THE ED SHOW
April 8, 2014
Guests: David Cay Johnston, Robert Greenwald, Matthew Lesser, Rosa DeLauro,
Lisa Maatz, Ruth Conniff
ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: Good evening Americans and welcome to the Ed Show
live from New York. We got a new saying, "I`m ready to go, let`s get to
work."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PAUL RYAN, (R) WISCONSIN: We cannot look at our budget through rose-
colored glasses. We had to be as clear-eyed as possible.
So we`re going to a majority of takers versus makers in America.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They don`t do the things that are in this budget,
because it hurts too many people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a maker, I am sick of the low income takers out
there, all was asking for more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All those who oppose, say no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As many as 15 percent of Wal-Mart employees use food
stamp.
RYAN: Don`t simply feed this (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s more to Wal-Mart than you think.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re going to show you how much that mac and cheese
might cost if Wal-Mart paid its workers enough that no one was eligible for
food stamps.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anyone can afford food there, except people who work at
Wal-Mart.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s one penny per box of mac and cheese to save U.S.
taxpayers $300 million.
RYAN: We can not look at our budget to rose-colored glass.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Good to have you with us tonight folks. Thanks for watching.
Well, if you want to know what the people think, you got to go out and
listen to them. That`s really been our mission here at the first quarter
of 2014, to get out with the folks, see what`s happening. So, of course,
we here on the Ed Show have traveled the country, talk to a lot of folks.
And this year, I`ve been around the country. Let`s see. We`ve been to
four red states, three blues, and of course the swing state of Florida.
That`s right, Ohio, Florida, South Dakota, Arizona, Wisconsin,
Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Nebraska. We`re not done. I just talked to a
lot of folks, from the steelworkers to the Native Americans out on the
Prairie in South Dakota. Not one person, not one. And we have been in
Republican groups and in Democratic groups, Liberal, Conservative. Not one
person has said that they want a cut in government spending. It`s just,
you know, they`re just not there.
No one has said, "You know what? We got a real problem with Medicare. We
got a problem with food stamps. Social security, we have to privatize it."
I didn`t hear that anywhere. Not one person told me that they want
Republicans to take away their healthcare and they really support this vote
that has been taking place week after week after week in the House.
Meanwhile, this guy, this guy right here, he thinks he has all the answers,
but I`m wondering how many Americans has he really talked to. This guy
wants to do a heck of a lot more. You see, this failed vice presidential
candidate Paul Ryan, his 2015 budget attacks the least and the most
vulnerable people in our society. He`s going after the poor. How else do
you read it? Joe Biden always has the saying, "Show me your budget, I`ll
tell you what your priorities are." I`ve always liked that.
Now overall, this Republican pipe dream of a budget cuts $4.8 trillion over
the next decade. That`s a boat load of money. Somebody`s got paid for
that. Corporations are going to add some more money in there. We got to
cut defense. Oh, no. There`s going to be an increase in defense spending.
I`m all about protecting the country, but is this really the way we want to
do it? 68 percent of the cuts from people will be from low or moderate
incomes.
Gosh, we`re starting to get that pile a little smaller, aren`t we? Ryan
wants to cut $3.3 trillion from programs like Medicaid and the SNAP
program, the most vulnerable in our society.
Here, just to a few of the proposed cuts that he wants to do, $2.7 trillion
from Medicaid and subsidies. Why am I showing you this now? Well, because
if they really had control, this is where they`re going. He wants to cut a
$137 billion in cuts to food stamps. Food stamps, people below the poverty
line get food stamps, but that`s where he wants to take the blood out of
Iraq. $125 billion going to cut the Pell Grants for low income students.
All those students that were cheering last night, they`d better be rich,
because if Ryan gets in control, Pell Grants ain`t going to be around. He
cuts another $385 billion from the elderly and the school lunch programs.
Taking money away from the elderly and let`s make sure the kids stay hungry
in school. They better have parents that can provide all of that.
And let`s not forget that he wants to repeal Obamacare and he has
absolutely nothing on the table to replace it with. It is a disastrous
road map for America. They`re going to vote on it on Thursday and it`s
probably going to pass. Paul Ryan admits, he splits Americans up into two
categories, the makers and the takers. Ryan`s budget basically punishes
the so called takers.
When I was in Lorain, Ohio, I spoke to a man who is temporarily out of
work. He didn`t appreciate being called a taker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: There are some politicians, one in particular Paul Ryan that
would call a guy like you a taker.
CHRIS MILLSAPS, OUT OF WORK STEELWORKER: You know what I`ve taken in my
life? I`ve taken a lot of (inaudible). I`ve been pushed around to jobs.
I`ve been the lower seniority person, so the lower seniority people get the
worse jobs. It`s the way it works. But, I`ve never taken anything that I
didn`t deserve. And they say that I`m a taker for, you know, collecting
unemployment, because my job is not there at this moment for me to work.
