MSNBC "The Ed Show" Interview - Transcript

Interview

MSNBC "THE ED SHOW" INTERVIEW WITH REP. GARY PETERS (D-MI)

INTERVIEWER: ED SCHULTZ

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MR. SCHULTZ: In a statement today, Congressman Gary Peters of Michigan said taxpayer money for General Motors was not just to keep the automaker in business; it was to preserve American jobs and boost the economy. We all know that General Motors must make cutbacks, but preserving as many American jobs as possible must be the primary goal of all restructuring efforts.

Congressman Peters joins us tonight.

Is this acceptable, what's happening, Congressman?

REP. PETERS: Well, it certainly was a real kick in the gut to have this many jobs lost. It's going to impact us in Michigan. And we're waiting to see the details. Clearly the devil is in the details as to where these job cuts are going to be. And we certainly hope they aren't disproportionate in Michigan, which is already, as you know, Ed, suffering a great deal -- highest unemployment rate in the country. This is going to be a significant blow.

MR. SCHULTZ: Well, the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll that was out shows that the president's handling of the U.S. automakers, 53 percent disapprove. That's not his best number out there, that's for sure. So how is this going to be received, 21,000 job cuts and all these factories being shut down in Michigan? Is there going to be a political kickback to this?

REP. PETERS: Well, certainly, again, we've got to see where the details are, where these cuts are going to be, how they're going to be spread out across the GM system.

One thing in particular that I want to look at is to see what sort of cuts are there in foreign production, where cars are being built overseas and then being imported into the United States. I certainly don't want to have a situation where we're cutting domestic jobs, American jobs, and basically outsourcing those and bringing in imports in place of those jobs. That can't happen. That is certainly unacceptable. We've got to have a plan that is going to preserve jobs.

But I think that ultimately you can't cut your way out of this problem. The problems at General Motors are the same with Chrysler, with Ford, with Toyota, all of the -- Honda, all of the car companies -- is that sales generally are down. We need to stimulate demand. That's why we need to have immediate action on the cash-for-clunkers bill that Representative Sutton has.

I'm going to be introducing a bill to give tax credits to small businesses and medium-sized businesses to buy new vehicles, to upgrade their fleets. We've got to get people in the showrooms. And when they start buying cars, that's not only great for the American auto industry. That is how you get out of a recession. That is how you get the economy moving. You can't keep slashing jobs and think you're going to get out of a recession. You've got to stimulate the demand side. That's where our focus should be.

MR. SCHULTZ: Congressman, good to have you on with us tonight. Thanks so much.

REP. PETERS: Thank you, Ed.

MR. SCHULTZ: Congressman Peters from Michigan tonight.

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