THE ED SHOW with ED SCHULTZ
August 31, 2012
Guests: Van Jones, Brad Dutcher, Ron McInroy, Nina Turner
ED SCHULTZ, HOST: Good evening, Americans. And welcome to THE ED
SHOW, live from Indianapolis.
Sixty-seven days until the 2012 election and the fact-free Republican
convention is all history now. And after three days of nonstop lies,
tonight, I`m going to set the record straight. What is the truth?
This is THE ED SHOW -- let`s get to work.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Unlike President Obama, I will
not raise taxes on the middle class of America. I have a plan to create 12
million new jobs. I will begin my presidency with a jobs tour. President
Obama began his presidency with an apology tour.
SCHULTZ (voice-over): The truth takes a beating in Tampa. As the
Republican convention ends with another flurry of lies. Will the Romney
campaign`s strategic dishonesty work?
REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We will not duck
the tough issues.
SCHULTZ: Richard Wolffe and Van Jones have the convention fallout.
Josey Whales rides again.
CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR: This isn`t necessary. You can just ride on.
SCHULTZ: Even the president is mocking the Clint Eastwood disaster.
EASTWOOD: I`m not going to shut up. It`s my turn.
SCHULTZ: Tonight, how the Romney camp made the decision to allow the
Clint Eastwood fiasco and how Republicans are trying to bail him out.
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Eastwood succeeding in getting
under Obama`s skin.
SCHULTZ: And victory for voters in Ohio. The Republican suppression
effort is overruled by a federal judge.
Set your DVRs because State Senator Nina Turner is here to respond.
STATE SEN. NINA TURNER (D), OHIO: Truth of the matter is that it`s
Republicans who are suppressing the vote.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCHULTZ: Good to have you with us tonight folks. Thanks for
watching.
Well, people are talking about the winners and the losers at the
Republican convention that just wrapped up in Tampa. Who came out on top?
Who missed the mark?
But the biggest loser by far as I see it, was the truth. The truth
took a real beating in Tampa, Florida. The overriding theme of the
Republican National Convention was dishonesty. And it was embraced by
Republicans from all wings of the party, up and down the ticket.
This was a convention where the theme of an entire day`s worth of
programming was a manipulated quote from President Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC CHAIRMAN: The president said if you`ve got a
business, you didn`t build that.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: If you`ve got a
business, you didn`t build that. Well, you know what we do with him, don`t
you? We`d throw him out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`ll tell you if you got a business, you didn`t
build that. Somebody else made that happen.
GOV. BOB MCDONNELL (R), VIRGINIA: We applaud your success. You did
make that happen. You did build that in America.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
SCHULTZ: Imagine if the Democrats spent an entire day of their
convention based on Mitt Romney`s out of context remark about being able to
fire people. That was one of mitt`s dandies, wasn`t it?
Republicans spent a day saying that President Obama attacked small
business. Now, of course, the president never said such a thing. The
president was talking about the American system, which was built by all of
us. Not just one person.
This distortion of the truth only scratched the surface. The
Republicans were not interested in having any honest debate about the
issues this week. They did not want to talk about President Obama`s actual
role in the economy.
By every measurement, economic growth is better today than it was when
President Obama took office. The stimulus created 3.3 million jobs.
That`s a fact.
And the president has not raised taxes on small businesses. That`s
another fact.
And these are facts -- but facts, you know, they were not welcome at
the Republican National Convention.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
PRIEBUS: They say, oh, it`s not his fault. Well, we have news for
the media. We knee that things were bad, but that`s no excuse for making
things worse.
TED CRUZ (R-TX), U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: We`re going broke.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where`s the president`s economic plan? Blaming
others does not qualify as a plan.
RYAN: President Obama has added more debt than any other president
before him. And more than all of the troubled governments of Europe
combined.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA: A $800 billion stimulus that created
more debt than jobs?
ROMNEY: His plan to raise taxes on small business won`t add jobs. It
would eliminate them.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
SCHULTZ: Republicans also unveiled a debt clock, but failed to
mention most of the debt comes from unpaid wars and tax cuts for the rich,
both coming from the previous administration. You can`t get away from it.
But the symbolism of what they wanted to do is put that clock up and
say, hey, it`s Obama`s fault.
Perhaps the Republicans would find it in themselves to have an honest
discussion about President Obama`s foreign policy and national security
record.
This is the president who ordered the killing of Osama bin Laden.
Found him, number one. Found him, and then ordered the killing.
He helped dispose Gadhafi in Libya and brought an end to the war in
Iraq which was a campaign promise.
