MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript: Boehner Lawsuit

Interview

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REP. GEORGE MILLER, (D) CALIFORNIA: Thank you very much, Ed.

SCHULTZ: What is the atmosphere -- you bet. What is the atmosphere in Congress at this hour as this is unfolding?

MILLER: Well, I think most of the Republicans are embarrassed by this legislation to create the lawsuit. And most of the Democrats are furious that we`re not using this time to help the American middle class, to help the economy by creating jobs instead of giving tax raise to send jobs overseas, let`s give them the companies to bring jobs back to the United States,allowing students to refinance their student loans, it would save them $50 billion to the American families if we just did for the students what we did for the banks in letting them refinance those loans and providing the minimum wage increase that so desperately needed in so many places across this country for so many workers, and making sure that women who work get paid equal to men in their job for the same kind of work.

But the Republicans have chosen something else. They`ve chosen to try to divert the attention that they`ve done nothing on behalf of the American people that this is the least effective Congress in the history of the country and they still got to home.

So, they`re creating a cloud dust, they`re creating diversion of this miserable, miserable suit against the president of the United States for successfully enacting the Affordable Care Act which now means that tens and millions of individuals who did not have insurance, families, children, wife, spouses that did no have insurance now have insurance. So, they decided to sue him on the last week of the Congress before we go home for the August recess.

What they`re really hoping is they might strike gold and they could lead -- this suit could lead them to impeachment. Because then that would be .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

MILLER: . ecstasy for the right wing, that would be ecstasy for the Republicans in the Congress if they could impeach Barack Obama. So, they`re going with the lawsuit, testing the waters, it`s a frivolous lawsuit, it`s a waste of money, it`s a waste of time, it`s not going to be successful but this is what they`ve chosen to do with this country`s time when in fact we have so many needs in this country to help middle class families and to help those individuals working hard to aspire to get into the middle class. So, this is a brutal, brutal decision by the Republicans to ignore the American people, to ignore the needs of the economy, to ignore the needs of families .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

MILLER: . all across this country.

SCHULTZ: Well, that`s exactly what they`re doing. Now, I want to play a clip from John Boehner talking about Republican priorities just yesterday. Here it is.

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BOEHNER: Over the last 18 months, Republicans in the House have been focused on the American people`s priorities whether it`s grow in our economy, creating more jobs holding our government accountable. Last week, the president signed in this SKILLS Act, signed into law, a step in the right direction.

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SCHULTZ: Congressman Miller, how can John Boehner say that with a straight face the day before suing the president?

MILLER: Well, he`s just delusional about the Republican record. I mean, the fact of the matter is, this Republican record in the Congress on behalf of the American people is atrocious, it`s a complete failure. And that`s why they`ve turned to lawsuit as a diversion. This is a diversion. They want to take this to the country and try to see that -- if they can get the country to focus on this for 30 days or 100 days until the election rather than look at the Republican record and the denial of opportunity for the American people .

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

MILLER: . in this Congress.

SCHULTZ: Congressman George Miller, I appreciate your time tonight. Thank you so much.

MILLER: Thank you, Ed.

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