The Ed Show for Monday,October 28, 2013

THE ED SHOW
October 28, 2013

Guest: Bernard Sanders, Xavier Becerra, Connie Schultz, Clarence Page, EJ
Dionne, Lee Gaddies

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: In your judgment, does the FCC have the
authority to otherwise regulate political speech? This is the one issue
that, in my opinion, has the potential to derail your nomination to the
business of regulating political speech.

PRES. BARACK OBAMA (D), U.S. PRESIDENT: I`m going to go ahead and
thank the Senate now for what I`m sure will be a speedy confirmation
process.

CRUZ: Because no paradigm has been data (ph) test.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What did you say?

CRUZ: One of the oldest definitions of insanity is continuing to do
the same thing over and over (inaudible), continuing to do the same thing
over and over again and expecting different results.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) Deja vu.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s shocking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. I`m going to turn things around. Deja
vu all over again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ED SCHULTZ, MSNBC HOST: Good to have you with us tonight, folks.
Thanks for watching. Here he is, Canadian Senator, Ted Cruz of Texas.

Now, there seems to be a great deal of angst within the liberal
community across America that we`re just giving this guy too much
publicity. We`re talking about him too much.

Folks, I offer to you tonight, if you`re a good lefty out there, we
can talk about this guy enough. He`s (ph) the gifted keeps on giving. He
is America`s biggest heckler from the stands, which is perfect.

And of course, over the weekend, it was the Love Fest in Iowa. The
speech he gave on Friday night. The media Love Fest is on. Did you know
that he didn`t even used that teleprompter? Did you know that he went back
and forth across the stage for 20 minutes without any notes to say what he
was thinking?

This is what is impressing the media. It`s not solution-based. He`s
not that good but he is a good strategist. You see, because he is going
after the conviction crowd. That`s who he has to win over to keep this
Cruz machine rolling along.

Here`s Ted Cruz` base. First of all, let`s start with the people that
hate Obamacare. Well, he`s got them down pretty good. How about those 144
members in Congress that voted to default? Well, they`re all with Ted Cruz
too.

And then, of course, there`s the basic Tea Party supporter out there.
I think he`s got Rand Paul be. I think he -- out of the box, if you had a
choice, the Tea Partiers would take this guy.

The conservative media, right wing talkers, they can`t get enough of
this guy. They want him because they love his conviction. They love the
fact that he won`t back down, that he can`t stand Obama. And of course,
Obama haters are big part of this at the top, but then, there`s the
religious right.

You see, Republicans love Cruz so much. He was actually compared to
Jesus during a prayer in Iowa on Friday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lord, we also thank you for Senator Ted Cruz is
here tonight. It just seems like they were lacking, especially on the
Conservative Right. Those leaders who are willing to take a stand and are
willing to let the arrows come in the back of their head and basically be
crucified for their belief system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Arrows in the back of the head? Crucified? Who on the left
is doing now? What we`re doing is talking about his policies. How screwed
up they are? How he cares about prophet, not people?

Now, a short time later, Cruz came out and said that the shutdown,
which of course, behind closed doors, he`s taking credit for, you know,
orchestrating. He says it elevated the national debate.

I`ll tell you what he did. It shook the hell of a lot of people
internationally about just who America is. And there was no doubt that the
fringe celebrity of Ted Cruz, it`s on a roll, it`s on the rise.

I`m in Iowa over the weekend, laying down the foundation for 2016. He
did what all these guys got to do. They got to go hunting. The Harvard
Snob (ph) joined fellow Tea Partier, Steve King, Congressman from Iowa, for
his annual pheasant hunt.

On Saturday, the two got dressed up in their finest hunting gear and
proceeded to hunt with a goggle (ph) of reporters. Of course, they were
following every move. What is this? I don`t care what the side by side or
over and under. You don`t hold the gun over your shoulder, OK? You hold
it down and break it down. You know, that`s just hunting etiquette for
people around you so you don`t shoot anybody. That`s just kind of how it
is.

But look at this entourage. You got walkers out there trying to get
the birds up. Is that a hunt? No, that`s just cornering the birds, it`s
what it is. It`s called harvest time. It`s not really hunting. Not as I
see it. And I`ve been doing it for 35 years now. It looked more like a
photo up than a pheasant hunt.

Can something very unusual happen? The subject of Dick Cheney`s
hunting accident came up. Here is Ted Cruz and Congressman Steve King
early morning conversation, over coffee, making excuses for Dick Cheney
shooting his friend in the face. According to them, it happens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONG. STEVE KING (R), IOWA: The way I understood it, he was standing
in the wrong place.

