The Ed Show for Wednesday, December 18th, 2013

THE ED SHOW
December 18, 2013

Guests: Bernie Sanders, Donna Edwards, E.J. Dionne, Karen Finney, Mark Dimondstein


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Grown ups running the House.

ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: Yeah.

REP. JOHN BOEHER, (R) HOUSE SPEAKER: This is ridiculous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God, you must be.

SCHULTZ: It`s going to be a new year. They`re going to be a different
crowd, those Republicans.

BOEHNER: If ands, buts were candy and nuts, everyday would be Christmas.

REP.PAUL RYAN, (R) WISCONSIN: Nothing`s changed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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

We begin the show with breaking news just moments ago. The Senate just
voted 64 to 36 to pass the bipartisan budget bill. And let me tell you,
there`s a whole bunch of good news in it for the Republicans because this
is a blockbuster for them. The budget does avoid a shutdown for the next
two years which I think is bad news for the Democrats.

Politically, if they were to shut down the government again, it would
destroy them in the midterms. So the Republicans were smart enough to make
sure that this budget deal is going to avoid a shutdown. So now, they can
take Ted Cruz off the Senate floor, they don`t have to worry about that
anymore. That`s the good news for the Republicans.

Now, the good news for the Democrats is that it is restoring some of the
sequester cuts but I don`t think it`s enough. Here`s the bad news, 1.3
million Americans are now on track to lose their unemployment insurance on
December 28th. But hold the phone, wait a minute, there`s more. Veterans
are going to see a reduction in their retirement starting in 2015. There
just wasn`t a whole lot of conversation about that. Heck, I thought the
Republicans supported the troops. Well, that`s only when they`re wearing
the uniform. When they retire, that`s a different thing.

You see what`s happening here folks? The Republicans can find any dollar
they want. They can go get money from the veterans who were retired, but
they certainly don`t want to give anything to the unemployed. 1.3 million
Americans, their lives are going to change starting on December 28th. This
budget will also let Republicans hold our nation hostage over the debt
limit ceiling. That`s right. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is
already talking about taking a hostage.

Meanwhile, Democrats, well their plan to extend the unemployment insurance
is exactly what we`ve been talking about for days on this program. That
is, they`re going to trust John Boehner and the Republicans.

Last night on this program, California Senator Barbara Boxer told me that
it will be the Senate`s first order of business next year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: This deal left out something very
important which is taking care of the unemployed with a total commitment by
Harry to make this front and center when we get back.

I don`t trust the Republicans. I do trust the American people. I think
they`re going to weigh in on that issue when we get back and I think
they`re going to weigh in on the minimum wage, income inequality, and a lot
of the issues that you have been highlighting.

They`re going to be forced to deal with this because we are bringing it up.
And we`re going to tell the story that you`ve been telling like I have, you
know, 22,000 of my people in California impacted by this, out of the 1.3
million.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: I still say Democrats cannot trust John Boehner and the
Republicans to get anything done in 2014 when it comes to the 1.3 million
people that are going to get hit three days after Christmas. And guess
what? In six months, the number`s going to grow to 1.6 million. That`ll
be another 1.6 million.

The Democrats are banking on a campaign saying that the public will get
together with them and they`re putting up pressure on the Republicans. I
think they need to push forward something beyond that. Let`s call it the
new, new deal. They`ve been after the new deal for a long time. Well,
let`s come back with the new, new deal.

See, Democrats need to fight for something new and different because
they`ve got all these poll numbers on their side.

Here`s what I think has to happen. First, the Congress needs to pass an
unemployment extension. They also need to make a rule that unemployment,
when it`s above 6.5 percent, there are going be automatic extensions. Not
anymore money, just automatic extensions until we work to get that
unemployment rate down.

Second thing they got to do, they need to pass a federal minimum wage
increase and that is going to happen. They`re going to put it up in
legislation after the first of the year. They`re talking about $10.10
cents an hour which would be a real help for the economy. And the third
thing they need to do is protect the stamp program and stop all of these
cuts when it comes to food stamps. Believe me, the poor people in this
country are not the budget problem at all.

Congress also needs to start tackling the issue of income inequality.
Thankfully, the American people side with the Democrats on all of these
issues which brings me to my next point.

Let`s go through the numbers. A new Washington Post ABC News poll shows 66
percent of Americans support a minimum wage. They want to go up from where
it is right now. Sixty-four percent of Americans think the government
policies favor the wealthy. So in other words, the top one and two percent
got it pretty good. And the American people think that they can serve up a
little bit more.

The third thing is 57 percent think the government should try and address
income inequality. So that`s the subject. Gosh, that`s what we`ve been
talking about for several years on the Ed Show. That`s where the country
is.

There`s no doubt the American people are siding with the Democrats. This
is why Democrats have to come back in the New Year and fight like they`ve
fought before. In other words, when they get out of Washington, they got
to do town hall after town hall after town hall and they got to go after
the Republicans big time.

