trump for president. who wants donald trump to be president? commentary coming up on that. this is the story that fires me up tonight. president obama and the senate democrats need to take a stand for the middle class to stop capitulating to the tea party on this budget fight. politico reports a crowd of roughly 200 tea party faithful showed up on the national mall in washington, d.c. today. the small crowd was there to push republicans to pass $60 billion in cuts to the federal government. now, a handful of republican lawmakers showed up to their fire up the crazies. >> cut the budget. get this government under control. it's not good enough to slow it down. we've got to reduce the size of this government. >> we've got to say to harry reid and liberals in the senate, this far and no farther. we got to borrow a line from another harry and say "the debt stops here." >> i believe we can surmount any problem. we can climb any hill. i believe as ronald reagan said that government is not the solution to the problem. government is the problem. >> makes you regurgitate, doesn't it? tea party chair and 2012 presidential hopeful michele bachmann got the crowd all jacked up with this load of garbage. >> they want to shut the government down and they want to turn you into their scapegoat and say it's the tea party's fault for shutting the government down. now the cat is out of the bag. we know who has no interest in negotiating. it's harry reid. it's the big libs over in the senate. >> now, at $33 billion in cuts that's not negotiating. democrats aren't the ones saying shut it down. it is the republicans. >> if liberals in the senate would rather play political games and shut down the government instead of making a small down payment on fiscal discipline and reform, i say, shut it down.he says, shut it d. now, look. this is a time i think for democrats to wake up. republicans are handing you the gun. the tea party wants to force john boehner to shut it down and democrats don't have the guts to let it happen. last night vice president joe biden and the democrats put $33 billion worth of cuts on the table. speaker boehner hasn't agreed to anything yet. the speaker knows he can't look weak to the tea party members in his caucus. >> our goal is to cut spending, not shut down the government. and you've heard a lot of talk over the last 24 hours. there's no agreement on numbers and nothing will be agreed to until everything is agreed to. we control one-half of one-third of the government here but we're going to continue to fight for the larger spending cuts we can get to keep the government open and funded through the balance of this fiscal year. >> speaker boehner is absolutely correct. the democrats have the senate and the white house. so why in the hell are they giving in to any of these cuts at all? the american economy. can we agree it's pretty much still on the ropes? it's a fragile recovery. unemployment still high and millions of americans rely on government assistance just to survive. this is exactly the wrong time to cut anything. take a good look at this chart. during the last 12 months of the bush administration, unemployment skyrocketed. those numbers did a 180 when president obama and the democrats passed the largest stimulus package in the history of the country and gave a loan to the automobile industry, which the republicans have decried all along. america has had 12 straight months of private sector job creation because the federal government invested money in people and projects. now, if the republicans get thr y, iilip o at mont a cmic 700,000 jobs. that's not my number. that's moody's number. democrats have let republicans convince america the federal government needs to tighten its belt. okay. a little bit. i get it. but 33 billion? why? why that number? president obama and the democrats gave in on extending the bush tax cuts. gave in on the public option which would have saved money, and gave in on the employee free choice act where there really was no fight for american workers. and i'm just saying, you know, when does the weakness stop? i mean, do the democrats have any guts at all to draw a line in the sand every time a party of tea party folks show up in the capitol, 200 or 300 of them? oh, we got to make more cuts. so we went to the senate democrats today. the producers of this show, "the ed show" put the request out to every single democratic press aide in the senate. we did this today. we said, we'd like to know whether there are any senate democrats willing to come on the program tonight to defend the proposed $33 billion in budget cuts. if your boss is willing to do so, please let us know. that's an e-mail we sent to the press secretaries of all the democratic senators. you know how many showed up? not a single democrat accepted the offer. not one. why? because they don't want to go out and say to their constituents, well, we got to cut $33 billion. this is a tough thing to do. it's a tough bill to swallow. and the last time i saw the ratings on the tea partiers in this country, they're going down in the polls. we're seeing a shift. cutting anything right now is exactly the wrong thing to do. and the democrats are letting the tea party call the shots in my opinion. take a good look at today's tea party rally. president obama, senate democrats, and john boehner. they are letting this small group of radical people set a policy for america. a handful of fox news loving americans have got more power than what? than 100,000 people who are fighting for their rights in madison, wisconsin? the president of course arguably never went to bat for these middle class folks because it would have politicized the whole thing and i said in previous commentaries i'm sick of that garbage. it is about politics. and right now they're out politicking us. that's how i feel as a liberal. look, senate democrats have to realize one thing. you can't pin this on president obama. you guys