what he wants and this mission fails. it will be a triumph for al qaeda, for the taliban. >> pat, you ran for president. you must have a presidential mindset occasionally. what would you do? go in, 100,000 troops, 4,000 more, hold what we have more, or reduce? >> as of right now i would not commit to 45,000 troops general mcchrystal wants. i don't think he has made them the case. i haven't seen it. i think this is the first bet and we're starting up the road to far more and more troops. i don't think ultimately it can be successful and i'm not even sure it would be worth it. >> okay. inside the war-room photo comes here. can watch. two large a group to make a decision. they're all there including the political guys. howard, you've got secretary clinton there, rahm emanuel there, joe biden, the vice president, you've got the president. this is a policy judgment. what do you think is going to happen? >> well, if my eyesight is

correct, i think david axelrod is there, too, as i look at the photo, and he is the political guy. so, yes, this is a political thing. they're not just looking at the boots on the ground and the situation in afghanistan, itself. they're looking at how to define the mission both strategically and politically. joe biden's the key. he said, let's hold the territory. let's not change the nation. >> okay. got to wrap. thank you very much, pat buchanan, howard fineman. this is the hottest issue in our country. right now time for "the ed show" with ed schultz. good evening, americans. welcome to "the ed show" tonight. here in new york on msnbc. three stories have got my hot button tonight. first of all, michael moore coming up in a few minutes to talk about health care with me. this congressman from florida, you are the dude. i got your back on that one, buddy. i got commentary coming up on that. mr. boehner, is your disdain

for barack obama so strong that you don't even want the united states of america to get the olympics? what is wrong with the republicans? is that what ronald reagan would want? i've said it for over two years. the republicans have an identity crisis, and even the most american thing that we could have, pure amateur competition on american soil, the republicans are even against that. all right. now to health care. don't believe all this hype about the public option is dead, the righties are crowing about that because of the votes yesterday. let me tell you something. the public option is not dead. the vote in the senate finance committee came as no real big surprise. it's one committee. there's five of them out there. now the democrats know the landscape. these senators are finally on the record when it comes to true competition for the private sector. this is a process. that's what it is. the process, i think, is picking up steam. all right. we're in the locker room now. we're going into the fourth

quarter. that's about where we are. this friday, this is what's going to happen. this friday the senate finance committee is going to vote on the baucus bill. tip number one from big eddie. don't trust olympia snowe. she didn't going to be there. this is going to be right down straight party-line voting. this is what this is going to be. in a couple weeks the full senate is going to start debate on this health care bill and they're not going home which is good. they should have tried that in august. tim number two here. you know, don't be surprised, folks, at all if the public option is not in the final senate bill. that's not a killer either. harry reid is just trying to get a bill out. he's trying to get a bill out of the senate and get it into conference committee. that's what it's all about. because once it goes to committee, that's when we get down to the nitty-gritty. that's when the real work starts to get done. that's where the fate of the public option is going to be decided. either going to live or it's going to die. the folks in that room, nancy

pelosi, steny hoyer, chris dodd, harry reid, max baucus, you're going to have to count on them heck of a different cloud than max baucus had in the senate finance committee. nancy pelosi hasn't buncheddgedt for the public option. our side can count on one man. we find that out last night. tom harkin is the ted kennedy on this deal. he is every bit as tough as ted kennedy was. here's what he told us on the program last night. >> i believe that when we merge these two bills we will have a public option in there that we will take to the floor of the senate and we're going to pass it. we will have a bill on the president's desk before christmas and it will have a public option. >> notice where all the conservatives are right now. where's obama? where's obama? he's got to save it. wait. hold on. i believe the conference committee is when the president's really going to step in. that's when we'll find out if