What are the kind of campaign are we talking about? I do not believe for a
moment that John Boehner is going to make a commitment tonight over the
cocktail hour now that he`s got the Senate vote. Don`t worry about 2014,
we`ll bring that sucker up for a vote in the House. He didn`t say that.

You see, they believe, the Republicans, that all of these unemployed people
in America, they`re Democrats. And they also believe that they`re not
going to vote for the Republicans anyway. So that`s part of the equation.
Oh, we did get the dot fixed in this bill.

How many Democratic doctors do you know? This is about the vote. Most
doctors in this country vote Republican. Most of them don`t like
governments. Do I have anything to back that up? No, that`s just a gut
feeling. I`m willing to say that because it`s just instinctively that`s
what I feel in this country.

So the game plan for the Democrats starts with something that they really
have no ledger to go on. You know what they have when it comes to dealing
with John Boehner? A blank sheet of paper. That`s what they have. Let`s
see, this bill, this bill, this bill, this, this we`ve worked on. We`ve
worked on this many things with Boehner, they don`t even have a straight
line across the board.

And so this is a serious leap of faith on the part of the Democrats to go
forward and move with this. Protecting the big three? You know, that`s
great but it polls so strongly in this country. I`m not so sure that this
is such a big leap with the American people. That`s what -- They used to
call it "Slam Dunk". Minimum wage? Polling pretty strong.

So all of the things that the Democrats want to do and all of the things
that Democrats want to poll are polling strong with the American people.
So why not do the fight right now? Well, it`s too late to talk about that
now because the Senate just passed this bipartisan budget bill and I`m sure
the President`s going to sign it. He`s going to veto at anything. And the
other thing is that they all can`t wait to get home and say, "They worked
with the other side." That`s part of it too.

I believe that this was a bad bill from the start because it doesn`t
address the most vulnerable in our society. It doesn`t address those who
have really paid a price and will pay a price in this recession recovery.
We`re getting better numbers all the time. The unemployment rate is coming
down, the housing starts are looking good, the market closed out a record
high today, corporate profits are through the roof, things are getting
better all the time. Can`t we just throw one more line the unemployed in
this country? Can`t we give them another 90 days?

Get your cell phones out, I want to know what you think. Tonight`s
question, "Do you trust Congress to do anything about income inequality?
Text A for Yes, text B for No to 67622. You can always go to our blog at
ed.msnbc.com and leave a comment there. We`ll bring you the results later
on in the show.

For more on this, I want to bring in Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the
independent who sits on the Budget Committee and also on the Veteran`s
Committee. Senator, tell us how you voted and why you voted. I want to
hear from you tonight on how this came down.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: OK. I voted Yes on the budget because
it was lesser of two evils. It wasn`t a good budget by any means but it
beats in shutdowns in the government. It beats in more devastating cuts to
head start meals on wheels, education heeding (ph) assistance and many,
many programs that benefit low income in working families.

Clearly, as you`ve indicated, it was an inadequate budget. It did not ask
corporate America. One out of four corporations pay zero in federal taxes.
We didn`t get another nickel from them, wealthiest people in come cases pay
a lower tax rate. The middle income people, we didn`t raise their tax
rates at all. So this was in my mind not a good bill, it was a lesser of
what the alternative would have been and that`s why I voted for it.

SCHULTZ: Senator, explain this campaign that the Democrats are have to
going to wage after the first of the year. What is going to bring the
House? I mean, I know Harry Reid will bring it to the floor and you`ll get
a vote in the Senate on minimum wage and also unemployment extension. What
is going to happen in the Senate that would force John Boehner to bring it
for a vote in the House up or down vote?

SANDERS: Well, Ed, I think as you`ve just indicated on all of the basic
economic issues, the American people are in strong opposition for
Republican ideology. What the American people want very strongly is no
cuts and in fact an expansion on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid,
they want to protect education, they want to protect programs that benefit
working families. They do want to ask the wealthiest people and large
corporations to start paying their fair share of taxes.

So we have the American people at our backs. What should we do? This is
my view.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SANDERS: First of all, we have made progress by changing the rules in
terms of presidential nominations. In my view, Ed, I know this a radical
idea, we`ve got to go further and say to the Republicans, "You know what?
The economy is in severe trouble, you cannot continue to obstruct,
obstruct, obstruct and .

SCHULTZ: So you want to change -- Senator, you want to change Senate rules
that will affect the jobs bill and some other things that will help the
economy?

SANDERS: Exactly.

SCHULTZ: You want this to go further?

