Mike Groll / AP

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo delivers his third State of the State address at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center on Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013, in Albany, N.Y. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed “the toughest assault weapons ban in the nation” in his State of the State address Wednesday afternoon – a response to the mass shootings in Aurora, Colo., and Newtown, Conn., and the shooting deaths of firefighters in upstate New York.

“We must stop the madness,” Cuomo said.

“This is not about taking away peoples’ guns,” said Cuomo, adding that he’s gone hunting and owns a shotgun. “It is about ending the unnecessary risk of high-capacity assault rifles.”

Cuomo previously described New York’s assault weapons regulations as having “more holes than Swiss cheese.”

The governor proposed a seven-point plan that includes the elimination of all high-capacity magazines, regardless of the date of manufacture. New York law currently prohibits magazines that hold more than ten rounds, but excludes magazines made prior to 1994.

Cuomo also proposed background checks for all gun sales between private parties, as well as stricter penalties for the illegal purchase of weapons and measures to ensure that guns stay out of the hands of mentally ill individuals.

Even before the governor spoke, the topic stirred debate in New York, which is one of seven states that currently restrict the purchase and possession of assault weapons. The others are California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Maryland according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which supports gun control measures. 

“New York’s assault weapons ban is, as he noted, riddled with loopholes, and it’s important to approach that with a fresh eye,” said Benjamin Van Houten, a managing attorney at the Law Center. “Currently California has the strongest state assault weapons ban, but I’m really encouraged by what the governor was saying today.” 

After Cuomo told a radio interviewer in December that “confiscation could be an option,” gun rights activists posted a petition to the White House’s web site calling any legislation restricting the sale and ownership of semi-automatic firearms “a clear violation of our rights as a free people.” The petition had 7,973 signatures as of late Wednesday morning.

Cuomo's aides have reportedly said the confiscation idea won't work, and he hasn't mentioned it since the radio interview.

Cuomo’s speech comes as lawmakers in other states and at the federal level direct more attention to the issue of gun control.

In Washington, Vice President Biden held the first in a series of gatherings at the White House aimed at trying to create a consensus on what to do about gun violence. 

“The president is going to act,” Biden said while meeting with gun control proponents at the White House. “There are executive orders, executive action that can be taken.”

In Colorado, which is still reeling from the movie theater shooting that left 12 dead, Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, has urged legislators to take up the issue of gun control. The Associated Press reported that gun rights advocates planned a rally outside the state Capitol Wednesday, a day ahead of Hickenlooper’s own State of the State address.

An FBI review of all 2011 homicides for which data was available found that 67.8 percent of them involved firearms – 72.5 percent of which were handguns.

On Monday, more than one hundred New York state legislators called for new laws that would cut down on gun violence. Their proposed package calls for universal background checks on all gun sales, a more stringent ban on assault weapons, and a ban on the sale and possession of magazines that hold more than ten rounds of ammunition.

Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos announced his own gun proposal on Saturday, suggesting mandatory sentences for possession of an illegal weapon and increased penalties for carrying a firearm in certain areas, like on school grounds.

“No new package of gun safety laws can be truly effective without including provisions that go after illegal guns and punish the people who use them against others,” Skelos said in a press release.

A spokesman for the governor knocked down Skelos’ proposal because it did not call for an outright ban on assault weapons.

“Any gun policy that doesn’t ban assault weapons ignores the reality of gun violence and insults the common sense of New Yorkers,” spokesman Josh Vlasto said.

Cuomo's efforts may be aided by the fact he is riding a wave of popularity. A Siena College poll conducted in November found that Cuomo is viewed favorably by 72 percent of New Yorkers.

Vice President Joe Biden keeps the hits coming after his knockout debate last night.

Tonight, Ed welcomes Richard Wolffe, Vice President and Executive Editor of MSNBC.com and MSNBC Political Analyst, on the education of Congressman Paul Ryan.

The war on women was alive and well last night, with revealing answers to a question about abortion.  Terry O'Neill, President of the National Organization for Women, joins me, next.

Paul Ryan defends his tax plan but not very convincingly. David Cay Johnston, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, and author ("The Fine Print: How Big Companies Use ‘Plain English’ To Rob You Blind") takes a crack at Ryan’s “six study” lie.

Then, Republicans freak out over Vice President Joe Biden’s big win.  Former DNC Communications Director and MSNBC Political Analyst Karen Finney joins Ed for that.