In the state of Ohio, I have to put in two applications a week to try to
find a job. I just paid money out of my pocket which my funds are already
tight to rebuild my computer today so that I can pull my resume out, so I
can send my resume to places. You know, I`m not a taker. I just wouldn`t
want to be taken advantage of. And that`s pretty much how I feel about
that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Now, the story gets worse. Not only does Paul Ryan want to cut
food stamps and Medicaid, he`s against the minimum wage increase. Ryan has
no solution for poor people across the board, but he has to deal, he has a
real deal, a real deal for corporations. Those are his buddies. By not
raising the minimum wage, he`s actually giving taxpayer dollars to
corporations like Wal-Mart. How does this happen?
Pay attention to this next video, slate.com put together what I think is a
great video, portraying just how anyone in America, you, me, everyone in
America is picking up Wal-Mart`s tab.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a box of mac and cheese. This is Wal-Mart and
these are your tax dollars. We`re going to show you how much that mac and
cheese might cost if Wal-Mart paid its workers enough that no one was
eligible for food stamps. The average person living near the poverty line
can receive around a $130 a month in food stamps. So, say you`re a single
mom with one child and you work for Wal-Mart, you`d be eligible for food
stamps if you make less than $20,449 a year.
Wal-Mart says the average wage for hourly store associates has $11.83 an
hour, but that includes some supervisor positions. Industry analyst
research puts the average cashier at about $8.81 an hour. Based on data
from one state, Ohio, as many as 15 percent of Wal-Mart employees use food
stamps, that`s about 40 employees per store who earns so little they
qualify for food stamps.
Last year, the U.S. distributed $76 billion in food stamps. Wal-Mart says
it takes in 18 percent of all those food stamp dollars, that`s about $13
billion a year. If Ohio was representative, Wal-Mart employees receive
somewhere around $300 million a year in food stamps benefits, ultimately
spending those dollars at food stores like Wal-Mart.
So, let`s say that single mom who cashiers at Wal-Mart also shops there.
She earns food stamps from the government then turns around and spend them
at Wal-Mart. So what would it take to push someone like the single mom up
to a point where she no longer qualified for food stamps? Let`s say she
works a typical amount of hours for a retail job, Wal-Mart would have to
raise her wage to just above $13.63 an hour, doing this for all of its
employees would cost the company $4.8 billion each year.
If Wal-Mart wanted to pass those cost under the consumer, they`d have to
raise their prices by about 1.4 percent. For example, that means that box
of great value mac and cheese would jump form $0.68 to $0.69. That`s one
penny per box of mac and cheese to save U.S. taxpayers $300 million each
year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: There`s no commentary there, it`s all numbers. Wal-Mart, we want
you to respond to that. Slate.com, great work. But what it comes down to
is low wage and no help. That`s Ryan`s budget. He wants to provide big
tax breaks to corporations. And if Republicans have their way, they would
keep wages low and cut food stamps for workers. They would provide big tax
breaks to corporations like Wal-Mart and not require them to pay their
workers a livable wage. And we certainly don`t want to tax the
corporations anymore.
It`s clear. Ryan`s budget is a road map to attack poor Americans while
lifting up the wealthy. Now, if you want to stop this train wreck of a
budget, all you have to do is get out and vote in November. Maybe
organize, maybe school up more on the issues. It helps. The Ryan budget
is very clear. It limits opportunity for low wage Americans and favors the
abuse of workers by the corporations.
In the State of the Union Address, the president of the United States
talked about social responsibility. He also talked about a corporate
responsibility. Wal-Mart is the largest private employer in the world.
They made $18 billion, that was the published number, $18 billion in net
profit last year. And a good number of their employees are being supported
by you. So, I`m going to give you some real good take from the rich give
to the poor.
I don`t know if Wal-Mart could make it on $17 billion a year net profit,
but I`d sure like to see them try and I`d love to see their workers get a
living wage. So, you and I don`t have to pump money into social programs
to constantly help people who work for corporations that could easily
provide for them if they have a philosophy of actually paying people. Not
their workers, excuse me, they call them associates. Does it sound fair to
you?
Get your cellphones out. I want to know what you think tonight`s question.
Is Wal-Mart milking the system? Text A for Yes, text B for No to 67622.
You can always go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com.
And another thing about the Ryan budget that we have to understand, Wal-
Mart being the big corporation and we`re using them as an example because
they have so many employees who are on public assistance. Ryan wants to
lower the corporate tax rate down to 25 percent.