CRUZ: Yeah, look, I mean, it happens.

KING: It`s just a part of it, and the risk is a factor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Now, if Cruz and King are really good friends, why in the
world would they be talking about Dick Cheney`s hunting accident?

Ted Cruz can go to Iowa, post with the cameras all he want with a
shotgun, hold it wrong, pretend his a regular guy, normal guy. But you
know what? Don`t let him fool you. He`s not the normal dude that he wants
you to believe he is. He doesn`t care about average Americans.

And the fallacy in his whole push to win over the conviction crowd,
anybody else who pays attention to this knows that, all along, he`s been
going after President Obama and Obamacare, not once has he stepped up and
given a solution to the 50 million Americans who don`t have healthcare.

Another thing that catches my attention is that over 10 percent of
America`s largest companies pay 0 percent tax rate. I would like to know
where the big target shooters stands on that because he think that`s fair
for average Americans, that 10 percent of America`s largest companies, they
pay zero tax rate. Does he consider that fairness?

Never answers those kinds of questions because the conservative media
protects those folks. Cruz cares about protecting his big money corporate
interest and he`s always at work. He wants those folks to put it in
office. And you know what? As of late (ph), there is no better example
than his most recent stunt.

Pay attention folks. Ted Cruz is blocking President Obama`s nominee
for Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Now, the President
has nominated ex-telecom industry lobbyist, Tom Wheeler. Good guy.

He wants him to head up the FCC. Now, of course, there are five seats
on the Federal Communication Commission and three of them are vacant, and
of course, they are looking for some good Democrats because that`s how it
works when you have a Democratic President. Wheeler is a Democrat, and
Republicans are worried that he might, wait a minute, enforce provisions of
the Disclose Act? Well, we can have that.

The Disclosed Act is a failed bill that would require independent
groups to disclose names of contributors who give more than $10,000 to
independent groups for use in political campaigns.

If these provisions are enforced, the secrecy behind Citizens United
would be, well, very much out in the open. The Federal Elections
Commission would have records of how much money super pacts incorporations
spend on political campaigns. The big money corporate interest, well (ph),
I hate doing with this. Hell no.

Democrats support the bill. They`re in support of the bill as a way
to bring transparency to the political funding. For Republicans, this is
all about keeping Citizens United alive, and of course, the money in the
dark, in the closet, nobody knows where it`s coming from and we`ll just go
trash anybody we want.

They want to keep the unlimited funds going to attack Obamacare. The
-- and once, of course, hidden out of the public eye. Cruz is blocking the
FCC Chairman. I mean this is all about Republicans controlling the air
waves and the message.

If Senator Cruz wants Tom Wheeler to give guarantees that nothing is
going to change and he is a senator with a power that will block this guy,
and of course, we`re going to go into 2014 without the FCC. No deals are
going to get approved. Ironically, it`s going to hurt a lot of right wing
companies. But of course, Ted Cruz doesn`t care. He is trying to prove
that he is the man of conviction. And part of being the man of conviction
is stopping someone who might stand in the way of free speech, and we
certainly can have that.

Now, he maybe pheasant hunting down in Iowa and not doing it the
correct way, but the fact of the matter is you got to give him credit. He
is always working around the edges to make sure that his base is going to
be protected.

Get your cellphones out. I want to know what you think. Tonight`s
question, what does Ted Cruz care more about, money or people? Text A for
money, text B for people, to 67622. Leave a comment on our blog at
ed.msnbc.com, results coming up later on in the program.

For more, let me bring in Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who was
been very critical of dark money advocating of course for workers all the
time but also very concerned about communications in this country.

Senator, why is Ted Cruz blocking the nomination of Tom Wheeler? How
do you see this as part of his plan and just gumming this all up? What
does it mean?

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), VERMONT: Well Ed, you know, what Senator
Cruz is talking about is an issue of huge, huge consequences. At the end
of the day, these guys have gotten Citizens United. And that means that
the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson and all of these guys can spend
hundreds and hundreds of hundreds of millions of dollars on political
campaigns opted without any disclosure.

They want to go further. What they want to do is to make sure that
individuals will be able to spend as much money as they want on campaigns,
giving money to individuals without any disclosure, whatsoever.

So, ultimately, what they are about is creating a campaign finance
system where billionaires can spend unlimited sums of money on campaigns
and candidates electing the people they want. That is not, in my view, a
democracy. That is called oligarchy, where a nation is run by a handful of
billionaires and the democratic foundations of this country are totally
supported (ph).

