>>> with about 11 months until 2014, congressional -- until the 2014 congressional elections, democrats have seen their post shutdown advantage evaporate. the latest polling shows a swing in republicans favor, sure to make democrats nervous. president obama has signaled hes not about to give up fighting for his latest signature achievement. >> we should not live in a country where people are going bankrupt just because they get sick. and anybody who is going to keep on pushing against that, they will meet my resistance, because i am willing to fix any problems there are, but im not going to abandon people to make sure theyve got health insurance this country. thats not something were going to do. >> joining us, democratic congressman, charlie rangel in new york, im always happy to be in the company. >> its a joy to be with you, joy. >> thank you, sir. the issue showing a lot of fight on the issue of health care reform. in 2010, when democrats seemed to run away from health care reform, do you expect your party to run toward it, 2014, despite the problems? >> i think the answer to health care, how many people really need health insurance that are not even talked about. and thats the 40 million, 50 million people. we need young people that dont consider it urgent. i dont care whether theyre in the republican districts, tea party districts, rich districts. people dont understand health insurance until they get sick. >> right. >> but the more and more we start talking about it and people get enrolled and find out its not a nightmare, but a safety vehicle, the president knows what hes doing. its a lot of bumps, far more than i wish we had. but at the end of the day, you can go to a town hall meeting and knock the program. but when most of the people there are enjoying health benefits and they had preconditions or too old and couldnt get health insurance, its not going to be a democrat-republican issue. its the right thing. >> do you get a sense your republican colleagues understand that, do they understand that once people have the coverage, all bets are off. its going to be impossible to tell their own constituents in some cases, you cant keep this. >> you know, i remember years ago, there used to be a part of the liberal democrats, and they said that november didnt count, because they were the new democrats. and they would agitate, but at the end of the day, in november, we were on the wrong side of the issues. whats happening with the so-called republican party is that they want to be in charge of the congress. but the people that they have made a contract with, they dont care about themselves politically. they dont care about the republican party. they dont care about the congress. and to my amazement, when the debt ceiling issue came up, they dont care about the country. the answer is that when wall street really gets upset, as they did when the government closed, they knew how to call boehner and say all bets are off. and what does he do? nothing courageous, except say republicans vote the way you want, and let the tea party do what they want. and so as far as what happens in november, both parties are such low in terms of national favor, it doesnt take much of anything for someone to say, well, at least theyre not as bad as that one. >> what youre talking about there is leverage. it seems thats whats been absent when it comes to the republican leadership. is the leverage of the business community. until, as you said, the last minute. you said they dont seem to care about the country. what do you think is driving, and what do the leaders of the opposition party-- what is it they care about? >> the leaders of the opposition party-- who do you think they are? i really dont think they have -- and i dont say this in an as parjing way. but john boehner could not be considered. a ted cruz is not a leader. quite frankly, they are so fractured, that even if they got rid of boehner, there has been nobody that they could select. they are -- they are divided. and so the real people that should be able to direct this is the people that finance them. and there is no question that the goose that lace the golden egg for 1% of americas wealth are not going to see this countrys fiscal capability go down the drain. >> yeah. i want to switch topics a little bit. you have talked about executive authority. and this week on monday, there was a heckler that actually heckled president obama, and demanded that he use his executive powers in a certain way for immigration. >> lets listen. >> thats why were here. >> mr. president, please use your executive order to halt deportations for 11.5 immigrants in this country right now. do you agree that we need to pass -- the president did explain to that heckler the president does not have the authority to use an executive order to halt all deportation or halt immigration laws that are the law of the land. you have said the president should be more forthright in using executive power. is there something, in your understanding, the president could do on immigration without the congress? >> i dont want this to be considered critical of the president. but executive power is wide and broad, and to a large extent, the affordable care act is being enforced and going on through executive order. when my committee, when i passed out so much of the affordable care act, a lot of it was actually unwritten. and so when republicans and democrats complained that i didnt know what was in it, its because we did not know what fixes were necessary and we left it up to the president. so everyone is surprised hes doing it, but its in the law. and in the immigration law, whatever is good for the united states of america-- deportation of people is not the law. the same way you heard the attorney general say that were not going to emphasize people that have committed nonviolent crimes that can be rehabilitated and put them in jail for five or ten years and spend all their money. hey, it didnt take congress to say it. i have a former prosecutor, but even in the city of new york, i dont remember the last time anyone was ever arrested for smoking marijuana. they didnt change the law. but thats it. so we have more deportees in this administration than all added up together. im not saying the president shouldnt enforce the law. but how does it help us in terms of national security to have all of these lives, especially people who invested their time and effort to make this a greater country, and they woke up in the morning and say, oh, my god, my kids are in school, and they are taking me down to be deported. >> right. >> so, yes. and as a matter of fact, i think theres other areas that the president could use his executive order. and when youre right and moral, let the republicans say it shouldnt happen. >> let them challenge it. sage advice from a very wise man. thank you so much, congressman charlie rangel, have a happy thanksgiving. >> and the best to you, joy.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 02:55:08 +0000
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