Transcripts For MSNBC 20100304

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>> well, i don't know yet. and i don't know yet because -- i mean, i'm talking to progressives house to strong supporters of public option, i work with them really along through this whole process, from the energy and commerce committee to the floor and since. if the bill starts in the house, the reconciliation bill, and comes to the senate and, you know, the president and house and senate leaders have said don't amend it because they just want one vote in the senate not to go back to the house, that's different situation. so, i don't know. but i do know this if we have any way of getting the public option in this bill, i'm fighting to do that. if we don't get it in this bill, then we are still not going to quit. ted kennedy always said that health care reform never really ends. and so you know, by the time these ex-changes are set up, which is still two, three years away, we have time, i'm not putting it off until then, i'm saying what ever we need to do i need the president on board to help push this and senate leadership has shown its support. i know the house leadership support it is, but i don't know this process yet because it is pretty unprecedented to pass a bill and then to fix it with reconciliation. >> you can't ignore 35 senators signing onto a bit. you can't ignore that and i know you're not, but where are the rest of the democrat on this? what is the holdup? what are they afraid of? are they afraid of political backlash that may be in their backyard the public option doesn't play well? what do you think? >> several reasons and none of them are particularly satisfying to your listeners or frankly to me. some senators don't sign letters like that. some would rather not be out front, although what is hardly out front, 'cause there is already 35 of us a handful of -- chairman harkin has said if this comes to a vote staying for three months or six months and i think the same we get between 53 and 56 democrats, something along those lines, i still think we get upwards of 50, i don't have any idea exactly what number, but if it is an up or down vote, but it depends on what -- people are looking to the president in part and that keeps some people off the letter, as the president just saying he is for it or does the president really want us to do it? this is pretty complicated. as i said, because we haven't ever quite done anything like this, i really can't be more specific, as much as i would like to are the commitments still there from a whole lot of us there is a strong core of support. the public option it does all the things, you know what it does it keeps the insurance companies a step ahead of the sheriff. we need to come down hard on them and rein all of that. >> it does. i want ask you finally, senator, quickly, are the democrats committed to reconciliation, yes or no? >> yes, absolutely. they are committed to health care and they are committed to reconciliation. one other comment. a friend of mine that was -- worked in the senate 40 years ago, 45 years ago during medicare, i was talking to him, i said this shouldn't be this hard several months ago. he said yes it should. medicare, anything do you this big is hard to do it's -- you've got interest groups weighing in. you know, now it is the tea parties. then it was the john birch society that said gift -- socialist takeover and a revolution and whatever term these used. it is hard, we are going to it and ensure 30 million people and that is a hell of a victory for this country once we do that in the next month. >> the pre-existing conditions being erased that would be a big victory as well. >> huge victories in this. we'd big turn, the tide's coming in. a couple of weeks ago, i don't think would you tell me that the democrats were committed to reconciliation. >> yeah, we are. we are. >> a big hurdle here. senator, good to have you with us. i appreciate your time tonight. >> thanks. down in arkansas, senator blanche lincoln has a curious response to getting a primary challenger out of the way. the left has mobilized behind arkans arkansas lieutenant governor bill heart, raising $5 million in the past week but blanche lincoln is hoping to win a democratic primary by claiming, well, she is really not a democrat. here is her new campaign commercial boasting all about her no votes. >> i voted against giving more money to wall street, against the auto company bailout, against the public option health care plan. and against the cap and trade bill that would have raised energy costs on arkansasens. none was right for arkansas. some in my party didn't like this very much. but i approve this message because i don't answer to my party, i answer to arkansas. >> joining me now is katrina vanden heuvel, from the nation. good to have you on the program. what is your response to senator lincoln's response on the two -- challenge on one of the big issues which is health care reform that would have no government involvement. >> first of all, she did vote for the bank bailout. second of all she talks about not answering to her party. she is not answering to her constituents. i mean, ed what you are seeing in arkansas is lieutenant governor bill halter, who is very popular down there speaking to constituents and feel that senator lincoln isn't answering the issues. she is one of those that senator brown didn't answer, she is pro-corporate, and she has voted against the interests of working families