Transcripts For MSNBC The Ed Show 20131105

Position. I want synchro nicety in government. Ken cuccinelli is not supportive of our president s agenda. Im scared to death of what obama care is doing to virginia virginians. Nobody likes a cry baby. Everything theyre talking about, its about undoing the progress. Grind progress to an absolute halt. Its about undoing the progress that the vast majority of the American People think was progress. Now, we didnt get universal health care, we didnt get the public option. But we got some good things. We moved forward. It is the working mans friend, and god bless him. Im ready for round two im ready for round two. The whole nation is looking at this race. Thats not hyperbole. The whole country is waiting for your choice. Goodbye stranger its been nice hope you find your paradise good to have you with us tonight, folks. Thanks for watching. Lets talk about virginia. Its womens rights, its voting rights, its health care. In fact, cuccinelli says this is a referendum on obama care. Really . And he is scared about obama care. Of course, the state opted out of it, so its the federal exchange that scares the hell out of him. How about these numbers, 7. 8 Million People live in the state of virginia, over 1 million dont have insurance, roughly 14 of the population. And Ken Cuccinelli is afraid that the 14 percenters, they might get helped . Oh, yes, were keeping a close eye on virginia. This race could really be a big set back for the tea party. I mean, when marco rubio goes to stump for this guy and says that the country is watching you, ill take those odds. The latest poll shows democrat Terry Mcauliffe beating fringe republican candidate, Ken Cuccinelli, by six points. The polls, of course, are going to be open until 7 00 tonight, eastern time. Get out and vote. Cuccinelli has been a vocal opponent of obama care, and he has made it clear he will kick and scream every step of the way to stop virginians from getting health care. His opponent, Terry Mcauliffe, sees the world differently, no doubt. He will embrace the Affordable Care act. Ken cuccinelli has made this an election a referendum on obama care. Just listen to the rhetoric cuccinellis campaign pits out on the campaign trail. Tomorrow in virginia is a referendum on obama care. I was the first attorney general to sue on obama care. It took about 30, 35 minutes. After the president signed the bill. That Health Care Law will only get worse. This race, its a very clear choice between a strong supporter of it and the first attorney general in america who stood up against it. Ken cuccinelli was the first attorney general to sue over obama care. We are seeing before our eyes the destruction that this program is reaping on liberty itself, on our health care, on our economy, on families, and its all across the country. Theres competition, theres choice, theres lives being saved, and costs are being reduced. And theyre against it. If cuccinelli loses, its a clear sign that the voters want obama care . His referendum on obama care will backfire and it will be a big gift to the democrats in 2014. The last thing republicans want is for virginia to look Something Like kentucky. When i was in kentucky on monday, visiting the pulse center for the state health exchange, i saw a very organized machine, as we reported last night. Now its over 33,000 people who have signed up. The state is expecting half of the 640,000 people in the state of kentucky who do not have Health Insurance to sign up before the 1st of the year. Who could be against that . This is the way obama care was supposed to work. Kerry ban ahan is the executive director of kentuckys Health Insurance exchange. She told me Community Outreach is key to having a successful exchange. Youve been to every county in the state. How important has that been . You know, thats one of the important things our office has done, is to go out and do outreach and education. Speaking engagements. We have 11 this week to get the word out about connect and advise people what the requirements are. Weve had public forums. We have connectors in different areas of the state who also are responsible for education. As well as enrolling folks. What are the consumers saying . I mean, they dont care about the politics of it. What are they what are they saying . Whats the reaction . You know, its interesting, because when we have attended health fairs and Community Events and baseball games, we dont hear about the politics. The main concern is folks are interested in information. They know someone that doesnt have insurance. Their son or daughter doesnt have insurance. So theyre just thirsty for information on how to apply, and what the qualifications are. So wheres the pushback . Wheres the march . Why is it that every time Ken Cuccinelli in virginia talks about health care, only about 100 people show up . I mean, if every state adopted the kentucky model, we wouldnt be hearing all this negative stuff and problems with obama care. 27 states, including virginia, have opted out of creating exchanges, causing problems, obviously, for the federal government to set up the federal exchange. They didnt expect it. The good news is, theyre working out the kinks. More testimony came today in the senate hearing, and Obama Administration officials saying they are fixing the problems. We are now able to process nearly 17,000 registrants per hour, or five per second, with