Medicare for all is a great slogan. Theyve hijacked the good name of medicare and applied it to a law that will cause upheaval in our Healthcare System. Something one of his partys biggest stars did not like. Delaney also advocates reaching across the aisle to find bipartisan solutions. Ive spent my whole life bringing people together. But in todays hyperpartisan battlefield, how does one even begin . What does john delaney say now . G fi line with Margaret Hoover is made possible by. Additional funding is providedby. Corporate funding is provide by. Congressman john delaney, welcome to firing line. Its great to be here you were a threeterm congressman from marylands 6th district andn entrepreneur before that. As a young, 33yearold man, you were the youngest c. E. O. Of a publicly traded firm on the new york stock exchange. And you Left Congress six months in to dold trumps presidency to run against him. Why so early . After President Trump was elected, i said to myself, i ntjust have to think diffe about everything. You were surprised. I yeaas surprised. And the best way for me to try to make a difference is to runr esident. But i also understood the challenges, which is i was not particularly wellknown as a threeterm member congress, and so my view was, i have to get in early and just work harder than everyone els which is kind of what ive well, as of november of 2018, you had been to every single onu of iowas 99ies, and that was many months ago. You have seven more months until iowa. I could do it again. And will you . Ill probably go to half of them again. So, thats your strategy, teght . This is how a thre member of congress from maryland, in your view, actually has a fighting shot at the democratic nomination is really showing up in iowa and exceing expectations in iowa . Yes. I mean, iowa and New Hampshire play a very unique role in president ial politics,. As we all kn what they really do is, they find people that the rest of the country may not be focusing on, because they have so many opportunities to meet them facetoface. If we had kind of a national primary, then, you know, the National Media wouldffectively be choosing our president. So, what is the numberone issue youreearing from iowa, New Hampshire primary and caucus voters . S beating trump is always the numberone issue. Mm. But if you talk about a specific issue, its healthcare. Okay. Ere gonna get to healthcare cause theres a lot to do with healthcare, but just in terms of biography, as people are getting to know yo right . Theres a field of 23plus candidates. Youre a businessman. I mean, this is one of the differentiating features between you and the field. Yes. But not betweeand the current president. Right. How are you and the current president different as businessmen . Well, when i look back at my businessareer, the kind of things i did was, i built businesses from scratch. You know, he had his basic his business empire,n many ways, handed to him by his dad. Right . I think his dad gave himl 400on. My dad was a union electrician. I was the first in my family to to college. My dad gave me a lot of values and taught me to work hard, but the didnt give me anythi start with. Hundreds of millions of dollars. No. I also think siness leaders have certain kind of characteristics in common real Business Leaders. They create jobs, they pay their bills, they innovate. I always paid my bills, i never filed for bankruptcy, my companies were voted the bt places to work in their communities. He did none of those things. Right . He filed for bankruptcy multiple times, he stiffed workers. Workers, in many ways, like my dad. You know, the electrician who needed to get paid. And you can do that to those people if you dont care about having a relationship. I view him as a business promoter. I think he was just hes a master marketer. Hes skilled in that, but its just not what real Business Leaders or real entrepreneurs do. In many ways, im the best person to go against him, because the economy is doingla well on a ve basis, if you look at just the traditional metrics. I think we need someone who can actual look out at the American People and say, whatever you like about this econy, im gonna keep it, an the things that are broken about the economy, im gonna fix. Youve written a book about unifying the united states. Its called the rigwer how we can unify our divided nation. Talk about the state of r bipartisanshht now in the country and how you actually think you can change it. If you look back across our history, all the great things weve ever done medicare, Social Security, sending someone to the moon whatever the case may be all of those things happened when consensus was built around the idea. In other words, 60 , 70 80 of the American People got behind the idea, and then you hadis bipa legislation to get it done. So, the real goal is to findid thoss where you can get common ground. But can you have ose ideas anymore yes. For example, one of the things ive pledged is, in my first 100 days as president , my administration will workn five or six big ideas. You know, in