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The Ed Show for Thursday December 1st, 2011

Read the transcript to the Thursday show

Guests: Ron Nelson, Robert Reich, Tim Ryan, Alan Grayson, Bill Press,
Stephanie Miller


ED SCHULTZ, HOST: Good evening, Americans. And welcome to THE ED
SHOW tonight from New York.

The attack on the middle class is happening all across this country.
Companies are making record profits, and CEOs are lining their pockets.
Meanwhile, blue-collar workers are losing their paychecks, their pensions,
and their livelihoods.

It`s what this show is about. And this is why the 99 percent is
standing up.

This is THE ED SHOW -- let`s get to work.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once the cold starts coming in, the heat bills are
going to rise. And yes, it`s going to get worse.

SCHULTZ (voice-over): The culture of corporate greed at American
Airlines, American Crystal Sugar, and now, Cooper Tires is destroying the
middle class.

These are the three most important stories in America. And we`ll talk
about it with former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. Herman Cain`s campaign
is still trying to hang on.

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One of my objectives is to
clear my name.

SCHULTZ: While the Newtster is measuring the drapes.

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I`m going to be the
nominee.

SCHULTZ: Gingrich is now crushing Mitt Romney with an assist from FOX
News. I`ll ask Bill Press and Stephanie Miller if he can hang on.

And Republicans are literally scared of the 99 percent movement.
Spinmeister Frank Luntz has a plan to help Republicans defeat the will of
the people. We`ll ask former Congressman Alan Grayson all about it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHULTZ: Good to have you with us tonight, folks. Thanks for
watching.

Breaking news at this hour: We are expecting the United States Senate
to vote on the middle-class payroll tax cut. We`ll bring you the results
of that vote when it happens. But first the big story tonight. There is
an attack on workers taking place in the United States of America. Many
people know this. Corporate greed has changed everything. That`s why
people are in the streets.

And we have developed a culture in this country in which workers,
they`re just not worth a damn.

Now, the fight`s taking place all over this country. It`s probably
even in your back yard. You don`t have to go far to find a story like
this. But tonight, I`m going to give you three unrelated stories from the
news, and they all have the same conclusion.

People at the top are getting paid millions, and the workers are
getting screwed. First, American Airlines. The company filed Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection this week, despite having $4 billion in cash on hand.
Now, more than 100,000 workers and retirees will find their pensions
underfunded.

Then you have the story of Cooper Tires in Finley, Ohio -- a city of
40,000 people. Union workers at Cooper Tires were working without a
contract and were locked out during negotiations. These workers, the last
time around, they gave up $30 million in concessions in the last deal over
three years.

But it isn`t enough for a company making $100 million in profits.
Now, Cooper is threatening to reopen the doors with other workers who get
paid less.

Then, there`s my back yard. Morehead, Minnesota, home to American
Crystal Sugar -- 1,300 workers have been locked out for the past five
months. They`ve had the nerve to demand a fair labor contract with this
company that has made millions -- excuse me -- over a billion.

Crystal Sugar CEO David Berg -- well, he should have nothing but
gratitude for his workers. In 2011, he made $2.4 million in total
compensation. American Crystal Sugar had a record year of $1.5 billion
dollars in revenue. The workers apparently don`t deserve to benefit from
those profits. And they`re out of work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Is this winter going to be kind of tough for you if things
don`t get straightened out for you?

CONRAD KOSTRZEWSKI, LOCKED OUT WORKER: Well, yes, once the cold
starts coming in, the heat bills are going to rise and, yes, it`s going to
get worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Now, this isn`t just the private industry money taking place
here, folks. You see the sugar beet farmers in America, they get tax
dollars -- your tax dollars. Sugar beet subsidies in the past 15 years
total over $240 million for the growers.

Now, here are the top 10 recipients of sugar beet subsidies. You can
see most of these are from farmers from North Dakota and Minnesota. Their
neighbors are the ones that are being hurt by all of this, this lockout.
Why are we giving money to sugar beet farmers and to the sugar beet
industry while their executives make millions and the workers get screwed?
Is that fair?

David Berg said his company has the support of the farmers in keeping
the workers shut out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID BERG, CEO, AMERICAN CRYSTAL SUGAR: I think if I could sum it in
three words, it would be: don`t back down. We communicate very actively to
make sure that we`re on the same page with them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Berg doesn`t think highly about the people who made him
rich. At a recent shareholder meeting, he compared his workers to a
terminal disease.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

BERG: I have a friend in Fargo, 50-something-year-old man. He didn`t
feel well for a long time, couldn`t put his finger on it, didn`t know
exactly what it was, went to the doctor several times, couldn`t figure it
out. Finally, got a cat scan.

They determined there was some kind of growth and they did surgery.
They removed a 21-pound tumor from him. That was a scary deal.

