THE ED SHOW
April 9, 2014
Guests: Brad Woodhouse, Bob Shrum Angela Rye, Dr. Rani Whitfield, Mike
Papantonio, Nina Turner
ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: Good evening Americans and welcome to the Ed Show
live from New York. I`m ready to go, let`s get to work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is just a week to go before the April 15th
deadline for filing tax.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The American public is angry about offshore tax abuse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it really that hard out there for a pimp with $8
billion?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s absurd for large corporations to be able to stash
huge amounts of money.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They offshore corporations mainly to Cayman Islands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our corporate contribution to the tax revenue is the
lowest of any major country on earth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Indeed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At the expense of the middle class.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, let`s put the politics aside then and do something
that actually works.
BARACK OBAMA, 44TH AND CURRENT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
Give America a raise.
SCHULTZ: Every Democrat should be onboard.
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY, (D) MASSACHUSETTS: We`re prepared about now, now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Good to have you with us tonight folks. Thanks for watching.
It`s all in the numbers. It`s always a numbers game. And the number will
be how many people will actually go to the polls in November, seven months
from now, who believe that if they give the power to the Democrats that
something really good will happen.
We begin tonight with a disturbing number every American should really be
caring about, $2.1 trillion. That`s a hell a lot of money. U.S.
corporations, that`s the number they`re stashing, $2.1 trillion offshore to
avoid paying taxes to the United States Treasury.
Question, do you think that`s fair? You can do something about it. I want
to tell you, this number right here, this is a protected Republican
Conservative number. You can count on it if you`re thinking about, "Well,
I don`t know about November. I know it`s a long way up and I`m kind of,
you know, I`m not sure." This is an absolute.
The Conservatives and the Republicans will never do anything about this.
That`s their number, that`s the number they`re always going to protect.
The corporations include General Electric, Microsoft, Pfizer, Merck, Apple,
you name them. And you know what? This number is up 93 percent since
2008. It`s bad news for American taxpayers, we had a short treasury.
Every hard working American pays income tax so there`s no reason why the
corporations can`t -- making massive profits can`t pay their fair share,
you`ll never hear a Republican say, "Well, that`s terrible." You won`t
hear that. Although the Senate Finance Committee is aware of this number.
Now, we got a new chairman. On Tuesday Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon, he
said, "I do think there need to be some reforms in this area."
I like Ron, but hello, some reforms? How about a lot of reforms? I`d say
massive reform to fix this broken system, because it`s not fair. But wait
a minute, they`re working hard.
Meanwhile, this Senate Finance Committee held a hearing yesterday on
incompetent tax prepares. That`s right. Who`s preparing your taxes across
America? We need to make sure that they`re regulated and they`re
qualified.
The committee was wasting, I think, a lot of time worrying about if
waitresses and mechanics are filing their taxes properly. No kidding.
They used the two formulas, waitresses and mechanics. $2.1 trillion are
stashed offshore and the Senate Finance Committee is worried about nonsense
like this as to whether that poor folks are doing things right.
On the flip side, working Americans are struggling. The first step in
helping these Americans is what? Well, what do you say we start with
minimum wage since they can`t file their taxes properly? Come on, it`s the
focus, their priority needs to be here, not the middle class and not on how
low wage workers in this country file their taxes and who`s helping them?
Now, the committee was concerned about, you know, how much money the
treasury was losing because middle class Americans didn`t have a qualified
tax prepare. You know what? That`s just playing around on the edges on
the treasury problem. The White House is making a big push for minimum
wage increase and this plays in all together. It`s a domino effect.
President Obama is taking his 10.10 campaign on the road and trying to gain
support.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: If you have the chance to talk to a congressman who`s not
supporting it, you need to ask him, "Do you support raising the minimum
wage to 10.10 an hour?" And if they say yes then you should say, "Thank
you". If they say no, you shouldn`t yell at them, be polite. Ask them why
not. Ask them to reconsider. Tell them to join the rest of the country.
For once, instead of just saying no, say yes. It`s time for 10.10. It`s
time to give America a raise. They got to make a clear choice. Talk the
talk about valuing hard working and families or walk the walk and actually
value hard working families. You got a choice. You can give America the
shaft, or you can give it a raise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Wow. You know, I find this really interesting because typically,
the minimum wage, increasing the minimum wage that`s a no-brainer for
Democrats.
The president, I think, was doing some serious coaching on how to run.
Unless you`re one of these folks; Senators Mark Pryor, Tom Carper, Mark
Warner and Mary Landrieu they have gotten what I called real cold feet when
it comes to the minimum wage. How hard is it for these senators to go home
to a red state and say, "I`m for helping people and the poor sector of
America."?
Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor said that he will oppose a minimum wage
increase to 10.10 an hour. I`m sure it`s just because it`s a big
coincident that Wal-Mart just happens to be based down there in good old
Arkansas.
Well, Delaware Senator Tom Carper, he said that a raise to $9 an hour there
would be a better chance of passing. Virginia Senator Mark Warner said
that he`s willing to negotiate with Republicans on the rate. I haven`t
found any Republicans that are willing to negotiate on minimum wage because
they`re all against it.
