terror. and bob dole, a blast from the past. he's talking trash about the grand ole party. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. ♪ think about all of the bridges and roads we're driving on this memorial day weekend, it's kind of frightening. >> there's no reason for republicans andn congress to stand in the way of more construction projects. >> if something goes wrong with the key structural element, you may have a catastrophic result. >> building better roads and bridges and schools, that's not a partisan idea. >> the government is so slow and plodding to get these things fixed. >> my next-door neighbor's two dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs than this current administration. >> shovel-ready project my astroturf, yeah, right. >> we need solutions. >> maybe private bridge companies could help out. >> this is a service that local news could do, identifying the bridges in your town that pose a problem. it's kind of frightening.

>> i've worked very diligently over the last couple of years to grapple with our infrastructure problems here in america. >> you know what, if you believe -- >> if you believe -- >> if you believe -- >> if you believe -- >> speaker boehner -- >> let me tell you, i've got a bridge to sell you up in alaska. ♪ we're on a road to nowhere good to have you with us tonight, folks. this is the story that has me fired up tonight. it's the story that caught me attention, as soon as it happened. this is what is wrong with washington, right here. this is exhibit "a" of what's wrong with our political system. we have bridges falling down and we don't want to do anything about it. you know what this is about? this is about american jobs, this is about the manufacturing of steel in this country. and this is about public safety. but we have a political system that just can't deliver the steel. millions of americans are hitting the road this memorial day weekend, and every one of

them, i think, is taking a real risk by crossing bridges and roads in this country that need desperate help. no question about it. but this is what the republicans keep telling us. >> washington has a spending problem. you know, for 55 of last 60 years, we spent more money than what we brought in. >> we're not balancing the budget as an accounting exercise. we're not just trying to make the numbers add up. we are trying to improve people's lives. >> we're not interested and will not reduce a penny less in spending than we promised the american people we would a year and a half ago. >> how do we do this? you know, it's really pretty simple. we stop spending money we don't have. >> go figure. >> washington has got a spend g ing addiction, and it's time to begin to deal with that addiction. >> i think we can do a whole lot better. >> doesn't that just make you want to tell them to shut up? america, we love to say that we're a great country.

well, i think this story would give someone pretty good material for debate that we're not a great country. we have potential to be a great country. but we have allowed things like this to happen, because we have distorted priorities. america doesn't have a spending problem, republicans. it has an infrastructure problem. you know, we're so worried about kids getting shot up at schools, but we're not too worried about their buses crossing bridges, are they? this is unacceptable and it's a result of republican austerity and their absolute attitude toward what infrastructure is all about in america. so you know the story, a truck hid a girder in washington state on thursday, causing a massive collapse, dumped a few cars into the river. the good news is, everybody survived, three people. and the bridge is, i don't know, what do you call that? i call that destroyed. it was considered functionally obsolete. this was a major bridge, my friends. it was a main route, stretching

from california to british columbia. the numbers are staggering. more than 67,000 drivers use this bridge every day. an accident could cost at least $45 million a week in economic impact to the region. and washington's governor says, what? well, it would cost $15 million to fix the bridge, but thanks to the republicans and the austerity philosophy, there's just not money to go around in the budget to fix it. >> so, at this point, under current fiscal constraints, there is no intent at this point to rebuild the entire bridge. >> aha-ha. actually, they need a few more sections to fall down first. there's not enough money, because congressional republicans hijacked the last transportation funding bill. the republicans simply refused to spend money to make our roads and our bridges safer. the federal highway administration says, we need about $190 b, billion dollars, just to keep the nation's

infrastructure in shape. the republicans agreed to spend almost a third less on roads and bridges last year. now, engineers, you know, we have a big discussion about education in america. we need more doctors, we need more scientists, we need engineers. so maybe we can pay attention to these engineers. they say that we actually need $3.6t, trillion dollars, over the next seven years to fix failing roads and bridges, to make them safe again. you know, this is not a new problem. this has been around for a while. maybe the country needs to remember this incident. a bridge falling in 2007, in the state of minnesota, in the middle of the country. the i-35 bridge in minneapolis collapsed during rush hour and dropped into the river, and over a hundred cars were involved. we only lost 13 people. only 13 people died. and 145 were hurt. this disaster, you know what it should have been? it should have been a wake-up call to everybody in this

