MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript: Government Shutdown
Interview
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This is all about his political gain. Earlier today our next guest Senator Bernie Sanders called out Boehner and made a rock solid case for federal workers to get back to work.
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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I) VERMONT: What Congress should be doing today is putting p back to work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back to work.
SANDERS: We should be -- we should be creating millions of no jobs not furloughing and laying off millions of federal employees. We know one simple fact...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
SANDERS: That if the Speaker of House stopped being the speaker of the Republican Party and became speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. If he brought that bill, if Mr. Boehner brought that bill to the floor it would pass tomorrow. That`s what he has got to do. Let`s put our people back to work. Let Democracy rule.
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SCHULTZ: Well, republicans know that they are in deep trouble and they are signs the party is breaking down. I think this is historic. This is really something. They are behind close doors getting after their own private luncheon. Senate Republicans attacked Ted Cruz in what one senator called a lynch mob. Cruz refused to turn against and renounce the Senate Conservative Action Fund which has been attacking the 25 Republicans who voted for the CR in the Senate. It`s an issue of loyalty to them. The group says the senators were betraying their principles by voting for cloture on Sunday. Now, according to reports Senators McConnell and Ayotte ripped in to Cruz and it got nasty.Democrats, well aware of this. Why in the world should they negotiate if they can`t negotiate with themselves behind close doors? This is a massive rip within the Republican Party. There`s no question about it and earlier today, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said Republicans can`t even
negotiate with themselves.
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REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D) CALIFORNIA: It will take some coming together on the Republican side. It`s very hard to negotiate with the Republicans when they can`t negotiate with themselves.
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SCHULTZ: There is no doubt Democrats are winning this battle. Now is not the time to back down and negotiate with Republicans on a legislative do over. Senator Sanders said this week, if Democrats were to cave it would be absolutely dangerous and disastrous for America`s future.
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SANDERS: If we surrender to these guys right now on this issue, they`ll be back. This attack on ObamaCare is just one small part of a right-wing extremist ideology which is incredibly reactionary and which really intends not just to repeal ObamaCare but to repeal virtually every major piece of legislation passed in this country in the last 80 years which protects the interest, of the elderly, the children, the sick, the poor, women, the environment, people who are vulnerable. That is what their agenda is.
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SCHULTZ: I couldn`t agree more. If Democrats cave on this, there`s no telling what they`re going to do next. We know Republicans absolutely hate government and love this shutdown because it`s going to injure the economy. Every time they don`t like something they would have absolutely no problem whatsoever shutting down the government. Now, let`s roll it back just a little bit and reverse the roles here.
You know, what big piece of legislation has been out there that the Liberals in this country have not been happy about? Well let`s take the Patriot Act. I mean I remember a Liberal talk radio when I was doing this back in 2005, 2006 and 2007 we had a heated debate in this country and Boehner was right in the middle of it all about the Patriot Act. We didn`t like the Patriot Act. Liberals thought it was really a bad shot on the Fourth Amendment and who new where it was going to go. Now, you know the rest of the story. But back then, when Nancy Pelosi had the gavel, after the midterms of the 2006, early 2007 she didn`t turn around and say, "Well you`ve got to re-negotiate the Patriot Act on this". It was the law.And right what we`re seeing right now with the Republicans is that they have no respect for the law. They have no respect for the governmental process. They have no respect for the system. It`s all about them. Democrats, hold your ground. You`ll enjoy the weekend.Get your cell phones out. I want to know what you think. Tonight`s
question, who is winning the PR war on the shutdown? Text A for Democrats, text B for Republicans to 67622. You can always go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com. We`ll bring you the results later on the show.
And one more point in all of this. If the Democrats were to step aside and just give a little bit of healthcare. They would be putting the entire base in jeopardy. But right now the Democrats hold the progressive movement right in the palm of their hand. This is a very, this is really a crossroads in American politics. We haven`t seen anything like this.And the other thing is that no one knows exactly what damage will be done to our economy or the world economy if by some chance we do default on
what we owe. For more, let me bring in Senator Bernie, senator of Vermont. Senator good to have you with us tonight, you`re on a roll today. You`ve been fantastic on this issue showing some real leadership. I really appreciate it.
SANDERS: Thank you.
SCHULTZ: And now, I want to go back to this Senate Conservative Fund. This is all about Citizens United choking the chain of these guys on the right. If they don`t act right, they`re going to get targeted. Tell and your thoughts on this. Is that really the root cause of all of this and why Boehner can`t make a move?
