technical things that are brilliant. the windshield wiper wave. the hand thing. i think it's all very attractive. i think -- i mean, seriously. she's obviously a grade show. compared to any politician, look at her. her and that guy. who are you going to look at? she's got something to say, she's lively, she puts on a show. she comes to the microphone determined with something. most guys, most people in politics are guys, they come to the microphone, i guess i got to talk now, blah, blah, blah blah, blah. she's up there, boom boom boom boom boom. >> she's got moxie. the typical person you see that represents the republican party, some white guy that's boring and uninteresting. people are scratching their heads and trying to figure out. i think the negative ratings right now are inconsequential. what she has to do is she's got to get whatever's going on in her staff together. >> would you want her to speak to your group, to your women's group? >> i think people would be lining up outside the doors. >> fund-raising ticket. >> i'm a fan of hers.

>> would you like to be her top aide? >> no. >> why not? >> i like being my own aide. >> don't you think she'd be really -- i mean, jack kennedy was -- became jack kennedy when he found ted sorensen. a lot of these people need to have the right people around them and everything works. axelrod i'm sure has been a great advantage to this president. >> she needs to find that person. >> nobody can do this all by themselves. this idea that you're in in this -- it doesn't work. you need a team. the secret to her is she's all by herself. she doesn't have a team around her. she thinks for whatever reason, i can do it myself. and it doesn't work that way in politics. >> absolutely. she's got -- she's been in this kind of bunker mentality ever since she got back to alaska. she feels under attack. she has this really tight-knit, small group before five advisers in alaska -- >> they're all approximatelies. >> they're all loyalists. they've been with her for years. >> they're not professional political people. >> i think i want to resign on july 3rd to show how independent i am, freedom, they said, great

idea. >> thank you, michelle bernard. thank you, jane newton-small. join us monday night 5:00 and 7:00 for more "hardball." right now it's time for "the ed show" with ed schultz. >> i'm ed schultz. this is "the ed show." good evening, americans. live from portland, oregon, it's "the ed show" on msnbc. i'm going to be hosting a radio town hall meeting tonight on health care where the folks here are really fired up about a public option. tonight, new signs that the economy may be coming out of its tailspin. cash for clunkers. that's right. is turning the car business around. one car at a time. the $1 billion program was so good, the house just approved another $2 billion. although the righties keep telling us big government doesn't work. seems to me like it's working just fine. we'll talk to a couple michigan

lawmakers that are striking the ball on that deal. new e-mails have surfaced that show karl rove has his fingerprints all over the u.s. attorney scandal. it's time for a full investigation into what he and alberto gonzales were up to when nobody was looking. the birthers. these crazies just won't go away. republican leadership should come out and say to these fringe lunatics, enough is enough. come on, mcconnell. come on, boehner. you're better than that. how about you, can ener? don't tell them you're afraid to stand up to the whack jobs. all that, "psycho talk," a great panel coming up tonight. "daily show" creator and former talk show host liz winstead will give her take on sarah palin's radio dreams. get your cell phones out. we've got a text vote coming up for you tonight. want you to be involved in that. first, tonight's "op ed." the middle class is coming back.

president obama was handed the worst recession in 80 years courtesy of the bush administration and the republicans. after six months in office the economy is starting to show some signs of life here thanks to president obama's recovery plan. the big success story so far, the cash for clunkers program, which the president highlighted today. >> not more than a few weeks ago there were skeptics who weren't sure that this cash for clunkers program would work. i'm happy to report it has succeeded well beyond our expectations and all expectations, and we're already seeing a dramatic increase in showroom traffic at local car dealers. it's working so well there are legitimate concerns that the funds in this program might soon be exhausted. so we're now working with congress on a bipartisan solution to ensure that the program can continue for everybody out there who's still looking to make a trade. >> late today, the house voted to put another $2 billion into the cash for clunkers program. 316 lawmakers, including 77

republicans, supported it. hooray! look, folks, this is a great middle class story. the folk hosel the cars are middle classworkers in america. they've been going through a real tough time. they've gone through months where there have been empty showrooms. nobody's showing up. it was nothing but bad news after bad news for the automobile industry. and that is just dominated that industry. now they're seeing customers coming into the showroom. now, look. i'm not trying to sell you tonight that this is going to fix the industry or completely jump start the economy. but you have to admit, this is a government program that has worked and it's a very hopeful sign that we are off to a good start. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. are the good economic signs proof that big government works? text "a" for yes, "b" for no to 622639. we'll bring you the results later on in the program. joining me now is congressman sander levin. democrat from michigan.