Gosh, the last election, the guy that was running for the Republicans paid
I think 16 percent with all the write-offs? If we lower the corporate tax
down to 25 percent, where would they really be on the scale when it comes
to all the tax incentives that are out there? And where would they park
their money offshore so they wouldn`t have to pay anything. We got a lot
of problems in this country, a lot of it starts with people who aren`t
paying their fair share.
For more, let me bring in Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay
Johnston and Robert Greenwald, Director of Brave New Films. Gentlemen,
great to have both of you with us tonight.
David, you first. If Paul Ryan got his way on everything, what type of
life would a poor person lead in this country and what kind of opportunity
would they have?
DAVID CAY JOHNSTON, TAX SPECIALIST AND COLUMNIST: Hell on earth. And
remember, Ryan also wants to increase military spending because we spend
more than 40 percent of all the military spending in the world and he
doesn`t think that`s enough. So, clearly, Mr. Ryan`s view is that our
fundamental problem is that the poor have too much and the rich don`t have
enough and you at least should give him credit for being honest in his
budget for what he`s proposing.
SCHULTZ: They will vote on this on Thursday. It will probably pass. It`s
as radical of budget as we`ve ever seen yet we have can`t even get a vote
on extended unemployment on the floor, can`t get a vote on the minimum
wage, can`t get a vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act, which we`ll talk more
about later.
Mr. Greenwald, is Ryan`s budget catered to corporations like Wal-Mart?
We`re using Wal-Mart tonight. Slate.com prepared the numbers. There`s no
commentary there. It`s all numbers. But, isn`t this a blueprint for the
way corporations -- with the way he wants him to operate in this country?
ROBERT GREENWALD, DIRECTOR, BRAVE NEW FILMS: Ed, it`s actually a blueprint
and I`m sure it`s been written by the corporations. What we`re seeing Ed
is we`re seeing the worst manifestations of inequality. The president has
talked about it. It`s getting worst. And here you have a lethal
combination of inequality combined with money and politics. So politicians
are being legally bought and sold to do the bidding of these corporations.
This is capitalism at its worst.
SCHULTZ: David, do you think that Paul Ryan knows that the government is
subsidizing Wal-Mart employees? Could he be this blind to that? Is this
his arena of fairness?
JOHNSTON: It`s hard to imagine that he isn`t aware of that or all the
other subsidies, you know, they were giving the Boeing, you know, Cowen,
Intel, and Nike, and all sorts of other companies out there. It`s hard to
imagine you don`t. I mean, after all, I`ve written the best selling book
about it and I`ve got a new book out in inequality called the "Divided"
that tells you more. But, who knows, this is a man -- I remember him tell,
very recently, was telling us we should be paying attention to a Russian
philosopher noblest who talked that altruism is a vice and love is selfish.
SCHULTZ: Well, you know, the last guy that had the overlap has said (ph)
he can`t raise taxes on the job creators. Mr. Greenwald, does Wal-Mart
care the government is picking up the tab like this? Do they even care or
they`re milking the system?
GREENWALD: Well, it`s not that they don`t care. They actively work to
make sure the government, meaning, many of us will pay so that the Walton
family which is worth hundreds of millions of dollars can have even more
money. And again, Ed, that`s where it comes together. This money and
politics, the 1 percent, income inequality, and it`s really quite a brutal
stew that takes it out of the pocket and beats up the working people.
SCHULTZ: David Cay, isn`t this budget really steroids or fuel on the fire
for vulture chart that this would separate .
JOHNSTON: This is .
SCHULTZ: . income inequality far beyond what we have right now?
JOHNSTON: This budget is inherently immoral. The founding fathers who are
extremely concerned to the business aristocracy would ruin our democracy,
would be absolutely a poll. And you know what? If they just cut in half
the amount they spend buying stock back, they could raise the worker`s
wages and get them out of having food stamps.
SCHULTZ: And they`re terribly against the employees organizing. Mr.
Greenwald, you have done some work on this about how they intimidate, how
they move people out, and there have been some demonstrations around the
country. And I think as the story gets out there and compare it to the
budget, there`s no turning back with these folks, is there?
GREENWALD: No, there isn`t. But the good news is that they -- our Wal-
Mart folks which is organizing and helping people who work at Wal-Mart come
together is increasingly active and they`ve actually had some victories
recently around the pregnancy issue of women working at Wal-Mart, around
scheduling. Obviously, there`s much more bigger fights ahead. And the key
question is can we put pressure on them so that they will pay a fair wage
to people who are working there. The average cashier Ed, is getting $8.81
an hour while the Walton family who did not work for this have inherited
hundreds of millions of dollars.
SCHULTZ: So, as we move forward here, and this is really been out of the
radar, it`s been really off, this was our campaign issue in 2008. The
Employee Free Choice Act, if the Employee Free Choice Act had gotten
attention that the Democrats said it was going to give to it, and had they
had passed it when they had the power? David Cay Johnston, what would this
have done to the economy?