Now, if you`re looking for honesty about these issues, folks, you were
simply at the wrong convention.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: We can`t afford to cost our friends
and allies from Latin America to Europe to Asia to the Middle East and
especially in Israel, a nation under existential threat, to doubt America`s
leadership.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We cannot be
reluctant to lead, and you cannot lead from behind.
ROMNEY: His trillion dollar cuts to our military will eliminate
hundreds of thousands of jobs and also put our security at greater risk.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
SCHULTZ: Last Friday, Mitt Romney brought up the president of the
United States, his birth certificate. They can`t get away from that -- but
wait a minute, it was just a joke.
But the day after the Republican convention, speakers lined up to
question President Obama`s Americanness. Is he really an American?
President Obama has been president of the United States for nearly four
years and Republicans are still questioning his values as an American
citizen. It`s the twisted version of the truth and it was embraced by
everybody in the room.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
PRIEBUS: Barack Obama has a problem with the American dream.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Obama is stifling the American dream, primarily
because it isn`t his dream.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: What this
administration has in mind for America isn`t a renewal. It`s a great
leveling out.
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), FORMER ARKANSAS GOVERNOR: Barack Obama seems
intent on enrolling more people on food stamps.
ROMNEY: President Obama began his presidency with an apology tour.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
SCHULTZ: I know you`re about ready to throw up, but please bear with
me. Of course, it wouldn`t be the Republican National Convention without
more dishonesty about welfare and Medicare.
The Republican lie about the work requirement and welfare has been
debunked time and time again by the mainstream media and they`re correct.
It`s a flat out lie, saying that the president raided Medicare to pay for
Obamacare is also dishonest.
Now, the government got rid of wasteful overpayments from Medicare and
the savings are going right back to consumers. I do believe people got
checks in August.
There is no debate about these falsehoods, but Republicans keep
repeating them anyway. They don`t care. They just keep doing that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
RICK SANTORUM (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That`s why work was
the centerpiece of the bipartisan welfare reform law.
ARTUR DAVIS, FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: This current crowd guts the
welfare work requirement in the dead of night and won`t tell the truth
about it.
NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: Obama`s waiving of the work
requirements in welfare reform is just one example of his direct
repudiation of President Reagan`s values.
RYAN: Seven hundred and sixteen billion dollars funneled out of
Medicare by President Obama.
ROMNEY: His $716 billion cut to Medicare to finance Obamacare will
both hurt today`s seniors and depress innovation and jobs in medicine.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
SCHULTZ: Did I hear Newt Gingrich say Reagan? Let`s talk about that
for a moment. Actually, it`s really sad.
When Ronald Reagan was pushing back against Medicare, he didn`t lie
about it. He had a philosophy. Reagan believed socialized medicine would
be a mistake for this country and he said so in a political recording.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
RONALD REAGAN, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Now, the American people, if
you put it to them about socialized medicine and gave them a chance to
choose, would unhesitatingly vote against it.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Well, it turns out that Ronny was wrong on that.
But Reagan, he didn`t lie to make his point. I wonder what Ronald
Reagan would have thought of the dishonesty on display in this name over
the past three days. If you want to know how far the Republicans are
willing to go when it comes to a lie, you don`t have to look further than
this one, Jeb Bush.
Now, I understand a brother`s love for a brother. I got all that.
And I understand family reputation. But here`s what the former Florida
governor said about the presidency of his brother, George W. Bush.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEB BUSH (R), FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: He is a man of integrity,
courage, and honor. And during incredibly challenging times, he kept us
safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Well, wait a minute. George W. Bush kept us safe, question
mark, except for one day -- September 11th, when 3,000 Americans were
killed on U.S. soil. If the guy had just paid attention to his August 6th
presidential daily briefing in 2001, it might have been a little different.
Maybe Richard Clark would have something to say about that.
Republicans spent the last three days operating in an alternate
universe where up was down, down was up. Look, listen to Senate Republican
leader Mitch McConnell blast President Obama`s handling of the economic
recovery. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCONNELL: For four long years, Barack Obama`s been running from the
nation`s problems. He hasn`t been working to earn re-election. He`s been
working to earn a spot on the PGA tour.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: McConnell leaves out one very important part. Republicans
like McConnell, they are the very people who have prevented President Obama
from advancing his jobs bill and his economic agenda because they just
don`t want to have him have any success.
Don`t take my word for it. Here`s Mitch McConnell. Here was the
plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCONNELL: Our top political priority over the next two years should
be to deny President Obama a second term.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: That will be in the archives and will be played over and
over again for generations, because our government is broken, it`s broken
because of Republicans and their attitude towards progress in America.
They were out to defeat this president at all costs.
Mitt Romney`s most profound dishonesty last night was trying to make
everybody forget about all of the obstruction and the road blocks from the
Republicans. Maybe he wasn`t paying attention to the news.
