MSNBC "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" - Transcript

Interview

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OLBERMANN: We‘re joined now live from Washington by Senator Ron Wyden, the Democrat of Oregon.

Senator, thanks again for your time tonight.

SEN. RON WYDEN (D), OREGON: Thanks for having me.

OLBERMANN: How many more times can Senator Lieberman get away with spitting in the party‘s--your party‘s face before Democrats say no more?

WYDEN: Keith, first of all, there is a long, long tradition of United States senators saying no until about five minutes before they say yes. As Harry Reid indicated, this debate is just starting. What we‘re going to do is focus on an issues that you and I feel strongly about, that‘s holding insurance companies accountable and making sure that all Americans have a chance to be a part of a more competitive system that allows them to get a good break on their insurance. And that‘s what we‘re going to zero in on the days ahead.

OLBERMANN: The implication in what both Mr. Lieberman and to a greater degree, Leader Reid, said was that the bill might change in direction more favorable to Mr. Lieberman. Do you think that‘s true and do you think that‘s a good idea?

WYDEN: I want to make a change in the direction to something more favorable to the consumer. I think Harry Reid did the right thing yesterday. But I continue to be concerned about the public option, for example, being set up to fail. It‘s going to be made up of a lot of sick people, for example. It‘s going to be a risky risk pool. We‘re not going to have all Americans in it. Some people are going to opt out.

And I just want to make sure that we have a chance to ensure there‘s real competition in the health care system, not just have 10 percent of the people try to hold everybody in the insurance industry accountable.

OLBERMANN: All right. So, what are you going to do to push forward in the other direction?

WYDEN: I‘m going to keep working with Senator Reid. I‘ve already indicated to him that I‘m very concerned about the prospect of a risk pool made up of mostly sicker people, folks who are unemployed, uninsured, underinsured. These are folks, Keith, who won‘t--have had check ups. They want (ph) to have preventive care, want (ph) to have good chronic care.

It is a risk pool as I look at it today that no commercial insurer would possibly accept. What we‘ve got to do is have bigger risk pools. We‘ve got to have a healthier mix of individuals in the pool. That‘s the way I‘m going to be pushing. And in the days ahead, the focus ought to be at the grassroots level on getting a better deal for the consumer holding the insurance companies accountable.

OLBERMANN: Senator, what do you make of the minority leader‘s threat? Senator McConnell is now representing this party that spent most of the early years of this century demanding up-or-down votes as if each one were the end of the world if they didn‘t get it?

WYDEN: My sense is that everybody is going to have to be able to describe what they‘re for, not what they‘re against. And I think a lot of Republican, for example, when I go to the floor of the United States Senate and say everybody ought to have choices like members of Congress, I think that‘s going to be pretty hard to simply say no to.

What we‘re going to focus on is the fact that every member of the United States Congress in Washington, D.C. has access to more than a dozen choices. The way the bill is written today, if your insurance company is abusing you, if they‘re ripping you off, they won‘t even pay a claim for a covered service, they get no choice at all.

So, I‘m going to the floor and make sure that all Americans will get public choices and private choices like members of Congress.

OLBERMANN: Last question. Do you think the president is still staying out of this? If so, why? Is it appropriate given the amount of pressure he might be able to exert upon or chips he might be able to play with Senator Lieberman?

WYDEN: The president is not at all removed from this debate. He and his team are very involved. He‘s picking his spots. I‘ve talked to him a number of times in the last few days.

What we‘re all going to do is put the focus where it ought to be, that‘s holding the insurance companies accountable. I don‘t want to have, for example, a public option that is an insurance lobbyists‘ dream that‘s set up to fail. What we‘re going to do is keep pushing. The president will help as well for the biggest possible risk pool so we can hold the insurance companies accountable and a healthy mix of Americans who can get at that public option and the private choices.

OLBERMANN: All right. Good luck with that.

WYDEN: Thank you.

OLBERMANN: Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, as always, thanks for your time tonight.

WYDEN: Thank you.

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