The Ed Show for Tuesday, October 9th, 2012

THE ED SHOW with ED SCHULTZ
October 9, 2012

Guests: Annette Taddeo, Gov. Brian Schweitzer, Sister Simone Campbell


ED SCHULTZ, HOST: Good evening, Americans. And welcome to THE ED
SHOW, live from Miami, Florida.

Twenty-eight days until the 2012 election. The polls are tightening
and the youth vote in the state of Florida could be the savior for the
president in this state.

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We need you fired up.
I love you back, but I need you voting.

SCHULTZ (on camera): On the last day for voter registration in Ohio
and Florida and 15 other states, the president is pounding the stump as the
Romney lie tour continues.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You have to scratch your head
when the president spent the last week talking about saving Big Bird.

SCHULTZ: Eugene Robinson and Joan Walsh on the state of the race.

Another billionaire CEO is threatening his employees to vote Romney or
else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m a founder and CEO of the largest timeshare
company in the world.

SCHULTZ: You won`t believe this story.

Paul Ryan pulls the plug on a Republican talking point.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I don`t even think
President Obama is proposing more gun laws. We have good, strong gun laws.

SCHULTZ: Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer on the lies being put out
by the National Rifle Association.

And tonight, my commentary on why Democrats need to take a page from
the wisdom of George Bush.

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Fool me once, shame on --
shame on you. Fool me -- you can`t get fooled again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

The 2012 election looks like it`s going to go down to the wire. If
you got a seat belt, put it on. It`s going to be a dandy. The polls are
tightening once again. And it`s a pretty clear reaction to last week`s
debate.

The "Real Clear Politics" average of all polls show Mitt Romney taking
a 0.7 percent lead on President Obama. The race was this tight a month
ago, right after the Republican National Convention and right before the
Democratic National Convention. We have been here before. The race has
followed this pattern for awhile. When Mitt Romney makes gains, the polls
tend to show the candidates tied.

But if you listen to right-wingers like Ann Coulter, this race is
already over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANN COULTER, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR: I think it is over. And the
reason I think it`s over -- of course, I thought it was over last week and
the week before and the week before. Romney is going to win. And the
reason he`s going to win, part of the evidence is this was the most-watched
debate since 1980 when Ronald Reagan ran against Carter and there was only
one debate that year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: FOX News is pulling out all the stops to make it look like
the race has swung in favor of Mitt Romney. Check out the electoral
prediction map FOX trotted out today. Look at all the red states. They
gave Mitt Romney solid Democratic states like New Mexico and Pennsylvania.
Really?

Polls should be a snapshot of the current state of the race and
there`s no doubt Mitt Romney is benefiting from his debate performance last
week. But over "The New York Times," Nate Silver`s forecast shows
President Obama still holds a 70 percent chance of winning the election.
The percentage is back in line with the state of the race before the
political conventions.

President Obama made some gains after the DNC. Mitt Romney erased
those gains in the debate. So, the race is back to where it was in August.

Keep in mind, eight years ago today, CNN poll after the first
presidential poll put John Kerry on top of George Bush by one percentage
point, 49-48. The race is close.

This should surprise no one in America. Every vote is going to count.
There`s been bipartisan agreement about a close race for months.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FORMER GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE (R), ARKANSAS: This race, as we say in the
south, it`s as tight as a tick on a dog and it`s going to stay that way
until November.

KARL ROVE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Let`s be clear, this thing is still
tied as a tick and nothing is set in concrete.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a very tight race. We`ve always believed
that there`s very little elasticity in the election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: When a race is this close, a small number of states become
pretty doggone important. No state is more important than the state of
Ohio with 18 electoral votes. Three Ohio polls showed different results.
One put Mitt Romney up by one point, another had President Obama up by a
point, a third had President Obama by four points.

It`s a vital state and the candidates are going to have to fight for
it hard. President Obama held his 17th Ohio campaign rally this evening.
Today is the last day of voter registration in the Buckeye State and the
president pushed that message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Ohio, I`m asking you for your vote. If you`re willing to
stand with me and work with me, knock on some doors and make some phone
calls for me, we`ll win Franklin County again. We`ll win Ohio again.
We`ll win this election again.

We`ll finish what we started and we`ll remind the world why the United
States of America is the greatest nation on Earth.

