black americans are brainwashed to vote for democrats? they're not brainwashed. they're voting for the party that stands up for them. i've got a lot to say about that. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. many african-americans have been brainwashed into not being open minded, not even considering a conservative point of view. >> tonight, congresswoman maxine waters responds to herman cain's insult to african-american democrats. rick perry is trying to stop his slide by squeezing off a few rounds. and mitt romney is flip-flopping on his flip-flops. ring of fire radio host mike papantonio is here. >> 47% of all americans don't pay any taxes. >> 43% of households don't bay any federal tax. >> where does this end? >> david k johnston helps us expose the disgraceful right wing attack on low income americans.

and the real-life impact of the republican war on the post office. tonight, we'll talk to a small business owner who stands to have her business crushed if someone doesn't act. good to have you with us tonight. thanks for watching. the rising star of the republican party believes african-americans, they can't think for themselves. herman cain is on a roll after winning the florida straw poll on saturday. the pizza man has become a hero of right wing talkers all over america and is surging in the poll. the latest fox news poll shows that herman cain right on the heels of rick perry and within striking distance of mitt romney. cain is, i guess you could say, the get interview of the week for the righties. and he starred in psycho talk last night for making this comment -- >> many african-americans have been brainwashed into not being open minded, not even considering a conservative point of view. i have received some of that same vitriol simply because i am

running for the republican nomination as a conservative. so it's just brainwashing and people not being open minded, pure and simple. >> not being open minded? my radio audience went nuts when they heard that, herman cain saying that kind of stuff about how many african-americans had been brainwashed by democrats. it shows he's an intellectual lightweight. he doesn't have the pulse of the people. not all african-americans are democrats. can we state that? but most of them are because democrats have fought for their rights. it's not just civil rights act and affirmative action. democrats fight for social and economic justice for every american. republicans, do they not have an ugly history of racism? the southern strategy is all about race and radical politics? south carolina senator jim demint reminded us about that with a shocking comment about

president obama. >> if we're able to stop obama on this, it will be his waterloo, it will break him. >> break him is an old racist term in the south and jim demint knows it. for the past three years, demint's tea party has carried signs all over the country. the most powerful republican in american spews this garbage every day. >> we have to bend over and grab the ankles, bend over forward, backward, whatever, because his father was black, because this is the first black question. how do you get promoted in a barack obama administration? byite hating white people. in obama's america, the white kids now get beat up with black kids chaering, eering, yeah, right on. it's a triple-double oreo. barack, the magic negro. how many votes did obama get

because he was black? shocking number, folks. if obama weren't black, he'd be a tour guide in honolulu. >> herman cain has turned a blind eye to the ugly racism coming out of his own party. when it comes to the issues african-americans care about, cain's belief system falls right in line with demint and limbaugh limbaugh. where is cain on minimum wage? he was against it. he's against universal health care, too. where is he on collective bargaining? can't stand it. he's a deregulator that wants to get rid of the epa. he's not at all mindful about shipping jobs overseas. cain's policies don't benefit african-americans or any other working class american. cain is isn't the first black republican to infer african-americans can't think of themselves. here's how congressman alan west put it. >> you have this 21est century

plantation that's been out there. the democratic party has forever taken the black vote for granted. you have some leaders that are nothing more than the overseers of that plantation and now the people on that plantation are upset because they've been disregarded, disrespected and their concerns are not cared about. i'm here to lead them on the underground railroad away from that plantation. >> herman cain and allen west are free to believe what they want. but if they are going to say their beliefs are better for an entire minority group, they should point to some policy that proves it, don't you think? african-americans have every right to think republicans aren't on their side. they remember these pictures of the last republican president parting with john mccain when thousands of african-americans in new orleans were trapped by hurricane katrina. we can never forget. herman cain is the first 2012 candidate to play the race card. and it just might work. cain is trying to divide americans along racial lines.

