Van Hollen: Budget Conversation Must Include Ending Tax Earmarks and Special Interest Subsidies

Interview

Today on Fox's America's Newsroom, Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen, Ranking Member on the House Budget Committee, discussed the short-sightedness of House Republicans' obsession with slashing 12 percent of the budget. He pointed out that we need an adult conversation on the budget that must include ending tax earmarks and special interest subsidies. The full text of the interview is below, and you can watch the video here:

Bill Hemmer: Democrat Chris Van Hollen, ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee. Good morning to you and thanks for coming back.

Congressman Chris Van Hollen: Good morning, Bill. Good to be with you.

Hemmer: Does anything move this process forward without the President's involvement?

Van Hollen: Well, at the end of the day you've got to have the White House involved, just like you need both the House and the Senate involved, to get things done. The President has made clear that the bill that passed the House some time ago, the House Republican bill, is unacceptable. It would do too much damage to the economy in the immediate term. But you're right, Bill. To resolve this, we need everybody at the table.

Hemmer: Are you satisfied with President Obama's involvement?

Van Hollen: Well, I am satisfied, but I do think that between now and the end of the next three week period the White House will have to pick up the pace of its involvement.

Hemmer: Do you think that pace has been quick enough? Because, in your first answer, you said that his involvement is critical. I understand that, I get it. But if you want to get this resolved and stop putting the band-aid on every seven to 14 days, well, you bring in the big hitter, don't you?

Van Hollen: Well, you do. Look, the Vice President has been involved. I think he will step up his participation. I think people will really focus here. You know, nobody wants to keep this going two weeks, three weeks at a time. I mean, that is no way to run a railroad, let alone run a government. And we need to come together now to come up with a plan between now and the end of this fiscal year, end of September, so that we can focus on putting together the budget for 2012 and stop focusing on just this really tiny slice. We are dealing with 12 percent of the budget. We need to be looking much more broadly.

Hemmer: Your point's well taken. And just to follow up on that. Senator Marco Rubio, Republican out of Florida, wrote this -- if every Member of Congress goes home after another band-aid is put on, he says, "every Senator and Representative should feel ashamed if they have to go home again, look their constituents in the eye, and explain why nothing is being done about our debt crisis." What do you think about that? Is he on point?

Van Hollen: Well, there's no doubt that we have to get together and deal with the debt crisis and the deficit crisis, and that's going to require what people have said is an adult conversation. Rather than this obsession on just 12 percent of the budget, we need to look more broadly and we need to look at, frankly, the tax earmarks. The President's Bipartisan Fiscal Commission said you have got to begin looking at some of the tax earmarks, for example -- and the President has put this on the table, we wish our Republicans colleagues would join him on this issue -- when you've got oil company profits going through the roof, there is no reason to be providing a taxpayer windfall to the oil companies. I mean, that makes absolutely no sense at all.

Hemmer: So you want to go ahead and raise taxes? How do you think that would go over with the Republican majority in the House?

Van Hollen: That's about taking away a special interest benefit for the oil and gas companies to have absolutely no impact on prices. Right now, the oil companies are reaping in big profits. And so the question is this, Bill -- why should we cut education? Why should we cut investments in our future and keep off the table these special interest tax earmarks? That makes no sense either. So let's broaden the conversation.

Hemmer: That's the debate that continues. I'm out of time, but we're going to be watching it today to see whether or not we get a band-aid or a permanent solution. Chris Van Hollen, thank you, the Democrat out of Maryland, for coming on today. We'll talk again.

Van Hollen: Thank you.

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