Media Stakeout with Senator Joseph Lieberman (Id-CT); Senator Susan Collins (R-ME); Senator Ben Nelson (D-FL)
Interview
MEDIA STAKEOUT WITH SENATOR JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (ID-CT); SENATOR SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME); SENATOR BEN NELSON (D-NE)
SUBJECT: THE STIMULUS BILL
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Q How's it going so far with the compromise?
SEN. LIEBERMAN: This has been a very constructive meeting. And we're going to break for lunch. Staff is going to work some. We hope to come back in about an hour. But I think we've made some real progress here. And we're saying that this has to reach a certain number to be really stimulus for the economy.
There's some concern around the table that some of the components are not exactly real, hardcore, job-producing stimulus money. So we've said, okay, let's see if we can come to a number we agree on. But inside that, you tell us what you think is going to be better for the economy as part of that.
The president has been very clear. And he's saying this based on what the economists have told him, that if this is not an $800-billion economic recovery program -- you've got to dive that by two, because it's $800 billion over two years -- this is not going to really work to kickstart the economy and create jobs.
And so to put it as simply as I can, we're trying to get up to a number that's high enough, to really work, and also respond to some of the concerns, around the table, that some of the components are not what will work best. And that's what our staffs are going to work on now.
Q Senator, can you give us a sense of where you are, in terms of spending, specifically the spending that you've agreed or are close to agreeing on taking out of this $900-billion bill?
SEN. LIEBERMAN: Well, I just dropped it right now.
Q We'll get it for you. (Laughter.)
SEN. LIEBERMAN: Right now we didn't get to that. As you know, the Democrats here have been working on cuts in this program. And we didn't -- we've got that list. Our staffs are going to be working on it now.
But the discussion took the other turn that I've just described. And I think it's a very constructive turn which is, let's get this to a level that the president says he needs, that the economists say we need, to get the economy going again and create jobs.
If you (or ?) our colleagues, don't think what the bill on the floor now spends money on will really work, then within that top-line number, give us some other ideas. A lot of people favor more infrastructure, for instance -- I do, too -- programs that really will get people working right away. So that's what we're going to work on in the next hour, and then we're going to come back --
Q Can you talk about what --
Q Your friend Lindsey Graham was just talking on the Senate floor, actually; was pretty angry, apparently, about --
SEN. LIEBERMAN: Yeah.
Q -- 16 senators behind closed doors trying to rewrite this plan.
SEN. LIEBERMAN: Well, that's what always happens around here. I'm -- I am going to go back to my office and call Lindsey and tell him to be the 17th. (Laughter.) I mean, Lindsey and I were part of the gang of 14 that solved the crisis over Supreme Court nominations.
So, you know, this is a body of a hundred people. What's really encouraging here is that this is a bipartisan group. We've got, I guess, five Republicans. They say they represent more who are not here. And we've got, by my count, 13 or 14 Democrats. So this is only going to happen if we work together in a bipartisan way. This is a breakthrough.
People are talking in a very frank -- I mean, maybe one of the best things we did was to respectfully ask the staff to leave. We only have senators in the room. And we're being very open with one another. Everybody agrees America is in crisis. And we got to work together to fix it. And that's what's happening now. So give us a little time.
Q But Senator Lieberman --
Q From what I understand, you took about -- I mean, you've taken out at least about 120 billion (dollars) from the bill that was on the floor. I mean, are you -- is there any danger you're touching sacred cows, as Senator Nelson says?
SEN. LIEBERMAN: Well, there's no question that -- I mean, once something is in a bill, it becomes a sacred cow. There's a constituency for every kind of spending you'd want to do.
But I think what we're trying to come to here is that what we want to spend on this bill is what will kick-start the economy. There's a lot of stuff in this that I've supported for most of my career that I'm prepared to see cut because it's not immediately stimulative. And that -- we ought to come back and appropriate for that later in the year.
Now I'm going to yield for my colleagues. Take care.
Q Thank you, Senator.
Q Okay. Thank you, sir. Thank you.
SEN. : (In progress following audio break) -- what we cut, but it's also about what's in the package. I am still not going to compromise on the idea that it be stimulative, that it be temporary and that it be targeted. And I think if we're not going to have spending that is focused on those things, then I really won't be able to support it. And so we're not there yet.
Q President Obama's trying to keep the number at about 800 (billion dollars). Is that a package that you could -- a number that you could look for?
SEN. : It's truly more important what's in the package than what the ultimate number is -- obviously, within -- on discipline. But I think he feels strongly -- and I've talked to him about it -- that it has to be at that number in order to be stimulative.
I can understand the concern there, but I also believe that what's in the package, if it isn't stimulative, then it really doesn't matter how much you're spending if you're not really spending it on things that are going to stimulate the economy. So it has to be stimulative.
That's got to be a part of it. That means it's got to spend out in the next couple of years --
Q Has President Obama called you?
SEN. : Yes, we've talked a couple of times.
Q And are you concerned about what you're seeing? Is there anything that's staying in so far that you want to see come out?
SEN. : Those are things we're going to be discussing now. And the staff's going to go through it and we'll meet again. So we hope we keep making progress.
(Cross talk.)
SEN. NELSON: Well, we've had a very productive morning. We're breaking for lunch. We have staff continuing to work. We're going to reassemble a little later. But everybody is interesting in getting something accomplished. And when you have everyone committed to getting something done, then the chances go up dramatically.