Then we have Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana. She supports an increase
but wants more time to debate the timeline on when it`s all going to be
implemented and how to address wages for tipped workers. Think about that.
She`s concerned about how we`re going to address wages for the poor.
Remember, Senator Landrieu, not to pick on her, she was the Senator who
said tar sands oil was the cleanest barrel of oil produced in North
America. You be the judge.
Now, Pryor, Warner, Landrieu what are they? They`re all up for reelection.
They are red state Democrats and they`re worried about keeping their jobs.
These senators are afraid of their own shadows in a reelection year and
there`s no reason for it.
Look at the numbers in Pryor`s State of Arkansas, 79 percent of the folks
in that state think that there should be an increase to at least $8.50 an
hour. In Warner`s state of Virginia, 58 percent, they want to bring the
high cup to $9.25 an hour. In Landrieu`s State of Louisiana, wow, 73
percent support an increase to $8.50 an hour.
What is it about these Democrats that can`t stand up and say, "I`m for the
minimum wage and we`re going to get this done and you can count on me."?
That`s what the president is saying.
Meanwhile, Tom Carper? Well, he got kind of lucky. You see, there`s no
recent polling on minimum wage in Delaware. It`s so popular. Why in the
hell would they poll for that?
But here`s a number, here is a number that everyone in Congress should just
grab onto. On the campaign trail, this works everywhere. 71 percent of
Americans support increase to the minimum wage. It`s a winner. But the
Democrats seemed to be spending more time about worrying about what they`re
going to run from instead of what they`re going to run with. 51 percent
think it should be raised to $10.10 an hour. Every person in Congress
needs to look at these numbers and give hard working Americans the benefit
of the doubt. And anytime they give you any smoke about it just say,
"Well, there is $2.1 trillion offshore that the corporations are being able
to hide through our screwed up tax laws, don`t you think it`s about time to
give the little guy a break?" You can`t sell that, Democrats? Even in a
red state? Wow.
So what do we have on the table? Here`s where we are, capsulize all of
this, we got $2.1 trillion offshore that we know the Republicans are never
going to do anything about. We have the Senate Finance Committee holding a
hearing and they`re very worried about the middle class and the poor folks
of America whether they`re filing their taxes properly and whether they`re
using a certified, prepared tax consultant and if they`re getting the
proper returns. And if enough money is coming in and there`s not too much
money going back to them in returns. That`s their focus? Come on.
And of course, we`ve got minimum wage is on the table. As I said, 71
percent of Americans certainly want to have that happen and the Democrats
in red states, what do they have? They have cold feet. They`re not quite
sure.
You know, I would think by the time we get to the middle of the summer,
they better be damn sure exactly what they`re running on instead of what
they`re running from. Everyday that goes by is a day missed to drive these
numbers home to hard working Americans who want change. The president ran
on helping the middle class. He not only won once, he won twice. And so
you mean to tell me in a red state, you`re afraid to run on healthcare,
you`re afraid to run on equality for women, and now all of a sudden, "Well,
we`re really not sure about this minimum wage thing."
Democrats act like this, they talk like this, and they deserve to lose.
That hurts, because what`s the alternative? Well, it ain`t good.
Bottom line here is that $2.1 trillion will never be touched if Republicans
have power across the board.
Get your cellphones out. I want to know what you think. Tonight`s
question, "Can you call yourself a Democrat and not support a full minimum
wage increase?" Text A for Yes, text B for No to 67622, you can always go
to our blog @ed.msnbc.com. We`ll bring you the results later on in the
show.
For more, let me bring in Brad Woodhouse, President of American Bridge for
21st Century and also with us Bob Shrum, Democratic Strategist and NYU
Professor. Gentlemen, good to have you with us tonight.
BRAD WOODHOUSE, FMR. DNC COMM. DIRECTOR: Thanks, Ed. I`m glad to be here.
SCHULTZ: Brad, you first, your reaction to these four Democratic senators
and I don`t know how else to phrase it but they`re getting cold feet on
minimum wage. There`s no fever pitch, there`s no fervor in their heart to
say, "We`re going to get this done." What`s wrong with that?
WOODHOUSE: Well, first of all, let me say this, I haven`t run in to a
Democrat who doesn`t support increasing the minimum wage. At least
increasing over where it is now either federally or in their states. And I
think that is a big, big contrast with Republicans. We have a Republican
running for Senate in North Carolina who believes there shouldn`t be any
minimum wage at all.
Now, you know, I think part of this is the president leading and the
president showing that this is safe ground. All the polling you`ve shown
from those states and nationally demonstrates that it`s safe ground.
I was in an even last week Ed, with Harry Reid and he`s leading this effort
in the Senate along with Tom Harkin. I trust that when a bill comes to the
floor and push comes to shove, Democrats are going to support increasing
the minimum wage, almost all Democrats do. There is some question and some
Democrats are mad (ph) about what should we raise it to.
I would say this about 10.10 and I think it`s important to note, 10.10
picked out of the air. It is a level that will let most people living most
places in this country work full time and not live in poverty and that .