Now, what Senator Cruz is here talking about, he is really outraged by
the fact that the FCC is supporting a rule where it says that if you are
putting ads on television in the 50 largest media markets in this country,
that they are going to put that information on their websites so that the
American people will know .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SANDERS: . who is in fact funding these ads.

In my view, we should see that not only in the 50 largest markets but
all over this country, not only on television but on radio.

But bottom line here is what Senator Cruz and his friends want is a
campaign system where a few billionaires can spend unlimited sums of money
without any disclosure at all. That is what they want. And we have got
not only to the feedback, we need the alternative which is overturning
Citizens United .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SANDERS: . and which is moving forward to a public funding of
elections.

SCHULTZ: And Senator, there`s a domino effect to all of this and I
think the protection of the big three, Medicare and Medicaid, the Social
Security, plays right into this. Cruz wants to give these guys a super
highway, a pathway. They`re vilifying (ph) everything that we have when it
comes to earned benefit programs.

This, of course, is going to enamor (ph) him even further with the
conviction crowd. And I`ll tell you, it really is a brilliant strategy
because nobody else -- whoever thinks that the Chairman of the FCC would
play right in to somebody`s political campaign. But it`s very clear what
Cruz is doing. Are you concerned on the Budget Committee that this is what
you`re going to be running into?

SANDERS: Look, absolutely. This very same people who are making huge
contributions, and we`re talking about hundreds and hundreds of millions of
dollars, these are exactly the same people who are leading the affect (ph)
to cut Social Security, to cut Medicare, to cut Medicaid, to give huge tax
breaks to the wealthiest people in this country. All of that stuff is
related. That is the right wing extremist agenda.

And campaign financing, the ability of billionaires to buy elections
is at the very top of their list in terms of what they want to accomplish.

SCHULTZ: Yeah. Senator, on the other hand, with Cruz gaining in
notoriety, popularity, and with the French (ph) right, does it make the
Democrat`s job a little bit easier making the case to America about what
are our priorities?

SANDERS: Well, the answer is yes or no, Ed. In one sense, obviously,
he is such an extremist, that one should talk about his agenda, it becomes
easy to defeat him. But on the other hand, what he and others have managed
to do is move the Democratic Party further to the right. You and I have
talked about this a million times.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SANDERS: We have a number of Democrats now who are talking about,
"Let`s cut Social Security." The President of the United States is now
talking about that. So it`s a mix bag. Yes, he could be defeated. But,
on the other hand, he is helping to move the country to the right.

We need a strong progressive agenda which talks about the America that
we want, which is a very different one than Senator Cruz is talking about.

SCHULTZ: Senator Bernie Sanders, good to have you with us tonight on
the Ed Show. I appreciate your time so much. Thank you, sir.

SANDERS: Thank you.

SCHULTZ: Remember to answer tonight`s question there at the bottom of
the screen. Share your thoughts with us on Twitter and @EdShow, and give
as a comment on Twitter about what is the Republican`s solution for
healthcare.

Has -- does anybody know it? I mean, do you know what they`re going
to do with the uninsured in America? Where is their plan? They don`t have
one. All they have is negativity towards Obamacare and pinning all their
hopes on this website that have some challenges. We want to know what you
think.

Coming up, Bill Clinton hits the campaign trail in Virginia and his
Republicans were putting ideology ahead of governing. And Karl Rove leads
the Glitch Mob, going after HHS Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius. Stay with
us. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Time now for the Trenders. Social media, this is where you
can find us, Facebook, Tweeter, and also msnbc.com. Leave a comment there.
And this is where you can find me in the radio, Monday through Friday, noon
to 3:00 p.m., on channel 127, Sirius XM. The Ed Show social media,
everyday, does the decision making, and we are reporting here tonight`s Top
Trenders voted on by you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "God Bless America."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The number 3 Trender, Big Hit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Land that I love."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A former Navy officer knocks it out of the park
with his rendition of God Bless America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "God Bless America. My home, sweet home."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The number 2 Trender, Clinton`s Callout.

BILL CLINTON, 42ND U.S. PRESIDENT: When President George W. Bush, a
Republican, with that Medicare, Part D Drug Program in, I had terrible
problems with the computer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s been unbuttoned somewhere.

CLINTON: Instead of bashing him and screaming about how incompetence
they were .

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait, OK, let`s not lose our cool.

CLINTON: . our people just try to help people understand the law and
make it work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The former president blast Republican ideologues.

