toting the gun might end up being obama's greatest allies in this. because they've gone so far, and especially with palin's talk about these death panels. it's so demonstrably false. i hear what chris was saying about how you can never underestimate the power of a myth like that. but i really think that it has gone so far, that there's going to be push-back and that people will realize how crazy those claims are. i think in the town hall today that obama had, you know, it was too much -- my criticism of that was it was too much like a bush event. it was so orchestrated. it was so friendly. he does very well with push-back and critics. he should have allowed a less hand-picked crowd to be there and not have that great disconnect between all these screaming critics and the very sort of applauding, smiling crowd. >> yeah, let's not replace the governor with the peanut gallery. your thoughts, chris cillizza?

>> i was going to whole-heartedly -- i think may hill dewas exactly right. you see these angry crowds yelling at arlen specter, you yell for us. clair mccaskill having to tell people to be quiet. the president of the united states says, is there anybody out there who's suspicious approximate this? about this? he's asking for someone to sort of come -- in truth the person who stood up was not exactly, you know, someone -- these angry mobs we've seen. melin melinda's exactly right, the disconnect i was really, really struck by. >> specter looked pretty good, surprisingly good, just standing there, taking it, you know. trying to put his point across but standing up to the angry mob looks a lot better. >> he's a great argument for american health care, i'll tell you that, look at this guy. he's 80 years old going head to head with this guy. anyway, chris cillizza, a charming event. melinda, you're the best.

"politicsdaily.com. >> politicsdaily.com. join us tomorrow night 5:00 and 7:00 eastern 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 30 rock in new york, it's "the ed show" on msnbc. the president headed to the granite state, and i think he hit it out of the park on the key issues today. the death panel, taxes and public option. this guy is on the offense when it comes to the righty whack job scare tactics. basically reassuring you and me, americans, that he does have a plan for health care reform. new hampshire senator gene shaheen got a shoutout from the president today and she will join us in just a moment. senators specter and mccaskill faced i think the

dumber than joe the plumber crowds at their town halls. folks, these crazies are getting wilder by the minute. madam secretary. the african heat might be getting to hillary clinton. she blew a gasket when she was asked about bill clinton down in the congo. i'll show you what really got her really riled up and i'll tell you what i thought of that tantrum. general motors is on a roll. the chevy vault is now on track to get 230 miles to the gallon. gm's vice chairman joins me at the bottom of the hour to preview their electrifying future. and of course "psycho talk" coming up tonight. get your cell phones out, we've got another text survey for you coming up. great panel, all of that is coming up on the ed show for you tonig tonight. first, tonight's "op ed." goofy, yes. spooky, yes. and a guy shows up with a gun at a presidential town hall. if that's not dangerous, i don't know what is. now, to do all of this justice i

have to show you this first tonight. take a look at what happened inside the town hall meetings of senator arlen specter and senator clair mccaskill today. here it is. >> you and your cronies in the government do this kind of stuff all the time. well, i don't care -- [ applause ] >> i did not want to pay on a health care plan that includes the right for a woman to kill her unborn baby. >> i don't want this country turning into russia, turning into a socialized country. >> what it says is, as a 74-year-old man, if you develop cancer, we're pretty much going to write you off. >> you don't trust me? >> no! >> hey, hey! okay. ma'am -- okay.

>> fear, fear and more fear. and outside the president's rally in portsmouth, new hampshire today, this was the scene. wild bill hicock shows up. what this is guy's program? can it get any worse? well, it does. this is vandalism outside congressman david scott's office in georgia. he held a town hall meeting a couple of nights ago. he was greeted with a four foot tall swastika today. and this is how the president is being depicted in maryland at senator ben cardin's town hall meeting. obama with a hitler-like moustache. you know, this is not the country that we should be proud of right now. these folks have got to be distanced from the republican party. you would think that the republican party would step and up say, these aren't our people. this is all a product of the republican fearmongering that's taking place out there. this is really all the game that they have right now. it's a party without a message. so what happens? the fringe fills in the vacuum.

today, the president went on the offensive. i tell you, president obama was on top of his game today. hi hit on the four major points on all the talking points that they've been hammering the white house with. medicare, death panels, public option, and taxes. i thought he did it with tremendous clarity. the big questions i've had, and someone asked it today, how are you going to pay for this reform? i mean, you really are all concerned about the money, aren't you? with republicans it's all about the money. here comes a piece of truth from the president. here's the answer. >> it should not burden people who make $250,000 a year or less. and i think that's the commitment that i made, the pledge that i made when i was up here running in new hampshire, folks. so i don't want anybody saying somehow that i'm, you know, pulling the bait and switch here. i said very specifically i thought we should roll back bush tax cuts and use them to pay for health insurance. that's what i'm intending to do.

