MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript

Interview

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Gentlemen, good to have you with us tonight.

Keith, I want to ask you first. What is your reaction to Boehner`s change of heart? What do you think broke him?

REP. KEITH ELLISON (D), MINNESOTA: Well, you know, I`m glad that good sense finally prevailed over there. You`ll know that when the Senate deal got done, Boehner came out and said it was a victory and then he got on the phone with his caucus and they told him that they weren`t going for it and then he kind of just capitulated to their obstructionism and then that kind of caused the mess that we had last week and then here we are again.

The main thing I want to say, Ed, is look, last April, they almost shut the government down. Last August, they almost defaulted on our national debt. Obstructionism is the way that they do business. Maybe
today marks a departure from that very, very unfortunate thing they`re doing to the American people.

SCHULTZ: Congressman Garamendi, did the Tea Party learn a lesson tonight, that maybe they don`t carry a big enough stick? Or how do you think they`ll respond in dealing with the speaker moving forward?

REP. JOHN GARAMENDI (D), CALIFORNIA: I think they`re going to come back and fight fiercely for what they`ve always said they wanted -- to shut down government, small government, get government out of the way. I think they`re going to continue to fight for that.

I suspect we`re going to have further battles and it`s not going to be very far away, Ed. The remaining 10 months of the payroll tax reduction is still to be determined. That`s going to be a big fight beginning in
January up through February.

And we`re not going to let this thing go. And we`re not going to make the middle class pay for a middle-class tax reduction, which is precisely what the Republicans tried to do.

SCHULTZ: Well, it doesn`t sound like they`re going to give up. Republican Congressman Kevin Brady of Texas, the House GOP tax cut negotiator, said the following tonight. He says, "I`m willing to fight on
but in the end, House Republicans felt like they were re-enacting the Alamo, with no reinforcements and our friends shooting at us."

Congressman Ellison, will the Tea Partiers revolt against Boehner and force a vote tomorrow or will this be smooth sailing?

ELLISON: You know what? No one can really tell. I doubt it

But you know what? Nothing they do surprises me. I could tell you this, though. That John is absolutely right. You know, we are going to be arguing for the next 10 months and we`re going to be fighting every step of the way. It`s going to cause a lot -- it`s call for a resolve and it`s going to call for the American people standing up demanding that, you know, we have sane, reasonable government and that we have some compromise.

So, get ready to be active out there, American people, because it`s going to require that.

SCHULTZ: How much does this politically damage the speaker, Congressman Garamendi? What does this do to John Boehner?

GARAMENDI: Well, he`s clearly weaker. He`s clearly weaker.

And that may be a good thing for the American public because we still have to get that jobs bill passed. We still have to build the infrastructure. We still have to put the teachers back to work, the police and firemen. And we`ve got to make sure that we get this economy moving.

So the jobs program still has to be done. If the speaker is weaker, maybe, maybe we could push through the remaining elements of the president`s American jobs program. It`s exceedingly important.

And, by the way, they still have not abandoned their field of trying to terminate Medicare and privatize Social Security. Those fights are likely to continue in various forms through the remainder of 2012.

Now, we`re going to fight very, very fiercely for this. This is about the very future of the American middle class and about the future of this
economy.

SCHULTZ: If 2012 is anything like this most recent fight, it`s going to be a dandy down to the wire every time.

I think the president played this about as good as he can.

But one thing I really respect the Democrats for on this one, gentlemen, is that it seemed all along you were prepared to walk from the deal. You were prepared to say this is far as we`re going to go, draw that
line in the sand, and I think that made a big difference in all of this. And I think it`s going to garner a lot of support from folks out there who are on your political side.

Thanks so much. Congressman John Garamendi, Keith Ellison, with ustonight here on THE ED SHOW.

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