this is the first time i saw it. i didn't want to get out of the truck. >> just a single local news report of a rogue turkey is a gift from the news gods. but the possibility this is a new and emerging trend in local news, that i am all in favor of. that is the best new thing in the world today. now it's time for "the ed show." have a great night. good evening, americans. welcome to "the ed show" tonight from new york. the president hammered senate republicans today for voting down the americans jobs act. and says that he's just not going to take no for an answer. tonight we'll show you exactly what these republicans voted against, how many jobs this bill would have created in their home states. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. the republican minority got together as a group and blocked this jobs bill from passing the senate. >> the president is calling out republicans and promising to keep fighting for jobs. >> we will not take no for an

answer. >> alan grayson will preview the next battle. >> that's the 000 approach and it's focused on something even ed shultz would love. >> rick santorum thinks i would love his jobs plan. i'll let rick know why he's sorely mistaken. you won't believe what they're trying to pull this time in ohio. and new polling shows herman cain is the new republican front runner. even though he's pushing garbage like this. >> leftist folk in this country that are black, they're more racist than the white people. >> tonight michael eric dyson reacts to herman cain's attack on black liberals. good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. senate republicans and two turned coat democrats are standing in the way of creating

millions of americans' jobs. late tuesday night the senate stopped the american jobs bill dead in its tracks. the 99% i think have every reason in the world to be out on the streets after this vote. washington is completely dysfunctional because elected officials, they are brain dead to what the american people really want and need. it's no wonder that congress has a record low approval rating of 13%. not a single republican voted to fund schools, build roads, or give middle class americans a freaking tax break. just a little tax break. freshman democratic senator john tester along with sellout ben nelson voted against taxing millionaires in their back yard of montana and nebraska respectively. nelson didn't vote for the $447 billion package because quote, it represents billions of dollars in new spending and more taxes. you know, that reminds me of the old bullet point. we got to hold it right there,

folks. this is the, i think, perfect time for liberals to destroy the tax and spend bullet point that the democrats have had to put up with for years. here's what the demes need to do. you're damn right i'm a tax and spend liberal. it's time to tax the top 1% and spend it on the people who need a job, need a school, need health care. all of this. yes, i like that. i'm a tax and spend liberal. i want to tax those who have had all the breaks over the past 30 years and i want to make sure the works folk of america have a shot. president obama is not focused on nelson or tester. he's laying the blame on the feet of the republicans. >> last night even though a majority of senators voted for the jobs act, the republican minority blocked this bill from passing the senate. they said no to more jobs for teachers. no to more jobs for cops and firefighters. no to tax cuts for small

business owners and middle class americans. >> president obama needs to just keep hammering the republicans for their record number fi filibuste filibusters. lay it out there every day, mr. president. tonight we're making every no vote accountable for the jobs bill they rejected. check the ticker on the bottom to see how many jobs are being obstructed from the senate. california congress woman linda sanchez nailed in the senate on my radio show. >> these are not patriots. people who love this country want to see jobs created. >> they don't love this country? >> no. i don't think they love this country. they're not concerned about the economic well being of the country as a whole. >> and they are so infatuated with defeating president obama that they have -- you would label them as not patriotic? >> yes, absolutely.

>> you know, if you had every democrat talking like that, maybe there wouldn't be any wall street outcry protests around the country. i completely agree with congresswoman sanchez. these people are not patriots. the people i met in the streets of chicago and lower manhattan, they do love this country. they want a break. the 99%, they're the patriots for taking it to the streets to fight for economic and social justice. republicans in the senate along with tester and nelson are completely ignoring what the american people really want. look at the numbers. according to a new bloomberg washington post poll, 68% of americans want to raise taxes on the wealthiest americans. over 80% of americans want congress to protect social security and medicare and medicaid. even republicans want to tax the top 2% and protect the social safety net. the public is with you. over in the house john boehner praised the senate for turning their backs on the american people. >> yesterday the senate acted in

a bipartisan manner to reject the president's tax increase on job creators in our country. >> bipartisan? so that means that the stimulus package that president obama got, that was bipartisan too, right? boehner has completely failed to bring one job to america in ten months. that's all he's been crying about. but he hasn't created anything. the entire republican party is morally corrupt on the jobs issue. all they want to do is defeat this president. and they are not focused on the future. president obama is ready to fight for this jobs bill every step of the way. >> we will not take no for an answer. we will keep organizing and we will keep pressuring and we will keep voting until this congress finally meets its responsibilities and actually does something to put people back to work and improve the economy. >> you know, been a lot of commentary lately about these occupy wall street protests that are taking place around the country.

