welcome to "the ed show" tonight from new york. the president obama is the first president in american history to support equal marriage rights and republicans are attacking him in full force. this is "the ed show," let's get to work. it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that i think same-sex couples should be able to get married. >> the president makes history standing up for equality. mitt romney is sticking with inequality. >> i'm in favor of traditional marriage between a man and a woman and i don't favor civil union or gay marriage. >> tonight, marriage equality activist john lewis on today's historic statement by the president. david corn on how it all unfolded behind the scenes, and bob shrum on what it all means politically for the president and mitt romney. the countdown is officially on for the walker recall. >> we cannot fix wisconsin as long as scott walker is the governor of this state. >> debates have been announced, democrats are uniting and last

night's final tally is looking bad for scott walker. michele bachmann drops a dual citizenship bombshell. >> i with wish people would take a good look and figure out if they're pro-america or anti-america. >> tonight, an ed show expose. >> i think people would love to see an expose like that. good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. president obama's historic announcement today is also a watershed moment in this 2012 election cycle. the political ramifications, i think, are huge. president obama is now the first sitting u.s. president to endorse marriage equality. >> over the course of several years, as i talked to friends and family and neighbors, when i think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed and monogamous same-sex relationships, and who

are raising kids together. when i think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf, and yet feel constrained, even now that don't ask, don't tell is gone, because they're not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point, i've just concluded that, for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that i think same-sex couples should be able to get married. >> president obama says his position on marriage equality has evolved. the politics of gay rights during this election year has also evolved. 18 years ago, president bill clinton signed the defense of marriage act, opposing government recognition of same-sex marriages. in 2004, president bush kicked off his re-election campaign,

calling for an amendment to the united states constitution making it illegal to marry someone of the same gender. >> today i call upon the congress to promptly pass and to send to the states for ratification an amendment to our constitution defining and protecting marriage as the union of a man and woman as husband and wife. >> even barack obama called marriage the union between a man and a woman during the 2008 presidential campaign. he announced support for civil unions. he supported the repeal of the defense of marriage act. he also pushed for the repeal of don't ask, don't tell. but president obama did not openly support marriage equality until today. last sunday on "meet the press," vice president joe biden got the ball rolling. >> i am vice president of the united states of america. the president sets the policy. i am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marry men, women marrying women, and heterosexual, men and women

marrying one another, are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties. and quite frankly, i don't see much of a distinction beyond that. >> the timing of the president's announcement comes on the heels of an overwhelming defeat for marriage equality in the state of north carolina. last night the state added a same-sex marriage ban to its constitution by a vote of 61 to 39%. north carolina is, count it, 30th state in the nation with legislation to prohibit marriage equality. 11 of those states passed those bans during the 2004 election. mitt romney understands the weight of the moment. he addressed the president's announcement today. >> my view is that marriage itself is a relationship between a man and a woman, and that's my own preference. i know other people have differing views. this is a very tender and sensitive topic, as are many social issues. but i have the same view that i've had since, well, since running for office.

>> two real different positions. two distinctly different positions in this campaign. maybe further apart than ever before in this campaign. this is a major political opportunity for both parties and both candidates. but polls show the trend is on president obama's side. in a new gallup poll, half the country supports legal same-sex marriage. 48% are opposed. looking at an average of all national polls on marriage equality, mitt romney's position is headed in the wrong direction. but mitt romney still needs to win over conservative republicans and they are firmly on the red line. democrats and independents are overwhelmingly support marriage equality. 74% of republicans oppose same-sex marriage. america is evolving on this issue, no doubt, just as president obama is. this is not the same country it was when bill clinton passed the defense of marriage act. this is not the same country it was when john kerry shared

