Guest: Jim Moran, A.B. Stoddard, Ron Wyden, John Boccieri, Bill Press, Michael Medved, Maryann Woods-Murphy, David Boisse
ED SCHULTZ, HOST: Good evening, Americans, and welcome to THE ED SHOW
tonight from New York.
These stories on the board, hitting my hot buttons tonight.
Democrats are to blame for death threats against members of their own
party? Republican Whip Eric Cantor is accusing Democrats of fanning the
flames.
Much more on that in just a moment.
The House is getting ready for a final vote after the Senate
reconciliation bill passes this afternoon. In Iowa, President Obama tells
Republicans to, hey, bring it on if that‘s what you want to run on in the
midterms, repealing the health care reform bill.
Plus—and I love this story—a New Jersey teacher of the year, she
is schooling Republican Governor Chris Christie for slashing education
funding. Well, that‘s what happens in New Jersey when you elect a righty.
This guy‘s not Bush lite, he‘s Bush heavy.
And that‘s going to be in the “Playbook” tonight.
But, of course, the story that has got me fired up off the top
tonight, freedom of speech. Now, we have to put all this into context.
Freedom of speech—most of all, it is a responsibility. And we need
to remember that.
Capitol Hill Police are on high alert tonight. Members of Congress
are hiring extra security and some are considering moving their families
out of their home districts. Tea Partiers and leaders of the Republican
Party are trying to now distance themselves from all the rhetoric and
threats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER ®, MINORITY LEADER: Violence and threats are
unacceptable. They have no place in a political debate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ERIC CANTOR ®, MINORITY WHIP: I do not condone violence.
There are no leaders in this building, no rank and file members in this
building that condone violence, period.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Oh, it‘s so great that they‘ve come out on a Thursday
afternoon, when most of this took place on a Sunday. That‘s exactly right.
That was what you just saw.
That‘s the right thing to do, but it‘s a little late boys.
But our friends in the Republican Party, you see, they couldn‘t just
leave it there. They had to turn it into a political football.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CANTOR: It is reckless to use these incidents as media vehicles for
political gain. That is why have deep concerns that some, DCCC Chairman
Chris Van Hollen and DNC Chairman Tim Kaine in particular, are dangerously
fanning the flames by suggesting that these incidents be used as a
political weapon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: All right, Mr. Cantor. It‘s not Chris Van Hollen‘s fault
when Democrats get death threats. It‘s not Chris Van Hollen‘s fault
because he‘s not the guy that said “You lie.” He‘s not the guy that said
“Baby killer” on the House floor. That was your party, buddy.
That kind of rhetoric leads to Congressman Bart Stupak getting these
kind of voicemails at home --
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congressman Stupak, you baby-killing (EXPLETIVE
DELETED), you turncoat son of a (EXPLETIVE DELETED), I hope you fell (ph)
out your (EXPLETIVE DELETED), got cancer and die.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are a bastard and a baby killer. You will
rue the day you did this, Mr. Stupak. You are a disgusting man, and I hope
you‘re haunted the rest of your living days.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stupak, you‘re a lowlife, baby-murdering,
scumbag pile of steaming crap. You and your family are scum. You ought to
fill your pockets with lead and jump into the Potomac.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Congressman Stupak, you are one big piece of
human (EXPLETIVE DELETED). There are millions of people across the country
who wish you ill. And all of those thoughts projected on you will
materialize into something that‘s not very good for you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go to hell, you piece of (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: What time is the church service on Sunday? What faith do
they belong to?
You know what that is, folks? That is 100 percent right-wing hate.
The Republicans are trying to play, all of a sudden, the victim.
They don‘t get it. This isn‘t about right or left, it‘s about life
and death. They can‘t grasp how serious this is.
Take a look at “Mr. Country First” on “The Today Show” this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN ®, ARIZONA: I have seen the rhetoric of targeted
districts as long as I‘ve been in politics. Please. Any threat of
violence is terrible, but to say that there‘s a targeted district, or that
we reload or go back into the fight again, please—
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, those are not my words, those are her
words.
MCCAIN: Those are fine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Actually, John McCain, the guy that cut the propane line at
the congressman‘s brother‘s house, he was actually digging a goose pit and
getting ready for the fall season early on. Come on!
You know, it‘s fine to put targets on congressional districts and tell
people to reload? Unbelievable.
The maverick is long gone. John McCain has morphed into a win-at-all-
costs politician.
Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, he‘s no better. This is what he
told “The Huffington Post” late last night when he was interviewed.
He said, “We have not yet begun to fight. I‘ll put it that way.
We‘re going to see in November really who wins this battle, and I think
it‘s going to be the American people.”
OK, if you‘re just counting votes and not heads.
You know, everything has to be a fight or a battle with the
Republicans. This rhetoric is nothing short of reckless at this point.
The Republican Party is so beholden to the right-wing media, they
can‘t show enough guts to act human at this point because they lost on
health care reform. They want people to believe that the Democrats, you
know, they‘re the ones that are unplugging granny and killing the babies.