the president is willing to go to the firewall for the people to put him in office or to the corporati corporations. 65% of the american people want a public option. that's the latest cbs news/"the new york times" poll. how about this number? 7 75% of those who give the care in the country, the doctors, support a government-run plan, according to "the new england journal of medicine." private insurance companies have seen their profits. this is the number. this is the target, americans. we need some legislation to reel this number in. i'm for profit, but i ain't for gouging 428% increase in profits since 2000 while your premium and my premium have gone through the roof to the tune of about $13,000 a year. heck, you're lucky to even have insurance because of the pre-existing conditions. now, the white house and the democrats, they're watching all of this reaction very closely as this debate comes down to the wire. the base. that's you. that's me. here's what we got to do. stay engaged. senator bob menendez, chairman

of the democratic senate campaign committee says people have to put the heat on the lawmakers now. >> reminded of what adlai stevenson said. when i get the heat at home, i see the light at washington. i hope that 66% of americans who believe that a public option is, in fact, the way to finally create competition and opportunity for them to be covered and their families to be covered. start raising their voices because it's time for that heat to be felt and it's time for action on the floor of the senate. >> all right. i like it, bring the heat, especially in montana, north dakota, arkansas, democrats, get to the end zone on this one by doing the due diligence on those who you put in office an send them to washington. this is all we have to do. stay engaged, get after it. to the text poll tonight. here's the deal. i want to know how you're feeling right now about the future of a public option. more confident? less confident? or about the same? text "a," "b" or "c" to 622639.

a man who has -- i've never met this guy. i've seen him do a lot of interviews, seen all of his films. i still -- my wife and i watch "fahrenheit 911" twice a year and made sure the kids watch as well. joining me now, michael moore, legendary filmmaker, a new one out "capitalism: a love story." it opens nationwide this friday. ed schultz. great to have you with us. i've never had the pleasure. if there's one thing that jumps out at me about your work, it's almost as if you constantly ask americans, what do we stand for? am i on base on that? >> no. and to take that further, actually, my films pose the question, who are we? who are we as a people? and why do we allow the richest

1% in this country to control 95 -- they have as much financial wealth as the bottom 95% combined. this is a democracy. this is not about where the richest 1% get to call the shots. they're lobbyists. they're working every day in washington, d.c. $1.4 million a day they're spending is the latest i heard on the health care lobby. >> doing everything they can to butcher this. there's no question about that. >> our side doesn't have those resources. what we do have is the vote. i agree with you. anybody watching this now in arkansas, in nebraska, in montana, you need to pick up the phone, get on the e-mail tonight and you need to tell these senators to behave like democrats and to support what two-thirds of the american people expect them to do, which is at the very least, at the very least, have this public option in the health care reform bill. >> michael, you have gone so far as to put democrats on notice

saying you will work against them, you will go into their districts and target them to take them out if they don't represent the people. you went so far as to say to president obama this is not a time to desse-sert us, a time te a representative for the health industry and, of course, change. what would you do? use your personal resources to get democrats out who don't vote properly down the stretch? would you target democrats? >> absolutely. >> i will personally help to organize in any congressional district or any state where in the case of a senator, people to find the right candidate in the democratic primary to run against these individuals and remove them from office. this is the deal breaker. there is no compromise on this. the compromise is the public option. what we really want and should have is single payer health care just like every other western democracy has where everyone is covered. the fact we're not even talking

about that is a mistake. as far as i'm concerned. >> that a max baucus issue. he never allows a single payer to come to table and people ended up getting arrested. is this a democratic problem? do you hold out hope any republicans will come on board? right now, not one has signed on to any of the bills at this point. this becomes a democratic problem, does it not? >> yes, it is. i expect the republicans to behave the way we do. that's how we got into the messes we're in to begin with, whether it's the war or whether it's the crash, everything that obama -- i mean, obama's had to inherit these incredible catastrop catastrophes, the poor guy. give him credit he'd want to come in and clean up the republican messes they've created. god bless him for doing that. and, you know, i think he's a pretty nice guy. held out the olive branch to the other side. they smacked it out of his hand. now it's time for him to say, i