president george w. bush's position on same-sex marriage in 2004. the country now is faced with a 2012 president who says all citizens have the right to be married, regardless of sexual orientation. we'll see how it plays out in november. but for mitt romney, it is also a very big day. all of those social conservatives who have been on the fence and not sure about mitt romney, he made a lot of friends today with the position taken by president obama. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question, do you agree with president obama's endorsement of same-sex marriage? text "a" for yes, text "b" for no to 622639. and you can always go to ed. msnbc.com and leave a comment and we encourage you to do that. tonight i'm joined by cyndi lauper, co-founder of the true colors fund, which raises awareness about the lbgt homelessness in america. she's joining us from george washington university, where she

is receiving an award for her work with the true colors fund. i'm also joined tonight by john lewis. he is the legal director for marriage equality usa. john and his husband were two of the plaintiffs in the original california case to make marriage equality a reality. great to have both of you with us tonight. cyndi, you first. what was your reaction to president obama's announcement today, and how big of a political moment is this in america? >> well, i couldn't have been prouder to be an american, because i believe in equality. i believe in separation of church and state. i'm glad to live in a country where i don't have to have somebody else's religion put upon me, and i feel that gay people pay taxes and they pay just as much taxes if not more than heterosexual married people. and they have just as much right

to get right and be miserable just like everybody else. and i'm very happy that president obama came forth and said that. i'm so proud of our president. he's brave. and our vice president. i thought it was a step in the right direction, especially for the homeless lbgt youths that have been kicked out of their homes by their folks, by their families, and disenfranchised because it makes them less invisible. and i came here tonight to give them a voice. because they don't have one. so i've felt hopeful and i'm proud of them. i'm proud of them. >> an emotional moment, no doubt about it. an emotional moment for many americans tonight. john, did the president satisfy your concerns over this position and the political ramifications of it. your thoughts? >> yeah. well, i am both thrilled and just deeply moved by the president's words today. my husband, stewart and i, this year have been together for 25

years, as a loving and committed couple. we've been legally married in the state of california for four of those years. and it just means the world to us and to many, many, many same-sex couples and lesbian and gay people nationwide that the president of the united states is now standing up for the full freedom to marry for every single american. >> john, do you think this is what the american people want? >> well, i think, politically speaking, it's something very important to look at. we always do, when we evaluate whether to re-elect somebody, is we look at whether they fulfilled their campaign promises. and four years ago, the president promised to be a fierce advocate for lesbian and gay people. today, he truly became one. >> cyndi, what kind of an impact is this going to have on young people in this election cycle? in 2008, president obama was able to really inspire the younger generation to get involved. will this be one of those moments in your opinion?

>> absolutely. president obama -- >> i think this is a big, big, one, yeah. >> okay, go ahead, cyndi. >> no, go ahead. >> sorry. >> president obama said two words over and over four years ago. hope and change. his words today bring enormous home to gay and lesbian people and it represents change. things are never going to be the same after today. >> that's right. >> cyndi, your thoughts. >> and every time now i see president obama, i remember dr. king's words. and i'll always remember that speech growing up. that the arc of history is long, but it bends towards justice, and eventually, eventually if everyone stands up and is counted, we will have equality in a country that boasts freedom for all. >> cyndi, do you think that this is the civil rights issue of our time? >> yes. i've seen -- i grew up in a lot of them. i grew up in the civil rights

for african-americans. i marched in the woman's movement. and i know that it takes everybody. it takes everybody to stand up. gay people, straight people, white people, black people, spanish people, everybody has to stand up and say, hey, enough is enough. you know, and people need to be free. >> yeah. john, i want to ask you about the financial aspect of this. the gay community in america is very powerful politically and also financially. how much do you think that weighed in on president obama's, if at all, on his decision? >> well, i think something that's tremendously powerful about his statement today is, he spoke from the heart. and he really stood up for what he knew was right. perhaps regardless of the political ramifications. and i think the irony of it is, and we all know this as regular people, that when we do what's right, when we no longer have to

