join us every day to discuss the world of politics and ideas. may all your holidays be peaceful and safe. ♪ i say i don't like cricket good evening, americans, and welcome to "the ed show," live from minneapolis. let's get to work. god blesses everyone who is kind to the poor. >> government is not the solution to our problem. >> the champion of those less fortunate. >> don't simply feed fish. >> government is the problem. >> don't simply feed fish. >> reverend moon? >> when you are hot for jesus christ, there is nothing that is like that. >> pope francis has made himself a champion of those less fortunate. >> the man quickly becoming the people's pope. >> don't simply feed fish. >> let's love people. >> read about jehovah's witness?

>> our nation needs to stop doing for people what they can and should do for themselves. >> how about buddhism? >> income inequality is one of the biggest issues out there in america. >> try to explain where we are, how we got there. >> the red liners, the vultures, they're just rolling. >> but we have to face the truth. good to have you with us ton, folks. thanks for watching. as we head into this thanksgiving weekend, it's important to keep the issue of income inequality on the front burner. many americans this thanksgiving will be forced to work and work for low wages. some won't even be able to afford a thanksgiving dinner. i've shown you the vulture chart many times here on "the ed show." since the early 1980s, income inequality has been an issue. that top 1% have really benefited. their wages have skyrocketed, while workers' wages have stayed

virtually the same or flatlined. it's a fact. this is the product of so-called trickle-down economics. if you can blame it all on one guy, this is the guy. ronald reagan's economic policy laid down the foundation for income inequality in this country. the first thing he did as president was pass sweeping tax breaks for everyone, but especially the wealthy. in july of 1981, reagan laid out his backwards plan for america's growth in a prime time address. armed with a series of charts, reagan said trickle-down economics was the way to go. >> their tax cut is slightly more generous than ours. for the first two years. then as you can see, their tax bill, the dotted line, starts going up and up and up. on the other hand, in our bipartisan tax bill, the solid

line, our tax cut keeps on going down, and then stays down permanently. this is true of all earning brackets. >> one short week later, reagan's tax cut passed. it was the largest tax cut our nation had ever seen. everyone got a break. but the top tax rate fell from 70% down to 50%. no doubt, a major win for the top 1% income earners in this country. here's the vulture chart again. the green line marks the beginning of reagan's trickle-down plan. this is when his tax cuts passed. so just so happens, it is -- the same time income inequality started to sky rocket in america. this is proof, tricklel-down economics is a sham, it doesn't work. income inequality is becoming such a major issue, even with the pope. the pope is speaking out against it. making big news this week. the pope made, i think, a

stunning political statement, connecting it to faith. pope francis is slamming reaganomi reaganomics. in a statement, the pope criticized the idol tree of money. and warned, it would lead to a new tyranny? a new tyranny? what does that mean? does that mean if i go to the catholic church in detroit lakes, minnesota, i'm going to hear the priest talk about a new tyranny? the pope also called out trickle down economics by name, saying this. some people continue to defend trickle-down theories, which assume that economic growth encouraged by a free market will inevidently succeed in bringing about greater justice in the world. he went on tos to say, this opinion which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and eye november trust in the goodness of those yielding economic power. meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting. basically, as i interpret that, the pope is saying, trickle-down

economics doesn't work. the poor in this world are still waiting. the poor in this country are still waiting. the poor in this country are under attack by republican policies. now i don't know if the pope is a democrat or not. certainly, it's script you're alley based. but no pontiff has spoken out in this manner. the pope sounds more like senators bernie sanders and elizabeth warren than reagan and paul ryan. conservatives have been maybe genuflecting to the wrong guy. republicans are against everything this new pope stands for. pope francis wants to fix income inequality, wants to help the poor. look at the republican budget. meanwhile, here's what republicans think about america's poor people. >> if you look at china, they don't have food stamps. if you look at china, they're in a very different -- they save

for their own retirement security. they don't have afdc. they don't have the modern welfare state. and china is growing. >> think about that. nearly every state in america, people are getting food stamps who are abled-bodied citizens, not elderly, without children. >> the area where you can actually do some work under the senate rules is cutting entitlement programs. >> can you control government spending without fundamentally reforming entitlements? i think the answer is no. >> i think it's insensitive to not have work requirements to food stamps. >> i wonder what the pope would say about congressman paul ryan's stance on entitlement cuts for the poor. and how callous the republicans have been with their proposed budgeting. it really is shameful. basically, i believe that the pope is trying to raise social awareness. but he's also calling out those pushing policies that directly hurt the poor. and that's what's happening in this country. we're having this big budget debate. we've got yet another deadline.

