MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript

Interview

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SCHULTZ: What garbage that is, Senator. We, as Americans, we now how to walk and chew gum at the same time. It"s BS.
What Joe Barton said was absolutely no gaffe. He"s what the Republican Party is all about--defend big oil, defeat President Obama, win at any cost.
And bottom line is, they have basically turned their backs on the concerns of the American middle class. Let"s not forget that. The only mistake Joe Barton made was he basically was telling Americans exactly what he thinks so everybody could see.
I think that Barton should step down as ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee. And if he doesn"t do that, if he doesn"t bear the responsibility of leadership--it"s about leadership. And if he can"t do that, then the Republicans are going to have to bear the brunt of it, because no one in the Republican Party has the guts--I think there"s a couple people out there, but the leadership is fully behind him.
What does that speak to where they really stand? Are they with the corporations or are they with the people? And I don"t believe that Americans, including myself, can ever view Joe Barton as an honest broker again when it comes to energy policy when he takes the kind of money he takes from big oil and then openly, not a gaffe, but prepared remarks with a statement, apologizes to the very corporation that is butchering our environment and trashing our economy along the Gulf Coast.
Get your cell phones out, folks. I want you to know what you think about all of this tonight.
Tonight"s next survey question is: Do you think the Republicans have the guts to force Congressman Joe Barton to step down from the Energy Committee? Do they have the guts to do that?
Text "A" for yes, text "B" for no to 622639. We"ll bring you the results later on in the show.
Now, the political opportunity here, let"s talk about that.
Joining me now is New York Congressman Anthony Weiner. He serves with Joe Barton on the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Congressman, good to have you with us tonight.
REP. ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK: Thanks, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Why aren"t Democrats screaming from the top of every building in Washington that this guy needs to be replaced if he"s this close to big oil and has shown his cards when the Democrats are supposed to be the party that"s so concerned about climate change and energy and moving the country forward? Why wouldn"t you want to try to take this guy out just on the shame alone?
WEINER: Well, listen, I"ve got to tell you something, because it"s not as if the second ranking member or the Energy and Commerce Committee or the third or fourth doesn"t reflect those views, as well. Look, there is an indiscriminate support of big oil and big business among the Republican Party. And I have some empathy for Joe Barton.
First of all, I think he"s a good guy, but he was not anything near even the first to say this. In 10 minutes this afternoon on the Internet, here"s where I came up with other people who called it a shakedown: Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh, Tom Price. The entire Republican Party.
My concern is we shouldn"t be focusing on Joe Barton. We should be focusing on what Rahm Emanuel spoke about this weekend. This is a fundamental difference between Democrats and Republicans.
SCHULTZ: Congressman--
WEINER: They support big business. We support trying to regulate them fairly.
SCHULTZ: Yes, they do. Yes, they do. But all of the people that you named, Congressman, are not in a leadership position. They don"t chair any committees.
And I have an ethical issue with the Democrats principally here. If you don"t have the guts to put the pressure on this guy to get him out of this position, how are liberals supposed to really believe that you"re serious about climate change?
WEINER: Because Joe--
SCHULTZ: Quite frankly, I don"t care what Michele Bachmann says, and I don"t think most Americans do. You know my point here.
WEINER: Well, listen, Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh are the leaders of that party. But the point that I"m trying to make here is, I think we"ve got to keep our eyes on the prize.
This is not about Joe Barton. What if Joe Barton tomorrow wasn"t the ranking member? Do you think any way that we"ve moved any closer to the Republican Party learning lessons here? Absolutely not.
He reflects--to his credit, he reflects what Republicans in Washington believe. You know, some people say that the meaning of a gaffe is saying what you really believe and having someone hear it. That"s basically what happened here.
This was no gaffe. This reflects the values of the Republican Party.
And I think focusing on one person is not the thing here.
The idea here is very simple. There"s one party in Washington that is trying to reel in the worst abuses of big oil, trying to make sure the regulations are there in place, and trying to get this cleaned up. And another whose instinctive reaction is to defend big oil. That"s who will be in charge in Washington if we allow the Republicans to win in November.
SCHULTZ: Well, that"s the point. I mean, why wouldn"t you look out for the people right now? But, of course, you"re saying that the entire Republican philosophy is that.
Barton has taken $1.4 million from the oil and gas industry since 1990. So, I don"t think his remarks were inappropriate. Heck, he"s bought and paid for by big oil. I mean, he did exactly what they wanted him to do.
Now, moving forward, let"s talk politics of this. What"s the political opportunity here? Just to paint Joe Barton as, this is the real Republican Party and not let the voters forget it?
WEINER: Well, you know, so much of what goes on in Washington is
outside the view of many Americans. Most Americans don"t keep track of
who"s regulating what. They"re interested in how they"re going to put food
on the table and how they"re going to protect their job in a tough economy
SCHULTZ: Yes.
WEINER: But I"ll tell you, what we are learning here, this is one of those moments, one of those "ah-ha" moments for the American people where they get to visualize what the world would be like if the Republicans took over the House of Representatives.
Joe Barton, whatever you think of his views, he would be in charge of the most important committee in Congress. So, to the extent that most Americans are not thinking about politics, they"re thinking about their everyday lives, this is a moment for them to understand that their lives would be very different if the Republicans are successful this November. Every election is a choice, and the choice is the Barton philosophy on managing big oil, which is to give them whatever they want, and our team.
SCHULTZ: He"s your poster child, there"s no doubt about it.
Congressman, good to have you with us tonight.
WEINER: Thank you, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Thanks so much.

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