country, but then there's this thing called the republican party. instead, the republicans, what did they do? uh, no, we have to raise taxes if we're going to fix these bridges. we don't want to do that. so here's a look at what millions of americans will be driving over this holiday weekend. this will make you feel warm and fuzzy. 25% of bridges in america are functionally obsolete. just like the one that fell down in washington state. here's a number for you. 30%, 30% of the bridges that we have in this country have outlived their so-called design life. now, i'm a pilot. there is a thing in aviation called structural defects and you can only put so many hours on an airframe -- i mean, ask yourself the question, if you're a little spooky about flying on airplanes, would you like to know that delta airlines or some of the other major carriers might have an airplane that has so many thousands of structural hours on it.

would you feel good about getting on that plane? probably not. well, then, why in the hell would you feel good about crossing bridgies that are lousy. 11% of the bridges are structurally deficient in this country. and an engineer on the scene at the washington state bridge collapse put all those numbers for us. >> there are more structurally deficient bridges than already mcdonald's restaurants in the country. >> the president has repeatedly, time and time again, repeatedly, over and over and over and over, asked congress to beef up infrastructure funding, because it's safe and it creates jobs. >> so if you've got the chamber and the unions agreeing, then the politicians should be able to agree too. building better roads and bridges and schools, that's not a partisan idea. >> no, it isn't. as usuals, republicans do a good

job of offering their thoughts and prayers for victims and bridge fairs, but finding more money in the budget is just simply out of the question. funding for roads and bridges has hit rock-bottom since george w. bush took office. public construction spending is lower than it's been for more than 20 years, which means construction workers are hurting as well. here's another issue. and this is a big issue. the company in charge of fixing one of new york city's biggest bridges is going to use chinese steel. today, today the head of the international steelworkers' union asked the mta to rethink the decision and use american-made steel instead of that chinese crap. now, you folks in new york, you're going to elect a new mayor. i would like to see the candidates running for mayor in new york to step out and say, you know, i think we ought to have americans and american steels fix the verrazano bridge in this city. it would be a pretty good issue. i think most new yorkers would probably want the american

stuff, because of what happened in california. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question, are republicans' efforts to block infrastructure dangerous for americans? i think so. i'll text "a" for yes. text "b" for no to 67622. we'll bring you the results of the poll later on in the show. joining me tonight, democratic senator from ohio, sherrod brown. thanks for being here. >> good to be with you. >> the word "neglect" just comes into the conversation, i think. what do we have to do, senator, to turn this around? >> this is one i would figure there'd be bipartisanship. because as the president said, it's the chamber of commerce, it's the afl-cio. it's people that understand that infrastructure is an investment. you spend money to build better infrastructure. we used to leave -- we always led the world in water and sewer and bridges and community colleges and ports and in heart

bo boars and all of that. you invest money in that now, it creates trades jobs, create manufacturing jobs and it builds a foundation for long-term economic growth. i mean, we were the -- we had the best infrastructure in the world in the 50s and 60s and 70s and 80s and as a result, we had the most prosperous country in the world and they're related >> that just brings up, what kind of country are we going to leave our kids? we're going to leave them a rag tack operation that simply does not fix anything. i guarantee you, i guarantee you, people are going to cross bridges in the next five years and they're going to die in america. that's how dire this situation subpoe is. and in your state of ohio, there's some pretty tough numbers there, because the federal money hasn't come. now, you've got only 14 employees covering 109 dams. 42% of your state's roads are in poor or mediocre condition. 4,300 bridges are structurally