(END IVDOE LCIP)

SCHULTZ: Mitt Romney knows his chances of winning the presidency are
very slim without Ohio, regardless of what the national polls say. Romney
scheduled multiple events in the state of Ohio over the next several days,
as well as events in other swing states. He was in Iowa today making the
hard sell for voters to abandon President Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: I want to ask you for a commitment. And that is for you to
find one person who voted for Barack Obama last time and convince him to
come join our team. Maybe find more than one. I need your help to do
that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Romney is also striking while the iron is hot. He`s
continuing to jab President Obama in his stump speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: These are tough times with real serious issues. So you have
to scratch your head when the president spends the last week talking about
saving Big Bird.

(CHEERS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: This new aggressiveness was influenced by those closest to
home. "Politico" reports Romney`s sons have taken a more creative role in
crafting his campaign since before the debate. Josh Romney showed the
aggressive Romney spirit today when he implied President Obama was a liar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH ROMNEY, MITT ROMNEY`S SON: We`d say the same lie over and over.
My dad learned then not to believe it. So, while we didn`t go to any of
the formal debate preparation, we did the real hard stuff. As a father, he
learned how to debate and obstinate child.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: The Romney campaign`s aggression highlights President
Obama`s lack of aggression during the last debate. I spoke with Obama
supporters here in Florida today who were still puzzled why the president
just didn`t take it to Romney on a number of issues and do it with force.
In the sense, they felt let down.

He has good reason to do so. There will be other opportunities.

The hidden 47 percent video, those comments, still are a huge weakness
for Mitt Romney.

Democratic pollsters Stan Greenberg gave advice to the Obama team
about how voters perceived the video. "The 47 percent critique is very
important because it says that Romney doesn`t understand their lives.
Obama needs to show that he understands what they are going through. They
are looking for him to offer things that will impact their lives."

Mitt Romney still has a difficult time answering for his comments. He
was pressed about them today on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: I think it`s always a perilous course for a candidate to
start talking about the mathematics of an election. My campaign is about
talking about how to get 100 percent of the Americans to have a more bright
and prosperous future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: So, with the race neck and neck, all eyes turned to the vice
presidential debate on Thursday night. Joe Biden has the opportunity to
tell the truth, what Mitt Romney will do to the middle class in this
country. This may not be a make-or-break moment for the president and his
campaign, but you have to agree that it is a chance for the vice president
of the United States to change the tone and the focus of this campaign.
Not a game-changer, but a course correction.

The people that I spoke with on Friday in Ohio were disappointed in
the president`s debate performance. It`s ironic that the very same
attitude was portrayed here on two different locations, at Memorial
University -- Florida Memorial University today and also Florida
International University. People are puzzled why the president didn`t come
out strong. It could have been the knockout punch. They were expecting
more.

Comments came to me like we`re out fighting for the president, we`re
fighting for every vote, and the other night, it didn`t look like he was
fighting for us.

What does this mean?

It means that every word is going to be dissected. This means that
every stump speech is going to be recorded and reviewed over and over
again. This means that the American people are digesting who wants to be
president of the United States and who wants to lead.

The president`s great on the stump, but to miss an opportunity with
that kind of a platform will be viewed as a gross mistake.

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

Tonight`s question: who has the advantage in the race right now? Text
A for President Obama, text B for Mitt Romney, to 622639. You can always
go to our blog at Ed.MSNBC.com. We`ll bring you the results later on in
the show.

I`m joined tonight by Eugene Robinson, MSNBC analyst, and associate
editor and Pulitzer Prize-winning economist for "The Washington Post."

Also with us tonight: Joan Walsh, editor at large for Salon.com and
author of the book "What`s the Matter with White People?"

Great to have both of you with us tonight.

Eugene, you first. This poll shifting that we`re seeing, this slight
momentum, this pickup by Mitt Romney -- is this all a result of what
happened last week in the debate?

EUGENE ROBINSON, WASHINGTON POST: Basically, yes. I mean, look, it
is -- it seems to be significant enough shift that you have to figure there
was some sort of pent-up demand behind it. There must have been some
percentage of people who were wondering -- who were wavering and wondered
if maybe didn`t think Mitt Romney had it in him and he proved to them, at
least to their satisfaction during the debate, that he did. Or he kind of
made himself eligible to be president for more people than he was eligible
before.

SCHULTZ: Yes.

ROBINSON: And that`s a significant move in this race.

SCHULTZ: Joan, what`s your calculation on what`s unfolding right
here? Liberals think the sky is falling. Are they right to be worried at
this point?

JOAN WALSH, SALON.COM: Well, they`re right to be worried, Ed, because
we knew this was always going to be a close race. Sadly, this country is
really divided. Not quite down the middle. I think we -- I think our side
has more, but it`s very close.