equivocate, it gives us tremendous power in our voice. and i think he has done a very powerful thing, personally and politically today. >> cyndi lauper, john lewis, great to have you on "the ed show" tonight. thanks to your reaction for this historical move and this historical moment. no doubt about it. share your thoughts on twitter @edshow. president obama's decision has major political implications for both the president and his opponent. bob shrum and david corn will join me on that. and republican budget cuts have taken a huge toll on public education. i can't get off this story. it's amazing what's happening in america. one school district is on the verge of eliminating programs from art to sports. a teacher from the district has stepped forward and has agreed to talk with us tonight about this dire situation in pennsylvania. i think retails to your school district too. we're right back. juice drinks. because less sugar is a better way to fly. ♪ just not literally.

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coming up, the president's announcement on marriage equality is already firing up conservatives. i'll ask bob shrum and david

corn what it all means for november, if anything. the countdown to recall is on. tom barrett and scott walker are already trading blows. we will have all the big developments from wisconsin, coming up later in the program. and mitt romney just can't get his story straight on anything. wait until you hear what he told hannity last night. share your thoughts on twitter using the #edshow. we're coming right back. [ female announcer ] the road is not exactly a place of intelligence. highway maintenance is underfunded, costing drivers $67 billion a year, and countless tires. which drivers never actually check because they're busy, checking email. this is why we engineered a car that makes 2,000 decisions every second. the new audi a6 is here. the road is now an intelligent place. ♪ mcallen, texas. in here, heavy rental equipment in the middle of nowhere,

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he fired up a progressive base, the younger base. but he also handed mitt romney, in my opinion, a real political gift. because religious conservatives who have reservations about mitt romney now have more reason than ever to support him because they can't substantiate president obama's position. here's romney today. >> i have the same view on marriage that i had when i was governor, and that i've expressed many times. i believe marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman. states are able to make decisions with regards to domestic partnership benefits, such as hospital visitation rights, benefits and so forth of various kinds can be determined state by state. but my view is that marriage itself is a relationship between a man and a woman and that's my own preference. i know other people have differing views. this is a very tender and sensitive topic, as are many social issues. but i have the same view that i've had since, well, since running for office. >> earlier in the day, romney

said, "i do not favor marriage between people of the same gender and i don't favor civil unions if they are identical to marriage. my view is that domestic partnership benefits, hospital visitation rights, and the like are appropriate but the others are not." romney also supports a constitutional amendment defining marriage between a man and a woman. the can demographics of people favoring gay marriage have generally turned in president obama's favor. overall, 53% of americans support marriage equality, including 59% of independents. younger voters overwhelmingly support it while older voters do not. let's turn to bob shrum, democratic strategist and professor at new york university, and david corn, d.c. bureau chief for mother jones magazine, columnist for dailypolitics.com, and author of the new book "showdown." gentleman, great to have you with us tonight. >> great to be here. >> bob, let me ask you, this is another reason for social conservatives not to want obama,

no matter how much they like mitt romney. your thoughts? >> they weren't beginning to vote for obama anyway. look, the fact of the matter is that these folks, anybody for whom this is a single litmus test issue that's going to decide their vote, probably isn't comfortable with having an african-american president in the first place. and they weren't going to vote for obama. i think your demographics are exactly right. we've come a long way since even 2004, when actually i wrote senator kerry's statement opposing a constitutional amendment to ban equality. that was used as a lever. i think we're in a completely different world now. and if you listen to the tone of romney there, he was trying to be very careful. he wants the advantage of having these people on the right with him, but he also is saying, look, i'm reasonable, i believe in hospital visitation -- you know, separate but equal. >> it gives them a reason and they're going to raise big money

