trampling around the circus tent while chris and tim get the jobs in the tent. in this case, to the seashore, while giving comforting futures to the boys in the front office. that's what i call equity. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "the ed show" with ed schultz starts right now. good evening, americans. welcome to "the ed show" from new york. 111 days until the 2012 election, and mitt prromney is ready to dig up the dirt and go personal on the president. in the words of a former president, bring it on. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> he tries to divide america, tear america apart. >> they tested the waters yesterday. today, the romney camp is diving in. >> light our hair on fire then. >> they'll step up their personal attacks on the president to try to dodge the tax issue. i'll ask bob shrum and richard wolffe if it has any chance of working. >> to say that steve jobs didn't

build apple computer or that bill gates didn't build microsoft or henry ford didn't build ford motor company -- >> mitt romney adopts the fox news lie about the president's small business comment. >> a lot of people were waiting for that to come out. >> and then agrees with the full context otthe president's comment on small business. >> by the way, there are a lot of people in government who help us. >> we'll go inside the anatomy of a fox news lie. >> and the big panel weighs in on george w. bush's jaw-dropping new interview. >> eight years was awesome. and you know, i was famous and i was powerful. >> good to have you with us. thanks for watching. another day, another new plan of attack for the romney campaign. yesterday, it was the dart board mentality. today, it's the kitchen sink approach. >> his priority is not creating jobs for you. his priority is trying to keep his own diop job, and that's why he's going to lose it. >> he's out of touch, out of ideas, out of excuses. that's why in november we have

to get him out of office. >> he divides us. he tried to diminish those who have been successful in one walk of life or another. it's simply wrong. >> to recap, president obama cares about his own job and not yours. he's out of touch and out of excuses. and he's a president who is just dividing america and tearing americans apart. you know, gone are the days when mitt romney would say something nice about president obama, that he's a nice guy. >> i think he's a nice person. i just don't think we can afford him any longer. >> conservative head shakers were screaming for mitt romney to stop calling obama nice. romney is finally listening. it started last week with an ad calling him a liar. today, they attacked him for political payoffs. >> where did all of the obama stimulus money go? friends, donors, campaign supporters, special interest groups. >> according to sources within the romney campaign, every rumor

and myth about president obama is now fair game. they're going for it. an anonymous campaign adviser told buzz feed, this is a guy who admitted to cocaine use, had a sweetheart deal with his house in chicago and was associated and worked with rod blagojevich to get valerie jaret appointed to the senate. there will be counter attacks. now we understand why romney attack dog john sununu went on fox news and called obama a pot head from hawaii. >> he has no idea how the american system functions. wetient be surprised about that because he spent his early years in hawaii smoking something, spent the next set of years in indonesia. >> drug use, allegations, and tony resco, all that stuff, they're not the only old tricks pulls from the hat. joe arpaio was putting birtherism back in the news cycle. >> we believe that the certificate presented to the american public by the white

house is a forgery. >> well, sheriff joe isn't part of the romney campaign, but that didn't stop romney surrogate donald trump from tweeting today. as i always said, the birthers were after the truth. thanks to sheriff joe. they're banking that they're not going to believe or know who the president of the united states is and they have some new guy out there. they're taking advice from the head shakers instead of the republican party. do you remember in the primaries, republicans held a strategy meeting and advised all of the candidates against attacking the president personally. the gop has good reasons to be nervous because when it comes to likability, president obama's numbers are very high. 60% of americans find him likable. compared to only 31% for mitt romney. it doesn't seem like a good strategy for the romney campaign to personally attack president

obama's character, but right now, it is the only and the latest attempt to avoid questions about mitt romney's tax returns. the campaign was on the defensive again today. >> governor romney has gone above and beyond what is required by him. he has voluntarily released over 500 pages of tax return information. >> 500 pages. that's the big buzz phrase. those 500 pages come from only one set of tax returns, and that's the year 2010. and it turns out the 2010 returns, they're not even complete. the huffington post reported the documents do not fully disclose his financial activities in offshore holding accounts. romney is still refusing to hand over any additional returns despite calls from republicans and conservatives for him to do so. >> i think people in my party to say look, this is a nonissue, release the returns and it will all go away, my experience is the democratic party these days has approached taxes in a very different way than in the past. their opposition people look for

