of the principle behind the affordable care act before it was strongly against it. and the moment when that changed, when a senator from illinois became the 44th president of the united states. thanks for watching. ed schultz is next. good evening, americans, welcome to requesti"the ed show" i'm michael eric dyson in for ed schultz. as ed would say, let's get to work. ♪ >> i recognize that the republican party has made blocking the affordable care act its signature policy idea. >> is that what you're telling me! >> the american dream is under assault. >> your way! always my way. >> seems to be the one thing that unifies the party these days. >> this is the new normal. >> government is not the solution to our problem. government is the problem. >> so far, the national website, health care.gov, has been

visited nearly 20 million times. >> does that indicate that perhaps that this is less of a mouse and that republicans are overstating the problem? >> the washington establishment sold the american people down the river. it provided no relief for the millions of people who are hurting because of obama care. >> forget it, junior, you have no credibility anymore. >> have a little bit of self restraint. >> the essence of the law is working just fine. the health insurance that's being provided is good. that's what the affordable care act is all about. >> this can't be the new normal. ♪ after a 16-day government shutdown, the country is open for business, finally. and let's call it like it is. republicans flat-out failed in their effort to kill obama care, and prevent over 30 million americans from having access to affordable health care. but folks are finding it hard to forget the $24 billion price tag on their latest temper tantrum. and trust me, that money could have gone to good use in my native city of detroit,

michigan. 54% of americans say it's bad for the country that the gop controls the house. which might explain why the haters came out in full force this weekend. >> the good news for the republican party is the debacle is over, if we don't do it again. and obama care is a continuing debacle. >> it's been a fiasco. send air force one out to silicon valley, load it up with some smart people, bring them back to washington and fix this problem. it's ridiculous. and everybody knows that. >> they've had three or four years here to get this ready. god only knows how much money they've spent. and it's a failure. you know, the government simply isn't going to be able to get this job done correctly. >> but earlier today, my friends, president obama made it clear. he's not having any of this. >> recognize that the republican party has made blocking the affordable care act its signature policy idea. sometimes it seems to be the one thing that unifies the party these days.

in fact, they were willing to shut down the government. and potentially harm the global economy to try to get it repealed. and i'm sure that, given the problems with the web site so far, they're going to be looking to go after it even harder. but i just want to remind everybody, we did not wage this long and contentious battle just around a website. that's not what this was about. we waged this battle to make sure that millions of americans in the wealthiest nation on earth finally have the same chance to get the same security of affordable, quality health care as anybody else. that's what this is about. >> and what the president didn't say, and don't you get the feeling this is the true predicate for all of this? they are just jealous. but like the great philosopher aubrey graham, says, jealously

is love and hate at the same time. and for good reason. yesterday the administration announced that in the first two weeks since the six-month sign-up period began, health care.gov had more than 19 million unique visits. and nearly half a million applications were submitted nationwide for health care through both the state and federal marketplaces. i don't know about you, but that sounds like folk are awfully interested in signing up. as obama said on the first time of the affordable care act's rollout, even the most successful ventures are bound to let a few snags. >> consider that just a couple of weeks ago, apple rolled out a new mobile operating system. and within days, they found a glitch. so they fixed it. i don't remember anybody suggesting apple should stop selling iphones or ipads. or threatening to shut down the company if they didn't. that's not how we do things in america. we don't actively root for failure. we get to work, we make things happen, we make them better.

we keep going. >> tell them, mr. president. stop the hate. don't throw out the ipod or the ipad with the dplich. get it fixed and working. you think the party of business would understand that. but republicans are desperate, did i say desperate? they want to use the perceived failures of the exchange website to justify the crusade that cost us billions and put hundreds of thousands of folk out of work. so their mentality isn't, hey, something is broken, so let's work to fix it. their mentality instead is, something is broken. let's destroy it. and that mentality is nothing new. republicans have been preaching that gospel since the days of the old gipper. >> in this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem. government is the problem. >> now there you go again. republicans don't take reagan's words to mean, look, washington is broken, so we need to fix it.

