it. the meeting under way, we'll have to see what comes out of it. >> nbc's kristen welker, thank you. >> thfnlgts. >> and thank you so much for watching. coming up right now "the ed show" with ed schultz. good evening, americans, and welcome to "the ed show" live from new york. we're not shut down, and we don't default. let's get to work. ♪ oh, oh, ho, ho, it's magic, you know ♪ >> what do you need in order to reopen the full government? >> i don't want to put anything on the table. i don't want to take anything off the table. >> we're satisfying the koch brothers, but millions of people in america are suffering. >> the bros before hmos. >> my republican friends should take yes, sir for an answer. >> hell no you can't! >> if you were really great and powerful, you would keep your

promises. >> what we want to do is offer the president today the ability to move. a temporary increase in the debt ceiling. >> there is very little time left. >> the magic man. now you see me, now you don't. >> will you reopen the government if the president doesn't agree to anything -- >> if ands and buts were candy and nuts, every day day would be christmas. >> pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. oh, yes, that famous line from "the wizard of oz." you know what we found out today? we found out today that this guy right here, the man behind the curtain, he is actually the scarecrow. he is looking for a brain. he can't find one. this was about the stupidest move the john boehner could have made today, because what he did coming out with this compromise he is calling it or proposal or chance for the president to move

on something, what he did is he came out and talked about what really americans aren't too concerned about right now. what americans are concerned about is getting to work. ending the shutdown. but boehner had nothing on the table because he doesn't care about federal workers. they're nothing but bargaining chips on the table. he doesn't care about the middle class. he doesn't care about jobs. he only cares about power and satisfying these two wizards. the koch brothers. the big story at this hour, president obama is currently meeting with house republicans. should i say a selected number of them, because the rest of them must hate the guy terribly. and of course they're talking i think about the shutdown and the debt limit over at the white house right now. of course, the backdrop is a very lame offer by the republicans today. and this, of course, is a live shot of what is happening over there, the stakeout camera, if anybody comes out and says anything, we will certainly bring it to you live here on

"the ed show." meanwhile, john boehner making hay today. or at least he is trying to. he has decided to put off the impending debt limit disaster. he is going to ask his radical republican caucus for a short-term extension of the debt limit. >> what we want to do is offer the president today the ability to move a temporary increase in the debt ceiling in agreement to go to conference on the budget for his willingness to sit down and discuss with us a way forward to reopen the government and to start the deal with america's pressing problems. >> so boehner is trying to show the american people that if boehner makes a move at all, that obama is really the bad guy. the president certainly is not willing to sit down and talk about anything unless he gets it his way. here is the read. there is no deal here.

there is no compromise. there is no meeting anybody halfway. today's move from boehner does not address the shutdown. that's the bottom line. boehner's current offer kicks the can down the road in asking for a six-week extension on the debt limit. look, they created this shutdown. they created the problem. they now have to fix problem number one before we go to problem number two. stay strong, democrats. it's important to note that during the house republican six-minute press conference today, the word obama care was never mentioned. i thought the shutdown was all about defunding obama care. well, they've kind of shifted again. and they shifted because they got this letter, a letter that was titled "dear senator." dear senator, senator from where? all of you son of a guns better attention to what we're saying. we're the koch brothers.

yeah, the letter to senate republicans from the koch brothers is why we have seen a little movement. you see, on wednesday, koch industries said that they were not involved in any plot to shut down the government in an attempt to defund obama care. and according to one republican consultant, coke officials warned lawmakers default over obama care would be, quote, a disaster for the economy. well, ironically, boehner just happened to come out today and throw this bone out there. he wants to move on an extension. pretty clear who is running the republican party, at least today charles and david koch are running it. it obe the drugster, it could be the tea partiers, it could be paul ryan. it's never boehner. but yesterday the letter got somebody's attention. so boehner moved on it today. the koch brothers know that obama care is popular, they are losing in the arena of public opinion. so let's move to something else. according to the latest gallup poll, republican favorability is at an all-time low at 28%.

