the 1% circle. >> we shall see. it is an ongoing story. thank you both for your time. that is all for now. i'll see you back here tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. eastern live from capitol hill. good evening, americans. welcome to "the ed show," live from new york. let's get to work. >> tomorrow night, it's time to restore opportunity for all. >> president obama wants to give an honest, candid state of the union address that his economic policies are not working and that their exacerbating income inequali inequality. >> i think 2014 needs to be a year of action. >> to work with congress where he can. >> hell no, you can't. >> he's going to look in every way he can with his pen and his phone to try to move the ball

forward. >> just the stroke of his pen, he's the most powerful man in the world. >> to folks who want to come up in the middle class. >> because congress didn't act. >> he needs to be building consensus and not using his pen to create law. good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. with the stroke of a pen, the president can give somebody a raise. he can do this executive authority kind of thing. just a stroke of the pen. you know what? america needs a raise and the republicans need an ultimatum after all we've been through. 24 hours from now, the president will give his sixth state of the union address. we tried to pull out some of the republican highlights in the

last five. we couldn't find any good comments. the president will focus on income inequality and this is supposed to be the year of action. he's going to touch on issues like college affordability, long-term unemployed insurance, and the minimum wage. jay carney said the president will bypass congress. >> i think what we saw last year in 2013 was a washington that did not deliver for the american people. and the president says this is a year of action to work with congress where he can and to bypass congress where necessary, to lift folks who want to come up into the middle class. >> now it sounds good, but it's a lot generic talk, isn't it?

democrats want the president to increase the minimum wage. we've been talking about that for a long time, especially for federal contractors. republicans are already complaining. mitch mcconnell said on sunday that the president is putting himself out on a limb. >> the president has sort of hung out on a limb and tried to get what he wants through the bureaucracy. we're anxious to help him create jobs, but we're not going to go over and endorse more spending and more taxes and more regulation. >> hanging out on the political left. if you want people to make more money, it's a liberal policy, isn't it? the wealth gap in america, the president calls that the challenge of our time, but that's hanging out with the left. rand paul is taking this executive action stuff as a vague threat from president obama. >> it sounds vaguely like a threat and i think it also has a

certain amount of arrogance in the sense that one of the fundamental principals in our country is checks and balances. it wasn't supposed to be easy to pass legislation. you had to debate and convince people. >> did he say arrogant? sometimes arrogance is good. rand paul must not be reading the polls. we're a culture of polls. the american people are on the exact same page with the president of the united states on a number of issues. 58% of the american people want unemployment insurance extended. that would be almost six out of ten americans. 69% of americans think unemployment benefits should be extended for a year or longer. that's almost seven out of ten people you run into on the street.

71% of americans think the minimum wage should be passed. lawmakers in 30 states have taken it upon themselves and are now pushing minimum wage on the local level. president obama is exactly right to take action without congress. and he would be inept if he did not do it on the part of the progressive movement because that's what he ran on. hope and change. there have been a lot of good things, but not enough. maybe a little personality shift. maybe a little shift in tactic. both the president and the country can only take so much obstruction by people who are on the payroll and get health care and retirement benefits, the republicans. they want everything the president wants in the majority.

it's also important to point out vice president dick cheney, he wanted to expand executive power when w. was in the white house. the big question is just how forceful will president obama be tomorrow night? i guess we can call this the pregame show, huh? is he going to be mr. nice guy again and offer up a bunch of olive branchs? is he going to talk about bipartisanship? give me a break. come on. mr. president, don't let me turn the tv off tomorrow night. i want to see a different guy up there tomorrow night. if you can call out the supreme court on citizens united, i think you can do anything at the state of the union and keep it interesting for the american people. the president should show up with a very determined effort tomorrow night. he can't be blowing smoke this time around because we're returning out of time.

the hourglass has turned on his administration. we're only in 2014 with some time ago. but next year, it is all about the presidential. legislatively, the republicans aren't going to give him anything. the american people are counting on this president to be forceful across the board tomorrow night. let's go back to last year's speech. these are things that the president of the united states asked for after being reelected. >> now is our best chance for bipartisan comprehensive tax reform that encourages job creation and helps bring down the deficit. send me a comprehensive immigration reform bill in the next few months and i will sign it right away and america will be better for it. let's get it done. let's get it done. >> okay. so he didn't get tax reform.

