MSNBC "Interview With Senator Charles Grassley" - Transcript

Interview

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MS. O'DONNELL: Joining us live from Capitol Hill is Republican Senator from Iowa Charles Grassley, who also sits on the Finance and Budget Committee.

Senator, good to see you. Thanks so much for joining us.

SEN. GRASSLEY: Thank you, Norah.

MS. O'DONNELL: I want to get to one of the big hearings you had today with the president's budget director in just a moment, but first I want to deal with this big spending bill that will be passed today. You're going to oppose it. What's the biggest problem with it?

SEN. GRASSLEY: I think the example is that the whole budget scheme, including this bill that's for the rest of this fiscal year and beyond this fiscal year, taxes too much, spends too much and, of course, borrows too much.

And an 8 percent increase -- I see Obama in his first year making exactly the same mistake that President Bush made in 2001, his first year: ramp up spending real big and then get into trouble, and then the last few years you have to clamp down and basically freeze. I would say it would be better for President Obama to learn from President Bush's mistakes and not ramp up this 8 percent increase in this bill that will probably pass this afternoon. And with all the earmarks in it -- you know, it's got over 8,000 earmarks in it are adding up to seven-and-seven-tenths billion dollars -- some people would call that pork. And it's just not the way to go when we have an economic recession.

MS. O'DONNELL: Senator, let's turn now to the budget battle that is looming. You had a key hearing up on Capitol Hill today with the president's budget director, Peter Orszag. And many people know the Finance Committee -- which you're the ranking Republican on -- is going to be the point place for health care reform, the $634 billion proposal.

I know you were questioning Orszag about what's going to be in this bill. I want to play what he had to say in response to some of your questions.

SEN. GRASSLEY: Sure.

PETER ORSZAG, DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET: (From videotape.) The administration has been very clear that we want a -- we put a significant downpayment on the table. But with regard to benefits and coverage, we want to leave everything on the table at this point to allow the process to play out. So you should not expect and you will not be receiving definitive answers from me on exactly what the administration does or does not favor on the benefits-and- coverage side of health reform.

MS. O'DONNELL: "Not going to receive definitive answers." How did that make you -- how did that make you react?

SEN. GRASSLEY: Well, there's good news and bad news. The bad news is we would like to have some answers for where the administration's coming from. But the good news is that the president is not going to make the same mistakes that President Clinton did in 1993, when he sent a program up here maybe a year late, and it didn't receive bipartisan support, and nothing got done.

If the president is willing to let Senator Baucus and I work together on a bipartisan plan, I believe that we can get a bipartisan plan. And that's assuming that the Democratic leadership, Pelosi and Reid, go along with what the president is proposing -- to let Congress do its work and do its work in a bipartisan way.

MS. O'DONNELL: Senator, can I ask you -- you know, part of this big, almost $4 trillion budget that the president put forward included, of course, this big effort, that $634 billion to reform health care.

I know you have pledged to try and get a bill out by July, along with the Democrats, work towards doing that. I have a question about how you pay for that, because part of the way the president in his budget said they would pay for it is by limiting the tax deductions for the wealthiest Americans. And I understand you guys don't like that up on the Hill, not just Republicans --

SEN. GRASSLEY: Yeah.

MS. O'DONNELL: -- but Democrats. So you keep going back on all these savings. How, then, are we going to pay for this reforming of health care?

SEN. GRASSLEY: Well, Senator Baucus, the chairman of my committee, would say that we need more savings elsewhere. That's going to be our responsibility to find those savings.

MS. O'DONNELL: Well, where? I mean, some people are saying they should cut back on some of the monies they give to big agribusiness, but I'm sure you're opposed to that. I mean, everybody up there on the Hill has an interest.

SEN. GRASSLEY: Well, when the president himself says that he wants to let people have their own insurance program that they have at work if they want to keep it, you know, that kind of puts emphasis upon private insurance, doesn't it? So what you said in your question detracts from that. So the president can't have it both ways.

Let me suggest that one of the bad things that does -- goes with this tax increase about taxing the wealthy is doing away with the deduction for charitable contributions. And that's a bad thing to do in a time of economic recession because a lot of charities are having a bad time filling the hole that a lot of people need help when we're in a recession and they're laid off.

MS. O'DONNELL: Senator, you really think rich people are going to stop giving money because of that deduction?

SEN. GRASSLEY: I believe -- listen, don't listen to Chuck Grassley on this. Listen to the endowments, the foundations, and the nonprofit organizations and the charities -- I mean, the churches, and you'll find out the answer is overwhelmingly that the tax incentive for giving is -- if it's not there, it's going to cut down on giving.

MS. O'DONNELL: Finally, Senator -- I just need a quick answer on this -- but are you Twittering now? Is that what I hear?

SEN. GRASSLEY: Well, you tweet when you twitter.

MS. O'DONNELL: (Laughs.)

SEN. GRASSLEY: And the -- and the -- and the answer is you can be one of my followers, and you can follow it on my Facebook.

MS. O'DONNELL: I tell you what, you can -- you can be one of my followers, too, Senator.

SEN. GRASSLEY: Okay. Well, we'll -- we will.

MS. O'DONNELL: Because I tweet, too. (Laughs.)

SEN. GRASSLEY: We will get -- and I'm going to meet with a bunch of Twitters in Iowa during the Easter recess as well. We're going to have a -- I guess you'd call it a "Tweet-in," would you? (Laughs.)

MS. O'DONNELL: A Tweet-in?

SEN. GRASSLEY: (Laughs.)

MS. O'DONNELL: Okay. (Laughs.)

SEN. GRASSLEY: Call it whatever you --

MS. O'DONNELL: Whatever you want.

SEN. GRASSLEY: Yeah.

MS. O'DONNELL: Senator, you're a good man. Thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

SEN. GRASSLEY: Thank you.

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