The Ed Show for Wednesday, March 26, 2014

THE ED SHOW
March 26, 2014

Guests: Barbara Boxer, Dr. Corey Hebert, Michael Eric Dyson, Zerlina
Maxwell, Angela Rye, Sherrod Brown

ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: And welcome to the Ed Show live from Detroit
Lakes, Minnesota in the North Country. Let`s get to work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Those already inline for enrollment by phone or
website will be able to complete their transactions.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R-OH) HOUSE SPEAKER: Hell, is this a joke?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That they noticed they`re going to end up way short of
their target, they know it`s going to be an embarrassment, so they`re
trying to string it out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why won`t the White House just officially delay the
mandate all together?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Yes, you don`t need
health insurance until you need health insurance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But that`s the deadline, six days away, they`re
backing off on that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, just keep moving the goal post further and
further down the field.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There has been a last minute surge in demand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five million people signing up for the Affordable Care
Act so far.

SCHULTZ: Obamacare is popular because Obamacare is saving lives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Polls come out showing how much they really like what
they have once they have it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.

BOEHNER: The dates are the dates, and the law is the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Good to have you with us tonight folks, thanks for watching.
There are only six days left to sign up for Obamacare. The first open
enrollment period ends Monday March 31st. I have a smile on my face
tonight folks, I find this so hilarious. It`s a deadline. Holy smokes.
They`ve moved the deadline again. We`re saving lives across America, this
is a terrible thing.

OK. If you`re a conservative, I`m sure before this broadcast is over with,
you`re going to hate me and you`re probably going to have a stroke. But
I`m going to give you some numbers tonight that aren`t being reported.
There`s a slight chance that this deadline is going to save even more
American lives.

You see, the Obama administration said that they will extend the deadline
to April 15th, as long as people declare that they have started the process
before March 31st. You know what this is? This is good news for consumers
who need just a little bit more time to shop around to get the perfect
plan.

Republicans are, of course, they`re jumping all over this, that`s just
total failure, isn`t it? They think it`s a major problem with Obamacare.
House Speaker John Boehner came out today and made a fool of himself. He
attacked the President of the United States. He made quite the scene over
the new deadline.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOEHNER: Last night brought us yet another delay of Obamacare, another
deadline made meaningless. You know, if he hasn`t put enough loopholes
into the law already, the administration is now resorting to an honor
system to enforce it. What the hell is this, a joke?

The law says that enrollment stops at the end of March. That`s what the
law says. You know, I`ve got to live by the law, you`ve got to live by the
law, the American people have to live by the law. And guess what? The
President needs to live by the law as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Give me an absolute break Mr. Boehner. You`re press conference
is a joke, but you are exposing the Republican ideology one more time, you
don`t care about people, you don`t recognize the good in any of this.
There`s absolutely nothing wrong with giving the American people a few more
days to shop around for healthcare, that`s the mission, that`s all it is.

Boehner has been rooting for this law to fail from day one. This guy has
taken over 50 votes to the floor to take it away and to also take money out
of your pocket. His outburst today, nothing new, Boehner knows that
Obamacare is working and this law is getting popular, more popular by the
day. This is why he was slamming Obamacare out there today.

On Tuesday alone, here`s the number. No one`s talking about this.
Healthcare.gov had 1.2 million visits to the website. Now, why do you
think that is? Is it in the air? Is it the weather? It must be the
basketball tournament. People don`t have anything else to do. They`re
just killing time between the games, right?

Total Obamacare enrollment has already top five million and it`s expected
to top six million by the end of this month, March, just a few days away.
Now, the numbers are the numbers. Let me remind you folks that after the
first month of Obamacare enrollment, what were we looking at? What was
that number? 106,000 people had signed up in the first 33 days of
Obamacare. Now, we`re scratching six million and we have the same rhetoric
coming from the Republicans. They don`t know what to say. They don`t know
what to say to somebody whose life is being changed because they`re going
to have health insurance.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court, OK, we got to fight the legal battles,
they`re divided over Obamacare`s birth control mandate. Justices begin
hearing arguments on Tuesday on whether requiring companies to provide
contraception violates companies religious freedom. Here we go, Hobby
Lobby along with some others are suing the administration. Now, they say
certain forms of birth control amount to abortion which is hogwash.

Women`s justices or the women justices on the court seem to be leaning
towards siding with the administration. Not surprisingly, conservative
justices seemed to be leaning towards Hobby Lobby, you know, it`s
(inaudible) is going to do.

Now, I don`t think we should make any mistake on this at all. If the court
rules in favor of Hobby Lobby, this could be a very slippery slope for
Obamacare, because they could piece out other parts of the law and
challenge them as well. But this is all about dismantling something that
is generational change. There could be other provisions of Obamacare that
companies could claim to be against their religious beliefs.

