MSNBC "Interview With Senator Ron Wyden" - 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.

MS. MITCHELL: And two senators who want to take the president's executive pay plan one step further, they want the execs who took those bonuses after the bailouts to hand back the money or face a 35 percent tax on it.

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon is one of those senators. He joins us now.

Senator, thank you for joining us, I know it's a busy day up there. You're also on the Intelligence Committee. You're going to be questioning Leon Panetta, the CIA nominee as well. So let's talk to you about both things. First of all, the pay accountability issue. You don't think the president's proposals go far enough. What about the fact that despite the pay caps, the president's proposal lets these executives take stock and other kinds of benefits, which could help them despite the fact that they are taking money from TARP companies.

SEN. WYDEN: I think the president's proposal moves in the right direction, but this $18 billion worth of bonuses here a few weeks ago, I just think it's fundamentally wrong. These institutions got billions and billions of dollars from the taxpayers and it seems to, Senator Olympia Snowe and myself, that it's just a question of basic fairness. They shouldn't be handing out these bonuses when the taxpayers keep shoveling them additional money, and it seems to me that if these institutions keep doing this or fight our amendment, they're just going to undermine the confidence, we need to get our economy back on track.

MS. MITCHELL: Now, USA Today had a contrary position today, let me just share that with you. They said that by limiting annual pay to $500,000 and dishing out additional pay in restricted stock that can't be cashed in until the bailout money is paid back, a host of unintended consequences may result, ranging from a brain drain of top talent to a potentially less generous approach to paying employees at other financial firms.

What about that?

SEN. WYDEN: I don't see that under the Obama proposal, frankly, there are a lot of people in this country who want to get back to work and they're certainly willing to do it at those kinds of wages. But the bottom line is that the president and those of us in the United States Senate want economic policies that give everybody the chance to get ahead. That's why, for example, we've been talking on this show about the stimulus legislation. We joined with the Republicans to get middle class folks relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax. That is a crushing tax, Andrea. That's the killer tax for middle class families.

So we want policies where everybody has a chance to get ahead, and certainly, with those wages that President Obama was talking about, I think there are going to be a lot of people in this country anxious to go to those institutions and work.

MS. MITCHELL: Senator, let me turn to the Leon Panetta confirmation hearings. You're going to be asking, we understand, about declassifying the interrogation data, what was done, who it was done to. What would be the purpose of this? And is there any downside in terms of foreign policy or in terms of what the bad guys may learn about what we do?

SEN. WYDEN: I feel very strongly, Andrea, about protecting what's known as operations and methods, the sensitive ways that our courageous leaders are out there collecting intelligence, but a lot of these documents are classified, not because of national security, but because of political security and I think in a lot of these areas, we need to protect our sources, but we need to find out how we got into these programs, whether they're effective and how to make practical changes for the future.

I think President Obama is striking a good balance now between giving us the tools to fight terrorism ferociously and protect our values, and I think Leon Panetta will show us this afternoon that he's committed to that balance.

MS. MITCHELL: What about the financial issues that some of the Republicans have raised? Are you satisfied with his disclosures? Questions have been raised about speaking fees, fees from Merrill Lynch, from Wachovia? Do you see any problem in the data that has been released overnight?

SEN. WYDEN: I want to have an opportunity for Mr. Panetta to answer those questions, but I will tell you having known him for many years, I think this is an individual of complete integrity, unimpeachable character and I think after the country has a chance to watch this afternoon and we don't have many intelligence committee hearings in the open, they're going to say this is the kind of person we need for dangerous times.

MS. MITCHELL: All right. Senator Wyden, thank you very much and we'll watch you and your colleagues asking questions of Leon Panetta when we carry that live later this afternoon.

SEN. WYDEN: Thank you, Andrea. Thanks.

Source