Now, according to Romney, everyone, I mean, I tell you what?
Everybody was on the sidelines just rooting for President Obama. It`s just
he couldn`t get it done.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
I wish President Obama had succeeded because I want America to
succeed.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Under his watch, he wanted Obama and America to succeed kind
of together?
Romney said it with a smile on his face, and he, of course, got a
bunch of cheers in the crowd from it. And it is a total lie.
Republicans held meetings in 2009 to stage an all out resistance to
President Obama and anything he wanted to do. Former Republican Senator
George Voinovich of Ohio said, if Obama was for it, we had to be against
it. Pretty much those were the marching orders.
No Republican was rooting for President Obama to succeed. So here we
are, a divided country, headed to November. To say otherwise is just the
height of dishonesty, which sums up the Republican convention.
As you have watched this ED SHOW from time to time, you know that
public education is near and dear to my heart, my mother having been an
English teacher. I couldn`t believe the constant attack from the podium.
Jeb Bush, John Kasich -- Chris Christie from New Jersey, all of these
governors and past governors, Walker didn`t do it but we all know what he`s
done with education in Wisconsin. They all got up in and unison blamed the
teacher and, oh, by the way, it`s the union`s fault.
What I would like to see is a real testimony from teachers at the
Democratic convention about how their cuts in education have affected their
districts. We have done that here on THE ED SHOW, brought teachers on who
dug into their own pocket to supply their classrooms. But this would be
very effective at the Democratic convention to bring teachers on and talk
about these cuts to the tune of $800 million, $900 million to a billion in
some states by these radical governors who want to blame the union and
blame the teachers -- teachers with experience, teachers who know how to
get it done in the classroom, and know how to get results, but, of course,
we`re paying them too much.
And they hide behind choice. It isn`t about choice. It`s about
funding. We`re not talking about grocery shopping. So you go into the
grocery store and you get to pick the best berries you want to eat.
In public education, the doors are open, everybody comes in, and you
have to deal with the issues. And in lower income areas of America, it is
an issue, but the Republicans don`t care. They just want to cut, and they
want to blame the unions, bust the unions and it`s the teacher in the
classroom who is the problem.
This, of course, was another lie that I think the Democrats can really
debunk next week, when they go to Charlotte. Get your cell phones out. I
want to know what you think.
Tonight`s question: can Mitt Romney lie his way into the White House?
Text A for yes, text B for no, to 622639. You can always go to our blog at
Ed.MSNBC.com, and we`ll bring you the results later on in the show.
Coming up, this convention really, what was it? It`s really a
reflection of the nominee, Mitt Romney. So we got a really good look into
Romney`s judgment and his ability to lead, including the Clint Eastwood
fiasco.
Richard Wolffe and Van Jones join me for that.
First, we noticed another thing at this week`s Republican convention.
It seems nearly all of these successful Republicans who got up to the
podium, you know, they were just granted speaking slots to talk about, they
had one thing in common. They grew up poor, and through no help from
society around them at all, they were able to pull themselves up by their
boot straps and did it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
ANN ROMNEY, MITT ROMNEY`S WIFE: My dad got his first job when he was
6 years old.
HUCKABEE: My dad never finished high school.
TIM PAWLENTY: Dad was a truck driver.
CHRISTIE: Dad grew up in poverty.
PAWLENTY: My dad lost his job.
CHRISTIE: Mom also came from nothing.
HUCKABEE: Working poor parents in a meat packing town.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a widow with seven children.
ANN ROMNEY: Basement apartment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tiny, two-bedroom house.
ANN ROMNEY: Pasta and tuna fish.
CHRISTIE: Single mother. Working class.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Working class.
CHRISTIE: Came from nothing.
RYAN: She got on a bus.
CHRISTIE: Took three different buses.
RYAN: Every weekday for years.
CHRISTIE: Everyday to get to work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cleaning sheep pens.
MCDONNELL: A poor farm boy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Working on the railroad.
ANN ROMNEY: A Welsh coal miner.
BOEHNER: Mopping floors, waiting tables, tending bar.
CHRISTIE: They both lived hard lives.
GOV. SUSANA MARTINEZ (R), NEW MEXICO: Paycheck to paycheck.
MAYOR MIA LOVE (R), SARATOGA SPRINGS, UTAH: Ten dollars in their
pocket.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Making 50 cents an hour.
PAUL: A teenager with nothing, not a penny.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Coming up, did the ghost of the GOP`s past and future
overshadow Mitt Romney at the RNC? Van Jones and Richard Wolffe weigh in
next.
