The outrageous racism. And this is the birthday of patrick ewing, and the late great adam of the beasty boys who would have been 49 years old today. 47 years ago today the beatles released revolver, the greatest album of all time, and a Young Ronald Reagan once said where free unions and collective bargaining is lost, we lose the middle class. This is viewpoint. [ theme music ] john good evening, friends, im John Fugelsang this is viewpoint. The latest case of minimum rage spilled out into the streets. Thousands of fastfood workers walked off of the job. They want the right to unionize, and for the federal minimum wage to double from 7. 25 an hour, to 15 an hour, and i call that a pretty good start. The image of a fastfood working has long been painted as a teenager. But the average age of a male employee is 29, and 32 for females. More than 25 of fastfood employees are the heads of their households. Mcdonalds posted revenues of 8. 48 billion from april to june alone while fighting against minimum wage hikes of any kind. And that number is considered sluggish by wall street. Our first guest thinks were only getting half of the salon. Com and the author of back to the future how the 1980s explain the world we live in now our culture, our politics, our everything, and he joins us this evening from San Francisco where he is hosting the war room. David welcome back to the viewpoint. Thanks for having me. John its a pleasure to have you. The argument we hear against higher minimum wage is it would force these companies to jack up prices. And it would be a devastating blow to the consumer. Please tell us what that is wrong. Because you have to look at who makes minimum wage and what we know when you hold profits equal, what a wage increase would mean for the corporations. Lets look at mcdonalds. Mcdonalds according to a hundred economists who wrote a letter to policy makers, mcdonalds would have to in order to recoup the most of a high minimum wage, mcdonalds only have to raise the prize of a big mac 0. 05. If you raise minimum wage up to 15, the cost would go up one quarter. If every worker at walmart made 12 an hour, the average consumer would have to pay about 0. 46 more total on their typical visit to walmart. Now when you take those numbers and you ask yourself the question, okay, is it worth putting dollars in the paychecks of people being paid poverty wages in exchange for a couple of cents at the register . Is that a good deal . I would say it is a good deal, and its a good deal for the economy. Its a macroeconomic boost for the economy. Because the dollars you are putting in those paychecks will be spent pretty fast. John and again these wages dont take a dime out of the bloated ceo pay that driving our economy. Exactly. The estimates are estimates when you hold the Profit Margins of the companies who pay minimum wage, hold it equal. If you factor in mcdonalds is going to make the same amount of money as profit. How much would it simply cost to recoup the cost of paying minimum wage . It still ends up being a tiny amount of money. Why . Because the minimum wage is so incredibly low, and the kinds of increases that were talking about are so relatively small and these companies are already so profitable, that what were really talking about here is such a relatively small amount of money in the economy, but its a huge amount of money for those people being paid toez poverty wages. John of course. And it means more buying power. There are countless stories of fastfood employees living in homeless shelters, and mcdonalds only online financial tool actually said they need to get a second job to make ends meet. David do you think we need a change of mindset at the top as much as we need a change in pay scale . Absolutely. But were not going to see a change of mindset at the top in the sense that if you look back at history, we have never seen a change of mindset at the top. When workers have been paid well in the United States, in our history, its because workers came together and collectively bargained on behalf of themselves for those wages. Now the the heads of these companies, the biggest thing that they fear and the biggest thing that they work against is unionization. This is why ceos fight so hard against union drives. Because they understand once workers have a che check selective bargaining unit, they are negotiate hire wages. So until we see a Successful Union drive at one of these companies, were not going to see the wage increases. John well celebrating a very special anniversary today. Its the 31 anniversary since president reaganfired 11,000 air traffic controllers. And as you mentioned one goal of these fastfood workers is yuan yo unionization climate. What do you say to people that think this is the wrong time for them to unionize. I would say thats always the argument history. During the Great Depression where we saw a huge increase in Labor Movement activity and unionization activity, that was the same argument made against those workers. And those workers said thats a self fulfilling prophecy, that said the only way forward in the economy is to pay people lower wages, and we have to accept these poverty wait a minutes in order to keep the economy going. Theres a different route. Theres a route that says that unionization