They pushed the idea of the government takeover, they pushed the idea of
indoctrination camps for your kids.
I mean, they are the party of Waterloo. This, along with the never
ending barrage of right-wing media, is leading to political terrorism.
At this hour, many Americans are wondering, how is this whole thing
going to end?
We have guns and ammunition that are absolutely flying off the shelves
of sporting shops in this country. Why? People are being led to believe
that something really evil is going to happen, that progressives are a
cancer, Obama is going to get your gun?
Now, I hope that this does not end in a loss of life, because that‘s
where it could go. Everyone needs to take a step back, quit the mentality
of win at all costs.
The health care bill is passed. The only way to change it is to go
back and win elections. And all of these nut jobs that out there that are,
you know, feeding the emotions of the disgruntled, you‘re hurting America.
That‘s not America at all.
Tell me what you think in our telephone survey tonight, folks. The
number to dial is 1-877-ED-MSNBC.
Do you blame the Republicans for the increase of violent threats to
lawmakers? Press the number 1 for yes, press the number 2 for no. I‘ll
bring you the results later on in the show.
Joining me now is Virginia Congressman Jim Moran, who was confronted
by the Tea Party protesters outside his office on Capitol Hill on Sunday.
Congressman, good to have you with us tonight.
REP. JIM MORAN (D), VIRGINIA: It‘s good to be with you, Ed, but we
need you here, not in New York. We need you down here. The front lines,
my friend.
SCHULTZ: This is the best I can do, Jim. What you see is what you
get.
MORAN: I understand. Go ahead. Ask your question. I got you.
SCHULTZ: All right. Now, it‘s Thursday afternoon when the
Republicans decide to come out after all of this took place on Sunday. And
yet, they are accusing the Democrats of using all of this as political
theater and posturing, you know, and they‘re playing the role of the
victim.
Piece it all together for us at this hour. What do you think is going
on and what‘s the next move?
MORAN: Well, right now, they‘re defensive. They have got a tiger by
the tail, they don‘t know what to do with them. They can‘t put them in a
different direction.
They‘re trying to blame us, which is a common tactic. You know, no
Democrat has—that I‘m aware of—has said anything inappropriate, has
tried to act civil.
We want to focus on the bill itself. They want to play this politics
of personal destruction.
Eric Cantor is particularly defensive because the majority leader,
John Boehner, his colleague, has said a number of things himself. For
example, Steve Driehaus, he said when he goes back to Cincinnati, he‘s a
dead man. Well, you know, that‘s not—the majority leader of the
Republican Party in the Congress of the United States says those things?
But, Ed, everybody is getting it. My staff just passed on an example
of what we‘re getting. You know, this just came through, “You Marxist scum
are not going to”—and then your staff asked me to blank out this word—
“on the Constitution. You are done.” Some of the stuff says, “You are
dead,” that kind of stuff.
Most people are not going to do anything with this, but there are a
few on the margins who are going to react irrationally, like the guy who
flew the plane into the IRS building, the guy that came with guns to the
Pentagon. I‘m worried about this.
This is the kind of stuff that happened during the Civil Rights Act
passage. And, you know, the Republicans, it‘s their people, they have to
pull them back. These Tea Party folks, they energized them, they empowered
them, and now they don‘t know what to do with them.
SCHULTZ: Congressman, I know that 10 congressional members have asked
for security. Why don‘t we just protect all representatives and senators
for a while until everything calms down?
MORAN: Well, we can do that. I mean, I‘m not going to ask for
security. You know, I don‘t want the taxpayers—
(CROSSTALK)
SCHULTZ: Well, if you‘re getting that kind of material, Jim—if
you‘re getting that kind of material, what does warrant security at this
point?
MORAN: If you were a Senator, would you ask for security? I know you
wouldn‘t. We‘re not going to ask for security.
My kids are grown. My youngest son, he‘s a big football player up at
Yale. That‘s the last thing I need to worry about, is security for him.
I‘m OK, but I worry about these young guys with kids. Their wives are
calling saying they can‘t go to the grocery store with their children
because of the threats they‘re getting. And it‘s happening all over the
country.
It‘s not anywhere near a majority of people. I‘m sure it‘s a small
minority. But these people are not nice people. And it only takes a
handful to cause some real destruction.
I think there should be security for the families. Not so much the
members, the families who are back home having to deal with it.
We‘ve got our colleagues here. We‘ve got the U.S. Capitol Police.
Back home is the problem, and that‘s where we ought to have the security
for them.
SCHULTZ: OK. And my only suggestion for security is that, if, God
forbid, something were to happen, wherever there‘s an action, there‘s a
reaction. I mean, you just never know where it‘s going to end.
MORAN: Of course, you know, these are bullies, and bullies always
back off. The only people that had the courage to confront them on Sunday
were the nuns.
The only placards that said “We‘re Catholic and we‘re for health care
reform,” the nuns, and they walked right into the crowd holding those signs
high. And all those bullies backed off when they saw them.