congressman, good to have you with us tonight. why stop at $2 billion? why not $5 billion? i've got kind of a, you know -- a stick in my craw here tonight from the standpoint that we put $800 billion out to wall street. we see a $1 billion effect in the car industry and now we only got $2 billion for them? what do you think, congressman? >> well, $4 billion was authorized. $1 billion appropriated at first. now we've doubled that or tripled that, depending on your mathematics. our hope that is it will last through the time we come back. it's a major step forward. you summed it up so well, if i might say so. the dealers, middle income, the people who are buying it, mainly middle income. hopefully the cars will roll out so we'll need more cars, built by people who are middle income workers. i think this is a win-win. and also, we tie it into the environment. i think this shows that if government works with the private sector, it can work.

>> congressman levin, does this prove that the obama economic team just knows exactly what they're doing? what do you think? >> absolutely. you know, i called larry summers last night after we found out that there was this shortfall. look, all the money hasn't been spent yet but they estimated based on what was coming in that more was needed. larry summers said, look, i've been working on this with the rest of the administration for an hour and a half since we found out the news. railahood, transportation secretary, was right on the ball. i think -- you know what this shows, that the administration gets it. manufacturing matters. in this post-industrial era. >> it absolutely matters. but i have a suggestion for you, congressman. i think you ought to take those 77 republicans who voted for it, take them out to dinner tonight. you know, it's friday night in washington, d.c. if they're still around, take them out to dinner. because they are admitting that president obama had a positive plan. this is not failure, this is

success. but what do you say to those republicans who want him to fail and then turn and vote for one of his programs? >> well, i hope they've seen the light. and i hope we all go home -- will go to dealerships. and if i might say so, i hope more and more to the domestic automakers. and say, look, what's going on? meet the people who are coming in. meet the dealers. and i hope that this really spurs more economic growth. you know, this program is the same day as we found out that economic demand, economic purchasing, consumer purchasing, is down. what could be done better, at least one good thing, and that is to get people buying automobiles. stimulating consumer demand. so the 77 were right on target with all but a few of us on the democratic side. >> congressman levin, good to have you with us tonight. i was in a car dealership in detroit lakes, minnesota, last weekend. and the car dealer said to me, "ed, this is going to take off,

this billion dollars is going to be gone awfully fast." and he was absolutely correct. >> absolutely, absolutely. >> good to have you with us, congressman. >> good to be with you. >> you bet, have a great weekend. >> thank you. >> joining me now is verge binero, mayor of lansing, michigan, who has been waiting for good news for months when it comes to the car industry. virge, what are you seeing in your town on this. >> the showrooms are coming to life. one plant is not idle. another plant is getting ready to bring workers back. there's excitement, no question about it. there's a change in the air. people are buying again. that's great news. you're right, it's a great success. i want to challenge people, if you can't buy american now with this great cash for clunkers deal, i don't know when you'll wake up and wave the flag and realize, we've got to have some patriotic purchasing. i heard the congressman mention it. and that's what we need. look out for your neighbor. you know, there's a lot of ways to look out for your neighbor. help him out in a variety way of

ways. one way is to buy american. i know it's tough sometimes to find that american label. you know where the american cars are and they're great vehicles. the chevrolet malibu, impala, cadillac cts. they're better than ever before. i want to see people use these cash for clunkers and buy american. i'm tired of the excuses. on my way here to the studio are i passed a car that said "veteran" on a honda. what were you fighting for? what are we fighting for if thought for the american way? >> well, that's another thing. now, this program is supposed to end the latter part of november. would you want it to extend, and would you want it to mean just american purchases only? right now, it's open to all cars. should they tunnel it to extend this program? your thoughts. >> ed, this is elementary. you know, i took an oath as a mayor to the constitution. i think the congressmen and senators took that same oath. i didn't take an oath to the wt opt or united nations. it was to the u.s. constitution.