raises wages, and those higher wages get plowed back into the economy. It goes back to the notion from henry ford. Henry fords basic idea is that you have to pay workers a wage that is high enough so they can actually buy your products, and increasingly workers are being paid wages where they cannot even buy the products they are in the business of selling. John and tragically so many fastfood employees are only paid enough to be able to eat in the stores where they work. Henry ford said no boss should be paid 20 times what his employs make. Lets shift our anger to d. C. , david. You just reported on a story that first broke on the hill. Com. Concerning the Senate Finance committees blank slate process, which is the top senators on tax reform can make suggestions which deductions and credits should live or die after the tax is reformed. Senator with quote ideas are being assured to 50 years of secrecy. No one will know which senators pushed which policies for a full calf century. Understanding the influence of big money lobbyist, what is the argument they are making to the country for a half of century secrecy. The argument is there is a Huge Industry in washington of lobbyists who are only focused on tax code changes. And they bring a lot of pressure to the committees. So the optimist in my argument is that senators are only put forward changes in the tax code that would be good for most americans if they can put them forth in an anonymous way that would prevent those lobbyists knowing which senator pushed the issue. Here is how we know that is a lot of nonsense. This is essentially taxation without representation. That is you are not allowed to see what your senator are putting forward. We know this was the two people putting it forward are arguably the most connected to the k street lobbying. Mac baucus was recently called the senator from k street. And as business weak has reported, we basically know that a secrecy system is designed to make sure the proposals approximating put forward, preserve the most publicly embarrassing tax proposal that the average american would despite, but the corporate specialist would want. John you mentioned it has the becoming of max baucus, and the top republican, orewin hatch, huge shock. In my estimation the whole notion that there is too much partisanship in washington misses the actual story. There is way too much bipartisanship in washington, especially on economic issues. The things that pass the u. S. Senate typically by votes of 95 or 99 to 1 are either wars or massiveta, give aways. You have a bipartisan effort in secret to make sure that a supposed overhaul of the tax code is one that allows the Corporate Community to secretly write even more good yis into the tax code without the average voter seeing what is going on. And the reason for that is because the average voter, sees these kinds of special giveaways. Sees what they are all about, the fear is, is they will face consequences at the voting booth. John indeed. One last question, do we really believe these suggestions arent going to somehow be leaked before 50 years go by . Thats a great question. I dont know if they will ever be leaked. I know the uglier the tax proposal is, the more effort there will be to keep it truly secret for 50 years. Here is one thing i would add to that, the people who are going to know who spon sored those tax proposals will be those lobbyists. A senator that puts in a special tax provision that serves one or more corporations is going to be very, very proud to those special interests about having done that in order to get more campaign contributions. John and in 50 years they will be dead, but the same unknowing tax pairs will be paying for the pension that goes to their much younger second and third wives. David sirota its so great to have you here. You are salon. Com contribute forfor and author of back to our future. Thank you. John up next, good news america, scott walker is not talk about union busting. Bad news . He has a new hobby. Turkey and make it fast. laughter . She gets the comedians laughing. Thats the best thats hilarious. And the thinkers thinking. Okay, so there is wiggle room in the Ten Commandments is what youre telling me. Shes joy behar. Ya, i consider you jewtalian. Okay, whatever you want. Who plays kafka . Who saw kafka . Who ever saw kafka . laughter . Asking the tough questions. Chris brown, i mean you wouldnt let one of your daughters go out with him. Absolutely not. You would rather deal with ahmadinejad then me . Absolutely singing i take lipitor, thats it. Are you improving your lips . laughter . When shes talking, you never know where the conversation is going to go. It looks like Anthony Wiener is throwing his hat in the ring. His what in the ring . His hat. Always outspoken, joy behar. And the best part is that current will let me say anything. What the hell were they thinking . Only on current tv. Cenk off air alright in 15 young turks i think the number 1 thing than viewers like about the young turks is that were honest. They know that im not bsing them for some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. When the democrats are wrong, they know im going to be the first one to call them out. Cenk on air whats unacceptable is how washington continues to screw the middle