lower than whale manure on the bottom of the ocean. democrats are sitting at 43%. and i think it's pretty clear that the democrats are in a real position of strength here. they just have to realize it. i think that the koch brothers are basically saying drop this obama care thing because the big picture is the big three. this is what we've always wanted to go after the advertisements, the earned benefit programs. republicans think that having a six-week delay that they can swing public opinion against the president, it ain't about the president. it's about people who are sitting home and not working. this leaves them plenty of time to go after the targets that they have always wanted, social security, medicare and medicaid. that's what they want. that's what this is all about. now, if republicans attack the big three, it will just be another unpopular position that they have taken. this is why democrats have got to stand strong and not cave for

a second. to any demands or proposals that boehner has brought to the table. bottom line, this guy has the divided caucus. harry reid doesn't have a divided caucus. nancy pelosi doesn't have a divided caucus. this is a moment where the democrats are severely in a position of strength. it's about the shutdown. and until this guy addresses the shutdown, we don't move. that should be the democratic position. get your vote on the cr and let's move on with business. issue number two for the democrats. it's a one-year debt limit extension. nothing less. you have the cards on your side of the table, democrats. you got the people behind you. and you got to push hard on this and make them understand that they lost the election. bottom line here is it's a very smart move by president obama and the democrats to say we want a debt limit extension for one year.

hmm, what's the date today? we're almost to the middle of october. one year from now, what are we going to be talking about? well, it's going to be the success of obama care, but thing is some election coming up in november of next year. do you really think that the republicans want to be sitting here a year from now talking about whether the country is going to pay its bills or not. do you think that's going to be popular for them to go home and say hey, i'm in this town hall with all you wonderful constituents. by the way, i think we've got a problem with the debt limit, and i'm against obama, and we're not going to pay our bills. that isn't going to fly. this is why the democrats have all the strength right now. what he did to the democrats today is about the best thing that could have ever happened. again, he is trying to hoodwink people out there across america that president obama is the problem. they created the shutdown because they hate what we all decided on, obama care. he's got the votes for the cr. his own caucus is saying that. he won't bring to it the table. now he throws out this phony what he calls proposal and

compromise. oh, we'll extend the debt limit for six weeks. that's hogwash. that's bulman newer is what that is. stand strong, democrats. the country is with the progressives. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question. should democrats take boehner's short-term offer? text "a" for yes, b for no. we'll bring you the results later on in the show. now keep in mind this whole thing is framing the bigger argument to get the president in a position six weeks down the road to go for a grand bargain so they can chip away at the entitlements, chip away at the earned programs that you and millions of americans have been satisfied with and paid into for years. for more on all of this, let's turn to our favorite, senator bernie sanders, independent out of vermont. my favorite because this man is

always for the workers. senator, good to have you with us tonight. >> good to be with you. >> your thoughts on what boehner did today. >> well, i think you are absolutely right. he is attempting to hoodwink the american people with the short-term solution which is totally unsatisfactory. the position of the democrats has got to be end the government shutdown. mr. boehner, have a vote, a fnd y and if you have a vote, the government will reopen. the other point that you made, which is very, very important, ed, is to understand that obama care is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what these guys really want. it's not just repealing obama care. they have an agenda put together by the koch brothers who are worth some $70 billion, and other billionaires, and this is what their agenda is. their agenda is over a period of

time end social security. privatize social security. voucherize medicare. give seniors an $8,000 check. and when they have cancer, that will last for at least two days. make savage cuts in medicaid. ed, what part of their agenda is not simply raising the minimum wage, they want to eliminate the minimum wage. get government out of that area. no floor on wages that are paid in this country. people will work for 3 bubs an hour. eliminate the environmental protection agency. the department of energy, the department of education. people think i am kidding. i am not. that is the agenda, and there are hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars behind that agenda. >> senator, republican party exposed. the influence of the koch brothers goes much farther than what i think average americans were consuming on this subject. >> right. >> i mean, when they write a letter and i says "dear

senator", that is an open letter to those who make decisions that this is the way the world is going to turn. i mean are, they running the republican party, and ironically, boehner just steps out the next day and says okay, we'll extend the debt limit for six weeks? >> ed, because of this disastrous supreme court decision called citizens united, people like the koch brothers have already and will in the future, unless we change that, be able to suspend hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars on campaigns. they established their funding helped establish the tea party in the first place. 10 when they speak, people obviously listen. because they can determine the future of the republican party. >> paul ryan wrote in an op-ed recently yesterday in fact. he says to break the deadlock, both sides should agree to common sense reforms of the country's entitlement programs. now, when i read that, it's like the election didn't take place.

