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SEN. TOM HARKIN (D-IA), CHAIRMAN, HELP COMMITTEE: Well, Ed, it"s interesting. The Republicans seem to know what"s in it, and the White House seems to knows what"s in it, but we Democrats in the Senate are kept in the dark. We still haven"t gotten it yet.
SCHULTZ: How do you feel about that?
HARKIN: Well, This is not the way to do business up here. I mean, we don"t really know--as I understand it, it"s being changed all the time. Some new things are being added. We really don"t know what.
We"re supposed to get it up here tomorrow. At least that"s what I hear. But, you know, this is not the way to do things around here.
You know, the president"s going to need us and we"re going to need him. We"re in this together.
And by the way, Ed, there"s one thing I really want to say. I was watching your introduction, and when President Obama said that he wasn"t interested in conducting a political fight, this is not a political fight. This is a fight about the future of our country.
SCHULTZ: No doubt.
HARKIN: It"s a fight about what"s right and what"s just and what"s fair. That"s what the fight is about. It"s not political fight. It"s about what we"re going to do as a country going forward.
SCHULTZ: Well, do the Senate Democrats feel like they"re being locked out of this? And is there angst about it beyond yourself?
HARKIN: Oh, yes. Very much so.
I mean, you saw some of the responses there. And there"s even more at our caucus. A lot of people are really upset that the compromise was made when it was.
Now, look, Ed, we all have to compromise. I understand that. I"ve been the chairman of committees here. I know what it means to compromise. But there"s on old saying about lawyers. You know, a good lawyer compromises on the courthouse steps.
SCHULTZ: So you"re being dictated to in a sense?
HARKIN: Well, we"re kind of being dictated to, but we"re not seeing the president really negotiate from a position of strength. The one thing that you haven"t talked about, and a lot of people aren"t talking about, the president has the veto pen. No one"s talking about that, Ed.
Now, you know, he says, well, some people say, well, next year, when those Republicans take over the House and we have fewer people in the Senate, they"ll send that thing over to the Senate, that bad stuff, and we"ll have enough Democrats that will pass it and send it to the president. Well, the president can veto it, and we"ll still have enough Democrats to uphold the veto. That"s how you make the fight, because if the president were to stay in it that long, the American people will rally to his side.
SCHULTZ: Senator, go get them.
HARKIN: We are.
SCHULTZ: I appreciate you going after it. You"re on the right side of this fight, and I appreciate it so much.
HARKIN: Thanks, Ed.
SCHULTZ: Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa with us.
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