wanted to play with you, you didn't want to play with me. the vast majority of americans agree with me, not you. >> i hope it's in his personality down the stretch to talk like that. we'll find out. your production, "capitalism: a love story" you trace it back to your roots. it goes back to the reagan years. this is a sound clip that caught my attention in the movie. >> see that guy standing next to the president? you know, the one that looks like a butler? his name was don reagan, the chairman of merrill lynch. the richest and biggest retail brokerage firm in the world. he took the key position of treasury secretary so he could enact the tax cuts that the rich wanted. reagan then became white house chief of staff as the president started to fade. >> they should give the president what 43 governors have, a line-item veto.

>> who tells the president to speed it up? the man from merrill lynch, that's who. things in america would never be the same again. the country would now be run like a corporation. >> we're going to turn the bull loose. >> i think the message i took out of the entire movie, michael, was this was a generational effort to concentrate the wealth in this country. attack labor. run jobs overseas. you put it together so well. have we as americans been for the last several decades been asleep at the switch? what do you think? >> i don't know so much we've been asleep. i think we've been bamboozled. i think the other side is very, very good at propaganda, they're very good at manipulating people with fear, and they've taken otherwise good people who would make good decisions and convinced them to support their bad decisions. >> one final point i want to make, whether you go after the

democrats, too, you go after tim geithner here. you're not a fan of that guy at all, are you? >> well, no, i think obama, i mean, i think he did the right thing considering -- the large bank, they hire former bank robbers to come in and advise them on how to prevent bank robberies. i think it's smart obama brought in summers and geithner to clean up the mess. who else would be better at it than ones who help create it? >> "capitalism: a love story." michael moore, you're welcome back. i appreciate your time. nice to meet you on the tube on "the ed show." >> thanks for my first appearance here. i appreciate it. >> you bet. thank you. next up, the escalating war in afghanistan. the war council meeting at the white house just wrapped up. i'll get the details from cnbc's john harwood in a moment. coming up, eric cantor says democrats aren't listening to the people back home? he thinks democrats aren't offering families real solutions on health care? >> she needs to get this operation quickly. she has no insurance.

>> existing programs that are out there, charitable organizations, there are hospitals here who do provide charity care. >> i am never going to stop playing that tape. i'll show you the latest from the minority weasel coming up on "the ed show." access to favorite courses chef's meal with pommes frites perhaps a night at the theater with extra special seats

additional hotel night, our treat your world in perfect harmony: priceless look for world on your mastercard to get rewards and offers that matter to you. die quickly? is that actually a plan. we'll debate it later in the show. eric cantor blasts the public option saying the democrats are out of touch for thinking that's what the people want? mr. cantor, we can't wait to show everyone how far out of touch you are, buddy. congressman keith ellis is going to be joining us in the main event. announcer: trying to be good to your heart? so is campbell's healthy request soup. low in fat and cholesterol, heart healthy levels of sodium, and taste you'll love. chef: we're all kind of excited about it.

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welcome back to "the ed show." it's about goals when it comes to afghanistan. what is the right move? president obama met with his national security team this afternoon to try to figure out what is the correct way to handle this mess? the president's top commander there, general mcchrystal, has said he needs more troops, but others, like vice president joe biden, wants a smaller military presence. for more, let me bring in john harwood, cnbc chief washington correspondent, and political writer for "the new york times." john, good to have you on tonight. how long was this meeting and do we know if it was one that was pretty intense? >> well, look, i think this is a very, very intense phase of this process. the president has said, in fact, to when i interviewed him a little over a week ago he said he's going to take his time, get the strategy right before he decides on resources including the number of troops. this is a very, very tough call

for this white house, ed, because the president used to cite afghanistan during the campaign as the right war president bush was ignoring. it's barack obama's war and has to get over of misgivings of democrats that this is a quagmire that may be difficult to win. >> it seems to me the white house has their political gloves on right now. they want to duke this thing out. not going to take smoke from anybody in the political war-room. this is mr. gibbs responding to eric cantor's claims in a "washington times" interview, that obama's afghanistan review is jeopardizes u.ing u.s. troop >> i don't recall congressman cantor saying when general david mckiernan's request for 30,000 additional troops sat on the desk of the previous commander in chief, i don't remember him going to a newspaper on television saying that that commander in chief was endangering the lives of men and women in afghanistan. i would say this to congressman cantor and everybody else.