deficient. 4,211 of are structurally obsolete. >> we have the same kind of governor and legislature, it's always more tax cuts for the wealthy. and if you don't spend money on infrastructure, not to mention head start or education or health care, so be it. the fact is, when you invest this money like this, you're building for the future. and as i said, it creates jobs today. it sets the foundation for more economic growth. >> so what would it take to get the republicans to think that this is an important story? >> well, i think it's going to take a push from conservative republican businesspeople, who tell the republicans who sign this pledge to grover norquist, i'll never, ever, ever, ever vote for a tax increase, that they've got to step up and rebuild this country. i look at the kinds of infrastructure building and everything from medical research, and that's about infrastructure, to airports and everything in between, the kinds of investments that are made in the developing world, the kinds

of investments made in europe. the increased investments they are making and we're not and we're going to pay this price for it. and we'll be a poorer country as a result. as much as i think we should worry about the debt, the fiscal debt, the budget deficit we leave our children, the debt, but we also should be equally concerned or more concerned about the infrastructure deficit and the debt that we leave our children. everything from community colleges to highways to public transit to water and sewer systems to broadband. >> well, i look at this story and i know a lot of people are so excited about the irs and benghazi and the justice department. if we are serious about the economy, this is the first thing we can do when it comes to manufacturing, when it comes to jobs, and when it comes to public safety. we've had a big discussion in this country about public safety. this should be proof positive that the republicans, they don't give a dam. they really, really don't. they don't even want to address this problem. and i think it speaks volumes.

and it -- it's not going to get fixed with the climate the way it is in washington right now. so what do we do? just turn it over to the states and say it's every state for themselves? >> well, you can't turn it over to the states, because you've got the same problems. the interstate system, that's part of the problem. republicans in washington said, let the states do this. it's up to them to do highways. know, the interstate system happened because of federal involvement, coordination with local and state officials, and businesses and labor unions. you need the same kind of commitment. you need pressure on republicans that never want to spend money on anything, you need that pressure from the business community to say, this kind of investment is what really matters for our children and grandchildren. and it is. as you point out, ed, it really is a public safety issue. >> getting money shouldn't be a problem. there's plenty of money floating around. you're one of the leading voices against the too big to fail banks. you know, why do we bail out banks, but we don't do it for infrastructure? >> well, the banks are probably

better organized than some of the people that are building these bridges and people driving across them. that's part of the problem. after dodd/frank passed the senate, the banking reform bill, three years ago, a major bank lobbyist said, now it's only halftime. in other words, you might -- we might have lost on passing this bill that actually makes the banks, makes the financial community a little safer, the structure a little safer, but we're going to continue to lobby and continue to try to weaken the rules and allow the banks to continue to get better. that's why it's so important to put capital requirements on these banks, because they're not just too big to fail, they're too complicated to manage, they're too large to regulate, and in many ways, as we saw, they were too big to jail. people in washington were afraid to prosecute them, because of their power. >> only a good friend of ed would work on a sunday out of the senate. and i appreciate your time today, senator. >> glad to. >> thank you so much. thanks for being here on "the ed show" on the sunday edition. remember to answer tonight's question there at the bottom of

the screen. share your thoughts with us on twitter and on facebook. we always want to know what you think. republican war hawks. they swoop down on president obama's foreign policy and a former gop leader weighs in on the party's current state. >> could you make it in today's republican party? >> i doubt it. >> our political panel will tackle both these topics, coming up on "the ed show." stay with us. we are right back. you hurt my feelings, todd. i did? when visa signature asked everybody what upgraded experiences really mattered...

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we must finish the work of defeating al qaeda and its associated forced. in afghanistan, we will complete our transition to afghan responsibility for that country's security. our troops will come home. beyond afghanistan, we must define our effort not as a boundless, global war on terror, but rather as a series of persistent, targeted efforts to

dismantle specific networks of violent extremists that threaten america. >> well, it was pretty clear, president obama knows a thing or two about executing the war on terrorism. he's done more to dismantle al qaeda in one term than bush and shooter did in two. now instead of invading countries, president obama wants to attack specific targets posing a threat to america. not surprisingly, warmongers on the sunday talk shows were outraged by president obama's remarks. here's what they had to say about the president who took out bin laden. >> this war is going to continue. and we have still tremendous threats out there that are building, not declining. building. and to not recognize that, with i think, is dangerous for us in the long run and dangerous for the world. >> i think it's just stunningly, breathtakingly naive. he says at one point, wars have to end. >> when he showed this lack of resolve, talking about the war being over, what do you think the iranians are thinking? at the end of the day, this is