But otherwise, when you retreat—these folks, they feel empowered
right now. They don‘t represent America. They don‘t even represent a
minority America. But they can do damage.
And they think they have the support of the Republican Party. So it‘s
incumbent upon the Republican leadership to say, no, they don‘t have our
support, we don‘t approve of what they‘re doing, this has got to stop.
SCHULTZ: Congressman, good to have you with us tonight. Thanks for
speaking up. I appreciate it.
The Republicans are digging in with their “Just say no” strategy. Now
they‘re accusing Democrats of fanning the flames of violence. If this is
their winning strategy for the midterms, I guess a lot of Democrats would
welcome it at this point.
A.B. Stoddard, columnist and associate editor of “The Hill,” with us
tonight.
A.B., break is down for us at this point. Do you think this will
subside, or do you think that the rhetoric will continue when they go home
for the Easter break?
A.B. STODDARD, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, “THE HILL”: Well, I think members
will confront a lot of protests at home when they go back to their
districts after this vote. I don‘t think the anger is going to dissipate
next week.
In terms of threats, maybe those will subside. But certainly protests
at public events they hold are going to take place. I don‘t see that going
away for a while.
We know that the people who oppose the health care reform law are
fired up and they are going to remain so. We hope that they‘re not going
to threaten the security of lawmakers and their families anymore, but I
think that the protests will continue for a while.
There is a protest planned by Tea Partiers for the Senate
parliamentarian‘s home. I thought people had better things to do with
their time, but apparently, he‘s fair game, too.
SCHULTZ: OK. Let‘s take a look at the strategy of all of this.
The Republicans say that they‘re going to run on repeal, and they‘re
parsing out exactly what they‘re going after.
This was the president‘s response today in Iowa City, Iowa --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now that they passed
it, now that we passed it, they‘re already promising to repeal it. They‘re
actually going to run on a platform of repeal in November.
You‘ve been hearing that. And my attitude is, go for it!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: A.B., it just seems to me that a lot of people in the media
are afraid to say that the Republicans are the big losers on this. What
have they done for the country since Barack Obama has gotten into office?
They haven‘t helped him on anything.
STODDARD: You know, Ed, I‘m going to say this about the Republicans -
I think they mounted a very credible fight on health care. There are a
lot of Democrats and Independents and Republicans who do not like the
health care reform law and think there are a lot of problems with it, and
they have a legitimate point.
I think that ever since Sunday night, the Republicans have made a
mistake talking about repeal. They‘re bickering among themselves about
repeal and replace, or partial repeal, or replacing the bipartisan bill.
They don‘t know what song page they‘re on at this point, and it‘s a
political gimmick and it‘s not good for them.
If they‘re opposed to this law, they can keep talking that up to their
constituents back home and they can see who wins at the ballot box in
November. But lying to the voters about this being something they can
repeal is just a gimmick and it‘s not true.
They know that President Obama would veto any attempt to repeal,
they‘d have to take back control of all of D.C., of the Congress, of the
presidency in order to get rid of this. So it‘s just a gimmick and it‘s
not true. And I think in the end, they‘re going to reverse the gains they
made in the least year, when they were making a real policy-based case
against the health care reform bill.
SCHULTZ: A.B. Stoddard, nice to have you with us tonight. Thank you
so much.
STODDARD: Thanks, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Coming up, I will talk to Congressman John Boccieri. He has
been on the receiving end of threats. And as a former Air Force major and
pilot, the last thing he ever expected to be was in harm‘s way while
serving in the Congress.
That‘s coming up at the bottom of the hour.
And with the help of Senator Ron Wyden, the Senate passed the fix-it
bill today, and we‘ll talk to him about that.
I‘m calling out the Democrats who voted no. There‘s three of them. I
think they ought to be ashamed or they‘re in the wrong caucus.
All that, plus John McCain and Sarah Palin reunite.
And a “Fox and Friend” lands in the zone.
You‘re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW. Thanks for watching tonight.
The reconciliation bill sailed through the Senate today. Uncle Harry
got 56 Democrats who voted for it to pass the house fix-it bill on health
care reform, as well as a higher education bill that will get for-profit
banks out of the business of administering federal student loans, which is
a very good thing.
The Senate made a few minor changes to the education section of the
bill, so the entire bill is going to be going back to the House for a final
vote, probably tonight. That is expected tonight to pass with no problem.
For more on that, let‘s bring in Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon.
Senator, good to have you with us tonight.
So I guess we can say the leap of faith that the House took on the
Senate and Harry Reid‘s letter of 52 turned out to be 56. It‘s all good.
But the big issue at this point now, Senator Wyden, is the challenge
that‘s coming from a number of attorneys general from individual states
across the country.
Do these lawsuits have merit, in your opinion, or will federal law be
able to supersede any of that?
SEN. RON WYDEN (D), OREGON: I think these lawsuits are going nowhere.