anything they can find to distort, to twist, and try to make negative. >> you got that? romney admits details in his tack returns will be used against him. what details? the romney campaign will not say. romney's spokesperson was asked by politico if there are any years in which romney paid zero dollars in taxes. she replied with two words, not true. well, if it's not true, why not release the tax returns? mitt romney has, if you look at his career, he's changed his mind in this campaign alone on a lot of things. he changed his mind on health care, he changed his mind on social issue. he changed his mind on how to attack the president of the united states in the campaign, but he don't change his mind on releasing his tax returns even with enormous pressure coming from his own party. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. we decide to outsource tonight's question. that's even hard for me to say. we're outsourcing our work to the trumpster?

this is courtesy of donald trump. he tweeted today, and sent it out earlier so we're going to use it, what is more important for the american public to have? text a for mitt romney's tax returns, text b for president obama's sealed records to 622639 or go to our blog. we'll bring you the results later on in the show. i'm joined tonight by msnbc political analyst richard wolffe and democratic strategist bob shrum. great to have you with us. richard, you first, in the olympic season, we could say going for the gold, but now we're going for the dirt in the romney campaign. is this a good strategy? >> it's a terrible strategy. bob shrum is on the other way, so he can maybe speak to it, but it's the equiv lnlt of 2004, of democrats saying we're going to bring up george w. bush's alcoholism and the fact until the age of 40, he really didn't have any purpose in his life. well, that might have been relevant for some democrats, you might have wanted to dwell on that. but actually, by that point, he had invaded two countries.

he had a record as president. if you want to go out and dislike this president, if you feel negative about him, there are plenty of things to grab on to. what does it do for people who are the gettable voters, the swing voters, the independent voters. they think this is completely off topic. go down this rabbit hole for the republicans. it won't take them any closer to landing a blow on a president, a sitting president they're going for, not a new guy running for nomination. >> yeah, bob shrum, when a campaign decides to go heavily negative in july, what does it tell you about the campaign? >> this is, in 2004, we never brought up the fact that george w. bush had been an alcoholic until 40. it would have hurt us, we knew it would have hurt us. when the stuff about him and the dui came out, we were upset by it because on a number of issues like social security, we were gaining some ground back in

2000. there's no question here that what's happened is that bush, excuse me, romney has a world of hurt right now. he's got the bain stuff. he's got outsourcing. he's got swiss bank accounts. offshore tax havens, the whole tax question. i have been in campaigns. there is only one reason why you would not release these tax returns, and take this kind of intense criticism. and that reason is that there's something fatal in the returns. so what he's now done, he started off lying for example about kerry by saying kerry had only release said two years of tax returns. he had released 20. he's now moved on and his campaign has moved on to the kind of smears that didn't work against obama when they were tried in 2008. won't work now. richard is absolutely right, by the way. people know this guy. they know him as president. this is only going to work with debates. they h purpose here. they want to distract the media if they can from reporting on these tax issues. >> well, the democrats in congress are going to jump on

this. democratic representative sandy levin of michigan is introducing a bill to require presidential candidates to release ten years of tax returns. now, richard, how much longer can romney hold out? i mean, this is going to force the republicans to vote if they take it up in the house, on exactly how many years should be released by candidates. >> you don't defend the indefensible. this is about disclosure. who could be against disclosure. it's like when you find banks shredding documents. what are you trying to hide? it's hard to get beyond that. sooner or later, they're going to have to do this. they can throw up as much dust as they like. they can do as many head fakes as they like, but they're going to have to do this. i guess maybe it's a good time to defer until they get to the olympics and maybe people aren't paying attention. whether it's votes or just the whole siren calls here, you have got to release these things because as bad as they are, not releasing them is actually worse. >> i'll ask boast of you, can he

