of joe mccarthy. thursday, april 10th and this is "now." the witch hunt gets spookier. daryl issa's house oversight and government reform committee took the rare and historic step of voting to hold a witness in contempt of congress. in this particular instance, that witness is lois learner, the object of chairman issa's year-long multimillion dollar crusade to find something, anything, iffy at the irs. republicans who have chosen to march lock step with issa on his dark mission claim that lernor violated the law after she made opening remarks last year. the full house is expected to take up the contempt resolution in the coming weeks. in taking this step, chairman issa walks in a path of giants. giant whose were later deemed to be unhinged crusading lunatics. as a point of fact, no witness has been held in contempt of

congress since the red scare of the 1950s and 1960s. and no witness who has testified in person has ever been convicted of contempt charges in court. in fact, a report outlining the history of contempt charges determined that issa's tactics bear a striking resemblance to those used by senator mccarthy, the same joe mccarthy whose anti-come mist paranoia led to the censure by the senate, the same mccarthy viewed as a stain on our nation's history. not lost on congressman cummings who, today at least, was allowed a turn at the mike. >> i cannot -- it would place me on the same page of history books as senator joseph mccarthy or the house of american activities committee, and i do not enjoy that comparison lightly. >> with all of the stink of joe mccarthy hanging in the air, the

gop yesterday outsourced the witch hunting to another republican. house ways and means committee chair, dave camp. held a closed door committee to ask eric holder to begin a criminal investigation of, guess who, lois lernerp a full committee hearing was unnecessary and could have been accomplished through a phone call. and even the criminal investigation itself is redundant because the department of justice is already investigating whether the irs improperly scrutinized conservative groups. needless to say, the shamelessness of the circuit has not sat well with members of congress including the leading democrat, sandy leavitt. >> point of order. >> clerk call the roll. >> no, point of right -- >> point of order. >> the clerk will call the roll. >> point of order. >> mr. chairman. >> points of order will be able to be made -- no. >> do this in public. >> mr. chairman. >> what is the point of order? >> mr. chairman, i have a right

for point of order. >> chill out. what is the -- >> no, no, you follow procedures. >> what is the gentleman's point of order. >> i'm very chilled out. >> it may be entertaining for republicans to mock the adults in the room, but things that are going down on capitol hill aren't particularly funny. they are not only a waste of money and time and resources at a time when government can little afford any of those things. they are also a disturbing reminder that one party in the united states congress has not learned the lessons of the past. >> have you no sense of decency sir, at long last, have you left no sense of decency? >> let me ask dr. welch, you brought him down to act as your assistant. >> mr. mccarthy, i will not discuss this further with you. you have sat within six feet of me and could have asked me about fred fisher. you have seen to bring it out

and if there is a god in heaven it will do neither you nor your cause. i will not discuss it further. i will not ask mr. cold any more witnesses. you mr. chairman, may if you will, call the next witness. >> joining me the democratic congressman from michigan's 9th district, ranging member of the house, ways and means committee. sandra leaven. first question, is daryl issa's crusade modern day mccarthyism? >> i was listening to what you had on, and i remember listening to it and surely are echos of that. it's a serious mistake, the 5th amendment is still in the u.s. constitution. and mr. issa should respect that and he's disrespecting it, as was done many decades ago. it's a sad day in this town. >> it is a sad day.

i wonder as ranking member of the house, ways and means committee why was the house, ways and means committee brought into this? >> congressman crowley thought out loud to the press yesterday, and suggested that mr. issa's issues have neutered him, to some degree, and the republicans have outsourced effectively to mr. dave camp, chairman, to pick up the political cause of the so-called investigation. would you agree with that? >> i think the republican party has decided to try to keep the i.r. issue alive as a political issue. it's been looked into, the principal investigator for the inspector general said, after looking at thousands of pages, there is no evidence of political motivation. when this happened, when we found out about lois lerner and her activities, i should say how she handled this, i said it was mismanagement and i was among the first to call that she be