republicans have interpreted reagan's words to fit their deeds. they've done a self-serving ex owe geezis. what they hear is, washington is broken, so we must destroy it. when jesus said, for the poor ye will always have with you, but you will not always have me, he was not excusing poverty as something chronic or inevitable. he wasn't endorsing poverty. he was trying to explain the persistence of an attitude that permitted poverty to go on. jesus was not absolving us of our duty to take care of the neediest among us. i don't take reagan's words to be an objectslution of government's responsibility to take care of the problems we face. instead, republicans like ted cruz have chosen to interpret those words in the most cynical way possible, bad, bad preacher you are, mr. cruz. they joined the government not to solve the problems facing the neediest americans, they don't actually want to fix any glitches. they join the system, aiming to

destroy the system as a whole. they're like sampson in the tempo, blindly pushing down the pillars, and it's coming crumbling down on all of us. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you they. tonight's question. are republicans bent on the destruction of government as we know it? text a for yes, text b for no to 67622. or go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com. i'll bring you the results later in the show. joining me now is congressman elijah cummings. congressman, welcome to the show. >> good to be with you. >> my friend, you're in congress. the president has been over backwards to be bipartisan. so tell us what the real lesson here is of these republicans who fail to not only be bipartisan, but to do anything that would help the nation get on a more healthy and, if you will, progressive path. >> i think you state it very clearly a little bit earlier. keep in mind, we have now had

some 45 votes, and those votes were to destroy the affordable care act. they have pushed for defunding it. and they have pushed for delaying it. but all of it is about trying to kill it. and it's so interesting, revere revere reverend did ison that suddenly we have these naysayerers saying we're in trouble, i'm so afraid, we've got to throw it out. that is not the america that i grew up in. it's simply not. we are a can-donation. and so we have some glitches. we'll work those out. but the president is absolutely right. this is far far more than the website. i've got people in my district. i have a reverend in my district i talked to a few minutes ago whose son had a life-threatening disease. and he was able to keep his son on his insurance policy. he's 24 years old. keep him on his insurance policy. was able to get his son the care he needed. if he had not been able to do

that, he would have been bankrupt. no doubt about it. and we're seeing more and more women, 47 million of them, who got preventive services without having to pay extra at the doctor's office. and we're finally getting away from that time, when simply being a woman was a preexisting condition. those are the kinds of things. and one of the things that is very interesting, too, reverend dyeson, we hear our friends in texas rail against the affordable care act. and some of us have got to stand up for that one in every four texas residents who don't have health care. somebody has got to stand up for them. >> right. >> and i plan to do that. >> well, let me ask you this question. how in the world can you work with republicans who have allowed a small faction of their party to hijack them. because in some ways, i felt that john boehner was like patty hear hearst. he had been forced to go against his best interests in the name of a similar kind of political

unity. how do you actually work with republicans who have permitted this kind of thing to happen? >> it's very, very difficult. and it's also very difficult for the president. when the president tries to make a deal or work out something with speaker boehner, he realizes that there's no way that that is going to necessarily go forward. because as soon as he gets back to this 40 or -- 45 tea party folks in the party, then they say no. as a matter of fact, what we have seen over and over and over again is a party of no. no policy. you don't have to worry. if you ask them for the policy, there is no policy. except the word no. that is not the way we operate or should be operating on capitol hill. we have 435 folks coming from diverse districts all over the country. reverend dyson, there must be compromise. there must be a way to get some kind of resolution. and so they have spent all of

this time, 15, 16 days, shutting down the government. so -- and putting people out of their jobs. and denying services. why? because they're trying to deny others -- by the way, their constituents -- health care. health care must be -- it's got to be -- it's got to be -- it's not some privilege for a few. it should be a right for all. >> well, what is it about congressman boehner, the speaker of the house, that he's incapable of doing what the president has done several times to the chagrin of his supporters, being able to challenge his own base, on some things i disagree with you and i'm willing to challenge you? why isn't boehner able to challenge his own base for the interests of the broader public? >> we can only guess that speaker boehner was worried about not being able to get to speakership, that he would be denied the votes by his own party to get the speakership. but there is another element here too, reverend dyson, and that is that a lot of the tea party folks have presented a

situation where all those other republicans who, by the way, have remained silent. and i think that's sad too. but a lot of them have remained silent. why? because they're afraid of somebody coming from the right in a primary, running against them. and i talked to them. and they tell me this. they said well, you know, cummings, i think the affordable care act is not that bad. but i'm worried about people coming at me from the right. well, they've got to put that aside. we are here to speak for the american people. not just to people in the tea party district. not just the people in baltimore. but the entire country. and this is something -- we have now opened the door -- it's been a very difficult battle. but we have opened the door, whereby people can now get affordable, accessible health care. and we've got to make sure that the failure is simply not an option. >> look, i can only imagine, if the shoe were on the other foot, had the republicans won a great victory, they have cowed over the democrats and made it plain. look, these people are not