and i think tonight that white republicans love it. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question, are herman cain's comments out of line? you can always go to our blog. results of the poll coming up later on in the show. joining me tonight is congresswoman maxine waters of california. maxine, great to have you with us tonight. i appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> what is your response to herman cain saying that african-americans are brainwashed to vote for democrats? >> well, you know, i think that he has been terribly disrespectful. at the same time that he's calling us brainwashed, then he turns around and talks about one-third to 50% may be in support of him. and i think that's ridiculous. not only are we not brainwashed,

we know how to act in our own best interest. that's why most of us are democrats. who in their right mind, african-american, would belong to a party that is as mean-spirited as we see coming out of the republican party. they don't care about poor people. they don't care even about working class people. they don't care about senior citizens. just take a look at the legislation that was unveiled today that came out of the labor, health and human services sub committee where they're talking about taking away the subsidy from the elderly for heating assistance, where they're talking about cutting the pell grant, where they are talking about cutting public broadcasting, where they're talking about pulling the rug out from under the most vulnerable people in our society. who wants to belong to a party like that?

and besides, this is a party that he's in that honors and respects a david duke. i understand he's going to be their revered speaker at one of their events. so are we brainwashed or is he brainwashed? >> is he pandering to white republicans? >> you know that he is. and this little temporary bump in the road that he's gotten, that's gotten him believing that they're going to vote for him, he really is off base. they're not going to vote for him. and blacks are not going to vote for him either, not simply because he's disrespected us so in these statements about us being brainwashed but because, again, we act in our own best interest. we know what is best for us. we all have to fight very hard to make sure that we get the most that we can get in terms of good public policy for everybody and for african-americans. but the democratic party, not only has demonstrated that it is

prepared to do the kind of public policy that will benefit most of the people and certainly african-americans, and so, yes, he is pandering. >> one final point. african-american unemployment is at 16.7%. do you have any idea what the republicans want to do for these americans to get them back to work other than give tax breaks to the rich? >> they don't want to do anything. as a matter of fact, in this same bill that i'm referring to, they just cut the job training programs for the one-stop centers. they're cutting jobs. as they make cuts throughout this budget, which means that they are undermining our economy. people don't have jobs. they can't invest in the economy. they can't spend money. they don't want to do anything about the 16.7% unemployment. and i don't expect them do. that's why blacks are not voting for the republicans and certainly not going to vote for him. >> congresswoman maxine waters, thanks for your time tonight. appreciate it so much. let's turn to joe watkins

and dr. james peterson. gentlemen, thanks for your time tonight. joe, let me ask you, do you think that african-americans have been brainwashed to vote for democrats? >> i think what herman cain said is what a smart businessman who's now a candidate would say. remember, here's a guy who made his name in business by turning around failed franchises. he did it by getting people to take a second look at them. he's doing the same thing now as a candidate for the presidency. he's getting republicans to take a second look at him. >> do you believe that black americans have been brainwashed? >> i think black americans are loyal voters. herman cain says blacks have been vor loyal. he's saying we have a history of loyalty and what he's trying to get voters to do is take a look at him.

>> dr. peterson, your thoughts on his comment. do you agree with joe watkins? >> no. this is absolutely insane on the part of herman cain. basically to say that black folk are brainwashed is a direct commentary on the intellectual capacity. it's so sweeping and stereotypical, it's repulsive. listen, you and congresswoman waters are absolutely right. black folk vote based upon the issues. >> joe, what about that? >> herman cain would say, take a look at my background -- >> i want you to answer what dr. peterson said. >> he's saying, look at my 9-9-9 tax policy. i'm not an unfair or sophisticated person. don't just -- you can't broadbrush any party.

>> but, joe, hold on a second. we did see the ryan plan pass in the house. are you saying that african-americans are opposed to that because they didn't have the right information because they were brainwashed by democrats? the fact is that they want to vouch for medicare and medicaid which obviously helps a lot of minorities in this country. >> depends on who you're talking to. some african-american people are in business who feel the health care program that's been advanced in the past by the president doesn't help small businesses. not every small businessperson will say that. but many will say that, including many african-americans. herman cain is somebody that's a history in business. he had no advantage as an african-american. he grew up in the segregated south. he was given values by his parents and his church. he went to college and graduate school and is incredibly successful --