JOHNSTON: Oh, it would have improved the economy greatly. One of the
fundamental problems we have is that workers have no bargaining power. A,
is individuals and B, when they`re all these people out of work. And this
is being ruthlessly exploited by the Walton family who are the wealthiest
family in America. Their whole fortune is well worth (ph) of a hundred
billion dollars. You know, you`ve heard me say before, and if you believe
in market economics then you should believe in unions. Just read the
Supreme Court definition of market economics and you should believe in
unions.
SCHULTZ: And Robert Greenwald, do you think they`ll ever change their
ways? Would they -- because of public pressure would they move their
wages? And since the demonstrations have been out in some of these cities
have you seen them move on the wage chart at all?
GREENWALD: They`ve barely moved on the wage chart but it`s a fight that
needs to be had Ed, as you said before. They`re a huge employer, we have
the Waltons, we have the Koch brothers. These people are suppressing
wages, they`re hurting workers and they are fundamentally attacking the
values that our country has built on.
SCHULTZ: So the key here is, is that Paul Ryan`s budget doesn`t expect the
Wal-Mart to the world to pay a little bit more, but he wants to cut what
Wal-Mart employes have been accessing which is American tax dollars,
because they are living below the poverty line. You tell me America if
that`s fair. David Cay Johnson, Robert Greenwald, great to have you with
us tonight.
SCHULTZ: Remember to answer .
GREENWALD: Yeah.
SCHULTZ: . 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.
Lots more coming up. President Obama has some harsh words for Republicans
when it comes to equal pay for woman. We`ll bring you the latest to the
Paycheck Fairness Act with Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro.
And also, the UConn Huskies win the big tournament last night and they
aren`t doing it quietly. One of their star players is speaking out about
protecting college athletes and starving. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: What`s happening? What`s hot, what`s not? Trenders, here`s
where you can get us in the social media and I appreciate you joining the
Ed Show team. Facebook.com/edshow, Twitter.com/edshow, is where you can
tweet out to the world, and also ed.msnbc.com. On the radio, Monday
through Friday, noon to 3:00, Sirius Channel 127. And on the Liberal talk
stations across America, you can get my radio podcast at wegoted.com.
Thanks a lot
The Ed Show social media nation has decided. We`re reporting.
Here are today`s top Trenders voted on by you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pucker up buttercup.
SCHULTZ: The number three trender, kiss and tell.
REP. VANCE MCALLISTER, (R) LOUISIANA: I`m Vance McAllister, business
owner, family man.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A married man with five children ran on a platform of
family values.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Security camera footage allegedly captured the married
man kissing a female member of his congressional staff.
SCHULTZ: Congressman Vance McAllister`s extramarital lip-lock gets caught
on camera.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Representative Vance McAllister issued a statement in
Monday saying, "He`s fallen short and he seeks forgiveness."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is no good. You got to straighten this thing out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I promise to do everything I can to earn back the
trust of everyone I`ve disappointed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, let`s kiss and makeup.
SCHULTZ: The number two trender, double dribble.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some people would be surprised to see you two sitting
here together.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bill Clinton and his brother from another mother, as
the Bush family says, ex-presidents get along watching a little basketball
last night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, let`s do it.
SCHULTZ: W and Baba have some hang time at the NCAA title game.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think of your self now as friends?
BILL CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Yeah. I do.
GEORGE W. BUSH, FMR. PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Me too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Best friends forever and ever.
SCHULTZ: And today`s top trender, hungry Huskies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Huskies once again are in basketball heaven.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They win at 60 to 54 and they`re hoisting the trophy
once again.
SCHULTZ: UConn star player speaks out about player protections.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s a bad day for him to such to standout for
Connecticut all season long.
SHABAZZ NAPIER, CONNECTICUT HUSKIES: We`re definitely best to get a
scholarship, but at the end of the day, that doesn`t (inaudible) cover
everything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please, I want some more.
NAPIER: We do have hungry nights and we don`t have enough money to get
food.
SCHULTZ: College athletics generates massive amounts of money and the
players are being left behind.
NAPIER: It`s the most recent (ph) I did and see it where it goes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is all about getting players a voice.
MARK EMMERT, NCAA PRESIDENT: The notion of using a union-employee model to
something that strikes most people as grossly inappropriate solution to the
problems.
NAPIER: Something can change, something should change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Joining me tonight, Connecticut State Representative Matthew
Lesser. Mr. Lesser good to have you with us tonight. This of course .
STATE REP. MATTHEW LESSER, (D) CONNECTICUT: Great to be with you, Ed.
SCHULTZ: You bet. Congratulations on your team winning by the way. They
never gave up the lead last night.