which talks about the health and welfare of americans and posterity of americans. what are we leaving to our kids and grandkids? why would we incentivize the purchase of foreign vehicles? what are we doing with american taxpayer dollars? don't get me wrong require understand compromises had to be made. i appreciate the program. if we're going to extend it, let's have the courage of our convictions. stand up as an american, as a red-blooded american, and promote american products. promote your neighbor. look out for your neighbor. promote the local economy. i hear "buy local" when it comes to produce. how about buy local when it comes to manufacturing. we need a manufacturing policy in this country. we need an industrial policy. i heard you talk about big government. i know what you're saying, that big government can work. the people who are against it should think about the fact that we're confronting big government. when you confront a chinese company, it's 51% chinese-owned. these other countries are right in there with their companies, working hand in glove, and we better by god have an industrial policy or we're not going to have any manufacturing left in this country. >> thank you, virge binero. you know what i label you as,

america's mayor. you're one of the great ones out there. thanks so much, virge. >> thank you, ed. >> you bet. just a couple of months ago, labor organized this big bus tour cover something 30 states. the mission of that tough was to basically save the car industry, stimulate sales. the steel workers pushed for the program cash 4 clunkers. this turned out to be one of the most successful incentive programs the government's ever had. for more let me bring in leo injure reward, international president of the united steel workers. leo, how good a sign is this, that we're seeing consumers react? i think that's the big thing. consumers are reacting. how encouraged are you by this? >> look, i think it's a very positive sign. and i'm really excited because as you say, we did 34 cities in levitates talking about a need to stimulate demand for the automobile industry. and i think that that tour helped to do that. and listening to you and virge right now, i've got to tell you you're all on the right track.

we need to do more of this. we need to stimulate more demand, more manufacturing. we ought not to be ashamed of what we're doing. the president of france said they were going to put $8 billion. $8 billion with a "b" into their cash for clunkers program on the condition all that money would have to be spent on cars produced in france. for us in the steel workers union, we don't assemble cars. but it's our tires. our steel. our aluminum. our glass. our glass tick that goes into those cars. once those cars start moving off the showroom, our steel mills will start to work. our tire plants will start to work. people will start going back to work. this shows that president obama, if he could get more support from republicans, his program is leading us in the right direction. and if we had more republicans standing up for america, rather than playing petty politics and doing stupid stuff, birthers and other things, we could stimulate this economy. we need an infrastructure bank just like that. >> no question about it.

mr. injure rewa mr. gerard, do you think there will be a manufacturing ripple effect, that we might see jobs created in manufacturing? we're starting to see cars move off the lot in this country. >> absolutely, ed. the fact of the matter is that those cars have to have -- i agree with virge about buying domestically. those cars will have domestic steel in. those cars will have domestic parts in. but let me go one step further. i think we need to do the same thing with an investment bank. for infrastructure. if we could do the same thing on domestic infrastructure, start to build our water treatment plants, start to rebuild our sewers and pipelines. today driving to work i heard about part of the city of pittsburgh shut down because the sewer lines busted. we need that kind of stuff to go along with the cash for clunkers. do cash for clunkers for infrastructure. i can tell you our steel mills are going to start, our paper mills are going to start, our rub 0 rubber plants are going to start. they'll get some money. they'll go buy something. i think we ought to push the

cash for clunkers and put more money -- in fact, let's take the $33 billion they gave in bonuses to the clowns that created the economic mess, put that $33 billion into a cash for clunkers program. >> i think what we need to point out, leo, is the fact that we have thrown billions of dollars at wall street. this is a morsel of what we saw go to wall street. to the american workers and the consumers have responded. this ought to be a wake-up call to every person who really supported barack obama through it all, that he's got the right mix. leo gerard, have a great weekend. coming up, the republicans and blue dogs keep saying that health care reform's going to kill small business? look. i'm going to go head to head with a republican congressman, brian bill bray, next on "the ed show" on that topic, stay with us. denise! you've lost weight! it's just all these giant things make me look small. i eat this fiber one yogurt.