SANDERS: Ed, in many respects, it is. What`s going on right now, we have seen some moderate or moderate conservative Republicans having the guts to stand up to Boehner and say, "Okay, we don`t like ObamaCare but you know what, we don`t think you should shut down the government. We are prepared to vote for a clean CR, continuing resolution." What`s happening now, as I understand it, is when moderate Republicans are saying that we`re thinking about standing up to Boehner, the extreme right-wing is coming around saying, "You do that, let me tell you what`s going to happen. We have the Koch Brothers behind us. We have hundreds of millions behinds and if you doubt to support a continuing resolution, a clean CR, we`re going to primer you and we have unbelievable sums of money to defeat you."So, what you are looking at now is what Citizens United is all about and that is giving a handful of billionaires, the Koch Brothers and others incredible power to tell members of Congress what they can and cannot do, very dangerous.
SCHULTZ: Senator, senator, what did you think of that conversation caught on camera which when Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul and what was aid that they think it`s a bad place for the Democrats and if there hasn`t been any poll testing about we`re not going to negotiate. What about that? What did you think of that?
SANDERS: Well, first of all, they`re not telling the truth. I mean as you well know Ed, the continuing resolution of 968 billion dollars that we passed is much, much lower that it should`ve been and much lower than I and many others feel good about. We did that in order to get Boehner to agree to this, so we can avoid the shutdown. So, what they`re saying is it`s just not true. Second of all, they are completely misreading where the American people are.
SCHULTZ: No question.
SANDERS: The American people, I mean poll after poll tells these guys...
SCHULTZ: Yes.
SANDERS: ... that the American people think you cannot sabotage the United States government to put 2 million people`s salaries at risk. You know, what`s going in this country today, you got working people worrying about how they`re going to pay their mortgage. How, they`re going to pay their co-insurance (ph).
SCHULTZ: Yes.
SANDERS: The American people do not agree with what the Republicans are doing.
SCHULTZ: This is Texas Senator Ted Cruz said today that the shutdown is the Democrat`s fault? I want to play this, here it is.
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SEN. TED CRUZ, (R) TEXAS: Look I think it is indefensible that President Obama and Harry Reid have forced the government shutdown. They shouldn`t have the government. The reason we had a government shutdown is because they`re refusing to compromise. They`re refusing to negotiate. Four times, the House of Representatives has passed a reasonable compromise in middle ground and four times Harry Reid and President Obama have said, go pound sand, jump in the lake we`re not going to compromise.
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SCHULTZ: Senator, your reaction to that.
SANDERS: Well, as I said, that`s total nonsense. Of course the Democrats have already compromised by bringing forth a budget that the Republicans wanted. Second of all, everybody understands that the issue here is the Republicans want to destroy or scale back the Affordable Care Act which was passed by the United States Congress, upheld by the Supreme Court and validated in the last election. What you cannot have, Ed, and you made this point is a president where a minority can say we are prepared to shutdown government, we`re prepared to default and drive the entire world economy into a recession, unless you give us what we want. Because if you do it now, I promise you they will be back next year and the year after, elections will mean nothing. And it will simply be a situation where people can hold the American people hostage.
SCHULTZ: Senator, I want to play this clip of you talking today about the Capitol police during yesterday`s incident in Washington, here it is.
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SANDERS: Yesterday we hand incident right here in Capitol Hill. I heard the shots. Many of us went away from the shots. Police officers went to the shots. Those Capitol police officers are not being paid today and police officers all over this country are not being. That`s wrong.
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SCHULTZ: Now, I want to play a clip from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor on the house floor praising the police. Here it is.
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ERIC CANTOR, MINORITY LEADER, (R), VIRGINIA: I want to thank the gentlemen for yielding and concur with his thanks to the Capitol police and as well each and everyday all of us benefit from their dedication and commitment to our safety. I know all of us want to extend that thanks and just to let them know we really appreciate it.
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SCHULTZ: Senator, there is talent right there on the house floor, I don`t know how and the hell he said that with the straight face, I mean, what is unfolding yesterday and what they`re doing right now exposes their hypocrisy, does it not?
SANDERS: Well, of course, of course. I mean, just think about this, Ed. Two weeks ago we have the tragedy here in Washington at the Navy Yard 12 people killed and the people who are in the midst with that gun fight were federal law enforcement people. Yesterday, we have the incident, these guys would go and, you know, trying to protect the members of Congress and people in the area putting their lives on the line they are not being paid, but it`s not just them we have people in the intelligence community whose lives are in danger abroad, they are not being paid. We have 2 million American citizens today, none of them are particularly wealthy, they are middle class people, they are struggling, they are living with great anxiety, they are not being paid. This is having an impact on the entire United States economy.
SCHULTZ: Senator Bernie Sanders great to have you with us on the Ed Show, appreciate your time so much. Thank you.
SANDERS: Thank you.
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