it's like you better take -- you better take the reforms that we were pushing, even though the other guy won. >> and here the irony. paul ryan himself ran for vice president. he lost by five million votes. and now he says do what i wanted to do during the campaign. and here is, you know, here is the point to understand. what these guys will want to do now is to continue to keep the government shut down unless obama negotiates cuts in social security, the so-called chained cpi, cuts in medicare, savage cuts in medicaid. that is what the plan is. and you know what? they lost the election for good reasons. that is not what the american people want. >> if the democrats give them this six-week extension on the debt limit without reopening the government, all it's going to do is play into the narrative that they want to blame president obama for not being a negotiator. they want to say that the

democrats have spent way too much money. well, forget about the wars and the tax cuts, and rope americans in a six-week period of believing that it's all obama's fault, and he is the problem. now, moving from that, how do you think, senator, should the liberals and the progressives in this country move forward against this wall of really new obstruction that is out there? >> well, two things. i think we've got to be absolutely strong, and i think harry reid deserves a lot of credit for being strong and for being tough. the second thing that we need to do, ed, is we need to come forward with an agenda that makes sense to the american people. it is clear the american people do not want cuts, social security, medicare, medicaid. if you want to deal with social security you know what you do? you lift the cap. >> yeah. >> so that people who are making millions of dollars will start paying their fair share into the social security trust fund. then it lasts for another 75 years. >> and that pencils out the

solvency big time. >> they want to discuss entitlements, let's discuss lifting the cap. second thing we need to do is bring forward an agenda which talks about creating millions of jobs, rebuilding our infrastructure, dealing with the crisis of global warming. raising the minimum wage, dealing with pay equity, making college affordable. right now the american people are sitting there and they're saying these people are crazy. they're talking about whether we're going to pay our bills or not. meanwhile, i don't have a job. we've got to rally the american people around an agenda that speaks to their needs. >> i think john boehner tonight proved that he just doesn't give a damn about workers. >> absolutely. >> that federal workers are nothing but bargaining chips and a big ideological fight. he has no concern for the middle class, no concern for the hardship for what people are going through right now. >> it's not only the federal workers who are not getting a paycheck. think about what that's do to their lives. it's tens of millions of people. it's veterans. it's head start kids.

it's senior citizens who are meals on wheels. we have to stand with them. if we do i think the american people will be behind us and we can defeat these guys. >> senator bernie sanders, good to have you with us tonight. thank you so much. remember to answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen. we love it when you share your thoughts with us on twitt twitter @edshow and facebook. we all of the sudden want to kn know what you think. still to come, it's how a natural disaster in the upper midwest could bring down tea partiers across the country. but first, dancing on the debt ceiling. gop denial hits an all-time high. we'll bust more republican lies after the break. stay with us. we're coming right back. [ banker ] sydney needed some financial guidance so she could take her dream to the next level. so we talked about her options. her valuable assets were staying. and selling her car wouldn't fly. we helped sydney manage her debt and prioritize her goals,

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time now for the trenders. "the ed show" social media nation has decided, and we are reporting. this is where you can connect with us. and we appreciate it. here are today's top trenders voted on by you. >> i'm not afraid. >> i'm not afraid either. >> the number three trender, high strung. >> 12 people suspended in midair for three hours. >> a real glitch hits an amusement park. >> a glitch caused the computers to go into safety mode, which then locked the ride in midair. >> a glitch is when in the pulldown menu you can't specify male or female. >> this has got to be one of the scariest things for somebody to go through while they're on a roller coaster. >> there is still no end to the computer glitches that are slowing everyone down. the number two trender, count on me. >> less than ten americans have signed up for obama care? >> it's a very small number. >> a congressman has number

trouble. >> and so far they have people in the single digits that have signed up. >> what the heck. >> single would be less than ten. >> where did you learn to count? and today's top trender, red flag. >> you need to convince me of why we do need to raise the debt limit. >> a failure to increase the borrowing limit could seriously damage the global economy. >> republicans spread debt limit denial. >> the democrats are scaring people, saying we might not pay. >> the default is when you can't service your debt. we have enough money coming in. >> if you don't raise the debt ceiling, what that means is you would have a balanced budget. >> insane, catastrophic, chaos. these are some of the more polite words. >> hitting the debt ceiling doesn't equal default. >> joining me tonight, congressman jim moran of virginia. congressman, good to have you with us. do these tea party members of congress believe we will actually avoid default or are they intentionally misleading the public?

