>> but these guys are not at all concerned with anything beyond the boundaries of the deal. where as in government you have to be concerned with everything. >> right. and i think again, this is something people don't understand about these kinds of companies. a lot of people think that they're in the business of turning around companies. they're not. they're in the business of making these deals work and they only have to work for the private equity firm and their investors. they don't have to work for the company that gets taken over. >> matt taibbi. >> thank you. >> you can hear more from matt on our website at the very last word. "the ed show" is up next. good evening, americans. and welcome to "the ed show" from new york. 57 days until the 2012 election. the mitt romney post convention bump? it never happened in the polls. and now the campaign is scrambling to come up with a back up plan. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> i will not take god out of the name of our platform. i will not take god out of my heart.

>> the romney campaign is flailing on the stump and they are getting slammed in the polls. tonight richard wolf on the obama bounce and the romney collapse. former reagan budget director david stockman on romney's tax loophole train wreck. and jan schakowsky on romney's preexisting problems with obama care. and the national media is portraying chicago's striking teachers as overpaid and greedy. >> chicago teachers are the best paid of any school district in the country. >> the average chicago teacher makes about $76,000 a year. >> nearly four times higher than what the average american receives. >> we'll tell you what the chicago teacher strike is all about. >> good to have you with us. thanks for watching. the romney campaign says that the 2012 election will follow a similar pattern to the election of 1980. they compare mitt romney to the republican challenger ronald reagan who came from behind in

the polls to defeat a democratic president. now the romney team was banking on a bounce like ronald reagan got after the republican national convention. the chairman predicted a significant post convention bounce for the candidate. >> i think we're going to get a bump. we have a better opportunity for a bump as a challenging party so when people get to know mitt romney and get to know who he is and the decent man he is and his story of the american dream and his generosity, i can tell you that i think it's going to be real and visible. >> it's pretty clear things vice haven't worked out the way republicans hoped. there was no bounce for romney. and there's a substantial bounce for president obama out of their convention. in the new cnn poll taken after the democratic national convention, president obama leads mitt romney among likely voters by six points. republican pollsters have the president with a similar lead in

its latest poll. mitt romney's reagan plan didn't work. now it's time to bring on plan "b". the only problem is the romney camp doesn't appear to have a plan "b". plan b. they are throwing everything they can against the wall to see what sticks. his latest attempt is to go after the christian conservative vote. he even changed his stump speech to say president obama is threatening to take the word god off u.s. currency. >> i will not take god out of the name of our platform. i will not take god off our coins and i will not take god out of my heart. >> as president obama anywhere said anything about taking god off the coins? this is how desperate they are. romney did a lot of pandering to the crowd this weekend. he took the stage with pat robertson, the guy who says natural disasters are god's punishments for making deals with the devil. congressman king is the new romney buddy.

he says birth control leads to a dying civilization and same-sex marriage contributes to the national debt. but to mitt romney, he's a top endorser. >> don't doubt this man's faith or conviction and do not doubt his patriotism or his faith and his love for jesus christ our savior. >> romney was so happy to have king's endorsement he returned the favor. >> i'm looking here at steve king. that man needs to be your congressman again. i want him as my partner in washington, d.c. >> when romney wasn't looking for the religious conservative vote, he was knocking his own running mate. this was what mitt romney said when talking about federal defense spending on "meet the press." >> the sequestration idea of the white house which is cutting our defense is an extraordinary miscalculation. >> republican leaders agreed to that deal. >> it's a big mistake. i thought it was a mistake on the part of the white house to propose it. it was a mistake for republicans to go along with it.

>> it put paul ryan in an awkward position on "face the nation." >> he said it was a mistake by republicans. he's talking about you because you voted for those cuts. >> i did. you know why? because i was working to find common ground to get a down payment on deficit reduction. >> but this isn't romney's only confused message. he's taking heat for failing to mention his troops in his convention speech. romney is blaming the people asking the questions. >> i find it interesting that people are curious about mentioning words in a speech as opposed to policy. so i went to the american legion the day before i gave that speech. what i found is wherever i go, i am speaking to tens of millions of people. >> romney had the same react when asked about the troops on fox news. >> do you regret opening up this line of attack, now recurring attack by leaving out that issue in the speech?