SCHULTZ: In three years .
WOODHOUSE: . really should be .
SCHULTZ: I mean, and why would be debate the timetable on it when it`s
over a three-year period? It just seems to me that Democrats seemed to be
not full throated on this. You`re either with the workers or you`re not.
And 10.10, there`s a lot of folks that think it should be much more than
that. It just seems to me that these Democrats are afraid to go into red
states and say this is where I stand with workers. Bob, your take on this.
BOB SHRUM, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, look, you do have some Democrats
and it`s a deeper problem here who think they can pretend that somehow that
they`re not Democrats, they don`t have to run on healthcare as you said,
they don`t have to run on the minimum wage, they can somehow or rather be
something else. Maybe they can say that they got the money to build the
bridge to nowhere.
I think that`s a big mistake. This happened in 1994 when a lot of
Democrats flood Clinton after the failure of the healthcare bill. They
went out there, they tried to say, "I`m kind of a moderate, different. I`m
not one of these guys." and almost all of them lost.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
SHRUM: So it`s stupid politically to do this and it`s especially stupid
because in a red state, you can run on the minimum wage and you can do very
well.
In a red state, I think you can run on healthcare.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
SHRUM: You can say these Republicans favor a plan that`s going to allow
insurance companies to deny coverage for people with preexisting
conditions. They favor a plan that`s going to let insurance companies
cancel your policies when you get sick. The last thing we need in the
midterm is two Republicans parties because the real Republican will always
win.
SCHULTZ: Well, why would someone not run on minimum wage? Why -- what
upside is there in a red state to shy away? Because I really believe this,
this is just my feeling, that if the Democrats can`t energize low wage
workers to come to the polls in the midterms, they`re sunk. They have no
chance at the House and they`re going to have a hard time holding the
Senate. There`s going to have to be a real motivation. It`s making
someone believe that you`re really on their side that`s going to move them
in an off-year election. And if they don`t get the low wage workers to get
motivated on this, no matter how much union organizing you have they`re
going to come up shortchanged. That`s my take on it.
Brad, you first and then Bob on that.
WOODHOUSE: Well, yeah, and look Ed, this issue of wages and wage
stagnation and what we call, you know, inequality of wages, the most
important issue that we, you know, that we face. And look, there`s a lot
of this that falls at the feet of Republicans. I mean, they have refused
to work with this president on anything to create jobs. I mean the best
thing that we can do for wages obviously is to create jobs. But if we`re
not going to do that, the most immediate thing we can do is raise the
minimum wage. It`s in the floor .
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
WOODHOUSE: . for 40 years, it`s not worth what it used to be.
SCHULTZ: But if they don`t sell low wage workers on this .
WOODHOUSE: Exactly, I agree.
SCHULTZ: . what`s going to happen, Bob?
SHRUM: Well, look, then those folks aren`t going to turn up. Democrats
have to go on the offensive. In 2012, President Obama who had some pretty
tough economic circumstances he`s inherited defined the terms of the
election. And basically the question was who`s on your side? Who`s going
to stand up for the middle class?
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
SHRUM: Romney helped him with a 47 percent, but Republicans are prepared
to help here. They`re against the minimum wage. They`re against equal pay
for women. They don`t have a healthcare plan other than letting insurance
companies run the thing and do all the abuses they used to do before. So
Democrats need to go out there and take this to the Republican Party.
Brad is right. We have strong case on the minimum wage. But we have a
strong case on all these other things and they all come down to a .
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
SHRUM: . big fundamental question, who`s fighting for you and who`s on the
side of special interest?
SCHULTZ: And what about the $2.1 trillion stashed oversees by
corporations? Can big companies afford minimum wage increase? Absolutely
they can. The question is, is this an issue? Do you think this would
resonate with voters that the Democrats will do something about that
number? Bob you first, what do you think?
SHRUM: Well, sure I think it`s an issue and I think it could be a big
issue. The truth of the matter is people aren`t doing much about it right
now because there`s not a chance that we get through the Republican House.
But to take it out to the country, to explain to people what`s going, to
make, if I can use the term a populist argument that corporations ought to
pay their income taxes just as like ordinary people do, that could be
another powerful argument. And it all goes to the central message, the
central theme, we`re out there fighting for you, the other guys are on the
other side.
SCHULTZ: Yeah. Brad, you`re a southern guy, you got to get into those
states and turn this thing around.
WOODHOUSE: Well, look, I hope to, you know, I`ll tell you Ed, we`ve been
out there, we`ve -- Americans United for Change ran a bus tour for two
weeks, we`re getting ready to go back on the road and we`re going to
Georgia, we`re going to Kentucky .
SCHULTZ: What do you hear?
WOODHOUSE: . we`re going to North Carolina. I`ll tell you what we hear,
we have a lot of small business owners who come out and say, "You know
what? We`ve already increased the minimum wage."
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
WOODHOUSE: And it had -- and heard us. And I think we`ve got to get past
this antiquated argument. We know businesses can afford to do this. We
know they attract better workers, those workers are more productive. They
then have the money to spend in the community.