class over. Cenk off air i dont want the middle class taking the brunt of the spending cuts and all the different programs that wind up hurting the middle class. Cenk on air you got to go to the local level, the state level and we have to fight hard to make sure they cant buy our politics anymore. Cenk off air and they can question if im right about that. But i think the audience gets that, i actually mean it. Cenk on air 3 trillion dollars in spending cuts narrator uniquely progressive and always topical, the Worlds Largest online news show is on current tv. Cenk off air and i think the audience gets, this guys to best of his abilities is trying to look out for us. Only on current tv john tonight a new front on the abortion battle as wisconsin governor, scott walker, faces off with a federal judge. The judge William Connelly has blocked a portion of Governor Walkers new law specifically the requirement for abortion providers to have admitting privileges in nearby hospitals. The law also requires any woman seeking an inabortion to undergo an ultrasound, the idea that being forced to listen the fetuses organs will promote bonding. There is a brood push to reopen the fight over a womens right to choose. But why now . Why actively stoke the controversy, and review those charges of a gop war on women . Maybe because it wont ever hurt you with your base . But lets find out from a guy who knows what he is talking, john nichols, washington correspondent for the nation and coauthor of dollarocracy, and john joins us this evening from madson, wisconsin. Welcome back mr. Nichols. It is a pleasure to be with you, john. John thank you. I want to ask you about the larger gop strategy here. But please bring us up to date on the judges ruling. He didnt over turn the law just extended a block on a portion of it, right . Thats right. Almost immediately upon getting the case he issued an injunction saying you cant implement this law because it looked so likely that it was going to run into trouble as the case went forward, and so the initial injunction was for a couple of weeks. He has now extended the injunction into november, after which a trial will occur in relation to this law. The judge has made it quite clear that the state is going to have to make a very convincing case for why you would set a different set of laws for doctors who perform abortion than doctors who perform other procedures. The injunctions are simply put in place to ensure that the law doesnt have its immediate intended effect which was to force the closing of abortion clinics. John this law also could include transvaginal ultrasounds mandatory if the conventional ultrasound cant see the fetus. And Governor Walker signed this on july 5th, smack dab in the middle of a fourday independence holiday, when it would get the least Media Attention possible. The governor does not think it is a winner for statewide politics in wisconsin. He has to run for reelection next year, so he did not run around wisconsin signing the bill five times in five different locations in front of five different tv markets. Sort of the opposite of a lot of what he does. But this is really the root of the whole issue. Scott walker is running for president. He wants to be the republican nominee for president of the United States in 2016, and for that race this law is essential, because when you go into those iowa caucuses, and scott walker was in iowa already this summer, when you go into the South Carolina primary, and scott walker will be in South Carolina later this month. When you go into conservative states like alabama, and hell be in alabama later this month, you need to have those ironclad, unquestionable, antichoice bonafied. John you nailed it. And thats what this law is about. John i agree with you. This weekend Governor Walker did something that even surprised me. He compared himself to franklin roosevelt. Really quick do you know what that is somebody . Scott walker is not that wealthy, so maybe its an aspirational goal on his part. But he was trying to justify his antipublic employee initiatives by suggesting that roosevelt was antiemploy union as well. But he took one line written in a letter by roosevelt, but failed to read the whole letter. The letter is on the wall at the National Federation of federal employees, i believe, the union that the letter was written to. And the union people celebrate it as a prounion letter. But president roosevelt said that collective bargaining was going to be different at the federal government level than the private sector. An honest statement but scott walker has tried to blow it way out of proportion, and it really blew up on him, because roosevelts grandson wrote a great oped saying i can tell you for sure my grandfather was not scott walker. John as you know another potential gop hopeful is senator rand paul of kentucky. Just today americas sweetheart, Newt Gingrich seemingly threw his hat into pauls ring. Where does that leave Governor Walker with the Party Faithful . The polling for scott walker right now is really bad. In iowa he was running in 8th place with about 2 of the vote, and iowians should know him better than most folks since it is right next to wisconsin. But his strategy is to let Chris Christie be out there as the main stream guy trying to be