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The Ed Show for Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Read the transcript to the Wednesday show

Guests: Michael Eric Dyson, Hilary Shelton, David Cay Johnston, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Wendell

Steinhauer, Mary Bell

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

The right wing and the right wing media, they have a major problem with race.  I‘m going to play you the tape tonight and let you decide.  And, tonight, I‘m calling them out on it, as I see it.  You will not believe the incitement of violence you‘re about to hear.

This is THE ED SHOW.  Let‘s get to work.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

           

NEAL BOORTZ, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST:  You do in fact need to carry that gun, and we need to see some dead thugs littering the landscape in Atlanta.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ (voice-over):  Shocking words from a right wing talk show host and he‘s not the only one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC BOLLING, FOX NEWS:  What‘s with all the hoods in the hizzy?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  Tonight, Michael Dyson and Hilary Shelton on the right wing problem with race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:  No more open door with the union.  You no longer have your own voice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  A major retailer has a major pr problem over an internal anti-union video that just got leaked.  We‘ll play the tape.

Republicans say they‘re ready to cut aide to the poor and elderly, and give billions to farmers for ethanol.  So much for deficit reduction—I‘m calling out their hypocrisy.

All that and the latest in the fight for workers rights in Wisconsin and New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHULTZ:  Good to have you with us tonight, folks, there‘s something very ugly and dangerous going on in this country.

Right wing talk show hosts seem to be amping up racist and reckless rhetoric like never before.  Now, I‘m going to play you this tape and we‘ll get back to the Neal Boortz.  But this is Boortz from Atlanta.  Here it is.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

NEAL BOORTZ, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST:  We‘ve got too many urban thugs, yo, ruing the quality of life for everybody.  And I‘ll tell what you it‘s going to take.

You people, you are—you need to have a gun.  You need to have training.  You need to know how to use that gun.  You need to get a permit to carry that gun.

And you do, in fact, need to carry that gun and we need to see some dead thugs littering the landscape in Atlanta.  We need more dead thugs in this city.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  We‘ll get back to Boortz in just a moment, because, you know, he‘s not alone.  Here‘s another one, FOX News host, this guy named Eric Bolling.  He used racial slang to criticize President Obama‘s trip to Ireland.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOLLING:  Where‘s the leadership?  On the golf course or entertaining rappers in the East Room of our White House.  And now, tornadoes devastated our heartland, killing scores and leveling just about every building in Joplin, Missouri.  Mr. Obama, you‘ve decided that chugging a few 40s and rediscovering your Irish is important than a presidential visit to a community trying to figure out what just hit them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  Now, Bolling claimed that the term 40s wasn‘t racist and never apologized for the comment.

A few days later, Bolling ripped President Obama for hosting the president of Gabon at the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOLLING:  Smiles for the birdie.  Our president sitting with one of America‘s most wanted.  It‘s not the first time he‘s had a thug in the hood in the big crib.

So, what‘s with all the hoods in the hizzy?

A month after the White House hosted the rapper Common who glorifies violence on cops, the president opened his doors to one of Africa‘s most evil dictators.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

SCHULTZ:  Today, Whoopi Goldberg slammed Bolling for making the hizzy remark.  And even her ultra-right wing co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck agreed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELISABETH HASSELBECK, THE VIEW:  It‘s derogatory.  I‘m shocked that he‘s able to continue to say that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  Well, Bolling continues to say racially charged things, because, you see, there just are no consequences for conservatives when they talk like that.

Bolling, of course, issued a completely lame 14-second apology, but FOX, they never publicly reprimanded him.  Murdoch and Roger Ailes, they‘ve got a story of letting their hosts off the hook for garbage like this.

Glenn Beck, he‘s never going to have to apologize for talking about guns and pointing at the president of the United States in a picture.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLENN BECK, FOX NEWS:  The U.N. is also working on a small arms treaty, which purports to be a handy tool to fight terrorism.  But if implemented, Second Amendment proponents believe it will only enforce rougher licensing requirements, create more red tape, and possibly an international gun registry.

This will do nothing but make it harder for you to get a gun.  Why would you get a gun?  To prepare for tough times.  That‘s why.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  I‘m just playing the tape, folks, you‘d be the judge.

There isn‘t a liberal in the media who could have survived a reckless comment about guns while pointing to a picture of George W. Bush.  Conservatives, you see, they have a completely different set of rules and standards.  The level of racist and violent rhetoric on hard right wing radio today is completely off the charts.

Now, back to Neal Boortz, this guy is one of the top 10 listened to radio talk show hosts in America.  He‘s been in it for over 40 years.  Boortz‘ based his national and local show in Atlanta, Georgia.  It‘s America‘s eight biggest radio market.