LESSER: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: You bet. This all stems from what has unfolded at Northwestern`s
football program. The National Labor Relations Board says that they`re
going to get a vote. It`s being contested by the administration. Bottom
line here is the players are saying that they don`t have a voice at the
table. You heard the tape, he was asked about it in the post game locker
room, $62 million, that`s the athletic budget at UConn. What do you want
to do about this if anything?
LESSER: Well, Ed this is -- it`s really obscene right now. The amount of
-- the millions of dollars that are being made of these kids, even the
ladders that they climbed up to cut the nets off at the end of the game,
even those are product placed, you know, the amount of money that`s being
spent. And yet, we`re hearing that the most outstanding basketball player
in the United States of America goes to bed hungry at night. That`s not
fair, that`s exploitation.
And so, what we`re hearing from the players is that they`re interested in
collective bargaining and the right to join a union. That`s what they`re
saying in Northwestern and that`s what Shabazz Napier is saying at Uconn.
SCHULTZ: The NCAA has not addressed these issues that the players are
talking about. It`s not about making hundreds of thousands of dollars.
They want basic healthcare, they want some protections, they want their
scholarship lengthen, their academic achievements certainly recognized, and
they need some more help beyond their eligibility. Why hasn`t the NCAA
done this? And all they`re doing is bashing union talk.
LESSER: Well, you know, I think you hit the nail on the head. This isn`t
a Connecticut problem, this is an NCAA problem. And the basic issue is
they`re making money the way it is. They`re able to exploit these kids,
make millions of dollars between their TV revenues, their products, all of
the jerseys that they`re selling, and yet the kids get nothing, they don`t
even get enough food to not go to bed hungry. It`s absurd.
SCHULTZ: Each state deals with labor differently. What do you want to do
in Connecticut?
LESSER: Well, one of the things we`re looking at is explicitly giving
these athletes the right to collectively bargain. That`s what they`re
asking for. I think that deserves service consideration. We have the
ability to do that on the state level. We don`t have to wait for Congress
to act.
SCHULTZ: What do you think Napier`s voice is going to do to this? I mean
at the pinnacle of success, at the very top of success, he`s asked about
what it`s like to be a college player and what he thinks of this collective
bargaining, and he says, "Well, scholarships don`t cover everything."
What`s everything in your opinion?
LESSER: Well, everything, I think, at the minimum, includes food. I think
that should be an easy thing to say. But I gave the guy a lot of credit.
I mean, he`s going off to the NBA. He`s going to be making millions very
soon. He`s not just looking out for himself. He`s looking out for all the
other guys who may not make it to the NBA. And they`re really being
exploited right now. He has the guts to speak truth to power, and I got to
give him a lot of credit. He`s an amazing guy.
SCHULTZ: President of the NCAA Mark Emmert held his press conference on
Thursday. He said unionization is a grossly inappropriate solution to the
problem. What`s your reaction to that saying that -- and then there was
also a comment saying that, "if they really wanted to address this, they
would get all the major five conferences together and have the
commissioners deal with this and the athletic directors," which I think is
an admission of guilt, because they`re saying that they do have problems
that they need to solve. But the bottom line is, this goes on year after
year after year and nobody addresses it.
LESSER: Well, you know, Ed, I`m all ears. If he says it`s not the
solution, I want him to come out and give us real solutions. I think the
point of this is to put pressure on the NCAA to do what`s right by their
players. Right now, they`re not doing it. If union isn`t the best answer,
and that`s what the players say they want, they said they want a union.
But if there`s a better answer, it`s up to them to put that on the table.
Right now, it`s just lip service.
SCHULTZ: Representative Lesser, do you believe that the players that were
on the court last night for UConn, they`re employees of the University?
LESSER: Well, I -- they`re all getting athletic scholarships. The
question is, is a scholarship pay or is it not? I think it is. The amount
of money that we`re spending on our program, this is a revenue generating
machine, it`s a corporation. And I think they are employees. But, we`ll
see how the process plays out. And I also would say our women are up in
our championship in a few hours. And I think they are as well.
SCHULTZ: Well, one other thing that I think slip by the media in the
interview that Napier gave was that, he said, you know, he looks at and
sees his name on the back of jerseys. The university is selling his name.
He didn`t get any of that, OK. Now, because of the NBA, obviously, there`s
going to be an opportunity to make some dollars there. I`m not quite sure
I understand what`s the difference is between the money that`s generated
from what he`s doing in college or the money that he`s going to be
generating on the professional circuit if he`s good enough to get there.
The athletic .
LESSER: Well, there`s no difference.
SCHULTZ: There is not difference. And I appreciate you saying that.
Representative Matthew Lesser, Connecticut, here on the Ed Schultz Show, I
appreciate it so much tonight.
