Fox New "Fox News Live" - Transcripts
Interview
Fox New "Fox News Live" - Transcripts
MR. JARRETT: Joining us now is an Obama backer, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar.
Senator, thanks very much for being with us.
SEN. KLOBUCHAR: Well, thank you. I enjoy being on.
MR. JARRETT: Since when is paying higher taxes a litmus test for patriotism?
SEN. KLOBUCHAR: Okay. Let's first of all talk about what the actual Obama-Biden plan is so that your viewers understand it. Ninety-five percent of the people in this country under Barack Obama's plan would get a tax break, middle class tax cut, $1,000. What they've been talking about doing is for just that top one percent, individuals making over $200,000, families making over $250,000, that their tax levels would be rolled back to where they were under the Clinton administration where we were much more prosperous and people were doing a lot better.
MR. JARRETT: A recent poll of Americans --
SEN. KLOBUCHAR: And they're talking about --
MR. JARRETT: Found that 80 percent of them are against wealth redistribution.
SEN. KLOBUCHAR: Well, let's be honest here. There is only -- and you know this on Fox as well as anyone. We have one pie and there's only so many ways that we can split this money, and what we're saying is for too long, the wealthiest while John McCain has been in Congress for 26 years, have been doing very well and getting better and better. John McCain's plan for the top .1 percent, they would get $500,000. So all Barack Obama is saying, look, for the top one percent who have been doing so well in this economy, they can pay a little more and that money will help for healthcare for the rest of us, for healthcare, for our gas crisis, for everything else.
Barack Obama, from the very beginning, has a plan going forward and John McCain; with all due respect, we haven't heard anything from him about regulating these markets except for the last 26 hours. Where has he been for the last 26 years?
MR. JARRETT: One of the things he said in just the last couple of hours is that he would fire the head of the SEC, Chris Cox. Would Barack Obama do the same?
SEN. KLOBUCHAR: Barack Obama would never have appointed or had that guy in there in the first place. Barack Obama would have put people into these agencies that would have done their jobs. Barack Obama talked to Paulson years ago and said I'm very concerned about what's going on with the subprime mortgage crisis. He was ahead of his time.
What we've seen and I'm on the Commerce Committee and I can tell you John McCain was chair for seven years, I've just been on there for a year and a half and nothing happened when toxic toys were coming on our shores except for the last year and a half. Nothing happened with increasing gas mileage standards when John McCain was there except for the last year and a half. So what they say, what is that they say in Texas, all hat, no cattle? MR. JARRETT: Yeah. SEN. KLOBUCHAR: That's what we're hearing from John McCain.
MR. JARRETT: They say a lot of stuff in Texas and not everybody takes seriously. Look, Obama has called for tax increases in the following categories: Income, Social Security, corporate, capital gains, dividends, health insurance, payroll, estate taxes. Wouldn't increasing taxes at this point in time only make the economy worse?
SEN. KLOBUCHAR: Again, I will make clear and people can check this on Web sites. What Barack Obama has been talking about is middle class tax cuts and the only tax increases he's talking about is for those people making over $250,000 a year. John McCain has tilted the other way. A lot of middle class taxpayers would only get 100 some dollars out of his plan.
I think it's a very clear difference, and when we want to get this economy going again, we need to have someone who has got a plan to move forward and that's what Barack Obama has and that's why I'm supporting him.
MR. JARRETT: Senator Amy Klobuchar, thank you so much for being with us today.
SEN. KLOBUCHAR: It's great to be on. Anytime. Thank you.
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