the american people deserve an assessment that's beyond game plan. >> john, that is the spokesman for the president of the united states. when i heard that today, i thought, gosh, is this obama talking right here? what do you make of that? those are fighting words. >> it was. look, with good reason, any time a commander in chief is considering what resources to devote to a conflict, you can say until he figures it out he's putting troops at risk because he hasn't implemented the best strategy. that happens all the time. cantor's statement is in the catego category of a political shot at barack obama taking fact there is a debate. republicans are with mcchrystal. democrats are wary. vice president biden, one of the reasons he was picked by president obama is because of his expertise on these issues. he's saying pushing back a little bit against hillary clinton who seems to be more forward leaning and closer to where republicans are. we have to heck of an argument. >> if the president commits

40,000 more troops we're in it for the long haul. that's not a short-term plan. what about the timing for a decision? what do you think? >> i think we've got at least a month, maybe two months while the president sifts through this. i think he's not in a hurry to make this call. we'll certainly get it before the end of the year. i think he's in a mood to take his time right now. >> quickly, finally, the president on the campaign trail said he wanted a lot of different opinion, not a bunch of yes men around him. it looks like he got a lot of different opinions in the meeting. >> he's getting it. they talked about the team of rivals. you have a team of rivals. hillary clinton, joe biden, stan mcchrystal and other people making the case. the white house political advisers in also weighing in. >> john harwood with us on "the ed show". thanks, john. dick cheney's daughter, liz cheney, is showing up to dance a little bit late. it doesn't make it any less nuttier if you can put it that way. she's on board with the paranoids who thinks president obama is trying to indoctrinate

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welcome back to "the ed show." time for "psycho talk." a new team player here. a new addition. liz cheney has made the cut. she's jumping on the bandwagon with the righties who are criticizing new jersey schools for allowing kids to sing a song

about president obama. here's what liz had to say about it. >> clearly, this is so inappropriate, and it is very scary. the president who, you know, you watch every speech he gives about national security or foreign affairs, and it's always, you know, sort of blaming america first. there's sort of a self-admiration society going on that spreads out among some of his supporters and i think it's inappropriate and it's, you know, unhealthy for american schoolchildren to be subjected to that. >> oh, brother. inappropriate? scary? unhealthy? give me a break. let me show you the song, folks like liz cheney are all cranked up about. here it is. ♪ mmm, mmm, barack hussein obama ♪

>> oh, we have to fix public education, don't we? it's not like the kids are out there pushing president obama's political agenda. they're talking about equality and obama didn't have anything to do with the performance. and another thing, they sang that song back in february during black history month. i think it's okay to celebrate the fact that we have evolved enough as a country and a society to elect a black president. obviously, not everybody has evolved and liz cheney's in that crowd and she's a little short on memory as well. let's go back to 2006. a group of schoolchildren who survived hurricane katrina went to the white house and sang a song praising president bush and fema. if you can believe it. now, i didn't hear the righties complaining about indoctrinating children back them. liz cheney's only goal, her only goal, is to take down president obama. she'll say anything. she'll try anything to make that happen.

as usual, it puts her in the zone. it's all "psycho talk." coming up, the fight for the public option, well, i told you earlier, this thing's going to come down to nancy pelosi, tom harkin, chris dodd in a room with max baucus. i like those odds. plus, righties on the hill are upset about this guy's call on health care plan. i've got your back, buddy. that story coming up next on "the ed show" plus a debate. um bill--