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you know i'm passionate about small business. i love incentives and i support a public option when it comes to health care. make no mistake about it. i believe that a public option is good for every business. rising premiums in the small business world, absolutely killing the mom and pop operations of america.

the blue dogs in the house want a big provision. smaller businesses with under $500,000 payroll will not be taxed. now, the previous figure was $250,000. now 86% of small businesses are basically protected. but you've got to hand it to the big companies. they're going to get hammered on this. joining me now is congressman brian bilbray, republican from california. congressman, good to have you with us tonight. >> great to be on, ed. >> i know the republicans have pushed hard to protect small businesses. but what is a small business in america? why is it that it had to go to $500,000? why not lower than that? i'm talking about the payroll. what was your thinking on this? >> well, first of all, this was actually negotiations between the moderate democrats and henry waxman. that's where that number really came from. remember, it's not about the small businesses as much as the small business employees. the people that are actually getting the job.

i think you agree that the greatest program that we can do out there is give people jobs and be able to provide those benefits through employment. and that's the big challenge. the blue dogs were really looking at a way of being able to find an excuse to vote for this bill and they just couldn't do it if it was going to sit there and actually cut the legs out from under the group, the small businesses, that's going to provide the employment that everybody's looking for more of. >> congressman, as the house bill sits right now you as a republican, would you sign on to it? could you claim some victory if the house bill were to come out the way it is right now? >> ed, we don't even know what it is right now. frankly, i can't vote for $1 billion a page document that i haven't been able to read yet. we've still got stuff that hasn't been out there and hasn't -- look, i supported -- actually provided health care in a county of over 3 million. i know how technical this issue is. i think the insurance companies have got to give. i also think the trial lawyers

to have to give. for those of us who have provided health care understand both sides need to address the issue of what is the costs that are not directly providing health care? and toward exposure, lawsuits ar huge issue of that. one of the things we need to talk about is, is i guess the best way to do quality control in health care or should we go to admit case and moderation instead of all this basic courtroom decisions? >> i don't disagree with you that there's a lot of different facets, a lot of pieces to the pie that have to be addressed. congressman, i want to ask you, the republicans have been continue basical continually telling the american people it's going to be a government takeover if we have a public option. i believe i've heard the president say time and time again that if you like your health care, you can keep it. how is that a government takeover? why do the republicans keep pushing that on the american people? >> ed, i'll be very frank with you. you're going to see many businesses that now provide private coverage, as we've pointed out, that there's

procedures just like cholesterol tests that medicare only covers for one every five years. the private sector will do one. we're going to see a lot of companies that say, hey, it's cheaper for me to pay the 8% and allow everybody to go on to the public rolls, rather than continue to pay. so there is an incentive actually for businesses to drop off of this. that's one thing we haven't talked frank when about. we'd all love -- if you ask the american public, would you like to have a free home? most people would say yes. if you ask them, would you like to live in public housing? i think we all would say, well, there's a problem there. >> well, for lower income people, i think they'd like some public housing. there's a lot of people on the street. i know what you're saying. but i think the republicans basically are trying to sell to the american people that they're afraid the public option might be so popular, so many people would go into it, that's where the word "takeover" comes into it. great to have you with us. i want to have you back. i assume that you're going to do some town hall meetings during this recess? >> i've already done that. and i hope to be able to get out there more. so hopefully the next couple of

weeks, we'll be able to get back to san diego. face it, san diego's a lot nicer place to be in time of year than washington, d.c. >> no doubt about that. congressman, good to have you on with us, thanks so much. >> honored to be with you, ed. >> one final note on this segment this an. senator chris dodd held a press conference today to announce that he has prostate cancer. he plans to have surgery to remove the tumor during the recess. he says he's feeling fine and the outlook is good. he will continue his work as acting chairman of the senate health committee and still plans to run for re-election in 2010. dodd said he didn't want to use his illness to make a political point but he says, really, this drives home the now-critical thought that having good health care and a health care plan is what it's all about. >> today, 100 people in the state of connecticut will lose their health care coverage. 14,000 people across the country will, today, in the united states, lose health care coverage. for a person who loses health care coverage, that physical may not be something you can afford.

