This country have made it the focal point of every election that they are the fighters for the middle class. That you can count on them to be there when it comes to the middle class. For the most part, i will say yes to that. What did this president do . This is a story tonight that hasnt gotten much focus. We have a budget deal. Nobody will shut down the government. Thats good. On tuesday, the president of the United States signed the new 1. 1 trillion spending bill into law and tonight im going to tell you why this bill is a failure for what everybodys advocating for, the middle class. Retired americans are taking it in the shorts. Until tuesday it was legal for employers to cut pensions. Benefits for those already retired. They couldnt do it. They could not do it. Now under the law people covered under multiemployer Pension Plans can see reduced benefits if their plans are in bad financial shape. Now what does that mean bad, financial shape. How bad . Show me some numbers, show me all of these Pension Plans and lay it out there for the American People exactly how these Pension Plans have just fallen apart and this is what we have to do. That was not explained for the American People at all. This was a budget deal and it was decided that all of the retirees can take the hit. Multiemployer pensions cover retirees from more than one employer in related Industries Like trucking, construction, Service Industry stuff. Most of these plans were established under collective bargaining agreements with unions and let me point out the unions have not been on the same page with all of this. There are different packs on how this problem can be handled. These plans are backed up by the federal pension safety net which is known as the pb, pgbc which is the pension guarantee benefit corporation. So if a pension plan fails, dont worry, youve got the pbgc to bail you out. Now, according to aarp, the associate yagz of retired people there are 1400 multiemployer plans covering 10 Million People in this country. 150 to 200 and its not precise, either. 150 to 200 of these plans are facing financial difficulty, but nobodys explained what kind of financial difficulty. Its estimated that 10 of these plans could become insolvent within the next 10 to 20 years. They ought to be able to dial that in, but they dont either, so well use the tenyear mark at 10 . This means that 1. 5 million americans could see reduced benefits. Hold it right there. You mean someone from the middle class might have advocated from somebody and yet theyll lose their pension and its only 1. 5 Million People and heres the bottom line and it sets the table and it could be a heck of a lot more and its up to the individual pension fund to decide if and how much a benefit should be cut which is dangerous. Depends on who is in power. Plain and simple, cut to the chase. This deal is bad for retirees. This unfair deal was done secretly behind closed doors. One guy caught it and numerous senators caught it and i think this comment from new jersey senator cory booker sums it up pretty good. There are rules on pensions that will slash benefits for thousands of retirees. Make no mistake. We need to address the state of multiemployer Pension Plans and we need to discuss the tough choices that have to be made, but this is not the way to do it. Not business as usual with no discussion and no debate. See, now, there were three possible solutions to all of this. First, you could cut the benefits to the workers and the retirees which is exactly what theyre going to do. Second, you can increase the contributions which could have been part of the solution and you have workers having to pay more and third, the federal government could bail out any pension that is at risk. Bail out. I like that. I say bail out because these people have worked hard their entire life. They thought at the end of their career that they would be, oh, gosh, i have 2700 a month coming and well be not too bad and wait a minute, thats getting cut to maybe 16 or 1400 a month . Back in 2008 the federal government gave 700 billion a flatout gift to wall street because our Financial System was going to collapse and they just had to do it. Wall street, what do they do . We all know, they engage in risky, unethical practices that crashed the american economy. Now we are at a point where honest, hardworking retirees need a bailout and the federal government in washington has done it almost in the darkness of night and those who say theyre for the middle class have let this go through and the government has said no, were not going to bail out these retirees or should i say make the funds kohl vent. The government solution is to cut their hardearned retirement. It is wrong. It is morally wrong and for democrats to not be screaming in front of the white house to allow this to happen, this bill to be signed i think is a serious mistake and it sends a flawed message to those who have been supported and dreamed that they were actually working for somebody, voting for somebody who was going to try to stick up for them. Meanwhile, as we have reported that this deal actually gives wall street a really big gift and a real opening here and it kills a key provision of dodd frank that has risky derivative trades of fdic accounts. What they are doing is privatizing profit and they are socializing the risk. Thats wall streets deal. Whats the deal for the workers . Youve got to take a cut. Basically, this spending bill is great for wall street. Its horrible for the middle class, and i think the president of the United States punted on this big time. Tomorrow the president s going to hold his final press conference the year. Im not going to be there, but if i was i would ask the president , mr. President , you advocated for the middle class. We could pull out hoards of tape of you talking about the middle class in this country. Why did you take a deal, why did you advocate for a deal that would cut the benefits for retirees who come from the middle class . Why do they have to suck it up . What about