SANDERS: I think you go to the Republicans and say, "If you guys want to
obstruct and obstruct, you know, what we`re going to do? We`re going to
pass this with the majority votes because that`s what the American people
want." You know what .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SANDERS: . we`re going to do? We`re going to pass a jobs bill, we`re
going to raise the minimum wage, we`re going to extend unemployment, we`re
going to do deal with college affordability. We are going to the deal with
the issues that the American people care about and we`re .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SANDERS: . not going to let you obstruct anymore.

SCHULTZ: You know, Senator, I want to point out. On my radio show one
year ago today, the 18th of December 2012, we were having a huge discussion
in this country about you can`t let the Bush tax cuts expire. The
Republicans had the narration out there going, "You can`t raise taxes on
the job creators. This is going to kill jobs. This is going to hurt the
economy."

We have added jobs every month since the Bush tax cuts expired. The market
went over 16,000 today, a record close today unemployment is going down.
Now, all of these things are great things that are happening for the
economy and we -- they have been wrong on everything. You know that, I
know that, many Democrats know that, they`ve been wrong on everything.

So is this the perfect time for the Democrats for a lack of a better term
to go for the jugular when it comes to making sure the Republicans are
going to be honest brokers on the economy?

SANDERS: I think, Ed, this is the time we`ve got to clear the air, we have
to make sure that everybody in America especially working people understand
that the Republicans are opposed to a jobs program, their opposed to
raising the minimum wage, they want to cut Social Security, Medicare and
Medicaid. We`ve got to put those issues right on the floor and let`s have
an up and down vote.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SANDERS: If you want to cut veteran`s programs? You go ahead and do that
.

SCHULTZ: Well .

SANDERS: . you want to cut Social Security? You do that. Let the
American people see. Let`s have majority rule.

SCHULTZ: And, Senator, what about these veterans retirees and they`re
going to see a reduction starting in 2015.

SANDERS: Right.

SCHULTZ: You know, a lot of these retirees, you know, the Republicans love
to say they support the troops. Well tonight .

SANDERS: Well .

SCHULTZ: . in this budget, they didn`t.

SANDERS: Well, look, let me just tell you this. The budget that we passed
in the Senate because we had revenue coming in by eliminating these
corporate loopholes, we didn`t cut one nickel .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SANDERS: . on veteran`s pensions. And that`s the point. I think this is
an issue, Ed, that will be addressed next year.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SANDERS: Between you and me, I think we`re going to deal with that.

SCHULTZ: All right. And the farm bill, does -- is the farm bill that
debate now open even further? Does it get an extension automatically?
Because now you`ve got -- you got to hold their feet to the fire when it
comes to minimum wage, you got to hold their feet to the fire when it comes
to unemployment benefits. I mean, you know those Republicans of the
Heartland, they want that farm bill.

SANDERS: We have more poverty in American today than at any time in the
history of this country and these guys over a 10-year period want to cut
food stamps and other nutrition programs horrendously, $40 billion on food
stamps cuts over a 10-year period, it ain`t going to happen.

SCHULTZ: And of course 57 percent of the American people want the Congress
to address income inequality. You have done that consistently. People
know that. You`ve been one of the strongest voices out there. It`s like
the Congress is catching up with you, Senator Sanders, and the people are,
I think, are ahead of the Congress when it comes to this discussion. Great
to have you with us tonight and I guess it`s official, tonight I`m left of
Bernie Sanders. I would have voted No on this.

Senator, thank you for work. I appreciate it so much.

SANDERS: Thank you.

SCHULTZ: All right. Senator Bernie Sanders with us tonight here on the Ed
Show. Remember to answer tonight`s question there at the bottom of the
screen. Share your thoughts on Twitter at Ed Show and on Facebook. We
always want to know what you think.

Coming up, Speaker Boehner and his blame game on the economy. It`s all
good. Plus mission accomplished in the war on Christmas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. We love hearing from our viewers.
Tonight in our Ask Ed Live segment, our first question comes from Francie
R, "What should be the first order of business by Congress after the
holidays?"

Well, the senator from Vermont and I we`re just talking about that a moment
ago. I say change the filibuster rules that will deal with legislation and
let`s get to a job`s bill. Let`s do minimum wage. Let`s extend
unemployment insurance for those who are going through at top slid with the
economy.

And just think, you might be able to close some of those corporate
loopholes where one and four corporations in this country don`t pay any
tax. Change the Senate rules. That`s the first order business that I
would do.

Our next question comes from Joel Buss, "When will Sean Hannity be man
enough to go one-on-one with you?"

You know, it`s not a question of manhood. I think it`s just a question of
being absent in the arena of ideas, because that`s where Hannity would be
if we ever did get into a face-to-face discussion in front of a crowd.
I`ve offered to do that, he didn`t want to do it. And I understand because
they don`t have any ideas.

We got a lot more coming up on the Ed Show. Stay tuned. We`re coming
right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Time now for the Trenders. Ed Show social media nation has
decided and we are reporting here at today`s top Trenders voted on by you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ho ho ho, merry everyone.