The Romney campaign runs from Clint Eastwood`s bizarre speech while
the right wing attempts to rationalize it. We`ll have the details.
And a big victory for voters in the state of Ohio as a judge
overturned early voting restrictions. Ohio State Senator Nina Turner will
join me with reaction. She`s fired up again.
And share you thoughts with us on Facebook and Twitter using the
#EdShow. We`re coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW.
This was Mitt Romney`s convention, wasn`t it? Now, in the end,
everything about it was a reflection on him. And I think it was a very
poor reflection. Mitt Romney claims to be Mr. Fix-it. He can get it done
with the economy.
This is a convention in which every bit of the stage craft is under
the control of Romney and his team. The fact that it went so wrong on so
many levels, I think, is a real problem for the candidate.
On the first night, a good speech by Romney`s wife Ann -- very
touching -- was stepped on by the governor of New Jersey. Chris Christie
of New Jersey, who talked so much about himself for the keynote speech, it
sounded like he was accepting the nomination himself.
Now, let`s go to the second night, featuring the vice presidential
candidate, Paul Ryan, generating basically two storylines. Neither one of
them helping the guy at the top of the ticket, Mitt Romney.
Congressman Ryan flat out lied more than any vice presidential
candidate accepting his party`s nomination and his appearance seemed to
showcase the bench for 2016 much more than to showcase Mitt Romney.
Then came the utter disaster on the final night. You had to love it,
didn`t you? Just as broadcast networks started to cover -- all of America
saw this guy, Clint Eastwood! We know Clint!
But then again, we didn`t know he was going to shamefully embarrass
through an ad-lib on the national stage and really do a job on the
Republicans.
Republicans missed the opportunity to show a video biography of Mitt
Romney and allowed Clint Eastwood to suck up all that air time, just like
Hollywood likes to do.
Marco Rubio`s speech for Romney had to be cut down at the last minute
because Clint Eastwood wouldn`t shut up. Romney`s actual speech didn`t
begin until 36 minutes after the hour.
One more thing: for a convention so determined to keep President
George W. Bush away, there seemed to plenty of reminders. There was his
brother, former Governor Jeb Bush, clearly bitter about President Bush
getting blamed for the economic meltdown in America.
Former Secretary of State Condi Rice. We can`t forget Condi. She`s
pretty bitter about Iraq.
And then, of course, there`s bomb, bomb, bomb Iran -- Senator John
McCain, bitter about losing to President Obama and advocating a foreign
policy so hawkish that we would be in a perpetual state of war -- let`s see
-- well, five fronts. Not four, but five, I think.
Let`s turn to political analyst, MSNBC political analyst Richard
Wolffe with us tonight, and Van Jones, president of Rebuild the Dream and
author of the book by the same name, "Rebuild the Dream."
Gentlemen, great to have you with us tonight.
Richard, you first. If the convention was a reflection of Mitt
Romney, what did it tell us last night? What did we learn?
RICHARD WOLFFE, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it tells us they have
a strange world view. The Romney campaign, Romney himself, has run a very
tactical affair here, and we do focus on shows like this on punching, the
back and forth, the lies and distortions, but if you listen to the
totality, what you heard was an image of America that I think many people
would find unreal. Never mind about the lies and the truth of it.
For a start, they don`t want to talk at all about the crisis that this
president inherited. They say, you can`t talk about that. It`s a bit like
saying, I guess, you couldn`t -- if you`re President Bush, you can`t talk
about 9/11.
But the crisis was real, this president turned around a situation of
losing nearly a million jobs a month to a situation where we`re growing,
albeit, not enough, but still, it`s a turn around. And after all, if you
believe what their candidate is supposed to be about, isn`t turn around
what they want? It was a strange world view they were presenting.
VAN JONES, REBUILD THE DREAM: Yes.
SCHULTZ: You know, on the lie meter alone, Van, the convention was
truly off the charts. I mean, into double figures easily. Is there some
calculation this will work with the public when there are so many news
outlets pushing back on the lies? How is it going to work?
JONES: Well, I just think we have to start off, this is a shameful,
shameful low point for the Republican Party to fall.
Think about the John McCain convention where John McCain talked about
global warming. He came out as a climate champion, a climate hawk, and the
only mention of global warming in the middle of this massive drought and
climate disruption all across the planet is a snarky joke from Mitt Romney
which, you know, essentially attacked President Obama for having the hubris
to want to do something about global warming.
And then you look at no responsibility being taken. I have two sons,
and when I come home, my house is a disaster. I asked my little boy what
happened, he goes, oh, it`s my brother`s fault. I mean, no responsibility
taken by the Republican Party for the shape of the country. Just blame,
blame, accuse and lie.