that, mr. President . I would like an explanation because it flies in the face of everything the president talked about on the campaign trail. The president should have fought for these retirees, but instead he turned them into trade bait on a budget deal. High should have fought for the middle class in this instance, and where is this guy that was on the campaign trail in 2012 . This is not just a choice between two candidates or two parties. Its a choice between two different visions of america. Its a choice between a return to the topdown economic policies that crashed our economy or a vision that says weve got to build a Strong Foundation based on a strong and growing middle class. An opportunity for everybody, not just some. So how does it build a strong retirement if wall street gets what they want with evaporation of dodd frank and retirees across this country are told, well, your pensions too fat and youve got to take a cut. Nobody on the top took a cut on this deal. President obama has done some very good things for this country. In fact, hes had a hell of a month. The Climate Change deal with china im all about it. The move for immigration and work permits going out. Im all about it. In diplomatic change for cuba. Im all about it. Executivewise, hes on a roll with legislative negotiation, hes a zero, and i mean that. I think it is morally wrong for this white house to go to capitol hill and say this is a good deal. We can take this deal. In fact, we want this deal and to have cuts for retirees in it. Now, weve had a lot of stories on this network this year about voter suppression, about voter i. D. And about the Voting Rights act. Let me tell you what really upsets voters. When stuff like this happens. When they listen to politicians say theyre for the middle class and then they get a deal like this and theyre told, well, your pensions are going to get cut. Thats not fighting for anybody, and i can guarantee you this is not what Ted Kensington endorsed. Voter turnout, you want to do voter turnout . Do something for the middle class. All of these folks who were believers in change, all of these folks who thought that these politicians were going to fight for these middle class americans now have this to look at. Oh, my pensions getting cut. How did that work . That will kill voter turnout. Get your cell phones out. I want to know what you think. Tonights question, did democrats throw retirees under the bus . Text a for yes, text b for no to 67622 and leave a comment on ed. Msnbc. Com and ill bring you the results later on in the show. Now, what was hanging over america through all of this was the government shutdown. I guess you could say we survived the government shutdown. It wasnt right. Nobody died and i would make the case for you tonight that if the democrats had said no to this there probably would have been a deal and these retirees would not have to have taken a shot that theyre going to take. For more, let me bring in senator Bernie Sanders of vermont. Good to have you with us tonight. Think this is a tremendous injustice that has been done. This is a bad deal, but senator, how do we reverse this with the republicans coming into power . What do these retirees have to look forward to . Well, ed, this is a more than a bad deal, and it is bonn thing to say well cut your wages and youre not going to get the health care you need and it is another thing to say thank you for working for the company for 30 or 40 years and for understanding that at the end of that youll get a certain pension when you retire, but now that youre 72 years of age, well, guess what . We changed our mind and well cut your pension by 30 or 50 . So this is not only defer sta devastating for the individuals who will see cuts in their pension, but think what it does in terms of trust. Who are you going to believe . You talk about suppression of voter turnout, who is going to believe anything when you work for a Company Based on 40 years based on certain promises and the rug is pulled out from underneath you. That is one of the major reasons that i voted against that appropriations bill. I think that we should be clear that this is a serious problem and it has to be addressed and it can be addressed and your point is spot on. If this country could bail out the crooks on wall street who destroyed the economy, surely, the federal government can help working people who are absolutely dependent on these pensions. We cannot continue a situation where we have austerity for the elderly and for working families and 95 of all new income goes to the top 1 . So this is an issue, and im a member of that committee and im going to stay on this issue and we have to reverse what this bill did . Senator, how do you reverse it . Would there be a shared interest here on the part of tax dollars coming from wealthy americans or a benefit cut or increased premiums for employees involved in these programs and theres no easy way out here, but to cart blanc across the board, retirees will bear the brunt. What about that . Youre right. There is no easy way out and one of the reasons that a lot of people are angry is suddenly this bill came to the floor. We need to seriously discuss the problem of pensions in america, how we strengthen the Pension Trust fund which guarantees pensions and how we what we can do to make sure that these pensions are not cut. There are ways to do it and one of the ways are as you indicated, yes, it may be that taxpayers that we need government funding in order to strengthen some of these multiemployer pension funds. That may be what we have to do and if thats what we have to do thats what we have to do, but i think as a precedent to say that people who were promised benefits will see major cuts in those benefits is horrendous for the individuals and for what the future will bring. Senator, good to have you with us tonight. I appreciate your time. Bernie sanders from vermont on the ed show. Let me bring in congressman Tony Cardenas of california. Your reaction to the pension bill cuts. What would have been a