MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript

Interview

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Joining me tonight is Congressman John Garamendi of California. John,
great to have you with us. This is just playing out all over the country
like this. We are shorting our infrastructure. We don`t have the money.
The governors are even making the ruthless cuts or turning to the people.
What`s going to happen here?

REP. JOHN GARAMENDI (D), CALIFORNIA: What`s going to happen is
California is going to come back. California is going to do what it has to
do to get back on track. Education is fundamental. It`s the most
fundamental of every investment. I was with a bunch of venture capital
folks in the Silicon Valley over the weekend. They are building new
companies. They are looking for the next opportunity. In every case,
they`re looking for workers. They want the people to work in their shops,
in their new businesses.

So we need this education system. The governor is absolutely correct.
We need a balanced approach. You cannot do it with cuts. You`re going to
have to raise the tax revenue. His plan is out there. It`s the plan that
we`re going to have to pursue.

SCHULTZ: Do you think the people of California will go down this
road, of a quarter percent sales tax -- sales tax draws a lot of money
fast. And of course, if you make over 250,000 a year, it would be three
percent with a sunset on it.

GARAMENDI: Well, the three percent comes if you`re over a million
adjusted gross income, per person. So for a family, it would be much
higher. For 250,000, it would be a small percentage increase. But the
point here is we have to do this. We have to move this state forward.
That means you have got to make these investments in the fundamental
ingredients of economic growth, education, infrastructure, research,
manufacturing.

That`s where you generate the wealth. That`s how you generate the
future.

SCHULTZ: I know that you want to be positive and you. And you are.
You`re a positive guy. I`ve known you for a while and you`re business
friendly. But 32,000 teachers in your state have been let go in the last
year.

GARAMENDI: That`s correct.

SCHULTZ: We are in the middle of making decisions with our priority
list in America right now. And every state is going through this. You
can`t tell me that all 32,000 teachers were lousy.

GARAMENDI: No, they were very good teacher. My daughter`s a second
grade teacher. Her class size went from 22 to 35. You tell me how a
teacher in the second grade is supposed to get the kind of performance out
of those kids. Very, very serious mistake being made here.

The governor has come forward with a proposal that would add about six
billion dollars to the K through 12 system. Now you have to change the
system also. You have to change and reform. Otherwise you`re going to get
stuck in the mud.

California can do it. This nation can do it. But you`ve got to make
the critical investments. You can`t do what the Republicans are doing in
Congress with their austerity budget on steroids, while giving tax breaks
to the super wealthy and letting the oil companies have our money, so they
can even have a bigger profit.

We need good public policy here.

SCHULTZ: We`re getting our infrastructure in this country because we
didn`t -- because of the Bush tax cuts, because of the unfunded wars,
because of where we are. We`re borrowing money from China like crazy. So
here we have -- we`re making these decisions to cut education, to cut --
and put it on the backs. They say that they are worried about the deficit
and everything else because it`s going to affect the next generation.

They are affecting the next generation by shortchanging the
infrastructure and their opportunity.

GARAMENDI: I heard some of these characters speak the other day.
They are saying, oh, we got to protect the next generations; we can`t put
the burden on them. I said, what about these kids? These kids are in
school today. You`re taking away their ability to perform and to be
productive tomorrow. Not the next generation, but the generation today
needs that education.

They need the health care. They need the food. School lunch programs
are being cut. Meals on Wheels for seniors. . This is not America. This
is not the America we have. We need to invest in those things, in our
kids, in our infrastructure, in manufacturing, in the research, make those
investments.

You tell me one company out there, anywhere, that`s going to succeed
by shortchanging its investments, its investments in research, its
investments in manufacturing. That company will fail. And a country that
fails to make those investments will also fail. We cannot let that happen.

SCHULTZ: Governor Brown is doing the right thing, asking the right
questions?

GARAMENDI: He`s putting it to the California people. And he`s also
putting it to America. We`ve got to make these investments.

SCHULTZ: Congressman John Garamendi, great to have you with us

tonight. Thanks for joining us.

Senator Marco Rubio claims that he has big plans for immigration
reform, but none of those plans include a path to citizenship. That`s
next. Stay tuned. You`re watching THE ED SHOW on MSNBC. We`re right
back.

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