"Face the Nation" on Feb. 19, 2023
Interview
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Well, I think the American Rescue Plan was, in fact, one of the most significant pieces of legislation for the working class in this country in the modern history of America.
Build Back Bitter -- Better would have been transformational. It would have finally addressed the crises that the working class of this country has faced for decades, revolutionized childcare, revolutionized health care, dealt boldly with climate change, raised wages. I mean, it would have done a whole lot.
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We got zero Republican support, and two Democrats decided not to support it.
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I think he is a much more progressive president than he was a United States senator.
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Right.
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No.
I mean, look, this is the real world that we live in is that you need 60 votes often in the Senate. And the truth is that, today, over 60 percent of our people are living paycheck to paycheck.
So the question that I am asking is why, in the richest country in the history of the world, why aren't -- why don't we have a health care system that works for all? Why do we pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs? So, we have seen some achievements, but given the scope of the problems and where we should be going, nowhere near enough.
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No.
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They were created by -- sure.
Of course, the drug companies produce great drugs. But one out of four people in America cannot afford the price -- the drugs that their doctors prescribe. So, of course, we want the drug companies to do the research and development. And, by the way, taxpayers of this country spent $45 billion a year through the NIH to help with that research and development...
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including Moderna and the vaccine.
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Correct
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Right.
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Well, here's the...
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Well, here's the story.
Taxpayers -- the NIH co-authored, worked together to create the vaccine.
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Taxpayers put billions of dollars into the development of the vaccine, guaranteed sales for the vaccine.
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Yes, all right.
And then what happens? After the government stockpile of the vaccine expires, these guys say, well, we're going to quadruple the price of the vaccine. And, by the way, in the last two years, the CEO made $5 billion, and its other guys made billions of dollars. Is that really what should be happening?
Truth is, pharmaceutical industry is enormously greedy, charging us outrageously, uncontrollably high prices. We've got to deal with that. And as chairman of the relevant committee, I intend to do what I can.
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And you know, Margaret, amazing coincidence. That happened the same exact day we announced that we were inviting them to testify.
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Well, maybe it was just a wild and crazy coincidence. I don't know.
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But we also want to take a look at what that patient program is about. We're talking to them about that.
But, obviously, it's a step in the right direction.
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I think we have the basis for bipartisan work to tell the pharmaceutical industry that they really have got to stop ripping off the American people.
A number of ways you could do it. The Inflation Reduction Act started by having Medicare negotiate prices with the pharmaceutical industry. It doesn't kick in for a few years.
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I think we should expedite that.
Number two, of all people, my good friend Donald Trump, all right, who I disagree with on everything, had the idea that maybe Medicare should not pay prices higher than the average of what countries around the rest of the world are paying. That's a good idea. And we want to pursue that as well.
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We wish Senator -- Senator -- Senator Fetterman has gone through a hell of a year, with his stroke in the middle of a campaign and dealing with other issues. So I can't answer that.
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I can't speak for other people.
I think there's a general consensus right now that President Biden has done, not everything we would like. He has done a good job. If he runs, announces that he is going to run, I will support him.
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Sure.
There are some great people who are working night and day to protect working-class people.
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Well, I will let you discover that.
What I am extremely proud of is that there are more really strong young progressives, often people of color, in the House now than probably in any time certainly in my lifetime, great people.
If you ask me what my -- I'm most proud of, is that so many young people -- we won the young vote overwhelmingly, and I think young people are saying, we don't want to tinker around the edges anymore, not on climate change, not on racial issues, not on economic issues. We want transformational change.
And if my campaigns played a role in changing that consciousness, I'm very proud of that.
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What does she mean? I don't understand what she...
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Yes. No. No, I think that's absurd. You know, there's a level...
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Yes.
We are fighting racism. We're fighting sexism. We're fighting homophobia. I think we should also be fighting ageism. Trust people, look at people, and say, this person is competent, this person is not competent. There are a lot of 40-year-olds out there who ain't particularly competent.
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Older people -- you look at the individual. I don't think you make a blanket statement.
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Look at what they do, what they believe in. What are they fighting for?
What does Donald Trump stand for? Do you believe in that? Well, I certainly don't. What does Joe Biden stand for? What is he doing? Has he accomplished -- look at -- look at him in that way, not on age.
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I do.
I am very worried about what Netanyahu is doing and some of his allies in government and what may happen to the Palestinian people. The United States gives billions of dollars in aid to Israel.
And I think we've got to put some strings attached to that and say you cannot run a racist government. You cannot turn your back on a two-state solution. You cannot demean the Palestinian people there. You just can't do it and then come to America and ask for money.
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No.
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Well, I am not careful about it. I'm embarrassed that -- that, in Israel, you have a government of that nature right now.
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We may well, yes.
If a government is acting in a racist way, and they want billions of dollars from the taxpayers of the United States, I think you say, sorry, but it's not acceptable. You want our money? Fine. This is what you got to do to get it.
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Against progressives.
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The way I look at AIPAC now, in terms of their political activities, this is not even just a pro-Israel group. This is a corporate PAC, sometimes getting money from Republicans, sometimes supporting extreme right-wing Republicans.
So, what really upset me very much is that, in many of these primaries, we had great candidates, young people, often people of color, and yet AIPAC and other super PACs spending millions of dollars trying to defeat them.
And, as you may know, I try to get the Democratic Party to pass a resolution that, in Democratic primaries, super PAC money should not be allowed to be used.
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Yes.
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Well, theoretically, but I don't think we're doing enough.
Look, this is a huge issue. There is a revolution taking place now with artificial intelligence and robotics, OK? Millions of workers are going to lose their jobs. Who's making those decisions, Margaret? You hear it debated in Congress? I don't.
If there is a technology that can do -- increase worker productivity, who benefits from that? Just the guy who owns the company, or does the worker benefit? So, if we can reduce the workweek, is that a bad thing? It's a good thing. But I don't want to see the people on top simply be the only beneficiaries of this revolution in technology.
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That's one way to do it. Yes, absolutely.
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He's...
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I have talked to Bill on a number of occasions, yes.
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But it's not just taxing the robots.
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It's this whole question of an economic transformation.
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Are working-class people going to benefit from that or just the billionaire class?
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I'm just getting warmed up, Margaret, having fun.
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No, I'm not. I -- first of all -- first of all, those decisions are made totally by the publisher and the bookseller.
I think there's one case where, in one place here in Washington, Politics and Prose, an independent bookstore, charging some tickets. Most of them, I think, are $40, $50. And you get a book as well. So, if you want to come, you're going to have to pay 40 bucks. I will throw in the book for free.
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And we're doing a number of free events, but I don't make a nickel out of these things at all.
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No, not particularly. But that's -- again, I have nothing to do with that.
That is -- if you wrote a book, it would probably be the same process.
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I do.
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I write a book, a major publisher, et cetera, et cetera.
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I hope I wasn't too hard on you.
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Thank you.
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