MSNBC "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue" - Transcript
Interview
Copyright ©2009 by Federal News Service, Inc., Ste. 500, 1000 Vermont Ave, Washington, DC 20005 USA. Federal News Service is a private firm not affiliated with the federal government. No portion of this transcript may be copied, sold or retransmitted without the written authority of Federal News Service, Inc. Copyright is not claimed as to any part of the original work prepared by a United States government officer or employee as a part of that person's official duties. For information on subscribing to the FNS Internet Service at www.fednews.com, please email Carina Nyberg at cnyberg@fednews.com or call 1-202-216-2706.
MR. SHUSTER: Rush Limbaugh claims that he speaks for all Republicans, saying, quote, "The dirty little secret is that every Republican in this country wants Obama to fail, but none of them have the guts to say so."
Joining me now is Senator John Barrasso, Republican from Wyoming and a member of the GOP whip team.
Senator, do you want the president's economic policies to fail?
SEN. BARRASSO: David, I want every president to succeed -- always have. I think it's the best for our nation. If this president and every president does well, it means our country does well. And I want to work with this president to improve our economy and to get jobs back into the economy.
MR. SHUSTER: So then you'd be willing to say that Rush Limbaugh was wrong, then, right?
SEN. BARRASSO: Rush is a very powerful, strong voice of conservative values. And I will tell you, I agree with him on limited government, on lower taxes, on fewer regulations, more freedom for the American people. I want to work with the president, with his administration, but I'm not happy with what Nancy Pelosi has done in Congress -- a very bloated stimulus package, and I'm very --
MR. SHUSTER: I hear you. But when Rush Limbaugh says -- I hear where you're going, but when Rush Limbaugh says that Republicans want President Obama to fail, Rush Limbaugh is wrong.
SEN. BARRASSO: What I'm telling you is that I want this president to succeed, because when he succeeds, the entire nation succeeds. And I will tell you, people all around the state of Wyoming --
MR. SHUSTER: Senator, I hear you, but explain to me, why do Republicans have such a difficult time -- why do Republicans in general, yourself included, have such a difficult time saying the simple words, "Rush is wrong"? Why is it so hard?
SEN. BARRASSO: Because I believe Rush is right on so many things -- on limited government, on lower taxes, on giving us more individual freedoms, on opportunities for America, on accountability in government. Those are the things that Rush has talked about for years. They're very important core conservative principles. I believe in those. But I am telling you also that I want to work to improve our economy.
The stock market today dropped four and a quarter percent. It is the lowest it's been in 12 years. So if you try to deal with distractions, that's what Americans are focused on. What is happening on their retirement? What's happening to our economy? For the stock market to drop that much today, that's where people ought to be paying attention -- to the economy, to rebuilding the economy, to working together --
MR. SHUSTER: Right. But isn't it difficult --
SEN. BARRASSO: -- in stimulating the economy.
MR. SHUSTER: Agreed. But isn't it difficult for us to have that conversation when you have such a prominent voice as Rush Limbaugh saying that Republicans want President Obama to fail and you yourself aren't willing to say on national television that on that narrow issue Rush Limbaugh is wrong?
SEN. BARRASSO: I'm happy to say on national television that I want the president to succeed, because I want America to succeed.
MR. SHUSTER: (Laughs.)
SEN. BARRASSO: And we're going to continue to work to do that. But we really need to focus on the economy and the kind of spending -- the kind of spending that these policies coming out of the Democrats in the House and the Senate are such that they are unsustainable. They're adding to the debt. We cannot succeed that way as a nation. And the stock market has been voting with its feet by people taking money out and stocks continuing to drop as a result of policies which to me are not solid conservative policies. And that's the way that the nation is going.
MR. SHUSTER: Well, let's talk about those policies. I think we've exhausted the whole Rush Limbaugh/Michael Steele controversy. What exactly -- if you were president and you inherited the economic environment that President Obama did, what would you do about it?
SEN. BARRASSO: I would aim at fixing housing first. That was the problem that got us into this mess in the first place. Warren Buffett just came out with his report over the weekend from Berkshire Hathaway. There's a whole section on housing, about people that took loans that they shouldn't have taken from bankers who shouldn't have loaned the money to them in the first place. We needed to fix housing first.
You know, I voted against the stimulus package. I thought it was too big, spent too much, didn't really focus on the kind of shovel- ready projects that we needed right away, as well as it didn't focus on the kind of tax reductions --
MR. SHUSTER: Did you think that there was pork --
SEN. BARRASSO: -- that we should have done. We needed to let people keep more of their hard-earned money.
MR. SHUSTER: I understand. Well, two questions for you. In terms of taxes, if a company is losing hundreds of millions of dollars and you cut their taxes, how does that help them hire more workers if they're losing money?
SEN. BARRASSO: The engine that drives this economy, David -- and you know -- is small business. Seventy percent of the jobs created in this country are small business -- are through small businesses. You give them opportunities to then keep their employees, hire more over the long term. That's what builds this economy. That's the engine of the economy. It's small businesses. And to take away the incentive of small business owners to want to invest in their own companies and hire more people isn't good for the economy.
MR. SHUSTER: All right. But let's take the stimulus, for example. You mentioned it was too big. What particular legislation -- what particular part of it did you think was wasteful or spent improperly?
SEN. BARRASSO: Well, I think some of the things that are going to take eight or 10 years to get done. The Wall Street Journal had a lengthy article about how to spend the money, where it's going to go. Some of the things they're talking about, the technology hasn't even been developed. With the Department of Commerce, the Department of Energy, some of these things may not even be spent in eight or 10 years.
I thought we ought to focus on shovel-ready projects, things like roads, highways, bridges, projects that have already been approved and are ready to go. So I just thought that the project -- that the spending was much too big, you know, looking at our economy and the wall of debt that's coming up with the entitlements, with Medicare, with Medicaid, with Social Security.
MR. SHUSTER: I agree with you that I think the money does need to be spent immediately. But when the CBO and other sort of nonpartisan groups say that 70 percent of the money is going to be spent within the first two years, are you saying that they're wrong?
SEN. BARRASSO: Well, only 22 percent of the money, David, is going to be spent in 2009. That leaves 78 percent in 2010 and beyond. And they also questioned -- the Congressional Budget Office has questioned how well this will work to stimulate the economy, and there have been multiple articles written about that.
MR. SHUSTER: Senator John Barrasso, Republican from Wyoming. Senator, I know we've given you a hard time, but it's good of you to come on. We appreciate you coming in. You're always welcome on the show. You can say whatever you want with us. (Laughs.) With us, you're free to say whatever you want, Senator.
SEN. BARRASSO: Great to be with you, David. Thank you very much.
MR. SHUSTER: Okay, good to have you.
SEN. BARRASSO: Thank you.
Source