where is it going? what does it mean? the political angst, obviously is there. who's going to get the beneficiary of all of this politically when it comes to the ballot box? here's where it has to start. give the tea party some credit. in the congress, they saw exactly what was going on with the right wingers in this country and so they created the tea party caucus. don't you think it's about time for the democrats to take a stand and create the 99% caucus? that might be politically tough for the democrats because then they would unequivocally have to stand with labor. and unequivocally say we need universal health care for every american. then they would have to go for the stimulus package and you have two senators who don't want to do that. and others are saying they will vote against it. how much more evidence do lawmakers in washington have to have before they recognize what they are doing to this country? it's like they don't believe in american workers.

it's like the only thing that matters is power. get rid of obama, get rid of the democrats, we'll mop this up later. that is their strategy. and they'll mop it that way. just like they're mopping the floor with the postal service. it infuriates me. now it's time for the democrats to move forward and capture this. stand with these protesters. don't just send out a memo and say we're with them all the way. no, you're not. you're not. you have to openly castigate these two senators that have turned their backs on american jobs. you have to go after your own colleagues who do not stand with these protesters. and you have to draw a line in the sand and do not waiver one bit about what you will do to bring jobs to america. and think about what president obama did when he was candidate obama. how many new people were brought into the process, the 20-somethings that lived with bush, that lived with cheney and saw what they did to this

country. and president obama brings in all these new people and you damn democrats all you've done is let them down. a lot of these protesters around the country are 20-somethings who feel disenfranchised because they were meant to believe they could make a difference. then they see this obstruction and then see democrats who don't have the guts to stand up to the wealthiest americans in this country and tell them they need to pay more. get your krcell phones out. the question. should the democrats start a 99% caucus? get tough with these people. it's the country. text a for yes, text b for no to 622639 and go to msnbc.com. we'll bring the results later in the show. i think the people in the street deserve something from washington. wherest the congressional march to support these people? but that would be asking too much. that might interrupt a lobbyist lunch.

joining me now is former florida congressman alan grayson. who was a target of the right wing because he often spoke the way democrats like him to hear him speak. great to have you with us tonight. is the 99% caucus even feasible? what do you think? >> sure. because 99% of america wants to do something to solve our problems. you know, now the choice next year is crystal clear. we have one party that wants to do something and one party that wants to do nothing. the republicans have adopted this ir logical thinking that if we do nothing all of our problems will disappear. if we close our eyes like babies, then our problems will go away. democrats don't feel that way. they understand we have to get them to work. we have to get them health care. we have to do the things necessary to get america back on its feet. and republicans over and over again want to do nothing. honestly i look at what i'm

seeing in washington, d.c. and it seems the republican jobs plan is let us pray. >> let us pray is exactly where we are right now. eric cantor mocked the president about the nelson and tester position in the vote. here it is. look at it. >> the senate's action last night proved that the month-long campaign that the white house has been on to promote the president's bill failed. and it demonstrated as well that the president could not even get the necessary support in his own party to pass the bill. >> and i hope tester and nelson certainly love that smirky little smile that cantor had on his face right there. what should the reaction be moving forward here? >> first of all we have to keep our eye on the ball here. the ball is to end the misery that most americans feel today. how am i going to pay my credit card bill? how am i going to pay my mortgage? how am i going to keep my house.