got elected, too. you have the majority. the senate democrats need to stand up and say, you know what? you gave us a record number of filibusters. you've said no to absolutely everything. we gave you the bush tax cuts. we're not going to take these draconian cuts. shut down the government. go ahead and do whatever you guys got to do. we're ready to do this. but for some reason the senate democrats, they get in caucus and say, well, you know, president obama has got to engage. president obama really has to do this. what does president obama have to lift every weight in washington? hold your own, harry. get your caucus together and say, we're not going to do $33 billion worth of cuts. because you're going to have to go home and explain cuts that are going to really hurt a lot of americans who helped put president obama and the democrats in power in the senate. i don't think americans want these kind of cuts. there is a huge difference between $10 billion and $33 billion. there's going to be a political back lash to this. and right now here you have boehner in a tight spot because he's answering to the radicals. make him answer to the radicals. it's his problem. it's not our problem. and don't turn and say, well we got to hear more from the white house. no you don't. you have the majority, democrats. you have the votes to sit there and say across the board we're not going to do this. we are not going to hurt americans. you know why? because republicans, we gave you everything you wanted during the lame duck. we gave you the coveted bush tax cuts that were going to save the economy. so the job creation, mr. boehner, where is it? when do these bush tax rates kick in and we start adding millions of jobs every month? it isn't going to happen. it's another game being played by the republicans who just want to get rid of the president. they want to shut this down because they want to blame president obama. and here are the senate democrats, instead of standing up and saying no, president obama doesn't have anything to do about this, this is our call in the senate. we're the democrats. we represent the people across the country and this is exactly what we're going to do. i kind of feel like this is a public option fight all over again. you know? they have the power to do it. they just have to have the guts to do it. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question. should democrats explain their support of spending cuts? text a for yes. text b for no to 622639. we'll get you the results later on in the show and once you go to our new blog at ed.msnbc.com. there are two sides to this story, a number of different ways of looking at it. joining us tonight is "the washington post" columnist e.j. dionne who is also senior fellow at the brooking institute. the title of e.j.'s column today is "where's obama's resolve on the budget battle?" fair question. e.j., good to have you with us tonight. >> good to be with you, ed. >> do you think the president can make a big difference in this right now? what do you think? >> i think the president has power to influence the debate that nobody else has. i mean, if you go back to the clinton budget fight, it was really bill clinton who put the idea that he was fighting for medicare or medicaid education in the environment on the table. and i think president obama so far has said, this is a tiny part of the budget. i don't want to get caught in the muck of all this congressional wrangling. it's not going to do me any good. maybe he's waiting. maybe he's waiting for paul ryan's bigger budget next week for the next fiscal year, which is going to be i think pretty radical and if that doesn't set off a fight, then nobody really stands for anything. i mean, we're not talking at all about the cuts in head start. we're not talking at all about the cuts in student loans or the programs for women, infants, and children. i mean, we're only talking about numbers. if it's a fight about numbers, the republicans are always going to win because everybody is going to say, well they'll cut more than the democrats. >> don't the senate democrats look a little weak right now that they just can't stand up and say we're not going down this road. we don't believe the american people want this. what do you think? >> i hate to bring up that great old will rogers line again. i don't belong to an organized political party. i am a democrat, he said. and i don't think you can talk about a senate majority because i think that democrat, that majority in the senate is split. i don't think they have the capacity to deliver a whole senate majority behind a position that says we're not going to accept most of these cuts. and that's part of the problem here. >> so do you think that $33 billion cuts that were talked about last night by the democrats and the vice president biden, do you think that's a real number? and if it is do you think john boehner can convince the tea party republicans in the house to take the deal? >> to be perfectly honest i hope it's not a real number because if it is a real number in the sense of really cutting back programs you're going to have to cut some stuff we really need. and think about that $33 billion. that is what john boehner and paul more. well, guess what? their revolt worked because by starting way out there at $60 billion they've now got what they wanted originally. i got to see that as a nd working families come out -- wisconsin, ohio, michigan. i mean, indiana. their house was out for a while. they went on a hiatus and said we're not going to take this stuff against collective bargaining. i mean, it seems to me that the health care fight and by the election of barack obama. i think they have receded and that activism you're seeing in the midwest is a progressive activi activism we haven't seen since the 2008 election. but no one is fighting this budget fight in a way that says, look. we're talking about big income transfers in our