he didn't get climate change. and he didn't get immigration, but this is going to be the year of action. how about a year of reality? the republicans aren't going to do anything, mr. president, unless you do use the pen. don't talk about it. you have to start doing it on wednesday morning at 9:00. if this is a year of action, let it be a year of action. so what if the republicans don't like it? the american people want you to do something. they understand the obstruction. they don't care about the tone at this point. they want some chicago politics nationwide, man. the president needs to turn his finger to the republicans and said, you've been obstructing me, you've been slowing the country down, and we're going to leave you behind. if they start talking about impeachment, good. we'll have a lot to talk about. there's no downside to the president coming out using the

pulpit tomorrow night and taking it to the republicans. after all, we have to define what a year of action is. let's start with some straight talk at the state of the union address. when you say income inequality to a republican, they think, we might have to tax somebody to do that. that's where they are and that's not where the country is. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question -- should the president call out republicans for their inaction? i mean, call them out for their inaction. text a for yes. text b for no. you can always go to our blog. we'll bring you the results later on in the show. a congressman joins us tonight. great to have you with us. >> good to be with you, ed. >> everybody has a wish list.

you just heard mine. what is going to be different this year? the president called on action for tax reform, climate change, and immigration reform and none of that happened. >> we have done nothing in terms of working with the president in trying to move the economy and jobs forward. you laid out that list. not only have we not moved the ball forward on those things, in the house we haven't been given a vote on those issues. the president is going to have to do two things. number one, he has to late out the common sense agenda that you were talking about. minimum wage. invest in our infrastructure. you have huge unmet needs. that's a no-brainer. and the president has to say to

congress, you've got to do these things and i want to work with you. but if you're not working with me, i'm still going to find a way to get important things done and the federal government is a major purchaser of goods and services. we can lead by example in how we purchase goods and services on behalf of the american. and the president has lots of leeway as the chief executive in that area. >> congressman, i get a sense that democrats are behind closed doors saying, i hope he gives it to them. how much more time do the democrats have to spend on waiting for the republicans to try to move the country forward? we have such an ideological split on capitol hill on how the country should be run. what are we waiting for? >> we're not waiting down here, ed. we're going to move forward on it. we have our own budget proposal.

the republican proposal is a declaration of class warfare. take a look at the house republican budget from last year. major tax cuts for the wealthiewealt wealthiest of americans. if that's not a declaration of class warfare, i don't know what is. the president has to lay out these challenges and the contrast and invite republicans to work with him, but make it clear we're not going to go slow as the slowest boat. >> how far are you willing to see the president goes before it would raise questions about his authority to do things? i think it would be a hell of a conversation for the country to engage in. mr. president, you go. you go as far as you have to go. is that attitude out there? >> ed, obviously, everybody

wants to make sure everybody works within their constitutional powers. at the same time, we know that the constitution gives the president lots of flexibility within the powers that he's given. we do believe the president should exercise those powers for the good of the people. take climate change for an example. you could put into place laws that would reduce climate change in a much smarter way if you get congress engaged. but if congress is going to refuse to engage, the fact is the president has lots of authority on his own to take certain actions. we'd all be better off in republicans in congress would work with the president, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have alternatives usining executive powers. >> should the president point out polls that are consistent

on minimum wage and income inequality? how direct do you think the president should be? >> he needs to be very direct about that, ed. the figures are startling. every american understands that it is unacceptable that we've had productivity gains over the last three decades. we've seen a doubling in economic output. yet, overwhelmingly the majority of those gains have gone to the people at the very top. the president has to talk that head on. i think he will. look, we just saw the conservative government in the u.k. say they support a minimum wage. and yet we've got republicans here for ideological reasons refuse to accept reality. that the minimum wage will lift

5 million plus americans out of poverty and will create jobs by giving more people a little spending money in their pocket. by buying goods and services at their local grocery stores and local merchants. the president has to be very direct on issues like job opportunities, economic equality. we need a country where everyone shares in growing wealth of this country. everyone is getting a sense that the rules are rigged against most americans. you get these huge bonuses when taxpayers had to bail them out. >> good to have you with us tonight. i appreciate your time, so much. thank you, sir. i hope the president talks

about the tpp tomorrow night. i hope he steps out and explains how that and supporting middle class families matches up. remember to answer the tonight's question on the bottom of the screen. a tea party senator attacks former president bill clinton in a nasty way. stay with us. fedex one rate. really makes my life easier. maybe a promotion is in order. good news. i got a new title. and a raise? management couldn't make that happen. [ male announcer ] introducing fedex one rate. simple, flat rate shipping with the reliability of fedex.