And in the Big Finish, Bain Capital is sending American jobs overseas and Mitt Romney is refusing to step in. 

Tonight, Ed will ask Leo Gerard, President of the United Steelworkers, about a massive protest in Freeport, Illinois, where they are warning the country about Mitt Romney's vision for America.

It's going to another blockbuster @EdShow at 8pET on @msnbctv.

Join the conversation now or during the show by commenting on Facebook and/or tweeting (with the #edshow hashtag) so we can share your thoughts on the show.

The @TweetTron9k is powering up the circuits to put yer tweets on the teevee.  

AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

An American Airlines employee works in the airlines control tower at JFK International airport in New York on Aug. 1, 2012.

One of the things that makes Mitt Romney’s 47 percent comment stand out is that it flies in the face of what we really know about most Americans and our work ethic. 

As you probably know, Romney was recently caught telling a group of wealthy donors back in May, "There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what.  All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it." 

Romney calls almost half of the American population "dependent," "victims" who "believe that they are entitled" to the basic necessities.  Keep that in mind as you read this next statistic: 

90 percent of wage and salary workers were offered paid or unpaid leave in 2011, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Only 21 percent used that leave.  You can see the whole study here. 

These are working Americans who were offered some form of time off and didn't take it.  And it’s not because they didn’t get paid.  During an average week, 57 percent used only their paid leave.  40 percent used unpaid. 

Look at it this way, almost 70 percent of workers who had the option to stay home or go on vacation or run errands or whatever just didn’t take it. 

None of these statistics can tell us who will vote for President Obama or not.  But the numbers do give us some insight into just how misguided and frankly insulting Mitt Romney’s claim about 47 percent really is. 

Does a "dependent" "victim" go to work when they could take the day off?  How many Americans decide to work instead of calling in sick?  How many Americans put a vacation on hold, or switch shifts so they can attend a child’s school event?  Does Romney call them "entitled"? 

Picture this: while Romney complains about American laziness at a high-dollar fundraiser to fellow multi-millionaires in a vacation hot spot in Florida, a vast majority of American workers are on the job, refusing to take the time-off their bosses give them.

It kind of gives new meaning to Ed’s phrase, "Let’s get to work." 

-Jen Brockman, Segment Producer

This Halloween when the streets of your hometown look more like Sesame Street then suburbia, there is one person to thank: Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

During the first presidential debate in Denver on October 3, Mitt Romney decided to discuss his plan to cut what he considers non-essential items to the budget.  "I’m going to stop the subsidy to PBS.  I’m going to stop other things," Romney said.  "I like PBS, I like Big Bird."

Social media immediately picked up on the "zinger" by Romney with Big Bird continuing as a trending topic even hours after the debate.   A week later, with the media's focus shifted towards the upcoming VP debate, new job numbers and information out of Libya, the backlash about Big Bird still continues to have a lasting impact.  Big Bird has inspired memes, Democratic campaign ads, and t-shirts.  The famous Bird even made his way onto Saturday Night Live. 

On October 31, the impact of Mitt Romney’s statement will be seen clearly.

According to ABC News, the “Sassy Big Bird” Halloween costume sold on costumecraze.com has been flying off the shelves.  Although Big Bird Halloween costumes were already a big seller prior to the presidential debate, sales have increased 500 percent.  Halloween Express has had hundreds of searches for their Big Bird costume since the debate.

Costume World’s CEO and founder, Marilynn Wick, told ABC News that this year’s couple costume winners were Big Bird paired with Obama and its counterpart, Big Bird and Mitt Romney, with one addition.  The Romney/Big Bird pairing also included “a machine gun doing Big Bird in.”

Who ever said Mitt Romney was bad for the economy?

Social media commentary was fairly closely divided on who did better in Thursday night's vice presidential debate, according to NBC Politics' computer-assisted analysis of more than half a million Twitter and Facebook posts during and after the debate — and people's opinions either way largely came down to what they thought about Joe Biden's hyperkinetic performance.

Analysis through noon ET Friday suggested that a plurality of commenters thought Biden did better than Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin:

Crimson Hexagon Inc. and NBC Politics

M. Alex Johnson is a reporter for NBC News. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

That works out to a 53 percent to 47 percent edge for Biden among commenters who expressed clear opinion.