>> you don't think brainwashing goes too far? it's not an intellectual shot at african-americans, joe? >> absolutely not. what he's saying is that african-americans are loyal. they're loyal voters. >> herman cain needs to hire you, joe. you're cleaning this up really well. they cheer the death penalty, one of the most racist federal and state policies that we have. the things the republican party, especially now, represent are not the things the republican party represented when i was a young man. >> when you were a young man, you remember the republican party was the party that sided with lyndon johnson to get the civil rights passed. >> you can certainly clean this up. i don't think that we should be defending what herman cain is saying here. he's out of his mind. the bottom line is black folk vote with the issues unless a lot of those issues happen to reside been the democratic party. >> black people ought to take a second look at herman cain. he has no special advantage

other than his intersect and his drive and determination. >> joe, is he pandering to white republicans? >> i don't think so. i think he's saying -- he's a very blunt guy. he says what he believes. sometimes it's popular, sometimes it's not. >> if he says what he believes, he believes black americans are brainwashed. >> he believes they're loyal as voters. >> he said brainwash. you're saying loyal. this is the politics of distraction. the republican party has become much more homogenous and the racial politics of the tea party have been on display for well over two years now. black folk can see that. we are not dumb. we're also not monolithic. we're nuanced and complex. >> i agree with you. >> good discussion, gentlemen. thank you both for being with us. remember to answer the question right there at the bottom of the screen, we want to know what you think. and tweet me your thoughts thoughts @edshow. a new poll shows republican voters are more enthusiastic than democrats when it comes to the 2012 election.

why the left needs to get motivated now. my commentary next. and the postal service is moving forward with a plan to close thousands of post offices in all 50 states. this is a huge story. it will affect small business. we will talk to a small businessperson tonight from the middle of the country to tell you what she's going to face. we're america's natural gas and here's what we did today: supported nearly 3 million steady jobs across our country... ... scientists, technicians, engineers, machinists... ... adding nearly 400 billion dollars to our economy... we're at work providing power to almost a quarter of our homes and businesses... ... and giving us cleaner rides to work and school... and tomorrow, we could do even more. cleaner, domestic, abundant and creating jobs now. we're america's natural gas. the smarter power, today. learn more at anga.us. she's supporting breast cancer programs for her neighbour's tennis instructor's daughter's 1st grade teacher

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after years raking in excess profits off an unfair and anti-competitive system, bank of america is trying to find new ways to pad their profits by sticking it to the consumers, i hope their customers have the final say. they might. welcome back to "the ed show." every now and then in this business, there's a story that hits me and i just have to say a little bit more about it. a gallup poll says democrats aren't nearly as enthusiastic as republicans about voting in the next election. we're talking 14 months from now, right? 45% of democrats are more enthusiastic than usual. but 58% of republicans are more

enthusiastic than usual about voting in the 2012 election. this is the so-called enthusiasm gap. and it kind of got my attention. now, i know it's just one poll. but if this is anywhere close to being true 14 months from now, let me just say something to my friendly liberals out there across america -- we're going to get our ass kicked if we don't wake up. take this poll as a warning and change it. sitting on the sidelines is not an option when the other side is actively engaged. and there shouldn't be any doubt about what happens if republicans regain power across washington. they have not been shy about their targets, have they? [ female announcer ] women move the world. and caltrate moves us.

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welcome back to "the ed show." every now and then in this business, there's a story that hits me and i just have to say a little bit more about it. a gallup poll says democrats aren't nearly as enthusiastic as republicans about voting in the next election. we're talking 14 months from now, right? 45% of democrats are more enthusiastic than usual. but 58% of republicans are more enthusiastic than usual about voting in the 2012 election. this is the so-called enthusiasm gap. and it kind of got my attention. now, i know it's just one poll. but if this is anywhere close to

being true 14 months from now, let me just say something to my friendly liberals out there across america -- we're going to get our ass kicked if we don't wake up. take this poll as a warning and change it. sitting on the sidelines is not an option when the other side is actively engaged. and there shouldn't be any doubt about what happens if republicans regain power across washington. they have not been shy about their targets, have they? the big three are at the top of the list, social security, medicare and medicaid. can you just imagine what we've seen in wisconsin and ohio? what would it be like if a republican was in the white house and they had the senate and the house? would these three be targeted at all? they'd privatize -- i think they'd eliminate medicare. i know they would go voucher system -- eliminate medicare.