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sirius xm. we are reporting and here are today's top trenders voted on by you. >> hey, look. i can spin around. >> the number three trender, super bowl kickoff. >> super bowl week has kicked off here in jersey city. >> crews are working nonstop to transform that stretch of broadway into super bowl boulevard. bad lip reading gets the sideline scoop. >> what are the things that can gross you out? >> old people, valdimort. number two trender --

>> he was caught in a coke bust. >> radel forgot the part of the tea party story where you dump it in the harbor before the cops show up. >> i need to focus on what's most important. that's my family and getting healthy. today's top trender. 1% persecution. tom perkins takes his too far. >> he warns of a dangerous drift in american thinking from the left. >> i don't think something can be considered an issue or debate in this country unless there's been a hitler reference. >> i would call attention to

parallels to nazi germany. >> let me your rulers. >> how selfish is this guy, i guess is the criticism. the answer is pretty selfish. >> joining us tonight the former budget director under president reagan. is this becoming an image problem for the republicans that they don't know how to talk about or approach the wealth gap, the income inequality in america? obviously, this is the political conversation. it seems they're having a hard time dealing with it. >> i think what we said is downright appalling. he should have his mouth washed out with soap. this is utterly wrong to say that kind of comparison, but i also think it should be a wakeup call for progressives. after all, how did someone that

stupid become so monumentally rich? there's been a massive wind fall to the 1%. cheap money. zero interest rates year after year for several decades now. as a result, financial assets keep inflating to values that are crazy. people who are in the financial business capture those windfalls, think they're geniuses, and make statements as stupid as the one you played tonight. >> he wrote, in the nazi area, it was racial demonization. now it is class demonization.

some wealthy americans are making the case, hey, this is just the way it is and we shouldn't be doing anything about it. going that far and saying something like that, i think speaks to the core of what's wrong with the conservative movement in america. they don't care. >> it also goes to the core of what is this federal reserve doing. it's not helping main street. >> how do you change that? >> you have to change the federal reserve. i fault both bush and obama. they keep putting on the fed the gre greenspans and the yellins, who think if they keep interest rates at zero forever, that we're going to become wealthier.

they are in service of the 1%. we have to change that. that's more important than anything that's going on at capitol hill at this very moment. >> i've always been a proponent of access to capital for the little guy. >> of course. >> it is not in good hands in america right now. >> zero interest rates don't help the little guy. it goes to the big speak cuelators on wall street. when you have a speculative kind of environment, we're not investing for growth, for technology, and jobs. for the last 13 years -- had

been less than 1% a year. all of it goes back to stock buyboo buybac buybacks. special dividends. the cash flow is flowing up to the top. >> the president is going to talk about extending unemployment benefits. he's going to talk about the minimum wage and college affordability. all very admirable things, but totally different than what you're talking about. if you want to make change to close the income gap, you're not going to do it in a short period of time. >> we have raised taxes. we finally have. we should raise the capital gains tax to the same level as income tax. >> we can't have corporations parking money offshore.

>> i agree with that. >> the treasury needs more money, right? >> i agree with that. we need more revenue and we need to get our fiscal house in order. obama needs to look hard at the people he's appointing to the federal reserve and ask if they are wall street oriented or are they oriented to the main street economy that has a totally different need than this zero percent interest policy and bond buying. >> i don't hear confidence in your voice that anything is going to happen. >> we should be breaking banks up. they can't be regulated. th they -- >> you're talking like bernie sanders now.

>> they're wards of the state. they're too big and powerful. k street will always override what the regulators are trying to do. he's not addressing the banking problem. he's not addressing the fed problem. he's not addressing the gambling problem. that's what he needs to do. >> we' coming up, new proof that righties are shaking in their boots over hillary for president. is john mccain a true conservative? you bet you. i think he is. stay with us. people don't have to think about

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the business community lobbies intensely every year to make sure the minimum wage does not go up. that's the devil in the detail. our next question -- do the republicans think we're going to let them get by without signing a jobs bill this year? yes, they do. and i think they will never sign a jobs bill with president barack obama. it will not happen because it would probably create jobs and that's the last thing they want. stocks start the week with declin declines. the nasdaq slides 44 points. today's economic news failed to inspire any buying. caterpillar shares were a bright

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welcome back to "the ed show." republicans clearly are desperate. they have no clear presidential frontrunner in sight right now. hillary clinton hasn't declared she's running. the only hope republicans have for 2016 is to go on offense. when the benghazi conspiracy well runs dry, they'll resort to acts of political desperation like this.

