MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript: Minimum Wage

Interview

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REP. JAMES CLYBURN, (D) SOUTH CAROLINA: Thank you so much for having me back.

SCHULTZ: Your reaction to the Senate Republicans and it is the Senate Republicans blocking the minimum wage bill.

CLYBURN: Well, I think that once again we`ve seen that the Senate Republicans are filing (ph) suit with their House Republicans. They are just absolutely against doing anything that would benefit working men and women. They are -- they saw the rush to put this big tax cuts for the wealth of people in the House budget to deny a minimum wage increase on the Senate for working men and women.

They are doing a sort of a tag team yesterday and today as you just mentioned, we met with the chair of the Budget Committee of the Congressional Black Caucus did and we still. We addressed several but I`ve known such this. We are sick and tired of having these pleasantries abandon (ph) about when people are going hungry when people can`t get the (inaudible) with all to stay in college.

We have some historical college and universities that have lost 10 percent of their student bodies in the last year all because of the policies that have been perpetrated by these Republicans in the House of Representatives.

SCHULTZ: Yes. Congressman, do you think that the minimum wage issue is a racial issue?

CLYBURN: It has -- there it has adverse racial impact and one thing I`ve learn in those of almost 18 years I`ve spent running a state agency in South Carolina that we have to look at the policy and we don`t worry about what your intent may have been. But if the impact, the result has an adverse racial impact then we see that as being discriminatory and that`s not me saying that, that is what the United States Supreme Court had said.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

CLYBURN: That`s what Congress has said that we look at the results of your action and they`ll determine whether not it have a desperate (ph) impact on people of color.

SCHULTZ: I think that there are many ways to express racism. I think in a policy is one way, expressing your cell phone of policy is a way and what Cliven Bundy and Donald Sterling did is a different way. But the bottom- line here is that the policies that you`re talking about are holding people of color down in this country. They are concentrating on the wealth. Their policy is clearly are doing that and then they are hiding behind the two-word culture, the free market. This is not what the American people want. All of you in Congress know that but the vote isn`t there.

Now, the Congressional Black Caucus as you said met with Paul Ryan who has brought in a very radical budget, 69 percent of Ryan`s budget cuts come from low income people. That`s a racist budget as I see it. Now that`s my opinion. I`m not trying to get you to say that. That`s my opinion.

Look at -- you know what the priorities are of the people when you look at the budget. He wants to hurt the down trodden and the working folk of American and give tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans and hurt those on food stamps. What kind of dialogue do you have with somebody that has a budget like that?

CLYBURN: Well, today at the top of our meeting, the chair of black caucus Congresswoman Fudge asked me to present to Mr. Ryan the Congressional Black Caucus` approach to target in resources into communities of need. And I`ll laid up to Mr. Ryan the fact that there are 488 counties in the United States of America where 20 percent or more of the population that they are stuck, we need to (inaudible) their level for the last 30 more years.

And I asked him would he join with us in the Congressional Black Caucus and target resources throughout the discretionary budget into those communities so that at least 10 percent of that money will go to these communities.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

CLYBURN: And I reminded him that this not partisan here to do thirds fully 68 percent of those counties are represented by Republicans. So we aren`t asking him to do anything for Democrats which I`m going to do it for poor people.

SCHULTZ: Yeah. That`s exactly what it is. Congressman, great to have you with us tonight. James Clyburn from South Carolina here on the Ed Show. Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.

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