almost no errors. We have updated the site several times since october 1, fixing bugs and improving the healthcare. Gov experience. Now, she came to capitol hill today and gave some numbers. I love numbers. I love absolutes. I love facts, unlike hannity. If republican governors would have actually governed and set up state exchanges, obviously the law would be working a heck of a lot better. The architects of obama care werent expecting this massive pushback from republican politicians and obstruction. They might have planned differently if they knew this was coming. This is why i think weve got to be talking about round 2 on the democratic side. Round 2 of health care, and lets revisit the public option. So if marco rubio wants to show up in virginia and if Ken Cuccinelli wants to embrace all these obstructionists, its all crystal clear, isnt it . These people do not want those who do not have insurance to get it. Meanwhile, a new report out today shows 17 Million People will qualify for subsidies under obama care. This is what not is not being reported. If you earned 46,000 a year or less, you would qualify for tax credits to reduce the costs of monthly premiums. Thats good news. And if you earn 29,000 a year or less, and theres a lot of americans that are there, well explain that later in this broadcast, about just what 29 grand is to the working folk of america in this country, you can get additional subsidies to cover outofpocket costs like copays. These are the details that, well, fox just isnt talking about. And if youre wondering how many people in this country make about 29,000 a year, stick around. Weve got some staggering numbers for you on that a little bit later on. Get your cell phones out. I want to know what you think. Tonights question. Will red state governors pay a political price for not implementing obama care . Text a for yes, text b for no to 67622, you can always go to our blog at ed. Msnbc. Com and leave a comment there, especially about virginia. And, of course, well bring results later on in the show. For more on this, i want to bring in the senator from iowa, tom harken, who was on the ground floor of the Affordable Care act. He quarterbacked this thing through committee. Senator, good to have you with us tonight. Always good to be with you, ed, thanks. Were you expecting this level of pushback from the red states . I mean, when obama care the Affordable Care act was being put together, was there conversation in committee that, you know what, were going to run into this obstruction, a lot of states arent going to take it and were going to have to fix this . Ed, im really glad you brought oh this up. Because when we were debating this way back when, and trying to figure out how to do all this, a lot of us on the liberal side said, well, okay, well give something to the states, well let the states set up their own exchanges. Many conservatives wanted to do that. So we made that agreement. We thought that would be a good idea. So we put it out there. Lo and behold, all these republican governors get elected in 2010 and republican legislatur legislatures. And they dump it all on the federal government. We never expected that. Had we known that from the beginning, the architecture of setting up the exchanges would have been a lot different. But then they dumped it in our laps. If you look im glad you went to kentucky, because kentucky, washington, colorado, rhode island, even the district of columbia, where they have set up state exchanges, theyre working just fine. And now we heard today from marlin tavenner, theyre fixing this problem. Its a mechanical problem. There is nothing wrong with the Affordable Care act. There is nothing wrong with obama care. We have a problem, yes. And im upset about it, just as everyone else is. But its being fixed. Its a mechanical problem and it will be fixed by the end of this month. But being able to process 17,000 people a minute is a hard number. This is a hard number, so when you say its being improved, i mean, we have something to go on there. This is testimony in a senate committee. If you could go back, if you could have crafted this differently to avoid all this obstruction, would we be so much further along that it wouldnt even be a political issue . Well, ed, you said it earlier. We need a public option out there. We needed a public option in this program. I fought hard for it. But we didnt get it. And probably from the very beginning, we should have just set it up as a federal architecture, as a national architecture, set it up that way. But we thought states wanted to do this. And quite frankly, it was the states, the republican governors, and its interesting, ed. They all campaigned, didnt they, on states rights . Sure, they did. Yeah. But then when it came to this, oh, no, they dont want it. They want to dump it on to the federal government. Clearly yesterday from our report, from the sources on the ground in kentucky, its a job creator. More people are getting insurance than ever before in the state of kentucky. Such is the case with the states you mentioned. And Senate Minority leader, Mitch Mcconnell, responded to the success of obama care in his home state of kentucky today. He said, quote, 85 of the people who have signed up in kentucky have signed up for medicaid. Thats free health care. If you want to give out free health care, youre going to have a lot of interests, just like free anything