>> got that, top 2%? you're going to get taxed if all this goes through. that means 98% of americans, you don't have to worry about it. middle classer, you're not going to get taxed when it comes to health care reform. he also pointed out that insurance companies are rationing care right now. the president threw the bullet points right back in their face today in a very classy manner and did it with the facts. let's go to portsmouth, new hampshire. joining me now is nbc news political director and chief white house correspondent chuck todd. aside from commentary right to the facts tonight, chuck. the president seemed very much in command today. did it appear that way to you? >> well, i tell you, you look at outside and frankly, the outside folks, you know -- the gun guy, and i want to say this, the gun guy was some kind of -- new hampshire's got plenty of live free or die guys. i think he was somebody who is out on the fringe and really had nothing to do with this health

care debate. the rest of the protesters for what it's worth actually seemed to keep a level head. and what that tells you is, the office of the presidency -- we're not seeing this with u.s. senators, we're not seeing this with members of congress. but the office of the presidency, at least, is keeping people from going nuts. >> how are they doing that? >> yes, they're doing their vocal protests -- well, on the inside. for instance, i talked to one of the gentlemen that questioned president obama, told me he did not vote for president obama, does not like the idea of a public option, asked him about the public option. but you know, he wasn't screaming and yelling at the top of his lungs. i talked to a few other people at the town hall who were not supporters of the president but were from to learn a little bit more about health care. so you could -- whatever it is about the office of the presidency, i think it created a different atmosphere inside and it certainly -- the president himself with the toone that he k i think was an attempt to try to make sure everybody was keeping a level head.

>> chuck, everything that the republicans and the whack jobs have been throwing at the president, medicare's going to get cut, taxes are going to be going up -- all of these things, it seemed like the president was really on a mission today to definitely address these particular issues. did he accomplish that? >> you know, i think so. he went -- it was funny. he spent as much time frankly saying what's not in his plan. he went down. hee not going to cut medicare benefits. he's not going to pull the plug on grandma. i think he tried to use humor on that. i think he tried to sell the public option. i am curious -- i know you're a big supporter of it. he used a comparison frankly i think is going to get him in trouble with postal workers because he said, hey, check out fed ex and u.p.s., they seem to be beating the postal service, a government-run program, pretty well. it was sort of a weird way to compare it because he's probably going to have a lot of mail men very upset with him today. >> it's interesting. senator mccaskill did the very same thing. i wonder if they weren't organized in how they wanted to

present all of this. >> well, and it brings up another point, ed. that is that one benefit the white house is taking from all this -- look, this has politically been tough to watch for them. watching some of their supporters have to take this heat. but they have been spending time to try to refine their arguments. to try to get better at pushing back at some of the things they think they've been losing on. for instance, this idea of a death panel and all this. this seems to be something that has gotten out of hand. >> like wildfire. >> i think the president today and the white house feel better about pushing back on it today than they have in a while. >> thanks, chuck. appreciate your time on "the ed show" tonight, thanks so much. >> you got it. >> i want to know what you think. are the right-wing lies about health care reform starting to sink in? text "a" for yes, "b" for no, to 622639. we'll bring you the results later on in the show tonight. joining me is democratic senator jean shaheen of new hampshire who was at the president's town

hall today. senator, great to have you on tonight. the demeanor of the crowd. are they passionate in new hampshire as they are in other parts of the country? and do you think the president really connected with the crowd today? >> i think the president did a great job of correcting misinformation about health care reform, pointing out what are the benefits to middle-class families of getting health care reform. one of the things that i thought was most poignant about this afternoon's session was the woman who introduced the president, who talked about the fact that she has hepatitis c, her ex-husband had it, and she's had a business of her own, she's done very well, and she can't find anybody to give her health insurance because of that pre-existing condition. and the president talked about

the fact that there are insurance reforms that are going to be part of this health care plan that are going to benefit people like laurie and like so many people who have had difficulties with their insurance companies. >> does it make your state look a little fringy when a guy shows up with a gun outside a presidential town hall meeting, senator? >> well, i think the earlier conversation is probably accurate. that he wasn't really here to talk about health care. and i didn't see him so i don't know what his issue was. but i think the debate this afternoon was civil. it was respectful. it was the way it should be. as you heard, there were people who asked questions who didn't agree with the president. and he did a very good job of responding to those. and listen, this is an emotional debate. there are people -- health care affects every single person in this country and people care about it. and i think it's important to have a debate about it and about what goes in the health care