really ultimate patriots in the sense that they're willing to defer their own interests in recognition of the broader populus here. so the inability of the republican party to see that true patriotism is saying i'm not going to wreck the train of the american democracy, because i can't get water on my particular car. how do we make that message? do you think democrats are loathe to really exploit the advantage they have now rested from the democrats? >> i think that democrats have got to call republicans out. it is not just the tea party folks, by the way. i don't think the other republicans who went along with this -- keep in mind, 144 in total voted against opening the government back up, and voted to threaten and to destroy, basically, our economy. so i blame them too. so some kind of way, we have got to -- the democrats have got to make it clear, we've got to call all of them out. and we've got to say, look, this is not about one district.

this is about our entire country. every two years, reverend dyson, we put our hand up to uphold the constitution of the united states of america. the affordable care act is a law that has been passed, and affirmed by the supreme court. that's part of what we're supposed to do. >> right. >> and now we've got to push that and push it as hard as we possibly can. no apologies. >> all right. unapologetically, congressman -- >> thank you, my friend, for your time tonight. remember to answer tonight's question there at the bottom of the screen. and share your thoughts on twitter at ed show and on facebook. i really want to know what you think. coming up, dick cheney's life is like a plot line from "homeland." the former vp reveals details. and governor chris christie drops his same-sex challenge to gay marriage in new jersey. does this mean he's dropping his hat in the ring for 2016? that's coming up. when we made our commitment to the gulf, bp had two big goals:

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time now for the trenders. in the social media world, this is where you can find us. the ed show media nation has decided, and we're reporting. here are today's top trenders, voted on by you. >> we are here tonight to celebrate the first lady of american comedy, ted cruz. >> the number-three trender. funny girl. >> there are so many people funnier than i am. especially here in washington. with any luck, they'll soon get voted out and i'll still have the mark twain prize. >> stars celebrate mark twain prize recipient, carol burnett. >>. ♪ i'm so glad we had this time ♪ ♪ together >> vicki and i go wherever carol is being honored. this is our sixth city this

week. >> i love you in a way that is just shy of creepy. >> she was one of the first women to have her own variety show, and the first woman ever to threaten a network executive with a broken beer bottle. ♪ so long >> the number two trender. heart to heart. >> i resigned the vice presidency effective march 28th of 2001. >> how did president bush react when you told him? >> a little surprised. but he thought it was a good idea. >> the former vice president talks about his ticker on "60 minutes." >> old heart, new heart. and it's one of those situations where bigger is not necessarily better. >> and today's top trender. garden state equality. >> do you wish to be joined in marriage? >> yes. >> yes. >> yes. i now, by the power vested in me, thank god by the state of new jersey, it's about time. >> new jersey becomes the 14th state to legalize same-sex marriage. >> you may kiss your spouse!

all right! >> it feels like such a blessing. >> you may kiss your spouse! >> everything is now clear. you can't misunderstand what our relationship is. it's consecrated in the law. >> joining me now is new jersey state senator barbara buono. the democratic candidate for governor. you attended some weddings last night in jersey city. so tell us what it felt like to be there. >> well, it was jubilant. we have been fighting for this for a long time. and this governor has stood in the way for four years. he thwarted giving our gay brothers and sisters the equal rights they deserve. and so it was jubilant. two of my friends, richard and david, got married in jersey city, and it was really a mob scene. everybody wanted to get married. a lot of love going around. >> from jersey, a mob scene is quite interesting.

so what's also interesting is that the governor dropped his appeal. now do you think it was really a change of heart? one of these barack obama, i've now evolved, or pure politics? >> no, it wasn't even that. it was the fact is that he had no choice. the supreme court said in no uncertain terms that he had no chance on the merits of the case. so there was -- i want to make it very clear with the people. there was no movement, whatsoever. this governor reiterated his opposition to the supreme court decision. and so he's had to do it kicking and screaming. but, you know, we're glad he had to -- obviously, he had to respond to the rule of law. and now i would like to see the legislature codify that. and i think that we will. >> well, you know, the argument has been he's holding the state back in many ways. of course, your campaign suggested that. in what other ways is governor christie holding the state back? >> this governor is in the pocket of the tea party when it comes to social issues. whether it's planned parenthood, he zeroed outstate funding for planned parenthood. every year he has been in