go to the convention with this story still hanging out there? actually, romney is showing more resolve on this issue than anything else he has ever supported. >> you moan, is he going to flip-flop on this? i kind of disagree with richard. i think he's not. i think this guy is smart. he has smart people around him. i think they have sat down, they have looked at what would come out if these returns were put out there and said we can't possibly afford to do it. you know, one of the things that is so odd about this is he knew he was running for president from 2002 on. i mean, how could he have these offshore accounts? how could he have years in which he paid 1% or 2% or nothing at all, which is what i think happened? i think they'll stand their ground because i think if he didn't pay taxes in a year, that's pretty much fatal to his candidacy. >> here is republican pollster frank lunts on the state of the race. >> if i had to say right now on july whatever date it is. >> the 18th. >> july 18th, i would give the

edge to obama. and there was one point for about two weeks when i said i couldn't choose. i hate doing that. i'm supposed to give a projection. now, i think obama has taken the edge again. >> so, how does romney get out of this hole? he shows his cards today that he wants to go dirty. he wants to go negative. there's a divided camp right now on how to handle all this. i mean, he has got a lot of problems. in the meantime, gentlemen, he's not making any headway on immigration. he's not making any headway on the economy, because of this outsourcing story that is right in front of the american people in freeport, illinois, and he's been challenged by the people there to go to freeport and tell them about the jobs. i mean, there's a mountain of stuff on this guy right now. bob, how is the romney campaign going to react to the prediction of the republican pollster saying you're not going to win if it's today. >> they're going to go straight ahead. they have a theory of the case. this was a referendum. if you feel kind of bad about the economy, then give us a

chance because maybe we won't do worse. meantime, a forest fire started behind them. started by the obama campaign. started with bain, went through his record as governor, went to this issues like outsourcing and the tax havens and taxes, and suddenly, they find themselves fighting on multiple fronts. last week they had to argue when he left bain. this week, they're having to argue about tax returns. i think it's going to go on and on and on. >> richard, let's say that they do release the returns and he did not pay any tax in one of those years. how tough a sell would that be to the american people? >> you know, the problem here is that they have sold themselves as the alternative. not saying what that alternative is. if you're a blank page and someone else is filling it up, you need to fill it up faster. he's got to say what he stands for, and right now, their strategy is don't give any details. not just the tax returns. don't give policy details. don't try to inspire people. it's good enough to be the alternative. what we're seeing now is the

alternative is a now who doesn't want to give you the tax returns, a guy who keeps his money secret and offshore. they have time, but it's going away, and it's going away very quickly. >> richard wolffe, bob shrum, great to have you with us. remember to answer tonight's question on the bottom of the screen, share your thoughts on twitter and on facebook. coming up, the right wing distortion machine is out in full force, and mitt romney has jumped onboard. e.j. dionne will join me for the discussion. stay tuned. you're watching "the ed show" on msnbc.

coming up, fox flews, they're absolutely thrilled that mitt romney picked up on the lie that they have been pushing about president obama and small business. except mitt romney, he screwed it up. we'll explain next. the people of freeport, illinois, are asking mitt romney to step on by, and ystop bain capital from outsourcing their jobs. we'll update thestoriy.

>> and eric cantor is the face of obstruction in congress. now he's facing his constituents and they're not happy. his democratic challenger, wayne powell, i mean a solid american, will join me later in the show. share you thoughts on twitter and on facebook using the hash tag ed show, we're reul right back. [ man ] ever year, sophia and i use the points we earn with our citi thankyou card for a relaxing vacation. ♪ sometimes, we go for a ride in the park. maybe do a little sightseeing.

or, get some fresh air. but this summer, we used our thank youpoints to just hang out with a few friends in london. [ male announcer ] the citi thankyou visa card. redeem the points you've earned to travel with no restrictions. rewarding you, every step of the way. a huge day for mitt romney. he's finally fired up and he's on offense. this is the mitt we have been waiting for. >> this is the one we have been waiting for, right? we talked about punch back, finally punch back. >> they're like, finally, a lot of people have been waiting for mitt romney to fight back.