country, big growth in inequality. that's what those battles are about in wisconsin and ohio and no one is trying to translate that to the washington fight. >> e.j. dionne, always a pleasure. great to have you with us tonight. thank you. >> good to be with you. >> remember to answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen. we want to know what you think. >>> captain sully. hero of the hudson. says republicans will put lives at risk by gutting new airline safety guidelines. captain chesley sullenberger is my exclusive guest. >>he hn kasich said he was nio creating jobs in ohio he meant i was going to have to get a second one. >> that firefighter joins us. >>> had enough of the donald's b.s. yet? me, too. >> thank you very much. >> i'll tell you why he's not t sounded like the chocobeast. the what? half man, half beast. he'll stop at nothing to sink his fangs into people who steal other people's chocolate temptations. you guys have nothing to worry about, right? aaah! [ all scream ] nice job, chocobeast! thank you. [ male announcer ] six indulgent layered desserts, at 150 calories or less. new temptations. it's the first jell-o that's just for adults. >>> we sure want you to check out our new blog at ed.msnbc.com. there you'll find links to my radio website, we got ed.com, twitter, and facebook. last night we heard from firefighter wes spradlin after ohio's union busting bill passed. today governor kasich signed the bill into law. mr. spradlin will join us next. you're watching "the ed show" on msnbc. [ chanting ] >> those were protesters last night after the ohio legislative session passed a bill that dramatically cut the collective bargaining rights of public workers like scott walker in wisconsin republican governor john kasich has claimed all along that it's not about union busting. in fact, here's what he said earlier this month. >> this is not an attack on you. this is not a political operation. i could care about the politic. >> really. to prove that point, this morning kasich sent out a fund raising e-mail claiming victory. the legislation, quote, strips power from the union leaders. then kasich asked for donations to help, the quote, ongoing efforts. the measure cuts health care, pension, and sick time from all public workers. they don't like what's happening. it also prohibits workers from striking. that's a big one. the former fox news host previously said he understood the real life implications. >> the day we sign it's not going to be some, you know, i don't anticipate some big deal because this is hard for people. and anything that's hard i want to be respectful of other people's feelings. >> so after plugging the signing ceremony on twitter just hours ago, kasich signed the bill into law. the event broadcast on live tv. joining us now from columbus, ohio is wes spradlin who has been a firefighter for 20 years. it's an honor to have you on the program tonight, mr. spradlin. i appreciate what you do for your kmunlt. thanks so much for joining us. i know you have the concerns of a lot of ohio employees. last night we played a sound bite of your reaction to the bill's passage and i'd like to play that again. here it is. >> i think it's going to tear my family apart. i didn't know when john kasich said he was creating jobs in ohio he meant i was going to have to get a second one. >> so what kinds of sacrifices are you and your family going to have to make right now? what does it mean? >> it means a lot to my family. mostly, if i'm going to come home safe tomorrow morning. my family was going to buy a new car for my wife to drive back and forth to her part-time job this year. that's been putol flo fefhts a losing their union rights. they're using their power to speak. the officers in my union, over 400 of them, are not going to be covered by collective bargaining anymore. i don't understand how this helps the budget at all if my friends and my brothers and sisters cannot be a part of my union. how does that help the budget? >> let's talk about the governor. he says that he understands how tough this change is. do you believe he's telling the truth? do you think he understands? >> anybody that could compare a hair cut to my livelihood to my dreams of being a firefighter doesn't understand anything. nothing at all. >> do you believe your children are going to be better off because of this? >> my father worked to be better than his father and i worked to be better than my father to give my children more than i have. this cuts me back almost 20 years of a career and benefits and pay. my measly retirement is 60% of my best three years. 60%. not a hundred percent. 60%. i cannot get social security. i've paid into it working second jobs all my life. i can't use that as retirement. this is going to kill my family. i'm going to have to spend more time away from them. i'm not going to be able to go to school functions with my children. if i get to say good night to them not being on the phone it's going to be a good day mr. spradlin you say 60% of your best year. if i may what would be your best year as a firefighter in ohio? >> my best year at 20 years has been right at $70,000. right in that area. that's with the overtime because of short staffing because i can't get any help. every time i call off sick or someone else does we have to replace it with overtime. so the overtime costs are pretty high but if we had more firefighters, which now we're not allowed to collectively bargain for at staffing, sure they're going to give us -- we're going to be allowed to bargain for better, safer things to go risk our lives to save the public but i don't have anybody to run them. a new fire truck doesn't do me a lot of good if i ain't got nobody to drive it. >> mr. spradlin, you are exactly what "the ed show" on msnbc is all about. a hard working american speaking his piece. i appreciate you doing that tonight. thanks so much. time now to call in leo drard international president