America. Bringing up the middle class, helping the working poor, and thats what were talking about here, were talking about the working poor in america. You know, the good old vulture chart. Republicans, they have drawn the line. They have decided that 28 million minimum wage workers in this country, they got it it too good. They make too much money. Thats the decision the senate made. On wednesday the republicans voted down an increase by a vote of 5442. They just couldnt get six more votes to say, you know what . America deserves a raise. What is it about these folks that they dont get about what the American People want . Now, republicans, what are they doing . Theyre playing this up as a huge win for them. This is an ideological win for them. A lot of americans, a lot of republicans, are against the federal minimum wage. Americans want it, 75 , republicans dont. And altogether you look at a country that is ready to move forward economically, not with republican earlier today tom coburn said a minimum wage, here we go, would kill jobs. Look at omb studies and the good economic models, it is the benefit is small, the cost of lost jobs is great. It goes against the free market principles. That is an outrageous statement. The free market principles, fairness isnt in the free market . Come on, senator, thats not what the American People want right now. They want a raise. The federal minimum wage has been raised 11 times since 1978. There is no evidence, republicans, that raising the minimum wage hurts the economy or kills jobs. Republicans love to throw the job killing argument around. Economists, youre going to fine them on both sides of the aisle. Theyre split on the issue. Some say increase will kill jobs, others say no, its not going to happen. One thing is very clear, if you pass the price on to the consumer, a minimum wage increase will not kill jobs. Walmart would have to raise their wage to above 13. 63 an hour. Doing this for all employeers would cost the company 4 prnt. 8 billion a year. They have to raise their price business 1. 4 . Box of great value mac and cheese would jump from 68 cents to 69 cents. Senator coburn, how do you like that for a free market principle . You know, an extra few cents on products across america whatever they might be is well worth a living wage for hardworking americans who would turn that money right back into the economy. What is it that they dont get about this . Senator coburn went on to say, he doesnt even believe in a federal minimum wage. I dont believe you ought to interfere in the market. If theres a minimum wage, my theory is, if oklahomans want a minimum wage, we ought to have it. I dont believe there ought to be a National Minimum wage. Thats my position. Im the only member of the Republican Party that still here that voted no on the last one. I believe that markets work better than bureaucrats. Gosh, senator, youre only a few states away from the bundy guy who doesnt believe the federal government should be, well, not even existing. Senator coburn is concerned about one thing and that is the top 1 . He could care less if hardworking americans live below the poverty line. A minimum wage worker makes roughly 15,000 a year. If there were a wage increase, its not going to affect the lifestyle of the rich and famous. The poverty line, for a single person, is 11,000 a year. It is morally wrong thing to think that someone who works full time to live below the poverty line is okay in the land of the free. Its not just coburn who is against the minimum wage. Republicans are very clear on where they stand on this issue, Texas Governor rick perry, who has a terrible labor record in texas, said the government shouldnt worry about the minimum wage. I dont think its governments business to be setting the minimum wage out there, even the cbo said, if you want to get rid of a 500,000 jobs between now and 2016, raise the minimum wage. Heres the issue, pat, i think youve got believe this, at a time when jobs are at a premium in this country, the last thing you want to be doing is putting policies into place that would kill jobs. Florida senator rubio is clear where he stands. The republicans savior says, minimum wage laws, well they dont work. I support people making more than 9. I want people to make as much as they can. I dont think the minimum wage law works. We all support, i certainly do having more taxpayers, meaning more people employed and buy want people to make more than 9. 9 is not enough. The problem is that you cant do that by mandating it in the minimum wage laws. Minimum wage laws have never worked in terms of helping the middle class obtain more prosperity. Good wordsmithing. But the numbers dont add up, the vulture chart will disprove everything you just said. Then senator rand paul, hes admitted that hes just not too sure where he stands on the minimum wage. Do you believe in the minimum wage . Well i think that when you look at raising it, all of the studies show if you raise it, you get more unemployment. So really the marketplace does a better job at determining what so there shouldnt be any federal minimum wage . Im not sure im saying that. Im not sure i have an answer as whether theres a right or wrong. You thought whether or not there should be not necessarily. I have thought about raising the minimum wage causes more unemployment when we have 20 Million People out of work, i think its a bad idea to raise it. It does not cause more unemployment, senator. If you want to be the president of the United States, you got to get spoton on jobs, you got to get spoton where the American People are. Are you willing to say 75 of the American People have their heads stuck in the sand when it comes to wages in the country . Get with the program, dude. Bottom line here is, thats wrong, senator. Not all of the studies show that raising the minimum wage is going to hurt the economy. But they just throw it out there. Oh, now weve got iowa congressman steve king, he thinks we should just let the minimum wage, just let this thing drift away. Wherever you raise the minimum wage, you necessarily cost jobs because some employers will decide, i cant afford that any longer. We watched that change, the economic climate. You cant drive into a gas station any longer and get someone that will wash your windshield, check your oil, fill your tang. The minimum wage is a government interfering between the relationship between the employer and the employee, and in the end you think there should be no minimum wage . I think that what we should have done is left the minimum wage alone and just let it drift away and let the economy degree the way that it shall. Yeah, just let workers drift away, ship them overseas. A wage hike would impact 28 million americans. 