that's what americans are facing right now. not the political games. let's not be distracted by this. 96% of the democrats voted to take charge, to do something to solve these problems or at least keep them from getting worse. and 0% of the republicans voted to do anything. they are the party of no. the party of i don't care. >> former congressman alan grayson, always a pleasure. thanks so much. let's turn now to dean baker cofounder for economic and policy research and author of "the end of loser liberalism: making markets progressive." great to have you with us. will america go into a double dip recession if we don't get a job package soon? >> it's going to be just as bad. the economy is barely growing fast enough to keep pace with

the growth of the labor mark. that means unemployment is going to stay as high as it is or possibly drift higher. that's a horrible story. we're looking at 9.1% unemployment. we haven't had this except for a short period of time in 1981. otherwise not since the great depression. that's a horrible story. i don't see a double dip. but that's not much cause for celebration. >> is there any evidence that taxing millionaires would really kill job creation? >> no. you know, it's kind of incredible when we have these arguments. we go look, most of us were alive in the '90s. we had the clinton tax rates in effect then. most of us were alive when reagan was in office. tax rate was 50%. then it was 70% in the '60s. we had 3% unemployment. do we really have to argue this? >> tonight the senate passed the trade agreements with columbia

and panama. do you think this is going create -- is this a negative? >> it's not a huge negative. president obama was saying these are job creators. he knows better. this is just silliness. the basic story -- and you can make the argument for the agreement. i don't think they're got agreements. i think they're harmful. but it's not a job creator. the idea would be there's efficiency gains. that somehow this is going to create jobs in 2011, 2012. he knows that. the idea that he would be wasting his time pushing bills like this when he should be doing nothing but talking about creating jobs. >> dean baker, always a pleasure. good to have you with us tonight. remember to answer your question at the bottom of the screen and share your thoughts on twitter @edshow. one of the presidential candidates called me out by name today regarding his manufacturing jobs plan. sometimes i just can't help

myself from taking the bait. and the righties in ohio try to make a great grandmother their spokesperson in support of senate bill 5. but she was saying exactly the opposite. stay with us. we're right back. 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.

the republican presidential candidates, well, they have a credibility problem on jobs. rick perry doesn't have a jobs plan yet. mitt romney has one, but he probably flip-flop on it by the next week. and herman cain. well, by now everyone knows his plan. >> my top priority is 999. >> cain and his plan for 9% corporate tax, individual tax, and sales tax would pass congress. and here's why. >> we've had an outside firm, independent firm and so our numbers will make it revenue neutral. >> but the paid campaign

consultant who scored the 999 plan told politico it would be doomed to fail. the problem with the big bang changes like that is they are so alien to the kusht system that it would be a great big shock. another candidate on the stage last night pointed to a bigger reason why the 999 plan is not realistic. >> how many people here are for a sales tax in new hampshire? raise your hand. that's how many votes you'll get in new hampshire. >> rick santorum has his own jobs plan called 000. he says it's a plan i should love? i'll be the judge next. coming up, a new nbc wall street journal poll has cain in front of the republican field. stay with us.

welcome back to "the ed show." rick santorum has his own plan for job growth. and he says that i should love it? the former senator's plan includes a 0% corporate tax rate for manufacturers. 0% tax on profits overseas. and no regulations on manufacturing. >> that's the 000 approach. and it's focused on something that even ed shultz would love. which is to get these manufacturing jobs. if ed shultz can support this plan because it does something about manufacturing, then you can see that democrats will do the same. and we'll pass something and bring the country together.

>> well, senator, i have to give you credit. that is some grade-a cable news bait. i'll take it right here. the problem with your plan is that there is really nothing in there for the consumer. wherest the consumer tax credit for buying american? which of course your party has been against. where does it address the trade agreements that have made it easy to ship jobs overseas? giving them insent to do so. this rewards them for taking their businesses offshore and gets no tax revenue from corporate billionaires. you call it the 000 plan. i call it the free lunch plan. joining me tonight is the president of the united states steel workers international president mr. lee owe gerard. good to have you with us. i should point out we invited santorum on the program tonight. we were told he couldn't make it. he has an open invitation to come on this program.