and targeting social security? you want to talk about wall street getting fat pockets? this is what would help them get there. more tax cuts for the wealthy, tax hikes on the working middle class and middle class americans. you'd get busted. republicans like to call that broadening the base, broadening the base? let me just tell you, more tax cuts for the wealthy, they would drop it down to 25%. i bet they would drop the corporate rate, listen to me, america, down to 15%. that's the grand plan, to bring the corporate tax rate to 15%, not 25%. and, of course, tax hikes for the working class. they'd nail you one way or another. you can't trust them. if you think collective bargaining has been under attack lately, just wait. it's not just wisconsin and ohio and new jersey and other states with republican governors. national republicans smell blood in the water. they see a chance to finally

bust the postal workers of america by bringing about the collapse of the postal office. and the two leading candidates for the republican nomination, mitt romney and rick perry, both say they support a national right to work law. think about that. the two men who could very well be the next president of the united states want to effectively bring organized labor to an end. i believe it was karl rove not long ago who said that's really the last line of infrastructure that the democratic party has is organized labor in this country. so now the republicans are out there saying, hell, let's get right to work in every state. i think they'd go so far as to make it a federal law. let's not forget deregulation in the financial industry. tax breaks for big oil, oil will run wild with republicans in charge. that's the very minimum. there are republicans in office who scream about the most basic

consumer protections. these are the same people who have no problem throwing this country into unfunded wars, the recklessness of the current crop of republicans is really nothing compared to what we'd get if they were to ever regain the white house because look at who's running. let's say christie jumps in. he'd do all of this. let's say sarah palin jumps in. she'd do all of that. and you know the rest of the crowd will. they don't like mitt because he's too moderate. so they're going to get somebody really radical. does this motivate you at all knowing what the landscape is? can you say, obama didn't do everything i wanted him to do? there isn't any question about what happens if democrats and liberals in this country don't get engaged. now, you're on the front lines. you have to get engaged. every family in this country that has wage earners in the household have to realize exactly what in the heck is

going on because this is a radical agenda. and that's what it's going to be like. it's going to be worse than the bush administration, no matter who gets in there. the attack on collective bargaining is coming up in ohio. i believe this is an opportunity for us to see how it's done. you can't tell me that 1.3 million people can sign a petition to get it on the ballot to recall a radical senate bill 5 law and there not be enthusiasm. part of me believes that i think this is some kind of right wing extremist movement out there trying to down-talk democrats where we've been in portland, in minneapolis, in madison, in toledo, in columbus. we're overwhelmed with enthusiasm. so don't believe this poll. although it should be a wake-up call if it's true. we can beat these folks because they will, in my opinion,

destroy this country if they get the big three back. it will be worse than it was before. bill o'reilly says he doesn't want to pay his taxes because of a phony $16 muffin. he's spinning his way right into the zone. the righties always defend the rich, unless one of those rich guys tells the truth about how good millionaires and billionaires have it when it comes to taxes. telling the truth about the super rich, coming up. [ oswald ] there's a lot of discussion going on about the development of natural gas,

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while i get passionate about the economy and jobs, bill o'reilly gets passionate about baked goods. it all started last week when he ranted about an allegation that the justice department served $16 muffins at a 2009 conference. >> the $16 muffin now becomes a symbol of how wasteful the feds are with our tax dollars. i've stayed in some of the swankiest hotels on earth. i have never seen a $16 muffin. i want to see that muffin. i want to taste that muffin? you know why? because i bought the muffin. >> but yelling about muffins on his own show wasn't enough for o'reilly. >> $16 muffin broke the story last week. you were otherwise occupied, making your little wise remarks.

not reading what's happening. they had a bunch of conferences for pinheads, federal governments, and they ordered 250 muffins at 16 bucks apiece. >> that's a lot for muffins. >> yeah. and you know what? i paid for the muffin. >> i understand that. >> and so did you. >> dude, give it a rest on the muffins. first of all, o'reilly did not break the story. but more importantly, the story itself is bogus. the $16 amount was wrong. according to the folks at the hilton where the conference was actually held, the justice department paid $14.29 per person per day, which included all food and fees for the workspace and conference rooms they used. but leave it to bill o'reilly to keep hollering about a fake story, continuing to push the myth of the $16 muffin is pinheaded psycho talk. o'reilly isn't the only one on