>> there you have it. he found his message, right? >> what do you think the memo said over at fox news? say that he's really found his voice and he's finally fighting bab. they all happen to be saying the same thing. the republican rapid response team at fox news, they're trying their absolute best that it's created a controversy over the remarks made by president obama. now they couldn't be happier than mitt romney is on board and finally taking their points to the campaign trail. last week, president obama suggested that infrastructure and opportunity from public investments have helped build businesses in america. today, romney took those remarks totally out of context. >> i just want to say it exactly as he said it, speaking about small business and businesses of all kind. he said this, if you have got a business, you didn't build that. somebody else made that happen. >> here are the president's remarks in context. >> somebody helped to create this unbelievable american system that we have that allowed

you to thrive. somebody invested in roads and bridges. if you have a business, you didn't build that. somebody else made that happen. the internet didn't get invented on its own. government research created the internet so that all of the companies could make money off the internet. the point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative but also because we do things together. >> you know, amazingly, one republican politician came out in the president's defense earlier. his name, mitt romney. >> i know that you recognize a lot of people help you in a business, that perhaps the banks, the investors, there's no question your mom and dad, your school teachers. the people that provide roads, the fire, the police, a lot of people help. there are a lot of people in government who help us and allow us to have an economy that works and allow entrepreneurs and business leaders the various

kinds to start businesses and create jobs. we all recognize that. that's an important thing. >> let's bring in e.j. dionne, msnbc contributor, washington post columnist and author of "our divided political heart." e.j., does mitt romney know this is a lie and yet he continues to use it? >> well, i think he's got to know he's making stuff up at some level. you saw the sound bite from obama. and another point obama said, the point is that when we succeed, we succeed because of individual initiative, he said that, obama did, but also because we do things together. only the most extreme libb libertarian would disagree with that, and mitt, number two, that you showed, said much the same thing, which kind of contradicts what mitt number one said. i think romney knows he has a problem on releasing tax returns, so he wants to argue that obama is against success. he has a problem bebain and off

offsourcing. he wants to say he's against capitalism. it's kind of made up. >> where is the fox news out pm rage over the latest comments by romney which parallel what the president said? >> right, no, that's exactly right. there's something about what this debate is about a lot of what obama said, kind of reflected what elizabeth warren said in that famous sound bite, the candidates in massachusetts four months ago where the point is we're lucky to live in the united states of america. a lot of us would not be as successful as we are, would not have the opportunities we have, if we didn't live in the united states of america. >> we have all benefitted from the system if we're in business. that's clearly what the president was talking about. at media matters reports that fox news has aired over 42 segments on this subject matter. they're pushing it hard. i mean, is this nothing more than an effort to distract

people from the tax returns and the bain capital issue and get everybody thinking about business that president obama doesn't know anything about the jobs and the economy? which of course is what romney talks about. it's a major distraction and the network has said, he has his voice now. how does the president's team respond to this? >> the president's team responds to this much as you did, by showing the two romneys. i think they need to argue, to say we're lucky to live in the united states is not socialism, it's patriotism, that's what's at the heart of this, but they don't have to do much of anything they're not doing right now because all of this in the end as your segment suggested is a reflection of the fact romney knows he has big problems on the tax returns and bain, and soon he's going to have to answer the question when he picks a vp, how many tax returns did you ask your vp candidate to give you? and if it's more than what romney has released, then the question is why won't you release that many?

>> it also underscores how good the president has been on the campaign trail and how solid he has been with his message. because the only way they can distort him or his position, this is their latest big thing, is to edit the tape. i mean, the president must be spot on with what he has done and where he is going with his message if that's the best thing they have to do is they have to manufacture the controversy by doctoring the tape. i mean, i think it speem speaks volumes about how on message the obama team is, don't you think? >> that is true. they have by sheer force of reputation on this, seemed to have had some effect on independent voters who still somehow get the sense that barack obama, the guy under whom wall street has gone, the dow jones has gone up, rich people are doing just fine, they seem to have had some success persuading them that obama is a really big government guy. i still think that the sheer force of repetition may have an effect even if they largely make it up. >> actually, obama's policies

have helped mitt romney make a help hell of a lot more money if you look at it. e.j. dionne, always great to have you with us. thanks so much. mitt romney is no stranger to outsourcing american jobs, and yet he claims he is for the middle class. james hoffa joins me next. then, george w. bush talks about his awesome life and his awesome presidency, but he won't be using his awesome legacy to help milt romney get elected. find out why. just ahead on "the ed show." do you see it ?