leo, if there was a 0% tax rate for manufacturing corporations, would that help create jobs? >> absolutely not. we've got hundreds of corporations now that aren't paying any tax. in fact, many of them are getting huge tax checks like general electric and others getting tax rebates. what this administration has been doing is trying to stimulate demand. what the senator's bait is doesn't do anything about giving reward to those who hire jobs. doesn't do anything about domestic content. doesn't do anything about taking away the tax break for companies sending jobs offshore. this is nothing but a smoke and mirrors. this is nothing more than hide the pea. and i don't know any company that has created a job when they repatrioted funds. in 2006 in fact it didn't create any jobs. we lost a bunch of jobs when

pharmaceuticals moved to puerto rico. >> when it comes to regulations, most businesses say regulations don't hurt growth. in fact a small business majority poll from the summer showed it was only considered a concern to 13% of business owners. can you give an example of how regulation has hurt manufacturing in this country. >> i don't know any examples where regulation has hurt manufacturing. i'm fascinated by the fact that republican candidates are coming out as if regulations are a big hurdle. the regulations we have now except for the banking regulations are the regulations we had under george bush. remember the mine disasters where all the miners got killed? we tried to bring in some reform of the mining safety act. the republicans blocked it. these guys are talking about repealing the clean air act, repealing the kind of safety and health legislation, repealing food protection. what kind of nonsense is that? i don't know any employer didn't create a job because there was

too much regulation. what i've said on your show, the issue is demand. we need to put people back to work. we need to raise their standard of living. we've got to raise what we've been calling the minimum wage which is the entry level wage. we've got to raise demand and people will buy the products we're making. and we've got to stop giving companies tax breaks when they move jobs offshore. i couldn't think of anything more ridiculous. >> why would we allow companies to bring their businesses back after making trillions in profits without paying something? to repatriate the money -- with that money they bring back? >> i would not sort of -- i don't know. i'm not sure what the right word is. i wouldn't be angry -- i'm trying to choose my words without being nasty. i wouldn't be angry about having a discussion about if there's a

way to reward job creation. but simply to give money back with no guarantees they're going to get jobs, we lost jobs. if they wanted to sit down with the president and have a discussion about for every job you create you can bring back this many dollars, that's a totally different discussion. we don't hear them saying that. some of them want to go to zero tax if you bring it back. and the reality is if there was demand here, they'd be hiring. and that's what this president is trying to do. what we've now got is the party of no. the party of i don't give a darn. saying i don't care if you're unemployed. i'm not going to help you. they're doing everything they can to stop this president. my view is this. we've got a republican party on all levels prepared to have millions of people out of work so they can try and get one man's job. and we need to focus on he's trying to get people back to work. and they're trying to get his job. >> leo gerard, great to have you

with us. thank you so much. last night's debate was another poor showing for rick perry. he blamed for income equality. the governor's in the zone. and a county in georgia wants to put convicted criminals in charge of keeping their citizens safe when it comes to firefighting. anything to save money. that's coming up in my playbook. stay with us. [ junior ] i played professional basketball for 12 years. today i own 165 wendy's restaurants.

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and in psycho talk tonight, texas governor rick perry. doesn't give a damn about the massive inequality in this county. his attitude was on display in the debate last night. >> governor perry, over the last 30 years the income of the wealthiest 1% of americans has grown by more than 300%. and yet we have more people living in poverty in this country than at any time in the last 50 years. is this acceptable and what would you do to close that gap? >> the reason we have that many people living in poverty is because we got a president of the united states that's a job killer. that's what's wrong with this country today. you have a president who does not understand how to create wealth. he has over taxed, over regulated the small business men and women to the point they're playing off people. this president i will suggest to you is the biggest deterrent to

getting this country back on track. >> wasn't the question poverty is it acceptable and what would you do? rick perry totally blew off the question. he was asked if the income equality in america was acceptable and he was asked what would he do to close this wealth gap in america. but he responded with a generic factually incorrect attack on president obama. rick perry doesn't see a problem with the income gap. and it's not a problem for him personally. you see, his personal worth is $1.1 million. but here's the reality for the rest of the country. over the last 50 years the 400 richest taxpayers have gone from paying an effective federal tax rate of 50% to less than 17% while the rate for average americans has gone up. and if you watch this show regularly, you'll recognize my favorite chart.