>> ed, they don't know enough to know what they don't know. but the landscape is shifting. it's shifting away from these knuckleheads who don't understand the way our international financial system works, the fact that the millions of checks that the government has to send out are all computerized. you just can't stop that. when i say the landscape is shifting, i suspect we're going to have a deal tomorrow, or at least one that the house republican leadership wants where they may bring a clean debt ceiling increase to the house floor. but it would be decoupled from the government shutdown. >> would you support that? >> no. i don't. and the reason i don't, ed, is that i think they have heard from wall street, and they don't want to incur wall street's wrath. now, there are tens of millions

of people who also would be hurt by a debt ceiling default. i suspect that's not their motivation, though. i think they heard from some of the bondholders and the big hedge fund managers and the like, and wall street said don't do this. so they're not going to -- they're going to try not to do it. the problem is if you don't open up the government, we know that there are millions of people being hurt by the government shutdown. the whole american public is being hurt. it really needs to be coupled with opening up the government. if they'll open up the government, if they'll raise the debt ceiling, then we can talk and we can start to move forward finally. >> and that is the key point. will the democrats hold the line that we're not going to do anything until you open up the government, and then we'll talk debt ceiling. is that where the caucus is right now? >> i hope. this is just happening as we're talking. >> sure. >> i think that's where the caucus will be. and i think in the senate, harry reid is going to say no. and even the republican senators are going to say no, we can't

decouple this. we've got to do both things at the same time. the senate obviously is there. you know, its original purpose was to keep the house in line. and finally, it's going back to its original purpose of showing some common sense. so i think there is going to be bipartisan resistance on the senate side. but i do think the house leadership wants to increase the debt ceiling alone. and i would hope that that would be resisted enough to either keep it off the floor or to be defeated in a rural vote. >> it just appears to me that the republicans are so wrong-headed on this with the public tanking in the polls that boehner had to come out with something to give him a fresh set of talking points and try to reverse the blame, get the mojo back, and say see, it's really president obama. we have moved on something. and try to convince the american people we have compromised. compromised on what? the bottom line is he has the power to do something about it. all of you have been saying that. i think the country understands it. but what it comes down to is

really the ball is in the democrats' court right now. you have all the momentum. you have the people behind you. if there is a crack in the democratic caucus, this is going to create new problems, wouldn't you think? >> oh, absolutely, ed. you're absolutely right. and basically, what they would do is just bring us back to the starting point. we still have a government shutdown. but, you know, i'm not sure that speaker boehner is that influenced by public polls. i think the real poll that matters is the contributor base to the republican party. >> what do you make of the -- >> and they're getting nervous, i suspect. >> congressman, what do you make of the involvement of the koch brothers? they send a letter. and after this gets there the next day, boehner comes out with this. it's very clear that they have insurmountable power with the republican caucus. >> ed, i was told by somebody that was one of the original founders of the hedge fund industry. he told me the koch brothers have 500 daily traders

manipulating stocks, buying and selling all the time. they have an enormous interest and it's almost a controlling interest particularly if they can control their republican leadership. so a lot of stuff goes on behind the scenes. much of it we have to speculate about. but i think that the public's interest is not necessarily what is motivating what the republican leadership has in mind now. it's a good thing that they would raise the debt ceiling. and i want to applaud them for agreeing to do that. but i don't think the debt ceiling should be raised without coupling it with a similar bill that would open up the government so employees could go back to work. >> and finally, congressman jim moran of virginia here with us tonight. finally, would you vote if they open up the government in the shutdown, would you go along with the six-week extension of the debt limit? >> yes, i would. yeah. i don't want to do that. i think it should be at least a year.

>> okay. >> but, you know, you have to compromise. let's just at least keep moving forward. if we stop in our tracks, you know, there is going to be chaos. and we can't allow that to happen. just too many people that would be hurt by a debt ceiling default. >> direct question, direct answer. thanks, congressman. i appreciate it so much. jim moran with us tonight on "the ed show." up next, cattle prod? we'll explain how a perfect storm of politics and nature are making the breadbasket of the tea partiers regret their political pride. plus, in pretender cnn blitzkrieg, the captain of the so-called best political news team around goes to war against obama care. but next, i'm taking your questions. ask ed live, ahead on msnbc. we're right back. [ woman #1 ] why do i cook?