a little bit more moderate on a new issues. Let rand paul steak out the turf he wants, let some other people run around and make a lot of noise, but chug along as the purist. The guy who is very conservative on social issues, and very conservative on economic issues. And theorizing that ultimately he will be the default position when people get tired of the other candidates. That may sound like an outside chance or a wild prospect. But in reality, if we look back in american history, well find quite a few president ial candidates, people like jimmy carter who worked hard over a number of years and got themselves into the presidency. And lord knows walk service sitting all over the country making the rounds. I do want november on to detroit. The city is bankrupt, and finances are in the hands of a manager, but even so voters will turn out for a primary to choose a new mayor. What power would the new mayor wield and who wants that job anyway . Some really good people want the job. Its quite remarkable. A former sheriff. A form prosecuting attorney. A number of state legislators. Really quite quite an impressive field considering the reality of the circumstance, which is that governor rick snyder, a conservative republican governor has used a law that he wrote, governor snyder, that the people of michigan rejected in a referendum, that the people of detroit rejected by a 41 margin. He has rewritten the law and imposed it. It allows him to take control of the city of detroits governance and basically steer it whatever direction he wants. Most of the candidates for mayor think steering it towards bankruptcy is a bad idea. But in reality they are running for an office where they will basically be spectators to the governance of their city. Thats a tragic circumstance. It is antidemocratic at the most extreme. Imagine what conservatives would think if barack obama came in and took over a state . They would be they would be screaming at the highest level, and yet in michigan this is what the governor has done. He has taken over a number of cities, and these candidates for mayor of detroit, i have written about them some, ill write about them more. I give them very high credit, because even though the power of local government has been so undermined by this Emergency Management law, they are saying they still will step up, and fight for this position. Someone will be elected and the next mayor of detroit ultimately will rebuild the city. It will not be rick snyder or the conservative republicans. It will be the person who is elected. Unluckily this person wont be able to take real charge of detroit for months maybe even years. John john nichols, washington correspondent for the nation and coauthor of dollarocracy thank you so much for joining us. Great to be with you, john. John a drunken bruce lee movie. You dont want to miss it. So that hand comes up next. Im a slutty bob hope. The troops love me. Tv and radio talk show host Stephanie Miller rounds out currents morning news block. Youre welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. vo sharp tongue. Excuse me . vo quick wit. And yes, president obama does smell like cookies and freedom. vo and above all, opinion and attitude. Really . this is the kind of stuff they say about something they just pulled freshly from their [bleep]. You know what those people are like. What could possibly go wrong in eight years of george bush . My producer just coughed up a hairball. Sorry. Just be grateful current tv doesnt come in smellovision oh come on the sweatshirt is nice and all, but i could use a golden lasso. vo only on current tv. vo later tonight, current tv is the place for compelling true stories. Jack, how old are you . Nine. This is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. vo with Award Winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. vo from the underworld, to the world of privilege. Everyone in Michael Jacksons life was out to use him. vo no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. John time for the latest ed dig of so that happened. Sure our government here in america functions about as well as a period drama with stephen segal, but at least were not made in taiwan. Lawmakers got down right punchy over the plan to build another Nuclear Power plant on the island. There is concern of course of a Nuclear Nightmare in the case of another earthquake. They have had five earthquakes this year along. The nationalists want the plant. The Democratic Progressive Party doesnt have power, but they are not afraid to fight for their beliefs. And this isnt even the first time the parliament turn pugilist. About 50 lawmakers through down back in june. Can you imagine the action vegas would lay on a John Boehner Harry Reid slugfest. Harry reid used to be a boxer, im guessing he would be the victor, but only when it doesnt count. In spite of all of this, the bill is expected to pass. Lets hope there is not a sixth earthquake this year. Go time. You know what time it is. Go time its go time. Its go time. What time is it rob . Here comes the young turks go time its go time. Oh is it . Oh, then its go time. Anybody . Anybody . What time is it . Oh, right. Its go time you know who is coming on to me now . You know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials . Those