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welcome back to "the ed show." every wage earner in america should be paying attention to this story and what's happening in the heartland. freeport, illinois, this is the perfect storm for the mitt romney campaign. this is how he wants to run the economy. this is the model he created. this is the model he believes in. this is the model that he got rich off of. romney says he really cares about the middle class. but the very company he started is now shipping even more jobs overseas. s sensata is going to close their plant and send 170 jobs to communist china. i will not get off the story. >> we're talking about jobs and the economy and what governor romney will do to help the

middle class. we need someone who is actually, you know, hired people, made a payroll, understands why jobs come and why they go. that person is mitt romney. >> absolutely. why jobs come and go. and that's why mitt romney needs to go to freeport, illinois, and explain to these workers why their job is going somewhere else. did they do something wrong? or are they just getting paid too damn much money. maybe they have health care, maybe they have other benefits. maybe they even have training. maybe they have safety in the work place, but you know what, the business model just doesn't fit, so freeport, you have to pay the price. mitt romney should understand why jobs go since many of the companies acquired by bain capital outsourced american jobs. now, in real time, it's happening again, and romney's former company is responsible. it's a perfect opportunity, i mean, a perfect opportunity, for romney to show real support for the middle class, go to freeport, mitt. but he won't. because his business model is

responsible for the heartbreak and the strife that has taken place in that community. when people talk about losing their homes, does mitt romney care? does he have a plan to put these 170 people back to work? or are they just like furniture, they get moved around in the economy and we just sit on them? yet today, he once again blamed the president for the economy. >> his priority is not creating jobs for you. his priority is trying to keep his own job and that's why he's going to lose it. >> mitt romney's priority is certain not creating american jobs. last night, dot turner was on the show. she's been working for sensata technologies for 43 years. mitt romney doesn't care about people like dot turner. if he becomes president of the united states, he's even going to care less. it will be the model on steroids. he'll pave the way for companies to do this kind of stuff to hard working americans. joining me tonight is james hoffa, general president of the teamsters. good to have you with us tonight.

this model, i mean, it's dangerous for american workers, isn't it? this climate that would be created and developed under mitt romney's leadership in this country, what would it mean for the country? >> this could be another disaster. this is exactly what we have been seeing and now we have a presidential candidate who says there's nothing long with sending american jobs overseas, to laying people off. we have lost millions and millions of jobs to anywhere you can say, whether it's china, inld yeah, mexico. haven't we seen enough of this? and the answer s he doesn't see anything wrong with that. if this doesn't make the election a clear choice about whether we're going to have jobs in america, whether we're going to bring those jobs back from overseas, that's what this is about. what you're articulating with regard to freeport, illinois, that's a good example that he doesn't see anything wrong with that. that's what's wrong with this whole idea of this vulture capitalism, where they're out to destroy jobs, to make a few stinking dollars, and they're

going to destroy the lives of a million americans. that's wrong. >> so this election, mr. hoffa, is as much about philosophy of how we should run our economy and run america. do we anywhecare about our neig about opportunities created, are factories a good place for workers anymore? the romney campaign, they have done their best to distance, you know, mitt romney from this kind of cut-throat business practices of his old firm. do you think romney is going to be able to run from his record? >> i don't think he can run. i think that's something to do with these income tax returns. there's something in here that he benefits from the offshoring. why isn't he turning these over? there's something related to the offshoring and the answer is if it comes out, it's going to destroy his presidency. the problem is he doesn't see anything wrong with it. these business programs see nothing wrong with closing a camp, 1,000 lose their jobs and