He was sick for a long time. He didn`t have energy. He couldn`t eat.
He couldn`t digest.

And I`m not saying a labor contract is cancer, but it affects you, it
will drag you backwards. You can`t do what you need to do.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: So, a company that does a billion and a half in revenue, the
workers -- hell, they`re nothing but a cancer.

So, here we have, folks, three stories in three different industries
in three separate parts of the country. It doesn`t matter what they make.
It doesn`t matter where they come from. It`s the culture of how workers
are treated in America these days.

There is an industry probably in your hometown you can relate to. It
might not be sugar. It might not be tires. It might not be the airlines.

But all over this country, corporations are making record profits and
laying off workers, shipping jobs overseas and rejecting union contracts.

Workers help these companies make a boatload of money. But the people
at the top think the workers -- well, they`re a sickness.

I don`t like it when I see people getting crapped on for working hard
so someone else at the top can do so much better. The greed will only stop
when the American people make it stop.

And you need to look at what is happening in the streets of America.
That`s why these folks are out, and that`s why this is the 99 percent
movement, and why it`s taking place, and why it is so very much alive.

Now, we`re going to have a farm bill coming up in the near future, and
the question of these sugar subsidies is going to come up. Now, think
about this. Understand this.

These farmers in this part of the country, they get subsidized. Does
your business get subsidized?

OK. We`ve got a cheap food policy in America, and it`s important to
feed people and let low-income people go to the grocery store, and so they
can buy food. And sugar is one of the very few industries that gets
subsidized.

But the farmers who are getting subsidized, they`re making millions.
And they`re taking millions. The numbers don`t lie.

And what`s happening to the workers at the sugar beet plant? Well,
hell, we don`t want to pay them. We`re talking about workers that make
$30,000, $40,000, and $50,000 a year.

And you want to know where America`s going? Whether it`s the airline
industry or Whirlpool, what they`ve done to their workers, or American
Airlines, they`re going to follow suit, with United and U.S. Airways. And
you`ve got all of these other big shot companies out there that just
depress wages, so the profit can get to the top and only a few can get the
money.

That`s why the people are in the streets.

And for Bill O`Reilly to say that this movement is dead, I think the
guy`s lost his mind. He is so totally out of touch -- totally out of
touch.

But you know what? Money does funny things to people. When you get
in that graph that I show often on this program, when you get to be a red
liner, you don`t give a damn about anybody else.

This is why I have a great deal of respect for the progressive
movement. They still have a heart. They still have a pulse. And they
still care about workers.

It ain`t all about profit. This country wasn`t built just because
somebody figured out how to make a dollar. This country was built, the
great 50 states of America -- this country was built because people cared
about their neighbor and people weren`t selfish. People cared about the
next generation.

And apparently, all of that has left the building and the only thing
we care about now is the board, my ass, the shareholders, and what`s in it
for my family, screw everybody else.

You know, one third of this country lives in poverty. What`s going to
happen if all of those people get together and go in the streets? Do we
have enough law enforcement to handle that? Do we have enough governors
with power to call out the National Guard to hold the people back?

I don`t know if that`s where we`re going. You tell me. You send me a
text if you think that`s where America`s going -- because you can go
anywhere on this map across this great country and you`re going to find
greed.

This country has developed a culture that I don`t think our
forefathers would be proud of.

Get your cell phones out. I want to know what you think.

Tonight`s question: are CEOs taking advantage of middle-class workers
for their own gain? 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.

This is one of those nights that I feel like I wish I had two shows.
You know that promo that`s running on this network? I could just keep
talking forever about these greedy son of a guns at the top that only think
about themselves.

What if the guys that hit Omaha Beach, what if they only thought about
themselves?

There`s a lot of people -- and the righties, they talk about how they
love their veterans. They just talk about how they love the military, they
love the veterans. It`s screwing them, too.

What if they said, no, I don`t want to hit the beach, no, I don`t care
about freedom, I`m going to go home? Would these CEOs have a chance to
live free the way they are and do what they want to do?

America wasn`t supposed to operate like this. Cooper Tires is not
supposed to crap on workers after they make $100 million in Findlay, Ohio.

And I will tell the Democrats this tonight. You stand with workers
and you will own the House. You stand with workers and you will own the
Senate. And President Obama will be able to get his agenda through that
will help every American, not just the 1 percent. That`s what 2012 is all
about, period.

Joining me now is Rod Nelson. He is the president of the United Steel
Workers local 207 in Findlay, Ohio.

Mr. Nelson, good to have you with us tonight. I want to know --

ROD NELSON, UNITED STEELWORKERS LOCAL 207: Thank you.

SCHULTZ: I want to know what your workers are going through. What
are Cooper Tire workers asking for? What do you want in this contract?
What`s being rejected?

Tell us about it.

NELSON: We just want a fair shake, Ed. That`s all we want.