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wayne. he wants to know wouldn't a short-term deal just have us in the same position again in a few weeks? absolutely. but it would buy boehner time to convince the american people the independents, or whoever he thinks is going to be following the republican party, it would give them more time to position them better against the president and make the president the villain run his numbers down even further and maybe win over a few people. the big thing is they're going after the big three, they're going to need time to do that. our next question is from aria. are the republicans in congress going to act this stupid every time we have a black president? >> stupid? i think the word would be spiteful. i don't know. they are a party right now that doesn't have a whole heck of a lot of diversity, and they really don't seem to be too concerned about that. they're more concerned with suppressing votes and attacking women's rights and voter rights and all of those kinds of things

and gerrymandering. i really don't think they're too concerned about having another black president. they think in the big long-term game plan, they can prevent that. stick around. rapid response panel is next. i'm sue herera with your cnbc market wrap. the dow surged 323 points as lawmakers appear to be on the verge of some sort of compromise to avoid a government default. the s&p gained 36. the nasdaq was up 82. new claims for jobless benefits hit a six-month high last week, up by 66,000. and a sign that the housing market is improving with foreclosure filings down 27% from a year ago. and hershey is launching its first new candy line in 30 years. the carmel creams will be called lancaster. they will hit shelves by january of 2014. that's it from cnbc. we are first in business worldwide.

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thanks for watching tonight. this is a story that is a little bit off the beaten path. the tea party in this country thrives in rural america, middle america. you know, where folks tend to vote for the shrink the government republicans who will take a hatchet to any budget they can get their hands on. so we have all this dysfunction going on in washington. nobody can decide on anything. now we have this devastating early fall blizzard in the middle of the country. well, what has that done? it has created the perfect storm in the plains of middle america. it shines the light on the dangers of voting against your own self-interests. >> it's like a war crime thing almost. you never see piles like that of death everywhere of that magnitude. >> it's a disaster. and the government's hands are

tied. since the old farm bill expired at the beginning of the month, there is no current livestock disaster program available, and some individuals might be on their own. >> what? you mean the folks in middle america who vote for the tea partiers are being hung out to dry? their cat really dead because of a disaster? ranchers, you see, they have no federal help right now. remember, even before the government shutdown, republican extremists injected their ideology into places it really didn't belong. case in point, the farm bill. come on, the farm bill was something that everybody could agree on, both side of the aisle. they knew they were going to get it. they might have had a few sticking points here and there, but then we always had a farm bill. the 2008 farm bill. when did it expire? not long ago, october 1. after republicans, of course, spent months holding the bill hostage, demanding that we slash billions of dollars from food stamp programs across america.

now, under the farm bill, when it was active, ranchers affected by disasters like this could apply for relief under livestock indemnity programs, and get paid a portion of the market animal's value. but of course we don't have a farm bill. we don't have people who can get along. we're spending too much money. now, at this point, even if we had a farm bill, the government shutdown means that they couldn't have done anything anyway. totally paralyzed across the board. so rural america, let me ask you tonight. how do you really feel about the tea party? how does it feel to have those cattle out in the field dead and now starting to disease, and you have to remove them. and oh, by the way, the local fsa office is closed. what is that? that's the farm service agency office that takes care of all of this stuff when it comes to recording disaster. well, they've been furloughed. so what does that mean for folks in america's breadbasket?

>> mcintyre says unless anything gets done soon with the federal government, fema, and assistance, he expects a lot of producers are going to be out of business. >> short of insurance, you know, producers are pretty much on their own. the state is trying to do what they can. but realistically, the state can't bankroll this type of a loss. reports are saying from 5 to 20% of all cattle in western south dakota may have been lost with this. >> did he say out of business? wow. i thought the republicans were all about small business, all about the guys out on the prairie who vote them in to cut them federal budgets. some estimates say that as many as 75,000 head of cattle are going to be lost. the u.s. department of agriculture's website, where farmers affected by the storm could find information, looks like this. the farm service agency which files the paperwork dealing with loss, as i said, well, they've got as will of their own. their offices are furloughed.