I think it`s just a greedy corporate grab trying to get out of providing
good quality healthcare for their workers but also trying to destroy the
president`s agenda. Obamacare is the law of the land. It`s the law of the
land. And this is more American opportunity. And don`t forget those
numbers. I find it amazing how there was so much negativity coming from
the mainstream media and all the anti-advocacy groups on Obamacare across
the board the first month of October.

And it had an affect on the numbers. A 106,000 people and now we`re
sitting at -- on the verge of how many? Looking at March 17th, we`ve got
five million, by the end of this month, they`re scratching over six
million. Give me a number Mr. Boehner. Give me a number that you would be
comfortable with that wouldn`t call this a disaster. There is no number.
There`s no number. There could be 30, 40, 50 million.

They are for-profit across the board. They`re for the corporations.
They`re not for the people. And they`re not for the outcomes. They`re
about absolute power and this gets in their way. This is going to have a
generational affect on young people. They are going to see that it was the
Democrats and the progressive movement in this country that change. The
election was about hope and change.

There was a whole lot of hope we could get this done and now we`re seeing
the change. And change is slow. Let see, we`ve been through October,
November, December, January, February, March. Gosh, over six million
people at the end of March? Where are we going to be in November? Boehner
has no choice but to come out and continually trash this law because he
knows the numbers are against him.

I`ve got confidence in my taco box on this one folks and you should too.
Get your cellphones out. I want to know what you think tonight`s question.
Back in October, did you think enrollment would reach six million people by
the end of March? Text A for yes, text B for no to 67622. You can always
go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com. We`ll bring you the results later on in
the show.

I think the deadline is good news, because this means that people are going
to the website, that they`re realizing the severity of this, they`re
realizing that this is real change and they`re realizing that this works.

For more, let me bring in Senator Barbara Boxer of California. Senator,
good to have with us tonight at the Ed Show.

SEN. BARBARA BOXER, (D) CALIFORNIA: Great to be with you.

SCHULTZ: Senator, your response to Speaker Boehner`s calling this
extension a joke.

BOXER: Well, they are unreal. You could happy birthday and they`d say,
"How dare you." I mean, seriously, this is a page out of George Bush`s
book when we had the Medicare part D, prescription drug serge. Everybody
said, "Lets extend the deadline." George Bush extended the deadline. I
never heard the Republicans complain. Look, again, it`s all about
politics, Ed.

You mention the six million, how about the three million kids who were on
their parents insurance, who couldn`t be before? And the eight million
seniors who are saving money through the Medicare part D and the 100
million people who now can get free preventive services? I could go on
with you. So, we have millions of reasons to be grateful for this law.

And I think you`ve got it right, you`ve put in to historical perspective.
It doesn`t matter what the numbers are. They`re playing politics. And,
you know, if you look back, this law is being vilified by them just like
they`ve vilified social security. The Republicans called it a mockery and
a sham and Newt Gingrich said Medicare should wither on the vine and Bob
Dole was bragging that he voted against it.

So, putting it into that context, what you see is this is another great
step forward for the American people.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

BOXER: And the numbers are proving it.

SCHULTZ: Senator, take us back, you touched on something that the
mainstream media has not focused on. Medicare part D.

BOXER: Yes.

SCHULTZ: That was under the Bush administration.

BOXER: Yes.

SCHULTZ: President Bush extended the deadline, where were the -- scratch
you memory, where were the Republicans? Were they complaining about a
change in the deadline? Were they talking about what the law was and what
had to be done?

BOXER: They were for it. We all were for it, because they supported their
president. And we supported President Bush who was our President at that
time. But because it`s President Obama, if he says A, they say B, they can
never be on the same page. It is sad, not even on foreign policy that you
stop with the waters edge. So Ed, here`s the deal, they`re going to vote
probably for 55th time to talk away the benefits from millions and millions
of Americans.

And I think by the time, November rules (ph) around, people are going to
say, you know, "Who`s really on my side? Who`s fighting to give me a fair
shot? And I think the answer is .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

BOXER: . Democrats are not perfect but we sure are on their side.

SCHULTZ: What are you`re thoughts on the Hobby Lobby Supreme Court case,
what unfolded yesterday? Senator lets just say the Supreme Court sides
with Hobby Lobby in their decision. What does this mean?

BOXER: Oh it`s very dangerous. Because what it means is that anytime a
private sector or corporation decides that they don`t want to follow a lot
because they have a moral objection, maybe it`s the vaccinations, maybe
it`s the immunizations, maybe it`s the HIV treatments. There`s nothing
that will stop them from just saying, "We`re just not going to cover it."
So it`s -- we`re not going to follow the law.