We`ve been at the negotiating table since September. And the company
has not bargained with us. They had a contract there waiting for us. They
haven`t moved off that contract very much. They want to ram it down our --

SCHULTZ: What do you -- I`ve got to ask you, what are you asking for?
What do you want your workers to have?

NELSON: We want to be rewarded for bringing this company back to
profitability. Three years ago, our company was in dire straits. They
lost $219 million. And we had a contract.

And we all got together and said we`ve got to bring this company back
on its feet. We offered the company a $30 million in concessions, and it
did. It brought them back to profitability.

And what they`ve done with that money, they bought a plant over there
in China, and they lined their own pockets. The top CEO had a 50 percent
wage increase. And they got plenty of big bonuses to go along with that.

SCHULTZ: OK. I am told that you want your workers to get another 50
cents an hour. Is that correct?

NELSON: That`s our proposal.

SCHULTZ: OK, your proposal.

NELSON: They won`t even entertain that.

SCHULTZ: Your proposal`s 50 cents an hour. On an eight-hour day,
that`s $4 a day. That`s $20 a week. That`s a little over $1,000 a year
raise. Is that correct?

NELSON: That`s correct.

SCHULTZ: OK. For a company that made $100 million and they`re
shutting you out and they`re going to bring in other workers that will do
it cheaper. Is that what the story is?

NELSON: That is correct.

SCHULTZ: So what are your workers going to do at this point? You are
working without a contract. You`re working without a contract, and then
they lock the doors. So what are your workers going to do?

NELSON: We`re manning the picket lines right now. We`ve got about 40
workers out there. And we`ve got their families in here tonight. We`re
feeding their families here tonight.

It should be a time when they should be out Christmas shopping. We
shouldn`t have to worry about where we`re going to get our next meal at.

SCHULTZ: Now, I said $100 million. Is that a correct number? I want
to hear it from you. How much did Cooper Tire make last year?

NELSON: Last year, it was $120 million. And this year they`re doing
pretty good, too.

SCHULTZ: Merry freaking Christmas. Rod, stay with us.

I want to bring in Robert Reich, former secretary of labor, currently
a professor at U.C. Berkeley, and author of the book "Aftershock." Mr.
Reich, what do you think when you hear this story?

ROBERT REICH, FORMER LABOR SECRETARY: Well, Ed, what I think is not
only about greed and also about the plight of average working people, but I
think about the whole American economy. I mean, who`s going to buy all the
goods and services and things that companies make if Americans don`t have
the money in their pockets to buy them?

I mean, we used to have a basic bargain in this country. And that
basic bargain was workers got enough pay to turn around and buy the things
that workers created. I mean, in 1914, Henry Ford paid his workers three
times what the average factory workers got.

And you know something? Why did he do that? Even though "The Wall
Street Journal" called him an economic criminal. He did it because he said
those workers are going to turn around and buy the model T-Fords that are
coming off this assembly line, and they did.

SCHULTZ: So, we have developed, Mr. Reich, a culture in this country,
go after workers. It doesn`t matter what they do. If they`re a wage
earner, doesn`t matter if they`re organized or not, we treat them like
furniture and move them around and sit on them and throw them out. That`s
where American workers are right now.

Or is that an overstatement?

REICH: Unfortunately, it`s not an overstatement. I mean, look at the
data, Ed. We learned just very recently, Commerce Department came out with
this report, that profits as a percentage of the total economy are higher
now than they`ve been since 1929, since before the Great Depression.

But wages as a percentage of the total national economy are the lowest
point they`ve been since 1929.

SCHULTZ: What recourse do these workers have, Mr. Reich? What would
you tell our other gentleman tonight, Rod Nelson, what would you tell him?

REICH: Well, under the labor laws, they have some recourse. But the
labor laws are not strong enough, Ed. I mean, that`s the problem we have
right now. When we have an economy that is based essentially right now on
the idea that a very few people at the top get everything, they get -- you
know, CEO pay is now 300 times the pay of an average worker. It was only
30 times the pay of an average worker 30 years ago.

When that`s the case, we need stronger labor laws. You know, we need
an economy that`s working for average working people. Or otherwise, this
economy`s not going to work for anybody.

SCHULTZ: Rod Nelson and Robert Reich, thanks for your time tonight.
I`m going to tell our audience I`m going to be up in the Red River Valley
in Minnesota this weekend with a camera, and I`m going to talk to the
families that have been locked out of American Crystal Sugar, and I`m going
to continue to do this story.

And I`m also going to continue to publicize -- to give publicity to
those farmers who have gotten subsidies in the sugar industry.

You Tea Partiers out there, you should be asking the question why in
the hell are we subsidizing the sugar industry. We shouldn`t have to do
that. We`ve got to cut federal spending, don`t we?

Remember to answer tonight`s question there at the bottom of the
screen and share your thoughts on Twitter using the #EdShow. I want to
know what you think.

