Republicans playing ‘games’ with sequestration

>> so let me bring in senator bernie sanders , independent from vermont. good to see you, senator. good morning.

>> good to be with you.

>> what do you make of this new development? do you think it could lead to some sort of breakthrough?

>> i certainly hope so. i think there is nobody who believes the sequestration makes a lot of sense. the fact is that if we went forward in this way, the economy would contract. we'd lose about 700,000 jobs at a time when we're in the midst of a severe recession. we'd cut programs a lot of working families and low income people need. i would hope that people get their act together and that we don't go over this cliff.

>> well, our new poll finds that more than half of americans think that these automatic spending cuts are a bad idea. only 21% think they're a good idea. the poll also finds that negotiations make 51% feel less confident about the economy. we've seen some wild swings on wall street these past few days. besides the things that may be immediate, for example we see people losing jobs, how worried are you about how nervous it makes the average consumer or the titans on wall street ?

>> look. it speaks to dysfunctionality in washington. i think that loses a confidence on the part of millions of people. and the sad part here, chris, is the american people are pretty strong on what they believe. it is not only opposition to sequestration. they understand that working families throughout this country are really hurting, that many large corporations one out of four doesn't pay a nickel in taxes. we're losing a hundred billion dollars a year through tax havens in the cayman islands and elsewhere, where corporations stash their money. the american people are not divided on the issue. they don't want to see cuts in social security , medicare, education, and other important programs. they do want to ask the wealthy and large corporations to stop paying their fair share . it's unfortunate that congress is not listening.

>> i'm guessing you're hearing anecdotally what i hear. people ask me all the time why are these people not sitting down and talking to each other to get this thing done? senator pat toomey talked about the lack of negotiatinnegotiating. let me play it for you.

>> i would go to camp david or anywhere else if the president wants to meet and try to work this out. i'd be happy to do it. i spent a lot of time trying to get a solution on the super committee and i'm trying to make progress now. what i wouldn't agree to is just kicking this can down the road yet again.

>> we know that the president now is going to meet with the leadership. do you sense on capitol hill , senator, that there is more of a sense of urgency now that the clock is ticking down?

>> well, of course there is. but what senator toomey has to answer is, is he prepared to ask the wealthiest people , large corporations, to contribute more revenue? as you may know, that in terms of corporate profits right now the taxes that corporations pay is the lowest we've seen since 1972 . you can have all the talk you want but if the question is, well, we'll cut social security , medicare, medicaid, you make the decision, but we're not going to ask the wealthy or large corporations to contribute more you can talk till the cows come home . it doesn't make a lot of sense. revenue today at 15.8% is the lowest it has been in 6 o years. i would hope senator toomey would be talking about more revenue. then we can begin to get someplace.

>> as you know most republicans are not talking about more revenue. let me ask you about this draft bill being circulated by senate republicans. they want to cancel the $85 billion in budget cuts and turn the authority over to the president to let him make the cuts. what's going on there?

>> obviously everybody knows what is going on there. it's a game. the president himself becomes the bad guy . he owns the sequestration and is the guy blamed for cutting defense or head start . here is the issue. the issue is, when we have enormous income and wealth and ewalt, wealthy doing phenomenally well, middle class shrinking, who is going to help us in deficit reduction? do you really want to cut head start ? do you want to cut food inspection? do you want to cut education and health care ? or should billionaires start paying their fair share of taxes? chris, that is the $64 question . the american people are on our side. republicans in this case are representing the very wealthy against the trust of the american people .

>> senator bernie sanders , always good to see you. thanks so much.

>> thank you.