so the employees are in resources -- well, they're simply not there. you see, fema, one of the republican party's favorite targets could be crucial to the recovery for this region. instead, these ranchers who provide food across america and food security, well, you know what? they're just on their own. they've lost their herd. they lost their livelihood. and possibly,s that reporter said, they could be going out of business. johnny lost the farm, fourth generation, and the tea partiers, they just keep voting in those psychos that just want to get rid of government across the board. you know what this is? this is red america. this is in a red state where many ranchers vote for these reckless budget-slashing republicans, these tea partiers are the ones who complain about welfare queens and pork programs. now, i would venture to say they'd like to have that storm back. i'd venture to say they could probably use a little federal

support right now. but of course today john boehner didn't address the shutdown. he addressed the debt ceiling. now what do you think in middle america? is this the way you want your country to look? now, this is an obscure story. here i am in new york city. i bet nobody in new york city is thinking about this. it's one of these middle of the country flyover places. well, you know what? you want to go down to your local steak house here in new york city? you know where all the prime beef comes from from? where all those cattle are laying dead in america. joining me now, our rapid response panel, clarence page of the chicago tribune. ej dion of "the washington post," and katrina vanden heuvel of the nation. katrina, you first. i suppose we could go down the list and find story after story after story of what the shutdown has done to the american system and the american people. >> i think you could step back. we've seen a many decades campaign to demonize government, as if government can do no good. as if government can't lift up

people. we're now living at a time when 95% of the economic gains of the last few years have gone to 1%. no boats have been lifted by cutting taxes, smaller government, deregulation. in fact, we're losing the social mobility that made the american dream. so you got part of this country, ed, that needs to remember that the great civilizing reforms of the 20th century are embedded in their lives, their families' lives. you talk about the farm bill. think of social security, medicare, medicaid. the agencies that keep our children's water and food clean. so i think we got to remember that and tell the tea party, you know, we're in this together. and stop tackling good government workers. tackle those overpaid, undertaxed ceos and wall street. focus our ire on not denouncing government, but recapturing it for the common good and shared prosperity. we can speak that way. and in new york city, ed, we lived it when this city was ravaged, as was new jersey, parts of vermont by hurricane

sandy. >> exactly, exactly. >> clarence page, you think that events like this can change people, how they think politically? >> especially if people put into context. you know, the farm bill is misnamed because most of the money goes to food stamps, which the right wing views as a give away. but it's actually helps people to eat, working people, as well as folks who are in poverty. and it also helps the farm industry. because it helps more of their products to be sold. it helps the grocers out there. everybody wins. i remember and e.j. remembers the late bill gray when he was democratic whip. he used to call it day care for cows because it was the kind of bill that covered urban people, suburban, and rural people. everybody benefitted. and what now the new right-wing rhetoric breaks it apart and acts like this is some terrible subversive giveaway. and you see the results. this is one example here as far

as farm disaster relief. >> it is. >> there are some places where government is necessary. >> republican senator john thune of south dakota is asking for fsa agency employees to be deemed as essential so that they can go back to work. and it's just another piecemeal approach. but e.j. di jvmj. dionne, this a party at work, isn't it? >> i did a show with bill cohen, the moderate republican in maine, and he told me it keeps coming back. it was after a terrible airplane crash. and people who sometimes condemned regulation were asking where the safety regulators were. and what bill cohen said is government is the enemy until you need a friend. and i think that's exactly what we're talking about here. it's quite possible that folks in some of those towns had been opposed to government in general and voted along those lines.

and yet they assume that when they fell on hard times that were no fault of theirs, they didn't cause this blizzard, the government would there to help them out. not bail them out, but just put them back on their feet. and i think we have to stop thinking that every form of government. >> every form is bad. >> is a handout or dependency. >> they brush everything to get rid of it. your quick take today on what has unfolded with boehner's move. katrina, what do you think? >> i think it's cynical, and i think this government can't be run in this jump-start way. they just want more time so they can go about continuing to demonize the role of government. so i think we need a better answer. and the danger is, ed, they're going to cut the very programs i was just talking about, those that have made this a more civilized country. instead of cutting social security, we should be expanding it. we should be building out obama care, a program that they are terrified will be so successful that they've just spent the last year defunding, degrading, and