And this is really a terrible thing, because we`re a government of buying
for the people. The reason we have elections is to elect people to pass
laws. If the law is unconstitutional, that`s one thing. But we have a
religious exemption in the Affordable Care Act. You know that. And a lot
of people .

SCHULTZ: Yes.

BOXER: . thought it went too far. We have a religious exemption. But
just because I may I have an objections to something doesn`t mean I should
force my employees to follow, you know, my religious freedom. Everyone has
a religious freedom. So you got to follow the law. I`m hopeful .

SCHULTZ: Yes.

BOXER: . the court will not do that kind of a radical decision, maybe
they`ll just come in somewhere in the middle. But, I`m praying hard on it.

SCHULTZ: Well, this is undoubtedly discrimination in the public workplace.

BOXER: Yes .

SCHULTZ: It doesn`t matter .

BOXER: . it`s discrimination.

SCHULTZ: . who owns the business. It is discrimination across the board
against women. No doubt about it. Senator Barbara Boxer, great to have
you. Yes?

BOXER: Ed, can I just say one quick thing?

SCHULTZ: Yes.

BOXER: I never heard Hobby Lobby complain about providing Viagra. But
they pick on women, it`s wrong, you know, it`s wrong.

SCHULTZ: It is wrong. And I hope the court gets their head screwed on
right .

BOXER: Yeah.

SCHULTZ: . with this one, they should. Thank you Senator .

BOXER: I hope so.

SCHULTZ: . appreciate your time. Well, I mean, it`s just common sense.
What it is, is discriminating against women on the workplace.

Joining me tonight also is Dr. Corey Hebert, Professor of LSU Healthcare
Science -- Service Sciences down. And also the CEO of BlackHealthTV.com.

You know, the numbers are the number. A 106,000 and five months later six
million. Corey, what do you think Republicans, why are they making a big
deal out of this extension?

DR. COREY HEBERT, LSU HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER: Look, I don`t want to hear
another word out of Boehner. He just needs to sit down because basically
he`s just mad right now because of the five million people that have signed
up. We know that extension and the deadline, we know that it`s important
because people need to get covered. That`s the bottom line. And so, you
know, right now, we know that there are 14 hardship exemptions that you can
have just in case that you missed that deadline.

And so, what I want people to really understand is that that deadline is
still there and you got to go on and sign up before that deadline, just in
case, and all you have to do is show that you sign up. Take a screen shot
or something .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

HEBERT: . so that you could show that you signed up and you won`t have a
problem. Because there are still 60 percent of uninsured people out there
that don`t know that the March 31st deadline is there. And that`s when the
That`s what the Kay or Family Foundation`s latest study. So, we got to get
the word out man. We got to get it out.

SCHULTZ: Well, could this dramatically increase the enrollment numbers in
your opinion? I mean, you know, we`re counting on human nature here,
people are procrastinators. But if there`s enough conversation out there,
I think it could really change the numbers. Your thoughts .

HEBERT: I agree.

SCHULTZ: . on this. Will this really help the numbers?

HEBERT: I agree because we all know when we have a term paper to do at the
end of the semester when we were in college. We know that you waited to
the last minute to do that term paper. So, I could even think that those
numbers could almost hit seven million because they`re so many people like
16 percent of the people don`t even know. So, if we keep talking about it,
letting people know that they`re going to be taken care of the way that
they need to be taken care of medically in this country, then those numbers
were going to go up and that`s what Boehner is so upset about.

SCHULTZ: Doctor, why is it important for the Hobby Lobby case to go in
favor of the people and not this private business that is objecting to the
law? How do you see it?

HEBERT: This is a good old boy conservative club. And I`m so sad that the
Supreme Court has had to be split this way because we know that woman are
always discriminated against. And so -- but one really important thing is
that we know that this is the old Roe versus Wade, you know, when is
conception, when is that actually occurring. And so, what I want to know
is that if we have "In God we trust" on our money, and we say "One nation
under God" in one of our allegiance preambles, then what actually happens
if the hypocrisy of our democracy, because we don`t have church and state
separation when we should.

So, we should make sure that Hobby Lobby and all the rest of those places
out there that don`t want to give free care to their employees so that they
can get preventive care, especially the woman, they need to just make sure
that they do what they are supposed to do in our Supreme Court needs to do
what they`re supposed to do and find in -- law they have -- because that`s
a very slippery slope, very slippery slope.

SCHULTZ: Dr. Corey Hebert, good to have you with us tonight. Appreciate
your time, thanks so much for being on the Ed Show. We`ll do it again.

Remember to answer tonight`s question there at the bottom of the screen.
Share your thoughts with us on Twitter @EdShow and on Facebook. We want to
know what you think on this. Tweet the show on this extension, on this new
deadline.