Coming up, Republicans are giving in on the payroll tax cuts. But
they want to pay for them by cutting 200,000 jobs. Anti-tax lobbyist
Grover Norquist is urging them to stay the course and protect the 1
percent.

Meanwhile, Frank Luntz is teaching the GOP how to lie about the 99
percent movement. Alan Grayson is here to respond to that.

Stay with us. We`re right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Coming up on THE ED SHOW: Republicans pretend to compromise
on the payroll tax but Democrats are holding strong and standing up for the
middle class. Congressman Tim Ryan joins me next.

Herman Cain says his wife didn`t know anything about Ginger White
until she saw her on TV. I`m home, honey.

And new polling has Newt Gingrich way ahead of the rest of the GOP
pack. Let us know what you think on Twitter using the #EdShow.

Stay tuned. THE ED SHOW continues on MSNBC.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: As usual, the only real
target of this Republican meat ax is the American middle class. The only
people in America who believe that the richest of the rich shouldn`t
contribute just a little bit to help our economy are the Senate
Republicans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: The battle over extending the payroll tax cuts for middle-
class Americans raged in Congress today. At this hour, the Senate is
preparing to vote on two versions of the tax cut bill. Democrats, they
want to cut the payroll tax by 3.1 percent and offset it with a surtax on
millionaires.

Republicans want a smaller tax cut, and they want to pay for it by
killing 200,000 federal jobs and freezing wages for three years. Both
bills are expected to fail.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi summed it up, the absurd Republican
tax plan early this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), MINORITY LEADER: I don`t know what the middle
class ever did to the Republicans that they`re so out to get them. You`re
saying you need the tax cut for the middle class so that it can create
400,000 jobs. And while we`re doing it, we`re going to eliminate 200,000
jobs. It doesn`t make any sense. Except, it is -- it is consistent with
the Republican principle that they`re here for the 1 percent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: And she is right. They are out to get them.

House Republicans are feeling the heat, though. This morning, they
met with lobbyist Grover Norquist, the author of the infamous anti-tax
pledge.

House Speaker Boehner recently downplayed Norquist`s influence,
calling him some random guy. But now, the random guy is shamelessly
coaching Boehner`s caucus to hold the line.

Republicans will protect the mega wealthy from tax increases at all
costs, won`t they?

We`re joined tonight by Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio.

Congressman, good to have you with us.

REP. TIM RYAN (D), OHIO: Good to be with you, Ed.

SCHULTZ: Has the Democratic caucus pretty much come to the conclusion
you`re not going to get any revenue out of the Republicans, you`re going to
have to bite the bullet elsewhere? Where is that?

RYAN: Well, you`re definitely not going to get it from the top 1
percent because that`s exactly what they`re doing. And it`s a shame, and I
think it`s fueling the animosity that`s happening on Wall Street and the
Occupy movement all the way down the line. And it`s a shame.

But if we`re going to rebalance things we`re going to have to ask the
top 1 percent to help out and it seems like Speaker Boehner -- and my
constituents keep saying that Speaker Boehner is ready, willing, and able
to keep toeing the line for the top 1 percent.

SCHULTZ: What`s it going to take for something to get passed here?

RYAN: Well, I think more noise out in the heartland. And I think
you`re doing it. And what`s happening in Ohio and what happened in Ohio a
few weeks ago is making some of that happen. But there`s just got to be
more pushback from the American people. It`s starting to happen, but it`s
just not quite penetrating Washington, D.C. yet.

SCHULTZ: Here`s the hypocrisy. All of a sudden, we`ve seen a new
Republican Party. They are suddenly so concerned about making sure tax
cuts are paid for.

They didn`t think that when the Bush tax cuts were going through.
They didn`t want to offset them. What about it?

RYAN: Well, you`re exactly right. There`s a little bit of a double
standard here. Two wars on the credit card. You see the Bush tax cuts not
paid for, draining the Treasury; a prescription drug plan that went with
nobody -- no Republican in Washington, D.C. asking how exactly are you
going to pay for this.

And now, all of a sudden we`re looking to make investments into
education and transportation and everybody -- or a tax cut for the middle
class that`s going to save people about $1,000 per family in Ohio. And all
of a sudden, you know, they`re looking to pay for things.

SCHULTZ: Would you go along with cutting, trimming, reducing the
federal workforce as part of a deal? Would you go along with that?

RYAN: Well, the workforce -- I don`t think so, Ed, because the
workforce right now is the same size it was in the 1980s --

SCHULTZ: Yes.

RYAN: -- about 2.1 million people. So, there`s -- you`re going to
try to squeeze blood out of a turnip. And these are the same people that
say they want more border security, we need to process passports faster,
you know, we need more investments into certain agencies for oversight in
different areas.

And so, you can`t have it both ways. It`s just not going to work.

