What’s at stake for the midterms

Let Me Finish: Hardball’s Chris Matthews predicts what will happen if Republicans take over Congress

Read the transcript…

MATTHEWS: Let me finish tonight with the year’s number one political topic: are the Democrats going to get their butt kicked? A month or six weeks ago, it was hard to get a bet against it. They were going to lose the House, maybe even the Senate.

Well, today, October 4th, there’s some wiggle room on that prediction. Maybe it’s people starting to shake themselves awake. Democratic voters are starting to get focused. Saturday’s rally featuring my colleague, Ed Schultz, as one of the factors that may get those people thinking about the stakes.

People, the people who care about it—the politics of people who care about it can never be a spectator sport. Ultimately, you’re interested in it for what matters to you. It could be philosophical, it could be about your personal economic interest, it could be and ought to be about what kind of country you want to live in.

If the Republicans gain control of the House of Representatives—again—they will own economic policy. That’s a fact.

They will direct the tax cuts where they want them. In the past, that’s been very good news for people at the very top.
They will cut down on government regulation which has been very warmly received by people high up on Wall Street.
They will kill health care and anything that looks like environmental legislation.
And you can forget about human rights issues—that’s not their cup of tea.
And don’t expect them to stop the next war coming. When wars are the issue, you can count on Republicans to be in the “amen” chorus.

Topping it all off are the zany candidates the Republicans have on the ballot this November. The one who thinks it’s OK for people to use their weapons when they don’t like the way Congress is voting [Nevada’s U.S. Senate Candidate Sharron Angle]; the guy running for governor of New York who threatens to take out people who cross them [Carl Paladino]; the guy in Kentucky who thinks the civil rights bill was the wrong way to go [Kentucky’s U.S. Senate Candidate Rand Paul]; the guy in Alaska who thinks unemployment comp is unconstitutional [U.S. Senate Candidate Joe Miller].

Well, the list goes on. And it’s not as funny as it sounds. This isn’t “Saturday Night Live.” It’s Tuesday, Election Day, right here in the U.S. Are the Democrats and independents really—are any of them—ready to brag that they didn’t get around to vote—to cast a vote against this stuff?

Everyone Loses (video)