infrastructure or in healthcare big categors. Thats a lot for 100 days. But every one of them every single one of mysals will be based on an existing bipartisan bill in the coness. I wont even change a word of them. Not even a comma. c se i want to say to the American People, these ideas, your representatives democrats and republicans ve ound common ground. So, when you were in congress, how did that go for you . It went very we. Was ranked the third most bipartisan member of congress. But how many bills did you pass . You know, a lot of amendments, not so many bills. I was in the minority the whole time. Right. Which makes it much harder. Yes. And still none of them passed. Well, some of them passed. Not bills, though. So, how do y persuade people that you have a record of getting bipartisan bills accomplished or Bipartisan Legislation pushed through . Fir, i would point to my career before congress. On all the big issues, i havesa the only biparclimate bill. I had the biggest bipartisan infrastructure bill. I actually had the only bipartisan bill to extend the solvency of Social Security for 75 years. In a democratic primary, how on earth dcentrist get traction . Well, i think what the Democratic Party will soon realize is, this is how we get elected. And the most important thing is to beat trum you may be correct, and it may be true that somebody with your pedigree actually stands the best chance of being elected in a general election. What makes you believe that the democratic primary process, especially in a caucus process, is actually going to yield a more moderate democrat as opposed to a more progressive democrat . Because i think democrats, even caucusgoing democrats, are yearning for somhing different, Something Better theyre also yearning for medicare for all where there is no private insurance industry. Most democrats arent yearning for that. Like, for example, the polling on medicare for all thats right not most democrs but the progressive base of the party is. So how do you square that . cause i think, in e caucus and in the primary, the loudest reices in the room you know, what wearing now is kind of the caucus is the loudest voices in the room by definition. I just think most democrats are sensible. They want solutions. They really do. They may not be the loudest voes in the r is that based on any evidence, though, or is that based on your pragmatic idealism . Y, which, by the aspire to. Its based on the 2018 midterms. B sed on the fact that the 2018 midterms so strongly repudiated, in your view, Donald Trumps first two yearsre asdent, you believe that that will carry through and yield a more moderate voice in the Democratic Party to beat trump in 2020 . I think everyone knows how we took back the house of representatives in 2018. So that was an historic victory for the democrats. The house is gerrymandered, right . Its gerrymanded massively in favor of republicans. Most people gave democrats almost no chance of taking back the house in 2018. I just have to stop you there. Yeah, i dont know that its fair to say that the house is massively rigged in favor ofpu icans. Its certainly true that gerrymandering exists. In fact, i wanted to talk to yos about that, bethe Supreme Court just ruled on a gerrymandering case where they reviewed partisaredistricting, both in your state of maryland and in my district. Ci ply. Exactly. And in the state of wisconsin, where republicans have gerrymandered wisconsin and democrats have gerrymandered seryland to the extent that you actually won you because of it. And the Supreme Court ruled that they actually have no role in regulating partisan redistrictin yeah, i disagree with that outcome. But heres the thing. When i was elected in i was elected into a house that heavily favored republans. I mean, they had 20plus more seats than democrats. Yet on a popularvotbasis, democrats outvoted republicans just to show you howge ymandered it is. So, my point is, in 2018, most people thought the democrats had no chance against theic repus. Obviously, trumps you know, his performance changed that dynamic. We flipped 40 seats. Heres the question. It continues to be the case that the partisan primary process of ieminating a president polls to the more extreme and enthusiasms of the progressive base of the party. So i have sincere doubts that a centrist representative will emerge from that process. But back to gerrymandering iowa has never selected the most left candidate in recent memory. Hillary won iowa john kerry won iowa. Ac obama waally not the most progressive candidate in the race. You know, theyre very sensible people, folks in iowa, and they pay really deep attention to ese issues. And i think they get it. I just want to put a button on gerrymandering, though. What would you dabout gerrymandering . Independent commissions, simple. And national redistricting. Refo that is the solution. And do you think the gerrymandering in maryland lped you . Well, it took a district yes, it took a district that was heavily republican. Its still the only competitive district in the state of maryland. What it