And I agree with Gene. The Mitt Romney that was introduced to 58
million voters the other night was a man we have never seen before. He was
warm, he was gracious, he had an ease about him, he was moderate, he didn`t
scare people, and I think he brought wavering Republicans back into the
fold and gave a rational for his candidacy. People were pulling their hair
out in the week before.

And I like the idea that pent-up demand because people wanted to
believe again. You know, I think that President Obama and Joe Biden, of
course, can correct this. I think it`s very -- I think it`s very
correctable.

SCHULTZ: It`s all about motivation. You want to see your guy out
there going after it, never backing down, always being on the forefront of
the issues and never sidestepping. This was just such a missed
opportunity. And now, the race is tight.

And many liberals think it shouldn`t be like this right now, but
obviously it is.

Eugene, should the focus be on more than Ohio? Or is Ohio the ball
game right now?

ROBINSON: Ohio is a big part of the ball game. But I -- but, you
know, you look at today`s polls, the focus has to be on more than Ohio.
There are other states where President Obama was ahead where he`s got to
hold that lead now. And so, he`s going to -- he can`t spend the whole time
in Ohio.

But, you know, there are two issues, and you identified the other one.
One is firing up the base. And Mitt Romney fired up his base during the
debate and President Obama did not.

And the other issue is these waverers who were still undecided or who
are persuadable and, again, Romney did a better job of persuading them than
President Obama did during the debate.

I agree with Joan. This is not the end of the world.

SCHULTZ: Yes.

ROBINSON: This is not something that`s uncorrectable. But it needs
to be corrected.

SCHULTZ: Well, it could start with a good debate by Joe Biden coming
up on Thursday night.

Joan, how important is it?

WALSH: Oh, I think it`s really important. I think what he needs to
do is tie Paul Ryan around Mitt Romney`s neck like a mill stone. Paul
Ryan`s policies are deadly unpopular and he`s basically been allowed to
kind of get away with it and paper over what he believes and what Mitt
Romney believes. But Paul Ryan is just a terrible deficit for the ticket.

The other thing is it is a base election. When we get to this point
when we`re looking at likely voters versus registered voters, our voters
are less likely to turn out. And they are the young, they are the
disadvantaged, they are the new citizens who haven`t made a habit of
voting.

And so, if we see an electorate like we saw in 2008, Barack Obama
wins. If we see the electorate we saw in 2010, he loses.

So, really, we talk about the independent swing voters all the time.

SCHULTZ: Yes.

WALSH: But I really think that this is coming back down to the base
for both sides.

SCHULTZ: I`ll tell you, I think the Obama team has been brilliant on
the basics throughout all of this. But one of the basics they can`t get
away from is the 47 percent video. I mean, that is who Mitt Romney is.

And I don`t think that they can allow him to escape these comments.
He said these comments behind closed doors to people he needed their
support and their money and it`s just a condemnation of who he is. And
then, of course, he supports the Ryan plan.

Great to have both of you with us tonight, Eugene Robinson and Joan
Walsh -- two of the best, no question about it. Thanks for being on THE ED
SHOW.

Remember to answer tonight`s question there at the bottom of the
screen. Share your thoughts on Twitter @EdShow, and on Facebook. We
always want to know what you think.

Coming up, today was the final day to register voters in some key
swing states. Annette Taddeo of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party will join
me soon on this program to talk about the youth vote. That could be the
key for President Obama here in the state of Florida.

We`re right back. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Coming up, young voters could be the key to a victory in
Florida for President Obama. Annette Taddeo of the Miami-Dade Democratic
Party joins me to discuss the youth vote and enthusiasm leading up to this
election. Just where is it?

Paul Ryan gets honest. He gets honest on gun laws, while the National
Rifle Association continues to spread lies about the president`s policies.
We`ll have all the details.

And as the polls shift after last week`s debate, we will -- will we
get fooled again by Mitt Romney`s lies? We`ll look at what a Romney
presidency would really mean for Americans.

Share your thoughts with us on Facebook and on Twitter using #EdShow.
We are coming right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Voter registration closed today in four key states, including Ohio and
Florida. And for President Obama to win a close election, he will need the
youth vote the way he had in 2008. Some of the students at the Florida
International University told us what this election means to them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRAVIS OVERSTREET, FIU STUDENT: I just feel like students should all
get out here and go and see what each candidate has to say and really know
what they are voting for, because this plays a big part in all of our
lives.

RACHEL GORDON-BARRETT, FIU STUDENT: Students have are having a hard
time paying for school. So voting is really important for education
purposes.

KEVIN CHAU, FIU STUDENT: I don`t think cutting taxes or (INAUDIBLE)
some of the wealthy is the way to go.