CLINTON: The problem with being an ideologue is that the facts no
longer matter to you. Big difference in being an ideologue and being
practical, putting people first, as oppose to some abstract philosophy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In today`s Top Trender, Glitch Mob.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Millions of Americans are visiting
healthcare.gov. Unfortunately, the site was only designed to handle six
users at a time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s very frustrating. It is certainly not what
we want it to be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you become a parody on Saturday Night Live,
it`s awfully hard to recover.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I.T., can we get someone from I.T. in here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I.T.s target Kathleen Sebelius for healthcare.gov
for help.

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R), WYOMING: The website was supposed to be the
easy part. She`s lost considerable credibility.

CRUZ: Absolutely, she should resign.

DONALD TRUMP, BUSINESSMAN: This is a woman that has to be fired.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sire (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And at the end of the day, somebody has to be held
responsible and the secretary who`s in charge of this implementation is
(inaudible).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Joining me tonight is Congressman Xavier Becerra of
California who is on the Democratic leadership team in the House.
Congressman, good to have you with us tonight, I guess the witch hunt
continues this week against the secretary.

But of course, you said last week that someone should be held
accountable for these website issues. Should it be Kathleen Sebelius?

REP. XAVIER BECERRA (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, Ed, I think we have long
ways to go before we can say it goes all the way to the top. We certainly
want to get the website fixed but we shouldn`t fixate on the website. And
that`s unfortunately, I think my Republican colleagues have begun to do is
just fixate on the website.

We all have to work together to make it work well because we want
Americans to get covered.

The most important thing about the Affordable Care Act isn`t a
website, it`s that millions of Americans will finally have an opportunity
to get quality healthcare, and that`s what we should really focus on.

So, absolutely, we should hold people accountable. But right now,
we`re trying to determine who should be accountable. Anytime, you take tax
to your money and taxpayers have paid for this, you should be held
accountable. So those private contractors who took taxpayer money to do
the work, those health personnel who are working on this for the driven
government agencies, we have to figure out who should be held accountable.

And by the way, Congress which is supposed to do a job of oversight
should be held accountable as well.

SCHULTZ: But she`s going to be testifying before the House, Energy
and Commerce Committee this week. Is this anything more than a Republican
which on comparing as president -- former President Clinton was talking
about down in Newport (ph) News yesterday about the parallels between
Medicare, Part D in the Bush Administration, their issues, and of course,
the issues with the website right now and its lack of functionality in many
parts.

BECERRA: Well, it doesn`t take a rocket scientist to understand that
when you got someone that has put up more than 40 votes trying to eliminate
a program, and all of a sudden, they`re going to come see Jesus and say
that they want to make it work well.

At the same time, many of these Republicans who are talking about
their concerns about the website were not raising any concerns back in 2006
when the Bush Administration tried to launch that Medicare, Part D program.
They never once called for Secretary Lovett to resign when he was the
secretary of HHS under George Bush. They never asked anyone to resign.

And so, it does begin to smell a bit -- but let`s do this, Ed. Let`s
just focus on making this work .

SCHULTZ: Well, can we make it work? I mean are you confident, by the
end of November, as predicted, that all of these problems are going to be
worked out?

BECERRA: I know the President who said that, by the end of November,
they`ll have these problems worked out. I trust the President would not
say it unless he felt very confident that they would. They have to.

We didn`t do this major reform, pass this historic health law --
health security law so that it wouldn`t work.

There`s a guy in Los Angeles who`s imported (ph) up and down the
press. He`s 34 years of age, Andrew Stryker (ph). He saves $6,000. He
waited three hours to get on the website and finally be able to apply. But
once he did apply, he saved $6,000. You don`t want to wait three hours but
you do want to save $6,000.

SCHULTZ: So, let`s say the website is all fixed at the end of
November and we go into the first part of the year, would you still go
along with the possibility of any kind of delay? I know that there`s
Senator Manchin from West Virginia over in the senate side is saying that
he wasn`t delayed a year, your thoughts on any delay or any part of the
program.

BECERRA: I don`t want to delay Andrew Stryker getting his health
insurance policy that lets him save $6,000. I don`t want to delay it for
any of the constituents I have in my district. And in my district, I have
more uninsured Americans than any other congressional district, except one.

And so, I don`t want to delay any of this because we need to move
forward. What we want to do is make sure everything is working right so
people can quickly find out what they can qualify for and start taking
advantage of having the same kind of healthcare that you and I have.

SCHULTZ: Yeah, Congress, what about the money to get this right? You
know, Tom Harkin told me last week that the proper resources were not there
from appropriations, from the get go on desk, that this wasn`t resourced
properly. So how is it going to get resourced properly between now and
fixed at time?


BECERRA: Well, Ed, think of it this way, most Americans wouldn`t
understand what`s gone into the website. Most of us didn`t have to work
all the details out. It`s pretty complicated but they could understand
this.