types are coming on to me all the time now. vo she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. Ok, so theres wiggle room in the Ten Commandments, thats what youre saying. You would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. Absolutely. And so would mitt romney. vo shes joy behar. And the best part is that current will let me say anything. What the hell were they thinking . John listen to the latino decisions released a National Poll that sound that 80 of latinos are following the news on Immigration Reform, and 78 say its very or extremely important for congress to actually pass an immigration bill with a path to sit sinship this year. Some 45 say they would vote for a republican if he or she could take the lead for passing Immigration Reform, and 63 say they would vote for a democrat if they took the lead. So just how important is latino vote . Which party gains the most from Immigration Reform, and how will age influence the ballot box next year and in 2016 . Joining me now to discuss these issues and many others facing the hispanic community, and by that i mean all of us, im joined by an incredibly diverse comedic panel, please welcome, first if you are in austin, texas, cap city from august 7th10, it is the one and only rojo perez. Thats the only r, ill roll, i promise. Thank you. John seen right here in nyc hosting killer comedy at the underground every friday night. The lovely carolina hidalgo. And finally another new york favorite you can rabbithole comedy at legion bar brooklyn ny its gabe pachecho gabe. Good evening. Thank you all for being here. A record 23. 7 million eligible voters in america according analysis at the census center. You cant hope to get the white house without at least 65 of the latino vote, which the Democratic Party seems to know. The Republican Party has half realized it. How could numbers like this effect the possibility of any serious Immigration Reform . Gabe . I mean, i think its just foolish not to really cater to the latino vote. So republicans are shooting themselves in the foot by not doing anything about this. John its sort of a twosided argument. On the National Level it is believed that you have to have latino vet voters in the party to win. Ann could ter said to nationallize them and let them have the vote, her point is that brings millions of new voters that she thinks would go directly to the Democratic Party. What do you think, rojo . I think it goes back to who is spear heading the immigration bill. I think they would be aware of who i think if rubio took the lead on this, it would help him immensely. John i think you are right. I give him credit for being the guy to get democrats on board. And now he is abandoned it as a topic and gone on this antiabortion crusade. Do you think marco rubio is the kind of guy who could unit republicans and democrats or is this movement dead for this year . I feel like marco rubio his topics are very they are kind of republican, kind of not. Like he is kind of spanish. [ laughter ] more like the Emilio Estevez of the republican committee. But i think ulterior motive would be more voters for the next election. John i thought he should have been the vp nominee last year. Hispanic and latino are terms that are often used interchangeably in the media, i find. They are different hispanic referring to Spanish Speaking people, while latinos refers to folks in the caribbean region. Is it right to lump cubans into an hispanic voting block . I think depending on where do you are in the country, what age you are and what latino background you come from, you will have special interests. And what kind of music you listen to. John that is actually very relevant, because it comes down to a generational divide. I think a lot of people leave that latinos are catholic, while democrats think, no, you have people who like hip hop and younger people who dont care about those issues and are more likely to vote for democrats. What do you think . I think this Younger Generation is clearly more open to marriage quality, to the abortion rights obviously. I think it is a catholic background, but over the years i feel we were all raised religious, but at least for me it is definitely not in the forefront like it was for my parents or obviously my grandparents. John is that something that latino voters share the most in common, with say caucasian catholics. And maybe arent going to vote just based on abortion as an issue . I think the republicans should find a way, if they want to succeed to align themselves with what are some cultural latino and hispanic dispositions. One of which being either a catholic background or a rising pentecostal and protestant background because there has been so much evan gallization down there. And also just the family. The family is still a huge thing in latino commune tease. So if the republicans push im not interested in this but if they promoted th family values sort of approach, they could capture a lot of the latino vote. John lets say they go for banning abortion rights, banning gay marriage, will that lose a lot of the young vote . I think so. Thats the thing about hispanics in american, because we have american. And its a young idea, maybe it might be. Abortion rights, what we do with our bodies, and gay and lesbian rights. I