else. So i know theres been a great effort on the part of the administration, and the governor of kentucky, to paint a pretty picture. Well, let me show you the picture that Mitch Mcconnell paints. He is in favor of corporations not paying their fair share. Hes okay with one in four corporations in this country not paying any tax. Hes in favor of allowing Oil Companies who are making record profits to get away with taxpayer it subsidies. So this still is a matter of priorities. Is Mitch Mcconnell making the case to the people of kentucky that the people who have signed up with the preexisting conditions and over the 33,000 people who were going to get health care and more so of the 640,000 that dont have it, is he saying they dont deserve it, because theyre not some kind of special american that doesnt qualify, the wealthy . Their pushback, senator, i guess my question is, are they running out of material . They are running out. And now it has become, they want i liked what was said this morning by senator warren. In our hearing with ms. Tavenner. She said, really, what were talking about is changing a value system. The old value system was what the republicans want. Where the Insurance Companies could cut you off, if you had a preexisting condition, they wouldnt cover you. Where your only recourse if you were poor was to go to the emergency room. Thats the old value system. The newel value system, what were saying, ed, is every person in america will be covered with Health Insurance, that they cant be taken away, no matter what preexisting conditions you have. And you can get Preventive Services up front, so you dont have to wait to go to the emergency room. Thats the new value system. And im telling you, the American People want this new value system in health care. Senator, you come from iowa, middle of the country, a rural state. Farming is kind of a big deal in your backyard. I mean, theres a lot of Small Farmers out there that are going to be able to get some tax credits, and some help when it comes to obama care, or is that too pretty a picture for Mitch Mcconnell . Im telling you, ed, the farmers and the Small Businesses in iowa are going to have the kind of Health Care Coverage that they have never been able to get or afford in the past. Yes, they might have been able to afford to get some policy, but it didnt cover anything. And there was a lot of policies out there that were, quite frankly crappy. Junk. Junk policies. Well now, no more of those junk policies. People will have good, solid policies, and if theyre lowincome, theyll get a subsidy. You said that Mitch Mcconnell said most of these people signing up in kentucky were from medicaid. If thats the case, hes got a lot of poor people in that state. Because you and i both know, ed, youve got to fall down into a poverty area before you can qualify for medicaid. Is exactly right. And i also find it very interesting that Governor Beshear said that over 400 businesses, Small Businesses in kentucky, have looked into the exchange and are making decisions on it, but i didnt hear Mitch Mcconnell put out any number about Small Businesses whatsoever. The bottom line here is, and what is being underreported, is Rural America in Rural Development is going to explode in a big way for the positive, because of the Affordable Care act. Thats whats not i think being i think thats being overshad overshadowed. I also think, ed, youre going to see a lot more entrepreneurs starting Small Businesses, and getting into business, because now theyll have health care and Health Care Coverage for the workers, which they couldnt have before. Senator tom harken, great to have you with us tonight. Thank you, sir. Appreciate your time. Thanks, ed. Remember to answer tonights question there at the bottom of the screen. Share your thoughts with us on twitter at ed show and on facebook. And i think im going to have to tweet out, senator mcconnell, can you comment on the 400 businesses in your state that are going to be signing up for connect . Coming up, preacher cruz can see russia from his pulpit. Teds dad is at it again, this time with some bizarre soviet scare tactics. Plus, rocky politics. How progressives are fighting a war of northern aggression at the polls tonight. Stay with us. 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Com. And on the radio, youll find us weekdays noon to 3 00, sirius xm channel 127. The ed show social media nation has decided, we are reporting. This is todays top trenders voted on by you. All right, thats good. The number three trender. I. D. Flaw. Some wouldbe voters are running into problems due to the new rules. Its supposeded to keep frauds away from the election polls. Not a former u. S. Congressman. Former house speaker, jim wright, is a victim of the texas voter i. D. Law. Wright, now 90 years old, realized his drivers license was expired. Its a fine i. D. Its going to work. Its passable, okay . Ive had a long career trying to help. Wright worries a hassle for others might keep them away. And thats a problem for him. Every american citizen who wants to vote ought to be allowed to vote. The number two trender, your moment. Communism or socialism, whatever you want to call it, it is about government control of your lives. Ted cruzs dad claims evolution is a communist plot. Communism, or call it socialism if you think communism is a foolhardy word. Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth . Necessitate for government to be your god. Thats why communism and evolution go handinhand. So they can convince you came from a monkey, its much easier to convince you that god does not exist. What you just said is one of the most insanely, idiotic things i have ever heard. And todays toptrender. Milehigh movements. It is election day here in colorado. There are a few key issues in this election. Folks in colorado vote on taxing the rich. Amendment 66 asks voters to approve an increased income tax to raise more than 950 million a year for schools. This is going to have a positive impact on every Single School district in the state. And splitting the state. At least 11 rural counties, north of denver, now threatening to secede. They say there are simply too many new laws they dont believe in. We are tired of being ignored, tired of being politically disenfranchised. They dont see a way to move the state back into republican control. They figure maybe just leaving is the only other option oh should i stay or should i go now joining me now is rick pell as o, chairman of the colorado democratic party. Good to have you with us tonight. Im intrigued by there are 11 counties in the state of colorado that want to break away from colorado and become the 51st state . Do i have that right . Who and what is behind this breakaway . Yeah, thats right, ed. Thanks for having me with you. Weve got 11 counties in Northern Colorado, mostly Northern Colorado that have decided that they want to hold votes today to secede from the state. And form their own their own state. You know, its sort of like some kid threatening to run away from home. Thats pretty much whats going on right now. How organized is this . Who is behind this . What do they want, their own Tea Party Nation . Thats a good question. You know, it looks like there are some folks that feel like theyre disen franchised in rural parts of the state and want to form their own government. You know, whats behind it, and how organized they are, i think is yet to be seen. That vote is going to happen today, so well see the result of that vote. I mean, its really sort of all futile, because we have a democraticcontrolled legislature here that is certainly not going to allow them to secede, and then this of course, has to be taken up at the national level. And god knows, thats not going to happen, considering they cant get anything done right now in washington. Well, they got it on the ballot. They must have some organization. They must have met some stipulation put out by the state to be able to get the referendum on the ballot. You have i mean, this is i mean, for instance, i understand weld county is one of them. Heck, thats where Northern Colorado university is. It is. Its not like these people are totally out in the sticks. This looks like a real organized effort to go against every law thats been past since president obama has come into the oval office. Its total rejection. And now they want their own state. Yeah. You know, they want their own state now. I wouldnt be surprised if they wanted their own country after this. This youre absolutely right, though. This is the same type of people that make up the tea party. And i would imagine that there are a lot of Tea Party Folks that are behind this. It doesnt take much in colorado to get something on to the ballot at the county level. So they gathered some oh signatures, they had those things certified, sent to their clerks and now theyre on the ballot in 11 counties. This started with one or two county commissioners in weld county. Some of the rightist of the right tea party commissioners theyve got in weld. And it seems like its spread a little bit. But, you know, i think the important thing here is, one, of course, they need to be listened to, and feel reich theyre not being listened to. But i would encourage them to just try to do a little bit outreach towards the rest of the state, and join the club. Dont take your toys and go home. And thats what theyre threatening to do. Well, fellows show me that map one more time. This has a rather strange psychology to it. How do we know that all these other counties, not the green, all the other counties, arent going to say, you know, hell with those folks. Let them go start their own state. I mean, do you know how this vote is going to turn out . Yeah, you know, people in rural colorado and urban colorado, regardless of where you live, were independentminded individuals. So there is a similar traits that we all have. I would say that common sense is going to prevail. Okay. And that all of these ballot measures are going to fail. Well, if all of the ballot measures are going to fail, because youve got one of them to raise almost 1 billion for Public Education by taxing the wealthiest residents of colorado. How is that going to play out . Because income inequality, of course, has been a big subject nationwide. Right. Well, i would say all of the secession ballot measures are going to fail. You know, ed, one of the largest inequities we have that exists right now is the one that exists in Public Education and the way its funded. And colorado is no exception to that. You have huge disparities in the way that schools are funded in rural parts of the state versus urban. And huge disparities between kids that are white and the kids that are minority. So what 66 does, this ballot measure that is stwooid, it proposes to try and fix that, and