Ben Nelson on Buchanan and Press

PRESS: OK, Natalie. We'll pick it up there on the hot issue of tax cuts. Senator Ben Nelson, who is a Democrat from Nebraska, just got back from a trip to Asia with Senate Majority leader Bill Frist. He's one of the senators who indicated, well, he might be open to the president's tax cut for 19 -- for 2003. And now we understand maybe the White House tried a little too hard to get his vote. He joins us now by satellite. Hey, Senator, good evening. Thanks for joining us.

SEN. BEN NELSON, (D-NE), ARMED SERVICES CMTE.: Good evening Bill, good evening Pat.

BUCHANAN: Good evening, Senator.

PRESS: So let me ask you first of all, Senator, let's get right to the Pressure tactics. From what we understand, there were phone calls placed to you by business leaders in Nebraska who had been asked to do so by the White House, senior citizens groups even ran full-page ads in the newspapers out there saying call this guy, make sure we can get our tax cut -- there's one of the ads -- don't take our dividends away. Do you think maybe that was just a little too much arm twisting engineered by the White House?

NELSON: Well, I think -- I said it before and I really think it's true that they're better at working on you than they are working with you. And the ad by seniors, they should be very careful what they ask for because the seniors are saying they'd like to get a $983 tax return -- or tax savings so that would certainly argue toward having a $1,000 limitation. In other words, there wouldn't be any tax on the first $1,000 worth of dividends and that would take care of that ad. So I made it very clear, I want to support a tax cut that the contents will provide stimulus. That's what we really ought to be talking about. We're stuck on talking about a number. I haven't signed on to a number 350 or less. I'm prepared to take a look at any number. PRESS: Well let me ask you this. I hate to stick it to a number, but that's what everybody is talking about. The Senate says 350 billion. That's what Senator Chuck Grassley said and no more. Are you open to voting for -- would you vote for a tax cut higher than $350 billion?

NELSON: I've said that I would, but I think it's academic because you're not going to get senators Snowe or -- and Voinovich to change their positions as near as I can tell. That means that 350 may be the number.

BUCHANAN: Senator Nelson, Pat Buchanan here. If they can get good Democrats like Senator Nelson to go along they may not need Snowe and Voinovich. But Senator let me ask you this, look, I've been in the White House. I know how those phone calls work and a lot of them are stupid and they're petty, they're nonsensical. They ought to not make them.

But look, we had a 1.6 percent growth this first quarter. This economy needs a dramatic stimulus if we're going to create jobs. I cannot believe that Senator Nelson would let his vote on a matter that affects the economy of this country be influenced by some foolish tactics by the political shop at the White House.

NELSON: Oh, no, neither positively nor negatively. I just hope that they'll get into a position where they can accept yes for answer.

BUCHANAN: All right, Senator, but look, you know your party lost the Senate last year. For one reason, it was perceived, rightly or wrongly, that the Democratic Party was obstructionist. They held all of those judges up in the committee. They wouldn't let any vote on them. If the president, who has won this war and done a dramatic job, is out there fighting for a tax cut and he's able to bring back from the conference say $500 billion and he calls you up and says, look, I want to apologize for what Rhodes' (ph) gang did, would you get aboard? What would you say?

NELSON: Well I want to know what the contents are.

BUCHANAN: Sure.

NELSON: I want to make sure the stimulus is such that it will grow the economy faster than it grows the deficit.

BUCHANAN: But you don't rule it out...

NELSON: That's...

BUCHANAN: But you don't...

PRESS: OK.

BUCHANAN: ... rule out a $500 billion tax cut?

NELSON: Oh no, I've never ruled it out. As a matter of fact, I've said that the actual number is less important than the contents. So if we can have a dividend exclusion in the rest of the package including state relief for many of the states who are suffering fiscal challenges right now, I'm open to that. I think it doesn't make a lot of sense to cut taxes in Washington, ignore the fact that in Des Moines and Lincoln and state capitals they're raising taxes. I think we ought to provide some fiscal relief for many of the programs that the federal government has already put on the states - Medicaid, a few other programs.

PRESS: Senator -- all right, Senator, I want to move on while we've got you about your trip to Asia -- a couple of points over there. First of all, you were in China just at the time this whole news came out about the SARS outbreak and the fact that the Chinese were deliberately covering up the extent of the illness over there. Did you meet with the Chinese leaders over SARS and what did you tell them?

NELSON: Well, we did meet with them. As a matter of fact, on our way over there from Taiwan, they fired the Beijing mayor and they also fired the minister of health. We met with the new president, Hu Jintao, as well as a number of other individuals and leaders including the interim or acting minister of health. We expressed a lot of concern about the fact that they hadn't come clean up until recently and we urged them to do so.

(CROSSTALK)

NELSON: My opinion...

(CROSSTALK)

NELSON: ... the new president wants them to do that.

PRESS: OK. Are you convinced, Senator, that they're doing everything they can to prevent the spread of the SARS outside of China and particularly from people who might travel here to the United States?

NELSON: Well, I don't know what more they can do than what they've recently done. What they didn't do in the beginning was tell us the true facts about the disease. It was almost a matter of denial. It doesn't seem that they're there now. The president of China, Hu Jintao, said that they want to do everything that they can to cooperate and to deal with this issue. My sense is that he was sincere and they've begun to take the action. I hope they continue to be supportive of every action to support...

BUCHANAN: Senator...

NELSON: ... giving the information out and quarantining as they're doing.

BUCHANAN: Senator, we're talking about obstructionism. Why is your party denying a vote on the floor to some of the outstanding individuals the president of the United States? Mr. Estrada is magna cum laude, he's a law review. He clerked at the Supreme Courts, solicitor general. Why is your party denying the president a vote on federal appellate judges by the use of the filibuster tactic and is this not the very obstructionism that cost your party the Senate?

NELSON: Well, I'll answer your question if I can make clear my position. I had Mr. Estrada come in and I spent 45 minutes with him, and I'm prepared to vote for him. And I have not voted -- I voted for cloture. I'm not supporting a filibuster on Mr. Estrada. The problem is that there's information, there are writings that he's been involved with that others would like to see, and so, they feel that this is an inappropriate vote for them right now because they don't feel that he has come clean with his true positions on many of the legal issues.

I feel differently about it. I'm convinced in my own mind that he will not be a judicial activist. Wile governor, I ended up appointing about 45 percent of the judges in Nebraska. May not be good at it, but I've had some experience. So what I have done is bring Mr. Estrada in to convince myself that whether he would be, in my opinion, the judicial activist or not.

PRESS: All right. Senator Nelson, you're good to spend time with us this evening. Come back again on BUCHANAN & PRESS.

NELSON: My pleasure.

PRESS: Senator...

BUCHANAN: Thank you.

PRESS: ... Ben Nelson.

BUCHANAN: Thank you Senator.

NELSON: Thank you.