MSNBC "Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript

Interview

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Joining us now is independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. He joins us here in studio tonight.

Senator Sanders, it"s nice to have you here. Thanks for coming in.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: Good to be with you, Rachel.

MADDOW: Do you think this is sort of the way things are from here on out now. Any time grassroots momentum of any kind grows on the left, it is met by corporate, anonymous donor stuff on the right?

SANDERS: The answer is of course. And what you are seeing I have to tell you is nickels and dimes in terms of what we can expect coming down the pike as we get closer to the election. As a result of Citizens United, what can now happen is that billionaires and corporations can provide hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars into campaigns, radio ads, television ads, and as you"ve just indicated, they do it in secret.

What the Ryan budget is about is the most radical, right wing extremist budget ever passed in the history of the United States Congress. This would transform America by giving $1 trillion more in tax breaks to the richest people in this country already doing phenomenally well, while in the middle of a recession when working people, low income people, middle class people are hurting, it will decimate program after program after program--as you"ve just indicated, convert Medicare into a voucher program, which means that low and moderate income seniors somehow or another are going to have to come up with money they don"t have when they get sick and end up in the hospital. It is a total disaster.

And I think what you"re looking at is an election which will be based on the Ryan budget. I just learned today that Harry Reid, the majority leader in the Senate, plans to bring the Ryan budget right to the floor of the Senate. Let the Republicans vote for it. I think that"s good strategy.

But that is what the fight is. It"s a vision of America which I think most Americans do not want to see.

MADDOW: I feel like it has been interesting to see this happen at constituent town hall meetings for Republican members of Congress. That means that people who live in districts that elected a Republican member of Congress have these feelings about this Paul Ryan budget. It is not necessarily the Democratic base who we are seeing and it certainly doesn"t seem to be an organized effort, it seems sort to be an organic thing.

Given that, is the Democratic Party able to organize on the basis of this? As such--not to necessarily make more of it happen than would otherwise happen, but to turn this into a sustained, electorally rewarding effort?

SANDERS: Well, I certainly hope so. But I want to tell you something, polls that I have seen suggest that working class people in the Tea Party do not think it"s a good idea to decimate Medicare and Medicaid or Pell grants. So I think that the Democrats now have an opportunity to bring forward a very different vision of America than the Ryan Republican budget. And your point is, is this going to be a sustained activity? Reid is planning to bring that bill to the floor of the Senate to give the Republican colleagues a chance to vote up or down, vote for it or against it, I think is the first step.

But I think this is what the campaign is about--do you give tax breaks to billionaires and decimate the programs that millions of Americans depend upon? And then in addition to that, it is clear: our Republican friends want to destroy Social Security as well.

So, I cannot recall a moment in American history where the choices are clearer. I think the vast majority of the American people, including many Republicans, do not support the basic concepts of the Republican budget.

MADDOW: I know that you--I think that you held two town hall events in Vermont yesterday?

SANDERS: Yes.

MADDOW: You have another one out there tomorrow.

What are you hearing from--I mean, your constituency is the entire state and Vermont is a more diverse state. I live near Vermont. It"s a more diverse state than people give it credit for.

What are you hearing from your constituents on this?

SANDERS: Rachel, we had a meeting, we focused on children"s issues and family issues. And I"ll tell you, if your TV camera was there, there would have been people in tears, to hearing what single moms and what families are struggling with right now.

And they are saying, look, if they cut Head Start, how do I go to
work? I have a job right now. How do I go to work if I don"t have child -
decent child care or Head Start?

People right now are struggling with health care. If they cut Medicaid, what am I supposed to do? I have a chronic health problem. I don"t have a lot of money. How do I get to the doctor if they decimate health care?

People are talking about how their kids are not going to be able to go to college if Pell grants are cut substantially.

So, what you"re seeing is people just hanging on right now. And if the Republicans cut these programs to give tax breaks to millionaires, there will be enormous suffering.

I was in Morrisville, Vermont, last night. And a woman raised her hand and she said and asked a very simple question. She said, "What do they think is going to happen to people when they do all of these things? What is going to happen to people?"

And I"ll tell you what will happen to people. People will die. We lose 45,000 people a year now who don"t get to a doctor when they should, 45,000. What do you think is going to happen if millions of people are thrown off of Medicaid?

If you are a senior citizen, in 10 years when their plan kicks in, let"s say you"re earning--you"re making $20,000 a year and you have cancer. What are you going to do with an $8,000 voucher? What do you think you"re going to do? How long is that going to last in the hospital? What happens to you?

So, I think what you"re saying now is an assault--an unprecedented assault on the part of big money, using their Republican friends, to remake America in a way that the vast majority of people in our country do not want to see.

MADDOW: Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders--it"s a real pleasure to have you here in person. Thank you for coming in. Appreciate it.

SANDERS: Thank you very much, Rachel.

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