SCHULTZ: The number three Trender, happy Christmas.

BILL O`REILLY, THE O`REILLY FACTOR SHOW HOST: As you may know, Christmas
is not universally accepted in the country anymore. Everyday we see tons
of any Christmas displays and even the word Christmas in some cases.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is war.

SCHULTZ: Bill O believes the war is over when it comes to Christmas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nine years ago when we started this reportage on
Christmas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is war.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

O`REILLY: What would have happened and we`re speculating here, if I hadn`t
taken this on, and we hadn`t challenged the stores, and hadn`t challenged
the ACLU.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, I don`t think there is a war on Christmas, I think
it`s a catchy phrase.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shun the non-believer.

O`REILLY: It isn`t a mythical war on Christmas, it`s real and we just won.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

SCHULTZ: The number two Trender, stay catty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m Ron Burgundy. Meow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let`s stay fluffy San Diego.

SCHULTZ: Anchorman gets a furry parody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: News Team assemble.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She-lions do not belong in the news room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t know what we`re yelling about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boy, that escalated quickly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it`s the last creative emotion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good night and go bark yourselves San Diego.

SCHULTZ: And today`s top Trender, jabber.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The American economy, greatest in the world is stuck in
the new normal, high unemployment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seven percent that is five year low.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Slow growth.

SCHULTZ: Forty-seven straight months of private sector job growth.

John Boehner says the President is stalling economic growth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There in the people`s House will pull this in getting
our economy moving again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wrong. You`re still wrong.

SCHULTZ: The current Congress could go down as one of the most
unproductive in modern history.

BOEHNER: The Senate Democrats are standing in the way, President Obama is
still standing on the sideline. Mr. President what are you waiting for?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Joining me now is Congresswoman Donna Edwards of Maryland in
studio with us here in the nation`s capital. Congresswoman, great to have
you with us.

Boehner has taken out this ad. He is saying that the President has stalled
the economy and he could say what he wants. The numbers are what they are.
Forty-seven went the private sector job growth, the mark went over 16,000
today, record close, unemployment is going down, but now you have to trust
him to do a deal on key issues that are polling very strong in this country
what the American people want, how are you going to get that done?

REP. DONNA EDWARDS (D), MARYLAND: Well, I think the way we`re going to get
it done is that the President is going to exercise the bully pulpit the way
we need him to on minimum wage, on income inequality, on extending
unemployment insurance which we did not do when we left town and the Senate
is closed too. And so I think the President has to really dig down in that
bully pulpit, use it, talk to the American people to force Republicans to
come to the table on these issues that make a difference for working
people.

SCHULTZ: So you think that the President could play a major role with his
low poll numbers right now? You know, ObamaCare is getting better all the
time. No doubt about it. It`s polling better all the time.

But the President is going to play a major role in this, it would not be
any kind of legislative maneuvering by the Democrats to force Boehner to
come and bring this like minimum wage to the floor for a vote?

EDWARDS: Well, look, we`re going to do our part too, but the President is
still the president. The President still has the podium at the White House
and the more vocal he is with the American people about these issues that
are over the top, all Americans virtually want an increase in the minimum
wage. This is not rocket science and it`s not anything that`s really
difficult. And if the President does that, it will enable us to do the
legislative part.

SCHULTZ: So Harry Reid gets it done on the Senate and it passes in the
Senate no matter what the Senate rules are, let`s just say it gets out of
the Senate. Will that be enough in the President to put pressure on
Boehner to say, "OK, we`re going to bring a vote a minimum wage to the
floor."

Now I`ve been told by some other House members. I want your take on this
that if they were to come to the floor, all the Democrats on minimum wage
and unemployment insurance, they would certainly vote yes and there would
be enough scared Republicans, enough reasonable Republicans over there to
pass it. It`s just a matter of bringing it to the floor. Do you agree
with that?

EDWARDS: Well, look at how that is true. It`s true about that. It`s true
about immigration. It`s true about unemployment insurance compensation. I
think, Ed, I think across the board if Democrats are aggressive and play
hard ball from the Senate to the House and with the President, we can get
this done for the American people. I`m convinced that we can do it. I
mean, you know, we see already. You look at these poll numbers and it`s
extraordinary the way that the American people feel .

SCHULTZ: Sure.

EDWARDS: . about what we need to do to really change the economy for
working people. I mean, we`re at seven percent but let`s just say through
no fault of the Republicans because they haven`t done anything to
contribute to the lowest unemployment that we`d had in five years.

SCHULTZ: They`ve done nothing. They`ve done absolutely nothing. They
have had no hand in the economy, whatsoever. And all they do and that add
was all about it with Boehner just blaming the President for, you know,
stalling the economy.

EDWARDS: Look what Boehner could do. He could bring a jobs package to the
floor of the House. He could bring a transportation and infrastructure
package to put people back to work. Have they done it? Not at all.