of the united steel workers. good to have you with us tonight. what do you make of this? >> let me say that hearing mr. spradlin talk was heart breaking because what we're ending up doing is punishing the victims of the economic collapse and running a ponzi scheme on them as well. let me give you a few facts that don't seem to make it into the debate at the moment. corporate profits last year are up 37% while taxes last year were at the lowest level since 1950. we do not have a spending problem in america. we have a revenue problem. we lost 60,000 factories during the bush era and the economic collapse of '08. those factories paid municipal taxes. they paid federal taxes. they paid state taxes. close to 45 million people in america since the economic collapse on wall street have been unemployed for three months or more. those people don't pay into the st. they didn't cause this wreck, this train wreck. wall street did. no w a whole diversion going on in washington and going on at the state level where they're blaming workers, they're blaming unions, and this is all just a big scam. and i think america is waking up to that and when you see some ordinary person who loves his country, loves his family, is working hard, playing by the rules, tell the american public that this is going to cause him and his family economic decline while wall street and bankers are not paying taxes and lining their pockets with bonuses, ed, we're having the wrong fight about the wrong issues. >> well, you got a chance to recall some elected officials in the state of ohio. people of ohio have 90 days to gather 230,000 signatures. what's the game plan if you know of one? >> look at. i think that you're going to see recalls going on in a lot of places but i got my hands on a document today that i'll hold up. this is put out by the wisconsin manufacturers association. and it's a fund raising letter. let me tell you what it says. click here to make a generous corporate contribution to counter their efforts. donations are unlimited and undisclosed. this is the results of that supreme court decision. ordinary working people have to fight for their democracy. these are corporations trying to buy judges, trying to buy governors, trying to buy legislators. and i think we can take it to the streets, knock on a door, tell people what the real facts of life are, nd rellom ohepele causeh're dtring pele chancat a greater life and undermining our democracy, turning it into a corporate-ocracy. >> and that referendum. we'll see if it takes place. i know there is a lot of enthusiasm for it in the state of ohio in the wake of this bill being signed. good to have you with us tonight. >>> in an update now on wisconsin, in the first sign of weakness walker's administration said today they will comply with the court order and is suspending enforcement of its union busting law. the administration started implementing the law earlier this week despite a judge's ruling. that prompted a state judge to issue an amended order. hearings and testimony will continue tomorrow. and the fight for the middle class in america continues. >>> first captain sullen berg saved american lives on the hudson river. tonight in our exclusive interview, he'll tell us how he is trying to save american lives from a republican amendment. and a republican congressman says he is struggling to get by. we'll tell you why his own party doesn't want you to hear what he said. that's the take down, next. stay with us. looking for a simple way to help lower your cholesterol? 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maybe. but at this point, i'm not living high on the hog. i have no problem -- you know what sunny think we should all take a step back. can everyone do more with less? absolutely. >> oh, yes. we can all do with less. well the median income of a wisconsin family was just over $174,000. a year. not bad. looking at his financial disclosure forms from 2009, the duffy family of eight has hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt from a mortgage, student loans, credit cards, and a vacation home. so this debt that sean duffy has accumulated by his own way, his own decisions, not because the state decided to cut his salary, it looks like it might be time for some tough family choices, doesn't it? that must be what he told the crowd in polk county. right? >> let's take a pay decrease. let's go across the board and all join hands together and say let's all take a pay decrease. i'll join with you. absolutely. >> all right. so let me get this straight. duffy says he is struggling on $174,000 a year salary because of his own debt. to him, that's the same as a family making under $50,000 a year who will make less because republicans are cutting middle class and lower income salaries and he thinks everyone should take a pay cut across the board? no wonder the republicans didn't want anybody seeing this video. you know, sean duffy shouldn't worry so much about his finances. he comes from a lumber jacking family and has participated in lumber jack competitions. after he's been in congress for a half a term he can, you know, maybe copy the career path of the, probably the most high profile endorser of his job, because of course she quit her job and he can quit his job. then he can get his own reality show just like sarah palin's "alaska." he'll be back on reality tv where he belongs. he'll surely land a nice gig on fox news. and he won't have to worry about that measly congressional salary anymore, will he? at $174,000 a year. that's the take down. >>> we're not afraid to debate on this show. jeremy cahill was here last night talking about the libyan freedom fighters. the debate continues with congressman joe sestak. >>> and standing in for our exclusive interview, captain sully sullenberger on a republican amendment that could cost american pilots and passengers their lives. safety is a huge issue on this legislation. stay with us. that