MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript: Minimum Wage

Interview

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SCHULTZ: Joining me tonight, Congressman John Garamendi of California.

Congressman, good to have you on with us.

REP. JOHN GARAMENDI, (D) CALIFORNIA: Thank you Ed, good to be with you.

SCHULTZ: You bet. Seven and 10 Americans support raising the minimum wage. And let me be very clear, this would be over three years. It`s $10.10 an hour at the end of that three-year period. We`re talking about, if it goes to 10.10, based on a 40-hour work week, we`re talking $21,008 for an annual income.

Congressman, we`re talking about helping the poor, are we not?

GARAMENDI: Yeah, absolutely. You want to get people up welfare, give him a raise. You want to get the food stamps down, raise the minimum wage. If you want to provide women with an opportunity to succeed and it`s the minimum wage. All of these things are absolutely critical, Ed, and we ought to do it.

California, by the way, has already done it. Two years ought to be 10.10, the rest of the nation are to be following.

SCHULTZ: And what has your state experience from raising that minimum wage?

GARAMENDI: Economic growth. And we`re going to experience when it gets to 10.10. We`ll see a reduction in food stamps, we`ll see a reduction in welfare, we`ll see more people with more money to spend, and more economic activity.

SCHULTZ: Congressman, House Democrats have filed and we`ve been talking about this for several weeks, a discharge petition that was done today, are you going to be able to get any support from Republicans which is needed if you`re going to get that magic number?

GARAMENDI: I think we will. You just said seven of 10 Americans want the minimum wage to be up. Well, those are Republican districts as well as Democratic districts, I think we will. We`re going to be near our maximum about a 190 Democrats in the next couple of days. That will put a lot of pressure on Republicans. And let`s remember that the republicans have in the recent years actually voted across the aisle to pass some major legislation like the Violence on Women Act.

SCHULTZ: Yeah. Well, Republicans are going to have to go against the leader and that`s John Boehner.

GARAMENDI: Yes.

SCHULTZ: He does not want to do this.

GARAMENDI: Yeah.

SCHULTZ: There is no pattern of any Republicans standing up to Boehner, and saying, "You know, we`re not going to do this." I mean, we`re going to help the Democrats out and go with the discharge petition. You actually think that there will be -- I think, what do you need, 19 or 20 Republicans to get this done?

GARAMENDI: Well, something like that. But you`ve going to beat this drum across the nation. People have to know that it`s possible that we`re getting close to the number. And we`ve also seen Boehner fold on his previous places not to bring certain bills to the floor. I mentioned the violence against women act. That`s one of about a half a dozen examples over the last two years where the American public has spoken .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

GARAMENDI: . and his caucuses have to move. Now, we did it with the majority of Democrats in just a handful of Republicans on some very, very important laws. But, it can be done. We need to make America aware that America needs a way -- a raise and it`s possible, and that this minimum increase to 10.10 .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

GARAMENDI: . over three years isn`t going to hurt this economy. It`s actually going to significantly help and reduce federal welfare payments.

SCHULTZ: And hopefully, it will put upward pressure on other wages to help people on the middle class.

GARAMENDI: Absolutely.

SCHULTZ: I want to change subjects. I want to go to the drought that you`re experiencing in the ..

GARAMENDI: Right.

SCHULTZ: . State of California. Climate change, of course, is a big issue in your district, in your state. Where do you stand on the Keystone XL Pipeline?

GARAMENDI: Well, that`s one part of a very, very large puzzle. I`m not sure if it`s ever going to build. That`s in the hands of the president.

But, we do know that it is not a solution to energy independence. It is not a solution to climate change. We have to take other steps. We have to move aggressively to reduce carbon fuels. And that happens to be a carbon fuel issue. So, we need all of the other things that we have to do. We got to get wind, and solar, and frankly, nuclear. All of these things have to come on line. We have to move away from petroleum and most importantly, oil -- coal.

SCHULTZ: So, you would advice the president to say no to the pipeline?

GARAMENDI: I think that`s probably the right decision to make. It`s going to be a tough when you got Canada banging on our door demanding access to the ports. They`re talking about, "Well, if you don`t let us go there, then we`ll go off to the Pacific Northwest" which would be even a more serious environmental issue for that part of the world.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

GARAMENDI: But what we`ve got to do is to move away from petroleum products. We`ve got to move away from coal. We can. We will. Our natural gas is an interim piece. It`s very important. Natural gas, yes.

SCHULTZ: Congressman John Garamendi of California, great to have you on. Thanks John I appreciate it.

GARAMENDI: Thank you.

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