He refers to himself as the “mouth of the south” and “mighty whitey.”  Neal lived up to the mighty whitey nickname on his radio show Tuesday morning.  We‘ll play it for you again.

He went on a tirade over the level of carjackings and graffiti in Atlanta when he said this.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

BOORTZ:  We got too damn many urban thugs, yo, ruining the quality of life for everybody.  And I‘ll tell you what it‘s going to take.

You people, you are—you need to have a gun.  You need to have training.  You need to know how to use that gun.  You need to get a permit to carry that gun.

And you do, in fact, need to carry that gun and we need to see some dead thugs littering the landscape in Atlanta.  We need more dead thugs in this city.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  Now, Boortz in my opinion, my analysis of this is that he just advocated murder in the streets of Atlanta.  Now, this guy reaches 4 million weekly listeners, and I guarantee you, Neal wasn‘t thinking about white thugs when he was playing hip-hop music and saying that garbage.

Boortz, no doubt, in my opinion, was reckless, stupid and a racist.  But he‘s never going to have to apologize.  You see, conservatives, they always circle the wagons around guys like Neal.  And they go on the offensive if anyone has the guts to call him racist.  And then they get all offended and go over on FOX and say they‘re tired of being called racist.

Well, you heard the tape.

Conservatives—they are not embarrassed with Boortz, not at all.  Hell, they give him awards.  He was the guest of the honor at the Brent Bozell‘s Media Research Council Awards ceremonies last month.  In fact, Boortz gave the big speech at the righty convention this weekend.

Just a few months ago, I believe that there was a member of Congress who was shot and six people died in that tragedy in Tucson, Arizona.  And, of course, we had a big discussion in this country about violent rhetoric.  Apparently, all of that has worn off.

The level of open racism by right wing talkers, I think, is obscene. 

We‘re not talking about name calling here.

Where‘s the push back?  Where‘s the accountability?  Where‘s the responsibility?  Where‘s the consciences?  Where‘s the decency?

As I said, it‘s not name calling, you know what this is?  This is flat-out promoting violence and unlawful behavior.

So, Mr. Boortz, I may ask you to come on this program tomorrow night, and can you bring pictures?  Can you show me who these thugs are?

How do I know who a thug is?  Am I going to be trained to be judge, jury and executioner out on the streets?  Is that what you want?

You‘re advocating damn near civil war.

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

Tonight‘s question: Is this kind of rhetoric dangerous?  Text A for yes, text B for no to 622639.  And you can always comment on our new blog at Ed.MSNBC.com.  We‘ll bring you the results later on in the show.

Now, you know, I want to know, how do I—how do I find a thug?  Is it—is it a black guy?  Is it a Hispanic person?

Let‘s see, Boortz wants me to get my gun, get my permit, and, of course, I‘ll be trained.  And I‘m supposed to kill urban thugs.  Is that what I‘m supposed to do?

And how do I know who these thugs are?

So, Neal, if you can just on—I don‘t want to go on your radio show and I don‘t want you on my radio show.  But I‘d like you to come on this television show tomorrow night, if you could, and show me pictures who you want us to shoot?

And do they have some physical characteristics?  Are they all black guys?  Are they anybody that commits a crime?

Joining me now is Michael Eric Dyson, professor in sociology at Georgetown University and an MSNBC political analyst, and the author of “You Can Hear Me Now.”  And Hilary Shelton, Jr., vice president for advocacy and policy and the director of the Washington bureau of the NAACP.

Gentlemen, thank you for joining me.

HILARY SHELTON, NAACP:  Thank you.

MICHAEL ERIC DYSON, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST:  It‘s great to be with you.

SCHULTZ:  Michael, is this openly advocating the shooting of Americans?  What do you think?

DYSON:  Absolutely.  Ed, I mean, you‘re right on the mark here tonight.

This is stunning.  This kind of vitriol when it spills out into the public is akin to hollering fire in a crowded theater.  This is nothing less than the direct incitement to take up arms against vulnerable, unarmed African-American and Latino, young people, on the streets of Atlanta.

In case you missed it, he gave a signifying twist to his rhetoric when he said yo.  That doesn‘t mean he‘s talking about Britney Spears.  That means he‘s talking about Jamal and he‘s talking about Shanik (ph), he‘s talking about young black and Latino people.

And the comments have to be taken into their context.  Here is the fear of, you know, of black people, of poor black people, of young black and brown people.  Here is the vicious assault upon their vulnerable beings.

Here is the call to arms, in light of Gabrielle Giffords to really do harm and damage to this vulnerable population.