feel like Everyone Wants to be equal at this point, and thats a new popular thought. John how huge was it that george w. Bush did Campaign Commercials in spanish . It was adorable. Yeah, i dont think it made a difference. John he speaks spanish almost as well as he does english. All right. When we come back, a beautiful song of National Love that stirs up a lot of national hate. Stick around. Compelling true stories. Jack, how old are you . Marijuana looks like. vo with Award Winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. vo from the underworld, to the world of privilege. Everyone in Michael Jacksons life was out to use him. vo no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. This show is about analyzing, criticizing, and holding policy to the fire. Are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night . Is this personal, or is it political . A lot of my work happens by doing the things that im given to doing anyway, by staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. In reality its not like they actually care. This is purely about political grandstanding. Ive worn lots of hats, but ive always kept this going. Ive been doing politics now for a dozen years. vo hes been called the epic politics man. Hes Michael Shure and his arena is the war room. These republicans in congress that think the world ends at the Atlantic Ocean border and Pacific Ocean border. The bloggers and the people that of the day. I do a lot of looking at those people as well. Not only does senator rubio just care about rich people, but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. But we do care about them right . John when we talk about any mi mine norty group, we know there is going to be a conversation about hate. And where is better to show ones bigotry than at a baseball game. Im sure we all member when mark anthony graced the Major League Baseball allstar game with his time and talents. God bless america my Home Sweet Home [ cheers and applause ] john and the crowd booed him during that performance. Now maybe they are just big jlo fans, i think he was just too darn good. Here so talk about that im joined by comedians, rojo perez, carolina hidalgo, and gabe pacheco. Three specific new york comics. There were some boos, but the response on line were disgusting. Here is one quote that was on twitter. Mark anthony singing the national anthem, am i the only one who finds that unamerican . Dumb white people continues to be our number one export. And i think folks think there is just one kind of hate. But america proves that is not true. We have many strains of hate, right . Were you surprised by this . It blew my mind. Hes porta rican, so even if he wasnt born here, he would still be a u. S. Citizen. John absolutely. And its such a weird thing, where its like, wait a minute theres a spanish guy on the field, he is not throwing the ball, he is not hitting it, and he rolls his rs differently. This cant be. My thought was what does simon cowell have to think about this . I thought it was pretty good. I dont know why people were against this. He manage to hit all of he right is that what were talking about . John people said he was unamerican. I think maybe a lot of those people that are opposing that were people who did not look like him, or that were not like him, but then again he was singing at a baseball game, so i think a lot of the Baseball Players probably look a lot like him. John thats exactly right. It the notion where if the only kind of american are the ones who look exactly like you his what in the ring . His hat. Always outspoken, joy behar. And the best part is that current will let me say anything. What the hell were they thinking . Only on current tv. [ technical difficulties ] john their plan ignore the racistel elephant, thankfully im not working for you or shark led by credibility. But i do have muslim friends, at one point a muslim helped save my dads life. So while they may not want to stand up to the bigots, there aint nothing stopping me. So you hate monkey trolls, listen up, qatar is a us ally. And why you cant believe a president would ever lie us into war, but do believe a president can be a secret muslim, georgetown, northern, even texas a m have campuses in doeha. Yeah, i dont like how women are treated in qatar, but i dont like how women and gays are treated here either. And i dont like that show who is hosted by kowadari, but i really didnt like it on july 13th, 2010, when glennback said muslims killed jesus. Most of you think rwanda was jjs sister on good times, but they represent an investment in america, they represent facts over opinion, and represent our cultures coming together just a little bit more. In the end your racism doesnt matter. They will launch, the channel will evolve and grow, and people who believe that obama is really a muslim, while also believe in cutting programs for the poor, are christians. Thank you. This is viewpoint. This is current tv. Were still here. Seven shows to go. Good night, mom. Joy tonight well find the real story about the wire hangers. Plus a new study says we should be have sex twice a week, and part two of my conversation with the soprano, he has a story about president clinton that i guarantee will make you laugh out loud. All of that and more tonight on