office. he is the first governor since roe v. wade that is streit endly anti choice. he thinks politicians should make our health care decisions and not women. he doesn't think women should get equal pay for equal work. he vetoed a pay equity bill and called it senseless bureaucracy. and when it comes to any civil right. look at the voting rights act. i asked him -- the reporters asked him on countless occasions where he stood on the united states supreme court, gutting the voting rights act, and he wouldn't answer. i asked him at our first debate. we got to ask each other questions and i have governor, you have skirted the issue, dodged that question on many occasions and you see yourself running for president, at least in your own mind. how can you not have a position on the gutting of the voting rights act? and he still refused to answer. >> well, how is it that he's been able to generate this portrait of himself as a progressive or at least a conservative with a heart and compassion who is much more progressive than some of his tea party, if you will, colleagues? how has he been able to generate

that kind of portrait? >> he's a good entertainer. governor o'malley came to new jersey to campaign for the bueno-silva campaign last week and he said you know, if you can't govern, you darn well better be able to entertain. but the fact of the matter is, there is no amount of entertaining or late-night wisecracks that can erase the fact that this governor's social values are, you know, in sync with the tea party. it's so clear. i mean, people in new jersey are suffering, though. you have to understand what they're going through. there is 400,000 of us still out of work. we have the highest unemployment in the region. and not just new york. connecticut, pennsylvania, delaware and maryland. and we have the lowest rate of job creation. people can't focus on the issues. they're focusing on the pocketbook issues. when the same polls tell you the governor is popular with respect to sandy cleanup, you ask the question on the pocketbook issues, and his approval numbers are low and they don't know that he's -- 25% in one of the poll don't know he's anti marriage equality and don't know he's anti choice. >> well, despite that, and

you've articulated well here, not only that other poll you cited, but another poll suggests he's 26 points ahead of you in the race. how do you really conquer that distance and what do you do in light of that disparity between your progressive politics and it seems the reflection of the state, and his lead in the polls? >> well, you know, in new jersey, we are caught in between new york and philadelphia media markets. and you guys don't like to cover us. i don't know why. we used to have public television and get a lot more coverage. and people -- it's a function of name i.d. and even though i was majority leader, statewide position, people don't know me. so what we're doing, we are up on tv as of last week, bueno for governor.com, if any of your listeners are interested. that's where our policy positions are. but now that we are getting -- broadcasting our message, loud and clear, to make sure that people -- we pulled back the curtain on who the real chris christie is. that he's in the pocket of the tea partiers when it comes to social issues. and in terms of his economic

issues, he's just taken a page out of mitt romney. he's supply side trickle down economics and it is a failed economic policy. and as people get -- we communicate that to people, people are flocking to the campaign. now that that special senate campaign is over, that he wasted tens of millions of taxpayer dollars just to benefit -- >> yeah, right, $24 million. >> we don't even know, because people may have to rent voting machines, because you have to impound them for 15 days after the election and they have to be ready to be turned around from october 16th to november 5th. they got 20 days. so we don't know. but the fact of the matter is, this governor makes every decision based upon what is in his national interest. what he thinks plays well with the conservative base of the national republican party. and unfortunately, new jersey has suffered because of it. >> all right. good luck in your campaign there. >> thank you. senator barbara buono, thank you so much for joining us here tonight. coming up, the republican senator from canada says don't mess with texas. ted cruz is ready for another

shutdown showdown. still ahead, florida republican marco rubio is not ready to rumble yet. the waterman needs a time-out at the cooler. he lands in our pretenders tonight. but next, i'm taking your questions. ask ed live is just ahead. stay tuned. customer erin swenson ordered shoes from us online but they didn't fit. customer's not happy, i'm not happy. sales go down, i'm not happy. merch comes back, i'm not happy. use ups. they make returns easy. unhappy customer becomes happy customer.

