MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript
Interview
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Get your cell phones out. I want to know what you think about our question tonight. And it is. Should the Democrats vote for this damn budget deal? Text "A" for yes, text "B" for no to 622639, or go to our new blog at Ed.MSNBC.com.
No they shouldn"t vote for it. How can they call themselves Democrats and vote for something like this? This is Cave City, USA.
I"ll bring you the details later in the show.
Joining me now is Senator Bernie Sanders, independent from Vermont.
Senator, good to have you with us tonight. You have announced that you are not going to vote for this deal. I commend you for that big time, Senator.
But the big question of the hour is: are you going to filibuster it?
What about that, Bernie?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: Well, I think I"m going to save my ammunition for the fight that"s going to take place right after this budget is passed. And that is going to be the Ryan budget, which is beyond comprehension, as you indicated. It would lower taxes for the very richest people in this country from 35 percent to 25 percent; lower corporate taxes, the same way; voucherize Medicare so that if you are a senior citizen, you will get $8,000 for an insurance company plan.
Now, if you are 75, you got cancer, you tell me what an $8,000 plan is going to cover for you? Not very much. And all of the studies indicate huge amounts of money are going to come out of seniors" pockets for health care--
SCHULTZ: OK.
SANDERS: -- which many seniors
So, to answer your question, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
SANDERS: What we have seen in December is huge tax breaks to the wealthiest people. What we have seen as you very appropriately enunciated, major cutbacks in programs for our infrastructure and for working people.
Now, what we are going on to is even worse and the Republicans" plan on blackmailing this country and saying we are not going to raise--vote to raise the debt ceiling unless you make savage cuts on working people and give tax breaks to the rich.
SCHULTZ: Well, the bottom line here, Senator, is that the Tea Party has won the first round.
SANDERS: Yes, and the second round.
SCHULTZ: And if they win the third round, it"s over in my opinion. So, you"re not going to filibuster but you"re not going to vote in favor of this, obviously.
SANDERS: Right. I certainly am not going to vote against it. I"m going to fight against it.
But I think they have the votes to pass it. I think the fight right now, Ed--and you"re doing a great job--is to rally the American people and say, we"re not going to give more tax breaks to billionaires and devastate programs that we have fought for for decades for middle income and working families.
SCULTZ: You know, the American people, do we get to say anything about this?
Look at this number that came out today. This was a "USA Today"/Gallup poll. This was before the devil in details was released. The budget deal: 62 percent of Americans approve it, 25 percent disapprove of this budget deal. This is before they knew what the heck was being cut.
And then when it comes to raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans:
at $250,000 and above, 59 percent of the American people support that.
I think when the American people find out exactly what"s in this they"re not going to like it at all.
But what do you make of that number? We"re letting the top 2 percent
and I"m one of them--off scot-free. In fact, they want to give me more of a break. How the hell are we going to balance the books on a deal like that?
SANDERS: Ed, it is morally obscene to cut programs for the most vulnerable people in this country and give tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires, and it is bad economics as well. Every poll that I have seen suggests that the American people want shared sacrifice. You can"t just cut education and Pell grants and infrastructure, and community health centers, and say to the wealthiest people in this country, you know what your sacrifice is, we"re going to give you huge tax breaks--despite the fact that the rich already are getting richer while the middle class is collapsing. The American people don"t want that.
SCHULTZ: Well--Senator, but the Republicans are saying that if we give the rich this money, they"re going to go out and create jobs?
SANDERS: Well, Ed, we saw that movie over an eight-year period during the Bush administration and you know what the result is? We lost.
SCHULTZ: Yes.
SANDERS: Five hundred thousand private sector jobs, worst job performance record in modern America.
SCHULTZ: Senator, good to have you with us tonight. I appreciate you sticking up for the working folk of America. There is no doubt about it that people like you have the facts on your side and it"s only going to take some real brave Americans who are elected by some in this country to stand up and sound the alarm on exactly what is happening in this country. I mean, our country is just infrastructurally is just unraveling and all for the rich people. What is wrong with this country? Why are we doing this?
Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, with us tonight here on The Ed Show.
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