I was heartbroken to see this party, the people who John McCain was
speaking back to and barking back at, at the end of his campaign when the
Tea Party kind of crowd was standing up and saying Obama is a terrorist, et
cetera, John McCain four years ago had the judgment to say that`s wrong,
we`re not that kind of country.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
JONES: Those people have taken over this party and you have Mitt
Romney now chasing behind people who have fallen to this very, very low
place. This is a shameful, shameful display of dishonesty on the part of a
leading party.
SCHULTZ: Richard --
WOLFFE: Yes. You know, Ed --
SCHULTZ: Richard, what -- go ahead.
WOLFFE: I`m just going to say, you know, I`m still astonished that
Mitt Romney could stand up and say he really wanted to president to succeed
and America to succeed. He`s now head of a party that contributed all of
three votes to the stimulus.
You know, the economy was falling off a cliff. The stock market was
plunging down to half the value it has today. It has doubled in value
since the start of this presidency.
What did the Republican Party? At that moment of crisis, were they
hoping for success? Did they do anything to help the country?
They voted down the stimulus. You could have all sorts of policy
differences, but in a time of crisis, did the Democrats say to President
Bush, you cannot have your war powers? We`re not in a crisis, we`re not
going to come together?
So, you know, they`re just asking people to forget how they behaved
and to say, you know, you got any problems out there in this economy, you
can`t hide, you don`t have a job, you know whose fault it is? President
Obama`s.
It`s just not what is happening in the world. There are governments,
conservatives and liberals around the world who are struggling with the
economy. Voters know the reality.
SCHULTZ: All right. Richard Wolffe, Van Jones, great to have you
with us tonight. Time flies when we`re having fun. I appreciate you being
here.
Clint Eastwood upstages Mitt Romney and now Romney`s campaign ads are
pointing fingers. We`ll have all the reaction to last night`s bizarre
performance.
Then Paul Ryan`s terrible lie about the automobile industry. We`ll
get the truth from the workers who say that Ryan failed to help them when
they needed him the most. We`ll go live to Janesville, Wisconsin. Stay
with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Thanks for watching us tonight. You know, it was supposed
to be Mitt Romney`s night. But Dirty Harry pretty much stole the show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINT EASTWOOD, ACTOR: Mr. President, how do you -- how do you
handle -- how do you handle promises that you have made when you were
running for election? And how do you handle -- how do you handle it? What
do you say to people? Do you -- do you just -- you know, I know people are
wondering. You don`t. You don`t handle it?
OK. Well, I know Some people even in your own party were very
disappointed when you didn`t close Gitmo. I thought, well, I think closing
Gitmo, why close that? We spent so much money on it. But I thought maybe
it`s an excuse. Oh, what do you mean, shut up?
(LAUGHTER)
SCHULTZ: About that Gitmo thing, I think the Republicans didn`t want
to close it. So the president was kind of working with them, if you know
what I mean. Clint Eastwood`s bizarre performance involved improv with an
empty chair. The 82 year old actor talked down to an invisible President
Obama.
By the time Eastwood was finished, 11 minutes later, the social media
in this world went absolutely crazy. It exploded. A new Twitter account,
InvisibleObama, popped up with tens of thousands of followers. A
reinvented Simpsons reference made the rounds on Twitter and Facebook.
Even President Obama weighed in. He was having fun, Tweeting this
picture with the caption, "this seat`s taken." Good one.
Now the Romney campaign is pointing fingers off camera. Romney aides
told the "New York Times" the speech was "strange and weird." One
discredited it as -- described it as "theater of the absurd."
On camera, one senior Romney aide, well, he passed it off as just a
moment of levity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TARA WALL, ROMNEY SENIOR ADVISER: You have to lighten things up. I
think that`s all that was. I think it was a good break in the system, in
the chain of things to lighten up the mood.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Eastwood`s speech was the night`s opening act for most
viewers watching the Republican Convention on network television.
According to the "New York Times," there was no rehearsal for Eastwood.
Who`s going to tell Clint Eastwood, hey, you have to go practice this?
As Buzzfeed reports, the idea to bring out an empty chair came from
the man himself, Clint Eastwood, shortly before going onstage. He said,
get me that chair. A prop aide fetched him the chair without asking any
questions. You`re not going to ask Clint Eastwood what he`s going to do
with an empty chair.
The aide assumed that Eastwood was just going to go out there and sit
down on it. Maybe because he`s 82 years old. I don`t know.
Despite the behind the scenes blame game that`s going on, the Romney
campaign, they insist their candidate enjoyed Eastwood`s performance. An
aide tells the "New York Times," Mitt Romney was laughing backstage.