plan. but we need to have that debate in a way that's civil, that's respectful, that gives people a chance to respond. and that frankly corrects misinformation. >> it's pretty interesting how this is not happening at republican town hall meetings, it's only happening at democratic town hall meetings. and of course it was much more controlled with the president today. senator, good to have you on with us tonight, thanks so much for joining us. and joining me now -- >> great to be with you. >> joining me is congressman joseph crowley of new york. he's a member of the house ways and means committee. joe, good to have you on tonight. >> thanks, ed, good to be on your show. >> you bet, you bet. house ways and means committee. you guys are going to have to figure out how to pay for this over on the house side. the president today was very clear, over $250,000 a year, money's got to come from somewhere. is that going to fly in the congress? >> that's already the bill that we passed the house ways and means committee. let me clarify that. the bill we passed out of the house ways and means committee

was 250,000 agi, adjusted gross income. that means every dollar over $250,000 will face this surcharge of 2%. and graduate higher as you go towards the million. we've already gone beyond that. >> the president had to address that today. i mean, kids stood and up asked him, how are we going to pay for this reform? today it seemed like the president went out to debunk all the right-wing bullet points out there, putting fear in the hearts and minds of america. >> we're talking about raising that threshold. if anyone has a problem with someone making $250,000 adjusted gross income, probably it's going to be $500,000 when we're all done. this is a very, very, very wealthy in our kendry, not the people of the middle class or struggling to be in the middle class or hoped to at one point attain a higher income. >> are you surprised at the demeanor of people at these town hall meetings? we haven't seen tape like this, events like this, in 20, 30, 40 years in this country. i mean, you've got to go back to

the vietnam war to see this kind of public passion that's been out there. >> well, you know, i live in a walking town hall in my district. when i see people on the streets let me know what they feel. it's done with respect and mutual respect. i have tremendous respect for my constituency and they have for me. i think that's -- regardless of party. that's what's missing right now in this debate. it's not about having a discourse, it's about shutting down meetings, it's about being disruptive. and that's outside the american tradition of town halls. >> okay. are they having an effect? >> i think that they're having an effect and that people are looking at this thing, what am i missing about this? what don't i know about these issues? what they're in effect doing is they're clouding the issue. there's a din out there you can't hear through. i think eventually people are going to get the facts, they're going to know what the health care plan is that the house and senate are working on. and that the president promised. and that is to make sure as jeanne said before, people with pre-existing conditions will not

be discriminated against. the 45 million people who don't have insurance today, they get health care, those of us with health care are paying for it. >> are you winning argument? >> i think we're going to win this. status quo can't say, we have to do something. >> congressman, good to have you with us tonight, thanks so much. coming up, one health care brawler claims he was beaten by obama supporters and union thugs outside a recent town hall meeting. he's pointing his crooked finger at one union in particular. the service employees international union. one of their top officials will sxwroib me with their side of the story next. ( 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. personalize your card by uploading... your own photo at capitalone.com. what's in your wallet? ♪ as we get older, our bodies become... less able to absorb calcium. he recommended citracal. it's a different kind of calcium. calcium citrate. with vitamin d... for unsurpassed absorption, to nourish your bones.

welcome back to "the ed show." so we can rememberer the summer of '09, right-wingers going to town hall meetings across the country, showing up with these talking points manufactured and their only mission is to disrupt civil discussion. that's what it's all about. last week congressman carnahan's town hall turned violent when right-wing tea partiers clashed with members of the service employees international union. six people ended up in handcuffs and a tea partier was injured. he says he was attacked by union members. now right-wingers are calling

the seiu guys union thugs. joining me now is dr. l. tony lewis, president of the committee of interns and residents of seiu health care. doctor, i got to ask you, are you coaching union members to go and be disruptive back at those who are speaking out at town hall meetings? >> absolutely not. you know, actually, quite the opposite. our members have been running town halls for -- we've had thousands of town halls over the past year to talk about health care. >> without incident? >> without incident. and what we want is a civil discussion on what's going on right now in health care. >> so, the union guys went there with no idea -- just it evolved into something they didn't want to have happen, right? >> we heard earlier, it's right to be passionate about this. we're going to make legislation that changes the rest of our lives. no, we did not go there. >> is there a call from the service employees international union not to get involved, not