>> i'm going to regret you repeating it. >> despite all the mixed messages and vote pandering, the romney campaign says there's nothing to see here. they are telling supporters, settle down, don't get worked up about latest polling while some voters will feel a sugar high from the conventions. the structure of the race has not changed significantly. and then there was this old favorite. political historians will recall jimmy carter led ronald reagan by a near double digit margin late in the fall of 1980. really? if romney is still banking on the reagan comparison, he needs a little history lesson. reagan led jimmy carter in the polls before the conventions were held in 1980. romney's poll numbers are going in the opposite direction. an anonymous romney advisor chalked the bad poll numbers up to a conspiracy. the advisor told the national review, sometimes i think there's a conscious effort between the media to get

republicans depressed. i hope people realize these media analysts are democrats who want us to lose. the romney campaign is dealing with the latest reality of the campaign in two ways. denial and hysteria. and mitt romney himself is firmly in denial mode. >> i have really two months to be able to convince people i can do a better job than the incumbent. so i'm in a better spot than i was before the convention. >> mitt romney sure has a funny definition of the word better. get your cell phones out. tonight's question, does mitt romney have a coherent message for voters? text a for yes or b for no. leave a comment on our blog. we'll bring you the results later on in the show. i just think this election is so well-defined, the issues. it's amazing to me we're inside 60 days and the romney campaign can't figure out what the middle class in this country is going

through. it is a huge voting bloc. they have no plan, no message, nothing for the middle class. joining me tonight is msnbc political analyst richard wolf. great to have you with us tonight. >> thank, ed. >> how can we be, or the romney camp, be so close to the election yet be so far off message? what can we compare this campaign to? >> they have dozens of different messages. the path was to say we're only going to talk about the economy. the problem is that their idea was if we talk about the economy, they are going to say that's obama's fault. it never worked because some blame the president. there are plenty of people who blame the bush administration. so the argument hasn't stuck. there was another track for them, which is to say let's go for reform. a non-washington crowd, as your clip showed. if you pick someone like paul ryan as your vp, you get tied into a pretzel. there are things you'd like to

say, but you have picked someone from washington so they have reform off the table now. you have got the economy, there's a mixed message. and that's how you end up in this hole of trying to talk about social policy when you've got a very flawed message on this and everything else. >> here's a bump. there was a news in the fundraising race. obama campaign raised more money than the romney campaign in the month of august. how concerned should the romney camp be ann about fundraising drying up if the polls continue to go in the direction they are going? >> the polls are going to come down. democrats should not roll out the flags because -- >> but there's a momentum for the democrats. >> there is but there will be debates and people are going to want to try to even it out a bit. but money is not something the romney campaign ever has to worry about. even if their own fundraising falls away, there's always the super pacs to fill it out. democrats are changing that dynamic when you see rahm emanuel coming in to beef up the

democrat super pac. but it looks more of an even contest on money moving forward. >> today rush limbaugh was talking like president obama had already won. here it is. >> give me an example of a loophole that you will close. >> taxpayers will have fewer deductions and exemptions. those numbers are going to come down. otherwise they'd get a tax break. i want to make sure people understand. >> what does it mean that there's people openly talking about what kind of trouble they are having on the campaign trail? can't get on message when it comes to taxes, medicare, there's some double talk going on there. and when it comes to the budgeting process, romney is not on the same page with ryan when it comes to what they want to do with defense. >> you just heard him talking about numbers coming down. they are going to come down for people in the upper bracket. they will come down for the middle class too. the problem he has now with the polls where they are at this

close to election day is you start getting more of the second guessing stories. he should have done this, he should have done this. republican advisers saying he needed to take a different track. that's two, three, four more weeks before he can turn it around. the number of opportunities he has now comes down to the debate to even this up. remember, john kerry went into the debates ten points down. his debate performance was outstanding. if you start from that far behind, it's hard to even it up. >> that's where i think president obama is so strong. i think he'll go right after it on the debates. there's been so many positions mitt romney has had, how can the president not point that out? which makes romney extremely vulnerable. >> target-rich environment, as i like to say. >> well put. great to have you with us, richard. remember to answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen. share your thoughts on twitter and on facebook. we want to know what you think. coming up, mitt romney's tax

plan doesn't add up and even conservatives can't depend on it or explain it. david stockman joins me next. stay with us. in america today we're running out of a vital resource we need to compete on the global stage. what we need are people prepared for the careers of our new economy. by 2025 we could have 20 million jobs without enough college graduates to fill them. that's why at devry university, we're teaming up with companies like cisco to help make sure everyone's ready with the know how we need for a new tomorrow.