relieved of her duties. that did not mean she would be relieved of her constitutional rights. and essentially what happened yesterday in the house was, once again, in a sense without precedent, the house ways and means republicans decided essentially to infringe on this basic principle that taxpayers, their disclosures, their returns, should not be made public. there is a confidentiality that all of us as taxpayers want maintained and essentially that was undermined. i think in a sense, destroyed by the republicans on the house, ways and means committee. as you said if they had something they wanted to give to the attorney general, who already had an investigation under way, it could have been done without an unprecedented action. the house, ways and means committee has never done this before and it never should have done it yesterday. >> you know, congress -- >> never, never. >> congressman, i was struck by

the exchange between you and chairman camp yesterday, i think it was, the hostility there. this is not the first time we've seen that kind of interaction at one of the irs hearings. there's the infamous cut the mike gesture issa made to elijah cummings. there seems to be hostility and intolerance palpable in the room here. es this new, is this emotional weight, carried by the republicans investigating this so-called controversy, is this the new development? >> they're determined to keep an issue, a political issue, regardless, regardless. and so i think that's why they're taught, they somehow feel they have a path set out, those want this as a political issue and nothing's going to get in the way of it. yesterday when i said to the charm, look, i want to raise a

point of order here, he essentially decided, even that was out of order. i said, let's do this publicly, because what you're doing, here's what happened, these were private documents, and he was trying to find a way to make them public. very much contrary to the rights of all of us taxpayers. he was infringing on the confidentiality, when we file a return, when we file a return, when we give other documents to the irs, they need to be confidential under a statute. and essentially he was trying to get around the statute. and he could have essentially said to the attorney general, i have some information, and will you essentially say to me that you want me to send that information to you? you're already conducting a criminal investigation. it was already under way. and instead, dave camp decided, no, i wanted to make this

public. >> right. there's a clear, political sort of appetite here. congressman, before we let you go, we have spent already an undue amount of time talking about the irs investigation. and in the meantime, 2.2 million americans are waiting for congress to act on something very important, which is the extension of unemployment assistance. we know that the senate has passed something. is the house going to do anything to help these millions of americans? >> i feel this so deeply, so my colleagues do, but i think the american people do. we have now close to 3 million people who no longer will have their unemployment insurance while looking for work, desperate for work, and the republicans won't let us have a vote. if they would put it on the floor, it would pass. it would pass. so it's disgraceful that they're standing in the way of what is needed for the lifeline of millions of americans who worked

hard, who are looking for work. it is disgraceful. >> congressman, sander levin, thank you. joining me, reporter, kim barker. this is really so much of the actual story here has gotten buried under the morass of daryl issa's insanity. there's a controversy here. i think that controversy is, a, the undue and unprecedented and historic influence of outside money in our political system, and, b, how little we have in the way of stopgaps, in the way of oversight, in the way of actual sort of clear marching orders from the irs for these groups seeking to influence our political system. i want to start with lois lerner, we have news she was going to deny tax exism status.

they began drafting the letter by may 10th, daryl issa had begun his investigation in the irs, admitted targeted groups during 2012 election. the draft of the letter being worked on may 13th of last year. finished by the 30th, never sent. crossroads still hasn't tax exempt status. >> must have been a long letter. >> the longest letter in irs history. in my mind, the irs, who is trying to give this out, they have been targeted in this whole investigation. >> i mean, that argument could be made. but i think, i mean, your point about be the real story here getting lost is a valid one. the real story here is you've got social welfare nonprofits that are spending e-n ining ano money, tens of millions on elections and they're allowed to do it. and there's no cross check.

there done seem to be much oversight. you can see this in the material yesterday as well, the irs, even lois lerner saying we don't know what we're doing here. >> my level of confidence we're equipped to do this work continue to be shaken. i don't know what to recommend to make this better. >> that's what you want to hear from the people in charge of this, right. >> not at all. the point that's gotten lost, these are social welfare nonprofits, tax exempt groups allowed to do a limited amount of politics. i would like somebody to look at these top groups spending money on politics and explain to me what exactly their social welfare purpose is. >> right. >> i would like -- i would like that to happen. >> there is no call for conservative groups like cross roads to explain that. in fact, if you look at what crossroads spent its money on $90 million from unknown donors to elect conservatives in the 2010, 2012 elections.