But they really aren‘t even needed, Ed. We were able to get a provision in
the bill that gives the states the power to go off and innovate, come up
with their own approaches, as long as they meet the minimum requirements in
the bill.
And one of the issues I want to stress tonight is this is a huge
opportunity for public option supporters at the state level. What public
option supporters can do at the state level is push to have their state go
with this kind of approach, show that the public option is effective at
holding insurance companies accountable, producing more choice and
competition. And with that kind of hard evidence that could be accumulated
at the state level, it will be very hard to hold off the adoption of a
public option at the national level.
SCHULTZ: OK. I believe that‘s Section 1332 of the Senate
reconciliation bill that says that the mandate can be turned into an option
of what the states want to do.
Is that correct?
WYDEN: That is correct.
SCHULTZ: OK.
WYDEN: And that‘s why I say to these attorneys general, why don‘t you
work with us to innovate rather than litigate? They‘re always talking
about states‘ rights. We‘re empowering the states. The counsel for the
Senate Finance Committee gave them the freedom.
SCHULTZ: OK. So, Senator, you‘re saying that, technically, there is
no mandate, the states are going to have to choose to do that?
WYDEN: What the legal counsel said, in response to my question
specifically, Ed, is under this particular state option, if a state can
show that they are meeting the minimum requirements in the bill, they do
not have to have an individual mandate. And I‘m telling viewers,
particularly progressives around the country, you can go to your state
legislature, you can go to your governor and say that under that provision,
you want your state to put a public option in place to hold insurance
companies accountable.
SCHULTZ: A lot of talk about it not being a bipartisan bill, but it
was real close to 60. There were three Democrats that voted against the
bill, 56 in total did vote for.
Interestingly enough, Blanche Lincoln, who will get a primary
challenge in Arkansas, both she and Senator Mark Pryor voted with the
Republicans and against the bill. And, of course, Senator Ben Nelson from
Nebraska also voted with the Republicans as well. And so he was also a
“no” vote.
So, as it stands right now, this is a major victory for the Democrats.
Where‘s the risk here politically, if there is any at all?
WYDEN: I‘m sure that the insurance companies are going to start
trying, beginning with the open enrollment season that will take place this
fall—they‘re going to continue, for example, to try to cherry-pick. We
are, in this legislation, of course, doing something that you and I feel
very strongly about, and that is outline the vicious discrimination against
those with pre-existing conditions.
But I know that insurance companies—and I know this from my days
with the Gray Panthers—they‘re still going to go out and try to do a lot
of clever marketing to primarily the healthy people. So we are going to
have to be very vigilant in terms of protecting consumer rights. That will
start very quickly.
And as I say, that‘s one of the reasons that I hope public option
advocates will look at that waiver provision and do it at the state level,
because it‘s a way to hold the insurance companies accountable.
SCHULTZ: And quickly, Senator, your thoughts on the Republicans
saying they‘re going to run to repeal it in the midterms?
WYDEN: I don‘t see how a Republican can stand up at a town hall
meeting, I don‘t see how anybody can stand up at a town hall meeting and
say, hello, I‘m really here to tell you I‘m going to repeal a law that
protects our people from against discrimination against pre-existing
conditions. I don‘t see how that passes the smell test.
SCHULTZ: Good to have you with us, Senator Wyden.
WYDEN: Thank you, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Appreciate your time tonight.
WYDEN: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: Thanks for all your work, too.
Coming up, those crazy kids over at “Fox & Friends” are comparing
death threats to kiddie birthday parties. Gretchen Carlson plays the clown
next in “Psycho Talk.”
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And in “Psycho Talk” tonight, we‘ve got a new club member.
The right-wing network‘s resident beauty queen, Gretchen Carlson, on board
tonight.
This morning, Gretchen and the rest of “Fox & Friends,” well, they
spent ample time dismissing the severity of the violent threats directed at
Democrats. After they stopped making excuses for threats, they did say
that the offenders should lay off the homophobia and racism, but only
because they‘re interfering with other opponents of health care reform.
Then Gretchen piped up and drove home the “Psycho Talk.”
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You hurt your own cause when you have racial
epithets or have homophobic phrases screaming at lawmakers who you don‘t
agree with. When it gets personal, it overwhelms the entire message.
GRETCHEN CARLSON, FOX NEWS: It ruins it for everybody, just like the
kid who acts up at the birthday party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Oh, yes, when children act up at those birthday parties,
they may end up smashing a cake in another kid‘s face, or running wild
around the house. And maybe they‘ll kick and scream a little bit.
Excuse me. What we‘re seeing out there are grownups cutting fuel
lines, throwing bricks through windows, and threatening people‘s families.
And the righties either want to ignore it or blame the victims at this
point.
Gretchen, you are trivializing these deadly threats by comparing them
to children acting out at a birthday party. That is dangerous “Psycho
Talk.”
Welcome to the club.
Coming up, my next guest says that the threatening climate on Capitol
Hill reminds him of tours through Iraq and Afghanistan. Democratic
Congressman John Boccieri will talk about his threats from the fringe in
just a moment.