to get confrontational at these meetings if. >> there is a call to keep the discussion civil and about our health care workers and about our patients. at seiu we have 1.2 million health care workers. 100,000 nurses and doctors that see patients every day and understand what's going on. so we want this discussion to be abo about affordable, comprehensive health care, not theatrics or anger. >> being called thugs. the image of this is, and the word -- he says he was attacked by union members. the image of that is not very good. >> no, absolutely not. >> so how do you counter that? >> you know, it drives me nuts when they call our union members thugs. we have 2 million members. our members are nurses, doctors, long-term care workers, security guards, janitors, teachers, school bus drivers. they are not thugs, we are not thugs. we are hard-working people in our communities and we want to raise up the voices of hard-working families all across the u.s. >> what's the mission from here

on out? obviously the unions have been very evolved in getting democrats elected. from this point on do you think there will be any problems? because it looks to me like the right-wingers aren't going to be changing their tactics at all. >> it does look that way. but you know, what we need to do is can't to focus on health care. comprehensive, affordable health care for everyone. we're going to maintain that focus from here on out. because this is too important to let it deteriorate into just anger. >> so this was an isolated incident that you don't expect to happen again. >> you know, it's passionate. it's absolutely passionate. there's a lot of passion out there. i would hope that it doesn't happen again, and seiu members are going to work hard to keep the discussion civil so we can really form this debate. >> is andy stern, the president, putting out a statement, don't get involved in this? >> absolutely. andy stern and the international executive board of seiu, which i serve on, we've all said, we are going to keep this about health care. we're going to keep it about health care and keep it about building up working families.

>> finally, dr. lewis, the exchange, the public option, is the seiu holding the obama white house, holding their feet to the fire on this? will you get that? >> we are absolutely working very hard for the public health insurance option. we believe it's important for our patients and ourselves to have a choice of comprehensive, affordable health care. >> dr. lewis, good to have you on "the ed show." thanks for coming in tonight. next up on "the ed show," mad marcia blackburn is up to her eyeballs in right-wing bullet points. as usual, she's still firing blanks. her medi-scare duds land her in the "psycho talk" zone next. if you're taking 8 extra-strength tylenol... a day on the days that you have arthritis pain, you could end up taking 4 times the number... of pills compared to aleve.

choose aleve and you could start taking fewer pills. just 2 aleve have the strength... to relieve arthris pain all day. a tornado hits, air life denver takes off... their night-vision goggles keeping the rescue mission safe... and powering those goggles-- the only battery air life trusts: duracell. trusted everywhere. the sparkly flakes. the honey-baked bunches! the magic's in the mix.

my favorite part? eating it. honey bunches of oats. taste the joy we put in everypoonful. [ engine powers down ] gentlemen, you booked your hotels on orbitz. well, the price went down, so you're all getting a check thanks. for the difference. except for you -- you didn't book with orbitz, so you're not getting a check. well, i think we've all learned a valuable lesson today. good day, gentlemen. thanks a lot. thank you.

introducing hotel price assurance, where if another orbitz customer books the same hotel for less, we send you a check for the difference, aumatically. long summer days and not enough sleep. what i wouldn't do for a do-over. (anouncer) new neutrogena total skin renewal. gentle exfoliating puffs and micro-vibrations speed surface cell turnover. it's clinically tested to help undo the look of a year's worth of skin aging in just one week. that summer of sun? i just made it disappear. (announcer) new total skin renewal. neutrogena recommended most by dermatologists. do-overs do exist.

it's "psycho talk" time tonight. it's hard to be picking these "psycho talkers" because there's so many of them. the lies they've been spreading about health care reform. marcia blackburn in tennessee, she's a dandy. she takes the "psycho talk" prize with her fearmongering over medicare. >> i think that people want to be certain that they don't end up with a bureaucrat in the exam room between them and their physician. our seniors are saying, look, don't diminish medicare. we have been paying into medicare. that is prepaid for us. it's been coming out of our paycheck for 40 years. >> a bureaucrat in the exam room? can we get some videotape of that? oh, wouldn't that be something.