that's a lot of money. crossroads never asked to explain how that is for social welfare. part of the problem is, when the information came out that lois lerner and her team were preparing to deny crossroads tax exempt status, groups made them to the irs, brought them to the irs' attention. two conservatives watching this unfold. this is further reinforcement liberal government against conservative grassroots groups. >> yeah. i would reiterate that we're nonpartisan. >> right. >> the only reason i covered this, we're interested in transparency. it just happens to be that 85% of the money spent in 2010 and 2012, 85% of that money spent on elections by these dark money groups that don't report donors, came on the conservative side. so, the big players happen to be conservative. and then when you look at other side of the aisle, liberal groups that have started to trying to play in this arena, going to try to play more of this election cycle, they just

don't apply to the irs for recognition. >> that's something not a lot of people, i think, understand. >> we tried to point that out time time again in these long articles. >> but, to the point, you are a liberal watchdog group, if 85% of 0 the groups are conservative, the lion share of groups you're flagging in the name of transparency are going to be conservative by the number as loan. kim barker, you are doing a great service, nonpartisan service. check out what you have been uncovering on this particular issue. thank you for your time. >> thanks very much. ahead, president obama commemorates 50th anniversary of theself rights act while conservatives try to wind back the clock half a century. maria shriver joins me live from the lbj library in texas. the house passed the latest installment of the paul ryan budget with support from, count them, zero democrats and all about 12 republicans.

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for house budget chairman paul ryan. the house passed mr. ryan's 2015 budget this morning with zero democrats voting for it but more importantly, only 12 republicans defected. which allowed the budget to pass, and avoided a cute embarrassment for ryan and what remains of the gop leadership in the house. the secret, today might also be a good day for democrats. remember, this is the budget

that according to the center on budget and policy priorities cuts $3.3 trillion from programs that help the poor. for the rich, mr. ryan cuts the top tax break for individuals and corporations to 25% without closing a single loophole. this budget is going nowhere. the senate has already said they will not bring it up. but now democrats, now democrats, have 219 republicans on the record voting for paul ryan's blueprint for the future. including six house members who this year are running for national seats in highly competitive races. wasting no time, the democratic senatorial campaign committee released a statement, republican senate conditions across the country are standing by charles and david koch and reckless agenda that hurts women and their families, while benefiting billionaires like the koches. let the campaigning begin. coming up, grand pooh-bah of tea

party, jim demint, claims the federal government played no role in ending slavery. it is unclear whether they thinks the south may have also won the civil war. we'll talk american history 101 with the guardian. and just ahead, 50 years after lbj signed the civil rights you l act into law, now much closer are we? tting trapped. tting trapped. why's that? uh, mark? go get help! i have my reasons. look, you don't have to feel trapped with our raise your rate cd. if our rate on this cd goes up, yours can too. oh that sounds nice. don't feel trapped with the ally raise your rate cd. ally bank. your money needs an ally.

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in the midwest. then we transport it with 4 state-of-the-art, double-hull tankers. some of the safest, most advanced ships in the world: built in san diego with a $1 billion investment. across the united states, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. and no energy company invests more in the u.s. than bp. when we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. that's not a coincidence. it's one more part of our commitment to america. the u.s. may be a long way from race riots and jim crow, but not that far. yesterday i asked civil rights icon and former naacp chair julian bond whether he thinks white premise is one of the central organizing principles in america today. >> it's less so now than in the past, but still a potent, potent

