MSNBC "Daily Rundown" - Transcript
Statement
Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen, Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee, today appeared on MSNBC's Daily Rundown to discuss the Department of Labor's June jobs report and the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations. You can watch the interview here and the transcript is below.
CHUCK TODD, MSNBC: With me now, Maryland Democratic Congressman Chris Van Hollen, Ranking Member on the Budget Committee, very close to the leadership, member of the leadership last cycle. Congressman, let me start with what you understand that is, quote, on the table in the $4 trillion grand bargain here. What part of Social Security is on the table, or is it sort of off to the side?
REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN: Right, before I get to that, could I just say that the disappointing jobs numbers this morning underscore what a lot of us have been saying, which is that, even as we work to come up with a plan to reduce the deficit over the next ten years, we do nothing in the short term to harm the economy. And deep, immediate cuts would do just that. So, first, do no harm, principle number one. With respect to the grand bargain, we've said all along, the President said all along, you need balance. You need to make sure you have revenue - closing corporate loop holes, asking folks at the high end of the income scale to pay more. We've said with respect to Social Security, we support the idea of strengthening Social Security on its own track, on its own merits, just like Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan did many years ago. And there are ways to do that --
TODD: When it changes, you want to make sure it's put back into Social Security. So you're basically saying, fine, we may tinker with COLA, but what it is, it's going back into --
VAN HOLLEN: I'm not saying we're going to tinker with COLA, but I am saying that when you're dealing with Social Security, yes, it should extend the life of Social Security. Right now Social Security is fully solvent until 2037. What we should not be doing is trying to balance the rest of the budget on the backs of Social Security beneficiaries. What we could do is work to strengthen Social Security on its own track and there may be ways to dedicate more revenue to Social Security as part of any discussion and further strengthen the solvency of Social Security.
TODD: All right. What is too much for Democrats? It looks like -- we were discussing a bit of the simple math here, there's complicated math, when we talk about COLAs and Social Security, and then there's simple math -- 218. We know there are not 218 Republicans for a deal. Boehner knows that. The Republicans are conceding that. The question is what's his comfort level and how many Republicans is he willing to lose and then are there enough Democrats to fill in the gap? What do you say?
VAN HOLLEN: Right. The key question there, Chuck, is whether there's a sense of fairness and balance. Again, whether folks at the high end of the income scale are beginning to contribute going back to the rates that we saw during the Clinton Administration, in a time when the economy was booming. Democrats are prepared to make hard choices. At George Washington University the President put on the table a plan that did over $4 trillion in savings over a 12-year period, with cuts on the domestic discretionary side but also recognizing that we have to deal with the defense side of the equation. We had a hearing in the Budget Committee yesterday which was somewhat promising because, on a bipartisan basis, people recognized there are savings to be made on the Pentagon side of the equation. So, tough decisions will be made. We have offered ways to strengthen Medicare, for example, by giving Medicare the same kind of bargaining rights that the Veterans Administration has when it comes to prescription drugs, things like that.
TODD: Now when it comes to this tax deal, it seems the idea of, quote, raising revenue would come under the guise of lowering tax rates but eliminating some deductions and potentially popular ones. Maybe lowering the percentage of deductions when it comes to charitable giving, lowering the amount you can deduct on a home. Is that going to be -- will you be comfortable with something like that, that while it will lower rates to appease some Republicans, at the same time it's going to get rid of popular deductions?
VAN HOLLEN: You have to look at any tax reform measure on its own merits.
TODD: That's where we're headed with tax reform. Rates are going to be changed and lowered, deductions eliminated, right?
VAN HOLLEN: That's the overall concept put forth in the bipartisan commission report.
TODD: Right.
VAN HOLLEN: And this has been reported. One of the proposals we put forward in the context of these talks was the idea that folks at the higher income level, so over $500,000, would begin to see a phase-out of their deductions. That does generate a good amount of income over a period of time, when you couple that with plugging corporate loop holes, getting rid of oil and gas subsidies, that kind of thing, you can generate a fair amount of income. So we would say that you want to begin that process with folks at the very high income level.
TODD: Are you more optimistic for the $4 trillion deal or the $2.5 trillion deal?
VAN HOLLEN: I think we all would like to see -- I should say not all. I would like to see and the President and others would like to see a $4 trillion deal. It would send a very important message that the United States is serious about getting its long-term fiscal situation under control --
TODD: You know that takes Medicare off the table as a political weapon probably.
VAN HOLLEN: Well, look, we have been very clear, Chuck, we are not going to accept anything remotely like the Republican proposal that would gut Medicare, which would say to seniors, we're going to transfer all these additional costs to you or you're going to have your benefits whacked. No chance, not anywhere, are we talking about anything like that.
TODD: Congressman Chris Van Hollen involved in all of these things.
VAN HOLLEN: Good to be with you, Chuck.
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