create and fix these inequities. Well, it goes after wealthiest residents, thats the bottom line. Lets see if it works. Well, lets see if it works. And we certainly that it does work, because if this is going to be a huge loss for the kids across the state, if it doesnt. All right. Rick palaceio, appreciate your time. Colorado, one to follow tonight. Our electionday coverage continues with Chris Christie, and the fleecing of new jersey. Plus, one of ws buddies lands in tonights pretenders for his attack on president obama. Next, im taking your questions. Ask ed live just ahead. Stay with us on msnbc. As a business owner, im constantly putting out fires. So i deserve a Small Business credit card with amazing rewards. With the spark cash card from capital one, i get 2 cash back on every purchase, every day. I break my back around here. Finally someones recognizing me with unlimited rewards meetings start at 11, cindy. [ male announcer ] get the spark Business Card from capital one. Choose 2 cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day. Whats in your wallet . I need your timesheets, larry whats in your wallet . 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What if the underlying cause of your symptoms is damaging inflammation . For help getting the answers you need, talk to your doctor and visit crohnsandcolitisadvocates. Com to connect with a patient advocate from abbvie for onetoone support and education. Love your tweets, love your questions. Keep them coming. Love hearing from our viewers. Tonight in our ask ed live segment, first question from aria. What do christian values mean to republicans . Christian values. Not that there arent christian values. But when you put it to politicians, and political operatives, it now becomes a crutch to justify anything they want in the political arena, connected to scripture and oftentimes they turn out to be totally hypocritical. So what do christian values mean to republicans . Its just a stepping stone, a footsto footstool, to get exactly what they want in the political arena. They hide behind their plastic jesus, quite often. Just look at some of the things that have been said on the house floor. Our next question comes from judy strollo. She wants to know, why is teaching the only occupation where experience is not valued . Well, this too is a republican effort to demean Public Education. The republicans basically have ignited this chain of thought, and their new philosophy is, as a teacher, youre only as good as your last test score. Everything youve done in the past in those great students that have left your classroom and gone on and been successful in life and been good citizens, you really didnt have anything to do with that. You had a bad class, you had a bad test score, so youre a lousy teacher. Thats, i guess you could savings the Chris Christie evaluation. One thing that really bothers me about christie in new jersey, hes you know, was in the legal system, an attorney on wall street, no experience whatsoever, not professionally trained at all in education, but all of a sudden, he is the selfanointed expert on education in america, and he has all the answers. Cut a billion dollars out of the system, fired 6,000 teachers, and just tell everybody im an expert. Thats where Chris Christie is. So why is teaching the only occupation where experience is not valued . That is a republican value to go after experienced teachers. They dont want to pay you. Stick around, Rapid Response panel is coming up. Im Mary Thompson with your cnbc market wrap. In trade on tuesday, the dow lost 20 points, the s p fell 4, but the nasdaq managed to gain 3 points. The private sector is showing growth. U. S. Service firms expanded in october, despite the government shutdown, up a point with a jump in sales in hiring. 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[ crowd cheering ] now if kevin can just seize the opportunity. Hes seen it. Its all over. Nothing but daylight. Yes id love a cookie. [ male announcer ] make a powerful first impression. The nissan sentra. Now get one fifty nine per month lease on a twothousand thirteen nissan sentra. I had all kinds of folks whispering in my ear today. Im a democrat. Dont tell anybody, im voting for you. Welcome back to the ed show. For reasons unknown to the ed show, some democrats in the media think that christie is a bipartisan hero. In a few short hours from now, the Mainstream Media love affair with Chris Christie will crank certainly right into full gear. How did he do it . Hes such a hero. The new jersey governor looks like hes going to, you know, lick his competition. And, of course, then set his sights on 2016. But i say dont fall for all the hype. Christie will be painted as a reasonable republican. Who won a deeply blue state. Nothing could be further from the truth. Christie has never met a union he didnt want to crush. Christie has always been bent over for millionaires who dont want to pay their fair share. Just look at his tax policies. Christie killed an Infrastructure Project that would have created thousands of jobs and helped the state of new jersey. Christie hates Public Schools, and especially Public School teachers, as we found out in recent days. Christie has said many times that he is against gay marriage, he doesnt think gay people deserve the same rights as everyone else. I think that Chris Christie has no problem with discrimination. The moderate