force in american life. anybody who denies that really doesn't understand what he or she is seeing around them. >> catch the rest of the interview on our now with alex wagner web page. coming up, more on race and republicans, that's next. makes it like two deals in one. salesperson #2: actually, getting a great car with 42 highway miles per gallon makes it like two deals in one. salesperson #1: point is there's never been a better time to buy a jetta tdi clean diesel. avo: during the first ever volkswagen tdi clean diesel event, get a great deal on a jetta tdi. it gets 42 highway miles per gallon. and get a $1,000 fuel reward card. it's like two deals in one. volkswagen has the most tdi clean diesel models of any brand. hurry in and get a $1,000 fuel reward card and 0.9% apr for 60 months on tdi models. ♪ i ♪ and i got the tools ira ♪ to do it my way ♪ i got a lock on equities ♪ that's why i'm type e ♪ ♪ that's why i'm tyyyyype eeeee, ♪

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(laughs) it's more than just a meal, it's meow mix mealtime. with wholesome ingredients and irresistible taste, no wonder it's the only one cats ask for by name. movement, because of the laws president johnson signed, new doors of opportunity and education swung open for everybody. not all at once, but they swung open. they swung open for you, and they swung open for me. that's why i'm standing here today, because of those efforts, because of that legacy. >> 50 years after president lyndon johnson signed the civil rights act into law, today president obama credited his own

success to johnson. the story of america is one of progress, the gains of past need to be defended in the present. >> despite laws like the civil rights act, voting rights act and medicare, our society is still racked with division and poverty. yes, race still colors our political debates. we know we cannot be complacent. for history travels not only forward, history can travel backwards. >> it is a complicated time to be revisiting the subject of race and civil rights, as attorney general eric holder, someone who often find himself in the crosshairs of the conservative movement, the opposition has been unprecedented. >> unwarranted, ugly, and divisive adversity. forget about me, you look at the way the attorney general of the united states was treated yesterday by a house committee.

had nothing to do with me, forget that. what attorney general had to deal with that kind of treatment? what president has ever had to deal with that kind of treatment? >> indeed, president obama's first term saw an 813% rise in the number of anti-government patriot groups while this administration has seen conservative lawmakers and justices unwind many of the advances in civil rights made during the johnson administration. last year's supreme court ruling struck down a key section of the 19 65 voting rights swakt since that decision, 8 of the 15 states once covered by the law passed or implemented new restrictions. it has been 51 years since the equal pay act signed into law, yet women are still paid an average of 77 cents on the dollar compared to men. the shriver report released this year found in today's america, 42 million women and their 28

million dependent children are living in poverty. america's history may be one of progress, but at this moment it is about ensuring that it remains so. joining me now from austin, nbc news special anchor, maria shriver. thank you for joining me on this historic day. i will say, as we focus on lyndon johnson's legacy, and we look at where we are as a country, i think it is not without consternation, how do you feel the arc of progress is bending in terms of equity for women and people of color? >> bell, i think certainly, as you just said one out of three working women in this country are teetering on the brink of poverty, millions of more men and women living paycheck to paycheck without savings and there's income disparity's a huge issue and as president carter said at summit, it's a civil rights issue. treatment of women here and around the world is also a civil rights issue. as the president said today,

history can go forward or history can come backwards. he also said people who have been president, very few, often feel like relay swimmers, going against the tides. i thought that was really interesting. he talked about being humbled by the job, but recognizing that what the role of presidency is for, it is to have these tough fights, to push civil rights forward. today when we talk about civil rights rights, every former president who has spoken here, and president obama and bush who will speak tonight talk about civil rights in different way. bush is expected to talk about in terms of education. president obama talked about it from a personal point of view but also expressed we have to do better when it comes to marriage equality, when it comes to women, when it comes to race. president carter spoke about what i told you about. president clinton talked a lot about civil discourse, and you ran two clips moments ago, that

is something that we as a nation should be concerned about, we have lost our ability to have civil discourse. while much has -- we have come forward 50 years, it's something that somebody said to me today, 50 years ago you never would have imagined three southern governors would go on to become president and come here to talk about civil rights. much has changed. but there is still much to be done. i want to talk specifically about women and paychecks and this week has seen a lot of debate and dialogue over the paycheck fairness act, something the president proposing that congress enact on the heels of his two executive orders. it has spawned a huge amount of cons consternation and anger. the senate tried to take action on the act, that was dead in the water effectively upon arrival. are you surprises at the level of vitriol that exists when we talk about the i've that is something that every american household understands, which is equity, payment in the