(NBC Politics analyzed 517,000 posts using a tool called ForSight, a data platform developed by Crimson Hexagon Inc., which many research and business organizations have adopted to gauge public opinion in new media. It isn't the same as a traditional survey, which seeks to reflect national opinion; instead, it's a broad, non-predictive snapshot of what's being said by Americans who follow politics and are active on Facebook, Twitter or both at a particular moment in time, and why they're saying it.)

More social media analysis from NBC Politics

Explainer: Can you scientifically quantify social media opinion?

Generally speaking, pro-Biden comment was straightforward: He did better than Ryan, and he may have helped to make up some of the ground President Barack Obama was perceived to have lost in his debate last week with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney:

Twitter.com — 9:25 p.m. ET

Facebook.com — 11:28 p.m. ET

But pro-Ryan commentary was very different. Even people who thought he did better were likely to characterize their opinions in reaction to Biden, rather than highlight what impressed them about Ryan — much of whose favorable sentiment was expressed as annoyance at the vice president.

Biden plays aggressor in debate as Ryan argues GOP case

A representation of key words in comments that said Ryan did better illustrates the degree to which his performance was defined in relation to Biden's. Notice that the word "Biden" is fully as prominent as the word "Ryan":

Crimson Hexagon Inc. and NBC Politics

In sharp contrast, "Ryan" shows up far less prominently in the reciprocal visualization of key words in comments that said Biden did better (it's nestled in the middle of the cluster on the left of the image):

Crimson Hexagon Inc. and NBC Politics

A different visualization gives a better idea of why pro-Ryan commenters were pro-Ryan: They found Biden's interruptions and exasperated reactions — captured in split-screen throughout the 90 minutes of the televised debate — to be rude and condescending:

Crimson Hexagon Inc. and NBC Politics

Facebook.com — 10:48 p.m. ET

Twitter.com — 9:29 p.m. ET

PhotoBlog: Joe Biden's laughing creates a lot of debate after the vice presidential debate

Almost as widely discussed a figure was the moderator, Martha Raddatz of ABC News, who was either tough and fair or in the tank for Biden, depending upon who you thought did better:

Twitter.com — 9:51 p.m. ET

Twitter.com — 10:25 p.m. ET

Twitter.com — 10:03 p.m. ET

Twitter.com — 9:41 p.m. ET

The question remaining to be answered is whether the debate will have made any substantial difference. Many commenters remarked that while they thought one man or the other did better, the debate was unlikely to sway Election Day preferences — a sentiment that was best summed up in this observation:

Facebook.com — 10:48 a.m. ET

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and his wife Callista deliver a tribute to President Ronald Reagan during the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Clint Eastwood gave an unforgettable performance before Mitt Romney took the stage at the Republican National Convention in August, but many viewers were disappointed that the rumors of a hologram version of President Ronald Reagan taking the stage were untrue.

But next year, we may get a glimpse of the Gipper-gram! 

The New Republic has the back story on the idea and the controversy surrounding its rumored appearance at the RNC in August.

The Reagan hologram was the idea of Ohio Web developer Tony Reynolds, who is a fan of the 40th President and his focus on small business. Reynolds was looking for a way to promote his crowd funding web site, and draw attention to the JOBS Act, which was signed into law by President Obama in April.

The JOBS Act passed through Congress with bi-partisan support, and Reynolds wanted to call on politicians to work across the aisle on similar legislation by using a Reagan's speech that "advocated freedom for small business."

So why a hologram?

Reynolds says the hologram resurrection of rapper Tupac Shakur (WARNING: foul language) at this year's Coachella music festival inspired him. He reached out to AV Concepts, one of the companies involved in creating the Tupac hologram, and collected donations to fund the project through his web site, A KickIn Crowd.

Despite the rumors, the Reagan hologram was never going to endorse Mitt Romney. He wasn't even scheduled to appear on stage, but rather was set to speak outside the convention center.

But Reynolds, a registered independent, didn't want the hologram's speech to be viewed in a partisan light, nor did RNC organizers want Reagan to overshadow their candidate, and the event was scrapped.

TNR reports that Reynolds is finalizing the hologram with plans to debut it next year, but will not give out any other specifics. 

Last week, Ed was disappointed by President Barack Obama's performance in the first presidential debate.

Tonight, in the first and only vice presidential debate, it was a very different reaction from Ed.

"I thought Joe Biden made up a lot of ground," Ed said in his first reaction on MSNBC to tonight's vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan.