and what do the republicans want to do? they want to cut billions of dollars out of the food stamp program and hurt the most vulnerable? this pope isn't talking to a third world country that is poor. this pope is talking to a wealthy country that has the wherewithal to do the morally correct thing, and provide for those who have been less fortunate in this trickle-down economy that started with the republicans and ronald reagan back in the '80s. it doesn't work. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question. is the all mighty dollar republicans' true religion? text a for yes, text b for no to 67622. you can always go to ed.msnbc.com, and leave a comment there. we'll bring results later in the show. for more, let me turn to ej dionne of the "washington post." ej, great to have you with us tonight. i'm not totally up on my pontiff

history. but in my lifetime, i can't remember a pope being so politically direct on what the social responsibility is to wealthy nations. that was my read on it. what was yours? >> it's good to be here on the reverend ed show on this eve of thanksgiving. and i just have to say, hearing michele bachmann say that we should follow china's lead on food stamps? i've always wanted to ask her why she wants to take her lead on social policy from a communist dictatorship. but that's not our subject today. i think that the pope is, in fact, very consistent with a long run of catholic social thought that goes all the way back to leo xiii. but this pope has given it more power, more candor. and just a straight forwardness. and i think that comes from the fact that he's a pope from the south. he is from argentina.

and this statement is really extraordinary. he says, today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. as a consequence, he goes on, masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalized without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape. and so i think what this pope -- bear in mind, he is still against abortion. but what he is saying is that his real priority is on this question of poverty, injustice and the problems with unregulated capitalism. he could not be more direct. and i think a lot of catholic republicans are going to have to look at their consciences and say -- rush limbaugh attacked the pope today. the pope said these things. maybe they're going to have to rethink a little bit. i hope they do. >> well, it certainly is bringing forth a social awareness and a new consciousness within the

catholic church. but if i go to the detroit lakes catholic church in the middle of the country in minnesota, am i going to hear the priest talk about a new tyranny? what do you think the pope mentality by that? >> well, i think he talks about a tyranny that develops when money is an idol, as he has put in another talk. when materialism is your guide, and not spiritual values. not the values of gratitude, which we're celebrating tomorrow. gratitude and compassion. and so i think that one of the big questions is, how much will this pope's message, as it were, to use the concept he's against, trickle down to the rest of the church? and i think you're seeing in some parishes, and i have noticed that a lot more progressive leaders of the church have taken heart from this. and i think they have become more aggressive in saying the catholic church can't just be about abortion and gay marriage. the catholic church has always

been about social justice and care for the poor. >> well, this is now economic justice. and social justice and economic justice clearly parallel one another. but no pope, to my knowledge, has ever put it in such direct terms. his comment that the excluded are still waiting. i mean, that is a direct slam that the economic policies of trickle-down, and uses the term trickle-down economics, and says that the excluded are still waiting. is a direct shot at -- at it being a failed policy. it doesn't work. it's not the way to run a railroad, for lack of a better term. but they're still waiting. in other words, the wealthy, you need to do more. that's my interpretation. i could be totally off base. but that's the way i read it. when he says the excluded are still waiting. >> i think that's the only way to read it. i think he is very direct here. he has this great line where he says, how can it be that it is

not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is a news item when the stock market loses two points. i mean, you can't be more direct than he has been. and i think he is really calling advocates of pure capitalism to account can. >> so how are republicans catholics like congressman paul ryan, who happens to be the chairman of the house budget committee, with a radical budget, how is he going to deal with this? >> i think it's going to be difficult. but here is an optimistic scenario, ed. i think there are krchts out there not radical tea party conservatives, who in the past have not voted in lockstep to cut food stamps the way the republicans did. and i think they're going to have to ask themselves, you know, how does their view of social programs square with those of a pope who specifically goes after those who reject the right of states, meaning governments, to stand up for the common good.

