MSNBC "Interview With Senator John Barrasso" - Transcript
Interview
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MS. BREWER: You're seeing the Senate floor, lawmakers are debating this big stimulus package the president insists must be passed, but some of these moderate lawmakers are hoping that they can cut about $100 billion from that plan. We'll be keeping our eyes on that.
Both President Obama and Senate Democrats are expressing some frustration with the Republicans over the stimulus plan. The Democrats on the Hill say the president has gone out of his way to reach across the aisle and that Republicans aren't reciprocating.
SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER (D-NY) (From video.): The tax cuts are rising and rising and rising in terms of the proportion here and still we don't see cooperation from the other side of the aisle. Well, I'd like to say to President Obama, sir, you have bent over backwards to listen to suggestions. We have tried as well. But we are not getting it and takes two to tango.
MS. BREWER: Joining us now from Capitol Hill, Republican Senator John Barrasso from Wyoming.
Are you willing to be a dance partner?
SEN. BARRASSO: It's great to be with you, Contessa. Well, he just said that the tax issues are rising. I'll tell you the expenses are rising. This cost is now well over $900 billion. There are a lot of us who want to vote for something, but something that actually we believe will stimulate the economy, will get the job done without putting in an incredible expense on the next generation for years and years to come.
MS. BREWER: President Obama last night, senator, sounded the alarm. He said that this thing has got to get passed, that the squabbling has got to end and he's not the only one. Today, economist Paul Krugman has an op-ed in The New York Times. At the end of it he says, quote, "The American economy is on the edge of catastrophe and much of the Republican Party is trying to push it over the edge."
Are you worried that you're walking on thin ice here by opposing the stimulus bill?
SEN. BARRASSO: Not at all, Contessa. You know, I will tell you the president in his inaugural address two weeks ago said we have chosen hope over fear. I'll tell you, they're now using scare tactics to get people to vote for this.
I've just left the Senate floor. There is not an agreement. They don't have the votes that they need to pass this, and we need to have a scaled-down project, one that actually creates jobs, gets the economy moving, deals with what we need to do to help this country to jumpstart this economy, to stimulate the economy.
What I see here is a big bloated plan, which does more to stimulate government than it does to stimulate the economy.
MS. BREWER: But there are these economists here, senator, who say the problem with the bill is that it's not big enough, it doesn't spend enough and maybe it's not spending on the things that you personally would like to see them spent on, but the fact of the matter is with now the jobs numbers, 600,000 people out of work in just last month alone, more than three million people since this recession started, what are you proposing to get people back to work and safe in the security that their homes will be there next week?
SEN. BARRASSO: I have huge concerns. I had a telephone town hall meeting, lots of people all around the state of Wyoming, they know we need to do something, 85 percent of them oppose this big spending package. There are enough economists on all sides of this. There was a full-page ad in The New York Times by a group of economists, some Nobel laureates who said we shouldn't be doing any of this, this is much too big, spends too much. There are two sides to this and the side of the American people now is we need to do something, but not this massive spending plan, a lot of which isn't for things that will actually stimulate the economy. It will just grow government.
MS. BREWER: Do you think that there's any hope of a compromise bill? Is there any hope today that between five to seven in some way, shape or form this thing is going to get passed?
SEN. BARRASSO: There are a lot of people that want to vote for something that they believe will stimulate the economy. You know what I'm hearing from some on the other side of the aisle is they just need to cut it enough to be able to whittle away a couple of Republicans to get to their number of 60. That's not the kind of bipartisan effort we need on behalf of this country. It's not what the American people want. They want --
MS. BREWER: But if it fails --
SEN. BARRASSO: They want value for their money.
MS. BREWER: If it fails and our economy implodes and we see ourselves stuffing cardboard back in our shoes like they did in the Depression era, are you willing to put your name behind that?
SEN. BARRASSO: I'm willing to stay here and continue through the weekend, next week, the next week, to try to solve something and get it right. Don't rush into something like this country rushed into the bailout program right before the holidays last year. I think that was rushed. We found out that that didn't accomplish the goal.
You're looking at spending a huge amount of money. This is the largest spending bill, Contessa, in the history of our country and to rush in it and get it done in three days is not what the American people expect for their elected members of the Senate.
MS. BREWER: Senator Barrasso, I appreciate your time as always. Thank you so much for sharing with me your thoughts on the stimulus plan.
SEN. BARRASSO: Great to be with you, Contessa. Thank you.
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