28 million americans. Thats what were talking about. 4. 6 million americans would be lifted out of poverty. Corporate profits through the roof. The graph tells the story time and time again. Now at a time when the top 1 is doing better than ever, rich people can afford to give america a raise. But its not rich people. Its the corporations that are having the record profits, the majority of people on minimum wage in this country work for major corporations. Walmart, listening . On wednesday, president obama called out republicans and their backwards priorities. Republicans in congress have found time to vote more than 50 times to undermine a repeal of the Health Care Bill for millions of working families. Earlier this month they voted for a budget that would give the wealthiest americans a massive tax cut while forcing deep cuts to investments that help middle class families but they wont raise wages for millions of working families when 3 4 of americans support it . That makes no sense. Wow, thats thats thats a hurricane worth of common sense that i dont think is ever going to register with the republicans because theyre all about the top 1 . The free market that they cant defend when you throw the numbers at them. Republicans are only concerned with helping the rich. They want trade deals that are only going to help the big town boys. They want deregulation which is going to help wall street even more and get us in more trouble. They want tax cuts for the job creators. We can hurt them. You know we allowed the bush tax cuts to expire and we have had every month private sector job growth. Now they are saying that the poor people make too much money. Some republicans are out making the case that the minimum wage is too high in this country, so lets just get rid of it across the board. Have you thought, my friends, what it would be like if these people had power . What they say, what they put in a budget, and how they vote, if that doesnt scare you enough, give this crowd power and you know what . You wont have minimum wage in this country. You will have a greater number of people under republican rule, and thats what it would be, it would be no negotiation, republican rule, it would have more People Living in poverty in this country. Thats a fact. Get your cell phone outs. Tonights question, if republicans win in november, will they repeal the minimum wage . Text a for yes, b for no. 67622. Go to our blog. Leave a comment there. Well bring you the results later on in the show. The bottom lean in all of this, what we have seen transpire in the last 24 hours is the real republican play book. Weve seen ryan say things about men who go for generations for not even thinking about working. We have seen his budget passed, a radical budget weve never seen before that goes after 69 of the people in the country who are low income. Weve seen a vote in the senate, all of this talk about the house is so radical, really . Tell me, how radical is the senate . Theyre just as radical. They dont want to give the working man a shot. Let me bring in bernie sanders, senator from vermont, independent caucus with the democrat. Good to have you with us. Reaction to the republicans killing themen bill yesterday because, senator, is this a big benchmark . This is their final line in the sand, were not going anywhere on this issue. I think the remarks that you play from coburn and others says it all. These guys not only do not want to raise the minimum wage to all of 10. 10 an hour, giving 28 million americans an increase in wages, they want to abolish the concept of the minimum wage. This is the Koch Brothers vision of america. Ed, if you are a worker in a high unemployment area, and if i say to you, im prepared to hire you but im going to pay you 3 an hour and you say i cant live on that sigh a there are ten other workers prepared to take it, thats their definition of freedom. Its the onlymen. Theyre talking about social secured, medicare, medicaid. If youre old and sick, you dont want the government interfering with the free market. What do you want . You want to get rid of medicare as we know it, cut medicaid, leave people out there to what . To die, to starve. That is their radical vision of the future of america. So that vulture chart, which i am trying to make famous, i think if every voter in this country sees this chart and thinks by this chart and realizes that these are absolute, these are hard numbers, senator, its going to get worse, isnt it, if the republicans have their way . Are you kidding . Look, this is what their agenda is about. It is more tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires and large corporations. It is undoing virtually every piece of legislation passed in 80 years to protect the middle class and working families. When you talk about the minimum wage, ed, understand youve got Companies Like walmart, owned by the wealthiest family in america, the Walton Family alone owns more wealth than the bottom 40 of the American People, they pay starvation wages. Their workers have to go on food stamps, they have to go on medicaid. We subsidize walmart and maybe if we raised the minimum wage that wouldnt be the case. No, these guys, the Koch Brothers and other folks, theyre at war against the middle class