SCHULTZ: All right Brad Woodhouse, Bob Shrum great to have you on the Ed
Show. Thanks for joining us tonight.
Remember to answer .
SHRUM: You`re welcome.
SCHULTZ: . tonight question there at the bottom of the screen. Share your
thoughts on Twitter@Edshow and on Facebook we always want to know what you
think.
Coming up, 9.3 million people have signed up for Obamacare? That will make
the righties head spin. And the law`s biggest critics are now profiting
from it. That`s right. Rapid Response Panel weighs in on that.
But first, the kissing congressman keeps his job. But his female staffer
is out the door.
Trenders is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: All right, what`s hot what`s not? Time for the Trenders. This
is where you hook up with the Ed Show team, Facebook.com/Edshow,
Twitter.com/Edshow, and ed.msnbc.com. And this is where you can find me on
the radio Sirius XM Channel 127, Monday through Friday, noon to 3:00. You
can get my podcast on my website @wegoted.com.
The Ed Show Social Media Nation has decided. We`re reporting.
Here are today`s top Trenders voted on by you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anything you can do, I can do better.
SCHULTZ: The number three Trender, perfect ending.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 2014 National Champions, UConn finishes a perfect
40 and O.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Complete domination.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: UConn sweeps the National Women`s Finals for the second
time.
SCHULTZ: UConn women camp an undefeated season with NCAA tournament win.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First time a championship has featured two undefeated
teams.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our team has such confidence when we came out of this
game.
SCHULTZ: It`s the night NCAA title for Connecticut and has Coach Geno
Auriemma.
GENO AURIEMMA, UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT HUSKIES WOMEN`S BASKETBALL TEAM
COACH: Couldn`t be prouder of a group of players than I am right now.
SCHULTZ: The number two Trender, batter up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: America`s favorite superhero Bat Kid was the star of
the opening day ceremony.
ROBIN, FICTIONAL CHARACTER: Holy, he`s approaching Batman, it`s really
exiting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Five-year old boy with leukemia, his wish was to
become Batman and he certainly did.
BATMAN, FICTIONAL CHARACTER: Precisely Robin.
SCHULTZ: Bat kid gets the save at Giant`s opening day.
BATMAN: You sought yourself, Robin
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Matt Cain signed a ball for him. He got a team
signed bat.
SCHULTZ: And today`s top Trender, duck and cover.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you love America, you need a (inaudible) for baths.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, he`s my kind of guy.
SCHULTZ: The president pushes for workplace equality.
OBAMA: America should be a level playing field. Part of that is fighting
for the fair pay for women because when woman succeed, America succeeds.
SCHULTZ: While there are unequal consequences for the kissing congressman
and his staffer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: While he is offering his apology, he`s not offering
to resign.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m glad he issued an apology.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ms. Peacock first learned about the video only hours
before it went public. "He has wrecked my life", Peacock said of the
Republican lawmaker. Adding, "We`re headed for divorce".
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congressman Vance Mcallister is vowing tonight to run
for reelection. As for the woman in the video she resigned.
REP. VANCE MCALLISTER, (R) LOUISIANA: (Inaudible) no strings attacked.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Well, I think it`s great that he`s decided to say he`s sorry.
Joining me tonight, Political Strategist Angela Rye. I feel terrible for
the woman. Why does she have to book and he doesn`t? Why does she get the
resignation? Now, I don`t know if she did this on her own or whether, you
know, for her personal reasons or whether, you know, she was let go, are
there maybe a lawsuit here? Who knows? But to the public, there`s no
sense of fairness in this whatsoever.
ANGELA RYE, POLITICAL STRATEGIST: Sure. Well Ed, I thing first of all,
let`s deal with the fact that she probably doesn`t want to work there
anymore. It`s got to be a horribly uncomfortable environment, you know.
Unfortunately this is not a new phenomenon on the hill. It`s a new
phenomenon with elected officials, period. You see this kind of behavior
and you also see them get to wear the S on their chest, and sail often to
the sunset. So hopefully the voters will speak. You know, he won in the
special, this was not even I think a full month after he won the special.
So now there needs to be some repercussions on the general.
SCHULTZ: Well, just moments ago, we`re hearing that the head of the
Republican Party in Louisiana has been trying to get a hold of Congressman
McAllister to ask him to resign. What do you make of that?
RYE: Well, I think it`s a good thing to do. Particularly when we know
that in Louisiana politics scandal is not farfetched. It`s a major
distraction. I think that we all saw that he was asking the FBI to probe
who leaked the surveillance.
SCHULTZ: Well, let`s talk about that, I mean this guy has got distorted
priorities, because now he`s backing off on that request.
RYE: That`s right.
SCHULTZ: He was asking John Boehner to see if he could get the FBI
involved to see who leaked the tape. Really? That`s at the top of your
list buddy? I mean I just find that absolutely amazing. It must be a
Republican thing. OK, I can push this under the rug, say I`m sorry, get on
bended-knee to God and everything is going to be OK.
