Press Conference With House Minority Leader John Boehner; and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
Press Conference
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REP. BOEHNER: Well, good afternoon, everyone. President-elect Obama once again today highlighted the very real problems that American families and small businesses are having.
Earlier this week, Senator McConnell and I had the opportunity to meet with President-elect Obama and expressed our willingness to work with him to address these very real problems. He did agree that tax relief for small businesses and families will be a major part of the package that he sends to us. And he also made clear that he does expect that the kind of transparency and accountability that's necessary to put this package together is important if we're going to convince the American people that this package is necessary and will help solve the problems that they face.
As you all know, yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office announced the deficit for this fiscal year, $1.2 trillion. That does not include any money that would be spent on this economic rescue package. It does not include money for the war supplemental for this year or any other types of emergency spending.
And I think it's very important, as we go ahead, that we find the right balance. Yes, our economy needs help. But at the end of the day, how much debt are we going to pile on future generations? And so striking that right balance, I think, is critical to the success of this package and these -- this negotiation.
I believe that Senator McConnell and I will continue to work with the president-elect to try to get a package that will help resolve the problems that the American people are facing. And I look forward to seeing that plan, the details of that plan, and a willingness of our colleagues on the Democrat side of the aisle to work with us to draft a plan that can pass in a bipartisan fashion.
SEN. MCCONNELL: Had an opportunity yesterday -- Republican senators did -- to meet with several well-known economists who would generally be considered more conservative. Each of them agreed with the president, the incoming president, that we need to do a stimulus package.
Obviously, the issue is how big and what form.
As Leader Boehner has indicated, a $1.2-trillion deficit is an eye-popping number. And that's what we're confronting for this year with our regular annual appropriations process, not to mention all of these additional items that we're talking about.
So we are fully prepared in the Senate -- Republicans in the Senate -- to work with the administration to try to determine, with them, how big and what the content ought to be.
It's clear to me from listening to the president, the new president, that he wants to include Republican ideas. And among them, that I've laid out in the last few days, are reducing the middle-class tax rate. He -- he, the new president -- today again underscored that there will be a significant tax component. It's still a little unclear as to what it'll look like. I think the quickest way to get money in the hands of people who can spend it would be to reduce the middle-class tax rate, which is currently 25 percent, for example, down to 10.
Further, given this eye-popping deficit number that we're looking at, I think we ought to give serious consideration to making the assistance to the states a loan instead of a grant. We know there are at least two states that have indicated they don't need the money, and there may be others who don't. Given the kind of deficit figures that we're looking at here, it hardly makes sense to provide money to states that don't need it.
And for those states that say they do, which I suspect will be most of them, the question is, what will make them spend it wisely? We're clearly not interested in seeing money spent on (mob ?) museums and waterslides. The question is, how will the money be spent?
I think the way to make sure it's spent judiciously is to make it a loan. And we could provide the same kind of terms to the states that we provided to the financial institutions in the financial rescue package in October, 5 percent over five years, 9 percent beyond that.
The final point I would make, and I've discussed with Chairman Obey over in the House this matter as well, we do have nine appropriation bills that have already been vetted on a bipartisan basis that could be taken up and passed. They wouldn't be completely without controversy, but they've already got bipartisan buy-in. And the annual appropriation bill does spend money more wisely than a continuing resolution, which is what we're under at the moment.
So we're open to any suggestions, and we intend to work with the new president and the new expanded majority to try to get this right. And all of that process, of course, is beginning to unfold.
Yeah, John.
Q Senator McConnell, what's your sense based on what you've heard so far? I mean, the price tag that's been put out there is somewhere, about $800 billion. The president-elect has said that ultimately he would like to get this done by the middle of February and with 80 votes in the U.S. Senate. Does that sound within the realm of possibility?
SEN. MCCONNELL: Well, given the deficit numbers, it really ought not to be a trillion-dollar spending bill. I think we can start by saying that.
Second, in terms of the timing of it, I think, we could before the February recess potentially deal with this in a relatively normal way. That is, with oversight hearings, opportunities for Republicans, in both the House and Senate, to offer amendments.
All of that could be accomplished within a month. And that seems, to me, something we ought to work toward. We agree that it ought to be done relatively soon but not, you know, overnight with no input and no transparency.
John.
(Cross talk.)
REP. BOEHNER: Well, let me just add to the last point that Senator McConnell made. And that is the issue of regular order.
We paid a heavy price for how the financial rescue package was dealt with, back in late-September, because it was negotiated at a leadership level. It was run through the House and Senate rather quickly. And as a result, the kind of information that Americans would get, about the severity of the problem, the potential options for helping fix the problem; all of that discussion, for the American people, was lost.
And the president-elect, the other day, agreed with me that taking this through a regular order was necessary, so that Americans understand more clearly the challenge that we face, both to the economic crisis that we have and to the deficit size that we have, as we begin to craft this. And so it's very important we get something like regular order, so that more Americans have a better grasp and understanding of what it is we're doing.