different avenue . First of all, i would like to thank you, ed, that was one of the notes that i had and i was trying to figure out how to explain this. So thank you so much for explaining something so obvious in that budget bill that was tucked into the 12 major bills and they call it a krom ni bus bill, but thank you, ed. Bottom line is this did not have to happen and one thing i can guarantee you is had the democrats not lost the senate, the negotiation would have gone completely different and it comes down to something that you said, ed, unfortunately the voter turnout in the country was low, but when it comes to democrats versus republicans the democrats decided not to vote in such low numbers and now we have two houses controlled by republicans and understand this, everybody, when you look at who voted for this bill, i didnt vote for this budget bill. No way, i wasnt going to vote for it because of the pension issue and many others. They cut pell grants by 300 million. Every other modern country in the world is upping the ante in how much theyre investing in their young people and were going in the wrong direction with this bill, but the bottom line is this, we need to make sure that we get out and vote because it can only get worse if the good people, the people who care about the middle class, the people who are the middle class and the seniors being hurt by this bill, if they stop voting it will only get worse and the republicans increase their numbers. You dont have to agree with me, but i believe that this is a different form of voter suppression. You listened to these candidates running around about how theyll support the middle class and in the dark of the night they allow Something Like this to go through with no debate and they expect a certain portion of americans to take this in the shorts and oh, everythings going to be okay. No. The dechl democrats should have said okay, shut the government down. Were not going to go down this road. Would you have gone along with that . I voted against it whether it was going to pass or not so i was ready for that consequence as well, personally, but at the same time certain democrats calculated that the actual economy going down will not only hurt retirees and it will hurt job growth and the families that are barely making it right now. So that was some of the calculous and some of the things i heard from my democrat colleagues when we were in caucus talking about how we shouldnt vote for this bill. At the same time all i have to say is on that note it can only get worse if good people decide not to vote at all. Its important for people to get out, engage and ask your elected officials and dont compromise on me and dont compromise on the things that matter to me and dont compromise on us retired seniors and those of us in the middle class. I thought president obama was pretty well vetted on what his position was on the middle class. We are at ground zero on who will tilly support folks. Congressman, i appreciate your time. Well have you back. Remember to answer tonights question and share your thoughts on ed show and on facebook. We certainly want to know what you think. Is this fair . Coming up, a terrorist threat closes down a major motion picture, crazy isnt it . Only in america. Later, how can republican catholics go against the pope on the new cuban policy . Rapid Response Panel coming up. Stay with us. Good morning everybody. We are about to make more deliveries to more places than anybody on earth. We have the speed. We have the technology. And we have the team. We made over 15 billion successful deliveries last year. 15 billion football has a season. Baseball has a season. This is our season. Welcome back to the ed show, fresh reaction of a 9 11style attack after it led to sony picture to cancel the release of the controversial film the interview. The plot involves two journalists working to assassinate north Korean Leader kim jongun. U. S. Officials say they believe north korea is connected to the hacking at sony. Nbcs jay gray has more. Reporter the films Christmas Day release has been cancelled and promotional posters pulled still, the interview cant escape the spotlight. Sony pulling the release of the interview will have ripple effects throughout hollywood. Ripples that began on social media. Rob lowe tweeting wow everyone kafred. The hackers won. An uter and complete victory for them. Ben stiller, really . Hard to believe this is the response to a threat to freedom of expression here in america. Its a form of extortion and Companies Deal with extortion all of the time and there are certain ways you deal with extortion and backing down is not necessarily one of the ways you do that. But Sony Pictures decided the show would not go on after vol ups of data were hacks from Company Computers and released to the public followed by threats invoking memories of 9 11 against theaters planning to screen the film. This is something being treated as a Serious National Security matter. Right now a investigation continues. It is being treated by those investigative agencies both by the fbi and department of the justice as seriously as you might upon. Reporter and theyre weighing the consequences for those involved. Were considering a range of options and we regard this as a very serious attack. At this point, no one is rearead to o officially say who may be responsible for the attack. Jay gray, nbc news. I am joined by political commentator and radio host and International Affairs correspondent and senior british officials. My take on this is that i dont think its about national security. I think its about data thats very personally damaging to a lot of people and the company said we have to put a stop to this because the longterm damage, i dont buy for a moment that sony is afraid america will get hit. A lot of folks at sony want to lick their wound, but whats going to happen here is that kim jongun is just guaranteed everyone in the world will see his movie, cementing his status as the fredo corleone, and it has the biggest opening