BRIAN THORNTON, FIU STUDENT: I was lucky enough to find a job at the
beginning of the summer, but I know a lot, just as many people, that aren`t
looking for job. And so, it`s really difficult to find a job when you`re a
college student.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Interesting. Those students were in line to get tickets for
President Obama`s speech later this week at the University of Miami.

In 2008, Senator Obama beat Senator John McCain by two to one in the
margin in the youth vote in this country. It is crucial for the president
to get similar numbers this time around if he`s going to win the state of
Florida.

Of course, to vote, they must be registered and voter registration
drives have been underway for months. Now, according to statistics from
the Florida secretary of state, Democrats have 500,000 more registered
voters than Republicans. But 2.8 million people are registered as
independents or with a third party.

Now, the numbers are interesting, but it means nothing if there`s no
emotional component that will motivate these folks to go out and do it.
This is why the debates are so important in today`s information culture.
There must be a real emotional appeal by President Obama if he`s to succeed
in getting these voters out to the polls.

The best registration drive imaginable will not do a thing if there
isn`t this gut feeling that these young folks must get out and vote because
they can make a difference.

Let`s turn to Annette Taddeo. She is member of the Miami-Dade
Democratic Party and one of the leaders down here in this portion of
Florida.

The youth vote -- I don`t want to oversell it, but everywhere I go
today down here, that`s all people are talking about. Are the young people
going to engage?

ANNETTE TADDEO, MIAMI-DADE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: I think so. We have
seen great numbers in registration numbers. And I will tell you that I
have a feeling that although today was the last day, in the next few days,
we`ll see the reports from the Obama campaign as to their registration
numbers and you`re going to be shocked. They have registered an
unbelievable amount of people in the state of Florida. And I think that
everybody is going to be pleasantly surprised.

And now, the next step is to get every one of those young voters to
vote.

SCHULTZ: Did the debate have an effect on their attitude?

TADDEO: You know, I don`t know that many of them were actually
watching it. Maybe a little bit, but I will tell you most of those, you
were talking about the independent registered voters. Most of those
independent registered voters are Hispanics, are kids that don`t know
whether to go on the Democratic or the Republican side.

We have found that a lot of Hispanics -- you were at Florida
International University --

SCHULTZ: Sure.

TADDEO: -- where a lot of the students are Hispanic, they don`t
identify with either party. We have not done a good job as Democrats of
letting them know what it means to be a Democrat.

SCHULTZ: Well, the Hispanic vote is obviously key to President
Obama`s success here in Florida. You`re saying that the kids don`t seem to
be party pickers. It`s going to come down to the candidate?

TADDEO: It`s -- absolutely. And it`s not just the kids. It`s
overall -- the reason why the independents are winning in Florida is
because they are picking the independent party.

Democrats are still winning over Republicans, I want to be very clear.

SCHULTZ: Sure.

TADDEO: However, independents are winning because they just don`t
understand one party over the other. However, the independents vote
Democratic. They lean Democratic.

SCHULTZ: Here`s the Spanish language ad that President Obama has
taken out that`s playing in Florida. Very interesting. Here it is.

(OBAMA CAMPAIGN AD PLAYS)

SCHULTZ: How effective is that an ad?

TADDEO: I think it`s very effective. I tell you, I usually don`t get
inspired by ads. That ad inspired me. It gave me goose bumps. Not only
because he`s speaking Spanish, which I think is unprecedented. I don`t
think we`ve ever seen a president do that.

But I will tell you, it is the ad itself. I mean, the fact that he
says it shows how he really feels about dreamers. How he really feels that
no dream is unattainable in this country.

SCHULTZ: Let`s talk about the kids and the DREAM Act and them
stepping out, identifying what their status is. Are they afraid to do it?

TADDEO: Well, with the new plan that Obama put into effect, only
87,000 of them have actually applied for deferred action, which is the
deferred action that the president put in place.

SCHULTZ: So they are afraid that it President Obama might lose and
Mitt Romney, they don`t know where exactly he stands.

TADDEO: Yes. I want to put the numbers in context -- 1.7 million of
them is estimated qualify for the deferred action. Only 87,000 have
applied. And it is believed that it is because they are afraid that if
Romney wins, he will then not keep this program in place and worse, they
will then be on the record. They are afraid.

SCHULTZ: And it`s a trust issue.

TADDEO: Of course.

SCHULTZ: Annette Taddeo, thanks for joining us tonight here on THE ED
SHOW.

TADDEO: Thank you.

SCHULTZ: Coming up, Paul Ryan`s moment of truth. Find out what he
said and why the gun lobby won`t be happy about it.