He continued: "I have a sense that the liberal community is going to be very satisfied with what Joe Biden delivered tonight.  He was detailed, he was passionate, he made people believe he that he cares about the country and had confidence in which way this administration wants to take the country." 

"He talked about the progress that has been made and talked about the tough decisions that had to be made and the decisions that were made were the correct decisions.  I think that's what the base wanted hear tonight and they got it from Joe Biden."

"Now, as far as Ryan is concerned, look, I don't think it's going to take very long for them to start crying about the referee here.  I think that [moderator Martha Raddatz's] reporting skills came out tonight.  She improvised a great deal on the subject matter, I think that is going to be criticized in the right wing media." 

"Ryan?  Mission accomplished.  He went there tonight and I don't think he hurt the conservative agenda at all.  They don't give details.  They're OK with that.  He was lacking in specifics on the economy, he was lacking specifics in Medicare.  He tried to sell that hard.  Everything Joe Biden said was factual.  Everything that Ryan came back with was 'well that's not right this is what we want to do,' but he really had no detail on anything."

"And I also thought that Joe Biden's experience tonight on foreign policy, I mean it was a man against a boy.  I mean he got so mixed up, Ryan did, he would not accept that the fact that Afghan forces are also making strides and they're the ones being detailed to the very regions he's talking about." 

Alaska Sea Life Center

Meet Mitik.

Mitik, a 15 week old orphaned baby walrus, was rescued off the coast of Alaska, and brought to his new home today, at the New York Aquarium in Brooklyn. 

Because walruses are social animals, Mitik's rescuers believe the Aquarium is a perfect fit for the 234-pound baby.  He'll join two other walruses--  Nuka and Kulu, already in residence.

Check out Chris Jansing's report on Mitik's incredible journey:

Last night, Republican Sen. Scott Brown and Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren shed the discussion on Warren's heritage from their talking points.  Brown touted his voting record, but lost his footing when asked about women's rights and issues.

Sen. Brown is pro-choice; he's stood against violence against women. There's been no doubt, as Warren put it, "that Senator Brown is a good husband and a good father to his daughters."

But she reminded the audience that this election is about everyone's daughter – underscoring why Brown's votes against equal pay for women and insurance coverage for birth control and preventative services is unacceptable.

Check out Warren's take (in the embedded video) on why women’s rights can't afford to be picked apart.

Bleacher Nation

Can the Nats do it without Stephen Strasburg?

The nation's capital is enjoying its first taste of playoff baseball in 79 years. But that could all come to a screeching halt now that the team faces a do-or-die elimination game against the St. Louis Cardinals tomorrow night.

Of course, the first question that comes up if you're a Nats fan is, "Would things be different if Stephen Strasburg was allowed to pitch?"

Strasburg, the 2009 #1 draft pick and the best Nats pitcher by a lot, was shut down in the regular season by team General Manager Mike Rizzo after pitching nearly 160 innings this year. The Nationals want to be very careful with their prized pitcher who is coming off major arm surgery.

As Rizzo said, "We'll be back, and doing this a couple more times.''

But will they? There are no guarantees in sports. Injuries happen. Overachievers regress. Opponents figure out your weaknesses. Why wouldn't the Nats put themselves in the best position to win when given the chance?

Many baseball fans say the Washington Nationals deliberately left their best stuff at home. It's not unlike the criticism President Obama received for not taking it to Mitt Romney (or talking up his own achievements) in their first debate meeting.

President Obama says it was a bad night and he's moving on to the next game. His supporters are hoping he's right.

The Washington Nationals are maintaining a similar mindset. They displayed a clear-headed focus tonight with a dramatic 9th inning victory. But win or lose tomorrow, the players and staff will always have to wonder if they would have been better off getting the job done by using their best weapon.

What do you think? Can the Nationals stay in the playoff hunt without their best pitcher?

-Brendan McDonald, Segment Producer

In another encouraging takeaway for Democrats, NBC/WSJ found that Democrats’ ground game may be paying dividends in early voting.

Obama is winning Ohioans who have already cast their ballot by a 63-37 percent margin, and they make up 1 in 5 of the poll’s respondents.

Early voting began the day before the first debate, giving Romney an opportunity to potentially bank some ballots ahead of Election Day with his strong performance, but it seems from NBC’s results that Obama still has the edge there.