and the middle class. for the middle class, the public option would be critical factor in taken on insurance companies. i think there is a chance here, as you know, and what we have seen with the public option revival as washington editor chris hayes wrote about, this cpr for the public option there is a terrific network of progressive net roots activists who not only are raising small donations to oppose blanche lincoln and support her opponent but also working to get 35 senators that doesn't happen out of nowhere, maybe there will be 40, maybe 45 to fight to keep that public option alive, as it should be. >> this is going to be something interesting to watch because the unions are in this heavy now. >> yeah. >> and i'm told they may go deep near their pockets to challenge her and to support the lieutenant governor in a state where there's under 2% of union representation and workers. that's how bad they want to change and push back on the banks. and she, of course, has been favorable to the big bankers. is this the beginning of really a new era in politics where the grass roots, the net roots, are so powerful, that they will raise money and actually target people in their own party to get them out? >> it's a beginning, ed, and you nailed it labor, working with progressive net roots, working with citizens who want to change the balance of forces, primaries. look at the public option letter. kristen gillenbrand was going to face the tough race. i think if we could get five, six primaries going to show a new balance of power, could you see a new kind of politics emerge that would distance ourselves from the beltway inside dccc and like the progressive change committee could play a bigger role, democracy for america. this is a moment t is a possible turning point. >> i love it, it is democracy at work t is the grass rooters getting after it and making sure their voices are heard and one quickly, do you think that the lieutenant governor, halter is a real good democrat and deserves this progressive support or is he just the beneficiary of all the dislikes ofdeserves this pr support or is he just the beneficiary of all the dislikes of blanche lincoln? >> no he is taking on the banks. he understands the need to -- what you said earlier. senator durbin talked about the banks own the senate. woe come in and not let the banks own the place and not let the special interest wall of money challenge what's good for middle class working families. >> thanks, katrina. >> thank you. >> always a pleasure. great work at the nation. >> thank you. turning now to the other side of the aisle, michael steele and the rnc, they have made another major embarrassing goof, putting together a 2010 game plan where they encourage fearmongering and insult their -- their own donor base. politico got a copy of a presentation which was made in florida back on february 18th. here's page 29, entitled "motivation to give." it says, "regular republicans can be motivated by fear and reactionary instincts while major doaners can be motivated by ego." well, from page 30, republicans admit that if they had power they would sell influence in the white house house and senate, but since they don't, they are selling the glad donors can "save the country from trending toward socialism." from page 31 the tea party's favorite sign, president obama as the joker, plus pictures of nancy pelosi as cruella daville. i can't help laughing, i can't believe this is a strategy and of course, harry reid as scooby-doo. i think the bottom line here is this, don't put this in print. and if you do put it in print, don't leave it behind in a hotel lobby. for more, let's bring in our panel, laura flanders, who is the author of "blue grit" and host of grittv.org and abby stoddard, associate editor and columnist for the hill. ab, would this strategy work? if the rnc spends so much time and effort putting this together, do you think would work and be effective in the midterm? >> well, ed, one of the problems is the rnc has been having some trouble attracting attentions from the big, wealthy donors. they have been raising most of their money since michael steele took over from small dopers and those big doaners are giving to other places, like the nrsc and the nrcc, which are helping senate and house candidates, republican candidates in those races and those two chambers and of course, the republican governor's association. so money is going to other places. that is the problem with the rnc, an embarrassing incident like this, already having trouble with the wealthy donors, bringing in contributions from them w this being exposed, that becomes more of a problem. >> laura, i guess their strategy is to turn it around, attack their own donors and make them out to be a bunch of fools and where they are vulnerable to shake them down at the office, so to speak. >> you know. maybe there are some high dloirnts that would give the big bucks to be informed that scooby-doo is a socialist. i don't know those people but maybe the rnc does. the problem with all this is it is about political pollution and whether it works or not to elect anybody or raise any money what it does is muddy up the atmosphere and in an era of a two-minute news story, you are going to have half of that time taken in this ridiculous debate about what is socialism. >> okay, i want to get a take from both of you on the democrats. nancy pelosi came in said she was going to drain the swamp. here are the democrats looking at three stories