When on October 1st, Republican shutdown the government for 16 days,
and on the same October 1st, the health marketplace is launched. It sure
makes it tough for these health marketplaces to move forward efficiently
when the government is intentionally shutdown.

800,000 Americans who go to work everyday for the federal government
couldn`t go to work. And so, all of a sudden, you`re trying to launch your
very sophisticated, very expensive marketplaces and the websites at a time
when the federal government is saying, "We can`t go to work today."

So that`s make it tough. We have to make sure the resources are
there. Republicans who continue to want to have this autopilot cutting
across the board without knowing if it`s a good program or bad program they
are cutting. So it doesn`t make it very, very difficult. And that`s like
you`ve said, "We should be working together to make this work right."

SCHULTZ: So I guess .

BECERRA: (inaudible) fix it.

SCHULTZ: I guess in street terms, democratic credibility on the
healthcare law right now is in the hands of the computer geeks.

BECERRA: Well, no, we`re going to -- no, Ed, we all have a
responsibility to make this thing work. And so, I think we all have to
work with those who are on the ground day to day making the website work.
Remember, there`s more than a website. You could phone call, you can go in
and talk to some of these navigators who help you - they`re (inaudible) .

SCHULTZ: Correct.

BECERRA: . help you go to the process.

SCHULTZ: Yes.

BECERRA: It`s not just a website. But the website obviously is the
easiest route. It should be the easiest route. We have to make it work
right.

SCHULTZ: All right, Congressman Xavier Becerra, great to have you
with us tonight. I appreciate your time. I believe it`s nothing but a
witch hunt on the secretary. Not one person is being responsible for this.
I appreciate it so much.

Still ahead .

BECERRA: It`s Halloween.

SCHULTZ: Yes, very close to it.

Still ahead, conservative Utopia, new developments in the Detroit
bankruptcy case. Plus, Chris Christie Shaqing it up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAQUILLE O`NEAL, FORMER NBA STAR: That`s not a wish, that`s an
insult.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: But next, I`m taking your questions. Ask Ed Live, just
ahead. Stay with us. You`re watching the Ed Show on MSNBC.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. I love hearing from our
viewers. I want to tell you, I get these questions about 30 seconds before
I go on the air, in our Ask Ed Live segment.

First question comes from Oris H., who wants to know why is the GOP so
against teachers and education?

Well, two reasons. Number one, obviously, they`re against unions.
But unions in education always fight for resources of the classroom. They
always negotiate for more resources in the classroom, that of course is
more money to school districts (inaudible).

That of course is what Republicans and conservatives don`t want to
spend more money doing, they think that public education right now gets way
too much money.

So why is the GOP so against teachers and education? The second thing
is unions. It`s the voting block. It`s normally democratic and they are
after every organized group in the country when it comes to breaking down,
you know, the voting block and using all the social networking and
everything else, and the demonstrations and the protesting and the voices
that teachers can gather. And so, that`s why the Republicans are against
it.

Our next question is from Donald R. With everything happening in
America today in Washington, where would you start to put America back on
the road to recovery?

The treasury and fair taxation. We just had a comment in the first
block tonight that 10 percent of America`s largest companies have a zero
tax rate. You think that`s fair? Corporate profits through the roof.
It`s been a pretty good run in the Obama years and the recovery and what
not, and we have a tax system. That is not fair.

We`ve got companies parking money off shore and not paying their fair
share. That would be a great place to start because sale solves a lot of
problems in business and if you got more money in the treasury.

And I got a call on the radio show today. The guy said, "Ed, the
thing that really concerns me about, your Democrats and you liberals and
all you want to do is raise taxes to get more money out of the wealthy.
All you`re going to do is going to spend it."

Well, wait a minute, President Obama has given the sequester numbers
the chance. Remember, July and August of 2011, when Boehner came out and
said, "I got 99 percent of what I wanted." We have taken the liberals the
numbers from the conservatives when it comes to sequestration. We have
reduced federal spending. We have reduced the deficit in half.

So this idea that if we get more money to the treasury from the
wealthiest Americans, and all the Democrats are going to do is go out and
spend it, there`s no record of that under the Obama years.