Coming up, how raising minimum wage could close the gender pay gap. Rapid
response panel weighs in on that. But first, the conversation in the
conservative effort to turn schools into for-profit businesses. More on
the fight for public education next to the Ed Show. Stay with us here,
we`re right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Time now for the Trenders. Social media check us out on Twitter,
it`s @EdShow. And on the radio at Sirius XM Channel 127, Monday through
Friday, noon to 3:00 PM. We`re talking a lot about this mandate and this
deadline tomorrow.

Ed Show social media nation has decided and we are reporting. Here are
today`s top Trenders voted on by you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love this March weather.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The number three trender, weather.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So much for that spring thing, huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Winter is coming.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a forth time this winter that blizzard
warning has been issued on Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha`s Vineyard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s a great year to be on the snow business.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Northeast has one last winter blast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got gust now all over the cape in the island of 40
to 50 miles per hour.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These winds are impressive, they are fierce .

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the last half hour, our visibility has absolutely
gone down. So we`re .

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you ready for spring?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS: I`m ready, I`m ready.

SCHULTZ: The number two trender, holy water.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those are places that will be visit by the Holy Spirit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone on the ark now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An Oklahoma preacher says his prayers once brought
record rain in the south.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Literally, the day after we first used this male
divorced (ph) (inaudible) in 2007, the rains came.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s going to rain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And at one point, every river and every lake in Texas,
Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri were at or above flood stage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In Texas, we`ve already had three times the rain fall
we usually would in June.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is probably one of the worst floods I believe
we`ve seen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you see this happen, those are the areas targeted
for a Holy Spirit invasion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And today`s top trender, charter chatter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are in war. Charter is against public, and at the
end of the day, the children are losing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The education fight continues across the country.

SCHULTZ: So you have seen the depletion of resources in public education
because of charter schools?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We must get parents a choice of where they send their
children to school.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t think it`s fair for a charter school to take
up space that belongs to us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I might want the freedom to operate my school
differently. And that`s what a charter school is designed to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And make the system that is separate and unequal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Joining me now is Michael Eric Dyson, Professor at Georgetown
University and MSNBC Political Analyst.

Professor, this is not about whether charter schools are successful .

MICHAEL ERIC DYSON, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Right.

SCHULTZ: . it`s not about whether parents should have the freedom to send
their kids to charter schools. This is about taking resources away from
the public schools. That`s what this is about.

DYSON: I`m glad you clarified that.

SCHULTZ: I have nothing against charter schools.

DYSON: Right.

SCHULTZ: I mean this is what -- look, if parents want to send their kinds
to private schools that fine.

DYSON: Right.

SCHULTZ: If they have the resources or the choice to do that, this is
America.

DYSON: Right.

SCHULTZ: But what this is, I believe, is a big conservative generational
agenda to show that charter schools can outperform public schools. And
this is what we really should be doing with our money. The conservatives
want to make education for-profit venture down the road across the board.
That`s the point. What do you think?

DYSON: I`m so glad you clarified that, because you and I stand on the same
side of the page here and the same side of the road. We`re not against
charter schools. God bless you. We`re not against private schools. God
bless you.

The point is will you deplete resources meant for public schools in the
service of an agenda that doesn`t serve all kids. If you cherry pick the
best and the brightest and put them into these schools and look, we know
that charter schools can be a stop gap measure for those who face immediate
crisis in terms of their educational preparation.

But the problem is the broader structural impact here. How are we
consistently and systematically channeling moneys that are meant for
publics schools into private schools or into charter schools and why won`t
we pay attention to those public schools? Because we know this, the dog
you feed the most is the one that`s going to prevail in the fight. The
school that you .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

DYSON: . fund the most is the one that`s going to better prepare students
for education in the future.

SCHULTZ: You know .

DYSON: If you would supply moneys to these public schools then they could
do equally as well.

SCHULTZ: These breeds and feeds the next generation of segregation in
America. That`s what this does. I`ve got nothing against the charter
schools.

DYSON: Right, right.

SCHULTZ: You know, I hope they all perform well.

DYSON: Right.

SCHULTZ: But when you have got public dollars that are going to charter
schools and you`re taking away from public schools and you`re picking and
choosing neighborhoods, that is a slippery slope. And I am amazed that
we`re not having the big conversation nationally on this.

DYSON: You`re actually right.

SCHULTZ: When you start picking and choosing neighborhoods, you`re picking
winners and losers in public education. Now, it`s not about equal
opportunity and that gap is going to grow just like the income gap. Your
thoughts.

DYSON: No doubt about it. The structural inequality that prevails in this
country is being reinforced at the educational level when we chose a two-
tier system. Those public schools that we want to see do well and those
charter schools that we want to see do better. So we end up pumping money
into these charter schools. We neglect the public schools. We got $60,
$70, $80 million schools out in the suburbs. We got inner city schools
that are failing. They don`t have water that runs in their particular
neighborhoods. They don`t have the ability to have aquaria. They don`t
have high speed internet. They don`t have any of the things that we can
take advantage of and take for granted in some of these other schools. So
the point is .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

DYSON: . if you give moneys to the public schools, and if you fund them,
they would do well, if you defund them, they are destined to fail.