Well, they`ve cleared the decks on the budget. Well, it`s time to start
bringing some things to the floor.

SCHULTZ: Do you feel comfortable with this bill, the bipartisan budget
bill? It gives the Republicans, of what I call, shutdown protection,
election protection. So in other words, they don`t have to worry about Ted
Cruz gumming things up in the Senate anymore and, you know, shutting down
the government because they don`t have enough votes.

There`s not going to be a shutdown of the government which was very
unpopular when it did happen and I don`t think that they would try to do it
again, but now they`ve got protection that it won`t be shut down. They can
go home down, go home now and say, "No new tax increases, loopholes are
still there for the corporations so we`re not going to shut down the
government." What do the Democrats take out of them?

EDWARDS: Yeah, but you know what? One of the things that we get is the
stability, frankly, that the American people need and all of those federal
workers who`ve we hadn`t done that would be on furlough .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

EDWARDS: . on today going into the holidays. I think those are really
important things but the fact of the matter is you see Republicans today
starting to talk about how they`re going to threaten again the full faith
and credit of the United States over, who knows what, over health care?

SCHULTZ: That`s why I say why do we deal with them now, you know, you`re
going to have to fight for them anyway. You know, I don`t want to hear
anymore Republicans say that there`s uncertainty in the economy. There is
uncertainty amongst business .

EDWARDS: Wall Street`s not answer.

SCHULTZ: . owners, yeah. No. No. No. Wall Streets are rolling. It`s
amazing what the socialist in the White House have done for Wall Street. I
say that kidding because that`s all they call President Obama.

What are the corporate obligations in income inequality because this, of
course, is another thing that pulls very strong that the American people
want to see addressed? How do you do it?

EDWARDS: Well, I think the way you do is -- there are two things. One .

SCHULTZ: From a corporate level

EDWARDS: Corporations have used the excuse of a stalled economy from not
investing their capital .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

EDWARDS: . that they`ve been sitting on and they`ve used the excuse of
instability and what Congress was going to do or not. But you know what?
We`ve cleared the decks. Time to loosen up that capital, put it in to the
economy, start hiring again. You know, on minimum wage, I mean, we`re
talking about an effect on a very small number of people, those
significant, raise that wage base. It`s not going to hurt .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

EDWARDS: . this economy at all.

SCHULTZ: Congresswoman Donna Edwards, thanks for joining us tonight here
on the Ed Show.

EDWARDS: Thank you.

SCHULTZ: Appreciate it so much.

Stick around, the Rapid Response Panel is next.

MORGAN BRENNAN, CNBC HOST: I`m Morgan Brennan with your CNBC Market Wrap.
The Dow surges 292 points to a record high thanks to the Fed. The S and P
jumps 29 also finishing at a record. And the NASDAQ gains 46 to settle at
a 13-year high. The catalyst for today, the Central Bank`s decision to
taper monthly asset purchases by $10 billion starting next month.

Meanwhile, housing starts sort to their highest level in nearly six years.
And shares the theater operator, AMC jumped five percent in their first day
of trading.

That`s it from CNBC, First in Business Worldwide.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. Thanks for watching tonight.

Congressman Darrell Issa. I`ll tell you, he is a fly in the ointment,
isn`t he? He has been waging a permanent tax payer-funded witch-hunt on
the Obama Administration since way back.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, she has had enough. Pelosi along
with the White House and Congressional Leaders and heading committees say
Issa subpoenaed, sensitive, unreducted contractor documents related to the
security of HealthCare.gov.

Darrell Issa does not deserve to be trusted with sensitive information.
It`s not just health care folks.

During his Benghazi hearings, Issa released documents without redacting the
names of Libyans who are working with the Unites States during the fast and
furious investigation. Issa put details of secret wiretaps into the
congressional record. And during his TSA oversight hearing, Issa defended
the leak of documents that included security information, just a good guy
all around, ain`t he? Issa is as leaky as an old watering can. The
congressman who`s got the checkered passed is proving old dogs just don`t
learn new tricks. This guy is after ObamaCare at all costs. And if he is
leaking secret information that is sensitive to our I.T. work in the
government, what do you say we have an impeachment vote, but he`s trying to
do that with President Obama as well.

Joining me now is as our Rapid Response Panel Karen Finney Host of Disrupt
here on MSNBC and E.J. Dionne, MSNBC Contributor and Columnist for the
Washington Post. OK.

KAREN FINNEY, HOST OF DISRUPT: It`s like, where to start with this guy.

SCHULTZ: Where to start? Well, let`s put the other investigations in the
past. So, let`s talk about the issue that they`re concerned about. Nancy
Pelosi says their sensitive information has been leaked. They`re very
concerned about it. This of course would torpedo ObamaCare.gov.