fox who is making things up to protect the healthy? david k. johnston will join me to expose the fox lies about low income americans. chris christie says he's not running for president. will a conversation with george w. bush change his mind? mike papantonio going to weigh in on that with me and the week's other big stories coming up. ♪ three, six, nine ♪ the goose drank wine ♪ the monkey chew tobacco on the streetcar line ♪ ♪ ♪ clap, pat, clap your hand ♪ pat it on your partner's hand ♪ ♪ right hand ♪ clap, pat, clap your hand ♪ cross it with your left arm ♪ pat your partner's left palm ♪ clap, pat, clap your hand, pat your partner's right palm ♪ [ male announcer ] the all-new beetle. it's back. ♪ clap, slap, clap your hands the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic.

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now life is dull... darling! ♪ i believe in miracles [ male announcer ] swiffer attracts dirt. used mops can push muddy water around. swiffer wetjet's new, upgraded solution helps prevent streaks and residue to reveal more shine than a mop or your money back. you had me at "bzzzzz". welcome back to "the ed show." let's go back to the o'reilly moment again. o'reilly continued his bellyaching about back-breaking tax burden that he's got to carry. >> i'm paying now through the roof in taxes. >> you're paying less than you paid in the '90s. >> that's not true. property taxes are up. if you had a home, you'd know that. >> of course, jon stewart was right. bill o'reilly's tax rate is 4% lower than it was back in the '90s. and property taxes don't go up just for you, bill.

even the lowest income americans pay the same sales tax as you do. they pay the same tolls on bridges and they pay the same tax on gasoline. everyone pays their fair share on those taxes. what's not fair is the percentage guys like you, bill, pay on income. let's take a household that makes $68,000 a year in taxable income. 25% of that would go to the federal government. another household with an income of $375,000 qualified for the highest tax bracket, the government would take 35.5%. but now imagine the same household has an annual investment income of $1 million which would not be unusual for an executive who gets a lower salary in exchange for capital gains. the government only takes 15% of that $1 million. so the family with $68,000 will give 25% to the feds while the household with $1 million will

give less than 21% to the government. got it, bill? no matter how you slice it, this is not shared sacrifice. bill and his friends over an fox, they know this is true. which is why they created another boogeyman to blame their higher taxes. >> 40% of the country does not pay any tax. >> 47% of households pay not a single dime in taxes. >> 47% of all americans don't pay any taxes. >> 49% don't pay any tax. >> 51% of the country isn't paying any taxes at all. >> half of americans now don't pay taxes. 50% of households aren't paying taxes. 50% of the american people, households in america, don't pay taxes anymore. 50% of americans no longer pay taxes. they don't pay income taxes.

>> they talk over on fox as if they do their own taxes. first things first. the idea that almost half the country pays no taxes is an outright lie. they pay federal payroll taxes on social security and medicare. they pay state taxes. they pay local taxes. they pay taxes, period. but the recession pushed 47% of households below the minimum federal income tax level. most of these families make less than $30,000 a year. the fact that we have 47% of households living below the minimum tax level is a disgrace. it is a national shame. but the millionaires at fox don't want you to see it that way. they want you to believe half the country is nothing but a bunch of lazy moochers. if you need a better illustration of the difference between liberals and conservatives when it comes to fiscal policy, i don't think you're going to find it out there. joining me tonight is david k.

johnston, author of "free lunch." he's also a columnist for reuters. david, great to have you with us tonight. i want to be fair here. tell me if i'm wroing about any of this. tell me if bill o'reilly has a point. >> i suggested o'reilly should get a better tax lawyer. but what you just heard in all of those news clips is really an unbelievable big lie. and roger ailes should be ashamed of himself. the fact is the bottom 50% or 47% or 49%, whatever number you want to use, who don't pay federal income taxes because they don't make enough money to pay them, include lots of

families with children. and who is it who said we're going to take these families with children off the payroll? the republicans, with the child tax credit. so it was the republicans whose idea this was, george w. bush and before him, the republican leaders in the house, to remove a large number of people, about 12% of the population, from the income tax. poor people in america are much more heavily taxed than rich people. and let me give you the most classic example. in alabama, the poorist fifth of families who make less than $13,000 a year pay state and local taxes that are about 10% or 11% of their income. but the rich es people in alabama pay state and federal income cases less than 5% of their income. >> you've explained well how the bottom 47% pay no federal income tax. that was all set up by the republicans. so how do the conservatives