SCHULTZ:  Yes.

DYSON:  Not to even speak of in terms of what happened in terms about the president from Glenn Beck, pointing to his picture along with Cass Sunstein, and suggesting that we need to align that picture symbolically, with an actual gun and arm yourself in light of the coming danger.  There‘s nothing unsure or unclear about the messages either of these people are promoting.

SCHULTZ:  Mr. Shelton, where‘s the pushback?  What‘s the response to this?

How can right wing talkers, and I played a slew of them there, they continually get away with this.  But Boortz, of course, takes it to a new level, advocating the shooting of Americans.

SHELTON:  You have to do exactly what you‘re doing tonight.  Bringing some sensibility, some understanding, we have to dig deep into the issues and see what‘s being said.  We got to speak the unspoken.

In this case, you‘re absolutely right.  What we just heard was the clinical definition of racism—racism with prejudice plus power.  There‘s no more power that we have than to take someone else‘s life.

When you have someone who‘s actually advocating the taken of African-Americans and so thinly veiled, no one should miss the stereotype he brought into this conversation.  Using terms like yo, talking about urban hoods, those kind of issues, we know he‘s talking about African-Americans.  We know he‘s telling white Americans they should buy guns and shoot them, and that will somehow solve a problem.

What we have again is another problem.  Carjacking is a problem in Atlanta.  But them actually advocating another problem to solve that problem, an even a bigger one.

SCHULTZ:  And, Mr. Shelton, last year, the NAACP called on the Tea Party to repudiate the racism, and then, of course, you were attacked by right wing talkers across the airwaves in this country.  And your organization was.

The NAACP—do they have any plans to officially condemn this kind of rhetoric that‘s out there and at least ask for an apology and a clarification?

SHELTON:  Absolutely.  As a matter of fact, I‘m glad you mentioned what we did last year with the Tea Party.  But one of the resolutions the NAACP raised up was the lack of civility in our country and how destabilizing it is, and how dangerous it is.

What you just saw is an illustration of that lack of civility and just how dangerous it is.  And, yes, the NAACP looking at these people, and who‘s actually sponsoring this kind of rhetoric.

Don‘t forget, these talk show hosts make a lot of money doing this kind of thing.

SCHULTZ:  But they get away with it.

Michael Eric Dyson, they get away with.  Why do they get away with it?

DYSON:  Well, they get away with it because we don‘t respond.  As Mr.  Shelton is suggesting here, we have—we have to take direct action.  We have to—I think people have to engage in boycotts.  They have to find out who the sponsors are.

We already saw this with Glenn Beck, a targeted response to the people who are supporting literally the viciousness and vitriol that we see spilling out on the airwaves here.  If the rhetoric of hate and assault is not undermined by being underfunded and severely responded to by those who are progressive and those who are human.

You don‘t even have to be on the left, Ed, to respond to this.  You have to be a human being who says even despite my ideological opposition to your expressions of belief, I should not resort to violence to negotiate this situation.

SCHULTZ:  Yes.

DYSON:  And to encourage white Americans to go out and take up arms against vulnerable young black and Latino people is tantamount to terror.

SCHULTZ:  And I just wonder where this election season is going to be going.  Where are the boundaries going to be?  With some of the stuff we‘re seeing on the Internet right now is unbelievable.

I want to take you to—and look at is this YouTube video put out by Turn Right USA PAC.  The video shows gang imagery and incendiary language as part of a political attack on Janice Hahn, who is a Democratic candidate in the state of California.  Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NARRATOR:  In an insane effort to reduce gang violence, Janice Hahn hired it hardcore gang members to be gang intervention specialists.  She even helped them get out of jail, so they could rape and kill again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  I started working with Janice Hahn.

I started working with Janice Hahn.

I started working with Janice Hahn.

GANGSTERS (singing):  Give me your cash (EXPLETIVE DELETED) so we can shoot up the street.  Give me your cash, (EXPLETIVE DELETED) so we can buy some more heat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  I don‘t even know what so ask after watching that.

Michael Eric, give me the first take.

DYSON:  You know, somewhere, the creator of the Willie Horton ad is looking down and smiling at such a vicious and such a racist—a nakedly racist example of trying to spread white panic and fear among the constituency of America.  This is nothing less than a direct assault upon the vulnerable people of America.  And suggesting again, Ed, that white people have reason to be afraid of black people, and that black people are awed at being portrayed here through the stereotype of wielding guns and engaging in rap music.  And none of that happens to be true, and none of it represents or respects the diversity of black America.

SCHULTZ:  Gentlemen, I wish we could talk longer about this.  Great to have you with us tonight, Michael Eric Dyson and Hilary Shelton.