off of it. david, the president was reportedly prepared to announce his new position on this situation, but was searching for the right time. explain how we got there. what do you know? >> i've talked to a few people at the white house and obama's inner circles. and what they say is for months he's been thinking about this, and they often repeat to me over and over again that he's been talking to mrs. obama about it. that comes up again and again in these conversations, and that he also saw the same-sex parents of some friends of sasha and malia's and he had more or less resolved one way or another to raise this issue and address it prior to the convention later this summer, where there may or may not be a fight over a platform in the democratic -- a fight over a plank in the democratic platform. but that joe biden's comments o meet the press on sunday forced the the issue. despite what some people say or believe, this wasn't a planned

orchestration, with having biden come out and set up a trial balloon -- >> they were winging it? >> they were kind of winging it in a way. the president was moving in this direction. no doubt biden knew that. no doubt arne duncan and others around him knew that, so they felt freer to talk about this, realizing it wouldn't create too much of a problem. but once biden got out there, one white house obama adviser told me, it got to the point where he just didn't want the confusion anymore. he was heading in this direction. the issue had been joined biden. so he decided to do it now. >> okay. so, bob, is there a campaign financing component to this? i mean, the gay community in this country is very strong, politically strong, and they were ready for this. and they were ready to hold president obama's feet to the fire. to the point where they weren't going financially support him,

which he needs them for citizens united. take us down that road. >> well, most major gay givers were giving money to the president's campaign, but were not heavily in trying to counter rove and the republican super pacs. i think that will change now. but it's not just gays. it's a lot of pretty well-off, wealthy progressives who, i think, seeing what the president did today, ought to get into this, and will get into this. >> ending discrimination? >> yeah, look. i've been in this deal since the 1970s, when my friend first came out of the closet. and in 1980, i was there when senator kennedy had to force a gay rights, a simple gay rights plank into the democratic platform. i think that this year, the democratic party will endorse same-sex marriage, marriage equality in its platform and i think you're going to see a lot of people around the country admire what the president did, support the president, and not let karl rove and these guys who are taking advantage of citizens united create a really difficult situation.

>> let's get reaction from the right. here's tony perkins earlier today from the family research council. >> his statement that he supports same-sex marriage goes a long way in addressing the intensity issue that mitt romney was facing with social conservatives. >> david corn, your reaction to that. what about it? >> well, listen, something has to be done on the republican side to juice up enthusiastic from mitt romney, which has -- >> well, president obama did that. >> yeah, he did do that. and i'm of the view that as much as i support this from a policy wise, i think the politics might be mixed. i mean win understand what bob and others are saying about creating or energizing the youth vote and where independents are on this issue, but at the same time, i think, you know, look at what happened in north carolina, just yesterday, and talking to people close to obama, it's clear to me that they kind of -- that they did not see a clear, obvious, political gain in this move. you know, it may work to their

benefit, maybe by november it will, but it may not. and that ended up not being the primary calculation in what the president did. i think it's very hard to sort out what impact this will have. and those few states that you and i are going to be focusing on between now and november. >> bob shrum, david corn, great to have you with us on "the ed show" tonight. thanks so much. wisconsinites are fired up and ready to go, 27 days before governor scott walker's recall election, lina taylor joins me with the latest. mitt romney claims his party is pro-woman. really? the gop policies tell a much different story. cecile richards, president for planned parenthood, will join me. stay with me. we're right back. ♪ ♪ [ lauer ] this is our team. and unlike other countries, it's built by your donations, not government funding. and now, to support our athletes, you can donate a stitch in america's flag for the 2012 olympic games in london. help raise our flag, add your stitch at teamusa.org.