Plus, Arizona, well, you better batten down the hatches. The
warmonger and caribou Barbie and Joe the Plumber are heading west.
And some ice road truckers that‘s stranded in my backyard, and broke
into my house. But that‘s OK, I‘m not mad at him. I‘ll tell you all about
it in the “Playbook.” Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ERIC CANTOR, MINORITY WHIP: It is reckless to use these
incidents as media vehicles for political gain. That is why I have deep
concerns that some, DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen and DNC Chairman Tim
Kaine, in particular, are dangerously fanning the flames by suggesting that
these incidents be used as a political weapon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: That is unbelievable. Welcome back to the Ed Show tonight.
Thanks for watching. Republican Whip Eric Cantor right there today
actually blaming democratic leaders for the threats being made against
members of their own party. Yes, right. My next guest took a courageous
vote on the health care bill. He says that the climate now, the fear of
physical harm is as bad as when he was fighting in Iraq. Ohio Congressman
John Boccieri joins me from the Capitol tonight. Congressman, good to have
you with us.
JOHN BOCCIERI (D), OHIO: Thanks for having me.
SCHULTZ: Do you really mean that? Was it just as dangerous on
Capitol Hill as it was in Iraq?
BOCCIERI: Well, I never said it was as dangerous as in Iraq. What I
said was that I knew that each mission that we undertook, we were putting
ourselves in harm‘s way. I didn‘t realize when we came to Capitol Hill
that some of these votes we may take, put ourselves in harm‘s way as well.
You know, my office staff, my family and myself have all received threats.
We‘re investigating them fully, returned them over to proper law
enforcement officials and will going to prosecute them to the fullest
extent under the law.
SCHULTZ: Do you feel safe, Congressman? Does your family feel safe?
BOCCIERI: Well, there are times we feel safe and there are times that
we don‘t. But, I‘ll say this. While we‘re concerned about our security
here on Capitol Hill, there are millions of Americans who are worried about
their own economic security back home. I understand that emotions are
running raw and there‘s a lot of passions on both sides of this national
debate. But we‘ve got to call on both of our leaders, and all our leaders
who step up and approach the national microphone to temper their words and
to understand that their words have consequences and they do matter.
SCHULTZ: This is Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi dealing with this
situation. Let‘s get your reaction. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: All who participate in their free
expression should not be painted with the same brush of those who have
resorted to such unacceptable language and acts of vandalism. However, we
must remove all doubt in anyone‘s mind that those expressions and those
acts of vandalism and those threats of more have no place in the civil
debate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Pelosi has also been somewhat of a target by some of the
whackos that are out there. One of them is from Alabama, Mike Vanderboegh,
he is a former militia from Alabama, he writes at Nancy Pelosi‘s
Intolerable Act as what he calls it.
“To all modern sons of liberty, this is your time. Break their
windows, break them and run to break again. Break them under cover of
night. Break them in broad daylight. Break them and await arrest in
willful principles civil disobedience. Break them with rocks. Break them
with sling shots. Break them with baseball bats but break them.”
And this guy did an interview with the “Washington Post” and he wasn‘t
at all remorseful for any of that. Now congressman, you said that you got
law enforcement involve. What should law enforcement do about people that
post stuff like that? And also, the fact that the guy in Virginia told him
to go over and visit one of your fellow congressman, you got the address
mixed up, ended up over at his brother‘s house and then later on the fuel
line was cut, the propane line was cut. I mean, what should, if anything,
government do about this reckless rhetoric that is going on?
BOCCIERI: Well, we need to amp down the rhetoric here at the Capitol
and prosecute fully those folks who are breaking the law. Pundits and
politicians alike need to temper our responses, we approach the national
microphone. We‘re responsible for our words, we should not be inciting
anger and fear and we‘ve got to be responsible for our actions. But at the
end of the day, the decisions we make here, we shouldn‘t halt the progress
of our country because we cower to the politics of fear. I mean, this
country has been founded on robust debate and we should have that here in
the Capitol.
SCHULTZ: Congressman Boccieri, great to have you with us tonight.
BOCCIERI: Thank you, sir.
SCHULTZ: You changed your vote from no to yes, a courageous move and
you‘ve been the target of some real bad stuff. I appreciate your time
tonight.
BOCCIERI: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: Let‘s turn to the panel for some rapid fire response. I
want to know what they make of the republican refusals to take
responsibility for the scary rhetoric and threats that democrats are
facing.
And we‘re headed for a psycho talker showdown tomorrow in Arizona.
Sarah Palin is scheduled to campaign with John McCain while Joe the Plumber
will attend a rally with McCain‘s Republican Challenger JD Hayworth. Only
in the wild wild west. I guess, who could stay with us tonight is Radio
Talk Show Host Bill Press and also, Nationally Syndicated Radio Talk Show
Host Michael Medved. Tonight, let‘s talk about republican responsibility,
Bill Press. Why did it take Eric Cantor and john Boehner four days to come
out and say, you know what, maybe we better not be doing this kind of
stuff.