And I put out an invitation to Neal Boortz to be on this program tomorrow night.  You can say whatever you want. You can even apologize or you can clarify exactly what the hell you were talking about.

Remember to answer tonight‘s question there at the bottom of the screen.  I want to know what you think.

Coming up: food programs for the neediest of Americans cut by Republicans, could be paid for by just one day of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.

And later, the very latest on the workers rights struggle in Wisconsin and New Jersey.  I‘ll talk to a couple teachers and get their reactions.

You‘re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC.  Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  Welcome back to THE ED SHOW.

Get your priority list out and see where this fits on your list.

The House will soon vote on an agricultural bill that really says a lot about the country‘s priorities, if you ask me—or more specifically, about the priorities of the Republican Party.  The proposed bill cuts $800 million from a supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children.  And it cuts $101 million from two other food assistance programs, including one that benefits some 600,000 low income families, most of them seniors in this country.

And if you think that‘s really heart-wrenching, look at this chart.  The Center for American Progress took just part of the GOP budget cuts to food programs, and put it on the left side there.

All right.  The $101 million we just talked about in cutbacks to a year‘s worth of nutrition assistance.  And on the right side, the cost of extending the Bush tax breaks for millionaires for one day, costing about $120 million.

So, one day‘s worth of tax breaks for millionaires would cover the cost of food assistance programs for the neediest Americans in our country for one year.

The rest of the story, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  Welcome back to THE ED SHOW.  Thanks for watching tonight.

Now, House Republicans are willing to make deep cuts in nutrition programs.  But they backed away from farm subsidy cuts because of Republicans who just don‘t want to make the cuts in their own backyard.

So, the agriculture bill changed from the one approved by a Republican-controlled committee as some Republicans—well, they bucked their own party.  Republicans, you see, they talk a really good game about deficit reduction and the need for spending cuts over in the Senate.

Minority leader Mitch McConnell, he just loves busting the chops of the president over the debt ceiling, doesn‘t he?  But he couldn‘t hold his caucus together on cutting ethanol subsidies.

Now, you know where my position is on ethanol.  I mean, I believe in the ethanol subsidies, I believe it‘s good for the country.

But the Republicans, I want to point out they are very inconsistent. 

They go after Medicare and Medicaid, Social Security.

But when it comes to ethanol subsidies, well, there‘s a crack in the armor, isn‘t there?  Because there‘s a strong lobby there, there‘s influence there, there‘s money there, and they want their job back.  They want to get re-elected.

As for the huge debt ceiling talks, well, headed up by Vice President Joe Biden, it‘s getting down to the tough stuff, according to the vice president, and you can, I guess, bet that means entitlement programs.

There‘s also talk of including an employer payroll tax cut as part of the deal to stimulate the economy.

Let‘s bring in the columnist for “Tax Notes,” Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay .  Johnston.

Mr. Johnston, good to have you with us tonight.

It‘s very interesting—

DAVID CAY JOHNSTON, TAX NOTES:  Thank you, Ed.

SCHULTZ:  -- when you look at the Republicans, and I want to put up the chart showing what one day‘s worth of Bush tax cuts for millionaires could do, and this is where, of course, the Republicans want to cut.  Put it into perspective for us.

JOHNSTON:  Well, the proposal that you‘re seeing is part of a broad pattern here.  You know, Michele Bachmann said yesterday that she wanted to make a bunch of changes in the tax code, including reducing the corporate tax to 9 percent, lowering the rate on capital gains to zero.

And what she‘s really proposing, and it goes right with this, Ed, is to reduce by two thirds the tax burden of the 13,000 best off families in America.  She wants to cut their taxes by two thirds and at the same time, the Republicans are proposing these plans to take away from those people least able to take care of themselves, especially children.

SCHULTZ:  And, of course, the people that have absolutely no voice in Washington.  And with Citizens United the way it is, you know that there‘s not going to be anybody to be able to go up against that kind of corporate money.  So, it‘s the corporate interests that are playing out here, isn‘t it?

JOHNSTON:  In all—in the case of Medicare and turning it into a voucher program, that‘s to benefit the big health insurance companies which are superfluous industry we don‘t need.  The oil tax breaks they want to continue, the monopoly for railroads and pipelines that they want to continue, the agribusiness subsidies—in all these areas, what they are really proposing is a massive socialist redistribution scheme of exactly the kind Orwell told us about, where after all, the pigs have to get the milk and the apples for our benefit.

SCHULTZ:  Mr. Johnson, turning to the employer payroll tax cuts that are being thrown out there right now, that are getting batted around.  Is this a good idea in your opinion at this time?

