ED SCHULTZ, HOST:
want to do in
New Jersey
. Commentary on that coming up a little bit later, as well. But
this is the story
that has me fired up at this hour. You know, let`s see, it`s
June 21st
, the
longest day of the year
. And the
Democrats
are finally starting to
see the light
?
Texas
Congressman
Joe Barton
has put the
Republican Party
at a crossroads. Let`s see, you`re either with
big oil
or you`re not with
big oil
. The
Obama
administration has the
minority party
I think backed into a major political corner.
RAHM EMANUEL, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF:
That`s not a political gaffe. Those were prepared remarks. That is a philosophy. That is an approach to what they see. They see the aggrieved party here is
BP
, not the fishermen. And remember, this is not just one person.
Rand Paul
, running for
Senate
in
Kentucky
, what did he say? He said the way
BP
was being treated was un-American.
SCHULTZ:
Wow
.
Rahm Emanuel
is finally showing us some
Chicago
politics.
The Republicans
are shaking in their boots because they know
President Obama
is going to make
Joe Barton
the poster child for the midterms, and he should, because that`s what they`re all about. Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell
fired back today at the
White House chief of staff
and the president.
SEN.
MITCH MCCONNELL
(R), MINORITY LEADER: Now, I`ve noticed that the president`s chief of staff had some ideas over the weekend about how to frame up the November elections. I can`t think of a better example of how detached
Democrats
seem to be at the
moment
from the concerns of the
American people
.
Americans
want to know what`s being done to fix a broken pipe at the bottom of the
Gulf
, not what`s being done to fix the elections.
SCHULTZ:
Classic
, classic, classic Republican move. Attack where they`re weak. Sorry,
Mitch
, the
American people
know this isn`t about
Rahm Emanuel
. This is about the
Republicans
apologizing to
BP
. Until you call on
Barton
to
step aside
, the
Republican Party
will own this apology.
Republicans
are desperate to change the subject, as they always are. Listen to
Alaska
Senator
Lisa Murkowski
.
SEN.
LISA MURKOWSKI
(R), ALASKA: Let`s not be distracted by saying, you know,
Joe Barton
made this gaffe or this inappropriate comment. Let`s focus on what we need to do, which is getting relief to the
Gulf
, making sure that they have every asset possible, making sure that we`ve got a claims compensation system that works for them. Let`s focus on providing what the people of the
Gulf
need, not pointing fingers back and forth and saying, oh, you know, what you said was wrong.
SCHULTZ:
What garbage that is, Senator. We, as
Americans
, we now how to walk and chew gum at the same time. It`s BS. What
Joe Barton
said was absolutely no gaffe. He`s what the
Republican Party
is all about -- defend
big oil
, defeat
President Obama
, win at any cost. And bottom line is, they have basically turned their backs on the concerns of the
American middle class
. Let`s not forget that. The only mistake
Joe Barton
made was he basically was telling
Americans
exactly what he thinks so everybody could see. I think that
Barton
should step down as
ranking member
of the
Energy and Commerce Committee
. And if he doesn`t do that, if he doesn`t bear the responsibility of leadership -- it`s about leadership. And if he can`t do that, then the
Republicans
are going to have to bear the brunt of it, because no one in the
Republican Party
has the guts -- I think there`s a couple people out there, but the leadership is fully behind him. What does that speak to where they really stand? Are they with the corporations or are they with the people?
And I
don`t believe that
Americans
, including myself, can ever view
Joe Barton
as an honest broker again when it comes to
energy policy
when he takes the kind of money he takes from
big oil
and then openly, not a gaffe, but prepared remarks with a statement, apologizes to the very corporation that is butchering our environment and trashing our economy along the
Gulf Coast
. Get your cell phones out, folks.
I want you to know
what you think about all of this tonight. Tonight`s next survey question is: Do you think the
Republicans
have the guts to force Congressman
Joe Barton
to step down from the
Energy Committee
? Do they have the guts to do that? Text "A" for yes, text "
B
" for no to 622639. We`ll bring you the results later on in the show. Now, the political opportunity here, let`s talk about that. Joining me now is
New York
Congressman
Anthony Weiner
. He serves with
Joe Barton
on the
Energy and Commerce Committee
. Congressman, good to have you with us tonight. REP.
ANTHONY WEINER
(D), NEW YORK: Thanks, Ed.
SCHULTZ:
Why aren`t
Democrats
screaming from the top of every building in
Washington
that this guy needs to be replaced if he`s this close to
big oil
and has shown his cards when the
Democrats
are supposed to be the party that`s so concerned about
climate change
and energy and moving the country forward? Why wouldn`t you want to try to take this guy out just on the shame alone?
WEINER:
Well, listen, I`ve got to tell you something, because it`s not as if the second
ranking member
or the
Energy and Commerce Committee
or the third or fourth doesn`t reflect those views, as well. Look, there is an indiscriminate support of
big oil
and
big business
among the
Republican Party
.
And I
have some empathy for
Joe Barton
. First of all, I think he`s a good guy, but he was not anything near even the first to say this. In 10 minutes this afternoon on the
Internet
, here`s where I came up with other people who called it a shakedown:
Michele Bachmann
,
Sarah Palin
,
Newt Gingrich
,
Rush Limbaugh
, Tom Price. The entire
Republican Party
. My concern is we shouldn`t be focusing on
Joe Barton
. We should be focusing on what
Rahm Emanuel
spoke about this weekend. This is a fundamental difference between
Democrats
and
Republicans
.