In this town, it's not always easy to achieve, but I think that we're certainly achieving it.
SEN. COLLINS: I'm encouraged by the meeting that we just had. It brought together Democrats and Republicans who all shared the same goal, and that is to produce a stimulus package that really would boost our economy, isn't just a collection of everyone's favorite programs, and would achieve a certain level of spending.
Now, these decisions are not easy. Everyone has particular programs that -- people's definition of what is stimulus varies widely. And there's some discussion still going on how much the total package should be.
But we are making great progress. We've agreed to tens of billions of dollars of adjustments. And I think we're making good progress.
Q Senator Collins, can you give us a sense of what is actually going on in the room? How are you working through the process? Are you basically bringing an item at a time? Just give us a sense of what's going on in there.
SEN. COLLINS: We've done an in-depth scrub of the bill, going through line item by line item.
We've had discussions on whether or not the funding truly would help to boost our economy and create jobs, or whether it's just a project that should be handled through the regular appropriations process. After all, the omnibus appropriations bill is coming very quickly down the track, so we don't need to take care of all the funding needs in what is supposed to be a bill to help our economy.
So it's been a painstaking, very thorough, very comprehensive process where we're going through line by line.
Q And that's literally what you all have been doing there, this -- you're -- as senators, going through each spending program, saying, do we think this is appropriate, do we think this will create jobs or not?
SEN. COLLINS: I know it's unusual to think of senators -- (laughter) -- actually doing that kind of painstaking, thorough work, but that's exactly what we're doing.
And these decisions are difficult. For example, I think everybody in the room is concerned about pandemic flu. Does it belong in this bill? Should we have $870 million in this bill? No, we should not. So, after discussion, we agreed that we would cut the funding for that, knowing that we can deal with that issue later.
SEN. NELSON: What we have done is we felt that staff could be helpful, but in this situation that we needed to work with one another to put together something that we as members really can feel comfortable with, and use staff as a resource rather than the traditional way.
That's why we've sat around the table. And it's always refreshing to be able to do that because you -- you talk -- there are no filters and you talk directly, straight to one another. And that's how you can --
Q Where are the areas of greatest concern?
Q Can you be specific on where you are now?
Q Where are the areas of greatest concern?
SEN. NELSON: Pardon? I'll go here and then --
Q Where exactly are you right now? I know you broke up, you're not finished yet, but how close are you? And do you -- have you made a decision in terms of those spending cuts what you will cut and what you won't cut?
SEN. NELSON: I think we're still talking about some infrastructure items that we think are important, and we're asking our staff to take a look at that to see how that might fit into the package that we're agreeing to.
Q What are the areas of greatest concern, though?
SEN. NELSON: Pardon?
Q What are the areas of greatest concern?
SEN. NELSON: Well, just what Senator Collins mentioned; that is that whatever you have in there, that you want it -- you want it to be as robust a stimulus as you can have it so that it's not just a spending bill. And a lot of items that are solid public-policy items that can be in other locations because they're not as stimulative, although very good, can be put in other -- we're scrubbing that out and keeping in that that we think is the most stimulative and builds for the future.
Q Are you working on other issues besides spending? Meaning, have you also been talking about tax issues and other aspects of this stimulus bill?
Q Any across-the-board -- across-the-board cuts?
SEN. NELSON: I don't think anything's off the table, but our focus has been primarily, I think, on appropriations.
Q Is there a goal for -- is there a goal for cost? What -- a range of where you'd like to see the bill? And what is the -- what guidance has the president given you on where he'd like that to be?
SEN. COLLINS: Well, the president has given us guidance. In the meetings that each of us had yesterday, the president made a strong case for a proposal that would be in the neighborhood of $800 billion. Now, the Senate bill right now is over $900 billion.
So that's one of the guidelines that we're also taking a look at, but I will tell you particularly on my side of the aisle, there is a vigorous debate over what the size of the package should be. And it's a difficult debate because economists differ on what the size of the package should be. There's no consensus on that.
The president made a very strong case yesterday to me for a package of sufficient size to jolt the economy. We don't want a package that is too small because that will end up just wasting money. On the other than, we're very leery of having an enormous package that would not be necessary and would just boost the federal deficit.
Q (Off mike) -- about reducing benefits?
SEN. COLLINS: Because we're still having discussions, but have I personally -- (inaudible) -- let me say that originally I was looking at a $650 billion package. The president did convince me yesterday that a larger package would be good, but I cannot support the package the size of what the House passed.
Q Do you think you'll get this done today?
SEN. COLLINS: Yes.
Q You do?
SEN. COLLINS: I do. But who knows?
SEN. NELSON: I -- my style is always to keep the Democratic leadership informed and advised as to where we are on this or any item I've ever worked on. And I told -- (inaudible) -- surprises. And they are aware of what we're talking about, and supportive of our effort because they recognize that we have the opportunity to bring about a bipartisan support of this legislation. And they're -- they're very much supportive of that idea and they know that this was the way in which it's going to happen.
Q How is the White House further involved? Is Peter Orszag talking to you about -- (inaudible)?
SEN. COLLINS: I gave the president yesterday a list of what I thought should be in a stimulus package. And his advisors are reviewing that list, and I expect that we'll have further discussion with them today.
(Cross talk.)
SEN. COLLINS: Thank you.
Q They weren't in the room, though. Right.
SEN. COLLINS: No.
Thank you.
END.
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