from new jersey is no different on social issues than Ken Cuccinelli in virginia or Michele Bachmann out of minnesota. Chris christie is the most dangerous kind of republican there is. He seems to like a guy who will reach a Cross Party Lines to get things done. No. Christie will get things done. He will turn america bark to the bush era de backel that crippled this country for years. He is wrongheaded on so many issues. But hes probably going to win tonight. Hes the media darling, here in the big apple. Joining me now is our Rapid Response panel, randy wine gartner, president of the American Federation of teachers. Bob shrum, democratic strategist with us, and professor at nyu. Great to have you with us. Randy, you first, this exchange that Chris Christie had with a teacher in recent days. Your thoughts on that. Its appalling, offensive. Look, a picture tells a thousand words. And this picture basically said, with the governor who is comfortably in the lead, who a year ago, with hurricane sandy, was acting like comforter in chief with the teachers to actually put his finger up and point to her like that to the point that she was shivering and shaking is staggering. You dont i dont care what your policy is about education. You dont give the impression that the people who educate our kids should be shouted at and hectored out. His wife seems to be entertained by it with a smile on her face. Bob, is he politically uncoachable . I think hes politically himself. I think hes a standard, conservative republican. There are two factors that make him look more moderate and explain what you were saying earlier. First, sandy was indelible. The image was indelible. He looked for once like a politician who put people ahead of politics. Its kind of like what guiliani did after 9 11. Guiliani, by the way, who was the last socalled moderate republican, was actually pro choice, and sort of for gay rights. This guy is not. But the other thing is the Republican Party has moved so far to the right, and that he looks comparatively better. And ill tell you why. He wouldnt endorse the government shutdown. He may be forgiving all the tax breaks to the millionaires. He may be in favor of beating up the School Teacher, shortchanging education. But on something as fundamental as that, he decided he was going to take a stand. He looks moderate compared to ted cruz. Anybody does. The real question is whether hell be forgiven his small lapses into moderation, given his overall conservatism in republican primaries. Does personality count . Hes this tough jersey guy that just lets it roll offthecuff. And people seem to gravitate at that to that of the. I know, but look at whats happening in new york city, right across the river, and the at the same moment. Bill de blasio will probably also win by a large amount today. And bill de blasio is talking about a whole different philosophy about how you bring people together, about how you nak make education the centerpiece. De blasio in new york was talking about how the central issue was how we recruit, retain and support public stool School Teachers. So i think what youre seeing now is that this is a guy who, look, he did a contract with us in newark. And he was very pragmatic then. I think this is someone who has decided that when it works for him, he puts his wags his finger and acts tough. And when it doesnt, he tries to act pragmatic. And i think that will start falling on deaf ears to people. How does that play nationally . I think its a big look, its a great strength that he seems authentic, that he seems real. Its also a great weakness if it crosses the line over into acting like a bully. And hes done that several times. When i think about that School Teacher, what kind of message are you sending to school kids if youre the governor and youre doing this to the School Teacher and youre heckling the School Teacher . School teachers have enough of a challenge trying to keep their classrooms in order these days without the governor setting that kind of example. So i think he could get himself in a lot of trouble. He could have a very bad moment, for example, in a debate with hillary clinton. If he lost his temper in a debate with hillary clinton, he would basically kill himself. Any time he loses his temper, hes very demeaning to other people. And this is so, look, it feels like the governor has a problem with anger management. Thats what it feels like. But i agree, i cant i cant emphasize enough the point bob just made. In schools, the value of respect and dignity and civility, which is in short supply in the nation these days, is so important. And when you have a governor that does that to a School Teacher, who is simply trying to ask a question, what signal does it send to the entire state about civility, and how we should actually comport ourselves with each other . Well, if he jumps in for 2016, you can bet that his counterparts are going to be using this against him. I mean, you know the other republican candidates are going to be all you know what theyre going to use against him . Theyre going to say he didnt file a hopeless appeal in the new jersey gay marriage case. Theyre going to use that in iowa. Theyre going to try to make out that hes not a conservative. Theyre going to attack him for the moments of pragmatism he has had. And hes going to have to stand there saying, im a conservative, i believe in all this. And his real question, the real choice is whether hes going to pull a mitt romney and decide to move further and further to the right. Or pull a Chris Christie, please stand up and lose his cool, right . Lose his cool in all this. Randy, bob, great to have you with us tonight. Thanks so much. Thank you, ed. Still ahead, a staggering new numbers on income in america, and the fight for the middle class. Senator Bernie Sanders joins us for the punchout. Stay with us. I said hey baby i got your Money Customer erin swenson ordered shoes from us online but they didnt fit. Customers not happy, im not happy. Sales go down, im not happy. 