and so there may be a pulling back from this radicalism. compassionate conservatism had its flaws, but it's sure better than the uncompassionate kind. >> is this current situation of income inequality in america and in the european countries as well, is it proof that reaganomics is a sham? i think it is. >> well, i think your chart shows it, that, you know, the idea that you can solve any problem in the country by throwing money at rich people just doesn't work. it hasn't worked from the beginning. and it's this whole idea, well, they are the job creators, and everyone else doesn't count. you know, catholic teaching has always really leaned towards labor, and says that labor creates value. abraham lincoln talked about labor creating value. so that i don't think you can say that it's -- that if your emphasis is all on capital, you are missing a big part of the story. and almost all the people doing the work.

>> well, there is no way that i think fair-minded americans can can read this speech by the pope and say that the faith matches up with the republican ideology on how we should run our finances in this country. there's no question about that. at least as i see it. ej dionne, great to have you with us. you have a great thanksgiving and nice holiday. we'll see you back here again on "the ed show." thanks so much. remember to answer tonight's question there at the bottom of the screen. share your thoughts with us on twitter at ed show and on facebook. you might have a lot to say about this. we certainly want to know what you think. coming up, big turkey, ted cruz, wants to ruin your thanksgiving. still ahead. what to say to your right wing brother-in-law. a lesson in table manners, coming up from john fugelsang. and an interview with a manager who lost his job sticking up for his employees. he didn't want to serve pizza on thanksgiving. stay with us. we're right back. [ grandma ] with new fedex one rate,

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any two seafood bakes, crab or lobster entrees. time now for the trenders. "the ed show" social media nation has decided, we are reporting. here are today's top trenders, voted on by you and me. >> we want ed! >> the number three trender, the ed tour. >> could be in a town near you. you can sign up and be there. >> i'm taking the show on the road to ft. lauderdale in seattle next february. >> and going around america is a big part of telling the story. >> we move forward. >> i'm ready for round two! >> check out we've got ed.com for more details. >> we want ed! the number two trender. pardon me? >> we've got sort of a pardon-off between caramel and popcorn. >> it was quite literally the hunger games.

>> they both will survive the day. we're just determining which one is officially pardoned. >> they stay at mt. vernon through the holidays. >> the time-honored thanksgiving tradition continues. >> popcorn, you are free from cranberry sauce. >> later in the day, they will fly to disneyland, aboard turkey one. as god as my witness, i thought turkeys could fly. >> all this was -- this was neat. >> and today's top trender. talking turkey. >> here's the scene at every thanksgiving. you go home -- and there is uncle rich he's a righty, and running his mouth about the liberals. we've got some helpful hints to avoid a food fight at the dinner table. >> food fight! >> a little dry, it's fine. >> was that remark directed at me? >> shut up! >> no, it was directed at your

stupid turkey and your stupid stuffing and your stupid gravy! >> joining me tonight, liberal commentator and comedian, john fugelsang with very good advice. big topic around the dinner table tomorrow in america, probably will be obama care. of course, with the uncle across from you who thinks that this has to fail. how do you set things straight with those conservative family members who want to see the law fail, and, of course, still think that president obama was born not in america? >> well, ed, as you know very well, it's very tricky, navigating this thanksgiving day dinner table diplomacy. your obama care-ating uncle, nra uncle, uncle who uses benghazi as a verb. it can get pretty challenging. but when it comes to obama care, the main thing to remember when that particular uncle or brother-in-law tries to goad you into some kind of fight, the only way you win is if you leave thanksgiving and everyone loves each other. you've got to be the liberal,

the good guy. you've got to be the peace-maker, full-on jimmy carter. all you've got to say is, look, i know they're having problems, i originally supported single-payer, but president obama took a republican plan made by the republican heritage foundation, implemented by a republican massachusetts governor, upheld by republican supreme court, and a year from now, i predict it will have helped one of the republicans at this table. >> valuable advice. no question about it. now, what if -- what if your small government-loving relatives complain about how the president is a big spender? >> well, you could use facts and remind them that as spending goes, he's not quite on the scale of previous presidents. "forbes" did show it's the lowest growth in government spending by any president since eisenhower. you can point out that ronald reagan grew the federal government by 61,000 jobs. and president bush did it as well with the department of homeland security. i think you might just want to blow their minds, ed, and say that back at the first