RYE: Well not only that, we`ve also seen them drag out other scandals. We
know what`s happening with the IRS scandal. So maybe there`s something
wrong with the FBI. He could punt on what the relation here. And then the
issue here is, he was saying that he`s good guy and people we`re people
were telling him not to be corrupted. But he had even had a chance Ed to
be corrupted yet, so he came in like that.
SCHULTZ: Well, they`re all good guys. I mean just listen to him talk.
This is the congressman that brought the Duck Dynasty .
RYE: Right.
SCHULTZ: . folks to the State of the Union. In fact, McAllister said,
Willie Robertson told him to quote, "Work things out privately." No
kidding, after the scandal brought this week.
I mean, this is just a circus. They don`t have it on their bones and I was
very critical of Anthony Weiner, very critical of Trey Radel, very critical
of Charlie Rangel. I thought Charlie Rangel should have stepped down, he
didn`t, I consider him a friend to this day. But the fact is, is that when
you get caught in stuff like this, the taxpayers deserve better.
Now, this is guy that`s probably going to vote against long-term
unemployment. He`s a guy that`s going to probably oppose minimum wage.
Who knows where he stands on equal pay for women. I just find it terribly
ironic Angela, on the day that we`re talking about equal pay .
RYE: Right.
SCHULTZ: . and equal fairness to the workplace, this happens, she`s gone,
he`s still on the job.
RYE: Right. And I think again, we have to hope that there will be some
accountability within the state party there. That maybe his wife will talk
him about fairness. Not only in his office but at home, what`s the right
thing to do not only for the voters but also for his family, he has five
children. And this is horribly unfortunate for the kids. I feel bad for
their family. But yeah, this is not good timing for the Republicans even
in terms of messaging. Because as you know they voted to block the, you
know, the vote on Paycheck Fairness Act today.
SCHULTZ: Yeah, they did. OK and the fact is, is that this is an issue.
RYE: That`s right.
SCHULTZ: A hotly contested Senate race up in Michigan. Terri Lynn Land, a
Republican running for the Senate in Michigan says, "Equal pay isn`t as
important for women because . " she says they have a different lifestyle.
Wait a minute. This isn`t a mom issue, OK? This is a women`s issue.
RYE: Right.
SCHULTZ: Equal pay.
RYE: Well .
SCHULTZ: I mean, and they voted against it in the Senate. So where does
that leave us?
RYE: Well, equal pay for women does not just benefit women or their
children. It benefits their husband. And the husbands, it benefits the
economy, it benefits single women. It`s really very short sighted to say
that the only people that would be impacted by a raise by of, you know,
being paid what`s your worth are women. It`s horribly short sighted .
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
RYE: . and they really just need to work on their messaging. They had a
whole campaign to talk about how to reach more voters.
SCHULTZ: Messaging and behavior, that`s right .
RYE: There`s another fact.
SCHULTZ: . all right. Angela Rye, great to have to you with us tonight.
Thank you so much.
Still ahead, the right wing talkers who didn`t believe 7.1 million
Americans signed up for Obamacare. Well, they got a new number to gripe
about. Rapid Response Panel coming up.
And later, another attack on voting rights on Ohio. State Senator Nina
Turner weighs in on Jon Husted`s latest attempt to suppress the vote.
But next, I`m taking your questions. Ask Ed Live coming up next on the Ed
Show on MSNBC. We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. Love hearing from all of you
wonderful listeners out there, love your questions at Ask Ed Live.
Our first question tonight comes from Evan, wants to know, "Do you think
the House will do anything about long-term unemployment?"
The sure answer is no. The long answer is absolutely not. I have no
confidence that John Boehner has anything but ice in his veins when it
comes to helping out people who are struggling in our economy.
The next question comes from Buda, wants know, "If you could tell or ask
President Obama one thing, what would it be?"
Well, let`s go with the ask first. I would ask the president if we could
play golf. You know, let`s play around the golf, I like to ask him if I
can play around the golf. I don`t want an interview, heck, everybody`s
interviewed him. I want to play around the golf with him and see if he`s
got any game. Then I would tell the president during that round, say no to
the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Rapid Response Panels is coming up next.
MORGAN BRENNAN, CNBC CORRESPONDENT: I`m Morgan Brennan with your CNBC
Market Wrap.
Stocks move higher across the board. The Dow jumps 181 points. The S and
P gains 20. And the Nasdaq at 70 points.
Minutes from the Federal Reserves latest meetings shows central bankers
committed to keeping up rates low for the foreseeable future. Policy
makers also agreed in unemployment rate target was post outdated.
And Toyota announces a massive recall affecting more than six million
vehicles. But it says it`s not aware of any deaths or injuries related to
the problems.
That`s it from CNBC, first in business worldwide.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. Republicans are still in denial
over the Obamacare enrollment numbers. I`m loving this. These three
wealthy Right Wing radio hosts, well, they said it best.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, HOST, THE RUSH LIMBAUGH SHOW: Why should anybody believe
it? Why can`t the government prove it? The real question is, when have
they not lied about Obamacare?