JOHNSTON:  No.  You know, one of the fundamentals, Ed, that‘s been going around here, is the Republicans have been attacking the best funded programs that have dedicated funding, Medicare and Social Security.  Social Security has relatively small problems.  It‘s about 3/10 of 1 percent of the economy over 75 years.  We can easily solve that, partly by going back to the level of Social Security tax we had under Ronald Reagan.

But if you can destroy those programs by things like giving them reason for temporary stimulus, cutting taxes rather than spending, then you can achieve the long term goal of those people who believe quite sincerely that Social Security and Medicare are fundamentally wrong.  I mean, they believe that if you‘re too poor, if you didn‘t save enough money, if you didn‘t make enough money to save it, when you get old, tough luck.  You know, you can eat cat food.

SCHULTZ:  Well, it‘s pretty clear to me, that Mitch McConnell, he talks tough when it comes to the debt ceiling and deficit reduction and spending cuts—but when they got somebody in their own backyard that‘s going to be advantageous to their re-election and their party, obviously, they‘re not going to go do the tough cuts that they claim they are going to do.

David Cay Johnston, great to have you with us tonight.  Appreciate your time.

The retailer Target is targeting unions.  Wait until you see the corporate propaganda the company is showing its workers.

And Texas Governor Rick Perry thinks he‘s a prophet?  I have a prophecy for the governor—he‘s going into the zone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  The retailer Target may market itself as a hipper alternative to Walmart.  But when it comes to anti-union rhetoric, the two multi-billion dollar corporations, well, they are in lock stalk. 

The website Gawker obtained this training video Target shows its employees.  In fact, fictional workers warn of the evils of organized labor.  I tell you what, this is corporate propaganda at its finest. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:  With a union, you no longer have your own voice.  Have a great suggestion?  You can‘t take it directly to your manager.  You have to go through the union layers. 

Need help with a problem?  Same thing.  Someone else will do the talking for you. 

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  Fifty years ago, one out of every three workers was in a union.  Today, that number, excluding government workers, has dropped to less than one in ten. 

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:  One of the biggest reasons is that workers know all the good things unions once did, child safety laws, workmen‘s comp, all of that—they‘re all laws today, laws protecting workers.  They were passed a long time ago. 

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  And nobody wants to pay dues for something they already have. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  Now a Target spokesperson tells Gawker the store doesn‘t use the video any more, but some Target employees have told the website that just isn‘t so. 

Meanwhile, the company is waging an aggressive campaign to stop hundreds of employees from unionizing at a store outside of New York City.  If the workers decide to join, it would become the first unionized store in Target‘s history. 

Chris Christie is so close to destroying workers‘ rights in New Jersey, he can taste it.  We have the latest from the Garden State. 

And Senator Bernie Sanders, along with five other senators, are trying to pass legislation that would bring down the price of gasoline immediately.  But there are powerful people who are going against them and they don‘t want it to pass.

The senator on the chances next on THE ED SHOW.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  Let‘s go to the pump.  Gas prices still up about 60 cents a gallon from January.  Supply, may I remind you, is greater and demand is lower than it was two years ago.  But prices are still more than a dollar per gallon higher than they were back then. 

What‘s going on?  Wall Street speculators are driving up the cost of gasoline by as much as 40 percent.  The CEO of Exxon Mobil and the bankers at Goldman Sachs, they have admitted this under testimony.  But Republicans in the Congress won‘t let the facts get in the way of the oil industry talking points. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JACK KINGSTON ®, GEORGIA:  The discussion of the CFTC and oil speculators is a red herring.  The real issue that the Democrats have failed to address is drilling for oil in order to increase supply. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  I don‘t think that guy watches the news.  It‘s up 11 percent since President Obama got in.  Senator Bernie Sanders is tired of hearing the drill, baby, drill philosophy, and he‘s fed up with the regulators not doing anything to curb excess speculation.  So he‘s introduced legislation today to force position limits on oil speculation.

The facts, well, they speak for themselves.  Over a three week period earlier this year, speculators increased oil trading by almost, get it, 50 percent.  In that same time period, the price of oil went up 26 dollars.  One of the bill‘s co sponsors, Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, connected the dots earlier today. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL NELSON (D), FLORIDA:  If you watch those two lines on a graph for the rest of this year, you will find that those two lines track each other. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  I cannot believe that this is a political football.  I filled up my truck when we were home last weekend.  It cost me 80 bucks.  I was wondering, how are middle class families making it? 

Joining me right now is the author of the oil speculation bill, Senator Bernie Sanders, independent senator from Vermont.  Senator, good evening and congratulations for taking action on this, and keeping it out in front of the American people. 