workplace, and transparency? >> i am always surprised and i wonder, does all of this technology make us angrier? does it allow us to say things and behave in ways that perhaps people didn't 50 years ago. as side, as i saw sfrg everything reported, people will come back, continue to fight. fights take time. equity is a big issue for men and women. sometimes i hear men say to me, it's not just women who aren't getting paid fair, we don't get paid fair either. we all need a living wage. it's true. i say what's good for women is good for men. so i -- with the shriver report we tried to say what women need is what men need. we all need living wages. we all need sick time to care for families, to care for children, and aging parents. so, i'm very hopeful that we can get back on track with this issue on behalf of working families, not just women, but so

often women are at the heads of families in america today. american family changed dramatically. we need to recognize that. we need to understand people need a living wage and fair wage, be they a woman or a man. >> nbc's maria shriver, thank you for your time and thoughts. >> thank you. coming up, so what happens when your state decides not to expand medicaid to its neediest residents? people die. we will have more on one of those people straight ahead. to upstate new york? i tell people it's for the climate. the conditions in new york state are great for business. new york is ranked #2 in the nation for new private sector job creation. and now it's even better because they've introduced startup new york - dozens of tax-free zones where businesses pay no taxes for ten years. you'll get a warm welcome in the new new york. see if your business qualifies at startupny.com

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to make the decisions for themselves? >> well, yesterday i went over to the car lot over here, i was going to get a key made for the vehicle, and i was looking around because i'm considering maybe buying a new vehicle, even when i buy a new vehicle, this is my experience, i don't go right in there and say i want to buy that vehicle and then you -- you leave with it. >> that was missouri state rep chuck gattsenburger arguing for a 72-hour waiting period. todd akin would be proud. republicans cringe fest is hardly limited to a woman's right to choose. the miseducation of jim demint. former u.s. senator and current head of top conservative think tank the heritage foundation has interesting ideas about the federal government's role in ending slavery.

huh he put it to a christian radio show. >> no liberal is able to win a debate that big government freed the slaves. it was abraham lincoln, the vet first republican, who took this on as a cause and a lot of it based on a love in his heart that comes from god. >> abraham lincoln, president of the united states a federal job, the man who wrote the emancipation proclamation, which ordered slaves in confederate states freed. but that proclamation made effectively no difference until the end of a massive government undertaking known as the civil war. joining me now, correspondent for the guardian and spring fellow at university of chicago institute of politics, anna marie cox and from washington, staff writer for "slate." jim demint is not -- he is a fringe person, but he's actually head of a very powerful

organization, the heritage foundation, that has been the motor behind the ascendance of ted cruz. to hear him say freeing of the slave had nothing to do with government is a deeply disturbing thesis. your reaction? >> i think it's completely ludicrous. i mean, if there's anything that's a major government program, it's a war. in the civil war was transformative for the american national government. it took the u.s. government, before the war like small, not very powerful, turned it into an engine of tax raising, infrastructure building that never existed before. if you're going to describe anything, any single thing that freed the slaves, it was, in fact a large national government. i should add, the idea that lingen freed them out of the kind office his heart, lincoln, life long opponent of slavery. but the emancipation proclamation and measures that

fell from it were out of military necessity. they did this not because he was a bleeding heart but he realized to beat the south you had to destroy their property and destroying their property meant freeing slaves. >> it's like the republican party knows it has a problem with women and minorities and every single time you bring up the question of skin color, they go back hundreds of years to lincoln and they're like, wait, what's that you say we have a problem with black people? what about abe lincoln? abe lincoln was long ago and it's the thing that conservative return to. >> to echo what jamelle's saying, lincoln is response ebl f responsible for theestan existef the federal government. they like to think of him as the father of the republican party, when it comes to the specific thing, which is that he -- we think well of him as american people. it's not even that he freed slaves so much. it's they're trying to piggy back on the fact that people

