CNBC "Squwak Box" - Transcript
Interview
REP. VAN HOLLEN: (From videotape.) (In progress) -- having to put this much taxpayer money on the line as a result of A problem that they think has been caused by incompetence and inaction and bad policies over the last seven years with respect to the economy. Nobody likes that.
MR. QUINTANILLA: Congressman Chris Van Hollen, yesterday, right here on Squawk Box. That was ahead of the House vote. He is back this morning for some reaction, and more importantly, to tell us what's next.
Congressman of Maryland, thank you so much for being back with us.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Good to be with you.
MR. QUINTANILLA: As curious as we are to know what happened behind the scenes and how it all came down yesterday, everybody wants to know if there will be a vote this week after Thursday. What do you think?
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Sure. Well, yesterday was a tumultuous day, we're now trying to pick the pieces back up and put together a package that can get a majority vote.
Look, this is tough stuff. Nobody liked the package we had yesterday. It was the product of compromise on a bipartisan basis. And so we're going to continue to work to try and get that compromise, because I think there's a consensus among most members of Congress that the cost of doing nothing is way too great, that the result will be the contagion will spread from Wall Street to Main Street. The credit markets will continue to be frozen up. So we're going to be working hard. The conversations are already taking place. And once we know we've got a majority, then we will come back to vote. I mean, people are working as we speak.
MR. QUINTANILLA: Yeah. That's sort of what we figured the Speaker would've done yesterday -- once you think you have the votes, you bring it to the floor. Any idea why that wasn't the case?
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, the reason is we've got to make sure we -- next time we bring it to the floor, we get a majority vote. You saw how -- what kind of process was required to get us to the floor the other day --
MR. QUINTANILLA: Yeah.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: -- and the bill went down. So she reached out immediately to Secretary Paulson. And as you heard from the Republican leadership, they are apparently interested in also working together. Conversations are already underway, and the hope will be that we can pull something together. But again, you've got to make sure you get it right. There's no point in bringing everybody back for a vote only to see it collapse again.
MR. QUINTANILLA: Right. We've had this discussion earlier this morning about how you remedy this? Do you go after more Democrats, the 95 Dems who voted against this, or try to skew right and create a bridge? What's going to be the easier path?
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, again, you're going to have to bring both sides, I think, to the table somehow, so that may mean you need to add something to help bring on some more Republicans and something that will help bring on more Democrats.
MR. QUINTANILLA: Isn't that sort of a -- isn't that sort of a zero-sum? I mean, you gain some on one side, you give up some on the other.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Right. It's possible. Let's see. The problem is if you just add stuff to the right, you may lose stuff on the other side because -- and that's why this is such a delicate balance. And that's why it was important to try and bring everybody to the table here --
MR. QUINTANILLA: Sure.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: -- and unfortunately, at the end of the day, as you know, you know, the Republicans didn't have their share of the votes.
MR. QUINTANILLA: Right.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: But anyway, that's water under the bridge. We are trying to move forward here.
MR. QUINTANILLA: Twelve votes made the difference yesterday.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Yeah.
MR. QUINTANILLA: Is there room to lean on members of Congress without making widespread changes to the text of the bill, or does this thing need to be changed on paper?
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, I think the answer to that question depends, in part, on what people hear from their constituents when they're back home and how the markets are reacting, not just the stock market but how the credit freeze is beginning to impact local businesses, small businesses on Main Street and whether or not people are saying, look, we understand that, you know, you don't like everything in this bill, but the fact of the matter is the costs of doing nothing are getting too high.
MR. QUINTANILLA: Yeah.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: And so if members hear that from their constituents back home, it is possible that you could bring this bill up. As you know, it's always easier to have some changes that people can point to -- at least to say that there's a reason why they changed their vote.
MR. QUINTANILLA: Right. No -- now I'm supporting it, right? It got fixed and now I'm for it.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, exactly. And that's going to be the challenge going forward. Assuming people come back to Congress and the conversations that take place today and tomorrow and until we get a deal, assuming that people have changed their mind and want to support a package, the question is going to be what has to be put in it so that they can say we got something in it that was not there before.
MR. QUINTANILLA: It would be easier to do that with some Democratically-friendly stuff. And then -- but then you'd own it. You willing to do that?
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, sure -- yes. Look, here's the issue. We could own it, but the question would then be whether or not the president would support it and sign it. And again, here's got left out from the Democratic side. We wanted protections for homeowners in bankruptcy for their primary residences. You know, for your second, third, fourth home, you're protected in bankruptcy, you're not protected on your first home. We had a second economic stimulus package. We don't just want to stop bad things from happening, we want to try and generate new jobs. So we had a $60 billion infrastructure package for new bridges, roads, transportation infrastructure -- we wanted that part of the deal. We also wanted a 100 percent guarantee that the taxpayer would be made whole at the end of the day.