the most tone deaf president i ever could have imagined, making such a speech at a time when our homeland is trying to be attacked, literally every day. >> all right. let's set the record straight. first, here's the president's statement about "ending the war." >> our systemic effort to dismantle terrorist organizations must continue. but this war, like all wars, must end. that's what history advises. >> the president did not say, we are ending the war on terrorism, right this very minute, right away. he was very clear about that. the fight is going to continue. secondly, i want to replay his new strategy to fight terrorists. >> we must define our effort not as a boundless, global war on terror, but rather, as a series of persistent, targeted efforts. >> and may we point out that the bin laden raid was a targeted effort. and i think it worked out pretty

good. no american lives were lost. and we didn't have to invade any countries to get this thing done. i'm joined by bob shrum of the daily beast, msnbc host karen finney also with us tonight, and former navy admiral joe sestak. great to have you all with us. joe, what's your reaction to the right-wing outrage over the president's speech. it seems like there was a total misinterpretation of the whole thing. >> i agree, ed. i don't think they remember that militaries can stop a problem, but we can't fix a problem. so after the defeat of fascism, the war was over. and yet we kept a semblance of stability out there, as the other elements of our power, we constructed germany into a democratic power on our side today. so this is what the president has said. look, we have decimated the core of al qaeda in pakistan. it's metastasized, to some degree, to yemen and northern africa. but they're focused to do damage within those countries. we will use our drones and other policies, as he laid out

specifics on it, to continue to go after them. but he now understood that the united states has other national security challenges, as he pivots, for example, the united states navy, to the western pacific, where the center of gravity of america is. no, this president very well understands how to use the weaponry of war. >> bob, what do you think about the president's new strategy of attacking specific targets? and it seems like there is going to be a toning down and a less of a resource on a global effort and it will be targeted and it will be mobile. your thoughts? >> well, i think that's exactly right. and it's actually what we've been moving toward in the last few years. i mean, compare that with what happened under the bush administration. where we mishandled afghanistan, let bin laden get away. in fact, he was on the loose for years. we went into iraq, a war we never should have fought, which was a disaster, on the basis of either bad intelligence and/or lies. president obama has cleaned this all up. he's adopted a very tough, targeted policy for which he's been criticized by some in his

own party and some in his own base. and i think he'll continue to prosecute that policy. but, you know, when i look at newt gingrich talking about, you know, breathtaking. he's a breathtaking bloviater. i don't know what he's doing on television, talking about this. he's totally predictable. >> he has no credibility. he doesn't know. he's not on any intel briefings. nose clue what's going on. karen, you get the politics of this. hasn't the president been very clear that we're still going to be attacking terrorists? >> yes, of course he has. and i want to speak to this point, that i think what the president was laying out was a reflection of the changed reality of the nature of the threats that we're facing. we're not talking about, you know, deploying massive number of troops anymore. we're talking about, as he said, let's rely on diplomacy and intelligence efforts and special forces. and we've been talking about this concept of the light footprint, that which is a more strategic, targeted approach. which also is actually about prevention, and that's also

reflective of the political reality that americans are war-weary. we're not going to approve of a president sending massive number of troops, just to babysit another country. >> here's a clip from congressman peter king, saying that he was bothered by president's moral anguish over drones. >> congressman king, does the drone program need to change? >> if it does change, it should be changed for moral reasons. that's what bother me about the president's speech, the moral anguish he was going through. listen, every soldier, every cop who is faced with a decision to make a life-or-death does the best he or she can. and i think our country has done more than any country in the history of the world to limit civilian casualties. so i think that just offended me, that whole tone of it. >> joe, as a former congressman and a former naval admiral who worked in sblel, what's your reaction to that? >> i think the commander in chief was absolutely right to consider moral force as well as armed force. somebody said it pretty well, out there on the battle field, morality is not a substitute for armed force, but it is a great

