MSNBC "Race for the White House with David Gregory" - Transcript

Interview

MSNBC "Race for the White House with David Gregory" - Transcript

MR. GREGORY: Joining me now to talk through the political stakes is a Republican who plans to vote in favor of the bill, Senator John Thune of South Dakota, and he's on Capitol Hill tonight.

Senator, welcome.

SEN. THUNE: Good evening, David.

MR. GREGORY: So why yes tonight on this bill?

SEN. THUNE: I just don't think we have much choice. This is something that has been obviously happening for a long time, and we've gotten to where we are. And there are a lot of people who want to affix blame, but I think right now we have a problem to solve. We've got credit tightening up. It's affecting all sectors of our economy. If we don't do something about it, my fear is we're going to see more and more people get sucked into this vortex, and that would be disastrous for the economy in this country.

I think a lot of -- this is a tough vote for Republicans, but I think you're going to see a lot of them make this vote tonight because they think it's that important.

MR. GREGORY: What are you hearing back home in South Dakota from people in terms of the real impact? We talk so much about bad debt on Wall Street in the investment banks. But the inability to get a loan for a car or to help finance college education and the like is really affecting people, as we said, on Main Street, and there is that relationship. What are you hearing when you go home?

SEN. THUNE: Well, this was very poorly communicated, I think, as you know, David, in the initial stages. And it was perceived by a lot of people as a bailout for fat cats on Wall Street. I think what people are now coming to grips with is this is affecting Main Street. And we've reached out to a lot of constituencies in South Dakota -- farm organizations, bankers, of course, Chamber of Commerce, South Dakota Investment Council, car dealers. And everybody is convinced that if we don't take steps to shore up our financial markets right now that we're going to see this credit freeze continue to impact more and more. And there's a ripple effect.

And I think that what you're hearing in states like mine across this country -- and you've got farmers who obviously need to have access to credit; you've got people, as you said, who want to buy homes or get auto loans, who need to have access to credit, student loans. There are just a lot of implications to this that I think are going to be very widespread.

And, like I said, this is not someplace I want to be. And I think a lot of people have that same view. But most of us believe that we don't have really any choice at this point but to move forward with a plan that we think will bring some stability to our financial system.

MR. GREGORY: I want to play a piece of tape for you, Senator Obama speaking on the bill this afternoon on the floor of the Senate. Listen to this.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL, Democratic presidential nominee): (From videotape.) If this is managed correctly -- and that's an important if -- we will hopefully get most or all of our money back and possibly even turn a profit on the government's intervention, every penny of which will go directly back to the American people. And if we fall short, we will levy a fee on financial institutions so that they can repay for the losses that they caused.

MR. GREGORY: Senator, do you agree with that?

SEN. THUNE: I think there are a lot of taxpayer protections that have been put into this, David. I hope that that statement is correct in the sense that we'll actually see a profit. I'm not predicting that. But I do think that there's been a lot of misinformation about $700 billion. People think that we're just throwing that at Wall Street.

That is a line of credit, essentially, the Treasury can use to acquire illiquid assets, non-performing loans, turn around and sell them. There will be revenue coming back in. It would be great if we could turn a profit on that. But if this program doesn't work as it's intended, there is a requirement in there that these levies be imposed on financial institutions. So I think there are lots of safeguards for taxpayers, and that's what everybody wanted to accomplish before we got to this vote.

MR. GREGORY: So what's going to happen in the House? Are you talking to your House Republican colleagues about their vote last week and whether they're going to pass the bill here this week?

SEN. THUNE: I have been. I talked to a number of them yesterday. And I think what came out of that was adding this -- fusing the rescue bill and the tax bill together, because that's hoping to attract Republican votes in the House. There's a widely held view over there that that is something that will draw more Republicans. And I think adding the FDIC insurance component, too, was important in that regard.

But they're going to get another whack at this tomorrow or on Friday. Hopefully if there's a big vote coming out of the Senate tonight, it will provide some momentum for the House when they have their next vote.

MR. GREGORY: All right, Senator John Thune, thanks for your time tonight.

SEN. THUNE: Thanks, David.

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