and if you can afford the physical, you may not have the resources, the coverage, to help you deal with this problem. it's not about me, it's about people without health care or the ones who are underinsured. people out there struggle every day. that's what really is at risk here by not getting this job done. >> well-said, senator dodd. good luck to you and your family and with the treatment, of course. next up on "the ed show," "psycho talk." louisiana governor bobby jindal, doing a great job of handing out stimulus money did his state. only problem is, he's signing his own name to the checks. that's next in "psycho talk." ( conversation ) garth, you're up. hold on, i'm at capitalone.com picking a photo... for my credit card. here's one from my prom. oh, what memories. how 'bout one from our golf outing? ( shouting ) i know, maybe one of my first-born son. dad, mom says the boys gotta go.

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welcome back to "the ed show." "psycho talk." we have got louisiana governor bobby jindal. he's thinking about 2012. you better think about this. we know bobby from his disastrous response to president obama's address to congress back in february. remember that? i think he should also be recognized for his incredible hypocrisy on obama's stimulus package. jindal spent months slamming the president's plan, then ended up accepting almost all of the money given to the state of louisiana. then after those dollars helped create jobs in his state, he's still complaining about the spending. >> are you ready to give the president of the united states some credit for helping to turn this economy around?

>> look, i love what he says. i do have a lot of skepticism about in d.c., the fact they think we can spend our way into prosperi prosperity, borrow our way into prosperity, tax our way into prosperity. auto bailouts, t.a.r.p., the stimulus. >> he says he's skeptical? that didn't stop him from spending the stimulus cash anyway. then, in the same interview, he bragged about how he's creating jobs. >> i'm proud we've announced economic development, totaling 32,000 new announced jobs in louisiana. $4.3 billion in private capital investment. we're going to continue to outperform the national economy. >> well, so, bobby has been doling out the stimulus dollars. and he's not just mailing out the checks. you see, he's traveling around louisiana presenting the stimulus cash as jumbo checks. and he personally signed them. it was kind of like, you know, ed mcmahon driving around without the balloons and fancy van, you know. folks, there's more. a couple of weeks ago, less than

24 hours after presenting one of those massive checks which included almost $30,000 that came directly from the recovery act, jindal wrote an op-ed to politico saying the recovery act was a failure. bobby, you can't have it both ways. now he tries to just justify himself by saying he didn't accept some of the unemployment money. but it turns out that he was only about $100 million out of the $3.3 billion allotted to louisiana. so governor jindal, continuing to slam the recovery act while bragging about how that money is improving conditions in his state, that's "psycho talk." coming up, i'm going to tell you about the interesting exchange i had with nebraska senator ben nelson. we got on the phone privately. not anymore. seems he didn't like the way i said on this show that i thought he should shut his trap on health care and support the president. i'm not the only one going after

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welcome back to "the ed show." progressives are finally pushing back. the rank and file supporters who helped the democrats get 60 senate seats want to see a public option for health care. now they're targeting conservative democrats who are actually blocking reform the way obama wants to see it. now, here's that new ad that's out calling out senator ben nelson of nebraska. >> for six years, i've owned the syzzlyn skillet in nebraska. last week my health insurance agent called. he told me my rates were going to go up 40% from last year. i can't afford that. i told him i may have to can sell the coverage. i'm just going to pray my kids don't get sick. when president obama proposes a public health insurance option

that would force the private insurance companies to compete and lower rates that's exactly what my family needs. now i her that ben nelson, the senator that i voted for, is leading the charge to delay health reform this summer. that's exactly what they want. the health and insurance companies that have given senator nelson over $2 million know that if they can solve it for him, they can kill it. i have to; senator, whose side are you on? >> that gives you an idea what it's going to be like in august. you're going to be seeing it in your own backyard. that's what's happening in nebraska. and senator nelson's spokesman jake thompson warn tuesday this new series of ads calling out the senators stalling on reform were an indication of any politics going on into august in the health care reform may be dead by the end of august. i have something to say to the ben nelson office. i had a personal conversation with senator nelson the other day. he was mad at me because i told him to shut up and support the