now, this is the same mad marcia who said last admonition we're not going to try emergency every time we have a katrina, every time we have a tsunami. she wants us to believe she's campaigning against health care reform because she cares about people? she cares about keeping her top campaign contributor happy, that's what she cares about. that's the health care industry, of course. republicans campaigned against medicare. did they not? for years. they called it socialized medicine. they tried to kill it at every opportunity they had. and now they're pretending that, oh, we're on the side of the seniors. they're against reform that will cut costs for everyone. they're against reform that will close the doughnut hole on prescription drug coverage for seniors. congresswoman blackburn from tennessee, for lying about medicare and playing the fear card, you're guilty of pandering, misinformed cowardly "psycho talk." coming up, the two sides of

hillary clinton are on display in africa. one minute she's dancing with the locals, having a grand old time. the next time she's selling a college student in the congo, telling him off. next, i'll talk to a congressman who faced such a big mob at his health care town hall meeting in new york, he opened up the barn door to put the whole doggone show outside. we got the video. i'm a little irregular today. don't you eat activia? for my little issues? they're not that bad. summer's no time to put up with even occasional digestive problems. believe me, once they go away, it's amazing how good you feel. announcer: activia is clinically proven to help regulate your digestive system in two weeks. summer's a wastin'... take the activia challenge now. it works, or it's free. ♪ activia

90s slacker hip-hop. ♪ that can strain your relationships and hurt yourody 'cause we'pride ♪ng a ride ♪ ♪ it's the credit roller coaster ♪ ♪ and as you can see it kinda bites! ♪ ♪ so sing the lyrics with me: ♪ when your debt goes up your score goes down ♪ ♪ when you pay a little off it goes the other way 'round ♪ ♪ it's just the same for everybody, every boy and girl ♪ ♪ the credit roller coaster makes you wanna hurl ♪ ♪ so throw your hands in the air, and wave 'em around ♪ ♪ like a wanna-be frat boy trying to get down ♪ ♪ then bring 'em right back to where your laptop's at... ♪ ♪ log on to free credit report dot com - stat! ♪ vo: free credit score and report with enrollment in triple advantage.

welcome back to "the ed show." by now members of congress have got to be expecting to encounter some fireworks at these town hall meetings around the country. the test is really how they're going to handle all of this, and passion and emotions are very high right now. for instance, in a town hall in new york last week, congressman eric massa took some heat from constituents but kept things under control by laying down the law right off the bat with the first question threatened to rile up the crowd.

>> health care has been no real issue -- i don't know anyone that's seeking health care in america today. >> everybody, the gentleman made a statement and a lot of people jumped on him. let's not do that. it doesn't help. >> congressman massa joins us tonight on "the ed show." congressman, were you surprised at how many people showed up at this? or are you a target of the conservatives? what do you think? >> i think it may be a little bit of both, but frankly, i take great celebration in it. you know, ed, this is a great national debate. and i fought very hard to have the opportunity to come back to my district and talk and make myself available to my constituents and that's what's happening. we're doing 17 town hall meetings. you just saw a video clip of one. tensions are high. but i believe that if you appeal

to all american sincerity and try to solve this problem, it won't get out of hand and you can actually have a thoughtful and beneficial exchange. >> congressman, i don't know how else to ask this question. are these just pissed-off republicans? and i mean, you know, we haven't seen this kind of activity in america in the past. it just seems that they are -- we know they're orchestrated. but these very people that are coming to these meetings, these are the folks that the president wants to help. don't you find that rather strange? >> you know, one of the universal frustrations i've had is talking to the older voters in my district who look at me with great sincerity and say, i don't want the government involved with my medical care, i just want medicare. and so you scratch your head by saying, that's a little bit juxtapositioned. when representative marcia blackburn says there's a bureaucrat in every examining room, she's not telling the

truth. in every examining room and in every operating room across this country there are three people. a patient, a doctor, and an insurance executive. and the insurance executive makes the decision about whether you get that prescription or whether or not you get that life-saving procedure. that is ground truth today. to people who say, no public option, well, here's a news flash. we don't have a public option today. we have a whole bunch of for-profit health insurance companies running our health care system into the ground. >> this is what -- there's a disconnect for me, anyway. i don't know what they're so upset about. the president has said repeatedly, if you like your insurance, you can keep it. in other words, he's saying if you like getting gouged, we're going to continue to let you get gouged if that's what you're all about. congressman, what are they upset about? >> let me sum it up in an encounter i had on saturday that

frankly broke my heart. a woman who told me she was 90 years old, came up to me unsteadily with tears in her eyes and looked at me and said, "congressman, don't let them put me out on an ice floe." >> wow. >> and i was just -- i was stunned. but you know, the day prior to that, i come to find out that a nationally recognized radio show talk host said that, quote-unquote, obama-care is going to put our elderly on ice floes and let them go adrift. and she had heard that. and she internalized it. and this is the great disservice that many are doing to this most important of national debates. that's why i'm putting myself out there to actually tell the truth. >> you've also put yourself out there as a standup guy because you're not taking your benefits inside the congress. is that true? >> well, this is one of the things they shout at me, just give us the health care you've got. my answer to that is, i'm on the