[ male announcer ] make sure america's ready. make sure you're ready. at devry.edu/knowhow.

coming up, mitt romney and paul ryan get grilled on their tax plan. but they still won't get specific. former budget director david stockman weighs in next. he has a lot to say. then the romney camp flips and flops after mitt says he wouldn't get rid of all of obama care if elected. we'll look at the candidate's preexisting problem with the legislation. and later teachers are on strike. why? i'll speak to a chicago teacher about what's at stake for the students. share your thoughts with us on facebook and on twitter. use the #edshow. most of the pain i experience is neck pain

that also becomes headaches. i was very skeptical about aspirin. bayer advanced was completely different. it really did get rid of the pain. put bayer advanced aspirin to the test for yourself at fastreliefchallenge.com. welcome back to "the ed show." president obama says he's not

going to ask the middle class to pay for another tax cut for millionaires. and mitt romney still doesn't have a counterargument. he can't answer basic questions about his tax plan. >> give me an example of a loophole you will close. >> people at the high end, high income taxpayers will have fewer deductions and exemptions. those numbers are going to come down. otherwise, they would get a tax break and i want to make sure people understand, despite what the democrats said at their convention, i'm not reducing taxes on high income taxpayers. >> he won't name a single loophole he would actually close. under his plan, the wealthiest americans get a tax cut. mitt romney's running mate doesn't do any better answering the simple question. >> don't voters have a right to know which loopholes you're going to go after? >> so mitt romney and i based on our experience think the best way to do this is to show the framework, show the outline and

work with congress to do this. that's how you get things done. >> isn't that a secret plan? >> no. what we don't want is a secret plan. >> he won't answer the question because he can't. the math doesn't work. even conservatives have no way of defending romney's plan. here's george will. >> there is uncertainty surrounding the romney/ryan tax cut plan because they have not specified the deductions that will be closed and we know where the big money is. mortgage interest deductions, charitable deduction, employer-provided health insurance and state and local taxes. all of those you either hit only the rich, in which case you don't get much money, or you hit the middle class. >> this is backed up by the tax policy center. under romney's plan, the middle class pays more while the wealthy pay less. 65% of people who use the mortgage interest deduction make less than $100,000 a year.

91% of people who use the deduction make less that $2 hundr $00,000 a year. let's turn to david stockman, former budget director and director of office and management of budget for president ronald reagan. great to have you on the program. >> great to be here. >> george will says the romney tax plan doesn't add up for the middle class. what's your assessment? >> that it doesn't add up and his budget plan doesn't add up. he has a secret plan to cut the budget. after all, the republicans were the party of fiscal rectitude. when you ask them in this budget what is it you're going to cut, it's not defense. $700 billion, we don't have industrial enemies left in the world. we have been fired as the policeman of the world. why is he wanting to increase the $700 billion? second, he complains about entitlements and so forth. i know you disagree with that, but i think we need to means test.

and reform social security just for the affluent retirees. not for the mom and pop who only have a social security check. they haven't said a word about $800 billion in social security needs testing. medicare, it doesn't take effect until 2023. what are they doing in the interim. so my point is, they have a secret plan to close loopholes and cut taxes, which makes no sense to me when you look at the loopholes. they have a secret plan to cut spending that they are not really talking about. and so the thing doesn't add up. neither party is adding up. frankly because we're getting the same kind of role reversal. if i can say this, from the white house. the democratic party historically was the peace party, the working man's party. and unfortunately after four years, president obama hasn't cut a dime out of defense. he should be taking on the generals, the military industrial complex. he's not doing it, so therefore, his position isn't credible. we're having an extension of the bush tax cuts for everybody.

