Fox News "Your World" - Transcript

Interview

Fox News "Your World" - Transcript

MR. CAVUTO: Okay, so who's right on this ongoing debate? With us now, Democratic Congressman Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, an Obama- Biden surrogate.

What do you think, Congressman, the idea being that it's patriotic to pay more taxes?

REP. VAN HOLLEN: Look, as Barack Obama himself has said and as well all know, nobody likes to pay taxes. But I would ask Governor Palin a simple question. How do you think we're providing equipment to our troops in the field in Iraq and Afghanistan? How do you think we're supporting the wounded veterans who are coming home in places like Walter Reed and other military hospitals? How are we supporting our troops in Afghanistan? I thought it was patriotic for all of us to be supporting the troops in the field and providing them with the resources --

MR. CAVUTO: So they're not patriotic now, paying what they're paying?

REP. VAN HOLLEN: That's not what Joe Biden has said, it's that we are all making sacrifices. We're asking the men and women in the field in Iraq and Afghanistan to put their lives at risk. All he was saying was it is part of our responsibility to provide the resources.

The biggest question here is, how are we going to distribute the burden? And what Barack Obama has said is that middle America should finally get a break here. And he's put forward a plan that would provide the biggest tax relief to America in 50 years. All independent analysts who have looked at this have said that American families in the middle income are going to get --

MR. CAVUTO: All right. With all respect, sir, it sounds like you're trying to put lipstick on a pig here. You're equating a dollar value to patriotism, that the more you pay, the more patriotic you are! I don't think I've heard anything so idiotic in my life!

REP. VAN HOLLEN: That's absurd, and you're trying to put words in people's mouths! Look, Neil, you do this a lot. But the fact of the matter is --

MR. CAVUTO: No, no, no, Congressman --

REP. VAN HOLLEN: No, you do.

MR. CAVUTO: Let me ask you --

REP. VAN HOLLEN: That's not what I said.

MR. CAVUTO: Then let me ask you --

REP. VAN HOLLEN: I didn't say that you're more patriotic based on more -- no, I didn't say that.

MR. CAVUTO: Wait. Are you saying that the rich or the well-to- do or those with more financial resources right now, paying with all their taxes 50 percent or more to various governments, aren't patriotic because they aren't paying more and they should pay more?

REP. VAN HOLLEN: I didn't say anything of the sort.

MR. CAVUTO: So explain. Explain what you are.

REP. VAN HOLLEN: What I said was that everybody needs to be part of this effort, everyone needs to pay their share. John McCain himself, before he started saying and doing anything to get elected, himself said when he opposed the Bush tax cuts that you shouldn't have these tax cuts at the same time you've got a war going on. That's what John McCain said when he was part of the Straight Talk Express. Now that he's in the mode where he's saying and doing anything, he's switching his position. But nobody said, you're not patriotic if you're not paying more taxes. And it's not fair for people to pretend they did.

MR. CAVUTO: All right, Congressman, then I understand your explanation. So let me ask you this. Paying what you're paying now, the rich paying what they're paying now -- some of them, I guess, would quibble with being called rich -- how would you describe them?

REP. VAN HOLLEN: How would I describe who?

MR. CAVUTO: The ones who are paying the top rate right now?

REP. VAN HOLLEN: I would describe everybody as patriotic Americans. The question isn't judging whether somebody's patriotic or not by how much taxes they're paying. The question is, as a nation, how are we going to make sure we come up with the resources to support our troops in the field, to make sure we care for them when we come back? And how should we distribute that burden and that sacrifice?

And what Barack Obama has said is that it's not fair to have the middle-income Americans having to carry all the weight on that, that we should ask more of people who are making a lot more. That is what he has said.

MR. CAVUTO: I understand. But do you think intrinsic in this is a little bit of guilt for the well-to-do that, look, you know, if you paid more, maybe you wouldn't feel as guilty?

REP. VAN HOLLEN: I don't think that that's what Barack Obama has said at all. What he has said is, as a nation, let's figure out how we're going to pay for the challenges we've got before us. We're fighting a war on terror. We have debt going through the roof. And we have a tax system, and we have to figure out how we distribute the burdens without passing on these huge bills to future generations. And what he said is you look at that equation. We should simply ask those folks, who got a big break under George Bush's first plan, to pay a little more so that 95 percent of the American taxpayers can pay less.

MR. CAVUTO: But again, just to be clear, Congressman, you don't think that patriotism is defined by how much you pay in taxes, right?

REP. VAN HOLLEN: I don't, and I don't think that's what Joe Biden meant either.

MR. CAVUTO: Well, man, oh, man. I don't know if we were listening to the same interview, my friend. But Congressman, thank you very, very much.

REP. VAN HOLLEN: Good to be with you.

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