it reflects the debate question perry ignored last night. since 1979 the top 1% has gotten richer and richer while the income average of americans has barely changed. that's the blue line down at the bottom. but perry seems to think that president obama is responsible for the last 30 years of growing income inequality. well, let's do some research. here is obama in 1979 playing high school basketball. and according to perry putting his master plan in motion to create the largest wealth gap since the 1920s. the economy was already feeling the influence of barack obama as his 1979 high school graduation. and this 1979 hug from obama's grandmother was apparently powerful enough to slash tax rates for the rich. once again, rick perry made a fool of himself in the debate last night. for him to respond to a serious

question about closing the income gap with a canned attack on president obama is bush league psycho talk. right wing dirty tricks in ohio. they can't handle the truth about their legislation senate bill 5 so they distort the message of a great grandmother. that's next. and later herman cain say liberals are racist for questioning his politics. stay with us. all these give safe drivers a discount. but only allstate gives safe drivers more. a bonus check every six months they drive accident-free. so what's it going to be? eenie, meanie, miney... or more. shop less. get more. make one call to an allstate agent. have given way to sleeping.

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welcome back to "the ed show." the right wing is so desperate to keep senate bill 5 in ohio they have literally twisted the words of a great grandmother. this is no exaggeration. there are two ads out there as the battle ground heats up. one is the real thing and the other is a lie. here's the real thing using the testimonial of a great grandmother marlene quinn. >> when the fire broke out,

there wasn't a moment to spare. if not for the firefighters, we wouldn't have our zoe today. that's why it is so important to vote no on issue 2. issue 2 makes it illegal to negotiate for enough firefighters to do their job. and these firefighters, they know what they need as far as equipment and man power. how many of those politicians in columbus have fought a fire? fewer firefighters can mean the difference between life or death. that's why i'm voting no on issue 2. >> now, here's the lay commercial from a group calling itself building a better ohio. >> when the fire broke out, there wasn't a moment to spare. if not for the firefighters, we wouldn't have our zoe today. >> she's right. by voting no on issue 2, our safety will be threatened.

without issue 2, communities will need to lay off hard working firefighters to pay for the excessive benefits. issue 2 protects our communities from losing those who protect us. >> fewer firefighters can mean the difference between life and death. >> righties will do anything to win, won't they? marlene quinn obviously opposes senate bill 5 saying it can make the difference between life or death. in a statement she says i think it's dishonest and down right deceitful that they would use footage of me to try to play tricks and fool voters. i feel violated, she says. a lawyer for building a better ohio says the group did nothing wrong. but the ad is so misleading, 30 television stations pulled it from their air waives in ohio. john kasich said the ad was just fine. and remember, even when senate bill 5 was being pushed through the legislature, ohio republicans were strong arming

people. they yanked a fellow republican from the committee when he opposed the bill. and the right wing has attempted to shorten early voting in ohio to suppress low income voters who largely oppose senate bill 5 by the polling. let's bring in ohio firefighter doug stern. mr. stern, good to have you with us tonight. >> thank you for having me. >> you bet. this pretty much illustrates the intensity of this fight in ohio. have you spoken with marlene quinn and what did she say? >> well, i had the opportunity to yesterday morning to sit down with marlene is little bit. when i sat down we were talking about what happened and getting her to sign the papers that we could send to have her voice heard that she opposes senate bill 5 and issue 2. she hadn't seen the commercials so she knew what she was signing. i showed it to her and she

started crying. she turned and said i'm sorry i got you guys into this. and i'm sorry i let the firefighters down. that hit me hard. here's this great grandmother who only wanted to support the firefighters of her community, of her city. we've got columbus politicians who underhandedly take her words and her image. they didn't do anything to rebut her image. they used her image against her with words that she never meant to say. >> doug, what's your reaction to this group twisting her words about how firefighters touched her life so personally? >> i'm angry, ed. it's safe to say the 10,000 professional firefighters in ohio are angry too. we can take it. we're big boys, we're big girls. we knew when we got into this fight that the slings and arrows were coming at us. we never expected them to come at one of our supporters like this. someone that was just like i said before doing what was best

for her community. they went above and beyond. this is below the belt. but it's really not shocking. if you look at the way they've disrespected public employees and the middle class from the beginning of this, they locked us out of the state house. >> does this law help or hurt firefighters? >> i can't believe anybody could look at this law and think that it helps. >> as you understand it, this is bad for your profession, bad for public safety. >> well, ed, it's bad for everybody. because we come to conclusions, we come to resolution with our city, with our employer by sitting down at the table together. we've resolved everything from financial issues to safety issues together. and that word is important. together. because without collective bargaining there is no togetherness. there's no working towards a common goal. we sit down and my kid said it best. it's the city saying maybe at the table.