BILL PRESS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I don‘t know but you know, what
really disturbs me is not only did it take them four days before they would
condemn the violence. But they really egged it on. I mean, they did what
Cantor is accusing democrats of. You pointed out earlier. You know, it
was John Boehner himself who called this Armageddon. It was John Boehner
who said another congressman is going to be a dead man. It was Michael
Steele who said Nancy Pelosi‘s going to have to face the firing line. As
you pointed out Sarah Palin putting the riffle targets on 12 members of
Congress. I mean, this was highly irresponsible and it‘s a kind of violent
language that can incite violent acts. And they are no better. I think it
shows it how desperate they are. They know they dealt themselves a losing
hand, they have nothing to offer now to the American people. The American
people are going to discover, hey, we got something good in this health
care bill.
SCHULTZ: Michael Medved, your thoughts on this.
MICHAEL MEDVED, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, first of all, the
republicans have plenty to offer, tried to offer during senate debate with
amendments to the health care bill and that fight will going to continue.
Not to repeal the bill but to amend it and to improve it and the skill.
SCHULTZ: The rhetoric Michael, the rhetoric, well, we know they will
put in amendments.
(CROSSTALK)
SCHULTZ: What about the rhetoric?
MEDVED: The rhetoric particularly from that blogger you cited is
totally unacceptable and it‘s probably illegal. You can‘t incite violence.
Look, I don‘t think we should be talking about political warfare as if it
were in fact, combat. There‘s a real difference. I mean, at the end of
the day, the real job of politicians should not be to destroy everybody,
but to persuade everybody and you don‘t persuade people by using rhetoric
about killing or look, I would make a distinction, when people had signs up
that said kill the bill, I don‘t think that‘s over the line. If you put
riffle targets on members of Congress, that is clearly over the line and
unacceptable and deserves...
PRESS: And I hope you send that message to Sarah Palin, Michael.
Maybe you can go to Arizona this weekend and tell her yourself.
MEDVED: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: Michael.
MEDVED: Seriously.
SCHULTZ: Go ahead.
(CROSSTALK)
MEDVED: Seriously, this is what I say on my radio show all the time,
by the way.
SCHULTZ: You made an interesting point about the war metaphors and
such stuff. Is that just how politicians talk? You know, we‘re going to
fight for you in Washington. I mean, I think people understand that. When
you‘ve got, you lie being thrown out at a joint session of the Congress
when the president is speaking, when you have right wing talkers, and we
know who they are, just pour this hate at President Obama, he‘s a
socialist, he‘s a Marxist, he‘s a birther, you know, and question his
integrity after the vetting process, after he‘s been elected, I mean, you
know, why don‘t the republicans distance themselves from these right wing
quote, “entertainers” that are stirring up this crowd outside the Capitol?
MEDVED: I think more and more republicans are doing some of that,
from some of the more extreme statements. I mean, look, in terms of the
birthers that you mentioned, even Glenn Beck has totally attacked the
birthers as irresponsible. There is not a scrap of evidence that Barack
Obama was born anywhere except Honolulu, Hawaii...
SCHULTZ: Are you defending Glenn Beck.
(CROSSTALK)
SCHULTZ: Are you defending Glenn Beck?
MEDVED: No. I‘m saying that everybody—the birthers do not
represent the Tea Party movement, they don‘t represent the Republican
Party. They‘re crazy. That‘s all they are.
PRESS: And let me make a quick point here. You know, now, Eric
Cantor had a great chance today to condemn this violence and say this is
not who we are. Instead, what did he do? He accused democrats of
exploiting these attacks for political purposes. My question is.
MEDVED: He said something else, Bill. He said something else.
PRESS: Wait, wait, wait. Let me finish.
(CROSSTALK)
MEDVED: He himself has been the target of threat.
(CROSSTALK)
PRESS: I want to finish my point and then you talk. Come on, come
on, come on! He said, the FBI has investigated this. They are on these
cases. The Capitol Police have investigated, they‘re providing extra
security. So is Cantor accusing the FBI and the Capitol Police of
exploiting these threats for political gains? Seems to me that‘s what he‘s
saying, that‘s outrageous.
SCHULTZ: All right. Let‘s get to Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin, as far
as John McCain is concerned, I guess she‘s going from an air head to a
political draw. Why is he bringing Sarah Palin down there when her
credibility has been diminished so terribly with some of her latest antics
and some of her off the wall comments. Is this a good political move,
Michael?
MEDVED: Of course, it is. John McCain is a strong conservative, he
is the right candidate in Arizona. J.D. Hayworth is a horse‘s rear end,
especially with his comments about marrying your horse recently. And look,
I am pleased that Mitt Romney and Scott Brown and Sarah Palin and every
same mainstream republican in the country are supporting John McCain. And
of course, he‘s right to bring her down. She has a following and some of
that following might be tempted to vote for radical and a corrupt record
like Hayworth.