president. these conservative democrats have got to be called out. he says, ed, that's too personal. i said, senator, respectfully, it's personal to 48 million americans who do not have health care. it's personal to small businesses that can't keep up with the double-digit increases that are taking place in this country. you've got to do something to reform it. a public option is the best way to go. this president had a mandate. he won nine bush states. it's -- what else do you need to know? i'd like to know if the people of nebraska want a public option. now, i'm not going to go in there and do any polling bud i'd like the e-mails, i'd like some e-mails from people from nebraska to ed@edschultzshow.com. tell me why you don't want a public option. tell me that you think your senator is on the right page going against any kind of health care reform when it comes to the public option. joining me now is politico's ken vogel. good to have you with us on "the ed show" tonight. i think that commercial is pretty much a snapshot of what

we're going to see in a lot of states that have got conservative democrats. how nasty do you think it's going to get? how intense is it going to be? >> well, to give you indication, we've already seen $34 million spent on ads just on the health care issue to this point. that's unprecedented on any issue. and when you take all the issues, we see $392 million worth of issue ads spending. never seen anything close to that in any year at this point. let alone an off year. headed into august we're going to see a ton of ads. health care is going to be the number one issue. by far. we'll still see a lot on the cap and trade bill which is going to be up by some accounts on the floor after recess at some point. and there are going to be a few key states that are going to see a ton of this thing. nebraska is one. maine is another. arkansas. colorado. there are states that have moderate republicans or conservative democrats and they're going to be day lunchde

so they better get used to it. >> there's going to be a lot of action out there in the heartland. there's going to be a lot of action going on. the democrats are saying they're going to do a lot of the town halls, they're going to do a lot of social networking, they're going to be giving a lot of interviews. you know, despite the fact that we had an election, what else do they have to hear? how effective do you think the grassroots can be in 30 days before these guys go back to work? >> well, they don't really have to advance the issue. they just have to hold the line here. it's really the other side, the opponents, the conservative groups, the insurance companies, the conservatives for patients' rights, the rick scott group, that really have to make inroads here. democrats have the votes. it's the ben nelsons of the world. they may not be sold on it yet but they're at least in the middle. and there are some who are further along towards the obama position. so what we're going to see is a battle by democrats and the grassroots network that president obama built during his campaign that is now organizing for america out of the dnc, to really hold that line.

and the other groups pushing to sway moderates and conservative democrats into the "no" column. one thing that they have going for them, though, that the folks pushing the health care plan have going for them, that is august traditionally is a month where not a lot of folks are buying attention, particularly in an off year. they're taking their kids to the beach, to the pool, they're focusing on ball games, they're not watching a lot of tv. >> i'm going to be hosting a radio town hall meeting tonight here in portland. i can tell you, if it's any indication what was i saw in madison, people are fired up for this issue. i think it's going to be a very active august. nancy pelosi gave the marching orders to the democrats before they went to recess. here's what she had to say. >> there will be a drumbeat across america. a positive drumbeat across america about what this means to the american people. for them individually and their families. for our businesses to be more competitive. for our economy to be more dynamic. >> you have a lot of allied organizations that support health care reform that are

already out there carrying the message and we'll intensify that message over the next six weeks. we're going to make sure health care reform does not get swift-boated during the month of august. >> have you ever seen such a big issue go into a recess? >> certainly that's the reason why they wanted to get it done before the recess. is because of the risk of this swift-boating as we heard mentioned there. and, you know, they do stand to risk, leaving it on the table, going into the recess. there is some time for the opposition to really get traction. they were unable to do it. because obama very astutely kept a lot of these groups at the table for as long as he could before he released the details of the plan, that some of them found it objectionable. and now they're really racing to make their objections known in a way that really resonates with the american people. and we haven't seen it take hold yet. >> ken vogel, politico, thanks for your time tonight. >> thank you, ed. >> for more, let's bring in our panel tonight. nancy giles is a political

writer and commentator. jeff santos, radio talk show host for wwzn in boston. you can find him on the web at revolutionboston.com. and also with us tonight is tim griffin, former u.s. attorney and republican strategist. tim, i'll go to you first tonight. i would imagine we could use the hockey term going into august. this is going to be a donny brook. is this the waterloo for the republicans? if they don't get it done in august, they may not get it done in stopping reform. how important is the next 30 days? >> august is a critical time. the thing is i think august is precarious for the democrats. you have to remember that the people, the people like mike ross represents in the fourth district of arkansas, are a lot different than the people that nancy pelosi represents in san francisco -- >> but do those people in arkansas, don't want health care reform? are they happy with being uninsured? many of them are in arkansas. >> that's a false dichotomy.

