here, John?

JOHN BOYD, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL BLACK FARMERS ASSOCIATION:  Well, I‘m hopeful that, you know, that the Senate will act here after they come back from recess on September 13th.  

SCHULTZ:  Well, they haven‘t for 11 years.  

BOYD:  Well, they haven‘t for 11 years and that was one reason why I brought my mule to New York City today to raise the visibility and to let New Yorkers and the world know that black farmers have not received their settlement and the Congress—the Senate basically has failed seven times to pass this bill.  

SCHULTZ:  Boyd—Mr. Boyd, I‘m told that it takes a black farmer 400 days to process a loan with the  USDA compared to 30 days for white farmers.  Is that true?

BOYD:  That‘s very true, and it‘s really a national disgrace that we have statistics like that.

SCHULTZ:  Why?

BOYD: .and black farmers have been losing land.  It‘s based on discrimination in farm lending programs.  

SCHULTZ:  What does Tom Vilsack say to you when you bring this up to him?

BOYD:  Well, he says, he‘s very supportive, he says that he‘s working the Senate but the reality here is that the bill has failed seven times, and we need republicans and democrats to come back in September and pass this bill because black farmers have been waiting too long, you know, Ed.  They are dying, and they don‘t deserve this.  

SCHULTZ:  And how many black farmers are we talking about in America?

BOYD:  Tens of—well, tens of thousands of black farmers in this case.  There‘s 40,000 black farmers  that make a living by farming, but there‘s—this case goes back to 1981 to 1996, and there‘s—nearly 80,000 black farmers have filed late claims through the original settlement, and that‘s what this case is all about, so we really need the Senate to act, and the black farmers have done everything right here.  We have a judgment against the United States Department of Agriculture.  We have a passed bill that‘s already written into law that says, the Congress that will enact it.  

SCHULTZ:  It‘s an incredible social injustice that‘s unfolding in front of our eyes.  Mr. Boyd, we‘ll not going to let this story go.  Thanks for joining us tonight.  We‘ll do it again. 

BOYD:  Thank you very much.

SCHULTZ:  Tonight in our telephone survey, I asked you, do you believe beck, Limbaugh and Palin are fueling political extremism?  Ninety four percent of you said yes, six percent of you said no.  That‘s THE ED SHOW.  I‘m Ed Schultz.  For more on our rally on October 2nd, you can go to my website at wegoted.com for more details.  “HARDBALL” with Chris Matthews starts right now.  We‘ll see you tomorrow night. 

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