>> the democrats, they have concocted and said republicans are committing a war on women. bosses shouldn't prey on young interns in their office. i think the media seems to have given president clinton a pass on this. he took advantage of a girl who was 20 years old and was an intern in his office. there's no excuse for that. that's predatory behavior. we shouldn't want to associate with people who would take advantage of a young girl in his office. this isn't having an affair. someone who takes advantage of a young girl in their office. really? they have the gall to stand up and say the republicans are having a war on women. >> well, folks, it is 2014 and there are no boundaries.

senator rand paul accused a former president of predatory behavior to deny a republican war on women. hillary clinton, a united states senator, regardless of the opinion you may have of hillary clinton, she should be judged on her own qualifications and performance and we shouldn't be talking about something that her husband was involved in decades ago. maybe rand paul missed the news, but bill clinton was impeached in the house. rand paul is trying to get the country thinking about the bad times with the clintons and the two. joining me now is goldie taylor and josh. great to have both of you with us tonight.

goldie, what do you make of this tasteless tack -- i should point out senator paul's comments were a follow-up to his wife kelly who was profiled in an article in vogue. she called bill clinton's behavior predatory and offensive to women. is this the republicans only way to get women's attention in the upcoming election year? >> republicans were really going to have to find themselves a brand-new leading candidate. it looks like rand paul wants to step into that slot as the so-called frontrunner in the gop field. it's an unfortunate strategy he's taken to reach back some 20 years to blame whatever president clinton did in his white house on his wife and try

to connect it that way. she ought to be judged on that record and that record alone. he ought to be talking about policy at the end of the day. he should be talking about his opposition to the lily ledbetter act. he ought to be talking about inequality in pay between men and women in this country. he ought to be talking about those things. >> rand paul, sitting senator from kentucky, says liberals have concocted this war on women. that all of this legislative stuff attacking women's rights is just a fairy tale. i don't know if the guy watches the news at all.

josh marshall, is the only thing they can find on hillary clinton, they might as well attack bill? >> democrats think it is great if rand paul takes this line. i'm going to go out on a limb by saying you don't appeal to women by attacking a female candidate for her husband cheating on her. does remember 1998 and 1999? i was down in d.c. covering that impeachment trial. it was crazy. this kind of thing, it is offensive, but it's so silly. i don't know where -- i can't imagine rand paul had some kind of media strategist who thought

this was a great idea. >> i wonder if rand paul went into that studio knowing he was going to say that or he just got diarrhea of the mouth and he thought he would let it keep rolling against the clintons anyway. but then i see this article in "vogue." clearly, it's a strategy. >> sometimes you start talking and you end up going in a really weird direction. i assume he went out of the studio and wondered what on earth he was saying. if you already hate bill clinton and you already hate hillary clinton, this kind of an attack makes sense because hillary clinton is a hypocrite because she stayed with her husband. this was not his greatest moment. we can all agree to that. it does not appeal to anybody outside of the clinton hating core of the gop.

>> goldie, that's just the thing. it appears rand paul is trying to show, the base, i can hate the clintons beater than anybody. you have to go along with me. we all hated everything, what the country went through. it's a cheap shot, isn't it? >> it's a cheap shot. i was sleeping in this very studio the night they voted to impeach clinton in the white house. you know, he certainly did not get a pass. no one gives him a pass for that. people are looking at the full body of work clinton has on a global scale. it happens on both sides of the aisle, especially when you have men in power. what happens when you have a lot of men in power is they tend to attack women as if they aren't the victims in some of these

situations. as if they were, themselves, the predators. he's got to get himself out of a republican primary and you have to win a general election. women aren't going to sitting quietly while you attack another woman that is running for office. >> all the radical legislation that's been out there and numerous republican states. great to have you with us tonight. next up, john mccain's conservative cred is on the line. we have the mavericks back tonight in pretenders. stick around.