And the nuns are back on the bus. The group kicks off another leg of
their anti-poverty tour. I`ll talk with Sister Simone Campbell about that,
and the presidential campaign.

Stay tuned. You`re watching THE ED SHOW live from Miami, Florida,
here on MSNBC. We`re right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW, live from Miami tonight.
Thanks for watching.

In the past few months, we reported on Paul Ryan`s lies about
Medicare, but the budget and auto rescue are right in there as well. But
we`ve got good news tonight. Paul Ryan had an honest moment. He finally
managed to tell the truth about gun control in America. Ryan gave his
stunning answer about guns during this interview with a reporter in Flint,
Michigan, yesterday.

Now, the interview, as you can say, ended abruptly. It was awkward,
and the video went viral on the worldwide web.

But here`s the most important part, I think -- the reporter asked the
vice presidential candidate if guns are a problem in this country.

Here`s Paul Ryan defending President Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN: No. If you take a look at the gun laws, I don`t think even
President Obama is proposing more gun laws. We have good gun laws. We
have to make sure -- we have to make sure we enforce our laws.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Oops. Not supposed to say that, although he`s right. The
president is not proposing any new gun laws. In fact, the president has
been widely criticized for expanding gun rights to allow guns in national
parks and Amtrak trains. Ryan usually lies about the president`s
intentions. He told "Outdoor Life," "the president`s history and his party
lead me to be concerned about what he would be like in a second term."

Ryan`s been selling the NRA`s conspiracy theory for years. He happily
campaigns with people like Wayne LaPierre, who thinks that the president is
one election away from shutting down every gun shop and shooting range in
this country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WAYNE LAPIERRE, NRA EXECUTIVE V.P.: If President Obama is reelected,
we`re going to see an anti-Second Amendment, anti-freedom rampage in this
country like we have never seen before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: A rampage. LaPierre and the NRA are repeating this story in
their new campaign ad. The NRA is reportedly spending more than a million
dollars on air time. The ad is running in four swing states, here in
Florida, in Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

There have been mass shootings in all four of those states recently.
Wisconsin is still reeling from the temple shooting in August. Meanwhile,
the NRA says the president of the United States hasn`t taken away guns
because he`s waiting until his second term and that`s when he`s going to do
it?

It will be interesting to see if voters believe this fairy tale. By
the admission of the vice presidential candidate for the Republicans,
Barack Obama has not offered up any new gun legislation. But it cuts to
the cultural issues of gays, guns, and God in the heartland in America.

I`m joined tonight by Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer. Governor,
good to have you with us tonight. You`ve heard the story before. How
damaging is it? And how many holes does it actually shoot, ironically,
into the conversation about the president of the United States being a gun
grabber, when you have Paul Ryan saying, well, wait a minute, he hasn`t
brought forth any new legislation or proposed it? What do you make of
this?

GOV. BRIAN SCHWEITZER (D), MONTANA: Well, it was a slip up on his
part, because for the last three and a half years, the gun advocates have
been saying, oh, it`s just around the corner. He`s going to take your
guns, going to take your ammo. That`s why, talk to any gun dealer in
America, they have had the best three and a half years that they have had
since Clinton was in the White House, when they used to say that about him
as well.

You can`t get ammo anymore because gun dealers all over America get
their boxes of ammo in, people rush in and get it because they have signs
in there and their salesman are telling them and the NRA is saying this
president is going to take away your guns tomorrow. No, next week. But
he`s going to take away your guns and he`s going to take away your ammo.

So all the gun dealers in America are having banner sales every day of
the week because tomorrow, next week, no next month, next term, he`s going
to take away your guns.

SCHULTZ: But the NRA is very powerful. They are a powerful lobby.
They have a lot of money to spend. And they are targeting these swing
states. Will they be effective?

SCHWEITZER: We don`t hear much from the NRA until it`s election year.
Then they are out there always advocating for Republicans. Sometimes you
wonder if maybe they shouldn`t be called the National Republican Advocates.

SCHULTZ: Is President Obama going to get rid of the Second Amendment
if he wins a second term on November 6th?

SCHWEITZER: No. That ain`t going to happen. You can count on it.
If he was going to do it, he would have done it during the first three and
a half years. Of course, for eight years, they said Clinton was going to
do it and of course he didn`t. We have responsible gun owners all over
America. We will enforce the laws that we have. And President Obama is
not going to take your ammo away and he`s not going to take your gun away.