thanksgiving, when the wamp and noag fed the pilgrims, they invented socialism, front documented immigrants and they will spend the rest of the night trying to process that. >> i think a lot of conservative relatives, though, have kind of given up on the fact, you know, that he's -- that they're still convinced that president obama is a kenyan socialist. i think socialist muslim, should i say. >> yes. >> that might not come up at the dinner table. i think over time we have probably debunked that in its general terms correctly, i might add. >> maybe. >> what about those family members who haven't seen the rebounding of the stock market and say that the economy is still in the toilet. >> yeah, well, i think you're right about the birther thing. people have kind of eased off that. i think a lot of people realize, hmmm, i've never asked a caucasian politician to show their birth certificate, this might not look good. and you can always point out that unlike ted cruz, barack obama was born in america.

when it comes to the socialist thing, all you have to do is point to how well the stock market is doing and say if he's a socialist, he kind of sucks at it. you could also point out that under obama care, we are now making people buy a corporation's private product, pretty much the opposite of socialism. what we have now is socialism when uninsured people go to an emergency room and the local taxpayer has to pick up the tab, and hey, right wing uncle larry, why are you defending the socialist status quo. and that will freak them out. and as far as the muslim thing, ed, let me tell you. if this guy is a muslim who supports gay marriage, who works on ramadan and drones a whole lot of muslims, he's not doing a very good job. i always tell my right wing relatives, this barack obama is not some brown-skinned anti-war socialist giving away free health care. you all are thinking of jesus. >> that is -- there's no question. and, of course, you can always put the dig in and say you mean you didn't jump into the market when it was down at 6500 back in

march of 2009? i thought you were a big capitalist. you would be rolling by now if you would have done that. that's the digger right there. that is the parting shot on the economy. john fugelsang, you have a great thanksgiving. thanks for joining us tonight for the wonderful advice. >> amid pat robertson's college, if you can get along with these folks, you can get along with anyone. coming up, we'll set the report straight on obama care messaging. plus, what a turkey. ted cruz is waging a war on thanksgiving. holy smokes! but next, i'm taking your questions. "ask ed live" is just ahead. stay tuned.

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welcome back to "the ed show." we love hearing from our viewers. tonight, an "ask ed live." our question from butch. and he wants to know, do you think it's fair people have to work for minimum wage on turkey day. well, i'm disappointed that anybody has to work on thanksgiving day, because it is a great american tradition. but, of course, the business pressure always brings us changes in society, and in the work culture of this country. i think there's a real bad turn taking place in america. there's more and more pressure being put on workers, there's more and more pressure on managers to hit that bottom line. and that is in a sense trickle-down. the guy in the front office says we have to hit this number. managers have to bring it on through to employees. and the next thing you know, you're working holidays. it doesn't seem too american. it doesn't seem too family to me. we're not going to shop on thanksgiving. you can do what you want. but i think it is rather unfair

to workers that these big corporations are saying people need to work in the retail industry on thanksgiving. can't we all just have at least one day off? that means something? i mean, thanksgiving is all about family and friends. thanks -- in fact, i think a lot of -- a lot of families in this country only get together collectively once or twice, maybe three times a year, if they're lucky. i mean, to bring all the family in. and thanksgiving is that time of year. is it really necessary for these big conglomerates to make sure the retail stores are open a day ahead of black friday? i'm not a fan. our next question is from fred. fred christian is his name. what are you thankful for this thanksgiving? >> well, i'll be very direct and very personal. my wife is healthy and has defeated ovarian cancer. she has had three very clear cat scans and another one on the

way. and we are very blessed that our family is healthy. so that's the first thing that i am very, very thankful for this thanksgiving. professionally, it's been kind of an interesting year. going from the 8:00 to the weekend and now to 5:00. but i'm very thankful this company has invested in me for the future. and i'm going to be here for what some people would say a very long time. and i'm very thankful that i have people around me that i respect and work hard and do everything they possibly can to make this show the very best it is. and i appreciate that very much. ed schultz is a lucky guy. and i'm very thankful. stick around. rapid response panel is next. i'm seema mody with your market wrap. stocks up on wall street, the dow jumping 24 points, the s&p 500 4 and the nasdaq 27.

a sign layoffs have slide. the number of americans filing for unemployment benefits dropped by 10,000 last week. and consumer sentiment up ahead of the holiday shopping season, topping expectations in november. mortgage rates up. the average on a 30-year fixed loan rose to 4.29% last week. that's it from cnbc, first in business worldwide.