they know what maybe means. when we're out maybe means no. for some reason the politicians don't think we understand that. >> do you see momentum building to get rid of this law in the november election? you're advocating a no vote. is the momentum building? >> i think it is, ed. and i think this stunt this week by building a better ohio has resolved firefighters more so than ever to go out and get the no vote on issue 2. they're going door to door more than before because they see what happened. because they don't want our voice to be changed like they changed marlene's voice in that commercial. >> the associated press asked governor kasich what he thought. he thought it was just fine. what's your response to that? >> the governor can say whatever he wants. and he's certainly entitled to his opinion. what we'll see in november is the opinion of ohio that vote no on issue 2. >> doug stern, good to have you

with us tonight. thanks for what you do. ohio firefighters doug stern. speaking of firefighters, officials in georgia see what they want to do by putting prison inmates in charge of these duties. that's in the playbook next. stay with us. your kids are getting enough vegetables? yeah, maybe not. v8 v-fusion juice gives them a full serving of vegetables plus a full serving of fruit. but it just tastes like fruit. v8. what's your number? but it just tastes like fruit. [ woman announcing ]bsite there's an easier way. create your own small-business site... with intuit websites. choose a style, customize, publish and get found... from just $7.99 a month. get a 30-day free trial... at intuit.com.

welcome back to "the ed show." being in this business when you do a show every night, there's always one or two stories that you're going to come across that you're going to be a heck of a lot more passionate about than maybe some other stories. this is one of those stories for me. tomorrow republicans will be one step closer to achieving their goal of destroying the united states postal service. it's really a remarkable accomplishment the way they have done this. first a republican-controlled congress, the lame duck session of congress passed a law in 2006 before nancy pelosi got the gavel in the house that forced

the postal service to prefund 75 years of pension and health benefits in a ten year window. what business does that? that law has put an unbelievable, enormous and unnecessary financial strain on an organization that does not take one damn dime in taxpayer dollars. you do not pay for the post office. only if you use it. now congressman darryl isa is backing a bill that would force thousands of layoffs and restructure how the post office does business. his committee will vote on it tomorrow and it's expected to pass. to hammer their message home, the committee's republican staff produced this video to scare taxpayers. check it out. >> when the postal service stops paying, retired postal workers still get benefits. the law says someone has to pay. the question is who? the answer is you. and that's a bailout.

>> and you wonder why i can't stand republicans? this idea of a bailout is just more right wing fear mongering garbage. here is the truth. the legislation will impact thousands of workers 120,000 workers across america will be cut from the postal service for no reason at all. it will hurt small towns and rural communities all across this country. it is a raw deal for workers. it's a raw deal for rural america. and we sit here and just watch the lawmakers tear apart the infrastructure of this country. think about this. you're running a business. and the congress has come along and told you that you have to fund health care and pension for the next 75 years in a ten year window. darryl isa, did you run your business like that? you know this is a government takeover and a strong governmental push to the post

office to get rid of employees, to force it to the private market which is not going to be able to service rural america. this country's losing its heart and soul when you have stories like this. there's no reason for it. no reason for it. coming up, the state of georgia wants prisoners to take the place of firefighters. did you hear that? you won't want to miss this. stay with us. all we can do now is watch. wait. wait a minute. there's a truck. tough to tell from here, but whoever is driving that truck is right below the plane now. this is -- this is just unbelievable! the broken landing gear landed into the bed... [ male announcer ] the midsized nissan frontier with full-size payload and towing. innovation for doers. innovation for all. ♪

and in my playbook tonight we can add the state of georgia to states trying to balance their budgets on the backs of those who keep us say. in camden county they say they can save $5 million a year to use inmates to fight fires. they would use convicted criminals from another county where a similar program has been up and running for two years now. georgia isn't the first to use prison labor to fight fires. california has about 4,000