SCHULTZ: Well, the president`s economic council put out a report.
And most of the people on there were Republicans. And you may know this.
But they said that we actually needed more federal workers because we are
losing the tourism industry to the tune of billions of dollars in this
country because it`s so hard for big companies to get their people into the
United States because of the processing of the visas and whatnot, and also
doing background checks.

So, this Republican Party is so screwed up they don`t even know what
they want. They don`t know how they want it. The only thing they know how
to do, Congressman, is listen to this turd blossom named Grover Norquist
who is now coaching the Republican colleagues again.

What about that?

RYAN: Well, I think -- I believe, Ed, that they`re starting to drive
them right over the cliff now. I mean, people in Ohio do not want this
kind of thing.

As you said, there`s got to be certain things that the government is
able to do and do well like issuing passports and getting people coming in
here, whether it`s travel and tourism, or other things that the government
has to do responsibly.

So, it`s not about big government or small government. It`s about
whether or not the government we have actually works for the American
people and helps business create wealth, whether it`s transportation, roads
and bridges, airports, affordable education, research and development,
research into science, National Institutes of Health. These are things
that we have to do if we`re going to grow our economy.

And when you demonize government across the board, you know, get what
we got.

SCHULTZ: Congressman, do me a favor. Go back to caucus and say Big
Eddie says no caving on the Bush tax cuts. I know that`s coming. They`re
going to be throwing that out there. We`re not going to extend the Bush
tax cuts.

Is that where you are or is that --

RYAN: Yes, of course. Of course. Of course. We`ve been led down
that bridge before. I`m not going there anymore.

SCHULTZ: It didn`t create jobs. It did not -- we had this discussion
a year ago in the lame duck session of Congress. And it didn`t do squat
when it came to big job creation.

RYAN: And we are living under the Bush tax code right here. So, all
these Republicans that keep complaining about the economy, this, that, or
the other, we`re living under their rules.

And it hasn`t worked. It hasn`t worked for 30 years. It`s time to
change the play up.

SCHULTZ: Tim Ryan of Ohio, good to have you with us tonight.

RYAN: Always a pleasure, Ed. Thanks.

SCHULTZ: Michele Bachmann reveals her ignorance on Iran, then makes
it worse with a bogus excuse. The Minnesota congresswoman, she is in the
zone, next.

Ginger White is dishing the dirt on her love life with Herman Cain.
Meanwhile, the pizza man says his wife didn`t know anything about their so-
called friendship until Ginger went public. You won`t want to miss this.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: And in Psycho Talk tonight, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann
likes to brag about her seat on the House Intelligence Committee. But so
far, the Minnesota Republican isn`t showing too much intelligence.

You see, at an event in Waverly, Iowa, Bachmann accused President
Obama of allowing Iran to develop nukes. And it went downhill from there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Unfortunately,
President Obama gave the head of -- of Iran the luxury of time to develop
that weapon. And he met with them with no preconditions. That`s the
problem that we have.

I won`t do that as president of the United States. You may have heard
that there`s a break-in at the British embassy and the British had to pull
their people out. That`s exactly what I would do. We wouldn`t have an
American embassy in Iran.

I wouldn`t allow that to be there, because they are a state sponsor of
terror.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Of course, there is no American embassy in Iran. It closed
down 30 years ago when a group of Islamic revolutionaries took it over and
held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. It was kind of a big deal back
then.

Something a presidential candidate and member of the House
Intelligence Committee should probably know about. Well, Bachmann`s
campaign is trying to clean up the mess by denying she made a mistake at
all. They released the following statement: "she was agreeing with the
actions taken by the British to secure their embassy personnel and was
speaking in hypothetical, that if she was president of the United States
and if we had an embassy in Iran, she would have taken the same action as
the Brits. Her remarks are being taken out of context."

Nice try. But I ain`t buying it. We just played the entire clip.
Nobody cut anything up. That clip is the way it was, in context, in its
full, in its entirety. She`s an airhead.

The only thing Bachmann made clear was that she is still spouting
unintelligent Psycho Talk.

You are looking live at the United States Senate. They are voting
right now on the Democratic proposal of the payroll middle-class tax cut.
It is expected to fail. Then they will vote on the Republican proposal for
the middle-class tax cuts. And we will bring that to you as it happens.

Republican message man Frank Luntz is teaching Republicans how to talk
to the 99 percent. Alan Grayson will take Luntz to the schoolyard next.

Mitt Romney gets angry with Fox News, and now his campaign is doing
damage control. Is it too little, too late? Bill Press and Stephanie
Miller are here. They`ll size it all up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: The spinmeister for the right wing is back, coaching,
instructing, and directing the Republicans on how to deal with this thing
called the Occupy Movement. Bill O`Reilly might think it`s dead, but Frank
Luntz sure doesn`t. The man who makes a living on schooling up Republicans
on how to win the sound chamber, well, he`s back at it.