MS. QUICK: But Congressman, some of those things -- I mean, is this a situation where we should be acting with urgency and that this is needed immediately, or is this something where you can take the time to put everything you want into the bill? My question is, if there is a sense of urgency, how can you load it up with other things?
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, there is a sense of urgency, and that's why we didn't load it up with other things. And despite the fact that those things were not in the bill, two-thirds of the Democrats voted for this. What Speaker Pelosi said to the Republicans was, look, if these things aren't in the bill, there are going to be some of our members that aren't going to support it. And so both sides reached a compromise where they said they could go back to their different caucuses and get half of their caucuses.
And Speaker Pelosi went back, and two-thirds supported the package that we ended up with because we did put some checks and clearly changed the Paulson proposal. But when the Republicans went to their caucus --
MR. QUINTANILLA: Yeah.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: -- they didn't -- even after John McCain said he'd rounded up the votes, they weren't there.
MR. QUINTANILLA: You could get -- you could get 12 more Democrats with a couple of those things and Bush and Paulson wouldn't be against it easier, probably, then you're going to get -- some of these guys are probably getting even more. I'm looking at the mail we're getting, Congressman, and now people are getting emboldened that the market's going to be up today and --
MR. : See? We didn't need it after all.
MR. QUINTANILLA: Yeah, we didn't need it after all. Might be easier to just own it and do it your way and not even worry about the Republicans. And Bush will still sign it, right?
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, that's not what they said. And that was -- that was the challenge. Let me just give you one example. We wanted, at the end of the day, to say, you know, five years from now, if the amount that the taxpayer's gotten back -- after all, as you know, the taxpayer's taking these securities, We're taking some risks. But as the market returns and as the economy improves, the idea is the taxpayer can make this money back.
But we said if, at the end of the day, there's a gap, that there should be some kind of fee levied across all financial institutions, a small fee that could be small and last for -- until that balance was paid off. That seems like a reasonable request. At the end, we would be able to say 100 percent guarantee that the taxpayer is not going to be left holding the bag, not one penny of taxpayer money. But they didn't -- they didn't take that. We did get a provision in requiring that the president submit a plan after five years --
MR. QUINTANILLA: Right.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: -- to do something. But again, that's not 100 percent guarantee. It was an improvement, but not a guarantee. And there are the bankruptcy provisions --
MR. QUINTANILLA: Right.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: -- so, again, despite the fact those elements were not in there, we had two-thirds on our side. And -- and the fact of the matter is, they were supposed to bring --
MR. QUINTANILLA: Sure.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: -- their part to the table.
MR. QUINTANILLA: And you mentioned constituents, and the markets today -- I mean, I guess it doesn't really help to go back to your constituents and point out that three-month dollar LIBOR priced higher today, right? I mean, that's not going to resonate with them.
MR. : It's the end of the quarter. (Chuckles.)
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, I mean -- yeah, look. The question is going to be how this is going to -- whether it begins to impact Main Street. And it's the credit freeze, as you know, that is the major factor there, now. You know, if credit loosens up, then -- then people will begin to question --
MR. QUINTANILLA: No speeches before the next vote, though, Congressman. How about that?
REP. VAN HOLLEN: There you go.
No, listen. That -- that -- let me just say one thing on that --
MR. QUINTANILLA: All right, if you must.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, because a number of Republicans themselves have said that was ridiculous --
MR. QUINTANILLA: Right.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: -- because if you accept that proposition --
MR. QUINTANILLA: You still don't want to say, you know, this great bipartisan bill when in fact it was all the Republicans' fault in the first place. I mean, you know you're not going to -- it's not going to help.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: No, listen. There were Republicans and Democrats -- all of us have different views of how we got there. Most of the American people, I think, agree that the economic policies of the last eight years have gotten us into the ditch.
MR. QUINTANILLA: Well, that was not a good moment, I think, for anyone involved.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well --
MR. QUINTANILLA: Let me -- one last thing, Congressman. Is there any chance that nothing is reintroduced this week or next?
REP. VAN HOLLEN: All I can say is people are working as we speak. We're -- we've been -- people have been on the phones yesterday, today. We'll continue to work until we can put something together and try and make sure we get a majority vote. Again, the key is to make sure this doesn't happen again.
MR. QUINTANILLA: Yeah. Congressman, we appreciate -- you've been generous with your time this week, and I know it's been busy. Good to see you again.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Good to see you. Thank you.
MR. QUINTANILLA: Congressman Chris Van Hollen.
Source