MSNBC "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" - Transcript
Interview
MSNBC "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" - Transcript
MSNBC "1600 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE" INTERVIEW WITH SENATOR JACK REED (D-RI)
INTERVIEWER: SAVANNAH GUTHRIE
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MS. GUTHRIE: "Today is not a good day for health care reform." Those were the words of Senator John Kerry after Tom Daschle withdrew his name to be secretary of Health and Human Services because of those tax problems.
Joining me now, Senator Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island and a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. He's also a member of the Banking, Appropriations and Armed Services Committee.
Okay, Senator, we've got your resume. I'll ask you the question of the day. Did Tom Daschle make the right decision today?
SEN. REED: He made a very difficult decision where he put the country and the success of this president above his desire, his sincere desire, to serve as secretary of Health and Human Services. I think he made the right decision, but it was a very difficult one for a very decent and honorable man.
MS. GUTHRIE: You know, Senator, when Tim Geithner's tax problems first surfaced, the White House defended him, saying he's the best person for the job at this extraordinary time and that, because of that, the tax issue, although significant, shouldn't disqualify him. Couldn't that same argument have been made for Senator Daschle?
SEN. REED: I think that same argument could have been made for Senator Daschle. I think the president would have made it. I think many of my colleagues would have responded to it. But Tom Daschle made the decision. He made it principally because he did not want to become a distraction to the president's important agenda, the recovery plan we're debating today and health care reform. And again, it's his decision and I respect it. I think we all respect that decision.
MS. GUTHRIE: Daschle combined a lot of policy knowledge on health care, having studied it for years, written a book on it, as well as a lot of, let's face it, practical Capitol Hill know-how. How great a loss is he to this cause of health care reform? Today David Axelrod, the senior adviser, saying health care is a bigger issue than any one individual. But how big a loss is this?
SEN. REED: This is, I think, a significant loss in the sense that Tom Daschle combined great substantive knowledge of health care and great knowledge of the institutions of the House and the Senate. As a member of the Budget Committee, he understood the interaction between the budget and health care legislation. And he's also someone who had a great sense of the demands that health care are making throughout this country.
He did a listening tour weeks before he came before the committee for his confirmation hearings. But this is an issue that is larger than any one individual, and I do believe that Tom will continue to make a contribution through his writings, through his advice, through his continued presence in the Capitol.
MS. GUTHRIE: Let's talk about the stimulus package, the other big issue that I'm sure the president wishes everyone was focusing on. The Post reported today that the president feels like he's losing the PR war on this, that the bill is being perceived as too partisan, laden with pet projects, the usual suspects for Democratic spending.
Are Democrats on the Hill feeling some heat now from the White House on this? What did you hear about that meeting last night where the leadership came over and met with the president?
SEN. REED: Well, everyone recognizes, and the American people more than anyone else, that we have to get this package passed; that the economy, over the last year under Bush, bled 2.6 million jobs; that continued policies, more of the same, is not going to work.
The president, I think, has combined both infrastructure investments and some tax relief, particularly for working families, that will provide both jobs and also increased, we hope, demand and consumption in the economy.
I believe that the differences will be bridged. In fact, I'm encouraged, because we've engaged in debates and amendments. There does not appear to be a partisan degree of wrangling just for the sake of wrangling. We're going to deal with these issues. We're going to move forward. And I hope we pass the bill this week in the Senate.
MS. GUTHRIE: Your colleague on the Republican side, Senator Shelby, is talking about a filibuster. Do you think that's in the realm of possibility?
SEN. REED: I think it would be a very unfortunate development. Again, part of this legislation is not just the programs, the investments in infrastructure and jobs and future productivity of the country. Part of it is restoring and building the confidence of the American public that we can deal successfully with this great financial crisis which confronted the president when he took office.
So I believe the public is with the president, and at the end of the day we will have a bill that will begin to turn around the economic scales that are weighing heavily against American families.
MS. GUTHRIE: All right, Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, thanks for being with us today.
SEN. REED: Thank you.
END.
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