like abe lincoln. go ahead. >> i was going to say, jamelle, it's worth noting that you noted this, levied the first income tax on the country, something conservatives hate. i though there's a lot of back and forth online and in print about race this week, and going back and forth about conservatives and their relation to it. jonathan, who has a massive piece in "new york" magazine, hotly debated, he writes, effectively racial conservatism used to be similar things, now they are effectively the same thing. i think no other person bears this out better than rush limbaugh, i must play a choice piece of sound from rush today the first african-american president has, sadly, resorted to exacerbating racial tension.

and he's got an attorney general who is helping him. >> jamelle, the country's first american african-american president is exacerbating racial tensions presumably because he's talking about lbj's civil rights legacy. >> i don't know what that's supposed to mean, right? like talking about race is exacerbating racial tensions? in which case we can't talk about anything, we can't talk about income equality, means talking about the racial wealth gap. if obama were to talk about the racial wealth gap, he's exacerbating race. for a large segment of the right, most of the right, there is a complete melding of ideological conservative and racial conservatism that holes any mention of race is almost, if not equivalent to racism in that the only way you can approach american life is color-blind as if racial inequalities are things that van ished when martin luther king

jr. had a vision in march. you're only allowed to talk about race if you're talking about lincoln or running for senate in iowa. what u.s. senate candidate, not state, u.s. senate candidate sam clove is said, speaking of those president, it's not what he has done would not rise to the level where it might be impeachable, we have a situation where race is thrown into the cards as well and the house -- the republicans in house would like to impeach this president. they cannot because they're too worried about the racial implications. >> you know we talked last week about how the republic-- there parallel here. i think the only way that these conservatives can be satisfied by the behavior of a black person in the public eye is for that person not to be black. the president -- by the definitions that rush limbaugh uses, by the definitions of

people that talk like the candidate in iowa, barack obama's existence exacerbates racial tensions and it does, actually. i will say having our first black president does make things tense for people who are not used to or never expected to see that. thence erp annc answer is to n about it. >> what is the progressive like response to this? is it -- the president has had -- you know, has had a difficult time, i think, addressing the subject of race. i feel like in the second term he has been more forth coming and more at ease talking about the questions of race in american society. but to anna marie's point the answer is not to ignore it. how do we want the president to address it? >> i think the president should move head on and address it. i think when race is relevant to something he's discussing, the president should take it on.

it's funny, the racialization that barack obama, the image to many white americans is not just the president but very specifically a black president, is already baked in. it's been baked in for years. it was baked in in 2009 when he had the beer summit over the arrest of henry louis gates. barack obama can do nothing to stop people from looking at him and racializing him in a really intense way. the best way address it is talk about it and for progressives in particular, people who may be on left of barack obama we have to confront the fact in the age of obama things like public education, public house, thing likes public investment have taken on this racial element. >> we played some sound from the lawmaker who is comparing getting an abortion to buying a car. and you know, insofar as the first black president has opened

up a pandora's box of racial issues that we have, that we have tried to push into the corner, if we have a female president one day, you can bet your bottom dollar our issues around gender will be brought into the open like never before. your thoughts this week in summation? we're not quite at friday. we had nancy pelosi's head photo shopped on to a twerking miley cyrus, racial debate of pay equity in which lynn jenkins say, many ladies feel like they're being used as pawns. are we getting closer to a perfect union? >> well, i think -- i'm an arc of history bends towards justice type person. i think the first female president will exacerbate gender tensions in wait republicans don't like but in a way they have to be talked about if we make progress. i look forward that day. i hope it might be in 20 -- what would be it '17.