i agree on the 2%, but we can't afford them for the other 98% either given the fact that half of the population, the poor and lower income don't pay income tax any way. so the progressive ought to be no more tax cuts. we can't afford them for anybody. we're going after that pentagon and we're going to cut back dramatically this huge defense establishment we don't need. neither party is doing that, so we have this silly debate going on of one fairy tale versus another. and the country is in the trouble for it. >> president obama said let's go big. he was ready to go big on the deficit reduction package and the republicans didn't come to the plate. in fact, paul ryan played a real role in that telling his own leadership that if we do that, this is going to walk president obama right into a second term. so president obama was willing to put -- >> i agree. >> he's also willing to raise taxes. go back to the old rates and let the bush tax cuts expire, which

would bring more money into the treasury. but no one talks about how much money that would actually be. do you know? >> yes, i know. it would be for the top rates, it's over a trillion dollars. >> so it would help. >> it would help a lot but we need to let them expire for everybody. that's $2.5 trillion. there's a trillion dollars worth of loopholes easy. cut the rates, give everybody a big tax rate and they ought to be paying their fair share. $200 billion is due to capital gains and other investment preferences. how do you think mitt romney got a 14.9% tax rate. are they going to get rid of the health deduction for employer plans and so forth? are they going to get rid of retirement deductions? are they going to get rid of state and local tax exemptions? >> the the answer to those questions is probably not because the people don't want it.

there's no march to get rid of medicare or social security and have they not raided social security and borrowed against it, it's a solvent program and has been for 77 years. >> but ed, the problem is for the last 40 years we have been raiding social security and spending it on aircraft carriers. >> we don't pay for anything. >> the problem is the $2.8 trillion of ious in the trust fund have nothing behind them. they are pieces of paper. and they will never be funded unless we tax somebody. >> but from an accounting process, the truth hasn't been there with social security. social security when it's not raided has worked. and of course, i think the republicans are after the new deal. they have been for a long, long time. cut back government where you want it. and this would be the president to do it, if he gets in. what about offshore accounts. what about people not paying

their fair share. how much of a damage does that do? we have tax laws that allow this to happen and people make money in this country and take it overseas and park it and don't pay what they would pay if they had it here. >> my view is the top 2% are so lucky from the boom we have had over the last 30 years. half of which wasn't real. it was the federal reserve printing money and all of the speculation that was going on. they ought to stop whining about paying a little more in taxes because we are in deep trouble fiscally in this country. >> if you want to save the country financially, you have to go where you get the money fast. it's like a sales tax. if they expire the bush tax cuts, the top 2% over 250,000, you're going to get a lot of money fast. why? because they can. that's where i'm at. if you're going to fix it fast, that's where you got to go quickly. i don't think it's going to hurt job creation. great to have you on the program. thank you so much. mitt romney says he likes

some parts of obama care. his campaign says that's not true. jan schakowsky weighs in. then the rude awakening for the republicans. they thought they could win control of the senate. we'll talk to one democrat causing serious problems for the gop in the heartland. stay with us. when you take a closer look... ...at the best schools in the world... ...you see they all have something very interesting in common.

they have teachers... ...with a deeper knowledge of their subjects. as a result, their students achieve at a higher level. let's develop more stars in education. let's invest in our teachers... ...so they can inspire our students. let's solve this. everyone in the nicu, all the nurses wanted to watch him when he was there 118 days. everything that you thought was important to you changes in light of having a child that needs you every moment.

i wouldn't trade him for the world. who matters most to you says the most about you. massmutual is owned by our policyholders so they matter most to us. if you're caring for a child with special needs, our innovative special care program "are you a cool mom?" i'm gonna find out. [ female announcer ] swiffer wetjet's pads are better than ever. now they have the scrubbing power of mr. clean magic eraser so you don't have to get down on your hands and knees to scrub away tough, dried-on stains. hey, do you guys think i'm "momtacular" or "momtrocious"? ♪ [ female announcer ] swiffer. now with the scrubbinpower of mr. clean magic aser.

i will act to repeal obama care.

