MSNBC "Hardball with Chris Matthews" - Transcript

Interview

MSNBC "Hardball with Chris Matthews" - Transcript

MR. MATTHEWS: Who has the right plan to fix the economy? U.S. Congressman Debbie Wasserman Schultz is a Florida Democrat.

Thank you, Congresswoman, for joining us.

REP. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Good to be with you, Chris.

MR. MATTHEWS: This crazy, crazy economy. Is the solution to fire the chairman of the SEC, as McCain says? Will that solve the problem? He likes to fire people, by the way, McCain. He fires -- you know, he fires Rumsfeld. The war goes on; the same number of casualties. Now he wants to fire his former colleague, Chris Cox.

REP. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: I think the question, Chris, that voters have to ask is which John McCain should voters believe? And on which day should they believe him -- the day that he said that the fundamentals of our economy are strong, which was Tuesday, or on Wednesday, when he said, "No, no, I was talking about American workers." Or how about on Tuesday when he said he would oppose a bailout of AIG, but then the next day said he supports it because he didn't actually realize the impact that the failure of AIG would have on pensions and retirement funds?

This is John McCain proving over and over again that he is out of touch, that he doesn't understand what kind of impact the economy is having on working families, and even admitted a few months ago that he really doesn't have a terribly good grasp on the economy, which he continues to prove every single day. That's why we need Barack Obama and Joe Biden as president and vice president of the United States so we can move this country in a new direction.

MR. MATTHEWS: Let's look at the president who is president, George Bush, and what he said today very briefly. I'm not kidding. It was almost like a cuckoo clock. It was so brief; he came out for, like, two minutes and then split without taking any questions, not giving any answers, not exposing himself to the kind of scrutiny most Americans would like to submit to the man whose desk has the buck stopping on it. Here he is, the president of the United States this morning.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: (From videotape.) The financial markets continue to deal with serious challenges. As our recent actions demonstrate, my administration is focused on meeting these challenges. The American people can be sure we will continue to act to strengthen and stabilize our financial markets and improve investor confidence.

MR. MATTHEWS: What did you make of that statement today? I didn't make much of it. I think he really tried to avoid making any statement today, simply making himself visible for two minutes or so.

REP. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: I think he's desperately trying to avoid the direct accusation that he's been asleep at the switch, as has his entire administration. And, you know, we've got John McCain, the Republican nominee for president, who, you know, I mean, his big solution to the economic crisis we're in is to fire the SEC head? I mean, someone who proclaimed himself a deregulator, who fundamentally said he was a deregulator?

There is no track record whatsoever on the part of John McCain to be someone who has a commitment to shoring up this economy. He believes in deregulation. And that's what America could expect from him as president. It's the last thing we need right now.

MR. MATTHEWS: Remember Denzel Washington in the movie "Philadelphia"? He said, "Explain it to me like I'm your grandmother."

REP. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Right.

MR. MATTHEWS: Okay, explain to me what Barack Obama would do as president to deal with this economic crisis as if I were your grandmother. Explain.

REP. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: The kitchen table economics of this; that's what you're talking about, Chris.

MR. MATTHEWS: Right.

REP. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Barack Obama's economic plan would give a tax cut to 95 percent of Americans and would raise taxes only on people who make more than $250,000 a year. There are no taxes that would be raised for anyone who makes less than $250,000 a year. John McCain's plan would leave out 101 million Americans.

And the bottom line is that Barack Obama understands that a gallon of milk is now $4 and more, that it costs almost $80 to fill up your gas tank, that that is real money and that we need to do things like investing in alternative energy research so that we can truly wean ourselves off our dependence on oil so that, when we have an economic plan in place, put in place by Barack and Joe Biden, that directly impacts people in their pocketbooks on their day-to-day expenses. That's what we need in terms of leadership from a president.

MR. MATTHEWS: Well, you're on tonight, so I'm going to hit you with an ethnic question. I just got this story about half an hour ago. It is your constituency -- a lot of Jewish voters in your constituency.

REP. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: A whole lot, yes.

MR. MATTHEWS: I just got the word today that a Republican-backed group supportive of John McCain is push-polling, that dirty little trick of asking people things that are rotten and then asking them to vote, basically propagandizing. They're pushing the idea that Barack Obama is tied to Hamas in this latest push-polling out there.

What do you make of it? And it's aimed at Florida voters, Pennsylvania voters, Michigan voters, Ohio voters, New Jersey voters, where there's large numbers of Jewish voters. They're pushing the idea he's part of some terrorist operation.

REP. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: I think what's going on here is Republicans are divided, depressed, demoralized and desperate. And so they have to resort to these type of tactics to scare Jewish voters and to scare voters across America. It's a playbook that we're very familiar with, and we're not going to allow them to lie to the American people and distort Barack Obama's record.

He's been 100 percent on Israel. He stands side by side with Israel; would make sure that Israel's alliance with the United States is strengthened. And the Jewish community is going to overwhelmingly support Barack Obama and Joe Biden. And you know why, Chris? Because Jewish voters want a president of the United States that supports all of our values, not just some of them. And that's Barack Obama.

MR. MATTHEWS: Hey, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, thank you for joining us.

REP. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Thank you.

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