MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript

Interview

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Joining me now is Congresswoman Maxine Waters from California here on THE ED SHOW tonight.

Congresswoman, I appreciate your time.

From what you"re hearing, what can you live with, what do you struggle with at this hour?

REP. MAXINE WATERS (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, let me tell you, Ed, I am so disappointed that the Senate has come one something drastically different from what we put out in the House. This business of getting rid of the public option and just expanding Medicare a bit for those between 55 and 65 does not make up for public option.

I am really worried about it. But, of course, we don"t know what the Senate is doing.

Supposedly, these five -- 10 Democrats who have gotten together to try and come up with a compromise may be changing this as we are talking right now. So, I"m not happy with what I"m hearing.

You"re absolutely right. This means that the private insurance companies will be on this so-called health exchange, supposedly with some negotiations by the Office of Personnel Management. But we don"t--I don"t see how we are going to create competition the way we would have done with a public option. So, I"m worried about this bill.

SCHULTZ: Now, isn"t it true, Congresswoman, that the Medicare offer that could be on the table with this bill would only deal with the people 55 and older who do not have insurance now? I mean, if you"re 55 and older and you have insurance, you just can"t jump into Medicare.

That"s why it"s only going to affect some three million people. Is that correct?

WATERS: You"re absolutely correct. Those people who have insurance would either keep the insurance company that is covering them or choose from one that will be on the exchange.

And so, it seems to me that this opening up of Medicare for this small group of people, it"s like a teaser or a trick to say that we are expanding it somehow and appealing to people in that age group so that they can get more support for it. I don"t like this at all.

SCHULTZ: Would you vote against a bill that does not have a public option? And where will the Progressive Caucus come down on this bill if it doesn"t have a public option? Some form of true competition for the insurance industry?

WATERS: At this moment, based on what I know, I am poised to vote against this bill. I don"t know where the entire Progressive Caucus will come down on this bill. There"s a lot we don"t know about it.

The devil is in the details, and so we"re trying to learn as quickly as we can what this is all about. And right now, I"m not happy with it. And I would not vote for it as it is told to me today.

SCHULTZ: Congresswoman, can you give us a sense tonight here on THE ED SHOW what kind of response are progressives on the Hill getting from people around the country? I mean, I think there"s a sense that people think, oh, it"s over, we don"t have to call.

I mean, it would seem to me that this is the 11th hour, that this fight is not over. And are you still getting a lot of response from constituents? Are you still hearing from Americans, and do you want to hear from them?

WATERS: Well, let me just say this--we should be hearing from more Americans. Unfortunately, Americans are not getting all of the updated information.

As a matter of fact, the negotiations go on in the back room with 10 Democrats over there. And so we"re getting bits and pieces out, and that which they put out we understand, that, oh, no, not all of the Democrats are on board, they have sent it over to be scored. That is, to be told how much it"s going to cost.

And some of the senators are waiting until they get that information back before they even come on board. So, we just don"t know what is happening. And I"m sure the American public does not know or understand. They should be calling in, demanding answers, demanding information to try and make their senators tell them everything they know about the backroom deal that"s going on.

SCHULTZ: Congresswoman, keep up the fight. Don"t give up. I won"t give up. We"ve got to win this thing. We"ve got to have some form of a public option.

And I appreciate your time tonight. Thanks so much for joining us.

WATERS: Well, thank you so much for being such a great advocate for the people. Thank you.

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