>> if i'm president we're going to stop obama care in its tracks. >> sounds pretty deficit. definite. mitt romney will repeal obama care on day one. you can see why folks have been scratching their heads after romney said this. >> i'm not getting rid of all of health care reform. of course, there are a number of things i like in health care reform i'm going to put in place. one is to make sure those with preexisting conditions can get coverage. two is to make sure the marketplace ensures there's coverage for your family up to whatever age. >> now romney the candidate wants to keep those provisions he likes, provisions that most americans like as well. it's easy to see why. a new report estimates the numbers of uninsured young people dropped by one sixth between 2010 and 2011. yet shortly after romney's interview aired, his campaign kind of dialled it back. they took it back.

an aide telling the conservative national review don't panic. romney's position remains the same. the former governor has no intention to extending coverage to those with preexisting conditions. instead the aid said the marketplace will solve the issue. shortly after that, the romney campaign changed its mind yet again. this time the campaign told buzz feed romney will ensure that discrimination against individuals with preexisting conditions who maintain continuous coverage is prohibited. will the real mitt romney please stand up? which the same position he had earlier this year. >> people with preexisting conditions, as long as they have been insured before, they are going to be able to have insurance. if they are 45 years or older and show up and say i want insurance because i have a heart disease, it's like we can't play the game like that. you have to get insurance when you're well. >> let's turn to jan schakowsky of illinois. holy smokes. what happened to the socialism

that the republicans were talking about. now they are starting to find some stuff in obama care that they actually like. congresswoman, good to have you with us. if romney gets elected, what's it going to mean for people with preexisting conditions. are they in trouble. >> they are in serious trouble. of course, they are. the romney campaign as opposed to mitt romney who doesn't seem to know what his campaign and what his policies are are saying all kinds of different things. mainly it's going to be the insurance companies that decide how much people with preexisting conditions are going to pay or if they are going to get health insurance at all. but let's say they say to someone with asthma. >> hold on a second. this is a key point. the romney campaign spokesperson said that the free market will take care of those people with a preexisting condition. hasn't the free market already addressed that by not allowing these people to get insurance?

>> that's exactly who is not insured. he's saying that, yes, they will be able to get insurance, but let me just go back to if someone has asthma or a heart condition, we'll ensure you, but there's going to be a $10,000 deductible and your premiums are going to be thousands. there's no control over the insurance industry. what mitt romney was expressing when he wanted to make points with the american people is exactly what the american people want. they want to be protected if they have a preexisting condition. they it want their kids. they know this is popular. but the real position is quite the opposite. >> well, this is an admission of guilt on the part of the

republicans that all of a sudden, they are finding things that they happen to like with obama care after following the tea party all this long and vilifying what has been very popular with the american people. the tea party were the first group that went after obama care and didn't want to be a government taker and everything else. now within 60 days of the election, they have a candidate that's actually admitting there are some things in obama care he's going to have to put in. >> of course, this candidate would say that. that was his plan. of course, he would when left to his own devices and doesn't have a minder with him all the time would say he likes it because he wrote the plan. >> but this goes against their philosophy as a party. >> absolutely. >> do you think the democrats did enough to sell the health care plan? it was a strong testimonial at the convention last week. there's nothing more powerful than the mother of a sick child

and testimony like that. did the democrats connect on that? is that where the bounce is? >> absolutely. that woman who was worried that if obama care is repealed that she will not be able to provide the surgery that her child with a congenital heart disease has -- >> is it easier for democrats to sell health care after the convention than it was before? >> yes for two reasons. we made the case in terms of our message from the podium but the other reason is more and more people are experiencing obama care and know that it's really helping them to afford the care that they need. >> congresswoman, great to have you with us tonight. thank you. there's a lot more coming up. stay with us. ♪

♪ [ male announcer ] its lightweight construction makes it nimble... ♪ its road gripping performance makes it a cadillac. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with advanced haldex all-wheel drive. [ engine revving ] it's bringing the future forward. ♪ [ sighs ] [ bird chirps ] [ bird squawks ] ♪ [ bird screeching ] ♪

[ elevator bell dings ] [ sighs ] how mad is she? she kicked me out. but i took the best stuff. i'll get the wrench. ♪ [ male announcer ] kohler's tresham collection. life. with a twist. ♪ droid does. and does it launch apps by voice while learning your voice ? launch cab4me. droid does. keep left at the fork. does it do turn-by-turn navigation ? droid does. with verizon, america's largest 4g lte network, and motorola, droid does. get $100 off select motorola 4g lte smartphones like the droid razr. it'll cause cavities, bad breath. patients will try and deal with it by drinking water. water will work for a few seconds but if you're not drinking it, it's going to get dry again.