SCHULTZ: In the recall election in Wisconsin, the NRA really went
after Tom Barrett, saying that he was going to take away their guns and
that he had a bad record. Why is it in rural America that firearms becomes
an issue down the stretch? It looks like it`s going to rear its ugly head
again this time.

SCHWEITZER: Folks in rural America like having guns, not because they
are holding up liquor stores. I own a number of guns, Ed. You own guns,
I`m sure. We like to hunt and we like to have guns. We like to target
practice. And we`re not looking at attacking anybody.

But the bottom line is the attack is by the Republicans and their
advocates at the NRA, who are trying to say every time there`s a Democrat
running for office that we`re going to take away their guns. If we were
going to do that, maybe during the last 100 years, we would, but we
haven`t. We`re not going to in the future.

We respect Second Amendment rights, First Amendment rights, Fifth
Amendment rights. We respect the Constitution. And you`ll keep your guns.
By the way, if you want to go buy more ammo and you want to buy more guns
and you want to yammer that someone is going to take away your guns, that`s
fine. If that`s a reason that you want to buy another gun, go ahead, do
it. But I don`t think President Obama has proposed to do anything with gun
legislation, except to expand, as you said, guns in national parks.

SCHULTZ: Yes. Now didn`t Mitt Romney sign a permanent assault
weapons ban while he was governor of Massachusetts? Why doesn`t that
matter?

SCHWEITZER: Not only that, he raised fees -- he quadrupled fees on
guns. He raised tuition at the fastest rate in the country. He raised
taxes. And when he left office in Massachusetts, people have somehow
forgotten he left the people in Massachusetts with the largest debt per
capita in America. Now he says he`s going to do good with money by cutting
taxes by 20 percent -- let`s see -- and spending two trillion more on the
military and 716 billion dollars even more than Ryan or Obama proposed in
Medicare.

I don`t know how he does his math, but somebody ought to buy him a two
dollar calculator.

SCHULTZ: Governor Brian Schweitzer of Montana, great to have you with
us tonight on THE ED SHOW. Thanks so much.

There`s a lot more coming up in the next half hour of THE ED SHOW.
Stay with us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN: The best thing to help prevent violent crime in the inner
cities is to bring opportunity in the inner cities, is to help people get
out poverty in the inner cities, is to help teach people good discipline,
good character. That is civil society. That`s what charities and civic
groups and churches do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney say churches and charities are the
only antidote to poverty. Sister Simone Campbell disagrees. And she`s
next.

Another oligarch is ordering his serfs to vote for Mitt Romney. We`ll
read you the letter billionaire CEO David Seagall admits sending to his
staff.

And which tape is a better window into Mitt Romney`s window for
America, the Denver debate or the 47 percent tape? Ahead, my commentary on
why this country can`t afford to get fooled again.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW. The Group Nuns on the Bus is
hitting the road tomorrow, kicking off another leg of their anti-poverty
tour, this time in the state of Ohio. The organization has invited former
Governor Romney and Congressman Paul Ryan, as well as President Obama and
Vice President Biden to discuss the issue of poverty tomorrow in
Cincinnati. So far neither presidential ticket has accepted the
invitation.

In the meantime, Paul Ryan isn`t backing down from his budget which
would gut the nation`s social safety net. Ryan has proposed cutting 133
billion dollars from nutritional programs that would help the poor. Ryan
has credited his Catholic faith for helping shape his proposals and says
churches and charities should pick up the slack for the government.

He didn`t back down from that belief in an interview with a local ABC
affiliate in Flint, Michigan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN: The best thing to prevent violent crime in the inner cities is
to bring opportunity in the inner cities, is to help teach people good
discipline, good character, that is civil society. That`s what charities
and civic groups and churches do, to help one another make sure that they
can realize the value in one another.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: But the truth is many charitable organizations are stretched
to their limits. A study from the nonpartisan faith based group Bread for
the World points out the flaws in Ryan`s plan. Ryan`s proposed cuts to the
nation`s Food Stamp program would mean every church in America would have
to come up with approximately 50,000 dollars dedicated to feeding people.

Not only that, they`d have to come up with 50 grand every year for the
next 10 years. Would your church or house of worship be able to come up
with that kind of money so the wealthy can get their tax breaks?

Joining me tonight is Sister Simone Campbell, leader of the Nuns on
the Bus and executive director of Network, a national Catholic social
justice lobby. Sister, good to have you with us tonight.

Let`s do the math, if we can, for just a moment. Do you believe that
most churches have an extra 50,000 dollars lying around to pick up the tab
that Ryan describes himself as a man of faith? How do we get through all
of this? Do the churches have the kind of money to follow the plan that
he`s putting forth?