And also, $62 million, it would seem to me that they would be able to come
up with some type of long-term insurance protection package. So, if the
player gets injured, he`s not going to be hit with medical expenses down
the road. Can`t they figure this out? The NCAA is not smart enough to
figure this out. So now, it`s up to union organization. They get what
they deserve.
Still ahead, big money is moving into the smallest races in the country.
Not even your school board elections are safe from the reach of
Conservative billionaires.
But first, the right wing attacks the president`s executive order on equal
pay for women. Rapid Response Panel coming up.
I`m taking your questions next on Ask Ed Live. Stay with us, we`ll be
right back on the Ed Show.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. Ask Ed Live, love the segment, I
appreciate the questions.
First up tonight from Francis, she wants to know -- Francie, "How can
Congress go on recess again while millions of Americans struggle?"
It`s very simple, they just get a staff member to go online and buy him a
plane ticket, go to the airport, jump on, and go home. That`s right.
Our next question is from Nikita, she wants to know, "Why won`t Republicans
come on your show?"
Because it`s not going to help them get reelected and that`s all they
really care about.
Stick around, Rapid Response Panel is next.
HAMPTON PEARSON, CNBC CORRESPONDENT: I`m Hampton Pearson with your CNBC
Market Wrap.
Stocks manage slight gains. The Dow rises 10 points, the S and P add six,
the NASDAQ up 33 points.
After the closing bell, Alcoa kicked up the start of earning season with
its first quarter report. Profits we`re better than expected but revenue
was light.
And drivers hoping for a break during the summer travel season maybe
disappointed. The Energy Department expects gas prices to fall just a
penny to $3.57 a gallon, however it is the lowest since 2010.
That`s it from CNBC, first in business worldwide.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, 44TH AND CURRENT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
This isn`t just about treating women fairly. This is about Republicans
seemingly opposing any efforts to even the playing field for working
families. I don`t know why you would resist the idea that women should be
paid the same as men. And then deny that that`s not always happening out
there.
If Republicans in Congress want to prove me wrong, if they want to show
that they in fact do care about women being paid the same as men, then show
me. They can start tomorrow. They can join us, in this, the 21st century,
and vote yes on the Paycheck Fairness Act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Welcome back to Ed Show.
The President put some strong words for Republicans on equal pay day. If
you really care about women, put your money where your mouth is, is what
he`s saying. The challenge came early today before the President signed
two executive orders saying that strengthening existing equal pay laws.
One was an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from retaliating
against employees who decide to talk about their compensation to the
workplace. The other was a Presidential Memorandum instructing the
Secretary of Labor to establish new regulations requiring federal
contractors to submit data on employee compensation by sex and race.
Well, tomorrow the Senate is set to consider the Paycheck Fairness Act. So
we`ll see if the Republicans take the President up on his challenge. But
it`s not expected to pass a similar measure failed on a 52, 47 vote back in
2012. It make sense last Tuesday the only Republican at the Senate hearing
on the Paycheck Fairness Act wanted to know more about its impact on men.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER, (R) TENNESSEE: Take me through exactly what would
have to happen with a specific example of man and a woman and let`s take an
example of where the man is being paid less than the woman in this case,
because this law is not just women it`s about men and women.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Joining me now, Rapid Response Panel Connecticut Congressional
Member Rosa DeLauro and also Lisa Maatz of the American Association of
University of Women, great to have both of you with us tonight.
Congresswoman, it seems to me that Lamar Alexander just hadn`t got the memo
about what this is all about. I mean the numbers you`re staggering here,
aren`t they? What is he concerned about?
REP. ROSA DELAURO, (D) CONNECTICUT: Well I don`t know what he`s concerned
about but certainly there`s a very, very simple principle here, which is
that men and women in the same job should get the same pay. No one is
suggesting that if a man is in the same profession as a woman and he`s
paying less, there needs to be a reason why that`s happening.
What`s happened though -- what has happened historically is that women are
short changed, that has been what the history has been about over the
years. Women today are paid 77 cents on the dollar and that is across all
occupations and all education level.
SCHULTZ: So what is today mean? I mean how many employees is this really
.
DELAURO: Sure.
SCHULTZ: . going to affect?
DELAURO: Well, what really -- today is historic, because what the
President did in a really prohibiting federal contractors from retaliation
if both men and women have conversations about their compensation. That is
going to affect millions of people.
The data shows that up to one quarter of working people worked with federal
contractors. So it is very -- it`s very critical. It`s very important
what the president just done with both the memorandum and with the
executive order is to provide women with the tools that they need to ensure
and move forward on.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
DELAURO: . making sure that they get the same pay for the same job that
that men have.
SCHULTZ: And it`s not happening in America. Lisa Maatz.
DELAURO: It`s not.
SCHULTZ: . is this a political equalizer? Now, the Republicans are saying
that this is a non-issue. In fact, they came out today and said the
president is publicize -- or politicizing women`s issues in the workplace.