Frank Luntz is scared of the 99 percent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK LUNTZ, FOX NEWS POLLSTER: I`m so scared of this anti-Wall
Street effort. I`m frightened to death. OK. They should occupy a job and
take a bath. I get that joke. But man, they`re having an impact on what
the American people think of capitalism.

And so I`m trying to get that word removed and replace it with either
economic freedom or free market.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: But man, he better be concerned because the 99 percent
movement is winning. The 99 percent movement is having a major impact on
America and how Americans are viewing things. Look at the scoreboard. It
all started in Wisconsin, where two Democrats won recall seats. In Ohio,
the workers stood up for their rights and defeated Senate Bill 5.

And just this week, didn`t get much attention, but in the state of New
Hampshire, they rejected the right to work law. Big deal. Workers in this
country I think have got the Republicans nervous.

And Luntz is telling the Republican Governors Association, where he
was in that sound bite, that look, you`ve got to learn how to talk to the
stupid, the low-information voters. So here are the top ten.

Don`t say "capitalism." Don`t do that. Because capitalism is Wall
Street and Wall Street`s ripping people off and there`s no rules and we
want deregulation. So the word "capitalism," It`s a bad deal right now.
So don`t use that word.

Don`t say that the government taxes the rich. Instead, tell them that
the government takes from the rich. That`s right. The government just
takes from people and the government`s bad. They can`t do anything right.
They`re stealing from the American people. That`s their message there.

Number three, Republicans should forget about winning the battle over
the middle class. Don`t ever use the term middle class. Refer to them as
hard-working taxpayers. Have you noticed on this program I`ve told you
that the Republicans never use the term "middle class" in any kind of
interview? Now you`re going to hear hard-working taxpayers a lot.

Number four, don`t talk about jobs, talk about careers. You see, if
you go into a room and you talk about jobs, it doesn`t hit enough people.
If you talk about careers, oh, everybody can relate to a career. But not
everybody can relate to a job, because there`s too many damn unemployed
people around. So don`t talk about jobs. Talk about careers.

Number five, don`t say government spending. Dog gone it, call it
waste. Everything the government does is wasteful. Except of course when
we go to Iraq and Afghanistan. They love that.

Number seven -- number six, don`t ever say you`re willing to
compromise. Now, this is huge. This is huge right here. Because if you
compromise, that`s a sign of weakness. If you compromise, that`s showing
that you`re not strong on your principles. And compromise means, hell, you
actually have to work with a Democrat. You don`t want to do that.

Number seven, the three most important words that you can say to an
Occupier: "I get it." In other words, go up to them. Hey, I get it, I get
it. You`re really feeling their pain, and you know, but you don`t give a
damn. If you tell them you get it, then they`ll say oh, he gets, it. I
guess he must be a good guy.

Number eight, out entrepreneur, in job creator. Now this is a big
one, too. Actually, they`re all big. Now, out entrepreneur. Don`t use
the word "entrepreneur" anymore. Well, it sounds too much like the French.
The conservative and the Republicans, they don`t like the French anyway.
So always refer to job creator. You know, it`s easy. Can`t raise taxes on
the job creators.

Number nine, don`t even ever, ever -- don`t ever ask anybody to
sacrifice anything. Hell, we`re Republicans. We`re not about sacrifice.
We`re about taking. We take from the middle class. We take from the
workers. Sacrifice? Not in our vocabulary.

And number 10, always blame Washington. It`s Washington`s fault. And
if you blame Washington, the low-information voter who`s standing in front
of you is going to say, well, he`s not the problem. He`s not Washington.
That`s Ralph from rural America who told me that the Congress is bad. They
can`t do anything right.

Let`s bring in Florida Congressman Alan Grayson. They went over this
guy. They got rid of this guy. They went after him. You know why?
Because Alan Grayson tells the truth. And he`s running for Congress again,
and I hope he gets re-elected back into the Congress.

Will this work, Alan? This -- this Luntz technique, will this work?

ALAN GRAYSON, FORMER CONGRESSMAN: No, it won`t because even a dog
knows when he`s being kicked. And the middle class in America has been
kicked over and over again. There`s no words that they can come up with
that are going to solve people`s problems when there`s 24 million people in
this country who can`t find full-time work, 50 million people who can`t see
a doctor when they`re sick, 47 million people who rely upon the government
to feed themselves, and 40 million people who live in homes where the
mortgage is worth more than the home itself.

Those are problems that words are not going to solve. Those are
problems only solutions are going to solve. Words don`t make any
difference. And it`s pathetic. It`s absolutely pathetic that they think
the answer, when their lies have been exposed, is to come up with new lies.
That`s not the answer at all. People demand solutions. They want
solutions. They`re not going to settle for anything less.

SCHULTZ: So why are the Republicans, after stomping all over workers
for years -- why all of a sudden is the light bulb on? What`s happening
here?