Stick around, Rapid Response Panel coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Thanks for watching tonight. I guess you could call it the
shutdown hangover, Republicans have hit a new low. The latest Washington
post ABC news poll shows that the GOP with a 32 percent favorability
rating, now they are searching for a escape goat. When in doubt blame D.C.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal did just that on Fox News Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOBBY JINDAL, (R) GOVERNOR, LOUISIANA: We as a party can`t just be a
party. Now, the only place you see conservative principles being applied
today are in state capitals and local government. Whether it`s school
choice, whether it`s cutting taxes, taking on public pensions, whether its
lowering the unemployment rate, growing the private sector. Again, here in
Louisiana we`re setting records for the number of people working, but
you`re seeing that in 30 states across the country lead by Republican
governors, and that`s why we need to show voters conservative principles
work and to see them working you don`t need look any further than our state
capitals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Hold on right there. Wait a minute he`s just spitting this
stuff out. 30 states are showing job growth under conservative Republican
governors? We`re going to be back tomorrow night on that one. I don`t
know about that. Jindal isn`t the only Republican governor attempting to
distance himself from the mess created by his colleagues in Washington.
Just look at this latest commercial release by the Republican Governors
Association.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The hardest part about my job is Washington D.C.
but what I know is I`m not going to let Washington slow us down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The frustration that I have with federal
government is they put the wind in our face rather than the wind at our
back. Too much politics, too little real public service.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s not happening at our nation`s capital,
America`s come back without a doubt was happening here in the states.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: America strength comes from the bottom up, not
from the top down. And in that regard the states are so important,
Republican governors are driving America`s comeback.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Republican governors are driving America`s
comeback.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Republican governors are going to drive America`s
comeback.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Republican governors are driving America`s
comeback.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: And it`s Republican governors who were attacking voices in
the workplace. Just thought I`d throw that in there.

Let`s be clear, what these governors are pushing isn`t different from
the policies of the Republicans in Washington D.C. They also want to
attack public education, attack public workers/the social safety net, and
to cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans. The only thing new coming out
of this campaign is if you want to see this conservative principles applied
not just talked about, look to Republican governors which is exactly what
progressives should be doing as we head into the 2014 elections.

Joining me now Rapid Response panel Clarence Page of the Chicago
Tribune, Syndicated Columnist and Parade Magazine Contributor Connie
Schultz with us tonight, and also E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post, great
to have all of you with us.

Well, everybody loves to run against Washington which apparently
Republican governors are trying to pull this off. Connie you first, I mean
John Kasich is talking about how to bring back America when he was a big
loser in Ohio on measured two. What about that?

CONNIE SCHULTZ, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST AND PARADE MAGAZINE CONTRIBUTOR:
Yes he was, it was SP5 and he went after public workers and he tried to
strip them of their right to collectively bargain, he was overwhelmingly
defeated at the polls in that. Also let`s talk about the auto rescue which
was surely federal legislation that put countless auto workers back. I
mean there are numbers I don`t know about by ton, but not just the auto
workers in Lordstown went to three shifts to produce the Chevy Cruze which
I drive but it also affected the entire supply chain to automakers.

SCHULTZ: You know Clarence the one thing is that there is no
difference between what this radical governors have done at the legislative
level in their state and what the Tea Party is trying to do in Washington.
Are the people going to make the connection and buy it?

CLARENCE PAGE, EDITORIAL BOARD CHICAGO TRIBUNE: We`ll not totally
different than John Kasich. Didn`t get the note, went passed his
Republican legislature, bypassed them in order to participate in the
Medicaid expansion under Obamacare even though he`s opposed to Obamacare.
He knows where to spread his butter. That`s free money to the states you
could say from the Feds. Most of the Republican governors have turned it
down but Kasich recognizes that the state needs that money -- the mental
hospitals, poor people. As he said, of all races, creeds, et cetera,
neither, he`s not going to turn it down unlike some of the governors who,
you know, much more of ideologues about this. Kasich is taking that more
pragmatic approach.

SCHULTZ: Interesting. A governor that suffered a loss in his own
turf going after workers, turns around and takes the Medicaid expansion of
Obamacare. I mean his not.

PAGE: Right.

SCHULTZ: . not going to bang his head against the wall. Now, the
rest of these guys -- E.J. Dionne, when you look at Republican polling
right now, you could call it the shutdown hangover, whatever. But it`s
pretty clear. This is a major reclamation project for these guys if they
don`t distance themselves from Washington.

E.J. DIONNE, COLUMNIST WASHINGTON POST: Well, that`s exactly right
and I think there are two interesting things about that Ed. One is they`re
talking about America`s comeback. What they`re not saying is President
Obama is driving the country into the ground which is the message that
comes out of Washington. So they want to say, all of this is because of
Republican governors but there is an implicit message there that we`re on
the better track than we were before.