staring the american people in the face, charlie rangel, you got the governor of new york and also eric massa, the congressman. ab this is not good for the democrats, how do you clean it up and how fast to do they do and will it hurt them? >> again, these are echoes of 2006, not exactly the same but certainly some similarities. you have the parties sinking in approval, in public approval polls much you have them embracing an unpopular poll circumstance ed, which unfortunately is health care reform and then you have these ethical clouds over several of their members f they manage to resolve these quickly and there are no more of them, this might not be a big theme in the elections. voters will make up their minds this summer and that narrative will be hard and by august. in the case of the republicans, all the things popular, congressman mark foley to florida, one week to the election. if they can clean this up, that might not be a problem, health care reform, a lot of other stuff, very unpopular, the fact they couldn't pass other things, energy reform, reg reform, the democrats are, you know, the wind is against them. >> laura, your response to that? >> i think the important factor here is that this is a detail, the bigger concern for democrats what they heard at the afl-cio convention, that working americans are frustrated by the lack of advance on labor issues, passage of afca and so on. they are looking at brookings institution numbers, 100 million americans that is like one-third of all families living at twice poverty or less. what is going to happen with those families this summer? where are the kids going to work you touched on at the top. those are the important issues. >> the middle class are -- >> i think people are going to mobilize around real issues this year. >> the middle classers are getting a raw deal that is how they feel right now laura flanders, ab stoddard, great to have you with us tonight. thank you. coming up, more trouble for toyota. scared consumers are coming forward and reporting that cars they bought, the one these brought in for repairs are still speeding out of control. i will get to the bottom of that in the playbook, right after this yeah. you know, if you had at&t, you'd have the nation's fastest 3g network... then you'd be able to download songs faster... download videos faster... and you can talk and surf the web at the same time... 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[ male announcer ] when you compare, there's no comparison. at&t. a better 3g experience. buy any smartphone after mail-in rebate and get any messaging phone free after mail-in rebate. you can label as "different." like janice. uh-huh. yeah. fashion deficient. and tom... copy incapable. it's open kimono time. looking good, dan. oh, we want to make sure all our ducks in a row. yeah. volume control syndrome. but we focus on the talent and skill that each person... brings to the team. i mean, no one's really concerned about labels. not even mine. labels get in the way. disabilities rarely do. visit thinkbeyondthelabel.com to evolve your work force. it's not too late to let us know what you think tonight, folks. get that phone out. the snub 1-877-ed-msnbc. tonight's telephone survey question is should there be a cap on tuition at state-funded colleges and universities? press 1 for yes. press 2 for no. again, the number to dial is 1-877-ed-msnbc. hi, ellen! hi, ellen! hi, ellen! hi, ellen! we're going on a field trip to china! wow. 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[ female announcer ] the new classroom. see it. live it. share it. on the human network. cisco. and in my playbook tonight, toyota is struggling to reverse the pr nightmare caused by their recall of millions of vehicles after reports of unintended acceleration. in hearings last week on capitol hill, testimony indicated that the problem could be electrical. but toyota insisted it was just loose floor mats and defective gas pedals and they say they have already fixed 1 million of the recalled cars and trucks. the problem now is the national highway traffic safety administration is getting complaints that those repairs simply aren't working. some vehicles that have supposedly been fix ready reportedly still speeding out of control. for more on this, let's bring in david lazarus, business columnist for the "l.a. times." mr. lazarus, just last weeks, you have got the toyota executives saying they take full responsibility, they are going to fix this and apparently, they haven't. where do we go from here? >> well, let's put some context on this, ed. first of all, toyota recalled 8 million vehicles for the unexpected acceleration problem. a whole lot of cars. now nhtsa has received fewer than two dozen reports of fixed cars stilling the problem. relatively a drop in the bucket, as you just said, indicative perhaps of a larger problem. toyota staying is sticky gas pedals or nasty floor mats it couldn't possibly, possibly be the electronic throttle control system which would be serious problem, a very major piece of computerized technology would cost a fortune to have to replace this. what is interesting, toyota has been swearing up and down that the electronic system had nothing whatsoever to do with this so you would think you would feel they are a pretty good engineering ground in saying that. these new reports, though, just add more fuel to lawmakers' fire who say, i don't think you fixed it. >> here is an exchange with patty murray and ray