Tell me how this is going to affect and doesn`t play everywhere.
LISA MAATZ, VP OF GOV RELATIONS, AAUW: Well, I think it does play
everywhere and it definitely plays with working women. It polls very
highly, it`s something that Democrats and Republicans and Independents all
care about. And quite frankly, it`s not just women`s issue, "it`s a family
issue."
So at the end of the day, if you`re really talking to the American people
and you want to know what the need, I got a great economic stimulus for you
and it`s called equal pay.
SCHULTZ: Paycheck Fairness Act, what if -- now, I understand you were in
Arkansas and move Senator Pryor on this, is this correct?
MAATZ: Yeah, we were very excited. We had our state convention in
Arkansas -- joint convention with Arkansas and Oklahoma and targeted Mr.
Pryor who received us warmly and became a cosponsor to the Paycheck
Fairness Act. So I think that`s a smart move and quite frankly I think
it`s a dumb move for the Republicans to see this issue to the Democrats.
This is not as I said a partisan issue. This is equal pay for equal work,
its just common sense.
SCHULTZ: And.
DELAURO: Ed, look, Ed let me just .
SCHULTZ: Are there any Republicans in the House that are onboard, Rosa?
DELAURO: Not at the moment. But this is what I wanted to make reference
to, what we passed under Leader Pelosi several years ago, we passed the
Paycheck Fairness Bill in the house twice both times with bipartisan
support. The first time, 14 of our Republican colleagues supported the
effort, the second time 10.
It wound up being filibustered in the Senate and it lost by two votes in
the Senate under prior time. And quite frankly, there were five Republican
women, all we needed was two but they didn`t vote for it. But I have
reached out, I reached out to Cathy McMorris Rodgers after she said she was
interested in Paycheck Fairness, sent her the material and have not heard.
This has been a bipartisan the past, as Lisa Maatz pointed out, there isn`t
any reason why this is no partisan issue .
SCHULTZ: Well, today they claimed that they`re hearing from their
constituents, women around the country that they don`t like being
politicized. I mean, do you hear that?
DELAURO: No, I think that what women want more than anything else is that
they`re looking for pay equity, they`re looking for an increase in minimum
wage, they want the opportunity for education and scholarships because they
want a better life for themselves and their families, because for women --
and we haven`t spoken about this. The economic insecurity is a very, very
big challenge.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
DELAURO: They`re at the highest percentage today of women in poverty, it`s
17 percent. They have less pension protection, more reliant on Social
Security but less retirement security. They`re more likely to be in a
subprime mortgage. They are in serious, serious economic difficulties.
But underlying all of that is making 77 cents on that dollar and it is
worse for women of color. What they want is to have to be in the same job
.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
DELAURO: . to be paid the same as their male counterpart. It`s very, very
simple, Ed.
SCHULTZ: All right. They view this as government intervention and it`s
meddling in business, they don`t want to do that. So, I mean I just think
that this is why they would want to just give this to the Democrats and the
Independent voters, I might add. I don`t get what they`re doing.
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro and also Lisa Maatz, thanks for joining us
tonight, I appreciate it.
MAATZ: Thank you
SCHULTZ: Still ahead, Glenn Beck`s latest gift from God ruffles some
feathers.
Pretenders is next, stick around, lots more coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCHULTZ: And in Pretenders tonight, Kentucky Fried, Glenn Beck. Matt
Bevin, this guy is trying to primary Mitch McConnell out of his Senate sit
in Kentucky.
Now Glenn Beck says that this Bevin is the answer to all of his prayers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLENN BECK, CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL COMMENTTATOR: Matt Bevin I have not
met, I`ve talked to him several times and I have a good feeling. But I`m
telling you I believe that man was called a God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: I got to try more of that don`t you think? Just as Beck was
getting cocky about Bevin`s prospects, the candidate ruffled some feathers.
Matt Bevin spoke in a cockfighting legislation rally. How about that? The
Tea Party candidate quickly chickened out saying, "Oh, he didn`t know that
that`s what the event was all about." Bevin doesn`t condone cockfighting,
but he did cite it as part of our heritage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT BEVIN, REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE: The founding fathers were all, many of
them, very actively involved in this and always have been. These are
things that are part of a tradition and a heritage that go back for
hundreds of years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: I`ll look for that on the History Channel. Only Glenn Beck would
pray for a guy like this.
If Glenn Beck thinks that Bevin is anything more than party foul, he 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. Small town on the shores of Lake Michigan,
halfway between Milwaukee and Chicago, just like any other small town in
America, it`s the biggest industry in Kenosha, Wisconsin with a population
of just over a 100,000 people, and you know what it is? It`s education.
Well, the Conservative money machine is so bent on pushing their agenda.