E.J., it`s up to Boehner what`s he going to do? Stay silent?

E. J. DIONNE, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR AND COLUMNIST: Well, I think you need to
watch more Fox News. I`m afraid that.

(CROSSTALK)

DIONNE: . Darrell Issa`s comment to a Medicare and Medicaid director down
in Texas.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

DIONNE: And it gives you a sense of where he`s coming from on this whole
subject. I mean, the problem here is that what he`s trying to do with
these hearings in general and what this in particular is scare people not
to sign up for ObamaCare.

SCHULTZ: Exactly.

DIONNE: And to say this isn`t security if you sign up all your information
is out there. He`s going after the navigators. Who are the navigators?
They are people who are helping other people get health insurance.

SCHULTZ: Oh, they`re -- and the organizers are afraid of Issa.

DIONNE: Exactly Ed. And, you know, so there`s that. And then, there is
his history of leaking all kinds of stuff that shouldn`t get out there.
And look, congressional hearings are there to expose wrong doing if, you
know, we have cheered them on when they did this in other circumstances.
But this isn`t about exposing wrong doing.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

DIONNE: This is just about trying to undercut ObamaCare.

SCHULTZ: It`s Boehner`s call right now.

FINNEY: Yeah.

SCHULTZ: What are the expectations?

FINNEY: Well, I think Boehner has -- should step in. I don`t think he
will. I mean, because remember here`s this -- the pattern that we`ve seen
with Issa is not just leaking sensitive information, but selectively
leaking information .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

FINNEY: . that tells only one part of the story and, you know, it`s been
Congressman Cummings through time and again has had to say, well, here`s
the other side. He did that in the IRS, stuff that he`s done at even (ph)
in the Benghazi where he did clearly has a conservative narrative against
the President he is trying to push.

SCHULTZ: How`s he getting away with that? How`s he getting away with
these kind of antics?

FINNEY: Boehner`s got to step back. He`s got a -- some of that spying
that he grew last week, he`s got to use it this week and say enough is
enough.

DIONNE: And Boehner is a guy who historically is a regular order guy. He
is supposed to be somebody and at times in his career shown that he cares
about the House and how it`s supposed to operate. And this is really
interesting test, because I have a feeling it is heart to heart he`s got to
know that some of this is just over the top.

SCHULTZ: It`s interesting that Nancy Pelosi is not asking for hearings.
She wants a high level security briefing on the operations of Issa.

FINNEY: Right.

SCHULTZ: Let`s not put the cart before the horse here in which I think is
brilliant on her part, give us the information, be forthcoming. What have
you released? And then, I think it would be up to the Justice Department
to make a determination, wouldn`t it?

FINNEY: Yes, and I think -- what it also means is that they can see all of
what`s in there. The whole picture. So that if he -- so if anything leaks
out and that it leaks out, you know, piecemeal, they will know what should
have been up -- whether it should have been out there, or should not have
been out there.

SCHULTZ: I know the cyber security rules. I mean, we`re into this new
information age. I mean, oh, it`s OK if we release that.

You know, Lizz Winstead, the comic said the other day, "And everybody is
having a hard time picking their health care plan, why not just turn it
over to the NSA?" That one was pretty good. They knew more about
anything.

DIONNE: They could fill up the documents real fast.

SCHULTZ: That`s right. They could fill out the whole thing right there.

DIONNE: You know, the thing is again, I think it`s important to be
consistent here. There are times when we have cheered when people put out
information .

FINNEY: Sure.

DIONNE: . that the government was illegitimately withholding from us.

SCHULTZ: Right.

DIONNE: I think what`s particularly disturbing in this case and why Pelosi
acted is because if some of this gets out there, it endangers -- the very
thing Issa is supposed to be trying to protect .

FINNEY: Right.

DIONNE: . it endangers national security. It could endanger the security
of the website. So, what you want to do is you do not want that stuff
leaked in a way that could hurt people out in the country.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

FINNEY: And remember, under Issa, it was anyone of his hearings that Jason
Chaffetz ousted a CIA installation in the Benghazi compound. I mean -- and
they had to go to special session. It`s ridiculous.

SCHULTZ: All right. I`m going to get both of your take on the budget.
The Senate has passed and the President is going to sign it. Good deal
Karen?

FINNEY: No. I`m with you. The fact that it`s -- doesn`t have
unemployment insurance. Politically, I understand the deal, but as an
American, I`m disappointed in that although I do think that they will be
able to fix the pension issue for our veterans. And I think Patty Murray
knew that which is why she let that happen.

DIONNE: I think it`s bad but necessary. Bad because it doesn`t include
unemployment, bad because the cuts are still too deep, necessary because we
needed to put some of that money back into the economy unless the
government hurt the economy. The Congress hurt the economy more than it`s
already hurting.

