as we make these decisions about our budget going forward, though, i believe that everyone should be at the table and that the concept of shared sacrifice should prevail. if all the pain is borne by only one group whether it s workers or seniors or the poor while the wealthiest among us get to keep or get more tax breaks, we re not doing the right thing. i think that s something the democrats and republicans should be able to agree on. they didn t in the lame duck session. the democrats caved in on the bush tax cuts. that of course was president obama today speaking to the nation s governors at the white house. among those governors was new jersey republican chris christie. the irony was president obama was asking for shared sacrifice from a man who just last week
protecting the streets. they are librarians. they are people that aren t getting paid as much as you folks in the private sector. but for some reason they have captured all of the right wing bullet points and now it s time to villify anybody who is a public servant. well, conversely, the president today telling those governors, you know, we want good people in public service. and these are good people. they re so good that they are willing to share in the sacrifice. to a t when i was going through the crowd on friday those wage earners were saying, you know, we understand what the governor has to do. we just don t like the way he s doing it. they re villifying us. where is the shared sacrifice? we ll show you the tape later on in the program. what bothers me about all of this is that who are we becoming as americans that we want to begrudge someone else? if they have something? and i thought, coming back to
of wisconsin in the capitol when he proposes this budget. my sense is the outcry would be a louder roar than we ve heard up to this point. john nichols, washington correspondent of the nation always a pleasure to have you with us on the ed show. thanks so much. remember to answer tonight s text question there at the bottom of the screen. we want to know what you think. to serve, protect, and join the fight in defiance of governor scott walker. wisconsin police in a show of solidarity with protesters. one of those officers joins me. tonight s takedown. it s not just walker. these republican governors are attacking the american worker, too. in washington, the president s advice to budget challenged governors is clear. i believe that everyone should be at the table. the concept of shared sacrifice should prevail. we went to trenton to see what the people of new jersey have to say to governor christie. when i grow up, i want to fix up old houses.
said that he would not raise taxes on millionaires. on friday after governor christie refused to raise taxes on millionaires, i went to a rally in support of unions there and in wisconsin. and i found out that it s working people who are the ones who are willing to sacrifice. what if he were to tax the rich? what if he were to add you mean not repeal the millionaires tax in new jersey? you d go along with shared sacrifice? yes. of course. but the way it is now? it s not shared. it feels like it s not shared sacrifice. if there was a shared sacrifice would you go along with it? i mean, like it seems like the rich get the breaks. what if they were to be taxed a little bit more? would you go along with that and take some sacrifices yourself? sure. yes. i mean, if actually the wealthy in this country actually got taxed, you know, the millionaires tax got passed,
some cuts? do you understand what governor christie is trying to do? yeah. they do. they understand the numbers. they understand the business of the state. and they re willing to take some cuts but they are not willing to sit there and be the only people taking cuts. i m glad we re finally talking about shared sacrifice. now of course the republicans will come back and say wait a minute. they ll give you all kinds of percentages about how over taxed millionaires are right now and they just cannot fork out anymore money because they re the job creators. well, if that s the case where the hell are the jobs? the fact of the matter is that it s the have and have not society. and even those who are struggling and those people that work on fixed incomes, they re the real americans. they re willing to bite the bullet even further. but you think the millionaires are? you think the top 2% is? no. they re strong-arming all these politicians making sure they get the right people in office who