manage to turn warren buffett into some kind of socialist left winger for saying that, maybe we should pay a little bit more up on this end of the income scale? >> well, this is an astonishing development here because, again, warren buffett pays very low taxes because the republicans got low taxes on capital. and so you create a problem. it's sort of like the national debt, right? the national debt was run up mostly by reagan, bush and bush who all said they were fiscal conservatives and they were going to behave prudently. then they spent wildly and now you have this complaint of, oh, we're deeply debt. if it hadn't been for their debt, we wouldn't have a problem now dealing with the economy by borrowing money to create temporary demand so the economy would recover. clearly, there's a pattern going on here with the republicans. create the problem and then blame it on other people. poor people, democrats, obama, anybody but the people who created it. >> o'reilly and others on that network always push the flat tax.

would america gain doing that? >> i call it the steve forbes never pays taxes again tax. the flat tax applies to wages. if your income is from capital gains, from royalties of certain kinds, from interest, you pay no taxes. you would live tax-free. so if you're steve forbes or someone like that, you take one dollar in salary and you take the rest as dividends. >> but it would make it harder for low income people? >> absolutely. it would be a disaster for everybody but the super rich. >> david, thank you for clearing the sky on that one. coming up, thousands of postal facilities are in danger of being closed down. this is the real deal, folks. if this happens, entire communities are really going to feel the effects. so let's go to a small business owner whose local post office might disappear and what's going to happen to her two businesses. that's next. stay with us. i needed more customers,

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from gay rights to gun control, mitt romney has flip-flopped on so many issues, even he can't keep his position. >> one reason to elect me, i know what i stand for. i have the experience to get this country going again. >> romney's changing things up again. this time, he's flip-flopping on flip-flopping. now, you just heard him say he stands by his positions. yesterday, at a town hall in new hampshire, romney walked that statement back. >> it's not that every single issue i've looked at in my entire life i've never changed my view on. in the private sector, if you

don't change your view when the facts change, you'll get fired for being stubborn and stupid. >> well, the fact of the matter is, romney went from governing a blue state to chasing down tea party support. so the facts didn't change for mitt romney. his constituency did. coming up, the republican plan to kill the post office will hurt, will butcher rural america. i'll talk to one small business owner about how the change will impact her. stay tuned. supported nearly 3 million steady jobs across our country... ... scientists, technicians, engineers, machinists... ... adding nearly 400 billion dollars to our economy... we're at work providing power to almost a quarter of our homes and businesses... ... and giving us cleaner rides to work and school... and tomorrow, we could do even more. cleaner, domestic, abundant and creating jobs now. we're america's natural gas. the smarter power, today. learn more at anga.us.

towns and cities in all 50 states are in danger of losing their local post offices. this week across the country, folks are getting surveys like this one from the postal service. this was obviously from a new york resident here in new york that was given to me. and they're asking questions like -- trying to find out how often people use their post offices. well, hold it right there. in new york, maybe not as much, maybe so. but in a rural area, i tell you what, they live by them. the survey is all part of a plan to close as many as 3,700 postal facilities to help solve budget

shortfalls. but remember, these budget problems have been manufactured by the congress, created by a law republicans passed during the lame duck session of the congress in 2006 forcing the postal service to fund 75 years worth of pensions within a ten-year window. what business has to do that? and to make it worse, congresswoman darrell issa has a plan to hand postal service business to the private sector. meanwhile, no final decisions have been made about closures. but communities are getting nervous. thousands of jobs are on the line. and the effect, well, it will be felt far beyond the postal workers. rural communities, local newspapers, small businesses, folks, i'm telling you, they're going to be hurt. this is the infrastructure of america under attack by the conservative agenda. so the conservatives love to talk about how they are fans and proponents of small business. well, let's leave politics out of it tonight and let's just talk about business.

