MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript: Government Shutdown

Interview

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Joining now is Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, fresh off of a vote on the Senate floor.

Senator Brown, thank you so much for being with us.

SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D), OHIO: Good to be back, Rachel. Thank you.

MADDOW: Just within the last 15 minutes, I understand the Senate voted to reject the amendment passed by the House that would have made the funding for the government contingent on another delay to health reform. Just in terms of what happens next here, what do you expect?

BROWN: I don`t think we know what to expect. The House of Representatives still has the Senate continuing resolution. The issue is, will John Boehner act like -- will he be the speaker of the radical right wing of the Republican Party or will he be the speaker of the United States House of Representatives, because if he just takes the Senate language -- you know, we went through a bipartisan process in the Senate, we passed this.

If he takes the Senate continuing resolution, puts it to a vote for all 435 members of Congress, almost all of whom were elected in November and sworn in in January, then it`s clear to most of us, maybe all of us, that that would pass the House of Representatives. You`d get virtually all the Democrats and the responsible Republicans that know this is the wrong thing to do for our country. That would pass before midnight, the president would sign it before midnight, there would be no government shut.

The answer`s pretty easy, pretty obvious, whether the leadership in the House shows leadership -- shows real leadership or not is obviously the question.

MADDOW: Senator, I know you were -- you were in the House the last time the government shut down. Do you feel like that experience, both for us as a country, but also for the legislature of our country, had lessons that we`re willfully ignoring right now, or is it that every 17 years we`re ready for another one of these.

BROWN: Maybe it`s like the 17-year locust. I think they`ve forgotten. I mean, I think these new far right Republicans that don`t think anything good happened in the country until they arrived in Washington, they don`t know much history. If they know history, they would know that there was the same opposition to Medicare from the John Birch Society, the Tea Party of those days, maybe, the doctors, the insurance companies. And five years later, the country really appreciated Medicare.
I think they`d know that lesson, if they knew anything about history, because we`re seeing this rerun. I know five -- I`m certain five years from now, people will think the Affordable Care Act, which is a big deal arguing about, is working for our country.

So, these aren`t people that ever studied history, ever read history.

So, they`ve really learned nothing about the damage it did to the country, to the budget, to the country, to job creation 17 years ago, let alone the damage it did to their political party.

MADDOW: In terms of the challenges we have right now as a country and the things that we are working on as a country and specifically as a government, do you think that this shutdown will affect or could affect our country`s room to maneuver, our ability to lead and try to get what we want on all these other issues that are moving right now, that are totally separate from the shutdown, on things like Syria and the chemical weapons on Iran, winding down Afghanistan, and everything else we are doing as a government.

Does this shutdown interfere with our ability to get something done?

BROWN: I think certainly it damages our reputation around the world, especially as the far right approaches the debt ceiling debate later -- well, next month. I guess today`s the 30th, in mid-October. But there is an opportunity cost. We`re not working on immigration. We`re not working on job creation. We`re not working on a job-creating farm bill.

We`re doing none of the things that we should be doing because we`re lurching from crisis to crisis, self-induced, human-made, congressional- induced crisis to crisis. There`s simply no reason we need to be going through this as a nation.

Talk to anybody at home. If you get outside, if the bubble is outside of the country club and talk radio and a few old right wing kind of rigged town hall meetings, they`re going to see that the country doesn`t like this. The country wants us to focus on jobs and delivering health care and getting this health care law implemented.

So, hundreds of thousands of people will get Medicaid in my state, will be joining exchanges, will have consumer protections. A million seniors have already gotten free preventive care. One thing after another is happening. We need to cooperate to make sure it`s done right.

MADDOW: Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, thank you very much for your time tonight, sir. Good luck. I know it`s going to be a late night. Thank you.

BROWN: Thanks.

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