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progressive. call or click today. welcome back to "the ed show." something about this story i kind of like. democratic lawmaker from florida set off a firestorm when he went to the house floor last night and said this about the republicans and health care. >> here it is. the republicans' health care plan for america. don't get sick. that's right. don't get sick. if you have insurance, don't get

sick. if you don't have insurance, don't get sick. if you get sick, america, the republican health care plan is this. die quickly. that's right. the republicans want you to die quickly if you get sick. >> oh, republican lawmakers, you know, they jumped all over it. they're looking for any excuse to distract from the real issues in the health care debate, so they're going to go after that comment in the middle of the night. today congressman tom price took a break from calling to an end to medicare to demand an apology. >> we request he apologize to our leader. i call on all democrat leaders of the house and all democrat leaders to demand that he apologize. just as one of our members did earlier. >> didn't tom delay say that the democrats wanted to win the white house more than they wanted to win the war on terror? i don't know. maybe -- i don't know, i thought

i heard that. look, i find this outrageous, from the party of death panels, to be fake. congressman grayson did not backdown. unlike joe wilson, he gave his apology on the house floor. >> several republicans asked me to apologize. well, i would like to apologize. i would like to apologize to the dead. here's why. according to this study, health insurance and mortality in u.s. adults which was published two weeks ago, 44,789 americans die every year because they have no health insurance. that is more than ten times the number of americans who have died in the war in iraq. it's more than ten times the number of americans who died in 9/11. i apologize to the dead and their families that we haven't voted sooner to end this holocaust in america. >> you know, folks, i think it needs to be profoundly pointed out tonight that that man did not break the rules. they're trying to compare this to representative joe wilson who yelled out at the joint session

of the congress when the president was speaking "you lie." that was breaking the rules. what this congressman from florida did, alan grayson, he didn't break the rules. he went by the rules. it's interesting how all these righties are so concerned about this. you know, the fairness doctrine? they're worried about freedom of speech being taken away? well, there's freedom of speech. the guy goes to the floor under the rules, gives an opinion. i thought we were still in america. joining me now, congressman anthony weiner of new york. congressman, good to have you with us tonight. >> my pleasure. >> i want to talk at eric cantor with you. he is saying that the democrats aren't with the people. can you respond to that? >> well, i like eric cantor. if he had a plan for dealing with health care maybe he would come on the show to debate it with me. he doesn't have one nor do his republican colleagues. people want this problem solved. not only people who are uninsured but people having

their rates go through the roof. right now, every single year our insurance rates go up $1,000 a year. most americans see that as a republican tact that they're paying. >> did i hear you say you'd like to debate him on this program? can we organize that? can you and i make an invitation to mr. cantor's office? i will give you guys, face to face, we'll go an hour. i'll dedicate an hour with you, mr. weaner and mr. cantor to go at it about health care. you okay with that? >> i would love to do it. i like eric cantor and feel bad for him he has to shop around some of these ideas. when he says at a town hall meeting if you're uninsured, you go to the hospital, they'll take care of it, he must think the bill fairy pays those bills. i admire the idea someone like eric cantor, after six years having republican control of the house, senate and white house, and still this problem gets worse, i admire him saying anything at all. if he wants a debate, as we say

in brooklyn, bring it on. >> let's talk about what happened over on the senate side yesterday. there is conversation. i was in conversation with harry reid's office today. there's a real possibility that the senate may end up with a bill without a public option and then rely on all of it taking place in the conference committee in the final stage when the legislation is actually written. if that's the case, congressman weiner, does this not put pressure on the house to make sure a strong public option comes out of your chamber? >> 100%. nancy pelosi has said that very clearly that there's going to be a public option in it. not just for those of us who think there should be choice, but for my budget hawk colleagues, the only way to reduce the score is to have competition. the congressional budget office, nonpartisan on these things, say if you want to save money you can't just leave it to the insurance companies. we're going to have a strong public option. there's going to be a conference committee. president obama is going to say he wants a strong public option