SCHULTZ: What it does is it injects big money politics into the
educational system in this country. It`s more money influence making the
decision instead of the professional educators making the decision and
that`s one of the foundations that I think is going to be shaken throughout
all of these. Now .

DYSON: Sure, it (inaudible) .

SCHULTZ: . professor, you have spent your career on the classroom.

DYSON: Yes.

SCHULTZ: If you pick and choose kids, you change the learning environment
in a classroom, when you don`t have a good mix of kids that have different
abilities and different potentials, it brings down the learning curve .

DYSON: Absolutely.

SCHULTZ: . for those who are not -- and I think this is lost in the
conversation.

DYSON: Absolutely right.

SCHULTZ: I think competition is a great thing. Competitions -- I want you
to talk about that. What about that?

DYSON: No, no, no absolutely right. Look, we talk about diversity towards
the end of radical justice and democracy here, a small D. The point is if
you`ve got a different set of kids in school, a diverse population from
which you draw to -- if you will populate that school, then you got a
better chance of having a real life education and you have the ability to
bring all people`s kids and the rich people and poor people. Those with
zip codes .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

DYSON: . that are really highly established and those that are flailing
and beginning to be established. The point is, if you bring resources to
bare upon education, if you give pre-K some support, if you give early
childhood education a nod, if you provide lunches for those who are unable
to provide for themselves and to provide opportunities for them, then the
educational parenting will be brought to bare in America.

And the disparities between those with economic footing and those without
it will be close. Until that day occurs, what we end up doing is
reproducing the pathology of inequality and the educational system suffers
and reflects the very inequality that we fail to overcome through our
education system. The best way to combat economic inequality, low wages,
and the lack of -- if you want stability in this country is to provide
people an opportunity on the ladder of success. And the ladder of success
is about education and being able to educate one`s children.

SCHULTZ: That is it brother Dyson, there`s no question about it. Michael
Eric Dyson, professor, good to have you with us tonight.

DYSON: Always, good to be here.

SCHULTZ: I appreciate your time on this subject. We`re going to talk a
lot more about public schools and charter schools on this program.

Coming up, mind the gender gap. The Rapid Response Panel weighs in on why
women would benefit most from a minimum wage hike in this country. And
later, you have got to hear John Boehner`s latest excuse on unemployment
insurance. It is unbelievable.

Senator Sharon Brown of Ohio joins me on that.

But next, I`m taking your questions. Ask Ed Live just ahead on the Ed Show
on MSNBC. We are right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show, love hearing from our viewers
tonight in Ask Ed Live.

Our question comes from Christina, "What is the best strategy ." She wants
to know, ``. to get rural people to stop voting against their own best
interest?"

Commercials, commercials, commercials and more commercials and less
Conservative talk radio. I really believe that Conservative talk radio in
this country has fixated people in rural America because that`s the only
thing they hear. Fixated people in rural America that it is the social
issues and the Democrats will never be on your side.

Well, I think women are finding out different. So it`s a generational
shift.

Our next question is from India, "Do you believe the Supreme Court will
rule in favor of Hobby Lobby in regards to the contraceptive mandate?"

No, I don`t. I think cooler heads and smarter heads are going to prevail
on this. I think the Supreme Court has used a level of common sense here.
If it`s only about abortion and if it`s about abortion, why is it that 98
percent of women in this country use birth control? But 98 percent of
women in this country don`t have abortions? Why do doctors subscribe and
prescribe -- why do doctors prescribe to women for them to have birth
control pills? Why do they do that? Because it`s a health issue. We
could go on for hours on that. This is not about abortion. This is about
women`s health.

And if the Supreme Court rules in favor of Hobby Lobby, it will open the
floodgates to lawsuits because this means that Mr. Hobby Lobby is now a
person and he`s going to get sued a hell of a lot more in society. That
will open a door to more frivolous lawsuits as what the Conservatives like
to call them.

The other thing that we have to realize, that this could open the door to
more discrimination. As if we`re not discriminating against women enough
in society. Let`s start with the paycheck on that one.

No, the Supreme Court needs to tell Hobby Lobby to go back and sell some
more product and forget about trying to be a doctor.

Stick around, Rapid Response Panel is next.

HAMPTON PEARSON CNBC CORRESPONDENT: And I`m Hampton Pearson with your CNBC
Market Wrap.

Early gains fade, leaving the Dow down 98 points, the S and P off 13, the
NASDAQ dropping 60 points.