reinforcement. men and women are willing to do something where they'll lose their life for fear of letting their buddy down next to them. and families back here at home, having lost almost 7,000 men and women in these two wars in afghanistan and iraq, want to believe and hold on to that correct belief that they did it because the war was fought for the values of america. so at the end of the day, if our commander and chief had not considered what is the enduring -- that doesn't change at all -- certainty in all our wars, which is morality, while the physical part of war, whether it's agent orange in vietnam or whether it's drones today, does change, if he had not done that, he would not have been a proper commander in chief. >> i think the republicans would be praising president bush if he were executing the war the way president obama has been able to execute this and defend the country. bob, karen, and joe, stick around. we've got a lot more to talk about today. harry reid could go nuclear this july. i'll ask the panel if filibuster reform really has a shot.

and this weekend, we remember the members of the military who fought for our freedom. now they're fighting another battle here at home. we'll have the details coming up. but next, i'm answering your questions. ask ed live. it's an original. it's next. stay with us. [ female announcer ] switch to swiffer 360 dusters extender,

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[ female announcer ] swiffer 360 dusters extender cleans high and low, with thick all around fibers that attract and lock up to two times more dust than a feather duster. swiffer gives cleaning a whole new meaning. and now swiffer dusters refills are available with the fresh scent of gain. welcome back to "the ed show." we love hearing from our viewers tonight in our ask ed live segment. our first question is from viewer ramon perez. "why hasn't there been more talk about raising the minimum wage?" well, first of all, this is a real heavy lift, because it takes a lot of advocates in the senate to get this done. there's a lot of advocates on the business side as well. the chamber of commerce has got a big lobbying effort. they do not like raising the minimum wage. i think it's absolutely atrocious that we treat low-wage workers the way we do in this country and it's such a political heavy lift. if the democrats had the white house, the house, and the

senate, and they had 60 votes, you would see a different economy, because the minimum wage would definitely be raised. our next question comes from john franz. could you explain how poor white people in red states vote against their own interests? you know, i don't know if race has anything to do with it, but being partial to the radio business, i think that 600 right wing talk show hosts in rural america getting nothing but that kind of audio probably has some effect on red state america. stick around. we'll have more with our panel, coming up. memorial day's here and we're talking with mayreen

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right back with you here on "the ed show." this morning, a voice from the past stepped forward to give his party counsel. >> what do you think of your party, of the republicans today? >> i think they ought to put a sign on the national committee doors that says, "closed for repairs" until new year's day next year. and spend that time going over ideas and positive agendas. >> does the voice of experience matter? this is coming from the former senate majority leader, bob dole, a conservative statesman from middle america. a republican who served in the

senate for almost 30 years. the 1996 republican presidential nominee, bob dole, says he doesn't even recognize his own party anymore. >> you describe the gop of your generation as eisenhower republicans, moderate republicans. could people like bob dole, even ronald reagan, could you make it in today's republican party? >> i doubt it. i doubt reagan could have made it. certainly, nixon couldn't have made it. because he had ideas. >> bob dole is right on the mark. the mainstream and moderate republicans of the past have no place in today's modern and radical conservative movement. >> our top political priority over the next two years should be to deny president obama a second term. >> planned parenthood has been far more lethal to back lives than the kkk as ever was. >> are you saying that society should just let him die? >> no. >> and the republican party and their black civil rights allies

are partners in this genocide. >> we don't have leadership coming out of washington, we have reality television. ♪ >> you betcha! yes! >> corporations are people, my friend. >> joining again tonight, bob shrum, karen finney, joe sestak. karen, what about the republican party? they seem to still have an identity crisis, but could a bob dole be a voice of reasoning that might cause for some conversation and caucus with them? >> you know, i don't think they've listened to any voices of reason recently. and i think the most dramatic example we have of that, ed, actually, was something you started your show talking about. think about what we saw happening in america this week. we saw the storms in the midwest and people trying to put their lives back together. we saw people in new jersey, trying to put their lives back