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for this free information kit, including this... medicare guide and customized rate quote. welcome back to "the ed show." we are just 27 days away from the june 5th recall election of governor scott walker in wisconsin, and democrats seem to be fired up and ready to go. walker has agreed to participate in two televised debates with his the democratic challenger, who won last night, mayor tom barrett of milwaukee. here's part of barrett's full-throttled case against scott walker. >> because scott walker chose to launch his ideological civil war, this state has seen a larger job loss than any state in this country. scott walker, instead of saying home in wisconsin and focusing on creating jobs here has decided that he is going to be a rock star. a rock star to the far right in this nation. and do we want a governor who has to have a legal defense fund?

a criminal defense fund? we do not want that in this state. >> maybe the most animated, mr. barrett has ever been. the main democratic challenger against him was kathleen faulk. endorsed barrett immediately and labor has gotten behind mayor barrett as well. yesterday's primary turnout was the highest since 1952, and anti-walker votes outnumbered pro-walker votes by 55,000. however, no one expected walker's republican primary opponent to win in an upset. so many republicans may have just stayed home. we'll have to see. democrats shouldn't get too complacent over all of these numbers. in the actual recall election, turnout on both sides is expected to be far higher. let's turn to wisconsin state senator lina taylor, who has been on the front lines since day one. she was one of the wisconsin 14 that left the state that pretty much got the ball rolling. you know what's interesting about all of this, lina, and

great to have you with us tonight, is that collective bargaining does not poll very well in wisconsin. and the labor-favored candidate did not win last night. how do you break that all down? what does it mean? >> well, first of all, ed, this is about not just collective bargaining, so to say, it's about whether or not people should have the opportunity to be at the table, whether or not wisconsin with values will be respected, whether or not you believe that government should be transparent and your elected official should be honest and that you can depend on them. that they will not sell us out and do pay for play. that they won't do so many things that would ultimately make you not believe or trust government or to trust that person who is in the gubernatorial seat. so it's about more than that. so even though kathleen, she's a wonderful person.

she did, you know, a great job in her race. it was about more than that for people you have individuals who are concerned about the war on women. they're concerned about the rollback on civil rights and justice issues. so this is about way more than that. >> yes. much broader than what scott walker likes to make it appear to be in the media. he continually complains about union bosses from around the country, trying to oust him when they have spent a fraction of the money that he has rolled in from all over the country. now, this started 15 months ago. this is of historical political proportion for this country. it's only the third recall, and it's the second one in contemporary time. does that motivate voters to get out? i mean, we're now going to get it boiled down to who gets out the vote. isn't that what it's all about? >> that's exactly what it's about. but you know, we're really excited. because we didn't even do

anything to get the vote out yesterday. we actually pulled in the democratic party staff, to come in and be trained yesterday. there was no get out the vote effort. >> so this was organic. >> this was pure momentum. >> so this was sheer momentum and organic. >> that's it. >> okay. so moving forward, you're going to be outspent -- >> but wait a minute. >> go ahead. >> but wait a minute, ed, you've got to know that people were standing in line yesterday to vote. so this is momentum and people were standing in line. this is pure, we want to pick the person who's going to be able to be number one on the kickball team to kick scott walker out. that's all this was, yesterday, momentum. now we're going to get our ground game. >> okay. now, these debates, how important are they? barrett wanted four, walker agreed to two. how in the heck is walker going to go into a debate with a horrible jobs record? it's all about the numbers, no question about that. is this going to be a defining moment? >> well, he asked for two instead of four because he knows he's not a good debater. i did 25 dual appearances with him when he ran for county executive and he's not very good

in that regard. he also knows, he wants to make it seem like milwaukee is horrible and tom barrett is the fault for everything being done in milwaukee. let's be clear. he's only been out of milwaukee, that being governor walker, has only been out of milwaukee for this period of time that he's destroyed our state and taken us backwards. the other time, he was the county executive of milwaukee county. so anything that he's saying is bad, quote unquote, with about what hasn't been done in milwaukee county, really also is a true example of his lack of leadership when he was the county executive. >> all right. >> so i hope that people will remember that. >> and we will see if the shoe drops legally before election day. you never know. he's got a legal defense fund. >> oh, right. meet john doe. >> well, we have spent a lot of time covering this and now we're in the -- i guess turning the hourglass here, going to june 5th. it is the template against citizens united. it is the people against the corporate money, the special interests money. the country is watching wisconsin.