Orders for long lasting goods rose 2.2 percent in February, thanks to
strong demand for aircraft. Last month`s gain reversed two straight months
of losses.

King Digital, the maker of Candy Crush sell more than 15 percent in its
first day of trading. And Facebook shares ended lower after announcing its
purchase of Oculus a maker of virtual reality headsets.

That`s it from CNBC first in business worldwide.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed show.

The wage gap in America is growing and more women in this country are
falling behind.

Now want to show who`s on your side. This is the Senate floor live right
now. This is Senator Sherrod Brown from Ohio. If you`re a woman, he`s on
your side. He`s talking about minimum wage and what is out there in
America right now and what we have to do. Republicans are doing nothing to
prevent these numbers going to the wrong direction.

A new White House reports says, "Raising the wage floor would benefit women
the most in America." But Republicans refusing to raise a minimum wage,
they`re waging a war on women.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOEHNER: What I`ve long said is that raising the minimum wage destroys
jobs. What Americans are asking is, you know, where are the jobs? And the
President almost -- make it harder for people to find one. It really makes
no sense at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: 55 percent of the workers who would benefit from increasing
minimum wage to 10.10 an hour are women, it`s a fact. Analyst from the
National Women`s Law Center show the gender pay gap is worse in states that
haven`t raise the minimum wage higher than the federal level.

Women are also more likely than men to be earning tipped minimum wage from
jobs such as restaurants servers. By the way, that rate is only $2.13 per
hour on the federal level and it hasn`t been raised in more than two
decades.

Now, Democrats, minimum wage legislation has a long way to go before
reaching President Obama`s desk. There`s no doubt about it.

The Senate is expected to take up the bill sometime next month. House
Republicans have shown no interest in bringing a bill to the House floor
for a vote.

Joining me tonight, I`ve got two very intelligent women who are not short
on opinions. Zerlina Maxwell with us tonight, Political Analyst and
Contributor to theGrio.com, and also Angela Rye, Political Strategist,
great to have both of you with us tonight.

ZELINA MAXWELL, THEGRIO.COM CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you, Ed.

SCHULTZ: Let me approach this subject from this point of view. Zerlina,
you first, what can women do that they`re not doing to change the
landscape, to change the numbers here? Is there more activism? My
favorite saying is -- question is, where`s the march?

MAXWELL: Right.

SCHULTZ: What else can women do right now to turn this around?

MAXWELL: Well, I certainly think that women are doing a lot already. I
think that the fact that we`re talking about the minimum wage as an issue
that impacts women and families is in -- do enlarge part by activism last
year, Fast Food Forward, that was something that was led by labor leaders
including many women labor leaders.

And I think that the bottom line here is that I don`t want to live in a
country and I know you don`t either, where women and families are -- and
people are working full time and not able to pay for food and clothes and
rent. These are basic necessities. You should not be working full-time
and still living in poverty. We have to raise these wages, no more poverty
wages.

And so I think that women certainly have been in the streets and we will
continue to be in the streets. And we`re going to turn out in November, I
think that black and Latina women make up the gender gap, that is the gap,
black and Latina women and they also .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

MAXWELL: . are the largest group holding minimum wage jobs.

SCHULTZ: Well, that`s interesting point. Are these numbers and in the --
is the social condition out there going to be a motivator come the
midterms?

Angela, your thoughts on this, women occupy more low wage workforce jobs
than men do in this country. And many women are raising the kids, they
don`t have an opportunity to get the education that they want, they get
stuck in a low wage job. And so minimum wage would affect them. What has
to happen? What has to change?

ANGELA RYE, POLITICAL STRATEGIST: Well, Ed, I think you raised a great
question with Zerlina to start with and that is what else can women do?

And I would submit to, Ed, that this is not women`s problem alone. This is
an American problem. It`s not even partisan issue. This should not be
even debated on the House or the Senate floor. This should be something
that all members of Congress should say, "We know that we need a boost in
our economy. We know that we`re recovering." But it still -- we`re still
struggling just a bit. The best way to do that is to ensure that the
minimum wage becomes a living wage.

And that means that making sure to Zerlina`s last point that people can
afford to keep the lights on so that went it comes time for 2014 or 2016,
folks are motivated to go to the polls. Right now, they`re just trying to
figure out how to pay their rent. I`m thinking about a Tupac song in the
90`s. So we know that this is a long time problem and that is he said,
it`s hard to be legit and pay your rent. You know, he talks about the fact
that you`re trying make a dollar out of 15 cents. So this is a struggle
that he`s been enduring for generations and it`s time to really come to
terms with the fact that we`ve got a lot of work to do. At least you get
paid for it.

SCHULTZ: Angela, do you really think it will make a difference in the
midterms? Is this the issue that will motivate women knowing that
Democrats are trying to do something about it?