The CFTC, we know they‘re not doing their job.  They should be.  And I‘m glad you are. 

Will gas prices go down, senator, if this were to pass? 

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT:  Absolutely.  As you‘ve indicated, you have expert after expert telling us that up to 40 percent of the cost of a barrel of oil has not to do with supply and demand, but everything to do with Wall Street speculation. 

What is going on right now, Ed, is that 80 percent of the oil futures market is now controlled by speculators, people who have nothing to do with the end use of oil.  Not the airlines, not the truckers, not the fuel oil dealers; people who are in the oil futures market only to make money as they drive prices up. 

If we control that speculation, we can substantially lower the cost of a barrel of oil and gas at the pump.  That is exactly what my legislation does. 

SCHULTZ:  I don‘t know why the oil companies wouldn‘t go along with it.  They get everything they want.  First of all, what they get is the oil subsidies.  That, of course, was untouched in the Congress.  I think this would bring us to a better place, would it not, when it comes to an energy policy.  What do you think?

SANDERS:  Absolutely, it would.  Look, I come from a rural state.  My phone has been bouncing off the hook by people who are saying, you know, their wages are stagnant.  Many of them are now working longer hours for lower wages. 

Millions of our people are hurting.  Then what happens is they have to pay 3.50, four dollars for a gallon of gas.  This is coming right out of a paycheck which they can‘t afford anymore.  They‘re hurting. 

SCHULTZ:  And senator, you just saw the congressman from Kingston, Georgia—Kingston of Georgia saying that speculation is the red herring.  What‘s your response to that?

SANDERS:  Quite the contrary.  The red herring is that we need more oil drilling offshore.  The real issue right now is, as you indicated, we have plenty of supply.  Demand has gone down.  What we need to do is tell these guys on Wall Street they cannot artificially drive up the price of oil, which not only impacts millions of working people who filled up their gas tank; I worry what happens in the wintertime in cold weather states like Vermont.

And clearly high oil prices are impacting the entire economy and slowing down economic growth.  This is a huge issue.  And we have got to stop speculation. 

Here‘s the point.  In the financial reform bill of last year, a provision was put in there very clearly that said to the Commodities Future Trading Commission, you have got to control excessive speculation.  That‘s what you‘ve got to do.  And you have to do it by January 15th, 2011. 

They haven‘t done it, Ed.  And that‘s why we now need legislation which says this is what you have to do.  This is the way you will control speculation. 

SCHULTZ:  They have been inept.  The White House has been silent on this.  And now you‘re the one taking action.  Every American is getting drilled at the pump.  We‘re getting gouged because of these speculators.  Is our government broken? 

SANDERS:  What really is—should be troubling to every American is that we passed legislation which had a provision to do the right thing.  And the seat CFTC is essentially ignoring that.  And that is really problematic. 

The president has got to get involved.  We have to pass this legislation.  And we no longer are going to ask this agency to do it.  We‘re going to tell them to do that. 

The stake of—what we‘re fighting for is an economy—we‘re fighting for the rights of working people to earn a decent wage and not get ripped off at the gas pump. 

SCHULTZ:  Why wouldn‘t Republicans come on board with you on this?  Because they‘re connected at the hip to oil companies?  It affects every one of their constituents.

SANDERS:  It sure does.  They‘re getting the same calls that I‘m getting in Vermont.  People are disgusted all over this country.  Let us not minimize the extraordinary power of Wall Street.  These guys—remember, these are the people who drove us into the recession that we‘re in right now because of their greed and illegal behavior. 

They‘re back again manipulating oil prices.  They are unbelievably powerful.  They have a limitless supply of money.  They have control over both political parties. 

I would hope, however, that there will be Republicans there who are hearing from their constituents and, in fact, are prepared to do the right thing and stand with us in trying to end this speculation. 

SCHULTZ:  Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, great to have you with us tonight.  You have a rare innate ability to do it for the people, and I respect it.  Thank you so much. 

SANDERS:  Thank you, Ed. 

SCHULTZ:  Texas Governor Rick Perry is sounding more like a presidential candidate every day.  But even Republicans in his own state of Texas wouldn‘t vote for him.  Perry says it‘s because he‘s a prophet?  I think he‘s going to profit from the zone next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  Now, despite what people like Glenn Beck and Michele Bachmann are going to tell you, the U.S. Census really is a very vital tool for America.  For instance, it gives us figures like this.  This is the percentage of the country between the ages of 45 and 54. 

And I want to point out in ten congressional districts in this country that percentage is higher, as much as 18 percent; 54-year-olds would be the first people to lose Medicare under Congressman Paul Ryan‘s budget bill. 