GLENN BECK, HOST, GLENN BECK RADIO PROGRAM: This is complete bogus. This
is a complete bogus fairy tale. This is completely made up. This is
nonsensical.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST, THE SEAN HANNITY SHOW: Just because team Obama cooked
the books on the promise that you could keep your doctor, keep your plan
and you`re going to pay less, you wouldn`t expect them to lie on this would
you? Of course you would.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: OK. I`m entertaining myself. I admit it. That`s my favorite
Right Wing radio clip of all time. Last week, the White House announced
7.1 million people have signed up on the exchanges and we`re predicted that
the numbers are going to grow from there. That`s what we`ve been talking
about and it will.
And economist driven survey is showing even better news for the Affordable
Care Act. The Rand Corporations study showed at least 9.3 million more
Americans have health insurance now than in September of 2013.
Now, what`s being revealed now is several big corporations are benefitting
from the enrollment numbers, and in the form of subsidies as well,
corporations who support Republican lawmakers vowing to repeal the law.
The associative press reports said Koch industries receive $1.4 million in
subsidies from the $5 billion program. The program was established by the
Affordable Care Act to help employers and states maintain coverage for
people ages 55 and older who are not eligible for Medicare.
The Koch brothers and some of their Conservative allies are spending
millions of dollars to hammer Democratic senators in North Carolina,
Alaska, Colorado, and Iowa for backing the healthcare overhaul.
Joining me tonight in our Rapid Response Panel Dr. Rani Whitfield, Medical
Doctor of the National Association for Free Clinics and Mike Papantonio,
America`s lawyer, also host of Ring of Fire Radio show. Gentlemen, great
to have you with us tonight.
Dr. Whitfield .
DR. RANI WHITFIELD, MED. DR. INTL. ASSN. OF FREE CLINICS: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: . first of all, these numbers are -- have you seen patients who
are on the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare?
WHITFIELD: Ed, I`m so glad you asked me that question. I have a letter
right here. I have an approval letter of my second to the last patient
today. He`s going to be paying $32.82 a month starting May 1st --
effective May 1st. It`s -- I`m seeing it everyday in my practice, the
young invincibles are coming in. And, you know, essentially Ed, you talked
about some of the numbers earlier, but those that are being insured or were
previously uninsured, and that`s what I`m seeing to our private (ph).
So, the Affordable Care is good for my patients, is good for State of
Louisiana, and it`s good for our country. People are getting insurance and
we`re saving lives now.
SCHULTZ: So, you have people coming in to your office saying, you know, "I
never had insurance before but I got it now."
WHITFIELD: The majority of the individuals who have come to me who`ve
gotten their insurance, because we don`t have the individual exchange, our
patients are using the healthcare.gov. These individuals are coming in
that have not had insurance before and the patient I saw that they had
hypertension and diabetes, "Ms. Nading (ph), thank you for coming in" and
we`re going to be treating her effectively May 1st who came in today.
She`s a cash paying patient, but now, she`d be able to pay a minimum amount
of a month, $32.82 and I can treat her effectively.
SCHULTZ: And that is the core of Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act right
there. But Mike Papantonio, gosh, it`s always amazing who shows up with
the trap, isn`t it? You`ve got sandwich for Senate Majority Leader Harry
Reid, has been very critical about Koch industries benefitting from the
healthcare law, yet, they turn around and they support GOP candidates who
are against it. What do you make of it?
MIKE PAPANTONIO, HOST, RING OF FIRE RADIO: Well, first of all, this is --
to understand why they do this, they`re not -- understand, the Koch
brothers aren`t in the insurance business, they`re not in the drug
business, they`re not in the hospital business. This is merely the tool
that they have unleashed to go after Democrats. If you -- if they can get
to the physician Ed, to where they can remove the Democrats that are
concerned about worker rights and are concerned about regulations that
protect the environment, and are concerned about financial regulations,
then they win.
See, nobody ever asked the questions why would the Koch brothers spend the
billion of dollars that they`ve have spent on this unless you really
analyzed the endgame. The endgame it to use this as the vehicle to create
the crazy frenzy to where they can get the Republican Tea Party types to go
out there and get mad at something that they don`t even understand. But in
the end, it`s part of their tool box. They use this as nothing more than a
bludgeon against the Democrats hoping they can get an opposition toward the
Koch brothers, have nobody looking over their shoulder. Understand, this
is a company that paid $400 million in funds for destroying our
environment, $400 million.
SCHULTZ: But there`s an admission of acceptance to the Affordable Care Act
if they`re going to turn around and jump right in the program and benefit
from it.
PAPANTONIO: Well, that`s part of the -- yeah. Part of that is the subsidy
giveaways, part of the corporate welfare program, Ed. We`ve given $62
billion away to the Fortune 500 companies. This is not the only corporate
welfare that the Koch brothers get. This is the thing we`re talking about
right now.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
PAPANTONIO: But the Koch brothers get a lot of that corporate welfare by
the way of subsidies. They just are in lined now with their hands out for
the very thing that they`ve been critical of.
SCHULTZ: We`re looking at 9.3 million Americans by the Rand Corporations
survey that now have .
PAPANTONIO: Right.
SCHULTZ: . health insurance seen in 2013. What`s your reaction to that
doctor?