GRAYSON: I don`t think the light bulb is on for them yet. They`re
still searching for the new lie, the lie that`s going to be able to paper
all this over and somehow make it OK. If the people have no bread, let
them eat cake. It`s not going to work anymore.

People are fed up. They see the problems in their own lives. And
they`re demanding solutions. That`s what Occupy Wall Street is all about,
people saying it`s not working for us anymore. It`s not working for
millions of people in America anymore. We love this country. We have to
fix it.

SCHULTZ: How should the 99 Percent combat this?

GRAYSON: Oh, by voting out the scoundrels. That`s always the answer.
Look for people who actually will have solutions to your problems and give
them power. And then when you give them power, you`ll see solutions to
your problems. It`s that simple.

SCHULTZ: Well, you`ve got Fox News over there. Their lead guy is
saying hey, the movement`s dead. It`s politically dead, and that`s a good
thing. So what would you tell Republicans right now?

GRAYSON: I`d tell the Republicans to wake up. You know, when they
tell people over and over again that by making things worse, they will make
it better, by telling people that, for instance, if we eliminate Medicaid,
somehow more people are going to be able to see a doctor; if we take away
the right to declare bankruptcy, somehow more people will get out from
under their debts.

Over and over again what you see is they think that by making things
worse, they can make it better. And it just doesn`t work that way. It`s
that simple.

SCHULTZ: I don`t understand how the righties are going to explain the
lack of the use of the word "sacrifice" when they say they support the
troops, because that`s all the troops do for this country, is sacrifice.
So I guess when they get around the troops, they`re going to have to break
Frank Luntz`s rule and start talking about sacrifice, because that`s what
they do.

Alan, best of luck to you. Great to have you with us tonight.

GRAYSON: Thank you.

SCHULTZ: Thanks so much. The pizza man has some explaining to do.
Herman Cain says his wife didn`t know about his alleged mistress, Ginger
White, until she went public. Uh-oh. That`s next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: And it`s probably a safe bet that if he`s not there already,
the pizza man is going to end up in the doghouse tonight. Cain told the
"New Hampshire Union Leader" that his wife, Gloria, did not know about the
so-called relationship, friendship with Ginger White until Mrs. White came
forward alleging a 13-year affair.

Cain admitted he gave Mrs. White money to take care of month-to-month
bills and expenses without telling the misses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAIN: My wife now knows. My wife and I have talked about it. And I
have explained it to her. And you know, my wife understands that I`m a
soft hearted, giving person. My wife is comfortable with the explanation
that I told her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Cain says he won`t make a decision about his candidacy until
he meets with his wife face to face. And told the "Union Leader" editorial
board, yes, getting out of the race is an option. Cain does not know why
Ms. White went public. But --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAIN: I have a very strong speculation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah? That?

CAIN: Someone offered her a lot of money.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Meanwhile, a PAC supporting Herman Cain came out with
another winning ad to combat the latest allegations made by Ms. White.
Their proof that Cain is telling the truth, some guy in Atlanta with an
expensive lie detector technology says so.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s time for the truth. The media won`t tell
you what one of the foremost lie detector experts in America said about
Herman Cain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From my exam, he is being truthful. But the
allegations of saying that she`s been sexually assaulted by him did not
occur.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now that you know the truth, let`s focus on what
matters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Well, that`s it. That solves it. But Ginger White is not
backing down. She told WXIa earlier, quote, "I couldn`t imagine me having
sex with someone and lying about it." And she`s giving details of their
first encounter.

She said, "he sang Larry Graham`s `One in A Million` to me there in
the restaurant. It was full of fantasy that weekend."

So is it all over for Herman Cain? Newt Gingrich seems to think so.
He says he`s going to be the party`s nominee. Stephanie Miller and Bill
Press weigh in on that next. The circus continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Survey tonight on THE ED SHOW, I asked you, are CEOs taking
advantage of middle class workers for their own gain? Ninety eight percent
of you said yes; two percent of you said no. That fits the chart, doesn`t
it?

Coming up, Newt Gingrich is confident he`s going to be the GOP
nominee, while Mitt Romney`s star is fading fast at Fox News. Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I`m going to be the
nominee. I mean, it`s very hard not to look at the recent polls and think
that the odds are very high I`m going to be the nominee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: That was Newt Gingrich speaking with ABC News earlier. And
the way things are going, he just might be right. The latest polling out
in Florida shows Gingrich building on his massive lead over Mitt Romney, 50
percent to 19 percent. And for Herman Cain, who won the states straw poll
earlier this year just a couple of months ago, his support has dwindled to
just 10 percent of GOP primary voters in Florida.

Meanwhile, the fallout continues over Mitt Romney`s contentious
interview with Fox News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You`re wrong, Bret.