is next. >>> welcome back to "the ed show" and thanks for watching us tonight. i appreciate it so much. it was january 15th, 2009 when captain sullenberger saved the lives of 155 passengers and crew onboard a u.s. airways flight 1549 by landing the damaged plane safely on the hudson river. today he is trying to save lives again. back then the problem was a flock of birds sucked into the engines. relying on years of experience sullenberger managed to bring the jet down smoothly enough for the passengers to be evacuated and rescued before the plane went under. today the problem is an aviation bill about to be passed by house republicans. according to the captain, quote, people will die. an amendment to the bill from the republican bill, shuster, would slow down faa rules including a rule put in place after a crash killed 50 people outside buffalo which would reduce pilot fatigue by reducing the length of their shifts. captain sullenberger is not only a veteran pilot but also an accident investigator. on his facebook page, captain sullenberger wrote, quote, special interests are focused only on the bottom line and are lobbying extensively for this amendment. and captain chesley sullenberger joins us exclusively tonight. captain, thanks for your time. first of all, i appreciate you speaking up because you are viewed seriously as a leader in the aviation community and you have said some bold things. you've said that people will die if this passes. explain that to our audience tonight, sir. >> well, good evening, ed. it's good to be with you. and to answer your question how could i not speak up? this flight two years ago on the hudson has given me a greater voice about the things i've cared about my entire life. i feel a duty to do this, to keep on improving aviation safety and keep our passengers safe. this amendment is really a slap in the face of the family was the victims of the buffalo crash who have all worked as tireless, ardent advocates for the highest professional and safety standards. they've had some successes. they've gotten through congress a bill that would increase and improve pilot experience. they've worked with us to try to improve pilot fatigue rules so that every pilot is rested and can perform as well at the end of a shift as at the beginning. this bill is disturbing in many ways and could essentially freeze our safety regulationse and most innocuous safety rules would likely be put forward. and it also would carve out an exempt from important rules huge segments of the aviation industry -- cargo, carriers and others. as a veteran it is particularly disturbing and offensive to me that one suggestion is that the supplemental carriers who carry the vast majority of our troops back and forth overseas would not be subject to the same fatigue rules as domestic passengers here in the united states. there needs to be clearly one level of safety. we've been calling for that for 25 years. we've never achieved it. this would only take us further away from hi ttess regulation is better. do you think this is a clear clearly -- a clear example less regulation could cost people their lives in this country? and how do you think other pilots feel about it? >> i can't speak for all but i certainly speak for many and in the last two years i've had a very consistent message from my colleagues at all the airlines. first they thank us for what we're able to accomplish, my crew and i two years ago, and they thank us even more for what we've done since then by being the spokesperson effectively for safety for our passengers and our profession. so to answer your question directly, if we choose not to increase safety with new rules as we learn more about the signs of safety going forward, then what will happen ultimately, eventually, somewhere, someplace, some time, someone will die who otherwise would not have had to. >> is this a money issue? >> of course. it's -- we as an industry, we as a congress, have to keep our priorities straight. we have to keep our passengers safe. we have to keep our promise to our passengers and that is simple. that we will do for them the very best that we know how to do. and not take the easy, more expedient, less costly route. >> and, captain, i have to ask you. we hear a lot about union busting going on in this country. we hear a lot about collective bargaining. do you think that this amendment plays into that? >> i'm very concerned about the labor aspects of it, also. as an airline pilot i was a proud union member for over 30 years. i saw that even at good companies it levels the playing field. no individual can stand up to the power of the organization of management. it's only collectively we have an effective voice. you know what? people should have a say in how they live their work lives. it has important other benefits. first of all, having a collective bargaining agreement provides a defined mechanism for resolving disputes. i was a member of a safety committee and over the years we did many important things, made many important safety contributions that would not have happened had we not been organized. >> great to have you with us tonight. i appreciate you speaking out. as a pilot i have a pretty good sense of what you're talking about and i wish the general public could understand that technology is going in leaps and bounds and we have to keep up with that commitment when it comes to safety in this country. the traveling public deserves and i think should demand better. thank you for speaking up. >> well, quickly before we go, the traveling public and their families can do something. call your congressman and tell them to vote no on this shuster amendment. >> appreciate it so much. thanks so much. >>> do you think the republican party is banging on the door of donald trump to run for president? and does donald trump even understand what it means to be a public servant? stay with us. 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