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welcome back to "the ed show." we love hearing from our viewers. tonight in ask medlive, our question is from marlo banister. why do the poor in red states always vote against their own interests? makes you go hmmm. you know, that's a great question. and the answer, i think, is similar to what martin luther king jr. faced when he was in the birmingham jail. and he had a white jailer. and he asked the jailer, do you fare any better than i do? do you have any better options in terms of economics and social standing and status and of course the answer was no. and dr. king's response to him

is you would gain more by joining with us. by not allowing the people who are jailing me to imprison your economic future. and i would say the same thing about the red states here. the poor in the red states are blinkered by those people in high status and economic politically speaking as well, who prevent the solidarity that could be generated between poor people who are black and latino and who are asian and african-american. they would have much more in common. but the racist division, the classist division, and the geographical dislocation continues to work against the best interests of poor people. and i would sayo those poor people in the red states, the policies that are being promoted by the tea party and by the right wing have nothing to do with an enabling you to have a better education for your children or to have a better time at your employment. those who fight for fair wages, those who fight for the benefits economically and those who fight for your health care are, i'm sorry, in the blue, not in the red.

let's turn to our next question, as well. all right. and that would be from our twitter -- our -- all right. are we right here? right here, okay. so what will conservatives harp on once the obama care website issues are fixed? that's a great question, as well. well, besides obama care, then they're going to talk about this president is weak on foreign policy. they'll probably get back to that. and we know, given his stellar record in terms of dealing with the enemies of the american state, that won't go far, as well. then they will talk about his economic program again. they'll begin to talk about the fact that, hey, the jobs recovery is not as robust as we want it to be. never mentioning, of course, the fact that they have stood in the way, and preventeded the flourishing of this economy, because of what they have done. still haven't signed on to the president's jobs program. still won't talk about the distribution of wealth to those who deserve it, and of course, this is what we say to those people in congress. why don't you give the american people the exact same thing you

enj enjoy? the robust health care plan you have, the ability to have expenses taken care of, and a decent salary to protect your family. and in that sense, the american people would understand the hypocrisy that's going on in d.c. stick around. the rapid response panel is next. i'm mandy drury with your cnbc market wrap. the dow losing 7 points today, the dow gaining just a fraction and the s&p climbing by 5. higher mortgage rates causing existing sales of homes to drop 1.9% in september. shares of netflix soared after the company reported its third quarter earnings quadrupleled and added 1.3 million new describers in the u.s. and gas prices dropped another 2 cents to $3.36 a gallon, down 39 cents from a year ago. more money in our pockets. that's it from cnbc. first in business worldwide. the day we rescued riley was a truly amazing day.

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welcome back to "the ed show." the republican government shutdown has done enormous damage to our nation. but one republican wants to go another round. it's estimated the republican party's reckless behavior cost the u.s. economy $24 billion. some republicans know they lost big on the shutdown. their poll numbers are in the dumps. senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell, is well aware, americans are sick and tired of republican games. mcconnell had a rare moment of clarity on sunday, when he said the following. >> a number of us were saying back in july that this strategy could not and would not work, and, of course, it didn't. so there will not be another government shutdown, you can count on that. >> well, we would love to count on that. that's a reasonable position to take. but canadian senator ted cruz couldn't let reason stand.

he came out sunday morning and said he's ready for government shutdown round two. >> we have another deadline, government funding runs out on january 15th. will you rule out pushing to the brink of another shutdown by saying you would block funding for the government unless obama care is defunded? will you do that again? >> i would do anything, and i will continue to do anything i can to stop the train wreck that is obama care. what i intend to do is continue standing with the american people, to work to stop obama care. >> what's that einsteinian definition about insanity? yeah, it's yogi berra's dejavu again. $24 billion lost, 800 workers furloughed. international reputation damaged. and republicans have nothing to show for it. ted cruz is reckless and dangerous by calling for another shutdown. this guy clearly doesn't care about the well-being of our country. now you tell me who is a patriot

when they get on this anti obama kick they're often on. ted cruz cares about one thing. the well-being of ted cruz. he admitted as much sunday morning. >> given the choice between being reviled in washington, d.c. and appreciated in texas, or reviled in texas and appreciated in washington, i would take the former 100 out of 100 times. >> cruz is certainly giving the home team what they want. he received an eight-minute -- that's right, eight-minute-long stand owing vacation when he returned home to texas on saturday. >> that is a slightly different reception than i get in washington, d.c. and having spent the past month up you in d.c., it is really great to be back in america.