did is it yielded a more bipartisan nomination. Thats right. Okay. Are you a deficit hawk and a debt hawk . I would consider myself someone whos prudent on decits and debt. Some people want zero deficits. Thats stupid policy. D me people think deficits dont matter. Theres this modern monetary theory, whatever this nonsenseis theyre both wrong. R at we should have is longterm deficits of 2 of onomy. Well grow our economy 2 1 2 to 3 , and our ds will all be fine. Can you just go back to modern monetary theory . Yes. Mmt. Is youve said s stupid. This is actually a great example of where the progressive base of the party is incredibly enthusiastic because this is the economic theory that is gonna pay for all studentloan debt forgiveness, all free healthcare, and a green new al, because what it means is we can just print money because the dollar is the global currency, we can print as much money as we want. Yes, its basically like the look the laws of gravity and saying it doesnt apply anymore. T so you dont buy it. No, i dont buy of course not. Okay. Even though this but how he said that this economist counseled Bernie Sanders in his last campaign and has informed manyie of the of alexandria ocasiocortez, elizabeth warren, and the progressive base of your party. Which is why i dont think the two individuals you nameder senator warren or senator sanders, should be the nominee for president of the united states. E a bunch of peoe running on impossible promises, things they cant ever make happen. Or, in many cases, even if they were to, theyre bad policy. Lets go back to healthcare. This is an areyou know well because you were a businessman in this area, and youve taken l dramat different approach, again, than most of your peerra set in the demc party. Id like to show the audience one clip of you making the ce at the California Democratic convention about medicare for all. Lets take a look. But we need, as democrats, to build an enomy that works, but its got to be with smart policies. Medicare for all may sound good, but its actually not go policy nor is it good politics. [ audienceooing ] im telling you. [ booing continues ]re tas booing at the end of that clip. And well get to the policy of medicare for all, but the politics, you said the politics of medicare for all is bad politics. Why . Because embedded in medicare for all, its a singlepayer systemit anakes private insurance legal. Illegal. Illegal. Theres no reason we have to do that. Hi ifnew universalhealthcare plan we create like ive proposed in my bill, bettercare, is so great, then people will make a decision not to have privatinsurance and have the government plan instead. Okay. So whats so we dont have to do any of that. So i just think, when peoplere ize whats in this bill, we will lose the election to donald trump by 10 points. After that speeche California Democratic convention, alexandria ocasiocortezte tw there are so many people running for president. John delaney, thank you butha please saway. What do you say to that . My reaction to that was, i was disappointed at the level of intolerance that is in part of the party. For someone to say that you have no basis of running cause you dont support a specific policy proposal, i think, is the definition of intolerance. Is that good or bad for the Democratic Party . Its terrible. Its obviously terrible. He this should beattle of ideas. Is she bad for the party . I dont think shes bad for the party. Right . She brings a unique perspective and a lo energy, obviously, so in that way, shes great for the party. But i think we have to be a tolerant party. Atif you think about the gss of america, the exceptionalism of america, which i buy into, its about this battle of ideas. Yeah. Its about the free market great ideas. And in some ways, when you say, hey, you dont agree with my ideas, so get out of theace, youre rejecting all of that. Whats bettercare . Ar betteis universal healthcare. In other words, everyone gets basic healthcare as a right. So, we leave medicare alone, weo medicaid into that, so you dont have medicaid anymore. But you have the option of n taking your federal healthcare, getting a tax credit, using it to buy your own private insurance. Co yod say, you know, id rather have aetna. You can get a credit, a taxcr it from the government, you can basically say, i dont want my government healthcare. It would be disruptiv because youre reorganizing how its administered to them. I think it would be behind the scenes is how it wou be disruptive, right . Because i think employers could still offer thr Group Healthcare plan, right . They would lose the tax deductibility of that cause thats what pays for univers expansion. So that tax savings is passed on to the individual, and they use that tax credit to pay for. And thats how you create a universal system. And this is how you pay for it. Yes, thats right. Everything i propose i fully pay for. And then it travels with individuals from job to job, as opposed being provided only by that employer . Yes. So, lets say you showed yo at work here and you ha federal healthcare, you