i recommend biotene. all the biotene products like the oral rinse...the sprays have enzymes in them. the whole formulation just works very well. it leaves the mouth feeling fresh. if i'm happy with the results and my patients are happy with the results, i don't need to look any farther. then don't get nickle and dimed by high cost investments and annoying account fees. at e-trade, our free easy-to-use online tools and experienced retirement specialists can help you build a personalized plan. and with our no annual fee iras and a wide range of low cost investments, you can execute the plan you want at a low cost. so meet with us, or go to etrade.com for a great retirement plan with low cost investments. ♪ to help protect your eye health as you age... would you take it? well, there is. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin totally dedicated to your eyes, from the eye-care experts at bausch + lomb.

as you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. [ male announcer ] ocuvite has a unique formula not found in your multivitamin to help protect your eye health. now, that's a pill worth taking. [ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health. welcome back to "the ed show." republicans in tough senate races are starting to stumble. a few months ago the gop was feeling good about winning back control of the senate. but look at the latest headlines around the country. newspapers across the country are reporting republicans are in tougher races than they ever imagined. the crucial states are the ones with the stripes on the map. democrats are proving to be tough for opponents in places like missouri and montana. and florida. the republicans thought they had

a sure thing in north dakota. turns out the debate over health care and social security is putting them on their heels. rick burg in the congress is running against democrat and former attorney general heidi heitkamp. during a debate last week, heitkamp asked burg why he wants to privatize social security. listen to his attempt to answer. >> this is what's wrong with washington. people blame, blame, blame and don't come up with solutions. what we need is a solution to social security. >> rick burg fires back. he's trying to tie heitkamp to president obama on issues like health care. the problem is it's not working. in fact one of the republican party's top staffers admits the ads are falling short. an e-mail in which a director wrote, no doubt, heidi's team has put out much better ads this

year. while heitkamp benefits from president obama's success, rick burg is struggling with romney to get on message. joining me tonight is heidi heitkamp, candidate for senate. good to have you with us tonight. we'll be featuring all of the senate races around the country between now and the election. obviously, being home this weekend, i saw an ad with you and president obama together. i thought, way to go republicans. after that convention and what health care is doing in rural america, it would seem that would be a strategic mistake. how is health care playing in the heartland? >> you know, ed, what north dakotans understand is that health care is really personal. that preexisting conditions matter, getting health insurance matters, getting your kids on health insurance. one thing you haven't been talking about is the million-dollar cap. i met parents, young professionals, engineers, did everything right, have a baby with spina bifida.

they know they are going to be impoverished the rest of their life through no fault of their own. everybody has a personal story how this affects them. once you start talking about this and say let's keep the good and fix the bad and quit playing politics with health care, people in north dakota get it. >> doesn't this leave somewhat of an opening for democrats who are running for the senate including yourself? now that mitt romney has actually said there are certain portions of the bill he's going to keep. you folks are out there campaigning on making it better than it is now. doesn't that play to your favor? >> well, i don't know. mitt romney doesn't really matter to me. what matters to me is the needs of the people of north dakota and the importance of health care and the need to get a health care affordable, the need to reduce costs of health care overall by keeping people healthier, which you know is a great passion of mine.

so i think there's things that need to be fixed. i'm not taking mitt romney's lead on anything. i'm taking a look at the needs of the people of north dakota. >> so does your competitor want to privatize social security? you never got an answer out of him. >> i believe that your voting record matters. and when president bush tried to privatize social security after he was reelected, congressman, then representative burg, went to the floor of the house of representatives and said we ought to do everything we can to support the president in his effort to privatize. he can't run away from that record. and let me tell you in north dakota, privatization of social security is not what the people think should happen. our seniors -- you know you hear a lot they depend on their medicare. what i tell you is our seniors have earned their medicare. they have earned their social security. we owe them an obligation to full fulfill the promises we have made.