They jump into a local school board election in Kenosha. Americans for
Prosperity, the right wing group founded by the Koch brothers, worked with
the Bradley Foundation to knock out two school board nominees.
The Bradley Foundation is against a collective bargaining agreement between
the school board and the Teachers Union. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker
is an outspoken opponent of collective bargaining rights for most public
employees.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. SCOTT WALKER, (R) WISCONSIN: Collective bargaining in the public
sectors is not right. It is an expensive entitlement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHULTZ: Well, right wing groups do not want the school board to be able
to bargain with the union on work hours, benefits or any other issues
beyond cost of living increases. They really want to take the voices of
the union. Now, when a court upheld the current union contract, anti-union
groups shifted their focus to the school board race.
In came Americans for Prosperity, the Ed Show reached out to AFP for a
comment on that and they said, "AFP is not some outside group. Our
activists in Wisconsin have been engaged in local and State issues since
our chapter opened up nearly a decade ago. We now have well over 100,000
Grassroots activist in the state who were passionate about advancing
policies that improve the lives of every Wisconsin resident."
The Conservative mission I think is very clear. They are chasing the for-
profit and privatized model of education wherever they can. This is
setting the table for more charter schools and a larger attack on
Democratic voting values in the State of Wisconsin and of course the
unions, their foot soldiers, their social networking. They think it will
affect the next election.
Ruth Conniff, Editor of the "Progressive Magazine" joins me tonight. Ruth,
good to have with us.
Did this surprise Wisconsinites that Americans for Prosperity got right
down to the school board level to get it the way they wanted?
RUTH CONNIFF, EDITOR IN CHIEF, THE PROGRESSIVE MAGAZINE: Absolutely, Ed,
we`ve never seen anything like it before. We`ve never seen big state money
come into a little tiny school board race. Really even people who watch
this for a living like common cause in the state, which has watched the
increase in spending at the Congressional level, even at the state
legislative level. The School board level is a new frontier, because these
are candidates who spend almost no money who are running, they`re known
their neighbors.
You know, this is small town politics and to see a huge force like this
come in. And I know Americans for Prosperity has a state wide Wisconsin
chapter. But that`s really different from getting involved in this very
local race. This was about their big ideological goals. This was not
about having a stake and what happens in the Kenosha area schools.
SCHULTZ: They say they`ve in the state for a decade. They`ve got over a
100,000 foot soldiers out there and believers. Is that true?
CONNIFF: Sure, I mean they -- well look, I mean they`ve been on the state
for awhile because the Kochs fill a lot of money into Americans for
Prosperity, they`re doing a bus tour to our state right to try to get
people to support vouchers, to take public money out of public schools and
put it in private schools. They`re pushing very hard on these issues.
They`re coordinating with other right wing groups like the Bradley
Foundation, which you could say is the Wisconsin Foundation, but it`s
national in scope.
And it pushes this idea that public schools are failing and need to be
privatized. So these Conservative groups have worked together and what
they have said is that the school board should never have agreed to a
contract with the teachers that the teachers union itself should not be
recognize and that the contract should be illegal. And when the judge
disagreed, they went after these candidates individually.
So this is part of a big effort to make Wisconsin a center piece of
crushing public employee unions and suppressing wage. That`s what this is
about.
SCHULTZ: So it`s a two for one. And also of course the support for Walker
to be able to deepen his position in the state, because he`s in a heated
race right now. How close is that going to be for the governor`s chair in
Wisconsin?
CONNIFF: Well, you know, the latest poll show that the race is a lot
closer between Walker and Mary Burke than it was at the outset. If people
get to know Mary Burke and as things look worst in our state economy,
although Walker claim that he`s going to do in such wonders for our
economy. I think that it`s getting to be tighter race.
SCHULTZ: OK. Ruth Conniff, great to have with us tonight, I appreciate
you reporting on this for us.
That`s the Ed Show. But before we go tonight, a big thank you. When I
open up the show every night I got a guy chasing me around here in the
studio. Well I tell you what, Matt is a heck of a guy, he and his wife
Anna Zeidman, they have given birth to little Ella Jean Zeidman. How about
that? Ella Jean, what a cute name. Got to be a country song in there
somewhere, don`t you think? Daddy`s got a superman shirt on. He needs a
superman carrying that big old camera he`s got in here.
And that is the Ed Show, I`m Ed Schultz.
Politics Nation with Reverend Al Sharpton starts right now. Good evening
Rev.
REV. AL SHARPTON, POLITICS NATION HOST: Good evening, Ed. And hello to
Ella Jean for me.
SCHULTZ: Right.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY
BE UPDATED.
END
Copyright 2014 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.>
The Ed Show for Tuesday, April 8th, 2014
Read the transcript to the Tuesday show