they move it to mexico, and theysy so what. that's wrong in america. and finally, we have a president speaking out on that. that's our barack obama. >> you have a senate trying to do something, too. tomorrow, the senate is going to vote on the bring the jobs home act to eliminate the tax deductions for offshoring and to encourage insourcing, meaning where they would bring jobs back to america, get a 20% tax credit. where are the republicans and mitt romney on this one? >> i guarantee they're against it. this has come up with the bush administration. they tried to do it where they bring it back and it went into all kinds of buying stock and giving big bonusss to executives. that's not what it's about. if they want to bring the money back that's offshore, there's billions of dollars, by the way, over there with pfizer and general electric, offshore. they can bring it back, but they have got to create jobs here in this country. build a factory, put people to work. then we can bring the money back. we'll give them a deal on the rate, but you have to build and put people to work here in america. >> mr. hoffa, good to have you

with us tonight. thanks so much. there's a lot more coming up in the next half hour of "the ed show." stay with us. >> i had a deal with 9/11 and you know, the financial meltdown. but people will all forget what froir waw like. >> we promise never to forget. the big panel weighs in on w's big comeback interview. delusional tea partiers are trying to force gays and muslims out of the government. you won't believe what is going on in tennessee. and meet the retired army colonel who says he can defeat the face of one of the worst congresses in history. wayne powell is taking on house majority leader eric cantor in virginia. and he's here on "the ed show" tonight. if you have copd like i do, you know how hard it can be to breathe and what that feels like. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms

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in. >> welcome back to "the ed show." former president george w. bush said he supported mitt romney. but he's going to keep away from the campaign. bush gave an hour-long interview with the hoover institution. he said life after the white house is awesome. he also says texas is awesome. biking across the country, it's awesome. and this presidency was, that was awesome, too. >> eight years was awesome. i was famous and i was powerful, but i have -- i have no desire for fame and power anymore. >> all right, but hold the phone. most americans do not think the bush years were awesome. cbs news just released this new poll tonight. 48% of registered voters think george w. bush should take most of the blame for the economist downturn. 33% think he's at least partially to blame. bush said he won't get involved in mitt romney's campaign. mitt romney probably thinks, that's pretty awesome.

let's turn to crystal ball, host of msnbc's the cycle, susan dell purseio and kelly goff. thank you for coming in on this rainy night in new york city. >> awesome to be here. >> awesome. >> did any of you swim here tonight? this is teed up to have too much fun. susan, it was an awesome interview. >> apparently it was. and just in all fairness, he said it was awesome being president. he wasn't saying he was awesome, but rather it was awesome to be president, which who wouldn't think it's a great job? it's awesome. >> why wouldn't he help out mitt romney? >> was he was also saying is he's staying out of politics. he has not come out against president obama in any shape or form. as a matter of fact, they had a gracious back and forth when they did the unveiling of his portrait at the white house. and he's been very careful in what he says when it comes to that, including when president obama got bin laden.

>> in his defense, ed, texas is really awesome. i'm frault there, so i'm a little biased. he got that one thing right. listening to him talk about how awesome his eight years were, it reminds me when you break up with someone and then down the road, you have different recollections of a, how awesome the relationship was, and b, why you broke up. one said, he cheated, the other says, we grew apart. it was a different recollection about how awesome those eight years were. >> i have to say, after listening to mitt romney's very robotic, stilted, in authentic stuff for the past year, it was kind of nice to hear a real authentic answer. and i also have to say thinking back over the bush years in preparation for the segment, it was a little traumatic, but as bill clinton says, romney wants to do bush on steroids. you know, at least bush worked with democrats on education reform, on immigration reform as well. really worked on humanitarian

aid in africa. also was very good about trying to tamp down anti-muslim sentiment after 9/11. so if given the choice between romney and another bush administration y have to tell you y would take bush. >> well -- >> that -- >> it shocked me when i realized that. >> this whole thing is an admission that bush is a liability right now. >> totally. >> and he knows it, susan. >> absolutely. it's also an admission of you stay out of politics as an ex-president unless you're bill clinton. he is the exception to the rule. >> dick cheney isn't staying out of anything. neither is bill clinton. he's not staying out of anything. he had a rough eight years. >> dick cheney, vice president, different story, but jimmy carter, ronald reagan. bill clinton has been active. >> they have been active but they have not been critiquing a current president. they have not critiqued, none of them have gone after a current administration, and that's what the presidents do for one

