MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D), MARYLAND: You are absolutely right, Ed. Look, the Republicans said that they were listening to the American people, that they were going to change their ways and what we are finding out is in the very first week of the new Congress, they are going to do two things, one, they are not going to focus on jobs and the economy, they are going to focus on repealing new health care protections that the American people have. And number two, they are going to short circuit the process, they"re not going to go through the democratic process, they"re not going to go through the hearings, and as you just said and I think the American people are going to be very surprised to learn this, they are going to authorize themselves, through the chairman of the Budget Committee to pick their own number out of the hat to substitute for the CBO number as to the impact of repealing health care on the deficit.

(CROSSTALK)

SCHULTZ: All right. Monopoly, that"s what it is, that old board game, you know?

VAN HOLLEN: You know, if you don"t like what the referee tells you, they don"t like the call on the field by the guy who is the neutral arbiter, you throw the referee off the field and you make up your to own number. This is the triumph of political accounting. This is the new Enron sort of style approach to the budget that we are going to see, I guess from our republican colleagues. And I think people will be very surprised to hear that they are doing this because the CBO and I think listeners need to do this is our referee down here, sometimes we like what they say, sometimes we don"t like what they say, but as you pointed out, they have indicated that the health care reform bill will save over $100 billion on the deficit over ten years and over $1 trillion over 20 years.

SCHULTZ: Well, Harry Reid, I remember over in the Senate, he kept saying, well we got this provision, we got to wait until we get it scored by the CBO and we have to wait another three days, you know how that went, that whole process, the whole minutiae of it, the sausage making is what they call it. But looking at what these folks want to do, they offered plan, they just want to get rid of it and its political theater because Reid said over in the Senate, it is never going to hit the floor.

So why are the Republicans doing this, in your opinion? Why are they playing this theater game with the American people?

VAN HOLLEN: Well this is a sop to some of the folks on the very far right because they created this impression that if you elected them, they were going to come in and get rid of a health care reform and other things when I think people know very well that this is a political charade and this is a waste of time in that sense. The scary thing is that, you know, if they--if they ever, you know, people focused on what the impact would be, it would take away a lot of the rights that people are just beginning to learn they have. People can stay on their parents" insurance policy at the age of 26. You can"t discriminate against kids based on pre-existing conditions. So our hope is that even though they are doing this political theater that it will help make people even more aware of the new patient protection rights that are in this bill and make people question even more why the Republicans want to do the bidding of the insurance industry once again.

SCHULTZ: So, the bottom line here is that the American people need to know that repealing this, and this is what the Republicans want to do, they are going to deny Americans coverage because this bill opened up the door for millions of Americans to get coverage with a pre-existing condition? That"s how heart less they are and also point out the fact that they do not have anything on the table to remedy that. It"s all about erasing what you guys did in the last session.

VAN HOLLEN: That"s exactly what it is. And, you know, with respect to seniors, beginning January 1st of this year, seniors who fell in that prescription drug doughnut hole where they can no longer afford to pay for their prescription drugs, they now, as a result of the health care bill, get reduced prices for their drugs. The Republicans say, too bad, we are going to go become to the time when you were the doughnut home.

SCHULTZ: Seniors can"t line the pockets of politicians. Heck, they are out in the woods now, now that they got the corporate boys doing all their work, they don"t need the seniors. Congressman, great to have you with us tonight, always a pleasure.

VAN HOLLEN: Good to be with you, Ed. Thank you.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source