SCHULTZ: I just -- all of these things are polling so great for the
Democrats, OK? So where`s the victory? If the American people are with
the Democrats on saving the big three it`s a political loser if the
Republicans were to go down that road but they`re coming away saying,
"Well, we protected the Big Three." Well, yes, you know. I mean, that`s
not a heavy lift is it, or is it that the American people just don`t
realize how determined the Right Wing is to coming after them on those
three?

DIONNE: Well, I think the public has a general sense that the Republicans
would cut some of these programs if they could. I don`t think they`re
going to sort of get to play that. And I think Patty Murray really did
stand very strong on those particular issues and she was out there
yesterday saying, "We could have avoided some of these cuts if we had had
tax reform or some other way of raising revenues." So I think this opens
the way to more fights next year. And the progressives need to put their
issues on the table.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

FINNEY: Well, I think Progressives need to push Congress to make sure that
they hold the line on these things.

SCHULTZ: I can`t wait to see this campaign we`re hearing about, how
they`re going to get John Boehner to break his back, to bring these votes
on the minimum wage on unemployment extension and some of the other things
the Democrats want. I don`t know. That`s why I say it`s a bad deal. I
think you`re right. Politically understanding it, not good as it should
be.

Great to have both of you with us.

DIONNE: Good to be with you.

FINNEY: Good to be here, Ed.

SCHULTZ: Karen Finney, E.J. Dionne, great to have you on.

Coming up, the GOP is trying to destroy the United States Postal Service
again? We have the new head of the Postal Workers Union joining us after
big protest out in Oregon. Stay with us. We`ll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: And in Pretenders tonight. Holy smokes, we got a double whammy
here. Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity, the Beckster joined Hannity`s radio
show to dispel a vicious rumor. Word on the street is that they are
Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN HANNITY, HOST, AUTHOR, CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Here`s
what the problem with the Republican Party is and I`m not a Republican.

GLENN BECK, HOST, AUTHOR, CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah.

HANNITY: The people think I`m a Republican, I`m not. I`m a registered
conservative in New York and I`ve been saying Speaker Boehner needs to go
and .

BECK: You`ll never get credit for that.

HANNITY: I don`t want credit for that.

BECK: No, I know that. But what I`m saying is the Left will never look at
people like you and me and say we`re anything but Republicans.

I have attacked the Republicans more than I have attacked -- I was saying,
that you wanted to get -- you want to get George Bush on impeachment.
Remember they were claiming impeachment?

HANNITY: Yeah.

BECK: I said go after him, what they`re doing with Compean and Ramos.
What he was doing on the board, well there`s something wrong there. I was
saying that at the end. But somehow or another I was a big Bush fan? Come
on.

HANNITY: You know, they forget the areas where we disagree with Bush.

BECK: I know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Wow. I mean that is just some hard hitting. I`m not a
Republican-type audio isn`t it? Well, here is the dynamic duo taking the
GOP to task.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: From when (ph) I last saw you, you were -- my conception was you
were totally completely at peace.

GEORGE W. BUSH, FMR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yeah.

HANNITY: Your job was done and you seemed even more peace now.

BUSH: I am at peace.

BECK: Paul Ryan. You sir, you sir.

RYAN: How you doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love you.

RYAN: Oh, I love you too.

HANNITY: Mr. President it`s a -- first of all, you become a little bit
like a rock star.

RYAN: To me, it`s really important to flush progressives out into the
field of open debate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re content, you`re at peace here.

GEORGE BUSH, FMR. PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Obviously, I`m
enlightened right now because I`m talking to you, my buddy.

HANNITY: Wow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: No way is Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck Republicans. No way.

Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck don`t like to kiss and tell. What a shame.
They have such a beautiful love story with the Republican Party don`t they,
especially when the Heritage Foundation spends money on Hannity`s radio
show. If Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity want us to believe they`re anything
but GOP fan boys, they can keep on pretending.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. This is the story for the folks who
take a shower after work. I knew this was going to happen. Now, we all
know Republicans are trying to chip away the backbone of America by
attacking the United States Postal Service. We`ve talked a lot about that
on this program.

But now, we`re starting to see people in communities push backs. Seven
people were arrested at a mail processing center in Springfield, Oregon on
Tuesday. For labor groups, postal workers, and supporters, they gathered
on the busiest mail day of the year to protest the impending closure of the
center.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE PARTRIDGE: It`s not necessary. Postal Service is not broke.
Postmaster General needs to back off from the Congress to its job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: The Mail Processing Center in Springfield employs 169 people and
has been told it`s going to be forced to close some time in February. Now,
the financial pinch, the United States Postal Services under all comes from
a result of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act passed by
Congress in the lame-duck session in 2006 which forces the Postal Service
to prepay in advance, prepay retiree health care for 75 years into the
future, but they got to do it in 10-year window.