decide not to take it in any given year, you give the credit tolo your er, they use that credit to help pay for the insurance they give you privately. You then leave here and want to go start a business. You would immediately revert back to your basic federal healthcare. So its a much smarter system. We absolutely needniversal healthcare. We cant sit around and think the Healthcare System that we have now wor. It doesnt. Right . It works for some people, it doesnt wo for other people. Certainly, people slip through the cracks. Ill be the only president whos actually ever been in the healthcare business. I understand how this industry works, and i came up with a plan. H it doesne the disruption like medica medicare for all is upheaval. Right . It has minor disruption behind the scenes, yet it accomplishese universathcare, so everyone gets healthcare as a right, and it does things to prove quality and lower cost in the long term. I want to point you to a moment in the very first debate where you had a very different view about private insurance ant role in the whole healthcare ecosystem than all of the other opponents on the stage. Lets take a look. Im a defender of private insurance. 100 million americans saye they leir private health insurance, by the way. It should be noted that 100 million americans i mean, i think we should be the party that keeps whats working and fixes what broken. [ cheers and applause ] i mean, doesnt that make sensee i meanhould give everyone in this Country Healthcare as a basic human right for free, full stop. But we should also give them the option to buy private insurance. Why do we have to stand for taking away something from and also, its bad policy. If you go to every hospital in this coury and you ask them one question, which is, how would it have been for you last year if every one of your bills were paid at the medicare rate . Every single Hospital Administrator said they would close. Why does nobody else understand that . Because they dont care to. I mean, in many ways,s senator sandme up with medicare for all singlepayer mecare for all as part his agenda right . Which is rooted in his views socialism. All these other candidates senator warren and the rest of them theyve all outsourced their healthcare to him. ss unconscionable to me. Well, see, thhats very curious about it, though, because many of the other candidates who are running in the field that youre running in have signed on to Bernie Sanders bill. And so theyre for vadicare for all, which is the elimination of p insurance, and they stand up there, and when theyre asked, are you for eliminativate insurance . Only four of them over the coue of two nights and 20 candidates raised their hand yep. So, are they lying . Havent we had enough of that in politics . But are they lying . E i think that they dont care. They dont know fference. Theyll say to one audience what they want to hear you think they dont understand their positions . No, i think this is what they do. They want to tell people what they want to hear. They pander. Which is both. Depending on the audience. Kn yo, theyre happy to go in front of the people i mean, when i was speaking insc san fran i was following senator sanders. There was a lot of people in the audience who believe in his view of democratic socialism. So, when they were in front of those people, they want to sayed theyre onare for all. But then, when theyre in front of people maybe like yourself, who understand these policies a little more, they want to have it both ways. To me, thats not leadership. Do you think thats what Kamala Harris is doing . As cause shesally said both. I think a lot of them are doing it. If she said both, then shes doing it, to healthcare is the numberone issue facing the American People. And if youre nominee for president cant even be honest abt where they stand on healthcare and if they cant be principled and if they dont have a view as to how theyre gonna actually improve the most important thing for us to improve, domestically, in our country is healthcare for all kinds of reasons, then i think you have to question whether theyre actually suited to be the president of the united states. Heres another moment fromfi tht democratic debate that id like to get your reaction to. Lets take a look. Raise your hand if your government plan would provide coverage for undocumented immigrants. [ cheers and applae ] okay. I wasnt on the stage that night. But i wouldnt have raised my wnd, no. Ld your plan provide coverage for undocumented immigrants . It does not. C but when done junction with comprehensive immigration reform, which i plan on getting done, the undocumented immigrants in our country wouldl have permaneal status and a pathway to citizenship, then it would be they wod be covered. So, then what about the unauthorized immigrants that are in the country . Do they get covered . Right now, they have access to healthcare through the emergencyroom system of our country. Because Emergency Rooms are required by law to provide care to everyone, whether they can pay or not, which i full