MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript: Government Shutdown
Interview
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REP. JIM CLYBURN, (D) SOUTH CAROLINA: Well, first of all thank you so much for having me.
You know, I think that American people watching the President in this statement got a glimpse of exactly what`s going on here.
We are in free fall when it comes to doing the -- people`s business. For some strange reason, the Republicans seem hell-bent on taking this country to the brink and their President is laying out once again, how unnecessary it is for us to be doing this.
The President has accepted the number that the Republicans put for. It was not the number that we wanted. The Democrats had a budget bill of 1058 and they didn`t like that. They came with a bit number of 988, the President accepted that, the Senate agreed to it and we have said on the House side they will vote for that. That`s a compromise.
Now, to say that that`s not enough that the President must give up on his landmark program of health care didn`t make the whole lot of sense and it ought not be in this debate. That the President ought to be negotiating on the full faith and credit of the United States of America does not make sense.
We compromise over policies, over budgets and that`s what we`ve done and we`d agreed to that number. The American people know that we have done that and I think that the Speaker Boehner, now has the ball in his court, and then he -- to seat down send us a clean continue resolution will brought on that and they will take the time during the six-week period to try to negotiate our differences over sequestration and whatever else maybe out there that the American people will have us talk about.
SCHULTZ: Congressman, the President for the first time at least it was first time that I`ve seen him talk about fighting the results of an election.
How much is this all about tarnishing the President`s legacy, tarnishing his accomplishments?
CLYBURN: Well, I think it`s all about that. You know, these people --
SCHULTZ: So it`s all about Obama?
CLYBURN: ..at to the development narrative --
SCHULTZ: It --
CLYBURN: -- for years and years. And now they have decided this president is now a legitimate president. This president is not qualified to be a president. And now, they`re trying to do everything they possible can to say that this president is not capable of being president.
So I think in one other reason they are driving us to the brink, so they can look back in years to come and say that one time that the country did not meet his obligations under the full faith and credit of the county was when we had a Barack Obama as President of the United States.
I think that that`s what this is issue is all about and I really believe that they ought to stop playing politics. We play that last fall. We play that in 2008. And the President won the election 2008, and the President got reelected in 2012, and now he`s trying to govern and it`s time for them to accept the results of those two elections and move forward on behalf of the American people.
SCHULTZ: Congressman, what do you think John Boehner is going to do now?
CLYBURN: Well, I think there are going to bring a bill to the floor tonight that I believe will be a six-week bill. But from what I`m hearing they once again are going to lower it up with extraneous stuff that will be different from the extraneous stuff that they sent the last time.
SCHULTZ: Sure.
CLYBURN: And once again, I believe the Senate is going to reject that. So if they bring that kind of a bill to the floor, the American people said no, that they are really proposing to shut down the government, because the President just told them that he has accepted their number, but he is not going to accept all of this extraneous stuff that they had put on this continuing resolutions and that would be effectively shutting the government down.
SCHULTZ: All right. Congressman James Clyburn South Carolina, great to have you with us tonight and I appreciate your time.
CLYBURN: Well, thank you so much for having me.
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