it's going to be a very interesting month. obviously, we will be intensely following this story. wisconsin state senator, lina taylor, always, great to have you with us. >> thank you. >> there's a lot more coming up in the next half hour of "the ed show." stay right here. the effort to describe republicans as being anything other than extraordinarily pro-woman, that kind of effort is totally missing the mark. >> mitt romney tries to spin the republican war on women. but we're not letting him get away with it. cecile richards of planned parenthood is here. republican budget cuts in pennsylvania are devastating public schools. tonight, a pennsylvania teacher is here and he's taking a stand. and michele bachmann's european socialist roots are revealed. >> usually we associate with people who have similar ideas to us. >> tonight, an ed show expose. >> the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. i wish they would.

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welcome back to "the ed show." i want to alert you tonight that this is not a story about a third world country that sometimes has a hard time getting resources to do what it fundamentally should do for its people. this is a story about the united states of america, happening in our country, in many states across this country. as we've been reporting, pennsylvania governor tom corbett's nearly $1 billion of cuts to public education has left schools scrambling, just to keep the doors open. york city school district has until june 30th to close a budget shortfall that now stands at $29 million. school officials are seriously considering a range of options to close the gap, such as requiring staff to work fewer hours during the summer, imposing a 17% property tax increase, and closing the district's two middle schools, combining those grades with the elementary school. 50 teachers have already been laid off and there will be more.

the district is also can considering eliminating programs and positions like guidance counselors, art programs, gym, choir, band, kindergarten glasses, and not all, but some sports. does that sound like america to you? parent and students are fighting back. >> parents are starting a petition they plan to send all the way to the governor's office. >> so far just today, i have about myself, there are other students going around helping, i have almost six pages and there's 28 lines. >> reporter: there's about 170 signatures for drum major mandolin ferrar. her mother planning a booster committee meeting, hoping to up with $400,000 to save the city's music programs. >> no doubt, it is the crumbling of america right before our

eyes. infrastructure falling apart and priorities being totally distorted. i am joined tonight by charles hampel. he's a teacher at hannapin medical school, one of the schools that may be closed in all of this. this is happening in many states across the country. pennsylvania, pennsylvania, a state with a rich tradition and development of this country, is now making a concerted effort to close doors on public education. mr. hampel, i really appreciate you being on the program tonight. what have you been told about the future of your middle school? >> i just want to first say, thanks for having me on. i watched you last night and i felt it was my obligation to come on and talk to not only pennsylvania, but the nation about what we're facing, not just in york city school district, but harrisburg school district, and all urban school districts across pennsylvania. we're facing a closure at our

school. they're looking to close our school, hannapin middle school and also smith middle school. like you already said, they furloughed 50 teachers and we totally expect another round of furloughs to follow. >> what's happening in this country is this is a result of going into two wars that weren't paid for, big pharma, and two rounds of tax cuts that nobody did the math on. and now we're gutting our infrastructure in this country. professionals such as yourself, who's got a college degree, who has experience that works with young children in this country are now being cast aside so the wealthiest americans can live a little bit better. how do you feel about that? >> well, i have to tell you, it's the corbett administration way to devalue teachers, because the you devalue teachers, you're not going to have to pay them any money. i don't know about you, but i do know that no teacher i teach with are living high on the hog.

we don't have big swimming pools and we don't have big cars. we teach because we love our kids. and it's to the point now where teachers are coming in, in our district, in our school, it's like the walking dead. teachers are still coming in. they've been told they've been furloughed. they're teaching, they're buying paper for their kids, and i just think it's a back door way for the corbett administration to dismantle the unions and what we stand for. >> mr. hample, how are kids responding to all of this? i understand there's been one child writing a letter to the governor to the pennsylvania and asking him to come to their school and see exactly what's happening. this is coming from a fifth grader. tell us about that. >> i teacher fifth grade, and i right now have 27 kids in my classroom, which seems big, but