Ann Romney, who looked uncomfortable throughout the speech, called the
routine "unique."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLIE ROSE, PBS ANCHOR: Seemed to be surprised by the Romney -- I
mean by Clint Eastwood`s performance as the camera took a cut-away of you.
ANN ROMNEY, WIFE OF MITT ROMNEY: I didn`t know it was coming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Romney strategist Stuart Stevens told reporters that
Eastwood did not have prepared remarks. "Listen, the guy went out and did
what actors do. He did a little improv. If someone wants to say it wasn`t
Clint Eastwood`s greatest performance, have at it. Some people didn`t like
"Dirty Harry." Some people didn`t like "Gran Torino. That`s OK."
Stevens got some support from apologists over at Fox News.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: I thought it was, you know -- it was
Clint Eastwood, for God`s sake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was so Clint Eastwood.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s an actor. He`s going to say things and do
things a little bit quirky and different.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, they were like, oh, no, he didn`t. And he
was like, oh, yes I did talk to an empty chair.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn`t think it was bizarre at all. It was a
little "Inside the Actor`s Studio."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: But the host of "Inside the Actor`s Studio," James Lipton,
called the speech disrespectful to the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES LIPTON, "INSIDE THE ACTOR`S STUDIO": He certainly is a friend
of mine. He has been on my show," Inside the Actor`s Studio." I know him
well. We`ve done things together. And I like him enormously. I find him
a very congenial person.
He`s also a great director. Late in his career, became a very great
director. That said, last night was not his best performance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: But there was one person who thought the speech was a
complete success.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I realized what was going on, I
said, this is a great bit. And Eastwood was the essence of simplicity.
Someone`s not doing the job, let him go. Just simple as it could be, real
world simple.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Essence of simplicity, perfect for the Republican
Convention.
There`s a lot more coming up in the next half hour of THE ED SHOW.
Stay with us. We`re coming right back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: So are you making the case that that plant in Janesville
would have better employment today if they had followed Mitt Romney`s
theory of a managed bankruptcy?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Scott Walker, Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney are all lying about
Janesville and the automobile loan. Tonight, the best fact checkers
available, the workers, are here to respond.
Karl Rove gets caught joking about murdering Missouri Senate candidate
Todd Akin. We`ll tell you how the Akin campaign is responding.
And a federal judge sides with the Obama campaign over early voting in
Ohio. State Senator Nina Turner is here with the reaction.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Good to have you back with us. Thanks for watching THE ED
SHOW. One of the biggest lies of this entire Republican Convention was
about one of President Obama`s biggest success stories in the economy.
Paul Ryan claims the president failed to save one particular GM plant in
Wisconsin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RYAN: Candidate Obama said I believe that if our government is there
to support you, this plant will be here for another 100 years. That plant
didn`t last another year. It is locked up and empty to this day. The
recovery that was promised is nowhere in sight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: All right, hold the phone here. Here`s the problem, the
Janesville, Wisconsin, General Motors plant closed right before Christmas
of 2008. General Motors laid off workers, shut down the assembly lines and
ended production almost a month before President Obama took office.
So Paul Ryan is blaming President Obama for failing to save a plant
that was already closed and on the way out. By the way, the Bush
administration -- the Bush administration did not stop the Janesville
shutdown either.
In this story, we need to pay attention to dates. OK? Let`s go to
June 3rd, 2008. White House Spokesperson Dana Perino said, "it`s a sign
that Detroit continues to adopt and evolve and address the change in
consumer tastes and attitudes. And I think that they`re adapting well."
That was seven months before President Obama took the oath of office.
The wheels were in motion. The wheels of bankruptcy were already in motion
for the entire automobile industry. And there were no takers.
General Motors had cut 71,000 jobs since 2008. General Motors had
lost more than 54 billion dollars since 2005. Now, on November 18th, just
several months after that quote from Dana Perino, Mitt Romney wrote
infamously in "the Detroit Free Press," "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt." In
other words, let them die.
The engine -- one of the biggest engines of the United States economy
was told to, you`re on your own. Get out of here. The Republicans still
can`t decide what they want to this day. Ryan actually wanted the
president to micro manage a plant that closed before he took office. At
the same time, Romney and other Republicans wanted to liquidate the entire
industry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOVERNOR SCOTT WALKER (R), WISCONSIN: It could have come back more
effectively and sooner had they taken the advice of Mitt Romney earlier on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Republicans made a serious mistake, hoping to gain points
by trashing the automobile industry loan floated by the government. A
nonpartisan industry watch dog put out these figures over the last year.
Look at the job growth from July of 2009 to the end of 2010. Automakers
added jobs despite the recession.
