MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript: 2014 Elections
Interview
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Gardner has been running these misleading ads claiming that he`s all for energy, green energy that is.
But the bottom line is when it comes down to it, the guy is a fraud, he`s for the Keystone XL Pipeline. He supports big oil and tax breaks and he wants to crush the Environmental Protection Agency.
So tonight, as I see it, there`s going to be a bunch of losers and a bunch of winners somewhere. I don`t there`s going to be a mix bag here.
It`s going to be interesting to see the governors` races. How much of an impact has their radical agenda had, number one on turn out and number two on just how motivated people are to turn their states around, such as in Michigan or in Ohio where I this Kasich has going to win easily. But also when Wisconsin and in the Pennsylvania and of course down here in Florida.
For more, let me bring in Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Senator, good to have you with us tonight.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I) VERMONT: Great to be with you Ed.
SCHULTZ: You bet. How will the middle class issues like the minimum wage and income inequality as this day is unfolding? Do you think that these issues have played into what we`ve seen so far as far turnout is concern and some of these pockets that we`ve talked about around the country?
SANDERS: Well I hope so. And I think Ed what is very clear is that the Republicans have refuse to really talk about their ideas and their agenda if they gain control of the Congress.
And I will tell you exactly what that agenda is. It is more tax breaks to billionaires and large corporations. They will cut social security, Medicare, Medicaid, nutrition and education. They will expand and increase military spending and they will refuse to acknowledge the reality of climate change despite what virtually the entire scientific community is telling us.
In terms of the minimum wage, you got more and more Republicans who not only will not raise the minimum wage, they want to do away with the concept of the minimum wage which means that in high unemployment areas, people can work for four or five bucks an hour.
Look Ed, there is a reason why the Koch Brothers and other billionaires are spending hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars on this election.
They want a Congress that will work for the 1 percent and stick it to the middle class and working families. And that`s what we got to make sure this not happen.
SCHULTZ: On this issue we have some new exit polling data at this moment.The NBC News exit polls ask voters in some key Senate races today whether they favor raising the minimum wage. And in every case according to preliminary data, solid majorities said yes. Sizable numbers of Republicans are on board with raising the minimum wage, 44 percent in Louisiana, 37 percent in North Carolina, 39 percent in Iowa and 31 percent in Georgia.
What`s your reaction to that Senator? Everything that you have talked about is clearly in the majority and on the minds of voters when it comes to wage earners in this country. That`s our polling data at this moment.
SANDERS: Ed, if you look at some major issues facing this country, raising the minimum wage, rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure and creating millions of decent-paying jobs, expanding social security. If you look at the major issues facing on country, the American people whether they`re progressive or conservative want to go forward. They reject the Republican agenda.
What the Republicans have manage to do quite cleverly I must say, is the deflect attention from their agenda and blame Barack Obama for every problem that this country faces.
So I think when people understand what the Republicans really stand for -- because they don`t know very well but they have done a particular job in disguising that.
SCHULTZ: We also ask the question in State of Wisconsin where the minimum wage has been an issue in the governors` race. Incumbent Republican Governor Scott Walker recently said that he didn`t think the minimum wage serves a purpose, and President Obama campaign for Democratic challenger Mary Burke last week in Milwaukee highlighting her support for the minimum wage.
In our Wisconsin exit poll tonight, 65 percent favored an increase and that according to our...
SANDERS: Right.
SCHULTZ: ... exit poll included 45 percent of Republicans, Governor Scott Walker`s voters. What do you make of it?
SANDERS: What I make of that is the American people understand that the federal minimum wage of $7.25 is a starvation wage. It is not a wage that anybody can live on...
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
SANDERS: ... with any shred of dignity. If we raise the minimum wage to at least $10.10 an hour, over 25 million Americans get a pay raise. That is what the American people want.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
Senator, these are my thoughts. If the Senate goes to the majority with the Republicans, if they control, I think you`re going to see fast track legislation. I don`t think you`re going to see the minimum wage on a federal level be addressed. I think you`re going to see a push for the corporate tax rate to be lowered because that`s what they`ve been talking about a lot.
But the big question in all of these Senator, isn`t this going to put pressure on President Obama to stand tall with progressives who solidly are against the TPP, who are solidly in favor of the minimum wage? And most progressives I think in polling want to make sure that the corporate tax rates stays exactly where it is and in fact try to get corporations to pay their fair share.
I mean, if the Senate is taken -- go ahead.
SANDERS: one out of four corporations today doesn`t pay a nickel in federal income tax collectively, back in the 1950s they contributed over 30 percent of our federal tax revenue. Today it`s less than 10, no we don`t need more tax breaks for large corporations.
And I think your point about the need for the President to stand tall and do not just what progressives want but the vast majority the American people want, and that is policy which represents the middle class and not just the one percent.
So I hope, you know, that if the Republicans do gain control of the Senate, President gets his veto pen out and the American people, I`m confident will support him.
SCHULTZ: OK. Senator Bernie Sanders independent from Vermont, great to have you with us tonight here on the Ed Show. I appreciate your time.
Thanks so much.
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