another. they respect the presidency. if you want to talk about should he campaign and do sometimes former presidents campaign with others, absolutely. but there's no -- >> but they don't when they're crip nite. i would like to ask you, how many times has mitt romney said the name george w. bush on the campaign trail? >> obama is still blaming bush. he's afraid to take responsibility. >> former president bush says america wouldn't remember much about his presidency. here it is. >> 20 years from now, i'm going to be just a name. and a number, 43. i'll have had a record, i will have had to deal with 9/11 and the financial meltdown. but people will all forget, you know, what old 43 was like. >> what about that bush legacy, krystal? >> i think he's diluting himself. we're going to remember. >> it put us in a financial hole. the list goes on. >> the fiscal situation we're in

right now is because of bush, because of medicare part d, because of the tax cuts, because of the wars. >> if nothing else, he would be remembered as the president at the time of 9/11. that alone is such an important part of our history. >> august 6th presidential briefing, they will look at that, he didn't respond to what people were telling him what was happening to the country. he did not get bin laden. he disbanded the unit looking for him. the tax cuts have hurt us big time. big farmy. and katrina. there's going to be a lot of things people are going to remember. >> he wants everybody to just be a number, at 43. >> i think his mother might end up being more memorable than he was because she's one of the only people who has been related to two presidents ranks among the worst. >> do the republicans benefit from being associated to dick cheney. he's still involved. some say he's pushing his daughter for a vp selection.

i heard that, i said what? >> which one. >> would you campaign with dick cheney? >> he doesn't work with that, what he does work well with is fund-raising. you want it to be a closed event. >> great to have you with us. thank you. coming up, tea party bigotry, well, it's on full display in tennessee. local governments are slamming the governor for employing gay people. muslims, hey, there's more to the story. i'm calling them out next. stay with us.

♪ hello...rings ♪ what the... what the... what the... ♪ are you seein' this? ♪ ♪ uh-huh... uh-huh... uh-huh... ♪ ♪ it kinda makes me miss the days when we ♪ ♪ used to rock the microphone ♪ back when our credit score couldn't get us a micro-loan ♪ ♪ so light it up! ♪ even better than we did before ♪ ♪ yeah prep yourself america we're back for more ♪ ♪ our look is slacker chic and our sound is hardcore ♪redi ♪ i'm singing free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ dot-com narrator: offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com. coming up, tea party b bigistry is on display in tennessee and they're republicans. find out who they're targeting and who is behind it next. and in the big finish, eric cantor has been the face of obstruction in congress. now he kz be in for a real tough fight in his re-election campaign. i'll talk to the challenger, wayne powell. you can listen to me on sirius

xm radio monday through friday, noon to 3:00 p.m. follow me on twitter at ed show and like the ed show on facebook. we're right back. for amber waves of grain, for purple mountains majesty, above the fruited plain, america, america, god shed his grace on thee, and crowned thy good, with brotherhood...

welcome back to "the ed show." the big question tonight, how radical will the republican national convention actually be this year? in tennessee, if that's any indication what's happening down there, you better fasten your seat belts. tea party bigots in tennessee are taking action against republican governor bill has ln for appointing democrats, gay people, and muslims. they said the action or actions of the republican elected governor of the great state of tennessee and his administration have demonstrated a consistent lack of conservative values. it's specifically targeting a muslim american employee saying she is an expert on shariah compliant finance which is one

of the many ways islamic terrorism is funding. give me a break. the resolution also criticized gay works in the state government. these workers are being discriminated against because of their political affiliation, their faith and sexual orientation. stewart county is one of several counties in tennessee with similar resolutions. you know, all of this garbage started with a blog post by the center for security policy. it's run by a radical neocon frank gaffney who has a long history of fearmongering against muslims. he planltded the seed in hopes of taking his anti-muslim agenda to the state of nashville, and it seems to be working. we should point out this is in marsha blackburn's backyard and she has remained silent on the issue. the tea party is criticizing the governor of tennessee for having a lack of conservative values. is it a conservative value to

promote and advocate institutional bigotry? tonight in our survey, we had a excellent guest question. donald trump, yes, donald trump, we asked, well, he asked, we used his material. is it -- what is more important for the american public to have? what is more important for the american public to have? 94% say mitt romney's tax returns. 6% say president obama's sealed records. coming up, house majority leader eric cantor is in deep trouble in his dwiktd. his democratic opponent is a 30-year army veteran who could pull off one of the biggest up sets of the year. he joins me next. stay with us. [ male announcer ] before you take it on your road trip...