RYE: I think that it can motivate them, Ed, if there`s movement. I think
that it won`t be a motivator if there`s no movement on the hill and we know
that this is the one of the least productive Congresses in history.

So it would be really challenging to see that. I certainly hope there`s
movement. I certainly hope it becomes less of a partisan issue. But right
now, I don`t have too much hope.

SCHULTZ: I mean, Zerlina, it amazes me that servers are still sitting it
$2.13 .

MAXWELL: Right.

SCHULTZ: . an hour for several decades. I mean, if that doesn`t put us
back, you know, in the Dark Ages of advancing .

MAXWELL: Right.

SCHUTLZ: . society, I don`t know what does.

MAXWELL: Right. Absolutely. And I think that it`s pretty ridiculous.
And Angela made this point really clear. This is not a partisan issue.
The minimum wage used to be an issue in which Republicans were onboard and
understood that raising the wages for American helps everyone, because one
of the problems here is that when we pay such low wages. if you`re paying
someone who works at Walmart minimum wage and they can`t afford food and
then they need food stamps to supplement their poverty wages. We are
subsidizing the low wages that Walmart is paying their workers. And so
it`s everyone`s .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

MAXWELL: .problem.

SCHULTZ: Well, let me ask both of you quickly here. Why don`t women`s
groups in this country get very, very aggressive and say, "If you`re a
woman and you`re in management," just make a declarative statement, "Hey,
we`re looking for women to move up." I mean, how else are you going to
fight it? I know this could -- would reverse discrimination on men there.

But I mean I really do believe that when you get women in the workplace in
a position of power, they`re going to have to take -- this is what`s going
to turn it, because you got Republican politicians that aren`t going to do
it, doesn`t something have to happen in the workplace? I want both of you
to answer that. Angela you first.

RYE: Well, Ed, I think that you`ve seen some CEO that other companies
saying that they`re going to voluntarily lift -- boost the minimum wage.
And think that women whether they`re in a position of leadership or there
are men that say that we see there is a wage gap here and we are the one to
close it. I think that`s all you need. It doesn`t have to have the
changes.org petition. Change can start with you.

MAXWELL: Right.

SCHULTZ: Zerlina?

MAXWELL: Well, I think that one of the other thinks that`s important here
is that I don`t think we need women in leadership to be making these
decisions only. I think that men like Angela said they also, allies, need
to be recognizing that they need to allow women to move up, and not only
hire their friends, or promote their friends, or people that they "feel
comfortable with" which is largely the reason that a lot of people are not
hired and so I think that it`s on men and women alike.

SCHULTZ: All right. Both of you could be my boss any day. I`m a hard
worker. So just remember that. I think this whole things going to turn
someday. All right.

MAXWELL: I love that.

SCHULTZ: Zerlina Maxwell, Angela Rye great to have with us tonight thank
you so much.

MAXWELL: Thanks, Ed.

SCHULTZ: Coming up, a Louisiana Republican call Thomas Jefferson a
rightwing nut.

Pretenders is coming up. That`s next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: And in Pretenders tonight, bad history, Steve Scalise. The
Louisiana Congressman is fired-up over the birth control mandate in the
Affordable Care Act.

Scalise says Thomas Jefferson would`ve backed him up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. STEVE SCALISE, (R) LOUISIANA: Our founding father`s when they created
this nation, they didn`t say these were rights, the rights that they laid
out in the Constitution. These were not rights that were given by men.
These were rights that were granted through men from God. This isn`t some
rightwing nut in a Tea Party.

Thomas Jefferson may have been considered one of those rightwing nuts using
the definitions of the some of the Liberals running around this town today.

(END VIDEO CLIIP)

SCHULTZ: No, no, no, no. Thomas Jefferson would have not been in the
modern day Tea Party. Not even close.

Jefferson once wrote in a letter, "Question the existence of God because if
there is one, he`d approve of reason not blindfolded fear."

My friends, blindfolded fear is in the Tea Party`s mission statement.
Scalise should read a history book before he tries to quote from it.

If Scalise thinks he`s channeling the founding fathers he can keep on
pretending.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOEHNER: Well, I told the President that I would consider this as long as
it was paid for. And as long as there were provisions attached that would
actually help the economy and help people get back to work. Those
conditions have not been met.

And the state directors were saying, "We don`t know who went back to work.
We don`t know whose still out there." And so we`d have send checks to
everybody. I don`t think the taxpayers expect us to do this. So I don`t
see how it`s workable.

(END VIDEO CLIIP)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. This is the story for the folks who
take a shower after work.

Another day, another sorry said of excuses from Speaker Boehner. By the
end of 2014, roughly 5 million Americans stand to loose their only source
of income through unemployment insurance. It`s obvious Boehner is playing
politics with the security of American families.