let's me bring in regina calderwood in cosby, missouri, one of the cities in danger of losing its post office. regina, you own a restaurant, gina's cafe and catering and a wedding rental business. what will happen to your businesses if the post office closes? >> well, our business on the wedding side relies heavily on our post office. we have to ship things back and forth between our branches. we also have a branch in oklahoma and a branch in st. louis. and we need to be able to ship things quickly back and forth between our branches in order to get things in a timely manner for brides. you definitely don't want to not get something on time for a wedding. and so that right there will affect that business greatly,

not to mention the foot traffic that the post office brings into our community every day, will directly affect the amount of people coming into my cafe on a daily basis. >> what are you going to have to do businesswise for your wedding company, the best seat in the house, very clever name, i might add -- what are you going to do? are you going to have to go u.p.s., fedex and what's it going to mean to your bottom line? >> of course to the bottom line it's going to be more expensive. therefore we will have to put those expenses on to our customer, unfortunately. and in a recession, things have been tight enough right now for us to continue our business as it is without having to worry about extra expenses and things like that. but the nearest u.p.s. store is a good 20-minute drive for us. we don't have one near our community.

>> and what if they were to close your post office in your town there in missouri? how far would you have to go to the next post office? do you know? >> well, the problem with that is our community is not the only one that's being affected. our neighboring community, helena, is up for being closed as well. and several other local post offices near us are also being up for closure. so we would have to drive into st. joseph. and i believe that's probably 15 to 20 miles for us to drive in. >> regina, i don't want to put words in your mouth. but do you think your community would be taking a big step backwards if you lost the post office? >> well, i feel like we started these two businesses about 18 months ago in our town to help reverse the economic situation of our town. basically we have four businesses in town now. and closing that post office

will kind of take us a step backwards when we're trying to propel forward. not only that, those postal workers will lose their positions. and that's just more losses for the community. and i think it just shows the community a negative spot that, hey, they don't even feel like you're important enough to even have a post office here now. >> i hope you folks down there in missouri know that it was a law that was passed by the congress that is doing this. it has nothing to do with the operations of the post office. regina, thank you for joining us tonight. rick perry's how-to manual on weekend fund, all you need is a sniper rifle. mike papantonio up next with me. you're watching "the ed show." just one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day

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every time a local business opens its doors or creates another laptop bag or hires another employee, it's not just good for business. it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities. that's why we extended $7.8 billion to small businesses across the country so far this year. because the more we help them, the more we help make opportunity possible. welcome back to "the ed show." time to call in my friend, radio host mike papantonio. mike, rick perry's had a tough week. he's slipping in the polls. is he going to be able to recover? >> i doubt it. he's come up with this new gun ad. you can understand it on a lot of ways. first of all, golf, he says he doesn't play golf. he shoots his gun instead. it's almost as if he is not the

guy that met with the brothers and had all those billionaires and millionaires say, hey, if you'll be our boy, mr. perry, we'll stand behind you and give you millions of dollars. he's a fraud and he'll continue to fall in the polls. unfortunately the republicans will put him up there anyway. >> so you think he'll get the nomination? >> i think so. they can't help themselves. he represents what the new republican party is. >> what about the news today that chris christie -- george w. bush, nancy reagan, henry kissinger, what about all that? they want him to jump in. >> you hear fox carry the story. this is very interesting. fox carries the story that they

think that chris christie is too heavy and too big to be president. what they're really doing is they're trying to can him right now -- they're trying to say -- it's code talk that he's too unhealthy to be the president. he's a 5'10", 320-pounder that might look like a cardiac case. that's fox news talking. it's a full attack. it's a coded attack. but they keep saying that christie is heavy and he's a big man and they don't know if he can make it through this is basically what they're suggesting. and you have to wonder why -- i'd suggest they're doing it because their pal works right there at fox news, sarah palin. >> do you think he'll jump in? do you think he'll get in this race? >> no. i genuinely believe, ed, that he honestly understands that he does not have the health to do this.

not only that, he's smart enough to know this is not the time for him to do it. if he's serious about it, he waits for 2016. the billionaires and millionaires who he is their boy, they're staying -- they want him in now. but he'll be around in 2016. it would be a big mistake for him to jump in right now. obama is much stronger than the republicans think he is. >> and in 20 seconds, can you tell us why the democrats aren't all over this postal story and supporting the house bill that would reverse what is going to take away 120,000 jobs? >> for the republicans, it's part of the plan. republican presidential primary voters are as confused as ever. rick perry has dropped dramatically. he's been second place -- >> according to a new poll -- >> mitt romney has regained his lead.