public option. i don't take the congressional health care benefits plan. i get my insurance and my health care through a subset of medicare. which is exactly what i want every american to be able to access. marcia blackburn's right, people have been paying into medicare for 40 years, it's working great, ed. why can't we make that system available to every single american citizen, cut and dry, straightforward? >> congressman, great to have you on with us tonight. eric massa from new york here on "the ed show." let me bring in our panel. democratic strategist jamal simmons. radio talk show host bill press. former congressman tom tancredo. tom, can you defend some of the demeanor that has been displayed at some of these town hall meetings? i mean, is this doing the republican party any favors? is this your idea of democracy? >> well, it's certainly -- it's representative of the way people

feel. and therefore, i can easily defend it. if people get upset and you give them an opportunity to say something about it, they're going to take it. and that's what democracy is all about. there's nothing wrong with that. you know, it is building. it's true. there's a great deal of emotion that's wrapped up into this debate. naturally. we're talking about something as personal as our own existence, our health care and how well we're going to be treated under a system that is highly suspect. the president is losing the debate on this. he's losing his position. and it's apparent when you see how people are reacting to it. it's not -- shouldn't be surprising to anyone that when you hear somebody over and over again tell you -- the president, in this case -- don't worry, if you like your present health care process, insurance, whatever it is, you can keep it. when you know, you know that there is absolutely no way that can happen when you have a public option that is -- that cannot possibly -- no private insurance company, no private

provider, can compete with a public system because there is no need to make a profit. everybody knows that, ed. >> no, we don't know that. >> he's lying about it, he knows he's lying about it, it gets them very upset. >> you see it that way -- you're afraid. you're you're afraid that the big insurance ripping off the american people might get some competition. >> there's plenty of competition. there's over 1,700 different plans. how much more competition do you need? >> i'll let you respond to this, go ahead. >> first of all, there are so many lies and so much misrepresentation, there's so much misforks it's hardly worth responding. i suggest tom tancredo go back and watch a videotape of president obama in portsmouth, new hampshire. he answered every one of those lies, every one of those misrepresentations -- >> no lies. >> 92 no, the absolute truth. i didn't interrupt you at all, i listened to your babble, i want to make my point. >> babble on. >> you asked earlier, what are they afraid of? they're afraid of two things.

some of them are legitimately afraid of government, which i would say to them, okay, how many here are on medicare? how many here are on social security? probably over half of them. well, then, turn in your social security card. turn in your medicare card. if you're really afraid of government. the other people, ed, the manufactured ones, the ones who are paid to go there, they are there against barack obama. it doesn't matter how good it is, how much it will help them. if obama's for it, they're against it. let's not kid ourselves, that's what this is all about. >> jamal simmons, what do you make of these democracy in action, all the normal people showing up at these town hall meetings? i thought the president hit it out of the park today. he debunked the right-wing talking points, the taxes, the medicare, the talking options across the board. what do you think? >> i thought he did a good job from the parts of it i saw. a lot of the these folks have been organized by outside groups and brought there. i think democrats are and progressives are trying to make sure their people are there so when those folks start to (ie

>> i'm here as your political pinata. go ahead. >> only because i like you, tom. the president was very clear today, if you're making over $250,000, he wants your taxes to go up and to pay for this. so that means 98% of the american people are not going to be affected by this. i want your response to that. >> ed, there is no way on god's green earth that you can tax people at that rate, at $250,000 and above, enough to pay for

this health care plan. if you believe that, ed, honest to goodness you're living in obama-land. and i'll tell you, another thing, if you think that the other guys aren't coming here, that the left isn't organizing -- here's the e-mail from moveon.org that goes out to everybody telling them where to go, what questions to ask. here's the poster, the thing that you can get online, they'll print it to you, that you can take and hold up. >> we're better than you guys at this. >> you do, you got posters, that's true. >> i'm going to ask a question. where's the memo from moveon.org that says, get there early, spread out, take over the meeting, disrupt them, and don't let the guy finish one word and shout down everybody. where's that memo from the left? i haven't seen that one yet. >> i haven't seen it from the right. where is it on the right? i've never gotten it. have you got isn't it. >> i'll show it to you. go to my website, look at my column, get the facts. crazy as ever. it's robert mcguffie wrote it.