of country. Weve got to stand together and defeat them. Weve got 42 members in the United States senate that are just as radical as the tea partiers over in the house. How else do you read that vote . All of this talk about the house being so radical, wait a second, theres a bunch of em in the senate, too. This is their ideological push. So what can the progressives, the democrats, those 54 who voted for whats their course of action, senator . Their course of action is to educate and organize the American People. Ed, the projection is that in the next election, november 2014, 60 of the American People arent going to vote. What the republicans hope and pray is that voter turnout is low. What our job is to expose the republicans for what they are, that they work for the Koch Brothers, they work for the wealthy and the powerful, theyre at war against working families and our jobs got to be to educate, get these folks out to the polls. If we go from 40 to 50 in voter turnout, the democrats can recapture the house and certainly the republican will not win the senate. Finally, one point that i want you to make, senator, for our audience, we keep hearing republicans say that a minimum wage hike would kill jobs. What does senator sanders from vermont, what is your response to that. Many states from this country, including my state of vermont, i think our minimum wage is around 8. 70 an hour. Ed, we have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the United States of america. Its not true. There have been studies that have shown that states which have high minimum wage not only do not lose jobs but they gain jobs because people at the bottom have more expendable more income to spend, and in turn they create jobs. Yeah. Senator sanders, good to have you with us tonight. Keep up the fight. Thanks so much. Appreciate your time. Answer tonights question at bottom of the screen. Share your thoughts on twitter the ed show and facebook. We want to know what you think. A challenge for republican governors opposing obamacare. How ard dean and brian schweitzr join me. Action to get dart money out of politics. Trenders is next. [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. She can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. My mom works at ge. [ banker ] sydney needed some Financial Guidance so she could take her dream to the next level. So we talked about her options. Her valuable assets were staying. And selling her car wouldnt fly. We helped sydney manage her debt and prioritize her goals, so she could really turn up the volume on her dreams today. And tomorrow. So lets see what we can do about that. Remodel. Motorcycle. [ female announcer ] some questions take more than a bank. They take a banker. Make a my financial priorities appointment today. Because when people talk, great things happen. Time for trenders. Check us out at twitter, the ed show. Sirius xm 127, monday through friday, noon through 3 00 p. M. Well be talking about this on the radio show. We are reporting heres whats hot. Todays top trenders voted on by you. Crack is whack. The number three trender, cracking. New problems for embattled mayor rob ford. I goofed up, eh . Ford headed to rehab. Torontos mayor takes a leave after damaging video surfaces. From the globe and mail, allege it shows ford smoking crack. Dont think its just the pictures youve been caught on tape using lewd, inappropriate language. The toronto sun post an audio recording. For the good of the city, i call on mayor ford to resign. Mayor ford says i need professional help and im 100 committed to getting myself right. Actions speak louder than words. Number two, lost boys. According to the new report, as the economy continues to shift away from brawn and towards brains, men have struggled with the transition. You have to excuse my friend. Hes a little slow. Fox hosts think feminism is to blame for the education glap. When it comes to the educational system they feel like they have to treat all boys and girls equally. Thats like the rules of feminism. A lot of feminism is to blame for this, right. Shed some light on the current situation. So now boys are being forgotten and this, i think, is a problem. Todays top trender, united front. U. S. Senators will be taking a stand on the latest Campaign Finance reforms. When one, a small group of people have so much more power to influence the political process, our democracy is at risk. Democrats are taking a stand against Citizens United. Its now crystal clear, an amendment to the constitution is necessary. Mccutchen carried to its logical extreme, will allow money to totally, totally envelop our system. Senators will vote on whether or not to reverse Supreme Court rulings that allow for Unlimited Campaign spending. First amendment protection of free speech is part of what makes america great. So is the concept of one person, one vote. Joining me tonight, the feel director for the ft. Bend county Democratic Party in the great state of texas. The reason we have sarah on tonight we want somebody who is boots on the ground, organizing in a red state, may be turning purple but this is where the story is on this. What are the folks on the ground and the middle of the country and in the south saying about the possibility of a constitutional amendment . Sarah, good to have you with us tonight. Appreciate your time. Its doubtful that a constitutional amendment will make it out of the senate this year. But does this send a message to big money donors . Your thoughts on this . What are you hearing on the ground about it. Hi, ed. Thanks for having me back. What ive heard on the ground is what ive heard on the ground for the past four years since Citizens United was passed by the judges on the Supreme Court. People organizing through move to amend, to push politicians like mark udall to where he is do today was hit constitutional amendment. All we can do is keep fighting because we dont have the money like the Koch Brothers. The Koch Brothers fortune doubled from 50 bi