Some 92 percent of voters also said their minds were made up before the debate, suggesting that Romney may have somewhat small — though still significant — base to court in the final weeks.

Meanwhile, if you really want to make your head spin with relevant but sometimes contradictory polling information but always brilliant analysis, check out Nate Silver’s column today.

What we can draw from both these pieces is that we are not yet in a situation where the tables have turned on President Obama and he is now the underdog.  He is certainly NOT yet the underdog.

President Obama is still ahead in the electoral vote math and probably about even in the national popular vote.

If Biden and Obama do well tonight and next Tuesday, respectively, we can expect the President to regain a modest lead in the popular vote and solidify a lead in the electoral projections.

-Carey Fox, Segment Producer

Last night, the Discovery Channel aired a special on the gun culture in America. They spent some time with Republican political activist and gun enthusiast Ted Nugent.

The special seemed comical to say the least, and really didn't  take "an inside look at American gun culture" as it was supposed to. It really just gave an inside look at Ted Nugent’s gun culture.

The average outdoors men isn’t out shooting a .50 caliber Machine Gun at 4 inch thick steel doors:

The average hunter out there also isn’t firing a chainsaw shot gun…

Or hanging out with people preparing for the Zombie apocalypse…

On top of all this as Media Matters points out, Ted Nugent spent yesterday promoting his show and trashing the President.  In promotional radio appearances for the Discovery Channel special, Nugent called President Obama "anti-American" and said the show was means of helping him win the "culture war." 

Michele Bachmann, Allen West, Steve King and Joe Walsh are all facing tough fights for re-election. Is "Tea Party Mt. Rushmore" crumbling? Ed Schultz asks MSNBC political analyst Karen Finney. 

Mitt Romney will no longer mention the story of Glen Doherty, a former Navy SEAL killed in the September 11th attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, after the SEAL's mother complained about her son's story being used on the campaign trail.

Ed Schultz takes Governor Romney to task for politicizing the death of an American hero. 

In a recent interview Mark Hamill, the man who played Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy, said that if he had to compare President Obama to a character from Star Wars he would choose a combo of Yoda and Obi Wan Kenobi.

We asked our twitter followers to fill out the rest of the equation and name the "Star Wars" character they would associate with Mitt Romney. We got hundreds of responses (people on the Internet like "Star Wars" apparently?) which ranged from the good the bad and the ugly.

Somehow, there were two votes for Pizza the Hut (Jabba's "Spaceballs" knock-off). Another said: "the slime trail that follows Jabba the Hut". Another suggested Mitt Romney was comparable to the "skinny thing sitting *next* to Jabba the Hut" (his name is Salacious B. Crumb)

Number 3/2 is a tie of two no-brainers: Darth Vader and the Emperor.

And Number 1: Our twitter followers overwhelmingly associate Mitt Romney with the greatest Star Wars villain of them all Jar-Jar Binks. This was far and away the most popular pick, as @Slichtor put it: "None of the darths (Vader etc). I don’t think he’s that cunning; it’s just political expediency. Annoying/void of substance=Jar Jar."

Honorable mention goes to @_Zakdaddy— who was the only respondent to submit the name Malakili. He's the jerk from "Return of the Jedi" who was in charge of the Rancor. That's just deep.

With the election approaching, some corporate CEOS are pulling out all the stops to pressure their employees about what they do in the voting booth.

On The Ed Show Wednesday, Ed counted off the examples:

• Robert Murray of Murray Enterprises in Ohio earlier this summer forced miners to attend a Mitt Romney rally without pay, some miners have charged. The Federal Election Commission is probing the episode. Murray later went on Fox News and made the bizarre claim that President Obama wants to pass legislation that would pay for people's electric bills—provoking laughter even from his host.

• David Siegel, a Florida real-estate mogul who's building the biggest mansion in America, told employees in a company email they should vote for Romney,, adding that he'd lose motivation to work if Obama was re-elected.

• The Koch brothers sent thousands of employees a list of their favored candidates.

• And as Ed reported Monday, Richard Lacks of Lacks Enterprises, a Michigan auto-parts company, told employees in a recent email that they should “vote to improve your standard of living”by opposing Obama.

Of course, as Ed noted, it's hardly surprising these multi-millionaires would favor Romney. He wants to cut their taxes and deregulate their industries.

