Clyburn: Bain Capital’s work involves ‘raping companies’

>> state down, still above the national average. there continue to be signs that the national economy is improving. but i want to start with you exactly where i left off with steve. if voters ultimately decide, especially in some of these swing states like pennsylvania and ohio, if they decide that mitt romney is better suited to handle the economy, can the president still win in november?

>> well, thank you for having me, once again. it all depends, craig, on what that number is. the fact of the matter is, if you look at this as to where people are today and where they were four years ago, you might get one feeling. but ask them, are they better off today than they were two years ago, 2 1/2 years ago. the president has created 2.5 million jobs in the last two years. compare that with the job losses under the bush administration . so what we have to do is get people to compare apples to apples rather than apples to oranges . and when you do that, i think the president is in a very, very good place.

>> we have been talking about this cory booker controversy for a couple of days now. i want to ask you in a larger sense, not so much about the micro issue but the macro issue. can you support a president but have a different point of view on a major issue, like bain capital , in this instance?

>> well, i'm not too sure how major this difference is. i will say this, however, back during the republican primary , i think you were in south carolina at the time. in fact, we talked.

>> yeah.

>> you may recall, i said back then, when i look at what bain capital did in south carolina when they collapsed that plant up there, they merged two companies, they then took all the money out of the companies, leveraged it, then closed it and they walked away with millions of dollars in profits. they did the same thing at georgetown steel --

>> congressman, what about the counterargument today that these attacks on bain capital -- many see them as an attack on free enterprise as well.

>> this is not an attack on free enterprise . i want say to you, i don't take contributions from payday lenders. i refuse to do that. that's free enterprise . but there's something about that enterprise that i have a problem with. and there's something about raping companies and leaving them in debt and setting up swiss bank accounts and corporate businesses in the grand caymans. i have a serious problem with that. i think it is -- not just fair to do it. i think it's fundamental to the campaign to run this kind -- this is this man's resume. this is what he's holding out to the american people . i would like to ask my friends, what are we supposed to be comparing president obama to if we don't compare it to the record that this man has with bain capital ? he doesn't talk about his massachusetts governorship.

>> i wanted to move on to something else i came across this morning. you've been a part of the democratic leadership for a very long time. democratic leadership complaining that they have not spoken to the president in months. senator jeff bingaman saying the president, quote, is not as engaged since the campaign has started. have you found the same problem?

>> no, i have not. i spoke with the president by phone several days ago. i have not visited with him in the last several months. but i've been busy and he's been busy. but we have talked by phone. and i do believe that the president is engaged. i've watched what he's doing. i'm talking to his staff all the time. he's got people up on the hill all the time. i think that a lot of times people feel -- i find it in my own office, they feel if they aren't talking to me, then it's not doing them any good.

>> people's feelings get hurt pretty easily on the hill, huh?

>> yes. i have staff because i can't do it all myself.

>> voter id laws, the legislation that was introduced last week by you and your democratic counterparts down there. at least 14 states have passed or are about to pass new voting restrictions since the start of 2011 . house democrats have introduced a bill to make voting easier. is this bill your party's response to counteract the voter id laws in some states.

>> yes, it is. we believe what we see now is a hodgepod hodgepodge, you mentioned 14 states -- i think up to 30 states have introduced some form or another. we cannot have voting on a state-by-state approach. states rights -- you saw what it got us in the last century. i believe that we have to be very, very careful in dealing with fundamental rights like voting. that's why we want to nationalize voter registration and voter participation because we cannot afford to go back to a state-by-state approach to voting, which is the reason my parents were not allowed to register in south carolina when both of them were college educated.

>> thank you so much, congressman. yes or no, really quickly. we were quite familiar with the makeup of the united states house of representatives . realistic chance at all that this even gets out of committee?

>> oh, no. no way.

>> okay.

>> that's not the purpose. the purpose is for people to know that we are fighting to keep the franchise and we are going to fight this campaign on it.

>> thank you so much, congressman clyburn. always a pleasure. be well, sir.