For the second time in one day, an MSNBC anchor accused Republicans of betraying the United States. According to Ed Schultz on Tuesday, House GOP members who won't agree to all of Barack Obama's demands on the government shutdown are committing "economic terrorism" and plotting a "coup d'etat" against the President.
Schultz brought on Democratic Congressman Joseph Crowley to discuss whether there would be a vote on the shutdown. The Ed Show host fumed, "Congressman, what we're seeing happen in America right now, I think, is economic terrorism." The anchor offered his version of what passing the debt ceiling deadline would mean: "Interest rates are going to go nuts. Belt tightening is going to take place. Unemployment's going to go up." He escalated, "This is economic terrorism as I call it...It seems to be nothing more than a legislative coup d'etat." [MP3 audio here [1].]
A legislative coup d'etat [2]? So the Republicans are, legislatively, trying a "a sudden attempt" to "take over the government, usually through violence"? Perhaps Schultz is unaware that Congress control the purse strings.
Earlier in the day, anchor Thomas Roberts [3] slimed a GOP congresswoman, wondering, "Do you hate ObamaCare more than you love your country?
Echoing a similar theme, Schultz on October 7 [4] declared House Speaker John Boehner to be guilty of "treason."
A partial transcript of the October 15 segment is below:
5:56
ED SCHULTZ: Welcome back to the Ed Show, we're following breaking news for the folks who take a shower after work. Now, late breaking news at this hour and we're saying this business just a moments ago when this is the case. The House Rules Committee has postponed the new house debt limit deal, quote, "subject to the call of the chair." The bill was postponed right after the Heritage Action Committee told congressional members to vote no on the plan. This is absolutely stunning. So, what has happened here is that the House Rules Committee is saying, "No, we're not going to vote on this thing tonight." And the Heritage Action Fund has really grabbed the Tea Partiers and emboldened them by saying, "Vote no on this." So, it's really up in the air right now is to how this is all going to unfold. For more let's turn to Congressman Joseph Crowley of New York who is on the Democratic leadership team. Congressman, this is the latest, just moments ago what do you make of it? What does it mean?
REP JOSEPH CROWLEY: Well thanks Ed, great to be back with you.
SCHULTZ: You bet.
CROWLEY: What it really means is I think Americans have even more questions as to who is actually running the Republican House of Representatives right now.
SCHULTZ: So, will there be a vote tonight, Congressman?
CROWLEY: Well, there's still a chance that we will have a vote but clearly this is been a set back once again for the Republican caucus. And so, it makes me seem just where the rules will be called back in and it's quite possible we can have a vote later tonight.
SCHULTZ: Okay. So what does it mean when it says, "Subject to the call of the chair?" This means -- as I understand these means if they haven't decided whether they're going to have a vote or not.
CROWLEY: That's correct. It really means whether or not the speaker will actually call for a bill to go through the rules committee and they make its way to the floor tonight. So, really is it's still in the Republican Speakers – his power to determine whether that bill come to the floor or not.
SCHULTZ: What do you make of the Heritage Action Group telling members to vote no on it?
CROWLEY: It's really remarkable. I think it really -- this is really demonstrates completely in many respects to Civil War that's taking place within the Republican caucus. For everything they add to the bill to sweeten it to get more members to vote for it, it actually it gives reason for them not to vote for it as well all the factors within the caucus. So I think Mr. Boehner has a difficult time getting despite anything through right now in the House. And quite frankly, I think unless we go back to what the Senate is working on, anything we do in the House absent what the Senate is talking about doing is a vote, really, to miss the deadline our debt ceiling.
SCHULTZ: Congressman, what we're seeing happen in America right now, I think, is economic terrorism. We all know exactly what the heck is going to happen if we default. Interest rates are going to go nuts. Belt tightening is going to take place. Unemployment's going to go up. Money is going to be hard to get. It's going to shrink our economy. We're going to lose all of what we have gained in the 43 months in the private sector. This is economic terrorism as I call it. The other thing is it seems to be nothing more than a legislative coup d'etat. I mean, this is basically a bunch of people saying, "No, we're not going to run government anymore in America. The hell with it."
CROWLEY: And you're talking quite frankly, Ed, about the government aspect of it. But, what this really means to individuals as well (ph) is high interest rates for their home mortgages, higher interest rates for the students loans, a real impact on their spending power. And so what this really -- can really turn into unfortunately is putting us back into a recession and maybe even a depression.
— Scott Whitlock is Senior News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Scott Whitlock on Twitter. [5]