WHITFIELD: This is a true testament to the American people wanting
adequate healthcare cribbage (ph). We`re getting to this rhetoric that
lies that have been told for the -- for so many years as the Affordable
Care Act has been implemented. I mean, this is the largest expense of
healthcare since the implementation of Medicare over century ago, a decade
ago. So we`ve got to embrace this. We got to get -- rebuild the fullest
distance (ph) and stop trying to appeal or repeal Obamacare. It is law as
the president says so eloquently the other day. It`s here to stay.
So now, it`s time to get covers to those people that need it. And
unfortunately, my state, we have an expanded Medicaid Ed, you know, that`s
a big issue here. We had a press .
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
WHITFIELD: . conference yesterday, been there -- we`re just trying to get
some legislation pay as this year along with Karen Carter Peterson. So
there`s still that gentle gap. We have Louisiana with a gap across the
countries in the 20 or so states who have decided not to expand Medicaid.
So we`ve got to get courage to everyone and this is such a huge and
important issue at this time.
SCHULTZ: What are we going to hear from Conservatives now Mike? It`s gone
from 7.1 to 9.3. They`re claiming that the numbers are phony but they`re
sure going the wrong the way. And I supposed now, the Rand Corporations is
going to be vilified.
PAPANTONIO: Well, the analysis next is going to be yes. Yes, these
numbers probably are true. But now, let`s analyze why. They honestly are
already moving the opposition. Why did this happen? Not the admission
that this is all happened since the ACA was introduced. Their next
question is, you know, this may be happening but we don`t really understand
why. That`s their next talking point. And it`s the use of that talking
point. Understand, these states like Louisiana that are passing on the
ACA, what the people don`t understand in Louisiana is they are paying taxes
in certain places that don`t have ACA and they`re not getting the benefits.
In other words, one state is accepting it .
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
PAPANTONIO: . but they`re still paying into that big fund.
WHITFIELD: Exactly.
SCHULTZ: All right. Dr. Rani Whitfield and Mike Papantonio .
WHITFIELD: And like I said, people are .
SCHULTZ: Go ahead doctor, go ahead. You have something to say.
WHITFIELD: I would just say, my citizens, my state were sick and tired of
me, sick and tired, Ed. And so, the more educated the community gets about
this, the more people are going to buy to Affordable Care Act and to
Obamacare.
SCHULTZ: Pretty soon, a lot of people, they`re going to be sick and tired
of me and sick and tired to hearing the numbers are phony because they
simply are not.
WHITFIELD: That`s right.
SCHULTZ: Gentlemen, good to have you with us tonight. Thanks so much.
WHITFIELD: Thank you so much.
SCHULTZ: Coming up, Karl Rove is giving the Bush brothers some art tips.
Pretenders is next. Stick around.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And let`s put in some happy little tree shapes and just
-- we`re just looking for some basic shapes here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And in pretenders tonight, the inartful dodger, Karl Rove. Jeb
Bush is laying down a ground work for presidential run for 2016. The
former governor from Florida is talking big on immigration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEB BUSH, FMR. GOV., FLORIDA: They crossed the border because they don`t
had no other means to work to be able to provide for their family. Yes,
they broke the law, but it`s not a felony. It`s kind of a law -- it`s an
act of love, it`s an act of commitment to your family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Karl Rove can hear the base crying already. The white board
worshipper is trying to back pedal out of a conversation on reasonable
immigration reform.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARL ROVE, FMR. WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF: Said it in an inartful
way, the key for him now is not to make this (inaudible) into a bigger
mistake because he don`t be hit about this, if he becomes a candidate this
will be toss back at him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Yeah. If Karl Rove wants to clean up an inartful statements,
which his been known to do, he should look his highlight real, no further
than the once that he was simply behind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, FMR. PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Fool me once,
shame on -- shame on you. And fool me, you can`t get fooled again.
And you`re working hard to put food on your family.
Fairly have question asked. Is our children learning?
I called upon all nations to do everything they can to stop this terrorist
killers. Thank you. Now, watch this drive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Well, Rove`s hands on approach. Never forge brilliance. If Karl
Rove thinks he can fix up Jebina (ph) for American to forget W, he can keep
on pretending.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And welcome back to the Ed Show. This is the story for the folks
who take a shower after work. Republicans in the State of Ohio are leading
the way when it comes to voter`s suppression. No doubt about it. And the
latest move to suppress the voter on that state is a measure of Governor
John Kasich signed, banning county boards of election from sending out
absentee ballot applications to all registered voters.
A State House amendment would have imposed a 10 percent cut in funding on
any county that sends out unsolicited absentee ballot applications.
