eric: new outrage behind the man wikileaks debacle living in packages country estate in england. julian assange is selling his story to of all people an american publisher knoffe. some say he is receiving more than a million dollars to tell his story on how he came to be the man who released tens of thousands of classified documents embarrassing the government and endangering hundreds, if not thousands of people around the world who work for us and with us. so, who could defend this book deal? we looked everywhere and we found alan colmes. he joins us here in new york. looked under a rock and there i was. eric: i joke. it s not a popular position to defend julian assange. the guy is a hated man. so what? do you know what we are defending here? capitalism? you don t believe in capitalism? eric: i do. i m a firm believer. publisher gets a deal. want to pay it they buy the book that s capitalism. raw capitalist? eric: i m a capitalist. is that not capitalism?
with high number of high profile union leaders to plan ways to work together in the new year. but, critics say it s that very union influence on the administration that s undermining efforts to turn our very fragile economy around. in fact, some say overpaid workers, fat pensions, and outdated work rules are ruining not just private industry but state and local government as well. so, are these the folks that obama should be listening to? with us now andrea tantaros columnist for the new york daily news and fox news contributor and robert zimmerman a democratic strategist. mr. zimmerman, what if i said that unions have, a, priced themselves out of the job market, b, are a threat to the american economy, and, c, nothing more than a vote for pay pulled over on the american people by the left? what would you say? you would be wrong on all three counts. great to be with you and hope holidays. eric: hope holidays to you. let s start from the top. unions haven t priced themselves out of
your expressions of how adequate the response s. has been and what people are actually experiencing out on if your street was plowed, the response was adequate. if your street was not plowed, the response was inadequate. we cannot do everything all the time. and we are doing the best we can i think that this city has pulled together. i don t think that we should sit around and think that the end of the world is here. we cannot be every place at all times. we will make mistakes. but we have to continue plugging ahead. yelling about it and complaining doesn t help. eric: are we getting soft? joining us from l.a. radio star and fox news contributor leslie marshall and from memphis, radio talk show host ben ferguson. ben, let s start with you. flve, nfl, man up nfl. are you kidding me? canceling? snow bowls? fog bowls? the best tv you could possibly watch. i mean, it doesn t sports
there is a new crisis to contend with where apparently a nation of with with wussies city of pha for canceling the sunday s football game between the philadelphia eagles and vikings. we used to be a country of great pioneer spirit sense of adventure and spirit. we cancel the football game at game time there were less than 6 inches of snow on the ground in philadelphia. less than three inches of snow on ground in the western suburbs. less than 2 inches of snow on the ground in wilmington. good lord, what were the people in wyoming and montana thinking? what are the people in chicago, boston, and even pittsburgh thinking? eric: this is new york city mayor michael bloomberg showed no sympathy for city dwellers on the streets, on the rails and in the air. a lot of anger out there. i m angry, too. but, part of the anger is over the discrepancy between your expressions of how adequate
union worker on average this federal union worker makes twice what private sector doing the same job. i have seen reports just the opposite especially for federal government workers who make probably less than the private sector worker for the same job. here is the point that really counts though, eric. that is obviously in today s economic climate there has to be renegotiations on a lot of different fronts. organized labor should not be scapegoated. the fact is they are the backbone of our working men and women in our country. renegotiation. are you talking about breaking union contracts and renegotiate pensions and benefits. that s going to be worked out on state and municipal level. eric: yes or no. the answer is that has to be figured out between organized labor and bargaining units and management or state and local government labor agrees with that point. the big issue eric is the bigger idea that barack obama meets with organized labor in no way means that he is in bed