>> now, if ted cruz drew a distinction between being in d.c. and america, can we draw a similar distinction between being in ted cruz's head and coming down to earth? joining me now is our rapid response panel, katrina vanden hueuvel, tom perriello and heather mcgee. katrina, is cruz crazy enough to really try to do this thing once again? >> michael, america is seeing someone like ted cruz before, an american demagog. but we can't forget he has a 75% positive rating with the ideological zealotzealots. i wish we could talk not about ted cruz, because we're giving him too much coverage, and what we need to do is shout loud and

clear that what we have is not a deficit crisis with you a jobs crisis and infrastructure crisis. a mobility crisis and quality crisis, poverty crisis in the country. and the more we cover ted cruz, the more we don't talk about what we need to. >> yeah, it's a great point. and no disagreement there. congressman perriello, how mad is mcconnell at cruz right now, given what katrina just said and what can we do oh to get the conversation back on to more progressive ideas? >> amen to everything katrina just said and certainly cruz is making no friends in the senate. but it's not just there. it's in lots of states. i think he has certainly hurt republicans trying to win right now in my state of virginia, and been a great gift to democrats up and down the ticket there. and i think he's also forcing a conversation on the republican side about how much they care about economic growth versus ideology. and i think the president has made clear all along the second they're interested in talking seriously about economic growth and protecting the middle class, he's ready to have that

conversation. so i think, you know, you're going to see with individuals like mcconnell continuing to have a pinch between a primary challenge from the radical right and extremely strong challenger from the center, the democrat that's running there. so this is not good news for the party of the republican party, but most importantly, we've got to get focused on what's good for america. >> yeah. so heather, the republicans are always talking about what the american population is concerned about and how they're speaking for the american public. but the american public is clearly fed up with cruz. just 14% have a favorable opinion of him. but then he goes to texas and receives an eight-minute-long standing ovation. do you really think ted cruz can honestly say he's looking out for every american, or he's looking out for ted cruz? >> i think he's looking out for ted cruz and i think he's also looking out for the campaign cash that comes his way when he takes these really far right ideological positions. you have to remember, this is a man whose campaign was fueled by the club for growth, which is an anti tax, anti-government lobby and these kinds of outside

groups, heritage action, very much in his corner, have increased by six-fold since citizens united. this is a money and politics story, too. when we look at the issue of really just having health care for every american, this is something that most americans support, but most of the donor class, elite donor class fueling so much of our campaign spending, is actually not in support of universal health care. >> yeah. well, even given that, katrina, new polling shows that 54% of americans think that republicans controlling the house is a bad thing for the country. so in light of what heather just said, of course, when we pair that, the kind of exploitive practices economically they're pulling off here with the real sensibilities of the american public, they're not down with that. it cruz pulls this again, do you think democrats have a possibility of regaining control of the house? >> well, i think, you know, if we had a system that was a true democracy, we would -- the democrats would take back the house. they won, remember, in 2012. you know this, michael, and others do on this panel, by

1.5 million more votes. the gerrymandering, the redistricting that has been fueled by the money we just heard about -- heather spoke of, is what makes this so volatile and crazy. i mean, it is a moment when the brand of the republican party is in the gutter. the chasm between the establishment and the base is deliciously deep. and the senate looks like it will go democratic, because of the republican shenanigans. but the house has only 13, according to charles cook -- only 13 seats, incumbent seats, truly in play because of this crazy redistricting that money has bought. >> well, tom perriello, in light of the deliciously deep divide and chasm that katrina refers to, 63% of americans want john boehner replaced as speaker. my god, are his days numbered? >> well, first of all, i think we have to not overstate how deep the rift is on the republican side. ideologically, the party is with ted cruz. they just disagree tactically. and i think sometimes we let them off the hook too much.

if you look, two-thirds of the republican house caucus voted for this suicide pact to take the country over a cliff, even when the american public was overwhelmingly against it. it's not like mitch mcconnell is a moderate who disagrees with cruz about getting rid of social security and medicare as we know it, and other things. so i think part of what we have to look at is where there is a tactical disagreement. it actually was ted cruz unveiling the fact that really, it's the republican party as a whole right now that has chosen to go far right. and the number of moderate republicans left are few and far between. and it's that gerrymandered map that's protecting that majority, not actually a majority of voters. >> so heather, if tom is right, given those kind of numbers, that's pretty consequenceter naturing, is boehner is replaced, isn't there a danger of a tea party person taking over from his position of authority? >> well, i think you know, there is always going to be the threat of primaries right now. and that is actually what is -- has actually helped to shift the party to the right.

