NBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript: Affordable Care Act

Interview

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SCHULTZ: They will try anything. I`m joined tonight by Congressman John Garamendi of California. Congressman, good to have you with us tonight. Apparently, the sale (ph) job for ObamaCare is going to have to stay focused and write in the cross hairs for the democrats with garbage like that going on.

REP. JOHN GARAMENDI, (D) CALIFORNIA: Well, I was almost laughing there. I tell you, what`s really going on is the 48 million Americans that are trying to get healthcare. And they have an opportunity. Yeah, the website is not working right yet, and it`s going to take a while but I tell you here in California, million and a half people have gone to the California website covered California, couple of 100,000 are willing to buying a policy.

This is the start of a very, very important and a very good situation where men and women across these nation families are going to be able to get healthcare at a reasonable price. And if they can`t afford it, there`ll be a subsidy available. Sure there`s problems right now. I don`t know any start up that hasn`t had a problem. And, OK, so we got a problem, let`s work through and get on with it. ACORN, this is a joke.

SCHULTZ: It is a total joke. And, you know, what? They will try anything and they will lie about a lot of stuff and (inaudible) people at Fox and Friends, they`re not the only ones spreading more lies about this healthcare law.

Last week, Sean Hannity featured six -- what he called Average Americans who were feeling the pain of ObamaCare from canceled policies to financial burdens for small business owners.

So, let`s take the interest of a former aid, Montana Governor, Brian Switzer. He did some research and turns out none of them have actually looked into the exchanges. Actually, they would save money under ObamaCare. Congressman, have you ever seen such a misinformation campaign effort by anybody anywhere? I mean, this -- I mean, if this is what 2014 is going to be like, we`re going to end up spending most of our time correcting lies.

GARAMENDI: Well, they`ve spent over $400 million attacking the Affordable Care Act in one way or another to various advertisement (ph) misinformation, all the rest. But the fact of the matter is they`re not really talking about the insurance reforms that are already in place. Children or young adults, 18 to 26 can stay on their parents. There is a couple of million .

SCHULTZ: Well, they can find those people, you know? The Fox News can`t seem -- they can`t find any of those people. They must not be around very often.

GARAMENDI: Well, they`re not looking (inaudible) young demographic apparently. But then you take a look at anybody with a preexisting condition has now the opportunity to get health insurance. That wasn`t the case a year and a half go. The Affordable Healthcare Act is actually protecting Americans all across this nation. And by the way, keep hearing about the cost of healthcare going up. Oh yeah, it`s going up, it`s going up every year for the last 30 years, however, in the last two years, the rate of inflation is about one half of what it was before the Affordable Healthcare Act.

So that curve is actually bending downwards. This is good news. There`s a lot of good news here. What is really bad news is the continued effort to try to stop Americans from getting health insurance and try to roll (ph) back to clock, so that Americans have to face healthcare discrimination because the women -- because they have a preexisting condition or because they happened to be 18 and can no longer be on their parent`s policies.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

GARAMENDI: Those days are over, Ed. We`re on a good track here.

SCHULTZ: We`re on a great track. And the republicans have damage their brand, a lot of self-inflicted wounds and they`ve got record of voting in the wrong -- the wrong way where Americans -- a 144 of your colleagues, Congressman, in the house voted to send this country into default and we`re supposed to believe that you can negotiate with these folks, we just thrown away $24 billion, you sit on (inaudible) services over on the House side, an aircraft carrier $6.2 billion, I mean, they`re going to be asking for military spending and yet, they just throw their stuff away, but I want to get back to the number of 144.

GARAMENDI: Yeah.

SCHULTZ: You know, there -- is there an ideological log jam (ph) here

GARAMENDI: Well, I think it is going to break. I was out -- I had a meeting that actually a celebration, the California Waterfowl Association, the opening of duck season (ph), we`re talking about conservatives and they were very, very angry, angry about those who caused the shutdown. They want things to move on. They`re business people. They want their businesses to have some certainty ahead of them. They`re frightened. There is concern that these guys are going to -- would do it once a gain. But they`re not going to stand for it. They are turning their backs away from these radicals. These are total irresponsibility. I was really not surprised but really I think actually pleased to see these folks saying, "We can`t do this. This isn`t good for us. It`s not good for the economy."

SCHULTZ: So, you were taken by their level of disgust?

GARAMENDI: Yes.

SCHULTZ: Well, does this play to 2014? I mean, this is a pretty bad hang over the republicans have right now. We`re going into budget committee. We got the win at our back. The progressive movement is very strong and polls very favorably with the American people. And I think a lot of it, John, has to do with the fact that the democrats have been focused on workers and focused on the middle class has been a very consistent message, whereas over on the other side is been just all negativity, like that piece we just played about ObamaCare over on Fox News. I mean, they`re trying to make a living and gain their party favor by constant negative attacks.

GARAMENDI: Well, that`s absolutely true. I know that what we want to do and certainly by making (ph) it America initiative where we`re trying to figure out ways to use American taxpayer money to buy American make goods and services.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

GARAMENDI: . those kinds of things and the creation of jobs. We really have to move this economy. And if we do so, Ed, the economy is like a race horse in the starting gate. They hear that trumpet but the dog (ph) on gates not opening because his 144 members of congress keep slamming to (ph) shut on it.

SCHULTZ: That`s right. Well, John Garamendi, Congressman from California, if you can get those guys with shotguns and (inaudible) to turnover to democrats, that is a huge win.

GARAMENDI: Well, I think to say (ph) they`re going to go that far, Ed. That`s the little leap.

SCHULTZ: All right, John, good to have with you us tonight. Thank you.

GARAMENDI: You got it.

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