Well, it`s put a pinch in on a big time. Republicans have been gunning for
the Postal Service to go privatize it for a long time. They want to force
this agency into bankruptcy and they want to privatize it. How else can we
read it? But here`s what`s happening in communities, people are starting
to respond. You see they like their post office. It is vital. It`s part
of America`s infrastructure, but it`s what the Republicans continue to chip
away at. They say it`s an opportunity for privatization. I say they`re
wrong.

Mark Dimondstein is the new president of the American Postal Workers Union.
He joins us tonight here in Washington. Mark, good to have you with us.

MARK DIMONDSTEIN, PRESIDENT AMERICANT POSTAL WORKERS UNION: Thank you for
having us tonight, Ed.

SCHULTZ: Are we going to see more of this kind of activity that we saw in
Oregon?

DIMONDSTEIN: I both hope so and think so. I think the people in this
country are ready to fight to defend their service. First and foremost,
it`s their service. It belongs to them, it belongs to the people of this
country, and it serves every community, every neighborhood, every city,
every state, no matter your background, no matter your income. And I don`t
think people are going to stand for letting it be privatized.

You`re absolutely right about that point. I think the post office takes in
about $65 billion a year and the privatizers would like to hand on that.
Wall Street would like their fingers in that pie. And so, we hope -- and
our union is very committed to building what we`re hoping to call and
develop a grand alliance between the people of this country and the postal
workers to save a service that`s really a national treasure of this
country.

SCHULTZ: And the bottom line here is, you don`t have any tax dollars.

DIMONDSTEIN: No tax dollars at all.

SCHULTZ: So -- And look, I have to tell you. Well, this is the season.
We`re shipping all kinds of packages back home to the Mid-East. You guys
got a heck of a deal. I just got to throw that in there. I mean, you`re
more than competitive on your rates and on your services. So moving
forward, how many of these facilities you think are going to be paired back
say, within the next year, year and a half?

DIMONDSTEIN: Well, unfortunately, too many of them have been paired back
to date. And a number of 60, 70, maybe even more are on the threat to be
paired back in the future. Every time a mail processing center is paired
back, the service declines. That`s why the public`s mail, your mail is
taking longer and longer to get there. That`s why your mail and large part
is coming later and later in the day.

We have people who are getting mail delivery and I`m sure many of your
viewers -- this is happening to them. They`re getting mail delivered at
8:00, 9:00, 10:00 at night. That`s not service, that`s not safety for the
workers. And the more these planned closures happen, the more the postal
service is going to be dismantled, degraded, and it`s going to be open for
privatization.

SCHULTZ: And you said a matter of centralizing a lot of bigger processing
centers which slows down the process a little bit and it isn`t a manpower
issue?

DIMONDSTEIN: Well, when you close a processing center like in New J (ph),
not only that jobs leave the neighborhoods and those cities and those
towns, but mail gets trucked, transported sometimes hundreds of miles then
gets processed, gets transported back hundreds of miles, and it can`t make
it on time. So the service is going down. The delivery standards are
going down, what used to take one day, overnight, now taking two and three
days. And that`s not the kind of service that the postal service should be
providing to the people in this country. And it`s not the kind of service
that we want to see the post office, right? We want to see great service.

SCHULTZ: What about the law that was passed in 2006? This continues on
and this is what, $8 billion, $9 billion a year to your bottom line that
you have to prepay health care.

DIMONDSTEIN: Yes, at least $5.5 billion a year. And for instance, where
if not for that pre-funding mandate, last year the post office was $600
million to the good.

SCHULTZ: To the black.

DIMONDSTEIN: To the black.

SCHULTZ: So if you had not had this pre-funded mandate put on to you by
government intervention .

DIMONDSTEIN: Right.

SCHULTZ: . the government had stayed out of the Postal Service, you
wouldn`t made $600 million last year?

DIMONDSTEIN: And it`s a mandate, no business, no government agency, ever
faces in this country.

SCHULTZ: All right.

DIMONDSTEIN: It`s solely focused on the Postal Service.

SCHULTZ: Mark Dimondstein, keep up the good work. The mission is to
repeal that law to get members of Congress to realize where the people are
on.

DIMONDSTEIN: The mission is to do away with the pre-funding whether it`s
repealed or changed. And let us get back to the business of serving the
people in this country. And let us enhance the services. For instance,
we`re big fans of non-profit postal .

SCHULTZ: Sure.

DIMONDSTEIN: . banking of other services that can be put into this great
infrastructure that we had .

SCHULTZ: All right.

DIMONDSTEIN: . they can then serve the people. Thank you, Ed.

SCHULTZ: We will follow the story. Thanks so much. Good to have you with
us tonight. That`s the Ed Show. I`m Ed Schultz. Politics Nation with
Reverend Al Sharpton starts right now.

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

Copyright 2013 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 Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark,
copyright or other notice from copies of the content.>