and that's what the american people are going to get. >> the white house has given the democrats backup as well on this. this is robert gibbs on how the gop does not have a plan. here it is. >> let me tell you, there are a series of two-way streets between here and capitol hill. there are plenty of ways to -- there's plenty of ways to be constructive. we'd be happy to evaluate their comprehensive proposal and provide health care reform to the american people. if you want to get it from them i'll be happy to take it over. >> it's interesting the white house is aggressive on that point, congressman, because your colleague, alan grayson, went to the floor last night and called them out and said the republican plan is to die quickly. do you go along with that? do you agree with him? >> i like this guy, grayson. usually we don't let freshmen speak their first term. we have to get this guy out there more. he was only be slightly ironic. look at what many of the republicans are saying, don't do

anything. don't do anything is a formula for more people dying prematurely, more people being bankrupted. we the taxpayer paying a much higher bill. grayson had it exactly right. i like the idea he used the same overheated language that the republicans have been using at town hall meetings all around the country. what this is about is not just about the people who are uninsured. it's about the rest of us who have insurance who are paying too much for it at higher premiums and too much in it for higher taxes. >> you have no problem with what he said on the floor last night? >> the type of language saying the republicans are this or that, i'll say it right here. the republican party is a wholly owned subsidiary of the insurance industry. i guess they'll want to bring me up on charges next. >> good to have you with us. let's bring in our panel tonight. sam stein, political reporter for "the huffington post." michael medev, nationally syndicated talk show host. let's talk about this comment of

mr. grayson. are you offended, michael medved? the republicans don't have a plan and there are people that are left out there to, you know, go absolutely financially destitute or live with the disease. what's your take on what he said? >> americans are too easily offended. i'm not a fended by it. i don't think it's a constructive contribution to the dialogue. right now this is serious. this is not gamesmanship. it's not ra-ra back and forth. right now there is a good plan on the table. it is called the wyden/bennett bill, co-sponsored by seven democrats and seven republicans. i don't see why everyone is trying to reinvent the wheel. i've had members of the u.s. senate on my radio show talking about this plan that would attempt to move us toward individual control, at the same time you get nearly all americans insured. why not work constructively

instead of calling names? the american people are tired of it. >> he didn't call republicans a name. he said what they're -- what their plan is all about. >> it's not true. when -- >> it is true. ask the lady in richmond who's got tumors in her stomach and got cancer and doesn't have coverage. she was told to get a charity. >> do you really believe, people like congressman cantor, want old ladies to die? >> i'm telling you, michael, right now when americans are faced with a disease and no coverage, they have no options but to naturally fight off the disease but go financially destitute and broke. all the congressman is asking the republicans, do you have a plan to fix this? they don't. >> simply not true, ed. >> it is true. >> i mentioned to you the wyden/bennett bill for one thing. >> the wyden/bennett bill not offered by any republicans. >> it was certainly authored.

it was co-authored by robert bennett of utah. his name's on it. there are 14 other republican plans on the table. the point is, nothing republican support is going to get through. >> the problem i've got with the wyden bill, it still has the fox garden, the hen house, that would be the insurance industry. sam stein, let's talk about mr. grayson. was he over the top or spot on? >> i think the rhetoric will end up disstrablgting from the debate. his message was the one a lot of progressives had been pushing or hoping to push for a while now. we're talking about 47,000 people dying because of lack of health insurance coverage every year. 50,000 will lose their coverage in the next week. i mean, there's a dire aspect to the health care debate i think the democratic party should have inserted into the discussion way in advance. i think congressman weiner's response to representative grayson's remarks arerunning aw.