SCHULTZ: She might bring the bull‘s eye crowd with her. OK. All
right. Bill, what about JD Hayworth bringing in Joe the Plumber? I mean,
this is a freak show.
PRESS: No, no, no, I was just going to say, I think “Saturday Night
Live” has taken over Arizona politics, you know, and that‘s all I can say.
(CROSSTALK)
SCHULTZ: All right. Gentleman, great to have you in “Rapid Fire”
tonight. Thanks so much.
PRESS: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: Coming up. Late night Jimmy Fallon shows us why Joe Biden
dropped the “f” bomb during the health care signing ceremony. That‘s next
in the Playback. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And it‘s not too late to let us know what you think of the
question tonight. The number to dial is 1-877-ed-msnbc. Tonight, in our
telephone survey question is, “Do you blame the republicans for the
increase of violent threats to lawmakers?” Press one for yes. Press two
for no. Again, the number to dial, 1-877-ed-msnbc.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And in my “Playbook” tonight, New Jersey‘s Republican
Governor, Chris Christie is making school kids and teachers pay for the
states budget deficit. He is slashing funding for public education up to
$820 million. Meanwhile, he‘s cutting taxes for people making who are over
$400,000 a year. Folks, this is what happens when you put a righty in
office, things don‘t change on their side. But educators are fighting back
with a new ad featuring New Jersey‘s Teacher of the Year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARYANN WOODS-MURPHY, NEW JERSEY‘S TEACHER OF THE YEAR: Our children
are New Jersey‘s future. So, when I learned that Governor Christie was
talking about cutting funding for our public schools by almost a billion
dollars, I got worried. At the same time, the governor plans to give a tax
cut of a billion dollars to people who earn over $400,000 a year. The
governor‘s education cuts will mean larger class sizes and fewer in
programs in Math and reading, please ask Governor Christie to support New
Jersey‘s public schools, not millionaires.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: And New Jersey‘s Teacher of the Year, Maryann Woods-Murphy
joins me tonight, she will be receiving her teacher of the year award
tomorrow. She teaches foreign languages, especially Spanish. Great to
have you with us.
WOODS-MURPHY: It‘s a pleasure.
SCHULTZ: You bet. Maryann, how deep are these cuts, what does $820
million mean to kids and teachers and classrooms in schools?
WOODS-MURPHY: We‘re looking at 6,000 teachers and even more
educational support professionals. This is a devastating cut to our field
and for children in New Jersey.
SCHULTZ: Where will the cuts going to be made? In Rural New Jersey
or the bigger cities?
WOODS-MURPHY: All across the whole state. We‘re hearing stories from
every district. Teachers are so concerned, people are openly crying in
their classrooms. This is the week where pink slips had been handed out,
wonderful teachers are being lost. I got an e-mail from student today who
wants to get the students standing up against these cuts, a terrible,
terrible situation.
SCHULTZ: Everybody understands cuts in business when times are tough.
But isn‘t it just kind of fuel on the fire that those who are in the top
one percent are getting a tax cut, how do you think that sits with New
Jersey residents?
WOODS-MURPHY: I feel that the New Jersey residents will understand
that our governor‘s priorities are incorrect. We need to be giving to
education to prepare our students for the 21st century. And for citizens
whose salaries are over $400,000, they can afford to give this money to
education. It‘s $800 million for $800 million of cuts. We have the money,
it‘s just as a matter of priorities.
SCHULTZ: Now, does this mean that classroom sizes are going to grow
and facilities are going to be closed?
WOODS-MURPHY: Absolutely. Classroom sizes are already stretched to
the packs. There are some schools that have no room. I heard of a school
that has to get rid of desks to fit more children, 30, 40 children in a
classroom. This is not what New Jersey education is about.
SCHULTZ: Well, it is amazing. Elections do have consequences. And
I‘m not quite sure that he campaigned on this.
WOODS-MURPHY: No. In fact, we were promised that we wouldn‘t have
these sorts of cuts to education and that our governor, Governor Chris
Christie would be an education governor, but unfortunately that‘s not
happening.
SCHULTZ: Maryann Woods-Murphy, congratulations, keep up the fight.
WOODS-MURPHY: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: Thank you for doing that commercial. I saw it last night on
a local television station here in New York, and I said, I want to talk to
that teacher. And I appreciate you being here.
WOODS-MURPHY: I really appreciate you having me. Thank you so much.
SCHULTZ: This is what‘s happening across the country. The
republicans think that public education is just no big deal, we‘ll just
cut. That is not Bush lite, that is Bush heavy is what it is. Thanks for
your time.
WOODS-MURPHY: Thank you so much.
SCHULTZ: You bet. Another page of the “Playbook” tonight. You know,
the craziest thing happened recently at a fishing lodge that my wife and I
recently purchased up in Canada and Manitoba. It used to be thunderbird
lodge, now it‘s big Eddie‘s North Country lodge. What we do with our time
is amazing, is it? It‘s a remote lodge about 200 miles North of Winnipeg.