>> who's he? >> point by point -- he works with dick armey's freedomwork is.com. >> 300 e-mails or something? give they a break. >> you know that these folks are being coached to go in and disrupt. jamal, it's very interesting how all of this is happening at democratic town hall meetings. gosh, i don't see this happening at all at any of the righties, do you? >> i don't. frankly, i'm a little upset about it. i'd rather should have some democrats show up at republican meetings and agitate about having health care. >> could it possibly be -- >> republicans need to understand that people in america want health care reform. we don't want to be subject to these insurance companies for the rest of our lives. >> is it just possible, could you conceive of a situation where people are coming because they don't like it? not because they're coached. not because -- >> they are coached. because they say, i do not like it -- >> they're coached, tom. >> i've read this bill, i don't like it. >> tom, they're coached by the right-wing talkers. they're coached by a network. they're encouraged to go out there and disrupt and the

democrats are that. >> how cynical. >> stay with us, we've got more coming up, stick around. secretary of state hillary clinton kind of flips her lid over a question about bill clinton. i'll tell you why her short fuse had me worried for a number of years. introducing the all new chevy equinox. with an epa estimated 32 miles per gallon. and up to 600 miles between fill ups. it's the most fuel efficient crossover on the highway. better than honda cr-v, toyota rav4 and even the ford escape hybrid. the all new chevy equinox.

i'm prey much the same as i am in a plastic bottle? except that you'll save, like, $600 bucks a year. but other than that, we're pretty much the same. pur. good, clean water. you've still got time to tell me what you think. our text question today is, are the right-wing lies about health care reform sinking in with the public? "a" for yes, "b" for no to 622639. why tiger woods is facing fines from the pga for running his mouth. i'm racing cross country in this small sidecar, but i've still got room for the internet. with my new netbook from at&t. with its built-in 3g network, it's fast and small, so it goes places other laptops can't. i'm bill kurtis, and wherever i go,

i've got plenty of room for the internet. and the nation's fastest 3g network. gun it, mick. (announcer) sign up today and get a netbook for $199.99 after mail-in rebate. with built-in access to the nation's fastest 3g network. only from at&t. shopping online can help save. doing it with bank of america can help save a lot more. up 20% cash back from over 300 online retailers

with our add it up program. just sign up and use your bank of america debt or credit card when you shop online. it's one of the many ways we make saving money in tough times a whole lot easier. welcome back to "the ed show." secretary of state hillary clinton had -- basically she's had enough of the world's

obsession with her husband and she's making it clear that she's now the top diplomat in the clinton family. at a town hall event in the congo, she lost her normally unflappable composure when a student asked what mr. clinton thought about an international financial issue. listen to clinton's response here. >> wait, you want me to tell you what my husband thinks? my husband is not the secretary of state, i am. [ inaudible question ] >> i'll tell you my opinion. i'm not going to be channeling my husband. >> the student said after the event that he meant to say mr. obama, not clinton. but the damage was already done. let's bring back our panel on this one tonight. jamal simmons, bill press, tom tancredo. bill, let me ask you, do you think maybe hillary was a little upset that bill was in vegas celebrating number 63 with the boys? and she was in the heat of the battle in the congo?

what do you make of her tepid response there? >> i know we're going to disagree on this. we criticize our elected officials sometimes for not being humans, human beings. when they prove they are human beings then we criticize them because they make a mistake. she could have handled it better but i thought it was a very refreshingly honest moment. you would never ask a man that same question. it was her way of saying, dammit, i'm here, i'm in charge, deal with me, i don't care what bill thinks. >> jamal, your thoughts on this? i mean, she just have a rough day at the office or what was that? >> you know, she's been on the road for a lot of days. i'm sure there hasn't been a lot of sleep. and you know, ed, i'm sure you've probably been intemperate on your radio show before. >> never, never. >> i know i have, i'll cop to it. sometimes people make mistakes and you've got to give them a chance to, you know, make that mistake and keep moving. the person i felt really sorry

for was probably whoever was staffing her on the that trip. i can imagine standing there watching this happen in slow motion, knowing this was going to be the news the next 24 hours. >> i think there -- is there or could there be, tom tancredo, a little envy here. bill clinton goes over to north korea, he does the job of the secretary of state, and what do you think, a little tension here? >> that is the first thing i thought of. it seemed like somebody said, will the real hillary clinton please stand up? and she responded. and that is the real hillary clinton we're looking at, perhaps. this is america's top diplomat. right? wasn't being very diplomat nick that case. lost her cool. wonder what could happen under other circumstances. that is the first thing i thought about when i heard this thing. i had not seen it but i've heard that play over and over again. that's what i thought is, you know what, this is a reaction to bill getting all that attention by going over there to north korea. and there's a little -- it did not go over well at home, i don't think.