firefighting inmates. but in that state they mainly fight wildfires and only work under -- only work with other inmates under the supervision of a guard. in georgia here's what they want to do. the inmates would be integrated into existing fire houses and supervised by a firefighter instead of a guard. they would respond to all types of emergencies including house fires. inmates who qualify for the job include those -- would be those who have committed crimes like theft, drug offenses. supporters of the plan say it's so cost effective because one prisoner can take the place of three firefighters since inmates can work around the clock and don't get days off. but some worry using inmates will risk the safety of firefighters and people they protect. not to mention it is extremely disrespectful to the dangerous work firefighters do every

single day. just another story about how america's infrastructure and respect for workers is just getting chipped away at daily. herman cain says president obama has never been a part of the black experience in america. michael eric dyson will weigh in on that and much more next. ♪ [ cellphone rings ] cut! [ monica ] i have a small part in a big movie. i thought we'd be on location for 3 days, it's been 3 weeks. so, i used my citi simplicity card to pick up a few things.

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tonight in our survey i asked you should the democrats start a 99% caucus? 98% of you said yes, 2% of you said no. coming up, herman cain continues to disparage black liberals. next. packages. yet they're closing thousands of offices, slashing service, and want to lay off over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains 5 billion a year from post-office revenue while the postal service

is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. congress created this problem, and congress can fix it. [ jim ] i need to push out a software upgrade. build a new app for the sales team in beijing. and convince the c.e.o. his email will find him... wherever he is. i need to see my family while they're still awake. [ male announcer ] with global services from dell, jim can address his company's i.t. needs through custom built applications, cloud solutions and ongoing support in over 100 countries. so his company sees results. and jim sees his family. dell. the power to do more.

finally tonight, herman cain says race is a nonissue for the republicans in his campaign. and yet once again cain is out making racially-charged accusations. the republican front runner went on to discuss race with talk show host neil bost. the same who called victims of katrina parasites. here's what cain had to say about some of this african-american critics. >> a lot of these liberal, leftist folk in this country that are black, they're more racist than the white people that they're claiming to be racist. >> yeah, i like the word

bigoted. >> okay. that's exactly what that is. >> hard to believe that cain would continue an interview with a guy who thinks the words racist and bigoted are interchangeable. but cain didn't want to miss out on an opportunity to take a shock at obama. he said there would be no contest in a debate with the commander in chief. >> i can even talk about foreign policy deeper than he can. immigration, every issue. >> oh, don't forget the black experience in america which he's never been a part of. >> he's never been part of the black experience in america. i can talk about what it was like to be po before i was poor. he can't. >> joining me now is political analyst, professor of sociology michael eric dyson. good to have you with us. last time i checked, president obama did not grow up wealthy. am i missing something here? how is president obama not a part of the black experience?

>> this is the most ludicrous assertion yet made by presidential contender mr. cain. he seems willing to say anything in order to curry white favor. first of all he's got to be instructed by boortz about the similarity of bigoted and racist. people have said in order to be racist you have to excess power over a group of people that you demonize. and so now he's taking lessons in re schism from neal boortz but is trying to say he's more informed than president obama. and trying to suggest that obama was not the -- a son of a poor mother. that he lived in a single parent household with his mother. that he was reared under challenging conditions. and then of course having experience as a black man had mr. cain read his book, his narrative talks about his experiences as a black man in america. and his refusal to by the way

look away from his black identity but to fully embrace it. so i have no idea what mr. cain is speaking about. >> the washington post is pointing out he brought up race more times than barack obama. is there a strategy here? >> there is. that is to make white republicans feel they are not somehow the bearers of an enormously complicated tradition, one would say problematic in regard to black people. mr. cain is wiping a i way all of the issues in terms of welfare reform, immigration, economic inequality, health care, prison industrial complex. all of the racial despairties that prevail, he doesn't want to -- so what does he do? he absolves them and says the real racists are those who point

to the ma llignacy. >> race is such a volatile issue in our culture. any time someone brings it up, it is an attention grabber. he has garnished a bunch of publicity about race. is it a political strategy for him as a candidate in your opinion? >> i think so, ed. let's be honest. when it comes to cain, when it comes to race cain ain't able. he's not able to brilliantly engage the issue of race. he doesn't talk about it with nuance, with sensitivity. he's trying to say he's the most nfds about it. and to dismiss it to suggest that america has overcome, we've arrived as the promised land. and as a result he wants to give the republican party the gift of absolution. >> and in some polls he's already e