together as the summer deny -- >> we used to not fight over those things. >> that's right. and we saw the bridge collapse. those are all things that congress are supposed to be working on, right? they're supposed to be looking at, where are the problems that need to be addressed in this country? what are the issues that need to be worked on. instead, they have become so ideological, and frankly, so much of it has become about, you'll hear them say, they don't want to give barack obama a win. fixing our bridges and our roads and addressing the problems of this country, that's not about a win for obama, but, yes, they don't seem to see that. to your question about, you know, voices of reason, when you're so ideologically bound, i don't think there's a voice of reason they'll pay attention to. >> bob dole took the senate to task for abusing the filibuster. here it is. >> in your first two years as a senator, there were seven motions filed, closure motions, to end debate. in the last two years, there were 115 cloture motions.

is the filibuster being abused, where it now takes 60 votes to pass anything? >> no doubt about it. there are some cases where you can probably justify it, but not many. >> bob shrum, what do you think? >> well, i think we ought to get rid of the filibuster, at least on confirming people to these jobs in the federal government. bob dole is a remarkable person. i worked with him a long time ago in the senate and with senator kennedy and senator mcgovern and they work on the food stamp program to try to reduce hunger in america. and dole is right. for that, today, he would be a pariah in the republican party. secondly, the gop has this phrase, rhinos. republicans in name only. that's what they call dole. that's what they call nixon. but the truth is, they're the real rhinos. they're reaganites in name only. they love to invoke reagan, but this is a guy who made a deal with tip o'neill to save social

security, worked with ted kennedy, made peace with the soviets. those would be great offenses today inside the republican party. the only reason we haven't moved faster on the filibuster is because harry reid is worried about trying to hold together a fragile coalition on immigration reform, which even if it passes the senate, will probably go to the house to die. but when we come back in july, we ought to do this. >> look at how many judgeships we have open in this country. look at the national labor relations board. it's almost their strategy to make sure they can take it down. this is kind of working good. so bob dole is a republican of the past. and, you know, it just seems to me that it's going to be real hard for them to get power again in the senate, because this faction just isn't connecting with enough people. demographically, karen, they've got all kinds of problems with their way of thinking. >> well, absolutely. and every, you know, new thing we see, they're sort of further alienating women voters, leeati

voters, african-american voters, which supposedly, i thought reince priebus said in the autopsy post-election, that they were going to try to reach out to people. instead, i don't see that happening. >> bob dole also gave his take on the unprecedented obstruction in washington. and joe, i want you to comment on this. because bringing people together, it's almost like a lost art. here it is. >> it seems almost unreal, that we can't get together on a budget or legislation. i mean, we weren't perfect by a long shot, but at least we got our work done. >> we've lost the art of compromise in washington. joe, how do we get it back? >> well, you really do have to change out the people. it's like karen said, i think the rules of the senate were set up when we had reasonable people back a hundred, 200 years ago. and we don't have reasonable people today. the unfortunate part of washington, d.c., we only confront our challenges when in crisis. and we're partisan before

americans in the united states senate, so we're beginning to careen from crisis to crisis. and what we're losing is the most precious national treasure of all. and that's the trust of the american people. so we begin to not even understand, begin to break that national unity of what we stand for and who we are about. and that can only be changed by changing the people down there. >> and i think we are teaching a younger generation of americans that this is the new government, this is the way it works. this isn't the way it's supposed to work, bob. i mean, you know, this -- we're poor examples right now. >> and there's a big danger here, because if the republicans pursue this policy and it works, it somehow or other damages obama, damages the democratic party, political success comes out of it, what are democratic strategists practically going to say when you have a republican president. they're going to say, the way to bring this thing down is to obstruct. now, that didn't work in 2012. i ultimately don't think it's going to work for them over the

