MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript:
Interview
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Joining me tonight is Senator Barbara Boxer of California, Senator, good to have you with us tonight.
What can be done, Senator? What can be done to turn this tide?
SEN. BARBARA BOXER, (D) CALIFORNIA: When I listen to you where you lay out the facts whether they`re Republicans, Democrats, or independents if they cherish the right to vote, if they believe that the right to vote is what`s fundamental to our democracy they should vote Democratic. Ed, there are seven horrible laws on the books, very bad voter suppression, voter I.D., the worst kind. And you focused on Texas, there are others, every one of those, every single one of those signed by a Republican Governor.
This is one of the biggest issues of this election of our time. And, you know, I hate the fact that people say, "Well this is an off year election, it isn`t presidential." Everything is at stake including our democracy, the right to vote.
And the way we send a message real simple, we can talk about it more important is we vote, we all vote. Every one who cherishes that right to vote, get out there and defy the pundits who say, "Oh it`s just going to be terribly low turnout." We have the power to change it. And this issue, there are many issues on the line. We know that. The fair shot agenda, equal pay for equal work, minimum wage, reducing interest rates on college loans. All those are very important. But this one, the party that stands for the right to vote is the Democratic Party.
The party that is trying to suppress the vote, we saw Dr. Christie talk about that. We know it`s a fact, the Republican Party, it is so sad to say the party of Lincoln...
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
BOXER: ... has taken this approach. They can`t win on the issues so they`re trying to stop people from getting to the polls. By the way did you hear about that 93-year-old Veteran who tried to vote in Texas? Did you read about that?
SCHULTZ: I did.
BOXER: He went to the polls -- yes, he has his expired driver`s license because the God he`s 93, no good.
SCHULTZ: Well Senator...
BOXER: He lost his right to vote.
SCHULTZ: What can be...
BOXER: He lost his right to vote.
SCHULTZ: You have to have power in the legislative body to do something about this on a Federal level.
BOXER: Yes.
SCHULTZ: So obviously Tuesday is huge. Let`s say the legislative power swings to the Democrats. What happens?
BOXER: Well, there are several of us that have bills. I`m going to drop a new bill that combines two House bills, the Right to Vote Act which basically says, "OK states if you want voter I.D. they have to be offered free and on time. And if you are forcing someone to go buy their birth certificate you have to foot the bill. And if your law is so difficult that people can`t do it then they can go and they can vote."
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
BOXER: And they can sign an affidavit that they are who they are and they live where they say they live under penalty of law. And it`s a stiff fine, if any one lies -- $250,000 or five years in prison, or both. So we cannot -- we cannot sit back now Ed. We need to hold control of the United States Senate. And we have to hope we can gain control of the House for that, keep our loses to a minimum there. And it is up to us. It is up to us.
SCHULTZ: Senator, Harry Reid, the Democratic leader, Senate Majority Leader send an e-mail to the Progressive Change Campaign Committee`s 1 million members. And he said this, a Republicans House and Senate could go beyond shutting down the government. They could waste months...
BOXER: Yeah.
SCHULTZ: ... of our lives on impeachment. What`s response to that?
BOXER: No doubt.
SCHULTZ: Do you agree with that?
BOXER: Well I do. I`ve been saying it for a long time, because I`m -- I`ve been around for a while and I hear what is being said. And I know that this is on the agenda. There`s no doubt about it. No doubt about it.
And that ties right into the voter suppression, because if you keep Democrats home because you don`t want them to vote and they can`t get to vote, you had a better shot at controlling the Senate and they`re not going to care about raising the minimum wage.
SCHULTZ: Yeah
BOXER: They`re not going to care about lowering student loan rates. They`re not going to care about anything that matters to middle class.
SCHULTZ: Yeah,
BOXER: They`ll give the tax breaks to the millionaires and the billionaires. And then they`ll pass a national voter suppression law. And yes, they will look at impeachment. I believe that.
SCHULTZ: Senator...
BOXER: You know, you haven`t heard much from Boehner. He`s going to sue...
SCHULTZ: Yeah.
BOXER: ... the President. That`s just the start.
SCHULTZ: Senator Barbara Boxer of California, good to have you with us tonight. I appreciate your time on this issue. Thank you.
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