SCHULTZ:
Congressman --
WEINER:
They support
big business
. We support trying to regulate them fairly.
SCHULTZ:
Yes, they do. Yes, they do. But all of the people that you named, Congressman, are not in a leadership position. They don`t chair any committees.
And I
have an ethical issue with the
Democrats
principally here. If you don`t have the guts to put the pressure on this guy to get him out of this position, how are liberals supposed to really believe that you`re serious about
climate change
?
WEINER:
Because Joe --
SCHULTZ:
Quite frankly, I don`t care what
Michele Bachmann
says, and I don`t think most
Americans
do. You know my point here.
WEINER:
Well, listen,
Sarah Palin
and
Rush Limbaugh
are the leaders of that party. But the point that I`m trying to make here is, I think we`ve got to keep our
eyes on the prize
. This is not about
Joe Barton
. What if
Joe Barton
tomorrow wasn`t the
ranking member
? Do you think any way that we`ve moved any closer to the
Republican Party
learning lessons here? Absolutely not. He reflects -- to his credit, he reflects what
Republicans
in
Washington
believe. You know, some people say that the meaning of a gaffe is saying what you really believe and having someone hear it. That`s basically what happened here. This was no gaffe. This reflects the values of the
Republican Party
.
And I
think focusing on one person is not the thing here. The idea here is very simple. There`s one party in
Washington
that is trying to reel in the worst abuses of
big oil
, trying to make sure the regulations are there in place, and trying to get this cleaned up. And another whose instinctive reaction is to defend
big oil
. That`s who will be in charge in
Washington
if we allow the
Republicans
to win in November.
SCHULTZ:
Well, that`s the point. I mean, why wouldn`t you look out for the people right now? But, of course, you`re saying that the entire Republican philosophy is that.
Barton
has taken $1.4 million from the
oil and gas industry
since
1990
. So, I don`t think his remarks were inappropriate. Heck, he`s bought and paid for by
big oil
. I mean, he did exactly what they wanted him to do. Now, moving forward, let`s talk politics of this. What`s the political opportunity here? Just to paint
Joe Barton
as, this is the real
Republican Party
and not let the voters forget it?
WEINER:
Well, you know, so much of what goes on in
Washington
is outside the view of many
Americans
. Most
Americans
don`t keep track of who`s regulating what. They`re interested in how they`re going to put food on the table and how they`re going to protect their job in a tough economy
SCHULTZ:
Yes.
WEINER:
But I`ll tell you, what we are learning here, this is one of those moments, one of those "
ah-ha
" moments for the
American people
where they get to visualize what the world would be like if the
Republicans
took over the
House of Representatives
.
Joe Barton
, whatever you think of his views, he would be in charge of the most important committee in
Congress
. So, to the extent that most
Americans
are not thinking about politics, they`re thinking about their everyday lives, this is a
moment
for them to understand that their lives would be very different if the
Republicans
are successful this November. Every election is a choice, and the choice is the
Barton
philosophy on managing
big oil
, which is to give them whatever they want, and our team.
SCHULTZ:
He`s your poster child, there`s
no doubt about it
. Congressman, good to have you with us tonight.
WEINER:
Thank you,
Ed.
SCHULTZ:
Thanks so much. For more, let`s bring in
Bob Shrum
, Democratic strategist and professor at
New York University
.
Bob
, great to have you with us. Is this actually a campaign`s dream, to have a target like this politically? What do you think?
BOB SHRUM, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST:
Well, it`s pretty extraordinary, because everybody`s been talking about a
Katrina
moment
, and trying to say that somehow or other, this
oil spill
was going to be
Barack Obama
`s
Katrina
. Actually, when
Joe Barton
spoke the other day, he committed the equivalent of, "You did a heck of a job,
Brownie
." That`s going to be the indelible political image out of this, and his offense was not what he said, but that he said it. He spoke the dark heart of the
Republican Party
. And it`s not just a few members of that party. The Republican House Study Group -- I think it`s over 100 members of the congressional
Republicans
belong to it -- used the word "shakedown." And it`s not just the oil issue. It goes across the board. This is, for example, the same party that is stopping extended unemployment compensation benefits so people can feed their families while trying to end the estate tax for billionaires.
SCHULTZ:
So, how aggressive should the
Democrats
be? I mean, obviously, his apology was weak. It`s not being accepted by many. So, this is the defining
moment
for the
Democrats
, isn`t it?
SHRUM:
Oh, I think it`s several ways it`s the defining
moment
. First, I agree with you, people ought to demand that he step down. It`s entirely inappropriate to have him in that job. But secondly, it`s a defining
moment
because it opens the door to a narrative that will create a choice for voters.
The Republicans
want this election to be a referendum. Are you unhappy with the unemployment? Which, by the way, we`re hoping that you forget that we caused during the
Bush
years when the whole economy collapsed just as
Obama
was coming into office. That`s what they want this election to be about. I think what we have to make it about, what
Democrats
have to make it about, is a choice.
And I
think that what
Barton
did was crystallize that choice. It was a
moment
when the country saw the difference between the two parties.
SCHULTZ:
Bob Shrum
, always a pleasure.