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on the powerful c250 sport sedan. but hurry before this opportunity...disappears. the mercedes-benz summer event ends july 31st. to the big finish tonight, there is a chance for a major political upset because the second most powerful house republican is in serious trouble. i'm talking about the republican majority leader eric kantder. the congressman from virginia. he is viewed as a hard right wing republican who is a classic obstructionist in congress that has a 7% approval reting. in a recent poll of congressional districts, only 41% think he should be re-elected. 43% say he should be replaced. 59%, they want a candidate who will work with the president of the united states. i'm joined tonight by his challenger, wayne powell, a veteran and community lawyer, and a democrat who is running for congress in virginia's

seventh congressional district. i have to say, mr. powell, i have seen your resume. it is rock solid. third years in the military, army intell, you're a practicing attorney, a judge, why are you getting into politics? this is your first run at this? >> to be very blunt, i love my country. my country is in trouble. and mr. cantor, who is the representative for my district, born and raised in richmond, is primarily the reason for it. he's dysfunctional. he caused a dysfunctional congress. he's the problem, he caused the 7% rating for the congress at this point. and he does not, i don't believe, represent the best values of both the seventh district, virginia, and the united states. i believe in economic fairness and social justice. these are things that were taught to me as a kid working class neighborhood, highland park, church hill and when i raised my own kids. >> one of the biggest issues in virginia has been the war on women. is this really an opportunity for a democrat to get this seat

in the seventh district based on all of the issues and all of the aggressive policies that the republicans have put forward in virginia? >> absolutely. they just won't stop, and eric cantor supports their efforts, for example, this last session to have ultra sound, well, a transvaginal ultra sound performed, and just because these women, 1,000 women, who went up to protest back on march 3rd, i believe the governor changed his mind and took out the transvaginal part, but still the ultra sound is forced by the state, not paid for by the state, and i pro bono represented 15 of the people who were arrested for protesting. >> direct question. >> yes, sir. >> would you have voted for the affordable care act? would you have supported the president? >> yersh, i would. >> you would have voted yes? >> yes. >> would you vote yes on this tax policy as he wants the wealthiest americans to pay more? >> yes, but as to the affordable care act, there are things that should be changed. there's a lack of controlling the cost, nobody likes a man datd. i don't like the mandate.

>> but it's a start you would have voted for. >> absolutely. we modify things in the congress. nothing is cement, that's what democracy is. >> you have a son that has served in iraq and afghanistan. >> he's in afghanistan right now, shawn. >> and you were mobilized after 9/11, correct? >> yes, sir. >> what about the confrontations? would you have supported them? >> no. >> you would not have supported going into iraq and afghanistan? >> no. >> what should we have done for the security of the country? >> first of all, iraq was not a war begun for the security of the country. it was a war begun because something fixed the books on intel. i'm an intel officer. i know something about happened the year before the iraqi invasion. there was no national security risk with the iraqi invasion. most people with knowledge knew that. i can't comment on the past administration, however, there was no reason to invade iraq. there was a reason initially to invade afghanistan. that was to limit al qaeda and their allies, which we did in

two or three months. >> do you support the president in the way he's operating against the terrorist world? >> he deserves a lot of credit. he completed the job that those of us started in 2001. he had osama bin laden eliminated. so he did, that's a very courageous thing. however, to continue the war in afghanistan beyond that time, it's ill-advised. >> voters in your district seem to be sick and tired off a congressman who blocked obama on everything. is it the angst of the people that is going to be in your favor? >> to a certain degree, obviously, there's some hostility toward the president, but to me, it's being an honorable person. no one walks out on the vice president, nobody is impolite to the president, whoever he is. i come from a military background where you obey your commanders. in this case, the commander in chief. there's a mixed bag with regard to the president, but with regard to eric cantor, you have got to be honorable. you have to be