now trying to repeal anti-democratically. >> clarence, what do you think? >> i'm so happy to see boehner and the rest take some move in the direction of common sense. i ham hesitant to criticize this as cynical, but there are cynical elements they are focused on the debt ceiling and not on the shutdown. they need to restore everything. >> e.j., isn't this a time for the democrats to be strong? are they in a position of strength? >> i think they are. i think this is a sign that john boehner knows this has been a terrible strategy. the republicans are going down in the polls. and he's got to change the story line. he keeps laying track in front of the train. >> yeah. >> as it goes down the tracks. and i think that obama is desperate to get that debt ceiling raised. but to keep the government shut at the same time seems a very strange idea. >> e.j. dionne, clarence page, katrina vanden heuvel, great to have you on the "ed show." thanks. coming up, this business is

taking on the big chains, showing them how to treat employees the right way. stay with us. how are things with the new guy? all we do is go out to dinner. that's it? i mean, he picks up the tab every time, which is great...what? he's using you. he probably has a citi thankyou card and gets 2x the points at restaurants. so he's just racking up points with me. some people... ugh! no, i've got it. the citi thankyou preferred card.

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it is the best of what we're made of. well-qualified lessees can lease the 2014 grand cherokee laredo 4x4 for $359 a month. in pretenders tonight, one of the most trusted names in news. wolf blitzer. he's been around a long time. when he's not busting a move, he does straightforward reporting. on wednesday he was talking with brian todd about the republican effort to delay obama care. todd was reporting on the glitches on the obama care website when blitzer turned the situation room into the opinion room. >> if they didn't -- if they weren't fully ready, they should accept the advice a lot of republicans are giving them. delay another year, get it ready, make sure it works. >> ooh. blitzer must have known he stepped in it big time. the expert ran to twitter after

the show. wolf tweeted out context matters. earlier i said the government shouldn't have launched a website before it works. i did not express a view about the individual mandate. well, wolf is right. context does matter. let's take a look at what he said again. >> if they had three years to get this ready, if they didn't -- if they weren't fully ready they should have accepted the advice the republicans were giving them. >> any straight newscaster worth their weight knows republicans don't want to delay obama care to fix a freaking website. if wolf blitzer thinks he's part of the best political team in television and can spit out republican garbage like that, he can keep on pretending.

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welcome back to "ed show." this is the story for the folk who is take a shower after work. fast food workers started striking and calling for higher wages in new york last fall with support from the service employees international union. [ chanting ] since then, demonstrations have been held in detroit, chicago, st. louis, and dozens of other cities. now a new burger and chicken joint in dearborn heights, michigan, is breaking the mold and setting a new tone. moo click moo is paying its

workers $15 an hour. nor was it a ploy to generate free publicity, but i love the story. harry morehouse is the cofounder of moo click boo. he joins me tonight. what's the philosophy here? you're paying a living wage. your people will make $31,200 a year on 40 hours a week for 52 weeks. what's the philosophy? why are you doing this? >> because it's the right thing to do, ed. that's what we thought from the beginning. and when we opened in april, we were paying $12 an hour right out of the gate. then when we saw people demonstrating for $15, we wanted to get in step with that. >> what kind of response are you getting from the community? >> well, the community loves us. we get a lot of people that come in and shake our hands. and of course there's naysayers that think we're going to ruin

the industry by somehow contributing to inflation. but i'm here to tell you, my partner and i brian are using better ingredients, paying our employees $15 an hour. our prices are very reasonable. we have a $3 hamburger. and we don't know why everyone else doesn't do it. because we can certainly make money using this model. >> okay. so you're sending a message to the big chains out there. you got to be right by the workers. >> well, i don't know if we're sending a message to the big chains, but we're certainly sending a message to the workers they deserve to have a living wage however it's defined because most of our workers are raising families, they have kids, and they want to contribute to this country just as much as anybody else. >> well -- >> they don't want to take from the country. >> you are contributing. what kind of employees are you getting? >> well, we've started everybody from scratch. we've had people with no experience, people will some experience that started with us.

and we've cross trained everybody so they can do everything in the store. they can run the line, they can do the prep, they can run the counter, they can answer the phone, they can do everything in the store. that way they're more valuable to us. they're more valuable to the business. and quite frankly, we're not seeing the turnover that everyone told us to expect in this business. >> lots of tough economic news out of the state of michigan, especially around detroit. if governor snyder came into into your place, would you serve him a burger? >> absolutely. he as well as anyone else can give us $3 for a hamburger. >> and there's no push back that prices are too high, you're very competitives. how big do you want to get? how many stores do you want to have? >> we hope to have three more stores in the detroit area next summer. and quite frankly we've been surprised at -- we've had a lot of people reach out to us around