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welcome back to "the ed show." thanks for watching tonight. most americans looking forward to having a few days off to enjoy thanksgiving. but the obama care messaging war, that's not taking a vacation at all. not a moment off. according to the "washington post," democratic senators, democratic senators received a prethanksgiving messaging memo, urging them to use this holiday break to find obama care success

stories. last week, we got a look at the majority leader, eric cantor's handy republican obama care playbook, which urges republican house members to collect negative constituent stories on obama care. for weeks, it felt like we have heard -- we were stories about websites and crashes and now lawmakers and pundits are finally starting to realize, this is about actual people, which means the messaging war is getting personal, and both sides fight to push their version of the obama care narrative. >> 900,000 californians, 130,000 kentuckyions, 140,000 minnesotas and 400,000 georgians have received cancellation notices. >> here's one. thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. i've been denied health insurance for three years for preexisting condition, i can now live again. >> moms and dads are worried they're going to lose their health care plan.

>> my girls can no longer be discriminated against for having a preexisting condition. thanks to obama care. my daughters have access to preventive care they need as cancer survivors now. for the rest of their lives, without worry of outrageous co-pays. >> i got a letter a couple weeks ago from my messages insurance department, saying my plan was going to be cancelled because the whole category of the self-employed group plan is eliminated under the law. >> the i.tation of the affordable care act means you'll be -- he'll not be denied insurance, due to his preexisting heart condition. >> every day, we hear heartwrenching stories from americans, getting letters about their health care plans being cancelled or the cost of their new plan is skyrocketing. >> joining me now is our rapid response panel, ruth connive for the progressive magazine out of wisconsin and talk radio and media consultant, holland cook. great to have you both with us

tonight. i don't mean to date myself with certain terms i'm going to use here. but in the media business, there is nothing like the live shot. we're going live here. we're going live there. and there's this thing in the radio business called good 'ole fashioned street tape to go out and get that actuality of the story. so now what we have here is these two political ideologies, these two belief systems. it's going to be propaganda against the actuality and the street tape of america. holland cook, this is going to be an epic battle. can propaganda outweigh the actuality? >> ed, i am live tonight from rhode island, where i live. and i'm a case study, because i've been self-employed since 1995. and i had one of those policies that are very profitable to write. but what we're now calling junk insurance. not the coverage i really needed. and a patterned emerges, california, washington state, kentucky, a conspicuous success

story. nearby connecticut. and here in rhode island. the smallest state where often we have a bit of an inferiority complex. but not about obama care. i had no appointment. i was in, insured and out in 25 minutes. and i had been shopping for the last several years online. the coverage i got was more comprehensive than, and cheaper than the stuff i had been shopping for for a couple years online. so look what's happening. you've got all these sore head righty governors in states like texas who usually preach states' rights. but when it came to this. uncle sam do the job. and with the other hand, they're saying give us medicare funds here in rhode island and those other state exchange states. things are working fine. >> ruth connive, isn't it going to be interesting to watch the insurance industry advertise for people to go look at plans, yet the very people that they're supporting are out there, just

ripping obama care a new one every chance they possibly can? how is this going to play out. >> well, i think that the way it's blplaying out and you poind this out in your intro, there are more and more stories about people being really grateful to get insurance and better insurance. and some of those cancellations from the insurance companies that we have been hearing so much about from the republicans are actually resulting in people, for example, in california, saying i'm so relieved, i've been cancelled off this bad policy that had a high co-pay and offered me very little. and because now my preexisting condition won't prevent me from getting better could have can raj, i'm getting better coverage through the affordable care act. so i think that as people get that insurance, as we see folks in rural iowa, rural kentucky, lining up to get coverage when they have never had insurance before, you're seeing more and more of the up side of the affordable care act. and, of course, by saturday, we're supposed to see 50,000 people get on at once and register for new insurance. we're supposed to see a major change in the workability of the