to say you're either for this health care reform or for nothing at all is a false dichoto dichotomy. there's all sorts of in between. right now what we're debating is the one driven by the majority in congress. and i can tell you, you know, i'm right here in little rock and i talk to a lot of people in the fourth district, my home district. all the time. and people are going to be loaded with questions for mike ross when he gets back. he can spin it it in way he wants. a lot of people here believe he caved in on this issue to henry waxman and nancy pelosi. >> how'd he cave in? tim, how did he cave in? >> because a lot of people were counting on him to ask the tough questions about how this health care reform is going to be paid for. i think -- >> we're going to tax the tap 2%. that's coming later on with the ways and means committee. let me go to nancy giles. nancy, how are the democrats going to fare? i mean, can the -- basically, nancy pelosi is asking the grassroots to get out there and go kick some tail on this. that's what it comes down to.

>> that's exactly what they should do. i mean, i love that ad, that ben nelson ad you showed earlier. it's exactly what needs to be said. first, put some doubt in people's minds about how much money their different senators and representatives may be getting from the health care industry, so that at least they have something to sort of think about, where their representatives, elected representatives' agenda might be. it's shocking to me you could vote someone in office and they can take a different view than what their constituents want, to get health care, to get a public option. i just like the fire that seems to be coming out now with nancy pelosi. i like the fact that she's even saying that the health care industry is immoral. >> she's getting after it, there's no doubt she's getting after it. jeff santos, what about -- sounds like the democrats are basically saying, if we can't get the grassroots out there to do what they do for obama on this issue, that we're not going to get this thing done the way we want it. what do you think? >> we've got to get it done.

202-225-3121. that's the switchboard in washington, d.c. for the u.s. capitol. tell them you want a public option. tell them you want to do it for ted kennedy. he's been doing it for 47 years. he understands the need. he understands what it's about. the health community has a public option. if mini max baucus understands that he'll get on the program to make sure it goes to the finance company to get it done. >> i've been passing out that same number today and getting a response from people who say, yeah, we're going to call that number, we're going to call that number and say, mike ross, you need to help stop this. >> why would you want to stop isn't it do you not want to have 48 million people have health insurance, mr. griffin? why are you letting people not have isn't it. >> let me tell you -- >> no, let me tell you this. why can can de, why can western europe have health care, and we don't? why are we the only industrialize the country -- >> senators and congressmen have the same plan as americans -- >> let me answer. >> i want tim to respond to that. why deny people who don't have insurance any kind of reform,

tim? >> i do not believe that health care reform should be denied. what i believe is, we need to find out, "a," how much this is going to cost. first twag going to be paid for by savings. then it was going to be paid for by taxing slurringy drinks. then it was going to be paid for by people making over $200,000. now it's going to be paid for by people -- >> nancy, how's it going to be paid for? >> any way it can be paid for. sugary tax should happen. tax on the top 2% of wage earners in this country is reasonable. i do, ed, agree with you. you're either for it or against it. >> we've got a lot of battles. stay with us, a lot more coming up. we've got to switch gears now to the whacked out, righty birther movement. believe it or not it's gaining momentum. somebody needs to get these guys a map and show them where hawaii and is remind them the president of the united states was born in a united state of america. we'll show you some shocking

numbers up next on "the ed show."