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Now, while half of American Workers earn under 27,000, the richest americans saw wages climb to absolutely new heights. The number of americans making over 5 million or more grew by 27 . While the richest americans prosper, the other 99 of workers are left to suffer. This vulture chart which we have shown on the ed show many times illustrates the increasing gap between the richest 1 americans and average earners. The disparaging numbers are getting worse. Senator Bernie Sanders with us tonight, independent from vermont. Good to have you with us. All of the things you have talked about are coming to fruition, no doubt. Senator, how does an economic recovery take place when youve got wage earners going in the wrong direction. First thought, thank you very much for discussing this issue. Because youre one of the few people in the media who, in fact, are dealing with one of the great economic and moral issues facing our country. And the answer to your question is were having a great economic recovery if youre on wall street, if youre in the top 1 , if you are one of the multinational corporations that is enjoying recordbreaking profits. For the people on top, the economic recovery has been extraordinary. But you are in the middle class, your wages have gone down. Median Family Income has gone down by 5,000 since 1999. Ed, today we have more people in this Country Living in poverty than at any time in the history of america. And the gap between the very, very rich and everybody else is growing. That is almost an unbelievable statement. We have more poverty now than weve ever had in americas history. And we sit there and watch our politicians not even talk about it or do anything about it. A select few such as yourself. But its not only the politicians. Its the media as well. So we are seeing a disappearing middle class. We have the highest rate of poverty. I thank you for having the courage to get involved in this issue. Senator, no one has explained to anybody how were going to have an economic recovery when you have the Median Income going down in america. That means that there is, you know, less disposable income to spend in the economy. But it also restricts their ability to contribute to the community for the basic services that communities need to survive. I mean, theres going to have to be some kind of real tax reform to turn this around if were going to have full economic recovery. We may be sitting here at 7 , 8 unemployment for years to come. Your thoughts. Ed, what our republican friends are telling us is we have to cut Social Security, medicare, medicaid, nutrition food stamps, et cetera. And kwoun what the American People are saying . Theyre saying overwhelmingly in poll after poll, republican, democrat, independent, create jobs. Create the millions of jobs that this country desperately needs. Ed, one of the things i worry about is not only high unemployment, but it is even higher for young people. Kids graduating high school have no place to go. So what we need to do is focus on job creation, raising the minimum wage, changing our policy and paying attention to the middle class rather than the billionaires and multinational corporations. We have a Political Party in this country, the republicans, who do not view this as a problem. They dont talk about it. They dont address it. They dont even like using the term middle class. Theyre all about power. How could we ever restructure let me ask you this. Would this be a conversation piece in these budget negotiations that youre going to be involved in . I mean, the numbers are very clear. Oh, i have already and will continue to talk about that. Look, what the Budget Committee has got to do is to do what the American People want. And what the American People want is for the wealthiest people and the largest corporations in this country to start paying their fair share of taxes. The American People regardless of their ideology want to protect Social Security, medicare, and medicaid and want us to create jobs. My message for the Budget Committee is lets be radical. Lets do with what the American People want us to do. You went on a southern tour. Did you see these numbers in real life . Absolutely. Absolutely. You think its bad all over the country, it is. In the deep south, its even worse. And that is why we need to get rid of this mythology of red state, blue state. What we need to do is focus attention on these Economic Issues all over this country. Whether youre conservative or not, people want jobs. They want to raise incomes. They want to make college affordable. We can bring people together on a progressive economic message. And by the way, nobody that i know thinks it is acceptable to have this kind of grotesque inequality in america in terms of wealth and income