>> thank you both for your time. >> thank you. >> we want to bring you an update on a developing story. louisiana governor bob j. jindal just called for congressman vance mccallister to step down after a video surfaced of him kissing an aide, a married woman who does not happen to be his wife. he called the behavior an embarrassment. he's calling for the congressman to resign from office. the police department in albuquerque, new mexico has been under fire because of a disturbing record of excessive force, deadly ho lly shootings of bounty system. the justice department agrees. everything your mouth does

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expand medicaid coverage to the neediest in their states because they say they care too much to put their residents on the health carols. we will show you what happens when fake concern turns deadly. first, the cnbc market wrap. >> today was a tough day on wall street with losses accelerating throughout the session. dow losing 267 points, s&p 500 down 39, or 2%. but the real chart to look at nasdaq, which lost more than 3%, a lot has to do with investors selling big winners of 2013, the tech and biotech space. that's it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. >> 20 people now injured in a mass iv kis bu inside and prevents new ones for up to a year. ortho home defense max. get order. get ortho®.

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get it. why are folks working so hard for people not to have health insurance?

why are they so mad of the idea of folks having health insurance. >> president obama last week, using a hard earned victory lap on the affordable care tookt utter the absurdity of those who insist on repealing a law not only designed to provide more people with health insurance, but one that is already doing so. one of the moreegregious ways t have rejected the affordable care act has been in their blocking of medicaid expansion. for governors have opted not to expand health coverage for the poor, the most terrifying thing is not that blocking coverage for 5 million, no, the most terrifying things for governors in the 19 states the federal government wants to help those people. cue texas governor rick perry in 2012. >> to expand this program is not unlike adding a thousand people

to the "titanic." the only lawmaker resorting to "titanic analogies but embarking on an ill advised crusade. scott walker said last year, some people will portray this, this being denying health coverage for 175,000 wisconsinites, some people will portray this as not caring about people, walker said. i think it's just the opposite. i care too much about the people of this state, not to empower them to control their own destiny. a state representative from maine, whose governor vetoed a bill yesterday, said last month it may be blocking medicaid expansion would incentivize folks to work more to earn more money. in january, mississippi's governor phil bryant issued his twisted logic in his state. denial of insurance for poor people, saying for us to enter into an expansion program would

be a fool's errant, according to governor bryant. why? because he thinks the law may be repealed in the future. a fool's air land it would provide 220,000 people in his state with basic health coverage. the thing about all of this ideological and absurd granding is that the decision not to expand medicaid doesn't take place in the abstract. it is real and there is a human cost. even though florida governor rick scott said last year he could not in good conscience deny uninsured access to care and endorsed his state's expansion of medicaid, his state's republican legislature felt otherwise. florida joined the two dozen states rejecting medicaid expansion and left 750,000 poor floridians without health insurance. one of those people was 32-year-old charlene dill, a mother who made about $9,000 a

year by working three jobs, baby-sit, cleaning houses and selling vacuum cleaners. she was incentivized. because florida did not expand medicaid, dill, who made $9,000 a year, didn't qualify for medicaid. and on march 2, while in a stranger home selling vacuum cleaner she's collapsed and died leaving behind three children, ages 3, 7, and 9. charlene dill had a heart condition but uninsured she went without the coverage she needed. she tried to coverage only to find out she fell into the medicaidda. . according to a recent study, as many as 17,000 americans will die as a result of states refusing to expand medicaid. in florida alone, that means 3 to 6 deaths like char dean dill every day. to the governors who have chosen

to abandon the neediest in their states expansion of medicaid isn't adding people to the titanic, it's giving them a spot in the lifeboat. that's all for now. i'll see you tomorrow. live from washington, d.c., at 4:00 p.m. eastern. "the ed show" is next. good evening, americans and welcome to "the ed show." live from las vegas, i'm ready to go, let's get to work! >> the american people work hard and they've got a right to expect their elected representatives to do the same. >> seriously. >> top political priority. >> legislation endeded up stalling in congress. >> it's a strategy that's worked for them before. >> top political priority -- >> 40% of insured will be reduced in kentucky thanks to obamacare. >> chaos. >> i don't think mitch mcconnell disputes the figures. >> being able to logon, not my definition of succes