As he began the most recent installment of the "Ed Show" on MSNBC, the host said, "The Republican Party has been on a crusade against the middle class and the poor for the last 30 years. We're now seeing the wreckage of that race to the bottom line culture."
He disgracefully continued, "Today a government report showed weekly jobless claims at a five-month high. 484,000 new unemployment claims were filed in the week ending August 7th. And you know what folks, you can lay this right at the feet, right at the altar of the Republican Party."
Sadly, he wasn't close to done, claiming, "The people you see flooding the streets begging for help, begging for an opportunity are victims of the Republican agenda just to make sure that President Obama fails" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
ED SCHULTZ: But this is the story that has me fired up tonight. And this story will touch every community across this country. People are desperate for all kinds of help across America. Yesterday, it was tens of thousands of people looking for housing help in Georgia. Today, I attended a rally of professional Americans who have been displaced by corporate greed and out of touch politicians. A passionate crowd of 99ers rallied at the Federal Hall here in New York. The shadow of Wall Street. They had one basic question: where are the jobs?
After some interviews with a number of unemployed Americans, Schultz continued:
SCHULTZ: Both those gentlemen were professional people that actually worked on Wall Street and worked in companies and they, of course, were downsized and knocked out of the economy. And they've been out of the economy for several years. What are we supposed to do, Republicans? I'd like to tell these people that Washington is listening. But the reality is members of Congress are back home trying to save their own jobs. You could see the passion in the eyes of the 99ers today. They just want a chance to work. That's it.
There's no magic to this stuff. But keep in mind the Republican Party has fought every jobs bill, every unemployment bill and every social safety net that the 99ers have looked for and all Americans need. Republicans care about the people inside those buildings on Wall Street. They don't give a damn about the middle class and the folks who are out of work. Americans need a break right now.
Meanwhile today, people in East Point, Georgia, returned applications for public assisted housing. The unemployment rate in Fulton County where East Point is located is 10.8 percent. The pictures of these Americans swarming officials should be all the wake-up call the Congress needs when it comes to the question being answered: where in the hell is our country going? Do we care? Do we have a moral compass anymore?
The Republican Party has been on a crusade against the middle class and the poor for the last 30 years. We're now seeing the wreckage of that race to the bottom line culture. The President knows how important unemployment and housing and how that problem is and how it's got to be addressed. So today his administration announced that it going to spend about another $3 billion to help unemployed people pay their mortgages. That's a great step forward. California is going to get $476 million. Florida $239 million, Illinois $166 million, Ohio $149 million. And the state of Georgia will get $127 million in help when it comes to housing. These are the areas that have been hit hard. Now, I would like to see Republican Senators Johnny Isakson and Saxbiss Chambly [Saxby Chambliss] meet with these 30,000 constituents that you just saw on videotape at East Point, look them in the eyes and tell them that they voted against unemployment benefits.
The picture is getting worse. Today a government report showed weekly jobless claims at a five-month high. 484,000 new unemployment claims were filed in the week ending August 7th. And you know what folks, you can lay this right at the feet, right at the altar, let's genuflect now, right at the altar of the Republican Party who blocked a $30 billion small business bill not long ago. Republican obstructionism is absolutely tearing this country apart at the seams. It's dividing America. The people you see flooding the streets begging for help, begging for an opportunity are victims of the Republican agenda just to make sure that President Obama fails and doesn't have any success.
I do believe that when the Republicans not long ago blocked money to community banks for small businesses to be able to get credit and get access to capital to go out and do business in this country, I think that set the tone to strangle this economic recovery for months to come. It was the most un-American thing the Republican Party has ever done. What do you have against small business? What do you have against giving someone an opportunity? Now, on one hand the Republicans they say no to the 99ers. They say no to more unemployment benefits. Then on the other hand, they say we can't help out small business either.
I'd like the Republican Party to stand up and say whose side are you on. They're not on anybody's side, folks. All they want to do is see President Obama fail. They don't like the fact that someone who cares about people is in the White House, and someone who actually did something about healthcare in this country that's going to save lives. That Party's going to get the credit for it. So there's going to be more lies spewed about our economy between now and November, more obstruction than you've ever seen before.
How disgraceful. Is this honestly what passes for journalism at MSNBC today?
After all, the Democrats have controlled Congress since January 2007, and the White House since January 2009? Do they not bear any of the responsibility for the current economic condition?
Consider that in December 2006, the unemployment rate was 4.4 percent. Now it's 9.5 percent.
But according to Schultz, despite Democrats taking over Congress in January 2007, this more than doubling of the unemployment rate is all the Republicans' fault.
In December 2006, there were almost 137 million Americans on non-farm payrolls. Today that number stands at 130 million.
To give you an idea of the kind of job losses that have taken place since the Democrats took control of Congress, the American Observer created the following video (h/t Gateway Pundit):
Scary, isn't it?
Yet, despite the economy losing almost seven million jobs since the Democrats took over Congress, not only does Schultz believe the Republicans are exclusively to blame, but he also has a national television show on a so-called cable news network to say it without anyone to offer a contrary opinion.
Makes you want to throw your television set out the window, doesn't it?
*****Update: According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the most recent recession began December 2007, or roughly eleven months AFTER the Democrats took control of Congress. The Gross Domestic Product in 2008 showed zero growth while declining by 2.6 percent in 2009.
By contrast, after Republicans took back the Senate in 2003 thereby controlling both chambers of Congress and the White House, the GDP grew by 2.5 percent that year followed by 3.6 percent in 2004, 3.1 percent in 2005, and 2.7 percent in 2006.
During this period, unemployment went from 6.0 percent to 4.4 percent as non-farm employers added almost 7 million jobs.
With this in mind, which party do you think drove the nation into a ditch, and who would like driving the car now?
