MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript

Interview

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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: Well, I can assure the American people that health care reform is not going to be repealed. It should not be repealed. In fact, it should be made stronger.

Here in Vermont, I can tell you we are looking forward to being the first state in the country to pass a Medicare for all single-payer system, but whatever happens, we are certainly not going to deny 32 million more Americans health insurance. We"re not going to deny 20 million more Americans access to community health centers. We"re not going to do away with pre-existing conditions and the right of young people to be able to be part of their family"s insurance programs.

SCHULTZ: Well, obviously, the Republicans seem to be very short on jobs talk. How long is this rhetoric about health care going to go on with the Republicans? How long are they going to ride this pony, in your opinion?

SANDERS: Well, I think that this pony may be bucking a little bit. And the polling that I have seen, Ed, is that while there is a real split in this country about whether people like the health care reform bill or not, most people understand that when you have 50 million Americans uninsured, when the cost of health care is soaring, when we are spending always twice as much per capita on health care than any other nation, it would be totally absurd to completely repeal this health care bill.

That"s what the polls are telling us. Maybe our Republican friends will catch on to that.

It is absurd in my mind to be continuing to talk and talk and talk about this issue when we have a massive unemployment problem, huge national debt, and we"ve got two wars. There"s a couple of other things I think we"ve got to address now as well.

SCHULTZ: Is this an admission that the Republicans really don"t have a plan to create jobs, that they seem so fixated on tearing down what the last Congress did on health care? I mean, where"s the job talk? Where"s the talk on jobs? And why aren"t the Democrats being aggressive demanding it?

SANDERS: Well, Ed, I think you"re right. I think at the end of the day, when you look at the real problems facing this country--and that is creating the millions of jobs that we desperately need, moving us toward a balanced budget in a fair way, not giving tax breaks to billionaires, not allowing corporations to continue to hide their money in the Cayman Islands and other tax havens--when you"re talking about the real issues facing the American people, the Republicans have very little to say.

SCHULTZ: They are absent.

Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont tonight.

Appreciate your time. Thanks so much. We"ll do it again.

SANDERS: OK, Ed. Take care.

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