And according to the "New York Times," 1.5 million people who were
working as a direct result of the automobile loan. In fact, General Motors
announced now that it`s investing 220 million dollars to expand in
Lordstown, Ohio. Today, Vice President Joe Biden told those workers the
loan has been an investment in America.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What they didn`t
tell you, it`s not the Bain way. Not in Mexico, not in China, not in
Vietnam, but in Lordstown, Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland, made in America.
Made in America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan did not mention the automobile
loan today. They left that for the convention. But the Democrats say its
success is going to be playing a big role in their convention next week.
It`s the blame game that`s going on.
Joining us from the UAW Local 95 Hall are two men who worked at the
Janesville, Wisconsin plant, Brad Dutcher and Ron McInroy. Gentlemen, good
to have you with us. Both are with the Region 4 United Auto Workers.
Gentlemen, good to have you with us. Brad, you first, was Paul Ryan
lying when he blamed President Obama for your plant`s closure?
BRAD DUTCHER, FORMER JANESVILLE GM PLANT WORKER: Absolutely.
Absolutely. President Obama -- then Senator Obama had nothing to do with
the decision to close our factory. That was an outright lie.
SCHULTZ: Did Paul Ryan fail to help you at all, Ron? What about
that?
RON MCINROY, DIRECTOR, UAW REGION 4: Yeah, let me correct you,
first, Ed. I really didn`t work at the plant, but I am the director of the
region in which the plant is located. So I just want to correct that a
little bit.
But what I will tell you is where we really believe that Paul Ryan
lied and where he failed at is his inconsistencies. Early on, if you look,
he voted for stimulus package in the early 2000s. And at that time, that
was under George Bush, which again, was a party line vote.
If you look later on in 2008, just like you said earlier, it`s really
about the timeline and how things happen. When this plant closed in 2008,
George Bush was still in office. And their party line politics were in
effect at that time.
When Barack Obama was elected, and in 2009, the plant had already
closed. But what`s really important here is once the plant had closed,
where we needed Mr. Ryan to step up was simply when people needed TA grants
to retool, re-educate themselves, to get back into other jobs, he failed to
do that. He did not want to reach out and do those grants.
As far as where he`s inconsistent on the unemployment, again, early on
in 2000, he was all for extending unemployment. But in 2009 when these
workers here really needed that, when their plant was closed, he again
failed to do that. That`s the inconsistencies.
SCHULTZ: All right, Brad, I want to ask you, are you under the
impression, and do you think that President Obama left the impression that
if he were elected president, that that Janesville plant was going to
remain open?
DUTCHER: Absolutely not. I was in that meeting when President Obama
spoke inside of our plant. There was never a promise made by then Senator
Obama to keep our plant open. Absolutely not. That was completely false.
You know, again, I agree with Ron.
SCHULTZ: Go ahead, Ron.
(CROSS TALK)
MCINROY: Yeah, I didn`t hear the question, Ed.
But I agree, we`re -- where Congressman Ryan really failed us when
these employees needed it the most. And to pull a stunt that he did at the
Republican National Convention and use this, the closing of this plant, and
to disgrace the plight of these workers, when even today, four years after
the closing of the plant, we still have families that are separated. We
have moms and dads that drive four, five states away to come home on the
weekends and see their families.
(APPLAUSE)
MCINROY: And to use that and to turn this plant closing into a
political football is shameful, and he ought to be ashamed of himself. We
all ought to be ashamed of him.
(APPLAUSE)
SCHULTZ: All right, Brad and Ron, I have to ask you, all those
people that are behind you there tonight, are they all Obama supporters?
Do you think they are still Obama supporters, despite the fact that the
plant was shut down?
DUTCHER: Absolutely. This entire room is full of Obama supporters.
When -- when our congressman made the remark that the auto loans -- nobody
in Wisconsin benefited from those auto loans, it`s absolutely false. I
have a lot of retirees sitting behind me that still collect a pension that
they have earned over the years because of those auto loans.
(APPLAUSE)
SCHULTZ: Brad Dutcher and Rob McInroy, I appreciate your time
tonight on THE ED SHOW." We thought there`s been so much talk about fact
checkers in the media. We thought the best fact checkers would be the
people who actually were given notice that they were losing their jobs.
And going to Janesville was the best thing to do. Gentlemen, thanks for
joining us tonight.
Coming up, Ohio State Senator Nina Turner reacts to the big victory
for voters in her state. Stay tuned. We`re right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And in the big finish tonight, it is a big story, biggest
story this election season. One thing Republicans didn`t talk about at
their convention in their party were the GOP voter suppression efforts that
were struck down, struck down in the courts just this week.