And you have to fly there to get there. And in the wintertime, you can,
you know, apparently reach all of these camps up there via ice roads.
Well, I found out that last week when I was told about a dozen ice road
truckers ended up breaking in because the roads melted so much, and so
they had to get shelter, they were stranded. Nine days later, they were
able to get a ski plane in there and get them out. I‘m glad they were
close enough to the lodge to take refuge. I‘d have done the same thing
because it‘s chilly up there this time of the year.
One final page of the “Playbook” tonight. Vice President Joe Biden
got a lot of attention this week for saying the “f” word on live TV while
congratulating President Obama on the health care bill signing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: “This is a big—ing
deal!”
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: I agree with you, Joe. Well, folks, over at the late night
with Jimmy Fallon, he used Biden‘s slip off as inspiration for an updated
version of an old schoolhouse rock favorite.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON, NBC)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I‘m just a bill, yes a (bleep) bill up on Capitol
Hill, well it‘s a long, long journey to the Capitol City but I pushed my
way through those (bleep) committee and I became a law and today and I just
have to say, that I will always be a big (bleep) bill.
Bill, you‘re a (bleep) bill.
Oh, yes!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Coming up, corporate money is already flying into the 2010
elections at record levels. That Supreme Court decision to open up the
floodgates on campaign cash is bad for America. And it‘s already
happening, the man who won that case, David Bossie, President of Citizens
United will go head to head with me in just a moment. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And finally tonight, the first newly legalized corporate
campaign commercial has appeared in a Texas newspaper. This January, a
landmark Supreme Court ruling lifted restrictions on corporate political
spending. And now a real estate company, KDR Development, has taken
advantage of the situation. The company funded a commercial against a
formerly democratic state representative who ran in the republican primary
earlier this month. The commercial wasn‘t enough to defeat him but it
represents, I think, the tip of the iceberg of corporate political spending
that we are bound to see as this year goes on, on the heels of health care
reform.
Joining me now, David Bossie, Founder and President of Citizens
United. The company on the winning side of the Supreme Court decision. I
have been told Mr. Bossie—first of all, thanks for joining us.
DAVID BOSSIE, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, CITIZENS UNITED: Thank you for
having me.
SCHULTZ: I have been told by some activists that we‘re going to see
more money tossed around in this mid-term than ever before, you think so?
BOSSIE: Oh, I don‘t. Look, this is nothing new. What‘s going on in
Texas was before our ruling, Ed. Twenty eight states were able to do this.
This is absolutely nothing new. Illinois was able to do this, Delaware was
able to do this, Maryland was able to do this. Lots of states have been
able to do this for many years.
SCHULTZ: But unlimited money, doesn‘t that mean that if somebody
wants to make a statement and take down somebody in the primary, they can
both load the campaign.
BOSSIE: Look, corporations have been giving for a long time to
candidates. And it doesn‘t mean they‘re corrupted.
(CROSSTALK)
SCHULTZ: It‘s not a matter of being corruption, it‘s a matter of
buying an election.
BOSSIE: But look, Barack Obama, when he ran for the State Senate in
Illinois, that state allowed corporate giving. Barack Obama got two-thirds
of his money from corporations, packs and unions, two-thirds of his money.
Is he a corrupt politician that he went to the State Capitol?
(CROSSTALK)
SCHULTZ: Well, that was on a state level but now.
BOSSIE: No, no, no, but it‘s the same thing.
SCHULTZ: This opens up a whole Pandora‘s box when you‘ve got possibly
foreign money coming into American elections. Do you see that as positive?
BOSSIE: There is no foreign money, Ed. Section 441E of McCain,
Feingold was in effect before our ruling and is in effect today. If they
have a flawed section over foreign corporations, that‘s their problem.
They did that. Corporations did that.
SCHULTZ: And who‘s the watchdog on that when you got unlimited money
coming in?
BOSSIE: Well, first of all, there‘s no corp, it‘s illegal for
foreigners and for foreign corporations to give. It was illegal before my
case, it‘s illegal today.
SCHULTZ: OK. Well, you‘re a big winner so far, aren‘t you?
BOSSIE: Wow. Look, we have—we make movies and our case was about
a movie. Our newest film, “Generation Zero” is about our economic
meltdown. And it has candidates in it or potential candidates in it. And
we don‘t want to be held to a standard that the left isn‘t out of Hollywood
because they get the media exemption just like General Electric gets the
media exemption here, Sony Lion‘s Gate gets the media exemption. We wanted
the media exemption and that‘s and how the case even started.
SCHULTZ: Battle lines are drawn. Unlimited money is just that. Mr.
Boisse, it‘s good to have you on.
BOSSIE: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: Tonight, in our telephone survey, I ask you, “Do you blame
republicans for the increase in violent threats to lawmakers?” Ninety five
percent have said yes, five percent said no. That‘s the Ed Schultz. Were
back tomorrow night.
“HARDBALL”, Chris Matthews starts right now.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY
BE UPDATED.
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