The second is this is clearly an effort to distance themselves as much
as possible from what the Republicans have just done in Congress. They
have looked at the same numbers that we all have looked at. The shutdown
was very unpopular and it affected the Republican brand all over the
country. So this Ad is offense but really it`s a defensive Ad to try to
get them as far away from here -- from the Republican Party here as
possible.

SCHULTZ: And I`m anxious to see how many Republican governors who are
up for reelection or trying to get into the state capital or going to bring
Ted Cruz over for a backyard barbecue and say, "Hey, I think just like you
do." We`ll see.

DIONNE: I can say something about that, Ed?

SCHULTZ: Yes. Yes.

DIONNE: I was at a -- one of Bill Clinton`s event with Terry
McAuliffe yesterday in Dale City, Virginia. And what was really striking
is McAuliffe has made Ted Cruz a central part of his speech.

SCHULTZ: Sure.

DIONNE: He was out there campaigning for Ken Cuccinelli. And Terry
McAuliffe is saying, "Why didn`t just he associate himself from him? Why
did he have him out here?" Virginia has got a lot of government employees
and a lot of other people who depend on government contracts. So Cruz is a
real problem for Cuccinelli out in Virginia.

SCHULTZ: It is going to be interesting. That is one week from
tomorrow. Late breaking news today, a federal judge has ruled the abortion
restrictions passed by the Texas legislature in July are unconstitutional
and will not take effect as planned on Tuesday. The judge said the
regulations violated the rights of abortion doctors to do what they think
is best for their patients and would reasonably restrict the woman`s access
to abortion clinics. The proposed restrictions were among the toughest in
the nation and gained national attention after Wendy Davis has high profile
filibuster. Governor Rick Perry vows to fight the ruling.

Connie, what`s your reaction to this? What is the political -- how
damaging is this to the conservative movement?

C. SCHULTZ: Well, it`s particularly interesting one of the provisions
that we`re struck down because it would have prohibited doctors who did not
have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital to perform abortions. Texas
isn`t the only place where abortion clinics are having visiting doctors to
perform these procedures, a totally unnecessary restriction. I find it
encouraging news because we have a lot of the same stuff going on at Ohio
right now which Governor Kasich by the way refused to veto he could have
vetoed. It was rolled into the budget bill here as you know.

And let`s keep in mind what Governor Perry said weeks, perhaps months
ago, he wanted to make abortion a thing of the past. A legal abortion
which is still the law of the land in this country -- he wants to make it a
thing of the past. And that`s what`s driving all of these efforts in
Texas.

ED SCHULTZ: Clarence Page, what does this do for Wendy Davis`
campaign? She wants to be governor?

PAGE: Well, I think from what we have seen like in 2012 election,
this kind of an issue now mobilizes women in particular and not to mention
a lot of other folks who are very disturbed by the notion of the ability of
women to have control of their own bodies is really under serious threat
right now. So I think it`s going to probably help her fund raising. At
the same time, Governor Rick Perrry does everything he can to try to push
back his, Evangelicals are a very important part of his constituency.

SCHULTZ: No doubt. Clarence Page, Connie Schultz, E.J. Dionne thanks
for being on the Ed Show tonight. I appreciate it so much.

Still ahead Shaq gives Jersey politics his best shot. Pretenders is
next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: And the Pretenders tonight. NBA legend and anti itch powder
pitchman Shaquille O`Neal. The center is truly his support behind New
Jersey`s most famous big guy Chris Christie. The Diesel is backing
Christie because of his support of public education?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAQUILLE O`NEAL, NBA HALL OF FAMER: I don`t endorse so many
politicians, but Chris Christie is different, Governor Christie has
provided more funding for schools, giving parents more choices and more
schools that kids can do too, and merit pay for good teachers. He`s a good
man; excuse me he`s a great man. Please join me in supporting Chris
Christie, the governor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Shaq, you`re traveling with some bad information there dude.
Chris Christie cut a billion dollars from public education in the first
year alone and fired 6,000 teachers. Shaq also called Christie a great
man. Let`s watch his little buddy at work.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTIE: You know what? And you know what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just talk about the truth.

CHRISTIE: Let me tell you and let me tell you this, you know, what?
It`s people who raise their voices and yell and scream like you that are
dividing this country.

If what you want to do is put on a show and giggle every time I talk,
well then, I have no interest in answering your question.

I can go back and forth with you as much as you want.

And let me tell you something, after you graduate from law school, you
conduct yourself like that in a court room. You`re rear end is going to
get throw in jail idiot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Christie kills job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really?

CHRISTIE: You know, some they go down tonight, but they`re going to
be jobs sweetheart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Shaquille O`neil. Well, you were heck of a basketball
player and by all accounts, pretty nice guy, but he put his size 23 foot in
his mouth on this one.