He set on tanking the economy ahead of the 2014 midterms just so he can
turn and blame the President for the mess and of course the Democrats.

For Boehner, this is all about politics and not about people. Even the
folks from his own state know he`s completely out of touch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK SCARBERRY, LIUNA LOCAL 758: Yeah, he just doesn`t understand the
working class people of Ohio. I mean, you know, we`re not looking for a
handout. We just want a job.

JOHN YOUNGBERG, PPF/UA LOCAL 42: He doesn`t even seem to me like his from
Ohio. He doesn`t understand us. He doesn`t get us.

DAN VORHEES, PRESIDENT, USW LOCAL 1104: John Boehner was part of the team
that did whatever they could to stop legislation from being active that
would help hardworking men and women.

(END VIDEO CLIIP)

SCHULTZ: Joining me tonight Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio. Senator, good
to have with us tonight. I appreciate your time .

SEN. SHERROD BROWN, (D) OHIO: Thanks for interviewing people from Lorain
for the last several days on your show -- in the last of couple of weeks in
your show.

SCHULTZ: They`re the heart of America, Senator. They are the middle class
people that we talk about. These are the middle class workers that the
Democrats and the Progressive movement are fighting for. They are hearty
people. They don`t want to handout. Those are your folks that are out
there. Address this constant garbage we get from Boehner about it has to
be paid for, what about that?

BROWN: Well, I don`t -- he just doesn`t want to do anything. You start
with one thing that Speaker Boehner and the Tea Party don`t really believe
in the whole idea of social insurance. What`s unemployment compensation?
The whole program, unemployment insurance, you pay and when you`re working,
you`re paying them now, we all pay into unemployment insurance when you`re
working

If you`re laid off, you get this check to keep you going but you only get
it if you`re out looking for work. And, you know, Speaker Boehner has got
a 150,000 people in our state, he`s my constituent, 150,000 of our
constituents in Ohio will see their unemployment expired by the end of the
year. They have those checks. It helps those families. It helps those
communities, places like Hamilton and Middletown in his district.

And that money will be put right into the economy. They`re not - these
workers that are laid off aren`t (inaudible), you know, Swiss bank account.
They`re spending it in Mansfield, in Toledo and Cleveland. And that money
will help those community business and will help our economy because that`s
where the real job creation is from the bottom up as you know, Ed.

SCHULTZ: Senator, as of that man, you know, if I were -- I would say that
nothing`s going to happen here on the House side. What is this going to do
to the economy? Where are we going to be in November when people make a
decision?

BROWN: Speaker Boehner knows it`s going to hurt the economy. And the
Senate I think we`ll do it bipartisanly, we`ve got just enough Republican
votes to extend these benefits. What Speaker Boehner has got to do, every
morning he wakes up in this Washington -- where he leaves here, every
morning he wakes up and he thinks, "Am I the Speaker of the Tea Party or am
I the Speaker of U.S. House of Representatives?"

If he`s the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representative, the job he took an
oath to be he will in fact put this bill on the floor and let the votes be
counted and we will pass it. If he`s the Speaker of the Tea Party, he`s
listening to people like that guy you just had on the show from Louisiana.
Who don`t believe in unemployment, don`t believe in minimum wage, don`t
frankly believe in social security or Medicare, people who just think
there`s no role for government in our lives.

I don`t want government to run everything. But I want government to be
that insurance, social security, social insurance, Medicare, the Affordable
Care Act, unemployment insurance. It makes this country better to give
people that partnership with government so they can take advantage of
opportunities in their lives and get ahead.

SCHULTZ: Do you think that this is all about tanking the economy and
that`s all it is?

BROWN: I don`t know if he setting out to tank the economy. I think he`s
callous. I think that House Republicans they are callously indifferent to
the plight of workers in this country. Pope Francis said something he
exhorted in his parish priest to go out and smell like the flock. And, you
know, the biblical allegory about sheep and shepherds.

But what he meant was go out and listen. If you`re a Parish Priest, if
you`re a Senator or Congressman go out and listen to people in your state,
in your district, in your Parish and see how they`re living and talk to
them about the dreams they have for their kids.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

BROWN: If John Boehner and his colleagues would do that they extend
unemployment. They expand the ITC and they pass the minimum wage increase
in a second.

SCHULTZ: Well, Senator, I was out there, I was in Lorain.

BROWN: I know you were.

SCHULTZ: . I`m with those folks in Ohio were saying -- what those folks in
Ohio were saying is totally different from what we`re hearing from John
Boehner. No doubt about it. Senator Sherrod Brown, great to have to with
you us tonight.

BROWN: Thanks.

SCHULTZ: Thank you so much for joining us.

That`s the Ed show I`m Ed Schultz.

Politics Nation with Reverend Al Sharpton starts right now. Good evening,
Rev.

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