Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Let's stick with Venezuela for a moment, though, knowing that this boat has been seized. And look, we've got another six tankers that have been sanctioned. So we could soon have our own shadow fleet, it sounds like. The president talked about this yesterday at the White House. Listen.
It's about a lot of things, but one of the things it's about is the fact that they've allowed millions of people to come into our country from their prisons, from gangs, from drug dealers, and from mental institutions, probably proportionately more than anybody else. So it has to do with a lot of things. They've treated us badly, and I guess now we're not treating them so good.
That's where we start our conversation, with a gentleman from Massachusetts who has authored a War Powers Act that could soon hit the floor. Unless, of course, the Speaker doesn't want to see that happen. This is a conversation that Democrats and Republicans are having here in Washington.
Jim McGovern, Democrat from Massachusetts, ranking member on the House Rules Committee, with us in studio right now. It's really great to see you. Happy to be with you. Thanks for coming in, Congressman. My pleasure. You've introduced this War Powers Resolution some time ago. Will it hit the floor soon? Yeah, I expect to force a vote on it next week.
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Chapter 2: What are the current tensions between the US and Venezuela?
It would be specific to Venezuela because that's the conflict we seem to be getting sucked into. Although the clip you just showed of the president, he went on to further threaten Colombia, where he might do further action. But look, wars are easy to get into, they're hard as hell to get out of.
And we have a history of talking tough, of getting sucked into these wars that cost billions and billions of dollars, and then we find ourselves in a quagmire that we can't get out of. I know for a fact that you understand the politics of the Caribbean better than most on Capitol Hill. You helped to begin normalizing relations with Cuba in the Obama administration.
You've spent a lot of time in the region. So what do you think the president's aim is here? Is it regime change or something else? Yeah, I think it's oil, quite frankly. I think this president is not about promoting human rights. He doesn't give a damn about democracy. And this is not about drugs.
I mean, he pardoned the former president of Honduras, who's one of the biggest narco traffickers in the world. Hundreds of tons of cocaine. Yeah, so I think, I mean, there must be some financial interest in pursuing this policy for the president, because that's all he really cares about, making money for his family and money for those who are close to him.
Look, our history in Latin America has been one of arrogance, has been one of putting profits ahead of human rights. And by the way, this administration doesn't give a damn about human rights. They just issued their national security strategy. And this is the first administration. that has removed the word human rights from the strategy.
So this is about Donald Trump's ego, and it's about, I think, oil. I think that's, at the end of the day, I think that's... Is that why we're seasoned tankers? You know, again, it would be nice if we had a functioning Congress that would call... his administration up and ask these questions like, why are we doing this? Why now? Again, this is not about drugs.
More drugs are coming from Mexico and China than from Venezuela. So what is the strategy here? And the president's threatening action on the ground in Venezuela. That's war. He's threatening to cut off air traffic. He says we're going to do the land. Do you think that he would actually strike brown targets in Venezuela? Well, if he does, that's an act of war. That's an act of war.
Is blowing up drug boats not an act of war? Well, I think it is. Some of my colleagues are debating that issue. But we're not only blowing up drug boats, it appears that we are guilty of serious human rights crimes by actually bombing survivors who are begging for help. Again, Congress ought to be demanding a clearly defined mission in terms of what he is doing in Venezuela.
And up to this point, there have been very few questions, and he's provided very few answers. You said something interesting, a functioning Congress. Let's back off what we're talking about here for a minute. We are in a world now where it does seem that discharge petitions And reconciliation bills are the only way to get anything done in the Congress. Do you feel that way?
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Chapter 3: What is the significance of the War Powers Resolution introduced by Congressman McGovern?
We're talking about stupid stuff, stuff that is... probably not even going to be considered by the Senate, that is going nowhere. I mean, again, a functioning Congress means that we do the work of the American people. And I'd like to think, no matter what your politics may be, making sure that we are addressing issues of affordability, which includes the cost of health care, are front and center.
I mean, if the Republicans have a plan, then bring the plan to us. Let's debate it and vote on it. They've got nothing. Well, let's talk about health care, because Republicans put up a bill in the Senate yesterday. It failed. Then the Democratic plan failed. The Democratic plan, of course, would extend Obamacare subsidies.
