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SCHULTZ: Joining me how is Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina.
Congressman, good to have you with us tonight.
REP. JAMES CLYBURN, (D) SOUTH CAROLINA: Thank you so much for having me, Ed.
SCHULTZ: You bet. I want to show you the website from the House Ways and Means Committee that is up right now that is keeping track of how many Americans are losing their unemployment benefits. This website continues to track at it changes and is updated every eight seconds. The number, it started at 1.3, now, we`re over 2 million. A question begs congressman. Do the Republicans want to do anything about the unemployed in this country?
CLYBURN: No, they don`t, and that`s a real shame. We`re talking about hard working Americans who have find themselves out of jobs and no fault (ph) of their own. What we`re talking about is trying to keep these people above water until they can find a gainful employment.
This has a dramatic impact on these families, negative impact on my dad, on these families as well as the cheap communities within which they live. Those kind of insurgence or stimulus is needed for the families and the communities, and what they do, they are shopping. So this is one big problem.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
CLYBURN: . that the Republicans refused to deal with.
SCHULTZ: And congressman, over on the Senate side, Harry Reid says that he`s going to use some savings from the farm bill to offset the cost of helping out the long term unemployed. Is there money to be found there?
CLYBURN: Yes. When we did the farm bill, one of the things that did not get talked about was the -- a significant reduction in the deficit that comes from passing the farm bill. And I wish we could do immigration because there`s not a $58 billion to be saved if we were to pass the immigration bill.
So, all of these bills are not just bills that deal with an apparent problem, but they also have a tremendous passive impact on our economy and Senator Reid is correct. If he can`t that money, we`ve already passed the farm bill, so that money is there and should -- it should be used to offset whatever the cost would be to unemployment. Though I don`t believe you ought to do that. If this is an emergency.
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
CLYBURN: . you ought to treat it as an emergency and not worry about finding to pay for at this particular jump shift (ph).
SCHULTZ: Congressman, what do you -- I want your -- I want to switch subjects on you on healthcare. The Department of Health Human Services today has told Americans that if they like their health insurance, they can keep it another two years. The Affordable Care Act compliance is being changed, is being extended. Doesn`t this cut to the spirit of the law and break it down? That`s how I see it, is that, one of the reasons why we
pass the healthcare is to get some standards in the industry -- in the insurance industry to make sure that people didn`t have junk insurance. Why this set back for the law?
CLYBURN: Well, because six months is not enough time for people to really understand exactly what it is that they have. A lot of people think they like what they have because they have never tried to use it. When they attempt to use it is when they find out that they`ve got deductibles that they can`t afford, they`ve got co-payments that they cannot reach, and that is the problem. But, getting people to understand that, sometimes require that they have the experience. And so, if we can take time for people to study their policies, get somebody to help them see exactly what it is that they have got, then I think you`ll see a lot of them dropping these policies on their own. These people would not have to worry about canceling the policies.
I`ve seen it. I was in my hometown last Saturday night and a lady came up to me and told me that she had a deductible that she could not afford. She had a son who had seizure at the age of 25 and when the -- through Affordable Care Act, we need to effect.
SCHULTZ: Sure.
CLYBURN: . as the first. She could not bring him on our policy because he had this -- because he had already turned 26. Now, he`s got his own policy and paying that might add $15 a month, where.
SCHULTZ: So, this is constituent motivated? That the Democrats are making a move on this because this is what they`re hearing back home and it`s not for any kind of to dodge it during the midterms?
CLYBURN: Absolutely not.
SCHULTZ: OK.
CLYBURN: We want people to feel that they are in fact in charge of their destiny.
SCHULTZ: All right.
CLYBURN: And for them to think that we`re taking something away from them is not good.
SCHULTZ: Congressman James Clyburn, great to have you with us on the Ed Show.
Thank you sir. I appreciate your time.
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