website, which i think was always sort of a short term blip. >> well, we've seen this happen before, by conservatives, when it came to other changes, social security, medicare, medicaid. and even in the south, when the civil rights movement was taking place. there were a lot of conservatives who were against it. they're on the wrong side of history of this one. let's talk about president obama for a moment. ruth, what is his real mission in 2014, before the mid terms? nobody can sell this or politically better than president obama. his mother died of ovarian cancer. she didn't have insurance. he still has that very gut-wrenching personal story to tell. and they're obstructing everything else. they're not going to help with the jobs package or the budget. so why didn't he just go out there and sell obama care all over again? what's he got to lose? >> i'm with you, ed. i think that's right. and i think the administration is doing that. i think when they tell members of congress to go home this

weekend and make sure they're spreading the news about how this plan is actually working, and how people are getting insurance, i think that that is really the mission going into 2014. and on the flip side, you know, i live in a state governed by one of those republican sore heads who refuse to take the medicaid expansion. and we're seeing tens of thousands of people kicked off of health insurance here that was provided by the state. and in this weird scramble to politicize this issue, there's -- our governor has now agreed, suddenly, to extend the time before those folks are kicked out. but in order to save the money that he's going to keep paying towards their insurance, we're going to not provide health insurance now to 82,000 folks who were going to get it. and this is all because we have refused the medicaid expansion here in wisconsin. those states where the it stuff is really working, when you look at washington, kentucky, connecticut, they accepted, they're covering everybody up to 138% of poverty and offering this low-cost insurance through the exchanges. that's going to be a really big benefit to a lot of people. >> you know holland cook, this isn't just exclusive for liberals and progressives.

you know, conservatives can go to that website too. and they can get health care at a cheaper cost and more comprehensive coverage, as well. what are the right wing talkers of america -- what career are they going to have when the conservative callers start saying, you know what, this thing, obama care, you've been ripping on for the last several years is kind of working for me. how is that going to play out? >> they're not -- they're not afraid that it's going to fail. they're afraid people are going to love it. and as we begin the big christmas and holiday shopping season now, there's an interesting behavioral aspect to this. and it is the extent to which we have become accustomed to, indeed dependent it on, e-commerce. we don't think twice about giving our credit card to a teenager at the mall who is seasonal help. but we get all shook when the website crashes. you had me on in september, and on this show, we predicted that on october 1, the website would go down. and it did. a lot of people need insurance.

typical government job. they don't do things like this well. but in the arc of history, the story is going to be that everybody got covered. >> that is the bottom line. great to have you with us tonight. ruth connive, holland cook, have a great thanksgiving. >> gobble, gobble. thanks so much. you bet. coming up, we'll talk to a pizza hut manager who says he was fired for refusing a greedy corporate request. do people eat a lot of pizza on thanksgiving? pizza hut thought so. this guy said no, i'm sticking up for the workers. he paid for it with his job. he joins us coming up on "the ed show." stay with us. she's always been able to brighten your day.

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the parade. he was refuse to go help these very important industries. legislation to avert a crisis was among a handful of bills quickly passed by congress on the eve of the most recent government shutdown. instead of helping the helium cause, cruz blew hot air in his filibuster vendetta. cruz is trying to ruin your thanksgiving football, as well, with help from the conservative campaign committee during the games. you'll see this commercial. >> millions of americans have lost their health care plans, because of the disastrous obama care scheme. one man stepped forward and did everything he could to stop obama care before it hurt the american people. senator ted cruz. >> i intend to speak in support of defunding obama care. until i am no longer able to stand. >> critics tried to smear and silence cruz, calling him -- >> political terrorist. >> shortsighted. >> stupid. >> arsonist. >> senator cruz with stood the

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on the new tempur-choice with head-to-toe customization. the triple choice sale ends sunday, thanksgiving weekend. ♪ sleep train ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪ welcome back to the ed show. this is the story for the folks who take a shower after work. you know, thanksgiving is a time of year, and it is a very special day, and it's really meant for family.