support. So, what i support is, i support taking the 11 million undocumented residents in our country, getting them out of the shadows, getting theon a path to citizenship, which is across 13 years, and giving themga permanent status, provided they dont break any laws, et cetera. Right . These are productive members of our community and our society, and once that passes, that legau status allow them to actually then be on the government healthcare that ive oposed. You have said very explicitly that you think the Green New Deal ia step backwards on Climate Change. Why is the Green New Deal a step backwards . Because i think if you put forth impossible goals, then people dont even try. Some would say thats aspirational, not impossible. O what the Green New Deal calls for is for us to g fossil fuels within 12 years. s thmpossible. Id love to get off fossil fuels in 12 years. Right . I think Climate Change is a huge risk to the world, to my kids, to everyones ki but we dont have enough Energy AlternativeEnergy Sources to replace fossil fuels. It is an impossible promise. Its not an aspirational goal. In 1991, william f. Buckley jr. Had on this program donald fowler, whos the former chair of the South CarolinaDemocratic Party. I know don fowler. Here is what don fowler had to say abo the party then. Lets take a look. Nominating process were distinctly more liberal than the general public. Isnt that exactly the challenge today . History doesnt repeat, but it does rhyme, doesnt it . Well, so, how does john delaney actually tackle that reality, right . Because here you aren a field with 23, 24 other candidates, the vast majority of which are vastly more progressive than you are. How do you get elected . Well, i think i follow n fowlers advice, by the way, whos still a great active democrat. As that991. Bill clinton came a year later, runn the type of candidate that don fowler was talking about. And thats, in many ways, the kind of candidate i am. Im running on issues that matter broadly to the American People. When im out campaigning, i talk acout fixing healthcare, i talk about lowering phatical prices, i talk about building infrastructure. What i say to wa caucusgoers is, you should nominate someone who you think can win iowa. Because barack obama won iowa by 10 pois. Donald trump won iowa by 9. Last election cycle, iowa flipped two house seats. Mmhmm. Gained four house seats, twot m they flipped. So, iowans understand much better than most democrats actually around the country what it takes to win in a general election. Weve only had four years of donald trump, but its kind of like dog years in the eyes of democrats. Right . It feels a lot longer than four years. Not just democrats. It feels a lot longer than four years. So, the focus on getting rid of trump, i bet, is greater than the focus on flipping the ite house to a democrat 1992, in my judgment, because of what we view trump is a reckless, as i say, normdestroying president. H long are you gonna selffund . Ne well, im also raising money. Youre raising too. Yeah. How long can you afford to keep going with eight offices in iowa well, through the early ates. Thats always been my plan. Listen, you have to do well, in the early states. F eah. U do well in the early states, then the money takes care of itself. And how much money are you willing to put in of your own . You know, thats a conversation that my wife and i, you know, have, but we dont talk publicly about. Doeit concern you that you havent caught wind . Omere have been no john delaney moneyballs that your way. I understand the path im takings the harder path. The easy path, for me, would be to run on a lot of these things thatake off on twitter getting rid of the electoral college, medicare foall, you know, eliminating ice. Im taking the hard i actually think the hard path is what the American People need. They actually need someone whos committed to trying to heal the divisions in this country, and i think thats what the American People intuitively, deep down, they know that, and e looking for some way out of this thing. And thats why im running. Or john delaney, thank you coming to firing line, thank you for sharing your views, and best of luck navigating the progressive primary system. Thank you, margaret. Or thank youeing here. Thank you. Firing line with Margaret Hoover is made possible by. Additional funding is provided by. Corporate funding is provided by. Youre watching pbs. [narrator] explore new worlds and new ideas through programs like this. Made available for everyone, through contributions to your pbs station, from viewers like you. Thank you. Thdeepak chopra what ipurpose for which we are here . Why do we want to know ourselves . Why do we want to know what happens after death . Narrator dr. Deepak chopra worldrenowned pioneer in Integrative Medicine and author of over 80 books, created the seven spiritual laws of success to help everyone gercome barriers to reachtheir. Deepak the seven spiritual laws of success, that can change how we experience the world us and alloith very little effort to fulfill our goals