next year, as you already reported last night, we're looking at class sizes between 40 and that. i find it important to keep my students up to date on what's going on, not only with them, but with other school districts and politics and what's going on in the news. every students in my classroom chose to write a letter to governor corbett. one in particular, a letter, a student, and i'll quote here right here. she states in her letter to governor corbett that we may have problems in our homes, but we come to our school with a smile on our face every single day. she also extended an invitation to governor corbett to come to our school and spend a day with us in our classroom, because she feels that their cutting education funding, they're cutting her education opportunities to go to art, to go to music, to go to gym, to have guidance counselors because she's a bad person.

she feels she's being targeted because the kids in inner city schools are bad people. and that's an open invitation to the governor. >> it's doing damage to the kids, there's no question about it. no doubt. >> no question. >> and how do you feel, mr. hample, that you're the problem, the conservatives say you're the problem. you're not doing a good enough job in the classroom, that these kids aren't performing good enough? doesn't that infuriate you? that's the overwhelming narrative we're hearing from the right wing in this country. >> sure. they want to say we're the problem and they're judging our success on student scores. of course, they're also -- the student scores are coming from a state standardized test, where even a child with learning disabilities or severe disabilities, is measured the same way. and in a district like ours, the poorer district, we have a higher percentage of special education students, who are required to take the same test as a student without disabilities.

so even if my students make a gain from a first grade reading level to a third grade reading level in one year, i'm still a failure as a teacher. even though i moved them -- yeah. and, you know, i think a lot of the public -- they don't understand what's going on. >> no, they don't. >> and that's why -- >> and the talking culture that's out there, against education, against public education, against people such as yourself, is really overwhelming at times. mr. hample, i really appreciate you coming on the program tonight. i know you speak for hundreds of thousands of people in your profession, at all levels, elementary, secondary education, across -- everybody knows what you're talking about. it's these damned republicans that just don't understand the value of public education. they want to find fault with everything. they don't find any kind of positive stories at all when it comes to education. and this is the result.

and now you're going to be in a school district that they're expecting, well, heck, you could raise your property taxes 17%. who's in favor of that? >> and that doesn't work. >> and that doesn't work in the school district. >> and it doesn't work because we can't, you know, you raise the property taxes 17%. who's going to want to move there. no one's going to come and move there. so we're not collecting the taxes anyways. >> mr. hample, great to have you with us. ly stay on this story. and i challenge governor corbett of pennsylvania to come face to face with me on this program and explain just what in the hell are you doing to kids. michele bachmann loves america. at least that's what she says. so why is she eligible to run for office in switzerland? find out next on "the ed show." . whose non-stop day starts with back pain... and a choice. take advil now and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. way to go, coach. ♪

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what i would say is that the news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. i wish they would. i wish the american media would take a great look at the views of the people in congress and find out, are they pro-america or anti-america. >> well, your wish is my command. we all know michele bachmann loves america more than anybody else. we know she would never trade in her freedom and liberty for some kind of european-style socialism. that's why i find this news to report tonight slightly confusing. take a look. >> republican u.s. representative michele bachmann, a former white house hopeful, and a favorite of the conservative tea party movement, has a new political option. she can run for office in switzerland. >> holy smokes! it turns out the reason bachmann can run for office in switzerland is because she is now a swiss citizen. way to go, europe! you see, bachmann's husband, marcus, is of swiss decent, good for him, which makes his family eligible for citizenship.

according to bachmann's office, the bachmann's kids wanted to apply for dual citizenship, so the whole doggone family went through the process. bachmann spoke to swiss tv to announce her defection. >> i understand you have been to switzerland a lot. what's your favorite place there? >> oh, goodness. you know, i really have to say that i love going to the brensy and the toonsy. it's beautiful. but also my husband's home. >> i guess visiting mitt romney's money has not been on her most recent itinerary. look, the congresswoman is now eligible to vote in swiss elections. however, she wouldn't be able to enjoy the benefits of the country's health insurance mandate unless she lives there. but, congratulations, switzerland, she's all yours. you know what i think? i think president obama should go for dual citizenship, to see if the righties will go along with that. their silence is ominous on this

issue, isn't it? michelle, you're not a turncoat, are you? next up, women's health is under attack in arizona. cecile richards, president of planned parenthood will weigh in. stay with us. wake up! that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum.