In those ten districts ironically, with a lot of 54-year-olds, nine are represented by Republicans who actually support Ryan‘s plan.  Let‘s take a roll call here, Mike Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Charlie Bass and Frank Guinta of New Hampshire.  There‘s Scott Garret, Leonard Lance, Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey, Peter King and Nan Hayworth of New York and Mike Coffman of Colorado. 

See, all of them face constituents who would feel the impact of privatized Medicare more than anybody else in the country.  And last month in New York‘s 26th district, Democrat Kathy Hochel won a special election in a heavy Republican district thanks to her opponent‘s support of the Ryan plan. 

With people over 50 -- over the age of 50 strongly opposed to Ryan‘s plan for Medicare, I mean, I just can‘t wait to see how these nine Republicans are going to face, and see if they‘re going to end up getting ousted in 2012. 

Stay with us.  Texas Governor Rick Perry gets Psycho Talk treatment next, and he deserves it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  And in Psycho Talk tonight, Possible presidential candidate Texas Governor Rick Perry.  Some Republicans are really hoping this guy jumps in and rescues the party from their disastrous lineup of 2012 hopefuls. 

But the governor may not be the hero Republicans are waiting for.  Folks in his own state don‘t even support him.  Recent polls show only four percent of Texas Republicans would vote for Perry in a presidential primary.  But Rick isn‘t worried. 

In response to a Fox News softball question, only vaguely related to reality, Perry revealed that he has a higher power on his side. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR:  You have kind of like the Chris Christie phenomenon, very popular outside your state.  Still popular, but not nearly as popular within your state. 

GOV. RICK PERRY ®, TEXAS:  I say that a prophet is generally not loved in their hometown. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  Rick Perry thinks he‘s a prophet?  He didn‘t sound like a prophet last night, when he spoke at the Republican party event here in New York City.  He sounded like a hardcore Tea Partier who wants to be president. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PERRY:  Government, get the hell out of the way and let the private sector do what the private sector does best.  Have as low a tax burden on those job creators as you can.

Innocent unborn children. 

It is a runaway train called Obamacare.  It will destroy your state‘s economy just as it will Texas. 

The federal government was created by the states to be an agent for the states, not the other way around. 

We will take America back. 

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ:  He learned from me pretty good down there in Texas, didn‘t they? 

Rick Perry successfully rode the Tea Party train to a third term as governor.  If he got in the 2012 presidential race, he might shake things up.  But to call himself a prophet, that‘s delusional Psycho Talk. 

It‘s the day after the Supreme Court helped Scott Walker score a major victory.  So how are workers reacting in that state.  We‘ll have the latest news out of Wisconsin.

And the Boston Bruins have won the NHL for the first time since 39 years.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  Welcome back to THE ED SHOW.  Just when you thought things were pretty rough in Wisconsin, then there‘s Michigan.  Michigan Governor Rick Snyder‘s massive power grab—I tell you what, folks, it‘s on a roll.  As soon as he took office, the legislature gave him the power to appoint emergency manager managers to take over financially troubled cities. 

These managers are privatizing everything they can get their hands on.  The latest outrage is in Pontiac, Michigan.  The manager in Pontiac who has been appointed has already canceled the city‘s union contract with police dispatchers and is heading toward eliminating the police department all together. 

And now the manager has privatized the city water treatment operations, signing a contract with an outfit called United Water Services.  Now, this company is based in New Jersey and has been indicted on federal felony charges related to violations of the Clean Water Act? 

But Snyder‘s emergency manager thinks they should be in charge of Pontiac‘s water. 

This is what happens when Republicans get into power.  They pretend to be all about job creation.  But really, they only care about helping big business at the expense of the middle class and the folks who are paying the taxes. 

Public employees like cops, firefighters, teachers, they‘re all on the chopping block. 

Of course, the governors of Wisconsin and New Jersey are two of the biggest offenders.  I‘ll talk to a couple teachers from those states next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ:  Finally tonight, I just want to make sure with our audience that we all are on the same page, that this story is happening all over the country.  Scott Walker may have scored a major victory yesterday in Wisconsin, but the battle is far from over. 

As we reported last night, Walker‘s union busting bill is set to become the law of the land.  The state supreme court ruled the Dane County Circuit Court Judge Mari Anne Sumi overstepped her authority when she declared that the law was void last month. 

But today, a number of Wisconsin unions filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block portions of the law that take away collective bargaining rights.  This is not just about taking money away from people.  This is about taking away workers‘ rights. 

And if you care about workers‘ rights, you need to care about this.  The folks in New Jersey, they know all about that too.  Governor Chris Christie compromised with Senate Democrats to come up with a bill that destroys collective bargaining.  The plan would overhaul pension and health benefits for public workers. 

