Ed Schultz tells it like it is at Teamsters Unity Conference

Ed Schultz telling Teamsters to tell the truth to their neighbors.

Ed Schultz closed the Teamsters Unity Conference with a rock 'em, sock 'em call to action against extremists who want to destroy the middle class.

Schultz has become a Teamster favorite because he speaks up for working people on his MSNBC program, "The Ed Show." He began by telling the 2,000 Teamsters,

I thought I'd let you see if I'm as big a son of a bitch as the right wing thinks I am.

He was introduced by Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa, who watches "The Ed Show" every night at 8 pm, EDT. Hoffa called him "the antithesis of Fox News and Bill O'Reilly" as well as "a big man with a big heart.

Schultz, who had just donated $20,000 to the James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship Fund, delivered a passionate defense of public education.

Public education, why in the hell would they attack that? They want fewer teachers, fewer schools, bigger classes, a better dropout rate because they really do love cheap labor. That's what they want.

He urged the assembled Teamsters to get out and defeat Mitt Romney in November.

We’re on the offensive in 2012. We need to tell the truth to our neighbors about the war on workers. Mitt Romney and his crowd have no plan for you or for organized labor. They have nothing on the table for you and your future.

In Ohio and Wisconsin, there are politicians who want to take away your voice in the workplace. This is their vision for America. They want me to have another tax break. I don’t want any more money. I want my nine grandkids to have a future and to set the table for them...  

I know that workers in this country have the resilience, the reason, the heart and the desire to do what has to be done. They can’t take your heart and your passion and I’m not going to let them change the facts. The facts are—we can turn this country around. The same way this country was built by labor, it can be rebuilt by labor.