maybe saying republicans want people to die isn't the best way to frame it. >> sam, what about the public option, now, the votes that took place in the senate finance committee yesterday. i'm told now there's a real good chance there might not be a public option in the senate bill. they're going to take their chances in the conference committee. what pressure does this put on the house to deliver the mail on public option? >> i'm hearing the same thing yourself hearing which is that the pressure really goes to nancy pelosi and then back to harry reid once you get a -- what should happen is a public option should come out of the house. nancy pelosi all but said she can't get a bill without a public option. it comes down to negotiations between house and the senate. then the pressure really goes on harry reid. the republicans have no incentive to work here. they can run out the clock and hope democrats turn on each other and battle each other over the inclusion of a public option. harry reid is going to have to step up to see if anything comes through with public option. my guess is you'll end up with

triggers. >> michael medved, here's my point. there is nothing out there that is going to reel in obscene profits we have seen by the insurance industry over the last eight years and there's nothing there that's going to stop the premiums from going up. until you get competition, guaranteed competition, it isn't going to happen. i'm not confident that the wyden bill does that. >> okay. are you going to guarantee, or is any democratic bill going to guarantee that insurance premiums won't go up? if you look at the logic of this, if you take 30 million new people and you are demanding more medical services from the same number of physicians, of course costs are going to go up. of course premiums are going to go up. that's why the american people are wary of this entire plan. >> no, actually, costs are going to go down because people are going to be healthier. look at it in the long haul and a generational effort to get it done. michael and sam, great to have you on tonight. good discussion on this. the president leaves for

copenhagen tomorrow to make the case for his hometown, chicago. maybe they should get the summer games in 2016. we know he's got a lot on his plate, but this is big for america! how could anybody be against or criticize the president for this? well, i found somebody. in fact, i found two people. the republicans don't seem to get it, that this could be billions of dollars in economic development, hundreds of thousands of jobs. the party, i guess they're against that, too. chicago congresswoman jan schakowsky joins me.

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in my "playbook" tonight, the republican uproar over president obama's trip to copenhagen to support his hometown's bid, chicago, for the 2016 olympics, is almost grounds, well, it is grounds for "psycho talk." the latest comes from house minority leader john boehner. listen to this. >> the president is going to go off to copenhagen, now, when we've got serious issues here at home that need to be debated. >> i think it's a great idea to promote chicago, but he's the president of the united states. not the mayor of chicago. the problems we have here at home affect all americans and that's where his attention ought to be. >> mr. boehner, are you against creating jobs? mr. boehner, would you like to give back the gold medal to the russians that we won at lake placid in 1980? mr. boehner, do you believe in

miracles? gosh. buddy, you need to get with the program. why is boehner rooting against america? he doesn't like obama. holding the olympics on american soil is, number one, only going to help the economy. and you know what? it's going to make us feel good as americans. you know, that real reagan feeling the conservatives used to have in the '80s. an independent study found the games would create $22.5 billion in economic development. between 2011 and 2021, if 315,000 jobs, at the least, maybe up to a million jobs. bring in congresswoman jan schakowsky of illinois whose district includes parts of chicago. congresswoman, how great would it be for the united states of america to get these games and do you think the president is overstepping his bounds by going to copenhagen? >> you know, if you think about

315,000 jobs, that's more jobs than were lost last month. this is an incredible development tool for us. besides, as you said, ed, come on, let's not be party poopers. the united states of america hosting the summer games would be a huge boost economically, but also i think just in our spirit and chicago is the perfect place. you're from the heartland. you know that we're a city that is a welcoming place for people from all around the globe who choose chicago at their home. a place where people are all going to feel comfortable no matter where they come from. >> well, what i do know is that creating jobs is an important thing, and normally when you get something like this, if you track other olympics where they have been for years, the economic impact is much greater than the forecast. are the republicans -- are the republicans, congresswoman, are they just innately against everything that has barack obama's name to it?

