MSNBC "The ED Show" Interview - Transcript

Interview

MSNBC "The ED Show" Interview - Transcript

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Joining me now is Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, a member of the Progressive Caucus.

Congresswoman, great to have you on this time of night. I appreciate your patience and being with us.. What did you think, did the president accomplish what you think he had to accomplish tonight?

REP. JAN SCHAKOWSKY (D-IL), PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS: I think he absolutely nailed it tonight. I‘m feeling very, very positive. I think he really put us on offense. At least the media has been saying that we have been playing defense and we‘re trying to salvage—they use the word “salvage” his health care plan.

Now we‘re on the move. And he was making very clear to the Republicans or all of the naysayers, the train is moving, you‘re either going to get on it or we‘re going to run right over you.

SCHULTZ: Congresswoman, he said that if you misinform the people, he‘s going to call you out.

SCHAKOWSKY: That‘s right.

SCHULTZ: I mean, this is pretty aggressive talk.

SCHAKOWSKY: And he did.

SCHULTZ: He is sick of the lies. I mean, it‘s very clear, he‘s sick of the bullet points that are being thrown out there and sick of the obstruction. But did he satisfy the progressive wing of the Democratic Party tonight, those who have got to have the public option? Did he go far enough?

SCHAKOWSKY: Yes, he did. I thought that when I checked back with some of my Progressive Caucus friends, the people were feeling very positive. While—you know, I think he made a very clear defense and that he was going to fight for the public option.

Yes, he said, if you‘ve got an idea and there‘s ideas about triggers and there‘s ideas about co-ops, we‘ll listen to them. But he said, I will not allow—I will not back down from making sure that there is an affordable option.

I thought his comparison of private and public universities was a really good one, that there are public universities that are usually of lesser costs and there‘s a—robust private universities working right alongside of them, and we could have—and we could have both.

SCHULTZ: He did say to his progressive friends that single-payer isn‘t going to happen, OK? He did say—he did say to the conservatives that, you know, you just can‘t go the private sector. Did you think that he did a good job of finding the middle ground and where Americans are, the majority of Americans?

SCHAKOWSKY: Yes. I mean, you know, kind of put himself totally above the fray, left-right. But I think the kind of things he said made so much sense. But the other thing he did, Ed, was that he lifted the whole issue beyond just another program. At the very end we saw the Barack Obama that was so inspiring to people during the campaign.

That‘s the man we needed to see tonight, the man who had that steely determination of we‘re going to get it done. I don‘t know if you could tell when you saw him, in the room you could really feel him staring down those Republicans as much as saying you‘re either going to offer something constructive or we‘re going to do this anyway, because we need to do it.

This is who we are as a people and we‘re going to get this done. The Kennedy thing was just magnificent, I thought.

SCHULTZ: Well, I was going to ask you about that. He played the issue to the American people that this plays to our moral sensibilities, it‘s a moral issue, talked a lot about Ted Kennedy, and I thought a very striking moment where he really had to grab the American people and I thought he did that so effectively.

Will that have an effect on a lot of Americans in your opinion?

SCHAKOWSKY: I think it will. This notion that we‘re all in this together, that any one of us could be in the position of going bankrupt or not having health care or having someone we can‘t take care of, yes, I think it will make a difference. It sets a definitely different tone, a new tone for the real work of getting it done now in the Congress.

SCHULTZ: Congresswoman, thanks for joining us tonight.

SCHAKOWSKY: Thank you, Ed.

SCHULTZ: Jan Schakowsky, you‘re on record saying that the Progressive Caucus should be pretty satisfied with that performance tonight. I appreciate that.

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