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ed show survey tonight. do you agree with president obama's endorsement of same-sex marriage? 88% of you say yes, 12% of you say no. coming up, mitt says the gop is pro-woman, but their policies are anything but that. cecile richards of planned parenthood joins me next. stay with us. ♪ ♪ i can do anything ♪ i can do anything today

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one thing has become crystal clear. mitt romney's only strategy is to lie. first he's taking credit for the automobile industry's success and turnaround. now he's claiming nobody is more pro-woman than the republican party. here's what he had to say with hannity last night. >> the effort to describe republicans as being anything other than extraordinarily pro-woman, pro-opportunity for women of america, pro-moms, pro-working moms, pro-working women, look, that kind of effort is totally missing the mark and people understand that. >> he's so forward, he's stumbling, mumbling, fumbling. lying is just another way for romney to get those republican talking points across. but republican policies, don't they tell a different story? yes. it's a coordinated effort by the gop to chip away at women's rights. what about family planning? and, of course, access to preventative care. mitt romney had this to say. >> of course you get rid of obama care.

that's the easy one. but there are others. planned parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. >> let's turn to cecile richards, president of planned parenthood. great to have you with us tonight. how offensive is it that mitt romney is trying to say that the republican party is pro-woman, with when we know exactly what the issues are? >> i think exactly what you've just listed, it kind of speaks for itself. we've seen the last 18 months as sort of repetitive effort all across the country to end women's access to care and to preventative care. we saw that again in arizona just last week, and in texas where governor perry's already cut off preventative health services for more than 150,000 women. i think the thing that's really worrisome, though, and you sort of alluded to it there, is that the policies we're seeing now in texas and arizona, where women are losing access to birth control, losing access to cancer screening, this is what mitt romney has promised to do for the entire country.

>> so how much of a fraud is mitt romney to purport the idea that the republican party is very pro-woman? >> well, look, i'll say this, planned parenthood has millions of republican supporters. a lot of our planned parenthood chapters were started by republicans. i was just in arizona, where the goldwater family was -- you know, peggy goldwater, co-founder of planned parenthood. it's not republicans, it's the politicians that are right now running for office. and we saw that in the republican primary, unfortunately, where every candidate was trying to outdo each other for being worse on women's health care and unfortunately mr. romney is going right along with them, pledging to not only get rid of planned parenthood, but to end the health care services for 5 million women of this country. a program that was signed into law by richard nixon, a republican president. >> absolutely amazing. and it's just amazing how access to health care has become a partisan issue and women are at the core of this entire thing. and it is about discrimination. would you go so far as to say that the republican party and mitt romney are willing to discriminate against women when it comes to health care?

>> again, i really want to distinguish the party from mr. romney. because i think there are a lot of republicans who support planned parenthood, who support women having access to health care services. i think what's really sad is to see folks putting politics ahead of women's health care access. i mean, in texas, again, women have lost access to preventative cancer screenings for breast cancer and cervical cancer. and mr. romney's promised to do that now, all across the country, if he's elected president. that's what's really disturbing. >> cecile richards, great to have you with us tonight. thanks so much. >> thanks for having me. >> you bet. that's "the ed show." i'm ed schultz. "the rachel maddow show" starts right now. good evening, rachel. >> thanks, ed. today was an historic day in civil rights in this country. >> i've always been adamant that gay and lesbian americans should be treated fairly and equally. and i was sensitive to the fact that for a lot of people, you