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has the fastest serve in the history of professional tennis. so i've come to this court to challenge his speed. ...on the internet. i'll be using the 3g at&t laptopconnect card. he won't. so i can book travel plans faster, check my account balances faster. all on the go. i'm bill kurtis and i'm faster than andy roddick. (announcer) "switch to the nations fastest 3g network" "and get the at&t laptopconnect card for free". we now have some numbers that measure the extent of this crazy birther movement. you know, those nut jobs out there who buy the conspiracy theory that president obama wasn't born in the united states. "daily coast" conducted a poll and found out what people really thought about this issue. i think the results are pretty

tragic. 58% of republicans answered no, or not sure, when they were asked if they thought president obama was born in the united states of america. and if we break it down by region, 53% of everyone in the south answered no, or not sure. now, if that doesn't support the argument that the gop has turned into a regional party, i don't know what does. joining us right now for more on this and the poll, let's bring in "daily coast" publisher marcos molitas. good to have you with us tonight. are you surprised by these numbers? >> to be honest, i'm very, very surprised. i mean, we hire an outside polling operation. this is a nonpartisan polling office ca office. they poll for newspapers and other media outlets. not a biased or political polling outfit.

we expected republicans to have a sizable fringe component that really believe obama was not born in this country but we did not expect over half of republicans to really fall under that birther thing. you have these republicans trying to minimize the birther movement, say that this is a fringe, i don't know why the media pays attention to them. eric cantor, a republican in the house leadership, today argued it was chris matthews and liberal blog there's were pushing this. when in fact the reality of the matter is that the numbers are very clear. republicans actually believe this nonsense. >> well, i think chris is pushing the idea that they're a bunch of nut jobs out there that don't have their heads screwed right on this. here's what i think. i think the republicans are out there saying, hey, we're going to have some fun with this. and we don't have anything else cooking right now. so we're going to gin up this idea and try to stir up it up. i think it's an innate thing ann amongst republicans to see obama fail. yeah let's give them a negative

answer. yeah, we don't think he was born in the united states. any merit to that? >> i think that's part of it. i think a sizable component of the republican base does not believe that barack obama is an american. it's sort of an extension of the 2008 campaign where they were accusing him of being unamerican on issue after issue. >> i've got to ask you quickly, marcos, do you think this is an issue for the white house, that they need to address again? gates said something about it the other day. do you think that these numbers are troubling enough that they might have to answer it? >> absolutely not. i think they have addressed it time and time again. i mean, how many times do you have to release documents? it's clear by now that there's no information, no documentation, no evidence that will ever assuage components of the republican party that thinks obama is not an american citizen. >> marcos, thanks for joining tounts night here on "the ed show. >> this is one of the most famous images from the early

days of the obama administration. you got it, the rose garden picture from yesterday. today, we got the details of what went down at the white house. the president didn't ask for any apologies. no apologies were offered. but professor gates and sergeant crowley may have planned to have lunch in a cambridge pub sometime soon. i think the best quote that came out of all of this, gates told the "new york times," "when he's not arresting you, sergeant crowley is really a likeable guy." isn't that the case with every law enforcement officer? i'm glad to know that the professor's got a good sense of humor. that's the "playbook" quote of the day. all right, coming up on "the ed show," this week the republicans have stooped to a new low. trying to prove the democrats' health care plan will kill senior citizens? literally kill them? "daily show" creator liz winstead. she's got a take on that.

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welcome back to "the ed show." if it's friday it's time for "club ed." joining me from 30 rock is comedienne liz winstead and co-creator of "the daily show" and brains behind "wake up, world." how are you doing tonight? >> you know, ed, it's always sunny here in new york, oh, wait, that's not true. >> that's right. okay, sarah palin doing a talk show.

i understand you might be the first caller. is that right? >> you know, ed, what sarah palin doesn't realize that the rest of us do is as america has got to know know sarah palin, they've grown to dislike her. so putting her on the radio three hours a day is sort of going to have the opposite effect of all the good things she wants to do for alaska. >> she'd actually have to read, though. you never know, it might be a good thing for her. >> i just don't think radio's her medium. she don't by on sort of her winky, hotness, leginess which none of that really works in radio, i've found. >> no, it doesn't. let's talk about the republicans and health care. >> oh! >> they've got this fetish with scaring us across america. in fact, this week on the house floor, this is what republican virginia fox had to say. i want you to respond to it. >> republicans have a better solution that won't put the government in charge of people's health care, that will make sure we bring down the cost