>> this seat will fill the retiring chairman of the budget committee kent conrad. what has this race come down to? >> i think it comes down to who north dakotans believe will go to the united states senate and every day fight for them. it's interesting, ed. the farm bill, essential air service, help for devils lake with their infrastructure needs, flood relief in minot, diversion in fargo, i mean i could just go around the state of north dakota and tell you what people care about. it's not what congressman burg is talking about. >> the ad running against you put out by the rnc in the state says you're for raising taxes. on who? >> i don't know. i was with a group of seniors today and i asked them, i said how many of you believe the 30-second commercials? not one happened was raised. not one hand. people are tuning them out because they know they are dishonest.

they know they are not truthful. they know they are trying to scare people. and you and i have talked about this. i have asked for seven debates. we had one. unfortunately, it was 9:00 in the morning. kind of hidden there. you found a copy of it. i want more debates to talk about the critical issues. in the end, that's what people need to hear. they need to hear our ideas rather than what some political, you know, pundit or consultant in washington, d.c. thinks matters in north dakota. >> great to have you with us. thanks so much. heidi heitkamp running for the senate in north dakota. ohio is another state turning into a serious problem for the republicans. tomorrow night, senator sherrod brown will join me to talk strategy for his state. still to come on "the ed show," senator rand paul accuses playing games. with federal employment numbers. i'll break down the facts. stay tuned. in america today we're running out of a vital resource we need

to compete on the global stage. what we need are people prepared for the careers of our new economy. by 2025 we could have 20 million jobs without enough college graduates to fill them. that's why at devry university, we're teaming up with companies like cisco to help make sure everyone's ready with the know how we need for a new tomorrow. [ male announcer ] make sure america's ready. make sure you're ready. at devry.edu/knowhow. ♪

and in the big finish tonight, phillip cantor joins me to talk about why he and his colleagues are on strike. what are the issues. you can listen to my radio show on channel 127 on monday through friday, noon to 3:00 p.m. and follow me on twitter. and like "the ed show" on facebook. we're coming right back. with the spark cash card from capital one,

sven's home security gets the most rewards of any small business credit card! how does this thing work? oh, i like it! [ garth ] sven's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that's ten security gators, right? put them on my spark card! why settle for less? testing hot tar... great businesses deserve the most rewards! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet?

numbers are numbers and facts are facts. this weekend kentucky senator rand paul tried to advance the republican myth that government has grown under president obama. take a look. >> are you arguing there are fewer government employees under president obama than president bush? >> that's a fact. >> the size of government is enormous under president obama.

>> if employment had grown as fast under obama, we would have a million and a half more people employed. >> less people employed or more by government? >> did he say the word enormous? i will make this simple. there are less people employed by the government. in fact, there are around 600,000 fewer government employees under president obama than there were under president george w. bush. public sector employment is the lowest it's been in 30 years. if government employment rates had remained steady, more more americans would be employed in this country. but those facts don't help senator rand paul. so today he took a different route. >> federal employment has gone up 140,000. it's just a fact. he's talking about federal and state employment, so he's playing games with numbers. state government -- president obama is not in charge of the government of virginia or the

the government of new york. so teachers have been reduced at the state level. federal employees and the federal government is enormously bigger under obama and he's disingenuous, playing games and he ought to be ashamed of himself. >> so senator rand paul is the one ought to be ashamed of himself. he's the one playing games with numbers. apparently his figure of 143,000 does not include federal postal workers. progress reports that if you include federal postal workers, federal employment only went up by 27,000 between december of 2008 and right now. an increase of about 1%. senator rand paul has one thing right. president obama shouldn't take credit for state and local layoffs, which includes hundreds of thousands of school teachers. republicans like rand paul

should be blamed for not passing the american jobs act, which would have extended much-needed aid to state and local governments and stimulated the economy. tonight in our survey, i asked does mitt romney have a coherent message for voters? coming up, chicago public school teachers are on strike for the first time in 25 years. kind of a long time, isn't it? they are fighting harder than ever for their students but republicans disagree. we'll talk to a chicago public schoolteacher, next. [ male announcer ] the 2013 smart comes with 8 airbags,

a crash management system and the world's only tridion safety cell which can withstand over three and a half tons. small in size. big on safety. for the spender who needs a little help saving. for adding "& sons." for the dreamer, planning an early escape. for the mother of the bride. for whoever you are, for whatever you're trying to achieve, pnc has technology, guidance, and over 150 years of experience to help you get there. ♪ ♪ something to me ♪ that nobody else could do

♪ something to me those little things for you, life's about her. but your erectile dysfunction - that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medications, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sexual activity. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess with cialis. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or if you have any allergic reactions such as rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away.

ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios oh, hey alex. just picking up some, brochures, posters copies of my acceptance speech. great! it's always good to have a backup plan, in case i get hit by a meteor. wow, your hair looks great. didn't realize they did photoshop here. hey, good call on those mugs. can't let 'em see what you're drinking. you know, i'm glad we're both running a nice, clean race. no need to get nasty. here's your "honk if you had an affair with taylor" yard sign. looks good. [ male announcer ] fedex office. now save 50% on banners. [ male announcer ] the exceedingly nimble, ridiculously agile, tight turning, fun to drive 2013 smart.

♪ if i have to be here for ten days, i will be here for ten days. but at the end of the day, i will be able to sleep better because class size will be reduced and children will be getting all their services. >> teachers are on strike in chicago. the chicago teachers union announced they were heading to the picket line. teachers could not come to an agreement with chicago mayor rahm emanuel and officials on a new contract. 26,000 teachers and schools workers are fighting for what? fair teacher evaluations, limits on classroom size, air-conditioning in the classrooms, to maintain their health benefits, and more social workers to help students with

problems beyond the classroom. earlier today rahm emanuel, the mayor, attacked the teachers union. >> this is in my view, a strike of choice. and it's the wrong choice for our children. it's not necessary. >> republican vice presidential nominee paul ryan agreed with the mayor of chicago saying mayor emanuel is right today in saying that this strike is unnecessary and wrong. mitt romney got into the game. he released a statement today and went even further than his running mate. the teachers union is turning its back on thousands of children saying, quote, teachers unions have too often made plain that their interests conflict with those of our children. let's now turn to mr. phillip cantor. he's a high school science teacher in chicago at north grand high school. he's a strike captain at the

school and also a member of the teachers for social justice. mr. cantor, good to have you with us tonight. i would like for you to first of all respond to the mayor of chicago saying that this is a strike of choice. >> i have to agree with the mayor on that, but i think it was his choice actually. it was not the teachers choice. the teachers have been at the table since november. mr. emanuel has never been at the table. he's the head of our appointed board of education. the head of cps has not been at the table. it's all been out of town lawyers doing the negotiations. i don't think the mayor has been taking it seriously. i think it's his choice, not the teachers choice. >> is this union busting? >> i think it is. i don't think this would be happening if the mayor did not want to push it this far.

i don't think the issues have changed since november so i'm not sure what his motivation could be. but i think a big part of it is he does want to break the union. he does want to shut down more neighborhood schools and open more nonunion charter schools. >> that would be for-profit, correct? >> some are for-profit, some aren't, but it's all public money going to private hands. >> but the teachers would be paid a lot less. we played a clip earlier in this broadcast about how the media is portraying the teacher's pay in chicago. $75,000 is the average pay for teachers in chicago. respond to this. they think you're making too much money. >> yeah, i mean, that's an issue and something i hear a lot. i know i don't make that much and i've been teaching for ten years at this point. so you know, you can play with numbers. there are teachers with multiple

masters degrees and ph.d.s and they skew that. statistics are easy to play with. >> what are the issues? i understand that evaluating teachers, there's some real socioeconomic issues. so they want to come up with a new test-based system that will evaluate you and your colleagues as teachers. is that fair? is that a sticking point? >> it's absolutely a sticking point. it's been shown over and over wherever these studies have been done about tying teacher pay to student test scores, it's not valid. it doesn't work. it doesn't actually tell you quality of teachers. teachers wildly vary from year to year. the same teacher with a similar population of kids can vary really widely. one year shown to be one of the best teachers at the school

according to those measures and the next year one of the worst. we know the teacher isn't the one that's changing at that point. there are all these factors that affect kids and how well they can do on tests. you know, chicago -- the cps system is 90% low-income students. the school where i teach is over 90% low-income. so these kids are struggling and cps does not provide the support for those kids like social workers, nurses, psychologists, et cetera, to help those kids succeed. >> i understand the pension fund is half capable of what it may need to do some day because chicago public schools took a hiatus from funding it for ten years. that's also a sticking point. but here's the key question. how long are they willing to stay out? >> we're willing to stay out as long as it takes to protect our kids. i have a class with 41 students. >> so this isn't about the money? this is about you think the kids are being shortchanged by