but fundamentally, i think that we are going to see in the next election an opportunity for, hopefully, if people are organized, if we do our job of organizing people and giving them a reason to vote, this will be a real referendum. it will be a real referendum on the vision for the country that is a very separate one between conservatives and progressives right now. >> all right. katrina vanden hueuvel, tom perriello and heather mcgee, thank you. >> thank you. coming up, how real stories fox profiled are actually impacted by obama care. antra? trust your instincts to make the call. to treat my low testosterone, my doctor and i went with axiron, the only underarm low t treatment. axiron can restore t levels to normal in about 2 weeks in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18 or men with prostate or breast cancer. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair

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welcome back to "the ed show." this is for the folk who is take a shower after work. president obama addressed the critics today acknowledging enrollment issues on the healthcare.gov website. the site may have kinks but the

policy is sound. >> the product is good. the health insurance that's being provided is good. it's high quality and it's affordable. people can save money. >> and that's why americans are signing up. but that's not stopped the smear campaign. sean hannity invited three couples on his program who claimed to suffer under obama care. >> our new policy that we can have won't have the same benefits to it. anything similar, though, is going to rise between 50% to 72%. >> we don't even have insurance for our daughter who has a pre-existing condition, so we're looking at probably $20,000 in premiums next year. >> as a business, we are jumping through more hoops, more regulation, more paperwork. and we've also cut back on hiring full-time employees because of the health care costs involved. >> now, folks, the true affliction here was poor journalism from hannity. eric stern conducted actual

interviews of hannity's guests. the results were thousands of dollars of savings if the couples enroll in obama care. the guests with an uninsured child would receive would have few enough employees would be that had no effect on their company. joining me now dr. cory hebert, an assistant professor at lsu. professor, welcome to the show. >> thank you for having me. i'm mad. i'm so mad. >> yeah, well, you ought to be mad. i hope you're mad about the right thing, because of the misinformation and the disinformation. so, look. eric stern's fact check revealed hard numbers on health care savings. the problem with most of these couples was resistance to even savings plans under the affordable care act. what's your reaction to that? >> exactly. i think that the tea party, when they start drinking that tea, they need to put some truth serum in there. all these couples, none of those things they were saying were

even true. if you think about the fact that the company had less than 50 employees, they don't have to do anything. the only thing that really they're required to do is to inform their employees about healthcare.gov. think about that. it's all a smear campaign and it's just not fair. we cannot let fox news and hannity's people govern people trying to get health care in this country. >> do you expect these to wane a bit or is it going to be just as intense? >> i think it's going to be just as intense. every time you roll out something that's going to take care of millions of people, there are going to be a few people that it doesn't really address. it doesn't address everybody's illnesses. and so there are always going to be some people that say you know what? this is not working for me. but they're not talking about the guy who said he got the obama care for $1 a month. that's an outlier too. those types of outliers are always going to exist.

but this is going to get worse after january 1st. i want to know this after january 1st, can you get insurance and if you have a pre-existing illness, will you be bankrupt? the answer is no. you'll have insurance and won't be bankrupt. >> there are people who are outlying. hannity. he made a point of asking whether they voted for the president and they hadn't. could cost savings reach these people too? >> the cost savings are going to reach everyone. the bad part about this is you look at a group like the heritage foundation, they're a right wing group, they're a conservative group. they endorsed an individual mandate a couple years ago for health insurance. so why is it bad now? because they came up with it but now are ashamed they did? this is going to give savings to those folks and all the rest of the people in the united states. and what we have to remember is that this is for affordable health care. we give facts here on "the ed show." what does that mean? we've got almost 20 million

people that have gone to this website and 500,000 people including myself. so we can say 500,001 signed up. tell them to bring it on. i got all the information for them. >> 30 seconds left. you tell us there's a disparity between the people saying on camera they're not having a good time with this but in secret they're glad they've got the affordable care act there? >> they are. and you know why? it's because anything that's linked to the president right now is going to have a lot of controversy with it. let me tell you something. those people secretly right now are so happy because they are going on those exchanges when they can get through. i'm not excusing those glitches now, that is inexcusable. but they're going on those exchanges and they're getting quality health care. and now they're shutting up because they don't want to bring any more attention to it because they're scared they're going to lose theirs. >> dr. cory hebert, thank you for your time. >> thank you i appreciate it. >> that's "the ed show." i'm michael eric