long-term, certainly not in 2016. i think they have to change, or they're going to die out as a party. they need more bob doles. he shouldn't be the past, he should be the future. or people like him should be the future of the republican party. >> karen, give me a name. who's closer to bob dole in style and philosophy in the republican party? i'm losing a name here. >> living? you know, i honestly -- well, i guess, olympia snowe, maybe. although, i have to say, these guys, you know, they talk about bipartisanship, and then they leave. we need people like that to stay and fight. >> yeah. bob shrum, karen finney, joe sestak, always, great to have you with us. >> great to be with you. tonight in our survey, i asked, are republican efforts to block infrastructure dangerous for americans? 84% of you say yes, 16% of you say no. still to come -- >> i believe diversity is an old, old wooden ship that was used during the civil war era. >> pennsylvania governor tom corbett is lost at sea on the issue of diversity. we have advice for this pretender, next.

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for our pretenders tonight, we hear from pennsylvania governor tom corbett, where pretending is part of state policy. pennsylvania tried to pretend some voices shouldn't be heard by pushing voter i.d. laws, which targeted youth and minority voters. governor corbett pretended he wasn't trying to shame women seeking abortion by forcing them to view medically unnecessary ultrasounds. >> i don't make anybody watch, okay. because you just have to close your eyes. >> now governor corbett is trying to pretend the diversity in his state just isn't there. when questioned about the role of latinos in pennsylvania and the government, corbett fumbled! >> do you have staff members that are latino? >> no, we do not have any staff

members that are latino. if you can find us one, please let me know. >> the latino population in california has grown to 6% in the last decade, becoming an integral part of the state's culture and talented latinos can't be too hard to find. after all, the governor does actually have latino men and women on his staff. his spokesman admitted in a damage control press release, this reminded me of another governor, republican governor, that is, trying to address diversity. >> we took a concerted effort to go out and find women and they brought us whole binders full of women. >> binders work every time, don't they? things didn't go so well for him, either. if governor corbett thinks this brand of republican leadership works, he can just close his eyes and just keep on pretending. [ phil ] when you have joint pain and stiffness...

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manny's claim existed only on paper, making it immune to our advanced hacking technology. >> there's just nothing.

>> why do i even have a tech nerd? get out of my way! oh, oh. the claim was last seen in the mountains of paperworkistan, but it kind of escaped to the manhattan regional office or maybe d.c. >> so what you're saying it could be anywhere. >> it needs a little attention. welcome back to "the ed show." memorial day is tomorrow, and bh while many families will be spending time at the beach or maybe barbecuing, it's important to remember the real meaning of this holiday. those who have given the ultimate sacrifice, those who have been scarred in battle, and those who will have issues for the rest of their lives because their service to this country. veterans are returning home in droves. soldiers are transitioning to get back to life and the v.a. is a complete mess. i think the v.a., from my experiences of having friends that have gone through it, they give excellent care. it's the case overload. veterans must wake through a

backlog of nearly 1 million benefit claims at the v.a. many are waiting years for the benefits they were promised. and we can't renege. the department of veteran affairs created a strategic plan to eliminate this backlog. their reason reason for increas and delay, ten years of war with increased survival rates and post conflict downsizing of the military, so we have more soldiers per capita to deal with. the lack of organization is really at the root of this problem because of the case overload. piles of benefit claims fill the v.a. offices. this looks more like an episode of hoarders than a functioning government office. it wasn't supposed to be like this. nobody predicted it, but this is the cost of going into a war on faulty intelligence. it's 2013. the fact that paper claims are still the norm is pretty archaic and laughable.