SISTER SIMONE CAMPBELL, "NUNS ON A BUS": Absolutely not. I mean,
it`s really shocking to think that he believes that churches can do this.
What he doesn`t know is how hard people are working right now, how much
they depend on the food subsidies, just even to keep food on family tables,
and how churches are stretched already in food pantries, feeding programs,
all kinds of places already giving so much.

This 50,000 dollars for each house of worship would be an additional
amount to what they have already raised. It`s impossible.

SCHULTZ: Do people in the inner city need to be taught good
discipline and good character. That`s what Paul Ryan believes.

CAMPBELL: I know. It`s pretty shocking, because he clearly has not
been where I`ve been. Every day in Washington, D.C., I see the folks, the
working poor, out early on the bus to get to their jobs, the folks that
work late cleaning and janitors in the various office buildings. I see
tremendous discipline. And I see an incredible desire to really make a go
for their families.

He just is out of touch. That`s why we invited him to come to
Cincinnati and meet some of our people, but apparently they are not coming.

SCHULTZ: Speaking of out of touch, I understand that you told E.J.
Dionne that the president has gotten disconnected from the people he cares
about. Explain what you`re talking about. You think the president is
disconnected? Does he need to reconnect?

CAMPBELL: Well, that`s why we invited him to Cincinnati tomorrow.
But I think the debate last week evidenced that he got really into his
policy side, when really the conversation needs to be about the people that
are struggling in our society. Tomorrow, we`re hosting one man from
Cleveland, Wilbur Hughes, who is raising six girls by himself. He`s a
single dad. He`s raising these girls. He`s working hard. He`s making
ends meet.

But it`s really hard with a family and being a single parent. But
he`s so disciplined and so focused. And his girls are doing really well in
school.

SCHULTZ: Why did you choose Ohio? Everybody knows how critical Ohio
is. Why Ohio?

CAMPBELL: Well, actually, it was the sisters here. We went through
Ohio in the original Nuns on the Bus, but what happened here was that the
sisters said this is such partisan divide, we need to lift up the 100
percent. We need to go on the road and let people know what the struggle
is. So I came to be supportive to my sisters. They are the ones that
created this Nuns on the Bus Two, the Nuns on the Bus Ohio.

(CROSS TALK)

SCHULTZ: Do you think you`re having an impact?

CAMPBELL: Absolutely. Absolutely. People in the United States are
standing up. They are feeling energized. We can talk about the real
things in our nation. And we can talk to each other. It`s a tremendous
moment when we can talk about people in poverty, people in the middle
class. We can talk about the 100 percent, and not call names, not try to
be fearful, not drive wedges between each other.

This is for all of us. This is being we the people.

SCHULTZ: Sister Simone Campbell, thank you for joining us tonight on
THE ED SHOW. Keep up the fabulous work.

Coming up, a multi-millionaire CEO who`s building himself the largest
house in the United States of America tells his employees if President
Obama is reelected, you might not have a job. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to THE ED SHOW. Another day, another boss
threatening to fire his employees if President Obama is reelected. Meet
multi-millionaire David Seagall, CEO and founder of Westgate Resorts, the
largest privately owned timeshare company in the world. Good for him.

Seagall told Reuters in July "Westgate is the most profitable it`s
ever been." And he recently resumed construction on his 90,000 square foot
mansion, modeled after the French palace of Versailles.

But yesterday he told his employees if Obama wins, I`ll have to let
you go. Gawker obtained the e-mail Seagall sent out to more than 7,000 of
his employees, which he admits borrows heavily from a chain letter
circulated before the 2008 elections. And in it he says, "in spite of the
challenges we have faced, the good news is the economy doesn`t currently
pose a threat to your job. What does threaten your job, however, is
another four years of the same presidential administration."

He goes on to argue that the Obama administration has demonized the
one percent, the true job creators, and any increase in taxes would require
him to lay off workers. You see, he just doesn`t have enough money. And
he ends with this thinly-veiled threat straight from the Republican makers
and takers textbook: "I can no longer support a system that penalizes the
productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to
provide jobs will be destroyed and with it so will your opportunities. If
that happens, you can find me in the Caribbean sitting on a beach, under a
palm tree, retired with no employees to worry about."

Hold it right there. He worries about his employees. Is he alone?
Does he care? Of course he cares. But this man is greedy. He can`t help
himself. He can`t help himself for how much he hates President Obama. He
says I wish this is this -- this is the only time David Seagall has used
his employees as pawns to advance his own political agenda, but it`s not.
Seagall takes credit for George W. Bush being elected in 2000.