>> you know, ed -- ed, the good news is that this -- the democratic secretary of state got in trouble for being too honest, not got in trouble for telling people there were weapons of mass destruction in iraq and setting us on a war for a couple years. if that's the choice, i'll take it. >> i get your point. thanks for joining us tonight. coming up, gm is burning some serious rubbing with their chevy volt. you won't believe the miles per gallon that they are tracking. wow, is this... fiber one honey clusters? yes. but it can't have... can't have about half a day's worth of fiber? i assure you it does. i can only taste... only taste the crunchy clusters, honey, and brown sugar. no madam, i don't have esp. (announcer) fiber one. cardboard no. delicious yes. she is the greatest thing ever. woman: one little smile, one little laugh. - honey bunny. - ( coos ) we would do anything for her.

my name is kim bryant and my husband and i made a will on legalzoom. man: it was really easy to do. - ( blows raspberries ) - ( laughing ) robert shapiro: we created legalzoom to help you take care of the ones you love. go to legalzoom.com today and complete your will in minutes. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. it's lash blast! for the biggest, boldest lashes of your life! this big brush doubles the size of lashes. 6 million women have doubled theirs. try lash blast. only from easy, breezy beautiful... covergirl. like my life is split in two. there's the life i live. and the life i want to live. fortunately, there's enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, fatigue, and stop joint damage. because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma d nervous system

and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis. also ask your doctor if you live in an area with a greater risk for certain ngal infections. don't start enbrel if you have an infection, like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated foheart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding or paleness. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you, and help bridge the gap between the life you live

call this one a win for general motors. 230 miles per gal hon? you heard it right. 230 miles per gallon for the new chevy volt coming out next year. that's combined highway and city driving for general motor's new electric car. folks, that is unprecedented. while general motors is sitting on the cool car of the summer which is the camaro, can the volt next year at $40,000 a pop, can it be the car to buy when it hits the showrooms next fall? joining me is bob luntz, vice chairman of general motors. a very positive story for general motors. are you ready to claim victory over the foreign manufacturers when it comes to battery technology? >> yeah, i think we're very

confident in this car. i do have to correct one thing. the 230 is a city number. the combined number will be triple digits. but we haven't announced that yet. because all battery -- but yes, we are ready to take anybody on. because the chevy volt is absolutely unique. it will give you 40 miles of pure battery power. unlike other electric vehicles, when that's over, you don't have to go back to a wall outlet. you can drive another 300 miles off of the flex fuel driven generator. so it's got the range and applicability of any normal car, but it has the advantage of being able to do 40 miles, purely electrically, and 40 miles purely electrically covers the daily commuting needs of 80% of america. >> mr. lutz -- >> that's what makes it -- >> no, the numbers are all great. there's no question about that.

but bob, tell us why $40,000? that's going to be out of range for a lot of average american families, don't you think? >> but there's more. you get a federal credit of $7,500 if you buy this vehicle. so -- besides, we haven't confirmed the $40,000 price. but you deduct $7,500 from that, you wind up with $32, 500. $32, 500 gets to the point where it's within the range of a lot of vehicles that people buy, for instance, you mentioned the camaro. the average transaction price of camaros is easily over $32,000. and you ask, why is it so expensive? well, this is the first generation of a car with lithium ion technology, and combined with a motor generator and very expensive electronics. it's also a very luxuriously equipped and very, very

well-appointed car. >> mr. lutz, can you make enough of these? do you expect this to be the hot car of the decade? >> well, i think it's the hot car in the decade in terms of introducing new technology and providing a great halo image for general motors and its technology. but in terms of numbers, it will be the most produced electric car probably ever at 10,000 the first year, 50,000 each succeeding year, and it will be exported around the world. but when you put it in the context of, you know, the several million vehicles that general motors produces a year, it's obviously a drop in the bucket. >> mr. bob lutz, great to have you with us tonight. i appreciate your time. i guess i got to say a big congratulations to general motors. there's been a lot of tough news out there in the car industry. this is one great story for america. congratulations. earlier, i asked you what you thought. are the right-wing lies about