If Shaq thinks Chris Christie is a great man and a friend of public
education. Keep on traveling but you are pretending on the way.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show. This is the story for the
folks who take a shower after work, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder`s plan to
send the city to of Detroit through bankruptcy took a pretty sharp turn
today.

Attorneys for Detroit City workers want accountability from insider
and they`re putting him on the stand. Rick Snyder became the first
governor in history to testify under oath on his rush to gut Detroit.

Snyder announced the push for the largest public sector bankruptcy on
record back in July.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SNYDER, GOVERNOR, MICHIGAN: This is the last resort of something
I would have preferred to avoid. But now that it`s here, this is the way
to solve the problem. This is about 60 years of decline, 60 years in many
cases of kicking can down the road, not be in realistic and not solving the
problem of Detroit`s major issues which are that and better services the
citizens. So, in bankruptcy that`s the focus.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

SCHULTZ: Snyder`s last resort excuse is paper thin as I see it.
Republican policies robbed the city of resources for years. Meaning,
meanwhile conservatives waited by the sideline salivating over mass
privatization.

This was Rick Snyder`s plan from the beginning and now his practice is
getting the grilling it deserves.

I`m joined tonight by a man who was at the court house today,
supporting the people of Detroit, Lee Gaddies.

Mr. Gaddies good to have you with us tonight. Everybody gets their
day in court. Will there be justice served for these retirees because they
are the ones along with neighborhoods being short changed who are going to
pay the price if the governor get his way? Where are we at this hour?

LEE GADDIES, DETROIT HOMEOWNER: Well, we are looking at Detroit
against the backdrop of a mayor that we just sent to (jail) for 28 years.
But then we got a governor doing the exact same thing.

We got Rock Snyder who hired Kevyn Orr while he`s still worked at
Jones Day which is a bankruptcy law firm for Wall Street and all of a
sudden he`s surprised that Kevyn Orr put Detroit into bankruptcy, you know,
and hired his law firm after he became emergency manager of Detroit to then
handle that same bankruptcy. If that is a nepotism and cronyism. I don`t
know what it is.

And then, add and result to injury Kevyn Orr wants to put Berkeleys at
the front of the line to be paid ahead of Detroit pensioners who worked
their entire lives for that pension money and were expecting it at the end
of their retirement. So, hopefully we will have our day -- the city of
Detroit will have it`s day in court, the citizens will have their damn
court and be able to hear that this is been his plan along. He never
planned on being fair to the citizens of Detroit or those pensioners, and
that this is just nepotism and cronyism and corporate welfare at the
highest level.

SCHULTZ: Well, Governor Snyder tried as hard as to stay out of the
court and invoking executive privilege but it wasn`t enough. How important
is that the people of Detroit hear the governor testify?

GADDIES: Well, I think that it`s very important that we get the
governor on record and that the lawyers get to ask him some very hard
questions that he can`t weasel out of the way that he does with local
report.

SCHULTZ: Is he going to be ask about what you just said? Is he going
to be ask about what you just said, what you just talk about, about the
connection with the Orr and bankruptcy and the law firm?

GADDIES: Well, it has to lead to that. Because we -- again, we just
put a mayor in jail for doing the exact same thing that Snyder is now
doing.

We put a mayor in jail for cronyism for no big contracts to his
friends and this is the exact same thing that Orr and Snyder are doing with
Jones Day and with the banks. They`re putting their clients who are Wall
Street bankers ahead of the citizens and residents of Detroit. So, we`re
asked to pay the bill for their corporate welfare that they`re getting.


SCHULTZ: So, what would be a fair decision here? What would be the
perfect decision on the part of Detroit residence and retirees?

GADDIES: A fair decision that Detroit should not be in bankruptcy we
should restructure our debt. The bank should be asked to pay for the
damage that they`ve done to the city. That`s what would be fair.

SCHULTZ: Lee Gaddies, great to have you with us tonight. We will
follow the story, we`ve been talking about this since summer and of course
since day four of the trial and hopefully it`s going to be a productive
outcome for those people who spent 30 years working in Detroit and they`re
now sitting on the edge of fence wondering if they`re going to get their
pension or not and this guy is saying that they have no responsibility.

In fact, when Kevyn Orr was asked about on 60 minutes he basically
said, well, you know, I`m sorry.

That`s the Ed Show. I`m Ed Schultz. Politics Nation with Rev. Al
Sharpton starts right now. Good evening, Rev.

AL SHARPTON, POLITICSNATION HOST: Good evening, Ed.

GADDIES: Thank you.

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.>