Here`s how he puts it all together: "whenever I saw a negative article
about Al Gore, I put it in with paychecks of my 8.000 employees. I had my
managers do a survey on every employee. If they liked Bush, we made them
register to vote, but not if they liked Gore. On election day, we made
sure everyone who was voting for Bush got to the polls. I didn`t know he
would win by 527 votes. Afterward, we did a survey among the employees to
find out who voted who wouldn`t have otherwise; 1,000 of them said so.

The haves and the have nots -- where are we in America? This election
is about that.

Tonight in our survey, I asked who has the advantage in the race now?
Seventy seven percent of you say President Obama; 23 percent of you say
Mitt Romney.

Coming up, Mitt Romney is trying to fool the American people by
shaking the etch a sketch by lying. Tonight I`m calling the candidate out
to set the record straight. My commentary about what the country would
look like if this guy is in the Oval Office.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There`s an old
saying in Tennessee. I know it`s in Texas, probably in Tennessee -- that
says fool me once, shame on -- shame on you. Fool me -- you can`t get
fooled again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: George W. Bush famously said we can`t get fooled again. I
honestly thought that I would never see that sound byte again, at least in
one of my broadcasts. But dog gone it, it fits right now. The question
is, are we going to get fooled again?

Earlier in this broadcast, we talked about the polls and Mitt Romney
on the move. Mitt Romney spent 90 minutes on the stage lying about
everything he claimed to stand for prior to the debate. He lied about his
tax plan. He lied about his health care plan. He lied about Medicare,
Medicaid and Social Security. He lied about deregulation. He lied about
energy. He lied about jobs. He lied about education.

Think about this: after campaigning for 18 months on a tax plan for
the job creators there that will reduce their taxes 20 percent on personal
income, cut capital gains taxes, inheritance taxes and business taxes,
Romney stood on stage with President Obama and denied all of that. He told
the American people that he really didn`t have a plan, which my friends, is
completely a 180.

After saying at every campaign stop for 18 months that he would repeal
Obamacare on day one, he stood before the American people and said his plan
would take care of preexisting conditions. Shortly afterwards, after the
debate, his campaign admitted it would not.

Romney says his health care plan, which passed in Massachusetts, would
be good for states. But somehow when President Obama passed the same plan
designed to be available to the states, that`s not good enough. Romney
says he will repeal Obamacare and replace it. Although, he just does not
deliver any of those details.

He lied about Medicare. He says had his plan would impact those over
55, but that`s a lie. Repealing Obamacare will immediately cost those on
Medicare more for prescription drugs. For those who are under 55 years of
age, he`s going to give you a voucher and let you negotiate with insurance
companies. Ever negotiate with an insurance company? Can you imagine
negotiating when you`re 85 years old and need a hip replacement?

He lied about deregulating the bank industry. He lied when he said
that we would become energy independent through more drilling? He lied
when he said half of the green energy companies had gone bankrupt. He lied
saying President Obama`s plan would kill 700,000 jobs.

Americans, we get the government we deserve. It`s been six days since
Mitt Romney stood on that stage with president Obama and lied for 90
minutes. And currently, polling shows more Americans believe him. Here`s
the famous sound byte for you again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There`s an old
saying in Tennessee. I know it`s in Texas, probably in Tennessee -- that
says fool me once, shame on -- shame on you. Fool me -- you can`t get
fooled again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: That sound byte has a different meaning to me now. I hope
it does to you as well. This is Mitt Romney`s America: the rich get richer
at the expense of the middle class and the poor in this country. Older
Americans are on their own when it comes to health care. Poor Americans
are at the mercy of the right-wing governors who want to go after those
health care funds.

Those with preexisting conditions, well, you`re just out of luck. If
you`re under 26, too bad. Nothing for you. Can`t afford medicine? Tough
luck. It`s America.

Maybe Governor Romney didn`t look like an outsourcer on the stage last
week, but that`s a big part of how he made his millions. Workers are at
the mercy of business owners. Teachers are at the mercy of administrators.
Romney will deregulate water, air, the work place food, oil, banks, Wall
Street. He told us that he wants to get rid of teachers, cops,
firefighters or what he calls government workers.

That`s Mitt Romney`s America -- George W. Bush`s policies on steroids.

Now ask yourself the question, Americans -- can you get fooled again?
We`re a month away. Think about it.

That`s "THE ED SHOW." I`m Ed Schultz.

THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW starts right now.

Good evening, Rachel.

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

Copyright 2012 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by
United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed,
transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written
permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark,
copyright or other notice from copies of the content.>