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: No, no, I`m --

ROMNEY: Bret. I don`t know how many hundred times I`ve said this
too. This is an unusual interview.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Now Bret Baier is spilling the beans to Bill O`Reilly. Here
it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: He thought it was overly aggressive.

BILL O`REILLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: He did. He said that to you? He
said it was overly aggressive?

BAIER: He did.

O`REILLY: Wow.

BAIER: And as we were walking in the walk and talk. And then after
we finished, he went to his holding room and then came back and said he --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Son of a gun. There`s trouble in the frat house, isn`t
there? Let`s bring in my brother and sister in the liberal talk radio
word, Bill Press, nationally syndicated radio host, and Stephanie Miller,
host of "The Stephanie Miller Radio Show." Great to have you with us
tonight.

(CROSS TALK)

SCHULTZ: Stephanie, I understand that Mitt Romney`s going to be going
on "Fox and Friends" tomorrow morning, where the questions apparently get a
hell of a lot easier. But how is Mitt going to win the nomination if he
ticks off Fox News?

STEPHANIE MILLER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Yeah. Those are some gotcha
questions on Fox News, right? I mean, you know, Ed, you know a candidate`s
in trouble when the DNC can run a flip-flop ad, the same ad the RNC could
run. Anyone could run this ad on Mitt Romney. An eighth-grade civics
class could run this ad.

He has flip-flopped on every single issue.

SCHULTZ: Bill, how does he get the mojo back?

BILL PRESS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I don`t know whether he can. I
mean, look, here`s the gotcha question, right? The gotcha question is
there are 11 million people here illegally in this country, so you say they
need a path to citizenship. Are you going to let them stay here or are you
going to send them all back to Mexico? That`s really a tough question.
That`s a yes or no answer, right?

Mitt Romney can`t even deal with it. Look, I`ve got to tell you, Ed.
I`m a religious man, right? I get down on my knees. I pray every night
that Mitt loses and Newt Gingrich becomes the Republican nominee.

SCHULTZ: Well, Chris Christie, who is a Mitt Romney supporter, he was
down in Florida trash-talking Newt Gingrich today. I mean, the race
apparently is going to start heating up. Stephanie, how is this going to
work out now that the governor of New Jersey`s jumping into this thing?

MILLER: Well, and that`s -- he`s adding considerable weight to this
race. But I don`t even know what to say, Ed. You know, Herman Cain
versus, you know, Newt Gingrich. It`s like an admitted adulterer against
an alleged adulterer. Is this what`s become of the family values party?
Is this what`s become of the moral values party?

I don`t even know what to say. It`s just -- a comedian couldn`t write
this any better.

PRESS: Ed, here`s what`s so funny. The Tea Partiers are saying we`ve
got to walk away from Herman Cain because he cheated on his wife. So we`re
going to go with a guy that cheated on two wives. Right? Where`s the
logic in that? But Newt really thinks -- he showed that earlier with Jake
Tapper tonight, when he said he was going to be the nominee.

He`s got this messianic complex. I talked to a consultant today.
Newt called this guy. I won`t give you his name. Called this guy and told
him that he was destined to be the president of the United States. That`s
pretty sick. That`s what he believes.

SCHULTZ: Stephanie, why is Newt Gingrich all of a sudden just
skyrocketing? What has he done?

MILLER: I don`t know. You know, God seems confused in this race, Ed,
because he`s told several of the Republican candidates that they should be
president. And it`s hard to believe that Newt Gingrich is somehow, I don`t
know -- maybe all the rest were on call waiting and somehow -- it literally
-- I have never seen a field like this.

Have you? I don`t know if this is going to make any difference, Ed,
but I have had a 13-year affair with both Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain. I
don`t know if that`s going help or hurt. Just thought I should tell you.

SCHULTZ: We`ll have to lead with that tomorrow night. Gingrich is
doubling down on his comments regarding child labor. And Bill, this is one
of the things about Newt Gingrich. He`s a ticking time bomb. He just says
stuff and throws it out. And some Republicans are nervous about it. What
about that?

PRESS: No. I mean, in fact, they say this is a guy with a lot of
ideas. Yeah, he`s got a lot of ideas. He`s got a lot of bad ideas. I
mean, he wants to get rid, for example, of the child labor laws. And he
doubled down today. He`s not kidding.

Ed, and if you make them janitors in schools, by the way, throwing out
the union janitors, he says -- so what`s next? They`re going to work in
the shoe factories too ,right? On the assembly lines?

MILLER: I agree. I agree, Ed. There`s been far too much focus on
how horrible a person he is. I don`t think there`s been nearly enough
focus on how horrible his ideas are.

SCHULTZ: Bill Press, Stephanie Miller, always a pleasure. Great to
have you with us. Thank you so much.

That`s THE ED SHOW. I`m Ed Schultz. "THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW" starts
right now. Good evening, Rachel.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY
BE UPDATED.
END

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