On Tuesday, a three-judge panel unanimously struck down a
redistricting plan in Texas. On Wednesday, a federal judge said he would
permanently remove Florida`s restrictions on third-party voter registration
groups. That`s good news again.
And today, yesterday -- excuse me, on Thursday, a three-judge panel
unanimously struck down a Texas voter I.D. law. And today, in the most
crucial electoral state in the country, an Ohio federal judge sided with
the Obama campaign and ordered the state to restore three days of early
voting for all voters before election day.
Now when Ohio allowed early voting in 2008, it boosted turnout and
helped President Obama win election. So Republicans, what did they do?
They changed the law, so that only the military and those overseas could
vote early. When the Obama campaign sues to restore voting rights for
everyone, Ohio Republicans and Mitt Romney pretended the president was
attacking the military.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY: Any effort to impede the right of our military members
overseas or here domestically in voting would be an extraordinary violation
of the trust that we should have for those who served so valiantly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Flat out nasty spin, or he just doesn`t know the issue?
Mitt Romney knows he needs Ohio if he wants to become the next president of
the United States. Luckily, the judge didn`t buy the bogus argument.
Everyone in the state now has equal access to the polls, the way it`s
supposed to be in America.
This decision is a huge victory for democracy and the Obama
administration because the man who wins Ohio is probably going to be the
next president of the United States. But they may have tricks still up
their sleeve.
For more on that, let`s go to Ohio State Senator Nina Turner.
Senator, great to have you with us tonight.
First of all, put into context for us just how big a ruling this is in
favor of democracy?
NINA TURNER, OHIO STATE SENATOR: It`s extraordinary, Ed. The U.S.
district judge did rule, as you have so eloquently illustrated for your
viewers, that it is unconstitutional. The statute that was set up by the
Ohio General Assembly is unconstitutional. And now all voters, both
civilian and military voters, will have equal access to the ballot the last
three days before election day.
This is extraordinary for democracy in Ohio. And also on Monday, Ed,
let us not forget, another U.S. district judge ruled that the state cannot
toss out ballots that are cast based on poll worker error, another victory.
So we had a victory on Monday in the state and we had a victory today in
the state for democracy and for the voters of Ohio.
SCHULTZ: Attorney General Mike DeWine, who is a former U.S. senator
for the Republicans, said that he was going to appeal the decision. He`s
continuing to use the military privileges as the excuse for restricting
other voter rights. How do Democrats fight back on this one, senator?
TURNER: Well, it baffles my mind, Ed. that the A.G would say that he
is planning to appeal this. If he appeals this, make no mistake, it will
not just hurt civilian voters, but it will hurt the very military voters
that he is claiming to defend. It makes no sense to try to take away
access to the ballot for any voters in Ohio, be they military or civilian.
So it`s shameful that he would even say that he`s going to appeal it.
Now, the secretary of state is saying he`s reviewing it. But the A.G.,
within an hour of the judge`s decision, has already declared that he`s
going to appeal it. And it would be wrong -- wrong -- it would be
absolutely wrong to do that.
SCHULTZ: What is the next trick the Republicans are going to play
before election day to suppress the vote in Ohio? What do you think they
have in store now?
TURNER: Well, you know, Ed, they have already caused a lot of
confusion in the state of Ohio. God only knows what other tricks they may
have up their sleeves. But we want the voters to remain vigilant, to
understand the rules of engagement and to make sure that they vote. We are
not going to be turned around. We are not going to let the Republicans
stop us from doing what we know is right.
The right thing is to make sure that voters have access to the ballot.
If they do try to appeal this, Ed, that would be absolutely wrong. But
regardless of what they decide they`re going to do, we`re going to continue
to make sure that the voters in the state are educated, that they know
their rights, and that they get out to vote. We will not be turned around.
SCHULTZ: Do you think President Obama is in good shape in Ohio?
TURNER: I think he is, Ed. But we`re going to make sure that he is,
because we`re going to make sure that people get out to vote. We`re not
going to go on a wing and a prayer. We`re going to go on some sweat equity
here. And we`re going to make sure that our president makes history again.
And the state of Ohio is going to do its part to make sure.
So as long as the Republicans take away their dirty tricks department
-- because we`ve got to watch out for that -- we will insure that the
voters get out there and that they vote for our president.
SCHULTZ: Ohio State Senator Nina Turner, a victory for democracy
this week in the Buckeye State. Great to have you with us tonight on THE
ED SHOW. Appreciate it so much. Thank you.
That`s THE ED SHOW, I`m Ed Schultz. "THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW" starts
right now. Good evening, Rachel.
I hope you got some much deserved sleep and you`re ready to go.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY
BE UPDATED.
END
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The Ed Show for Friday, August 31st, 2012
Read the transcript to the Friday show