So far, assembly Democrats have not gone along with their leadership and voted on it.  Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman urging her colleagues to stand up for Democratic principals in a letter.  Quote, “how are we allowing ourselves to be dragged down this governor‘s right wing alley of pain and devastation that is targeting the middle class, frail, elderly and poor, and support an agenda that upholds the—and indeed lifts the wealthiest in our state?” 

Joining me now is Wendell Steinhauer.  He is a New Jersey high school math teacher and the vice president of the New Jersey Education Association.  And also from Madison, Wisconsin tonight, Mary Bell, a school media specialist.  She‘s also the president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council. 

Good evening to both of you.  Wendell, we‘ll start with you.  This is the right fight for America, is it not? 

WENDELL STEINHAUER, NEW JERSEY EDUCATION ASSOCIATION:  It is.  This is the—what we‘ve learned from Wisconsin—when I went out there for four days, what I learned from that is that their national movement is out to do just one thing.  It is to eliminate unions and to devastate the middle class. 

SCHULTZ:  Are you optimistic that in your state, your Democrats are going to stand up for you and push back against this and stand for the workers. 

STEINHAUER:  The leadership has not been there.  But as you said, the assembly we believe will help us out.  And they‘re torn right now.  The Democratic caucus is torn.  They don‘t have the support of their caucus. 

As a matter of fact, they‘re using the Republican votes to bank heavily on getting this passed. 

SCHULTZ:  You‘ve already seen 6,000 teachers fired in New Jersey.  How many total have left the education system because of the budget? 

STEINHAUER:  Four thousand support staff for a total of 10,000 last year, which Christie‘s cuts, a billion dollars worth of cuts. 

SCHULTZ:  What does it mean to the state? 

STEINHAUER:  It‘s, again, devastating the middle class.  And the problem is this—

SCHULTZ:  What‘s happening in the classroom?  What does this mean to the classroom? 

STEINHAUER:  Classroom sizes are larger.  Kids are paying for extracurricular activities.  Libraries are being closed.  Art, music education being wiped out.  It‘s not giving them the total education they need. 

SCHULTZ:  Mary Bell in Madison, Wisconsin tonight, what has been the reaction 24 hours after the law has gone into effect. 

MARY BELL, WISCONSIN SCHOOL MEDIA SPECIALIST:  Well, in addition to the disappointment that we thought we had three independent branches of government, and we find out that we don‘t, and they don‘t really pull a check on each other—the response has been that our members said, well, if this is what it is, what do we do to make sure that we restore balance in our state, that we restore fairness for workers and working families across this state. 

(CROSS TALK)

SCHULTZ:  Are you confident that the lawsuit filed today is going to block this bill in any way, shape or form? 

BELL:  Well, I don‘t think that you count on any of that anymore.  We really believed that the Supreme Court would make the legislature live by the laws that they had passed in the Open Meetings Law.  When that didn‘t happen, we move on to the next step.  And in fact, we plan for what we need to do. 

And immediately, the federal lawsuit is one.  But those recall elections to restore a balance by retaking the Senate, those are the focus of our efforts now. 

SCHULTZ:  And Mr. Steinhauer, what do you have to say to the people of Wisconsin with these recall elections?  From New Jersey and from other states around the country, how important is this? 

STEINHAUER:  It‘s hugely important.  And the key is ,that the fight will never be over.  This is just—this is the beginning.  It‘s not the end.  Wisconsin has taught us, if nothing else, it‘s never give up, never say never. 

SCHULTZ:  Mary Bell, are the teachers going to get some outside help to turn this around? 

BELL:  Well, I think as with most things in the state of Wisconsin, we really rely on each other.  And what we have, in terms of a solidarity among private and public labor, and a strong sense from communities across this state that this extreme agenda from Governor Walker is not the Wisconsin way of doing business. 

And it is not fair, and they will not stand for it. 

SCHULTZ:  Wendell Steinhauer and Mary Bell, great to have you with us tonight.  Thanks for what you do as a profession for young people in this country. 

Tonight in our survey, I asked you, is rhetoric like the examples we showed you earlier from right wing talkers dangerous?  Ninety two percent of you said yes; eight percent of you said no.  Neil Boortz, I hope you‘ll be on this program tomorrow night to explain your rhetoric. 

That‘s THE ED SHOW, I‘m Ed Schultz.  You can listen to me on Sirius XM Radio, Channel 127, Monday through Friday, noon to 3:00 p.m.

“THE LAST WORD” with Lawrence O‘Donnell starts right now.  We‘ll see you tomorrow night.

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