MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript: Government Shutdown

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Joining us now is Congressman Peter Welch. He`s a Democrat of Vermont. Congressman Welch organized 187 Democrats to send a letter to the president supporting a clean debt ceiling extension.Congressman Welch, thank you very much for being with us tonight.

REP. PETER WELCH (D), VERMONT: Thank you.

MADDOW: From your close up perception, does it appear to you that things are as chaotic in the House and unpredictable in the House as it seems from here?

WELCH: Well, you`re a master of understatement. I mean, bottom line, this is all about health care and there`s white hot anger among the Republican Caucus at the notion that Americans may actually have access to affordable health care if Obamacare goes into effect, as it will very, very soon.

And bottom line, what they`ve got to do is get real. They`ve got to sober up. I mean, they`ve lost the fight on Obamacare in the House. They lost it in the Supreme Court. And then they lost it in the presidential election.

So, what are they going to do? What they`re saying is they`re willing to blow up the country, debt default and government shutdown in order to save Americans from having access to health care. So, that`s literally what`s going on and they`re coming up with a sort of crack pot plan after another. The speaker`s got to deal with, but it`s all about using as leverage, the shutdown and default to defeat health care for all Americans.

MADDOW: In the short-term, it seems to me obvious from here and tell
me if I`m wrong, that if the speaker did bring to the floor a clean continuing resolution, something that didn`t say anything about Obamacare, that did essentially what the Senate has done, which says we`re going to continue to fund the government, we`re not going to use this as a way to make policy. It seems to me like every Democrat in the House would probably vote for that and probably enough Republicans would vote for it as well. Is it just a question of whether or not John Boehner will do that?

WELCH: Well, that`s right. That`s right. And he`s got an incredible job. He`s got the toughest job in Washington because he`s dealing with a caucus that is just going to blow up the country literally in order to avoid health care for all Americans. And what he has to do is decide when he`s going to stop appeasing the Tea Party wing of his party and then come to the Democrats in order to pass a continuing resolution to keep the lights on and to avoid default. I mean, this is astonishing that actually the premise of the Republican position is that it`s acceptable to shut government down, turn the lights off and default on our obligations, which would mean a million new veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan leave them high and dry. I mean, that`s just like unheard. It reflects their opposition to having a health care plan that has a promise of working.

So, that`s where we`re at. At a certain point, the speaker`s going to have to make a tough decision. My view ultimately, we`re going to pass the Senate bill because it`s the only way out.You know, one final thing -- what`s really kind of crack pot about the way Republicans are proceeding is that it won`t work. And the reason it
won`t work is if they use these tactics, shut down and default, there will be a violent market reaction on Wall Street --

MADDOW: Yes.

WELCH: -- that will pistol whip Congress into then what we should be doing now, and that`s paying our obligations and funding government.

MADDOW: Congressman Peter Welch, Democrat of Vermont, a very crucial last point there. That`s exactly right. Thank you for your time, sir. It`s good to have you here.

WELCH: Thank you.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source