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welcome back to "the ed show." this is the story for the folks who take a shower after work.

president obama is promising to take on a new strategy in 2014. that's the executive powers. well, in tomorrow's state of the union address, the president will reportedly double down on his goals of addressing income inequality and advancing the middle class in this country. as we highlighted at the beginning of tonight's program, the president may use his executive power to bypass the congress and get things done. >> the president can't -- is not going to tell the american people that he is going to wait for congress. he is going to move forward in areas like job training, education, manufacturing to try to restore opportunities for american families. >> well, the one place he should not use his executive power is to push for fast track authority on the transpacific partnership. now, we've been spending a lot of time talking about this for months, and there is no question it is a job killer, just like nafta was 20 years ago. it would completely counteract president obama's goals for the middle class wage earners in

america. oddly enough, the obama administration has some kind of code of silence on this issue. silence appears to be their strategy. the deal has been neglected without any congressional input, and now the obama administration and corporations are trying to ram it through the congress. the american middle class can't afford for secrecy or silence on this issue. congresswoman jan schakowsky joins us. thank you for joining us. we appreciate your time. >> and happy birthday. >> thank you for reminding me that my fishing days are even now more numbered. but thank you very much. that's very kind of you. congresswoman, this is a huge deal if it goes through. it's a huge piece of authority, fast track. it does, as we have documented, circumvent the congress and a representative government. should this be in the state of the union tomorrow night? are you looking for the president to give some explanation here? >> well, you know, i have mixed feelings about this, ed.

this is the largest trade deal. it makes nafta look small. there are 12 countries. they represent about 38% of global economic activities. and yes, it is a bad deal for americans. but i have to tell you, ed, the time is on our side. a group called the citizens trade campaign just announced 550 different groups that have come out against it. the more people know about it, the more they don't like it and are organizing against it. and so i don't know that we want to stir the pot right now. and hopefully we can postpone this deal. i haven't really seen a ramming through right now. and in the meantime, a lot of really good organizing and education like you have been doing can be going on. but there is no question that when you talk about income inequality or getting our economy growing, inviting countries like vietnam that have

a minimum wage of 28 cents an hour. >> sure. >> we should not be inviting them to be with us. >> so congresswoman satkowski, you think the trade groups have gotten in front of us. there is enough money to slow the momentum that the white house is looking for? >> i have to tell you, i talked to my friend across the aisle, michele bachmann. there are many republicans as well that are really not interested in this fast track authority, as you can imagine, they're not interested in giving the president more authority to act. >> sure. and we have to agree with that, because it takes away the power of the congress to amend or to change in any way the provisions of a negotiated agreement. so i think we have the votes, or soon will, to defeat fast track. and that's what would bring us right to the transpacific partnership. >> tell us more about this trade

group that has come out, and i think you said 500 different organizations. where are they? how powerful are they? and what does it mean? >> yeah, the really great thing about the thing about the citizens trade campaign is it is so diverse. when you have human rights groups, because we know we're dealing with countries that have human rights abuses. the faith community, the labor community, and the environmental community, because we could have our own environmental laws being challenged by corporations. you know, the big winners, let's face it, once again, are the multinational corporations and wall street. so this kind of a coalition that is going to be out educating their members as well as, you know, the work that you're doing and members of congress are doing, i think are going to slow down the whole process, and hopefully put it to sleep. >> last year, the president talked about climate change. he talked about tax reform.

he talked about those things. he didn't get any of it in 2013, okay. he didn't get tax reform at all. so what makes us believe that anything is going to change on the heels of this state of the union address? and beyond that, how aggressive do you want the president to be tomorrow night in pointing out the obstruction that he has had to put up with, that the country has had to put up with, and how we haven't moved forward? when does the president run out of patience when he has the attention of the american people, which is the state of the union? >> well, the president is going to be talking about action tomorrow. and that action is going to include his power of the pen, the executive authority for him to act without calling on congress, and the phone. and what he means by that is calling up organizations like the college presidents to come in and work with him.

>> but i'm saying, he's got to make sure the american people and the guys that are sitting on the other side of the aisle, they now he means business, and he is going to do it. and i think that that's really where it all sits for tomorrow night. >> i'm looking for that too, yes. >> congresswoman jan schakowsky, always a pleasure to have you with us. that's it for "the ed show." "politicsnation" starts right now. good evening, rev. good evening, and happy birthday, brother ed. >> thank you, brother al. you're not there yet, but you're getting there. >> i'm right behind you, but i'm glad to be on a planet. have a great birthday this evening. >> thank you, rev. i appreciate that okay, let's get busy. thanks to you for tuning. in tonight's lead, the gop's new disaster in the war on women. now, we've heard republicans talk about legitimate rape, libidos, and uncle sugar. and now they're talking about monica lewinsky. here is senator rand paul.