MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript

Interview

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ROBERTS: Joining me now is Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Sir, it"s good to have you on with us.

SANDERS: Good to be with you.

ROBERTS: So, explain to all of us--what did you hope to accomplish with this near 90-minute statement you took to the Senate floor today to have? Do you think the president heard you? I mean, we know that Senator Sanders is a talker. But do you think that the president heard you?

SANDERS: Well, it"s not hearing me. It"s hearing the American people.

Look, poll after poll says that the American people think that it is insane and wrong that at a time when the wealthiest people are becoming wealthier, corporations are making huge profits and in some cases paying nothing in taxes that you exclude those people from deficit reduction, and that the only thing you do is make massive cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, education, environmental protection, nutrition, et cetera.

Poll after poll shows that is not what the American people want. Second of all, it is simply immoral to move in that direction. And thirdly, the point I made, it"s not complicated or hard to come up with a deficit reduction program, which is fair and which does not devastate the needs of low and moderate income Americans. It"s all sitting there.

You do you away with Bush--extending Bush"s tax break force the wealthy, $700 billion. Take a hard look at military spending. Accelerate the departure of our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, hundreds of billions of dollars.

Do away with the absurdity of corporations and wealthy people able to pack their money in tax havens in the Cayman Islands and in Bermuda, $100 billion a year. End programs, tax policies which encourage and give tax breaks to corporations who shut down in this country and move abroad.

Do away with the differential in tax rates between low rates on dividends and capital gains which are lower than what working people have to pay.

It is not hard to come up with a deficit reduction program which is fair. The American people want that. They"ve got to tell the president of the United States to stand up to Republican blackmail and do something which is right and fair for ordinary people.

ROBERTS: Sir, here"s what White House spokesman Jay Carney said today about the negotiations and the choice that needs to be made.

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JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Do we perpetuate a system that allows for subsidies and revenues for oil and gas, for example, or owners of corporate private jets, and then call for cuts in things like food safety or weather services, things that the federal government really does need to do on behalf of American citizens?

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ROBERTS: Sir, you said before that you feel like what"s going on right now with these talks and what"s being set aside is immoral. Vice President Biden used that same word this weekend after the Biden talks fell down after Eric Cantor walked out.

Hearing that statement--does that indicate to you that the president will protect social services for the middle class and the poor?

SANDERS: Well, the track record is not great. Two other negotiating sessions, two other negotiating processes that took place in December regarding tax reform and the question of whether or not the government would be shut down by the Republicans--in both of those instances the president made major, major concessions. So, the track record is not great.

I hope that the president--the reason for my speech today is to say, Mr. President, this is not an act of political courage. The vast majority of people believe in shared sacrifice. If you stand up to the Republicans and say, excuse me, your rich friends and your large corporations that pay nothing in taxes, in fact, get rebates from the IRS, guess what? They are going to have to pay their fair share so we move toward deficit reduction in a way that is responsible and not simply on the backs of the most vulnerable.

That is a popular position. That is a right position. The president has to be a leader in bringing the American people together behind that position. They"re already there. We need his leadership.

If we do that, we can end up with a package of deficit reduction that I think we"ll feel good about.

ROBERTS: And, Senator, real quickly before we go, have you heard anything about the president"s meeting with Senator McConnell tonight?

SANDERS: No, I have not.

ROBERTS: All right. Senator Bernie Sanders, great to have you on as always. We appreciate your time.

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