the former general claims the end is in sight. he told congress by 2015 the v.a. will eliminate the backlog. the new system would process claims in 125 days or less. the solution is to make veterans wait only four months instead of years. i'm joined by the congressman of california, a member of the armed services committee. congressman, good to have you with us tonight. >> always good to be with you. >> this is an aftermath problem we didn't anticipate, posttraumatic stress disorder needs a great deal of attention. that was a number in a cause of residual of war that we didn't and it tis pate. is this the best we can do? where are we, john? >> this is not the best we can do. in fact, this is despicable. there is no reason other than lethargic action by the v.a. and, i must say, congress has got to appropriate the money to hire the people to get this done. with regard to the electronic

records, we've heard that promise before. it does work, but it's a long way off. we get it done in the next year, i would be surprised but i would be absolutely delighted, also. this has got to be resolved. i'll tell you my office, and we do a lot of veterans work out of my office, it goes on. it goes on. my staff is excellent. we can get things done. but the v.a. has got to get on top of this. they need to hire the additional people, put them in place right now, make the management work. this is a disgrace. a disgrace for america. >> i think that you're on the armed services committee in the house, but this is really an issue that every congressional member needs to pay attention to. i know there's a lot of committees that they serve and they have a focal point of what they want to do and everything but there's veterans in every district in this country. and this is something that has to have attention and constituency services. does that play a big part in all

of this? >> certainly my office does an enormous amount of services. we get a reputation for getting the job done and, therefore, we get even more. it lies with the veterans administration. and i think, also with congress and not appropriating the money, back with that stimulus bill which is now four years ago, there was an enormous a amount of money put in that backlog actually declined and, when the money ran out, guess what happened? the backlog increased. so we need to put the money -- we need to do more than talking. we need that electronic system put in place. >> i want to talk about that. let's show the videotape again of that room with all of the papers stacked up. this is 2013. information technology, i mean, we have little gadgets on our hand right now that connect us to the world but we can't get our v.a. to be on par with the

latest technology? is it mon qui, john? congressman? is it money or is it management? >> both. it's both. actually that electronic thing does work. i held a veterans fair two months ago and the v.a. brought along six of those terminals and went through 30 or 40 actual applications and did it within just record time right there at the veterans affair. so it can work but it takes more money. those things are not cheap to buy. to bring that system into place takes money. it also takes top management and, frankly, i think the management is lacking here. somebody has to crack the whip. people need to get this job done. beyond that, ed, you said something very, very important at the outset of this segment and that is we've had ten years of war. america has never had ten years of war before. that's an enormous burden. and we're talking about men and women that had multiple deployments that have been there three, four, five times. they're hurting.

they're going to be hurting for years to come. we need to recognize that. and we also need to recognize that after all this is memorial day. as i came into the studio here in sacramento, i came by one of the big water tanks on the south side of town and there was that american flag on top of it, blue background, and i'm going this is america. we can do better. wars that go on forever, but also in providing the services. one thing, ed, i would love to see when you go into the military, you have your basic training. six weeks, eight weeks. when you leave the military, you're given about six hours. fill out a form, good-bye, thank you. we need to do more to prepare our military for the departure from the military, two, three weeks, are getting acclimated to not military life but civilian life. know what you can get from the v.a. know what opportunities are out there for jobs and employment. and the things you're going to

have to do when you no longer are in the military but rather in civilian life. and we do have very serious mental illnesses, posttraumatic stress syndrome. it's a huge problem that needs to be addressed, and we can't -- we're spending $80 billion this year in afghanistan. we can do better at home. >> no doubt. congressman, great to have you with us, john garamendi. if we can't take care of our veterans, if we can't do better, if we can't fix this problem, we have to look at ourselves in the mirror and ask ourselves the question just who the heck are we? on this memorial day, remember those -- tomorrow memorial day -- remember those who gave the ultimate sack rifice for ou freedom and those who sacrifice ed to give broadcasters the ability to sit in front of cameras and say what they think. only in america. we do have a great country. we can always make it better,

and we can reach our poe tension at a higher level, but we have to do it together. maybe bob dole is the smartest guy in the room today. that's "the ed show." we'll see you back here next saturday 5:00 p.m. eastern time. have a great memorial day. we'll see you next weekend. ♪ i' 'm a hard, hard ♪ worker every day. ♪ i' ♪ i'm a hard, hard worker and i'm working every day. ♪ ♪ i'm a hard, hard worker and i'm saving all my pay. ♪ ♪ if i ever get some money put away, ♪ ♪ i'm going to take it all out and celebrate. ♪

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