MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript: Republican Budget Proposal and Trans-Pacific Partnership

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

SCHULTZ: Well, for Congressional Progressive Caucus is stepping up. The
CPC wants to protect food assistance programs and the corporate taxes fair.
Their budget came out today.

Joining me tonight is the Co-Chair of the Progressive Caucus, Congressman
Keith Ellison of Minnesota...

KEITH ELLISON, (D) MINNESOTA: Good Evening.

SCHULTZ: ... and also Congressman Raul Grijalva of Arizona. Gentlemen,
great to have you with us tonight. You first...

REP. RAUL GRIJALVA, (D) ARIZONA: Thank you to be here.

SCHULTZ: You bet. Congressman Grijalva, you first, is the House
Republican budget, is that ruthless or realistic? Could we do this in nine
years?

GRIJALVA: It`s ruthless and it`s mean. Its mean (inaudible) this budget
doubles down on the practices for the last decade plus, breaks for the
super rich and corporate America. And shifting the burden of taxation and
the burden of everyday life to the middle-class and further aggravating
those that want to be part of the middle-class, the poor and the working
poor.

ELLISON: More and more.

GRIJALVA: Our budget is about jobs, it`s about those families and it`s
about taking care of the vast majority of American people.

SCHULTZ: Congressman Ellison, what does the progressive caucus view as a
budget that would set itself apart from the President and also the
Republicans?

ELISSON: Well, our primary measurement for what we think makes a good
budget is job creation. So where 8.4 million jobs by 2018, that`s not a
number we pulled up out of the sky, that the Economic Policy Institute, you
know, use their fancy computers and that is the number we come up with --
with the $820 billion investment that we put in infrastructure to make sure
that our roads and our bridges aren`t falling into the rivers and we`re not
bust in water mains and things like that.

We`re putting America back to work. We also put $95 billion into helping
local governments put workers back on who were lost in the recession like
teachers, like police officers, like firefighters, like, you know, heath
workers and people like that...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

ELISSON: ... who really just kind of make the city go right.

So we make the proper investments to make America strong. And if don`t
mind me adding this, Ed, you know, we do a Universal Pre-K for the little
ones, and we do make down payment on higher education for free higher
education so that people can go all the way through.

SCHULTZ: You know, the Republicans view this as just wasteful spending.
Congressman Grijalva, do they have investment in their budget as you see
it?

GRIJALVA: No. They`re working on that theory, a bankrupt theory that
every would triple down from the breaks that the super rich incorporations
are getting, that the rest of us are going to inherit something. But the
fact to the matter is that everything has gotten worse and the middle-
class, their insecurity about the future is very real.

As Keith said, this is an investment. This is a budget about prosperity
and growing this nation. The austerity that we`ve seen for a decade plus
from Republicans has produced great wealth for the upper 1 percent.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

GRIJALVA: Great wealth for corporations but the rest of America finds its
job stagnant and its salary stagnant.

SCHULTZ: It`s more of the same. There is no question about it.

Congressman Ellison, tell us about the climate change provision. There is
nothing in the Republican budget that deals to anything with climate change
and after our opening segment tonight, it`s amazing that they can even deny
what the heck is going on in this country and also view what Chian is
doing. But tell about the climate change provision in your budget.

ELLISON: Well, what we do is we say that the big, you know, gas and oil
and Metro Gas folks that they shouldn`t have public subsidy. They are
profitable industry, they`re doing fine. They should just operate within
the market like the Republicans think they should.

So we just take this subsidy away, we don`t penalize them. And we take
them -- and instead of putting the money there, we put it into trying to
deal with climate change in making...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

ELLISON: ...sure that we`re doing things. I think we have a carbon tax,
we do put a price on carbon. And we promote green and renewable investment
but we have bill called the End Polluter Welfare Act and we have put that
bill into our bill which is basically just to take subsidy away from big
oil or big gas and so that`s what we were doing.

SCHULTZ: And finally gentlemen, I`ve got to get a comment from you.

The President in Cleveland today talking about jobs, talking about
investment yet...

ELLISON: Yes.

SCHULTZ: ... his trade negotiator, Mr. Froman, and his Labor Secretary Mr.
Perez were holding a secret meeting at the White House, security meetings
at the White House on Trade Promotional Authority in the TPP, and I know
that your caucus is against this deal.

ELLISON: Right.

SCHULTZ: Congressman Grijalva, wasn`t this a day of mixed messages?

GRIJALVA: Well, there is a contradiction there and as Keith can amplify.
We`re opposed to the fast-track. We think, we -- as members of Congress we
have to have a role of protecting jobs here in America, the environment.
And for all the nations involved, raising the standard of living and
helping all. But work for trade, that has to be fair and that`s to be
balanced and fast-track doesn`t do it. And the agreement overall without
any...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

GRIJALAVA: ... substitute changes is not going to work.

SCHULTZ: And Congressman Ellison, is this an 11th-hour sell job by the
President as an administration, what was this today?

ELLISON: Well, you know, they`re -- I think they`re nervous about getting
these things passed. I mean, everybody in Congress has seen trade deals
that promised a lot and gave very, very little in fact actually took
away...

(CROSSTALK)

ELLISON: No. They are not there so they were a little worried. But you
know what? Look, we`re not worried about trade but we are worried about
bad investment deals that offshore...

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

ELLISON: ... America jobs and stagnant our wages and we`re going to
support that even though the President is good on jobs and good on a few
other things. We can`t go with him on this, even though we are supporting
him on a whole lot of other things.

SCHULTZ: Stand tall, gentlemen. Do that. I appreciate it.

GRIJALVA: Yes, sir.

SCHULTZ: Congressman Keith Ellison...

ELLISON: Thank you, Ed.

SCHULTZ: Congressman Raul Grijalva...

GRIJALVA: Thanks, Ed.

SCHULTZ: ... Good to have both of you with us tonight. Thanks so much.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source