MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript

Interview

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SCHULTZ: Let`s bring in the senator from Rhode Island, Sheldon
Whitehouse.
Senator, good to have you with us tonight. Appreciate your time.
These numbers, these polling numbers --

SHELDON: Happy to be here, Ed.

SCHULTZ: You bet. These polling numbers look good for the Democrats
and for the policy that the White House is pushing.
What are you hearing on the road? You believe these numbers? Are
your constituents saying go right ahead and go for this?

WHITEHOUSE: I`m actually surprised the numbers are so low in favor of
the Buffett Rule. I haven`t found one person yet in Rhode Island who
thinks that a New York hedge fund billionaire should pay a lower rate than
a Rhode Island truck driver. It doesn`t surprise me is a bit that this is
popular.
Frankly, it`s the only thing that makes any sense.

SCHULTZ: What was the quote from Ronald Reagan say about the modern
day Republican Party and where they stand on taxation?

WHITEHOUSE: It shows how ideological they have become and how much
they`ve really moved away from the practical view of a president who many
of them view as sort of the conservative saint. But Ronald Reagan was also
a very practical man and he knew what was fair and what was not fair. And
it`s simply not right for somebody who is making, let`s say, a quarter of a
billion dollars a year to be paying a lower tax rate than somebody making
$50,000 a year.

SCHULTZ: Do you think this is a winning campaign issue for not only
President Obama and his campaign but for every Democrat running for office,
that economic fairness is something that is -- I know this word is
overplayed a lot in politics -- but will it connect, will it resonate with
voters that this is really where the country wants to go?

WHITEHOUSE: Gosh, I sure hope so. It would really be a shame to
think that we`re a country where we`d be willing to accept the idea that
somebody at the very, very top of our income pyramid should be able to have
special privileges, special tax rates that are lower than what the ordinary
regular working family pays. That just doesn`t seem right.
Frankly, the thing that surprises me the most in all this is that
we`re having such a fight over it. You think that this would be a slam
dunk.

(CROSSTALK)

SCHULTZ: Well, what do you think the Senate is going to do on Monday?
What do you think the Senate is going to do on Monday? What`s going to
happen?

(CROSSTALK)

WHITEHOUSE: I think it`s going to depend on how many senators have
heard from their constituents. If senators don`t hear from their
constituents on this, I think they`ll go with the special interest and
they`ll protect the privilege low tax rate for these ultrahigh end income
folks. But if they start hearing from Americans on this, and that changes
everything.
So, I would urge people to go to BuffettRuleBill.com and register to
call your local senator and to let people know how you feel, because if
we`re not looking, then the special interest will win. If we got the
spotlight on this, we`ve got a real chance to win this.

SCHULTZ: Senator Whitehouse great to have you with us tonight. We`ll
look forward to that story on Monday. Thanks so much.

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