Talk about an attack on voting. Republicans claim it would promote
uniformity across the state. Cuyahoga County executive and Democratic
candidate for Governor Ed FitzGerald, well, he saw it differently, which is
why FitzGerald sent a letter to the Justice Department requesting a federal
investigation into Republicans using county funds as a political bargaining
chip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED FITZGERALD, COUNTY EXECUTIVE, CUYAHOGA COUNTY: When people try to bully
you, you need to stand up to them. And when people say they`re going to
cut 10 percent of your funds, if you exercise your rights, that you`re
guaranteed under the Ohio constitution, home rule in the Federal
Constitution. They are the once that are escalating it. And our job is to
send them a very clear message that we`re not going to stand still for
this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Well, it looks like the message was received because hours later,
House Republicans pulled the measure. Apparently, Governor John Kasich
told House GOP leaders he wanted the provision out of his off-year budget
bill. Secretary of State John Husted threw his Republican colleagues under
the bus saying the unprecedented threat of a 10 percent cut was
unnecessary. Husted told the Columbus Dispatch, "Our constituents don`t
need to suffer in any way for the bickering going on over this issue."
Joining me tonight, Ohio`s State Senator Nina Turner who is running against
Jon Husted for Secretary of State in the State of Ohio. Senator, good to
have you with us tonight.
I just -- when I saw .
STATE SEN. NINA TURNER, (D) OHIO: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: When I saw the story and all this unfolding in Ohio, I thought
this is the ultimate of voter`s suppression that they are actually going to
tell counties, "If you mail absentee balance out and get them into the
hands of the voters, we`re going to cut your funding." I mean, this just
shows that there are no boundaries, are there?
TURNER: That`s right, Ed. They will stop at nothing to suppress the vote,
even threatening the citizens of counties in our state. And Cuyahoga
County is the leadership did the right thing to step up and say, "We will
mail out those unsolicited absentee ballot because we believe in pro voter
unlike the GOP." But what they were doing -- what they are attempting to
do by threatening Cuyahoga County in that way is really upset the quality
of life of the citizens of that county, 1.3 million of them. But they
don`t care about the quality of life of the citizens in Cuyahoga County or
any other county in the state.
To be honest with you Ed, they`ve already slash the local government fund
budget by about a billion dollars already indeed to launch that kind of
threat just because you don`t want the county to be pro voter. Something
is wrong with that Ed, and live -- they make no mistake about it. They are
anti-voter and they will stop Ed, nothing to suppress the vote.
SCHULTZ: Well, both the governor and Husted, the Secretary of State did a
reversal on this. It`s almost as if they got caught because of the push
back on all of this. They didn`t -- they thought this might have been a
bridge too far. What is your take on -- what`s your response to that?
TURNER: Well, Ed, they can`t run from the record though. This is
legislature, this GOP control legislature is their legislature. This is
the governor`s legislature and this is Secretary of State Jon Husted`s
legislature. So they can`t run from the voter`s suppression bills that
have already passed that the governor has already signed. What this
legislature has done in terms of hurting absentee ballot application of
submission throughout the state, taken away early voting days in the state,
putting up more hurdles to be able to discount provisional ballot. They
wear this. It is their party that is doing this.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
TURNER: So just because they might seem like they got a little religion on
this one does not excuse all the other voter suppression measures that they
have agreed with and also wanted to have happened in the state and the
voters are going to have to stand up in November.
SCHULTZ: It seems to me that they were going to go until you stopped them.
I mean, the fact is, is if they got away with the golden week, they made
those changes, they`re on early voting and registration.
TURNER: Yes.
SCHULTZ: But it`s interesting that Husted told the Columbus Dispatch, he
says, "I think it`s time to stop playing games and resolve the issue like
reasonable adults." I mean, that is damaged control as I see it.
TURNER: It is Ed, but he want to step further and said "There`s no need to
do this because the auditor will take care of Cuyahoga County if they
decide to break the law, so to speak. So, he went a step further to say
that don`t worry about it. The auditor will get them. And again, that`s
wrong. What he should have done was stood up very clearly to say that
absolutely unequivocally what the GOP and this general assembly is doing
and has done is wrong not to try to seek the current auditor on Cuyahoga
County because they are pro voter.
SCHULTZ: And of course, they`re talking already about changing more laws
after this session that will affect 2016. I mean, it`s almost as if
they`re taking orders from outside the state. This is how you got to run
Ohio if they`re going to win the White House in 2016.
TURNER: Well, Ed, Ohio is a swing state, a swing state. And so, they have
shown what they would do in 2012. You know, this current secretary of
state, if he would all the way to United States Supreme Court to take away
the last three days of early voting.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
TURNER: He fired two board of elections members. They lost their job for
trying to expand early voting.
SCHULTZ: Wow.
TURNER: The voters have got to come out and show in the State of Ohio that
we want to be the gold standard and that we will not stand for any elected
official standing in the way of making sure they have one woman, one man,
one vote .
SCHULTZ: Right.
TURNER: . is the order of the day.
SCHULTZ: And tomorrow night, here on the Ed Show, we`re going to show you
exactly how far some people in Hamilton County will have to go to vote an
hour and a half of travel if this measure goes through. That`s tomorrow
right here on the Ed Show.
Ohio State Senator Nina Turner, great to have you with us tonight. Thank
you.
TURNER: Thank you Ed.
SCHULTZ: And that`s the Ed Show. I`m Ed Schultz. Politics Nation with
Reverend Al Sharpton starts right now.
Good evening, Rev.
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 Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Read the transcript to the Wednesday show