it's a great american tradition. but the corporate world is attacking that tradition and moving up black friday sales, forcing stores to open their doors on thanksgiving day and forcing workers to come into work. 62% of americans think business should remain closed. americans feel workers should have their traditional day off. well, one general manager of a pizza hut in elk hart indiana decided to take a stand. he paid for it with his job. he had worked at the pizza chain for more than ten years, climbing right on through the ranks from washing the windows all the way up to being the cook, to be being now the general manager, but now he claims he was fired for refusing to force employees to work on thanksgiving day, when he told his bosses he wouldn't open the restaurant he managed, he claims he was asked to write a letter of resignation. instead, he wrote this.

i'm not quitting. i do not resign, however, i accept that the refusal to comply with this greedy, immoral request means the end of my tenure with this company. i hope you realize that it's the people at the bottom of the totem pole that make your life possible. joining us tonight on the ed show, tony rohr. you were quite the conversation on many talk shows around the nation, very inspired by your willingness to stand for your employees and protect a holiday that has been a real tradition in this country. take a moment, if you can, tony, just tell us how this all unfolded in your words. good to have you withis tonight. >> okay. thanks for having me on. basically what happened was i had been told that it was mandatory for us to be open on thank give. and i didn't agree with it. i had the whole day to think about it. and as it happened the next day,

i had a meeting with my boss. and i just decided i wasn't going to agree with it. so i went into the meeting. and i said, look, we need to talk about this thanksgiving right. it's not right, i'm not going to agree with it. i'm not going to open the door. i'm not going to make anybody work. they told me they were opening because it was a gettive decision and because other people were opening they were going to open too. and i said well, you don't care about your employees, and you can have the day off. and he said well, if the company makes that decision we have to abide by that. i said if it costs me my job, so be it, but i'm not doing that. and it took them about 15 minutes to deliberate. >> tell us how that happened. >> yeah, it took about that long for them to decide they were going to get rid of me.

they pulled me out of the conference room and the area coach said that i needed to write a resignation or his boss needed me to write a letter of resignation. and i said resigning and being feared are two very different things and i said i'm not doing that. i said i'm not going to argue with you. >> go ahead. >> oh, sorry, go ahead. >> i said i'm not going to argue with you. write whatever you want. >> you wrote, i hope you realize that it's the people at the bottom of the totem pole that make your life possible. i mean, that is really sticking up for your workers. what's the response of your colleagues at the pizza hut that you were managing? >> they were all very angry. none of them really understood the decision to fire me. they were all pretty mad about that and wasn't much they could do. wasn't much could i do, but everybody supported me. my girlfriend, my parents, my

family. a lot of people around have been showing a lot of support. and thanks very much for that. >> okay. according to wsvt, one of your bosses is claiming that you did not get fired. but that you quit. what's your response to that? >> i did hear that. but in my opinion, i was definitely fired. we were out talking about my letter of resignation. and he said you write whatever you want on that piece of paper. i'm not going to argue with you and i said i'm done then? and he said i guess so. he left me alone to write my letter on my own. >> we reached out to young brands. we received this statement saying this was clearly an unfortunate situation and we are very upset by what has happened. while the choice as to whether a restaurant should be open or closed on a holiday is handled

at the local level by our independent franchisees, we feel strongly that this could have been avoided. do you see this trend changing? they say that this could have been avoided. what are your thoughts on that? >> i suppose it's possible. that was a decision made by my franchise and not by pizza hut as a whole, but i suppose there could have been a different way to go about it, but i decide i was not going to agree to that. i wasn't going to let anybody work on thank givs giving. i don't think that's right. and i'm pretty sure i just got fired for saying no. >> there's 51,000 people that live in elkhart, indiana. what type of business would you anticipate as the general manager?

>> i don't think much. it wouldn't be open for very long. there wouldn't be too many people calling i wouldn't think, but i wouldn't know. i've never been open on a thanksgiving in the ten years i've worked for that company. >> all right, tony rohr, thanks for joining us. a lot of people admire your tenacity to stick up for your workers. i'm ed schultz. politics nation with al sharpton starts right now. happy thanksgiving to you. and happy thanksgiving to you. tonight's lead, a reality check for the right wing turkey. on this day, this day before thanksgiving, president obama gave america a clear choice. between those who want to help the less fortunate and those who want to make their lives worse. but he began the day with the annual tradition, the