>>
to see you.
>>
matt, good to be back with you.
>>
we'll talk about
rahm emanuel
in a second. let's talk about
health care
. it appears the democrats will have to go it alone in the senate, what we call reconciliation, what the republicans are calling the nuclear option. republicans are saying if this happens, they will bludgeon the democrats with this issue in the
midterm elections
.
mitch mcconnell
saying it will come up in every race across the country. is this really the best strategy?
>>
yes, it is, matt. i look forward to the republicans fighting against a
health care reform
that helps seniors with
prescription drug
costs, enables parents to keep their kids on their
insurance policies
until they're 27, helps
small businesses
with
tax credits
to buy insurance and curbs insurance abuses. if they want to run a campaign on bring back the day of kicking people off for pre-existing conditions, i relish it. the
american people
are entitled to an up-or-down vote and that's what they're going to get.
>>
it's a little more ironic than that, governor, because the republicans used reconciliation a couple of times during the
bush administration
to pass
tax cuts
, so how are they going to go around in the
midterm elections
and say this was an undemocratic procedure?
>>
right. matt, the reconciliation is every bit as much a rule of the senate as the filibuster is, and as you point out, it has been used numerous times over the last two decades for major legislation, for
health care
legislation, for
tax cuts
that are much bigger than the financial impact of this bill. so, these guys, they like it when they like it, but now they're complaining about
majority rule
. the
american people
understand
majority rule
and we're going to have an up-or-down vote on this bill.
>>
let's talk about
rahm emanuel
. this "
washington post
" article has angered some senior
white house
officials who think, perhaps, that
rahm emanuel
is behind the article, saying that the president should be listening to him more often. you know the key players here. is
rahm emanuel
a happy camper or are there some bruised egos in the
white house
?
>>
well, look, it is a hard-working and incredibly intense bunch and they're all opinionated, but
rahm
's a happy camper and
rahm
knows how to get the president to listen to him. the president respects him very, very deeply, and they hash issues out and then when the president makes a call, as i heard said earlier,
rahm
has no difficulty understanding who's the commander in chief. but look, in an opinionated and intelligent bunch like the
white house
, there's going to be different views. we're all pulling the oar the same direction to get the economy back on track and get
health care
to happen.
>>
right. governor, i've got two yes or no answers for you.
>>
okay.
>>
i'll give you two questions. i need yes or no answers. one, should
charlie rangel
give up his leadership role in the
house ways and means committee
?
>>
you're going to give me the second one or --
>>
no, go ahead. take that one first.
>>
on that one, i'm going to leave it to him.
>>
that's not a yes or no.
>>
i know it but look, i'm not a potted plant. he is apparently going to make an announcement fairly quickly. it does need to be resolved after the ethics report and i think you'll hear something soon.
>>
and
david paterson
, the
governor of new york
. should he resign? is he damaging the
democratic party
by sticking around?
>>
i respect his decision not to run for re-election and i think once that decision is made, the issue about a resignation over the course of the next few months is not that critical. i think, you know, if he wants to stick at it to try to help new york work through those challenging budget circumstances, that's fine. i do respect the decision not to run next year.
>>
it's like trying to get a yes or no answer out of meredith, governor, but that's all right. governor
tim kaine
, thanks very much for your time this morning.
>>
you bet, matt. thanks.
>>
all right. 16 after the hour. here is meredith.
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