MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript: Increasing the Minimum Wage

Interview

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SEN. SHERROD BROWN, (D) OHIO: Good to be back, Ed.

SCHULTZ: . you first. How big a deal is it that the president is now using in the State of the Union coming up the term "income inequality" and making this a focal point of what the country has to focus on? Your thoughts, sir.

BROWN: It`s a right message because it`s going to help Congress and both parties, I hope, that certainly progresses in Congress and Democrats in the House of Senate. Look for the -- to how to navigate this, how to get a roadmap to dealing with income inequality. It`s -- I mean, there`s a couple of facts as you pointed out that I think really told the whole story. In the last -- about four decades, workers in this country, productivity is almost doubled in the last 40 years yet income has gone up less than 10 percent on the average for the broad middle class and working families.

And that`s why -- I mean, that tells me directly we need to raise a minimum wage, we need tax reform that will say no longer getting tax breaks for corporations that shutdown in Akron or Youngstown and move to Wuhan of Beijing. It means that trade policy that works for American workers, it means more aggressive, and that means no trade, no fast track, and no trade agreement in the pacific the way they`re looking to do it. It means.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

BROWN: . it means ways of helping unions organize because this (inaudible) as productivity went up and wages were basically flat, a lot of that has to do with the decline of trade unions and the fact that people don`t have somebody to represent them to help these companies make sure that some of their profits go to workers.

SCHULTZ: Congressman Garamendi, when you take a look at these trade agreements none of them have worked for American workers and also we have seen Congress that has been very stubborn when it comes to raising the minimum wage which is part of the equation of pulling people out of poverty. How adamant should the president be when it comes to executive orders and using his executive powers to impact the economy? Your thoughts on that.

REP. JOHN GARAMENDI, (D) CALIFORNIA: Well, he can deal with the issue of the minimum wage for federal contractors, that`s good but that`s small. The real one is what you`ve already talked about and that`s the Trans- Pacific Partnership. That is the president`s deal. That is his trade negotiator, he is on that one. And if it goes away, it appears to be going. It is a screw job for the American workers. They`re going to be in deep, deep trouble just as we`ve seen these other trade agreements. Can`t go there. No fast track. And make sure if there`s going to be a trade agreement, we`re talking about fair trade not free trade here.

So we got a long way to go on that. But there`s another point here, Ed, that we need to deal with and that is business. Businesses every business whether you`re a big corporation or a small corporation needs one thing, and that`s customers. If customers don`t have an income and if they don`t have money, they`re not buying that corporations not going to do well, that business isn`t going to do well. Raise the minimum wage, give people a fair wage, give them an opportunity to be part of the consumers that.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

GARAMENDI: . every business needs. And finally, it`s women. Women are a major, major issue. They`re getting $0.77 compared to men. They are the family caregivers for their elderly and they`re also for their children. We need to focus on women because when women succeed, this country is going to succeed.

SCHULTZ: You know, you bring up a great point. Disposable income and confidence are the two things that I really think are major drivers of our economy. I mean, if people have disposable income and they`re confident they`re going to have their job and it`s not going to go somewhere else, they`re going to feel good about putting that money into the economy. And if disposable income is depressed and jobs are going overseas, how are we supposed to have any kind of real solid economic recovery?

Now with all of that, we need to point out. We`ve had 47 months of private sector job growth. The Republicans have been nowhere at the table.

Senator Brown, how pushy, should I say, should the president be? How direct? How pointed should he be to the American people on the State of the Union that the Republicans, the guys are going to be seating over there, have been nonstarters, no players when it comes to helping recover this economy? When do you turn the worm on the Republicans who start doing the pointing, almost like a "you lie moment?" I mean, I think the president really needs to get aggressive here and make the call here in this season -- this year. What do you think?

BROWN: Yeah, that`s exactly right. And I -- considering every initiative we`ve tried to do what Congressman Garamendi just said, He want to -- this businesses need customers. They need consumer demands, that demand, that means more money in people`s pockets. Every time we`ve tried to do that, Republicans have basically said no. They still subscribed to this very proven wrong theory that you want to do austerity, you want to cut, cut, cut, and you want to give tax rates for the rich.

One historical example, hundred years ago of this month, Henry Ford announced he would give -- he would pay every one of his workers.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

BROWN: The guys who sweep in the floor and the guys making cars $5 a day. The business community was livid but they found out what he had already figured out that is you out money in people`s pockets. They`re going to start to buy things and generate. He could have activity (ph) and create wealth in businesses pockets and in workers` pockets. And hat`s why the minimum wage is so important. And that`s why extending unemployment insurance is so important. Not just for the families that are struggling that are looking for jobs, but for the economy. You know, economist say.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

BROWN: . extending the unemployment insurance will create 200,000 jobs of the three months. Why wouldn`t we do that, but that`s not in the trickle down theory of Republicans. And the president needs to call them out on Tuesday night.

SCHULTZ: He does need to call them out on that, because what you`re talking about Henry Ford was investing in workers. What corporate America now is investing in emerging markets which is somebody on the other side of the globe who`s willing to work for damn mere nothing, you know, and that`s really when it comes down.

Finally, Congressman Garamendi, if you had one piece of advice for the president going into the State of the Union, what would it be?

GARAMENDI: As you said, call them out. It was two years ago that the president put forward a solid jobs plan. It had all of it. He had the tax reform you talked about, have infrastructure, have education, have reeducation of the workers. All of that was in that proposal two years ago. He needs to point directly to the Republican members of the House of Representatives and said you have done nothing. You have done nothing.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

GARAMENDI: Absolutely nothing to create jobs. In fact, you`ve taken steps to harm the growth of this economy. And so, that`s what he needs to do. And frankly, the rest of us need to follow along in that same suit, making it clear that the Democratic agenda is pro-growth, that we want the jobs. And we`re pro-women, that we want women to have a shot. We want them to be able to have the daycare for their children.

SCHULTZ: Yeah.

GARAMENDI: And so, thank you very much for breaking these issues.

BROWN: Thanks.

SCHULTZ: You bet. Congressman John Garamendi.

GARAMENDI: Thank you Ed.

SCHULTZ: .Senator Sherrod Brown, great to have you with us tonight. I appreciate your time. Thank you so much.

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