MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript

Interview

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REP. JOE CROWLEY (D), NEW YORK: Thank you, Cenk. Good to be with you this evening.

UYGUR: Good to have you.

Very clever, by the way. I have got to give you credit for that.

So I"m actually surprised that five of them took you up on it. Did you expect any of them to take you up?

CROWLEY: Well, the ones (ph) that did take us up on it, they only have a Plan B. Unlike most Americans who don"t have a Plan B--a lot of Americans don"t have a Plan A, don"t have any health insurance at all. Some of these folks either work for a state government and have a pension from that, and therefore have a health plan they can access. One of them is a former colonel in the Air Force who is not taking the congressional health care, but is going to take the veterans--the V.A. health care. So he"s covered.

Many of these people are individually wealthy. They don"t need to have any coverage from anywhere because they can simply afford it out of their pocket.

So the hypocrisy continues. And I think even these folks who turned down the health care coverage from Congress, I think they"re digging a deeper hole for themselves, because it really adds questions, where are they going to get the health care coverage from?

UYGUR: Right. That guy who was taking the money from another part of the government, health insurance, he doesn"t count. I"m knocking it down to four. OK?

CROWLEY: And I don"t begrudge anyone who serves his country. And I think the colonel, former colonel --

UYGUR: Yes, he earned it. Don"t get me wrong. Yes, he earned it.

CROWLEY: It"s a Plan B.

UYGUR: Right. And it"s hypocritical.

OK. Now, Michele Bachmann, though, she wouldn"t be hypocritical like this. I mean, she claims she"s the leader of the Tea Party. The Tea Party hates government-run health care.

Don"t tell me that Michele Bachmann has government-run health care.

CROWLEY: Well, Michele has a chance now. The year hasn"t started yet.

She can still turn down the health care that we modeled the health care for Americans on in this health care bill that we passed, that the president signed into law. And that"s really what we"re talking about, Cenk, here, is giving access to hard-working Americans, people who have found it almost impossible to afford insurance to date, the opportunity to purchase or to purchase insurance for them and their families.

I don"t begrudge even Republican members of Congress. They have families, too, and they have spouses. They"re under pressure to make sure they have coverage, I understand that.

But the hypocrisy really rings true. And I think that if they want to stand by their word, they ran against this bill, they said they"re going to repeal every bit it, they should, in turn, turn down their own federally-sponsored health care.

UYGUR: Congressman, real quick, though, I mean, they"re saying, look, the government in this case is my employer. I just don"t want the public to have that kind of health care because it"s going to cost too much money.

Do you think that"s a fair argument?

CROWLEY: Not at all. I mean, the reality is, it"s the public"s money, either way.

And it"s the same plan that--we really modeled the federal retirement system plan and the health care plan on what members of Congress get. So I think it"s a perfect opportunity for them to show that they stand by their word, that if they don"t want it for the average American, they"re not going to take it themselves.

UYGUR: All right, Congressman Crowley. Thank you so much for joining us.

CROWLEY: Thanks, Cenk. Thank you.

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