>> i don't know. you think boehner has his eyes on rio? maybe he wants to go to rio or maybe to madrid. i don't moe. >> well, i think it's disheart chk because i know there's a lot of hard-working people in chicago who have really banked on this as being a real shot in the arm. how good do you think it would be for just the psych of the country, seeing we've had so much tough economic news here under the bush years and early on into the obama stimulus package. what would this mean between our ears? >> it would be absolutely great. the thing i really resent about what leader boehner has said is that as if it's only about chicago and he think he's the mayor of chicago. this is about team usa. this is about the united states of america hosting those games. so i think it would be a boost for the entire country. people would come from every state to the city of chicago and maybe he doesn't realize we do have beaches where he can lay out and tan as well.

>> well, let's not undersell that, congresswoman. you also have some fantastic salmon fishing on lake michigan. i can attest to that. in fact, i have pictures to prove it. congresswoman jan schakowsky. great to have you with us tonight. thanks so much. i'm bewildered of this story. i really am. i am just so taken that absolutely everything obama does. everything he does is a negative or a political target. they're against job creation. i'll tell you what else the republicans are against. and that's the wage earners in the union, folks, who really need this to happen for chicago. god bless the first family for taking it upon themselves to get involved. there's no political downside to this. that's what being the president is. getting in the game, promoting america. eric cantor thinks nobody is listening to the people at the town halls. may i remind you, mr. cantor, we

have been listening when you told someone to go begging for care? and he's come back with an even more out of touch answer. that's next on "the ed show." access to favorite courses chef's meal with pommes frites perhaps a night at the theater with extra special seats additional hotel night, our treat your world in perfect harmony: priceless look for world on your mastercard to get rewards and offers that matter to you. crunch. wheat thins. that's what's gonna happen here. because you're tasty... with toasty whole grains. (crunch) wheat thins. toasted. whole grain. crunch. have at it. having to go in the middle of traffic

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how you could start saving. you look at the reality on the ground and compare that to what's going on in washington, and there just seems to be a real disconnect. all we're hearing now in washington is the debate about a

public option. which way, how can they get to a public option? that is just absolutely disconnected with what most families in this country are expecting out of their government. >> from the -- i'm astounded corner of the building, from the say-anything crowd, eric cantor claims democrats aren't listening to people back home? i really don't know how cantor can say that with a straight face. it's like he's just baiting me to play this video again. >> i have a very close relative, a woman in her early 40s, she found out that she has tumors in her belly, and that she needs an operation. her doctors told her that they are growing and that she needs to get this operation quickly. she has no insurance. >> i guess i would ask what the situation is in terms of income

eligibility and the existing programs that are out there. because if we look at the uninsured right now, there is probably 23%, 24% of the uninsured that is already eligible for an existing government program. beyond that, i know that there are programs, there are charitable organizations, there are hospitals here who do provide charity care. >> he must have forgot about that town hall meeting. let's see here, now. income eligibility. that's the republican way, isn't it? the fact that 65% of the american people want a government-run program and 75% of doctors want the same thing. that woman's family would certainly like to have some health care reform. she asked cantor for a collusso and thrown statisticed. joining me, keith ellison. this was the issue, the lies

being thrown out there by the republicans. what's the mood on the hill right now as we move forward in the wake of this senate finance committee vote? what's the mood? >> determination. i can tell you that those of us in the house who know that a public option is what the american people need and they said so in poll after poll after poll and doctors then said so. we're committed to make sure the american people get what they want. >> so what is eric cantor's strategy here? just to throw it out there and see how many people are going to believe him? >> you have to say something. it's his job to come up with a sound bite. that's the best he could do. he's the one detached from reality, he's the up in the stratosphere. if the republicans want to oppose reform and health care, let them. the fact is there's a majority in the house and senate going to pass this bill and the white house is there, too. this is going to happen. ed, you getting the word out to the american people on who stands with them is critically important. so thank you for that. >> well, thank