Robert Reich, an MSNBC contributor and former Labor Secretary, pointed out that taxes were lower on these CEOs in the for much of the 20th century. And he added:

These people seem to have no patriotic sense. I mean they are part of a society. They have some obligations to society. And yet they are saying, I don't want to be taxed, and if I'm taxed then I'm going to take it out on all of you, who have less job security than they've ever had, whose wages continue to drop, and whose homes are now worth 30% less than they were before.

Ed on the PBS documentary about the men competing for the presidency:  "I highly recommend you watch it. You will see a candidate who can change his convictions so easily because he has no true convictions."

27 days until the election and Mitt Romney implodes over a woman's right to choose.

Tonight, Ed welcomes Terry O’Neill, President of The National Organization for Women, and Democratic Strategist Bob Shrum for reaction and analysis of Romney’s abortion Etch A Sketch.

Mitt Romney went moderate during his debate with the president.  Will his running mate do the same?  Howard Fineman, NBC News Political Analyst and Editorial Director of the Huffington Post Media Group, has a preview of tomorrow's vice presidential debate.

Paul Ryan tries to convince Michigan voters that he and Mitt Romney will fight for the auto industry, but their records tell a different story.  John Nichols, Washington Correspondent of The Nation will have the details.

From the coal mine owner to the real estate mogul, CEO's are holding their workers hostage to get votes for Mitt Romney.  Tonight, Robert Reich, former U.S. Labor Secretary and UC Berkeley Professor, looks at the revolt of the plutocrats.

The mother of a Navy SEAL killed in Benghazi asks Mitt Romney to stop using her son as a political prop.

And in the Big Finish, Rep. Joe Walsh attacks Tammy Duckworth for her appearance at the Democratic National Convention, and he's not the only Tea Partier facing a tough re-election fight.  We’ll talk with Karen Finney, MSNBC Political Analyst and former DNC Communications Director.

It's going to another blockbuster @EdShow at 8pET on @msnbctv.

Join the conversation now or during the show by commenting on Facebook and/or tweeting (with the #edshow hashtag) so we can share your thoughts on the show.

The @TweetTron9k is powering up the circuits to put yer tweets on the teevee.  

Sen. Scott Brown and Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren face each other in the third of four televised debates at Symphony Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Tea Party Congressman Joe Walsh must really want a new job.

Sure, he's gone off the deep end many times since entering high office.  But at a raucous debate in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, last night (as recorded by the Daily Herald and reported by TPM's Eric Kleefeld), he seemed to be daring his constituents to fire him.

At one point, Walsh tried to establish his Democratic challenger, Tammy Duckworth, a double amputee veteran of the Iraq War (and frequent guest of The Ed Show), as a political insider who only says what Democratic bosses tell her to say.

"I think darn near everybody in this audience is sick and tired — and I’ll say it with a smile — of Republicans and Democrats, elected officials, who seem to poll test every syllable of every word that they utter, because they’re so afraid of offending people and losing votes.  You’re seeing the perfect example of that up here on this stage.  Tammy Duckworth will not say a thing that David Axelrod and her advisers won’t let her say."

Members of the audience booed, but an unfazed Walsh went on to address his criticism by brandishing this photo of Duckworth picking out her clothes for her speech at the upcoming Democratic convention:

"I was marching in a parade in Schaumburg (Illinois), Sunday, two days before the Democratic convention," Walsh said, holding up the photo, “when Tammy Duckworth was on a stage down in Charlotte (N.C.) — if you can look at the picture — picking out a dress for her speech Tuesday night."

The audience booed again, drowning out Walsh as he tried to finish his statement.

Duckworth responded with a powerful zinger at Walsh, who did not serve in the military.

"And yes, I do sometimes look at the clothes that I wear,” she said. “But for most of my adult life, I’ve worn one color — it’s called camouflage."

Thankfully, it looks like the electorate has had it with Joe Walsh.  The only poll of the race, taken in September, showed Duckworth leading 52 to 38 percent.

David Siegel, multi-millionaire founder and CEO of Westgate Resorts, sent a letter to his employees telling them that their job is at stake if Mitt Romney doesn't win.

Ed Schultz breaks down the letter and Siegel's history of using his employees to advance his own political agenda.

President George W. Bush's famous statement "you can't fool me again" should serve as a reminder to Americans for what's on the line this election season. Ed Schultz goes through Mitt Romney's lies from last week's debate and sets the record straight.