The Republican plan produced by Bill Cassidy would have health savings accounts. Congressman, I spoke with Nicole Malia-Takis yesterday, who has signed on to a bipartisan effort in the House, D's and R's, that would extend the subsidies, would add some eligibility benefits. controls as well, because someone like Nicole Malliotakis is not a fan of the Affordable Care Act, as she told us yesterday.
Let's listen.
There's so much fraud here, which is why we think we have the proper balance. And this gives us enough time, by the way, to then work over the next year or two to be able to come up with something that can truly replace the Affordable Care Act and bring costs down.
Now, what the Speaker and leadership are saying is that we're going to take up a health savings account measure, which will help people, certainly with their medical costs, and I support that initiative, but it doesn't go far enough.
Okay, but this is unlikely to see the floor unless the discharge petition makes that happen. And even if we do the discharge petition route, we won't be able to get to it until probably in early January. Sure. My question to Representative Maliotakis is, like, where the hell have you been? I mean, you're a Republican. Your party's in charge. We've been talking about this issue for months. Mm-hmm.
This is not something- Since before the shutdown. Right, since before the shutdown. Well before, we've been talking about it during reconciliation, right? So we go back months and months and months. And we've been saying we've got to focus on this. And all we've been hearing from Republicans is like, oh yeah, we'll get to it, we'll get to it. And now we're out of time.
People are going to lose their health insurance. Healthcare ought to be considered a fundamental human right for everybody in this country. I mean, you need healthcare.
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Chapter 4: How is the War Powers Resolution a bipartisan effort?
If you don't have healthcare, you end up in an emergency room. Right. I mean, this is crazy. So look, there are a number of discharge petitions that have been introduced with various approaches to helping people afford their health insurance. I mean, let's figure out what the best one is and let's move on it. But the stalling and the excuses and the finger-pointing, it has to end.
We want to debate this issue. We want to vote on this issue. We want to help the millions of people in this country who are about to get screwed. What's the conversation today? In Worcester, Massachusetts right now, if you stop in Kelly Square and ask somebody about their health insurance, are they seeing these increases in dropping off the rolls?
Or are they saying, I can't afford it anyway, so to your point, I'm gonna go to the emergency room when I get a call. So I mean, we're hearing some really terrible stories of people basically saying, I can't afford my health insurance. Our office is getting inundated with calls. Look, people in Worcester just want us to do our job. And they get it.
There are differences between Democrats and Republicans. But at the end of the day, they want us to get something done. You don't have to agree on everything to agree on something. But whatever that something is, it has to be about improving the quality of life for the people who live in Worcester and all around the country.
And the problem with some of what the Senate did on the Republican side is the stuff that they're proposing You know, it doesn't mean anything in anybody's life. I mean, you know, saying I'm fixing healthcare, but in reality not fixing healthcare, not making it more affordable, well, that doesn't help anybody, right?
You know, we ought to have a larger discussion on how we fix our entire healthcare system, because it's a mess. It's too for-profit oriented. But we're not going to do that in a week or two, right? Right now, we need to extend these tax credits so that millions of people don't see their premium skyrocket and millions don't lose their health insurance. We've only got about a minute left here.
A terminal user just wrote us while we're talking. Ask the congressman why the ACA failed that they designed. Maybe I can reframe that a bit. A lot of Republicans come on the air and they say this thing was never affordable. Obamacare itself has raised premiums. Is this plan broken? No, look, I think it's not perfect. Yeah. But it is better than the alternative, which is no ACA, right?
I mean, the bottom line is millions and millions of people have now have coverage because of the Affordable Care Act. You know, if we extended the tax credits, it's affordable. But as I said, we need to have a bigger conversation. Look, if it was up to me, we would have a Medicare for All system.
When I was the chairman of the Rules Committee, we were the first committee, neither the House or Senate, to do a hearing on Medicare for All. And I'll tell you, it was a very, very powerful hearing. But, you know, to fix health care holistically, you know, it's going to take some time. In the meantime, let's extend those tax credits. Let's help people afford their health insurance.
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Chapter 5: What are Congressman McGovern's views on the president's motives regarding Venezuela?
Onions or no? With onions. With onions. It's the only way to do it. Best hot dogs in the world. They really are, too. I'm Joe Matthew in Washington. Congressman Jim McGovern of Massachusetts. This is Bloomberg.
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