lahood, the transportation secretary. >> some toyota owners say they are still having trouble with unintended acceleration after their recalled cars were repaired. i wanted to ask you this morning what advice do you have today for consumers? >> we are subjecting to people if your car is not working properly, take it to the dealer and have them adress or fix -- >> that is what they did, they took it in. >> they need to take it back. they need to take the car back if it is not running -- if it is not running properly. >> is that gonna fly with congressional members, you think? eventuallily, it is leading down the road of tougher standards, i think. what do you think? >> i would think that is the case it is all going to depend now on the volume of complaints that comfort vehicles that ostensibly have been fixed. now it could be the lobby's dealers are bone heads and keep mucking up the job f that is the case, toyota has another problem on its hands. if these complaints enter into the triple digit area, nhtsa is going to step up and say you need to do more and then i think we are going to see more regulatory oversight either coming from congress or coming from nhtsa. >> david lazarus, good to have you with us tonight. thank you so much. coming up, sarah pailen did her best to call barack obama a celebrity. now she is try ing ing to break kids and hubby, todd into hollywood. nationally syndicated talk show host, lionel, might have the name of a good agent for her. that's next "the ed show." suitcase? huh? ♪ where do gummy bears hide? under the seat. look! yeah! ♪ [ telephone rings ] [ male announcer ] the all new chevy equinox. 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[ laughter ] [ male announcer ] a consumers digest best buy. with a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty. it takes you farther... and brings you closer. with a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty. sea salts vary in color and taste. one tops them all. adding it helps us use less salt than before in campbell's tomato soup while keeping the famous flavor. ♪ so many, many reasons ♪ it's so m'm! m'm! good! ♪ so, at national, i go right past the counter... and you get to choose any car in the aisle. choose any car? you cannot be serious! okay. seriously, you choose. go national. go like a pro. if you're on medicare part d, you can get... your 90-day prescription supply from a place... you already trust to keep you staying well. walgreens. you'll have the confidence of knowing your walgreens... pharmacist has personally checked your medications. and you'll be in control of how and when you pick them up. so you can relax and enjoy all your benefits. cheese! walgreens. there's a way to stay well. we will welcome back to "the ed show." sarah palin is making her way through the comedy circuit. did "the tonight show" earlier this week. now, of course, she is shopping hollywood. that's what she is doing, in pitching a reality tv show. it's described as planet earth-type docudrama about alaska, featuring her family. i can't wait to see how this is all gonna work out. nationally syndicated talk show host, lionel, joins us. i know you are thinking heavily about this. every day, ed. >> what should they call this docudrama? >> great ratings. let's get down to brass tax. i know you hate her, ed. >> i don't hate her, i just don't think she is smart. >> you talk about her all the time. she is smarter than a lot of people, my friend. let's look at what's on reality tv now. we have toddlers in tee jar last what is that called, pedophilia. and breeze zil la, a testament to the dissolution of the institution of american marriage. great, then keeping up with the kardashians, the milf wannabe mom. then take that compared to a woman, i know nobody likes her, small town may other of a small town, governor of a big state, vice presidential nominee, best-selling author, millionaire, loved by all and she has a family and they are together and not divorced and she doesn't curse. for the first time, just think about this ed, talk about american values, a family can sit down and watch a reality show and not say, not now, eddie, oh, no not now i think it is genius. let me tell you something, i don't know what you think people need in terms of iq to be in public office, but as long as it is above a soap dish and right around a dart, you're in like flynn. so i think this is going to be a huge, huge hit. >> wrote disagree with any of that i just don't think she is qualified to be president of the united states or vice president. >> she is not going to be president of the united states, ed! >> let me tell you something this lady's ego is through the roof. she wants to control things and is her way to do to line the pockets for the campaign. look, i think that she still has political aspirations. >> oh, listen, ed, but think about this, though, the reality show, sarah page and family, i mean it is no "locked up raw," what is? i'm tig right now this is a woman who for some reason has figured us out. we keep talking about her. er? >> the news. >> you are right about that ed, she is in the news. tonight in our telephone survey, i asked you, should there be a cap on tuition at state-funded colleges and universities? 92% of you said yes. 8% of you said no. that's "the ed show." i'm ed schultz. for more information "the ed show," go to ed.msnbc.com or check out my radio website at we got ed.com. "hardball" with chris matthews starts now, the place for politics, msnbc.