(Cross talk.)
Q Do you feel that the economy is as sick as President-elect Obama laid out, in his speech this morning? He said, it's devastating, that there's incredible urgency to get something done.
Do you see it as dire? And also can you put -- you said a trillion is too much. But what is the right size package?
REP. BOEHNER: I do believe that our economy is facing a crisis. And I do believe that American families and small businesses are under an awful lot of stress and anxiety.
And I do believe that Washington has to act, but we have to act in a responsible way. What the ultimate size of this package is, I don't know that any of us can determine this -- except, given the deficit issues that we're facing, we've got to address the economic crisis, but we also have to address just how much debt we're going to build up. And we can't -- we can't do one without the other.
And so as we're -- we're dealing with the help for our economy, we also need to begin to put down markers or lay out a path for how we're going to control spending so that the deficit doesn't go out of control.
SEN. MCCONNELL: Let me -- let me just add -- I don't often quote the speaker, but the speaker said with reference to this issue last year that these kinds of packages ought to be timely, targeted and temporary.
So I think what Leader Boehner and I are saying here, in part, is that let's don't use the obvious need to pass a stimulus package as a way to make the problem worse.
A good example of how you could make the problem worse would be to take this opportunity and turn it into a chance to take this proposal and turn it into an opportunity to make long-term, systemic spending changes that exacerbate the problem. I mean, we started off here talking about this year's deficit, $1.2 trillion. The last thing we ought to do in this package is make long-term, systemic changes that make the spending problem even worse.
So that's why, yes, we want to act quickly -- and I think a month or so is probably a reasonable definition of "quick" around here. But we don't want to make big mistakes that exacerbate the problem we already have, which is a dramatic, eye-popping deficit.
Q Do you think that the Republicans are actually being listened to? Or are they being marginalized, in your opinion?
SEN. MCCONNELL: No, I think we are being listened to. I'm pleased with what the new president's had to say so far. I don't have any complaints about the communication at this stage.
But we'll see what the final package the administration recommends looks like. That'll be an indication of whether we're being listened to. There's some evidence that we are. And then we'll see what it is at the end of the process.
I would remind you all -- I've said this repeatedly, I'm going to say it again today -- Republican senators represent 50 percent of the American population.
We expect to be a part of the process and we will be a part of the process. I think the new president respects that request of ours and thinks it's reasonable.
Q Senator McConnell, given the size of the deficit and the size of the package that's coming forward, what impact do you think that will have on Senator Obama -- President-elect Obama's health care proposal? Is there any possibility in this for major health care reform that might include something like universal health coverage?
SEN. MCCONNELL: Well, look, we have to take first things first. And I'm sure that he shares the disappointment we all have that we're having to deal with this issue right now. I mean, we all know that the unfunded liabilities that we have for future generations of Americans in Social Security and Medicare are enormous. And the kind of economic situation we face right now does, it strike me, inhibit our ability to deal with some of these long-term problems that we have, not to mention the deficit. And all of this is related to the long-term deficit problem we have.
Q Senator McConnell, you had some sort of long-term -- (off mike). Could you elaborate on what some of the (those systems ?) are that you heard about?
And for Mr. Boehner, do you --
SEN. MCCONNELL: No, because we haven't seen the package yet. But if the package ends up not being timely, temporary and targeted, but rather being used in a different way, I think that should, you know, raise alarm bells for a lot of people, that this is becoming something other than a stimulus package and more related to long-term spending. And I think that's something we need to be very careful about.
(Cross talk.)
Q (Off mike) -- 25 percent, bring it down to 10 temporarily?
SEN. MCCONNELL: Yes, temporarily.
Q (Off mike) -- you'd like to see to control spending? Is there anything that you have in mind for that kind of --
SEN. MCCONNELL: No, I don't have anything specific in mind. But I think the president-elect today in his remarks made clear that while help for our economy is necessary at this point, that we have to be concerned about the deficit.
You know, actions speak louder than words. And I do think that as we develop this and we look through the balance of this year, we begin to lay out how are we going to restore fiscal health to our budget, because you start to think about 800 (billion dollar) or a trillion dollar package on top of the deficit that we already have -- you're adding an awful lot of weight to the debt.
And at the end of the day, it's -- those of us who are -- that are here aren't going to pay that debt. It's going to be our kids and their kids. And we can't -- we can't -- we can't bury them under the debt, and we can't buy prosperity with more and more government spending.
Q Senator McConnell, you've talked a lot about --
SEN. MCCONNELL: I'm told we have time for one more.
Dana (sp).
Q You've talked a lot about loans, not grants, to the states. If that is not part of the package ultimately, would you not be able to support it?
SEN. MCCONNELL: I'm not going to answer any hypotheticals. I think the -- our response to this package, at the end, is going to depend on what it looks like.
That's one idea that I've laid out that I think makes sense. I imagine it wouldn't be wildly applauded by the states. I mean, I can't imagine that they wouldn't prefer to have the money without any responsibility to pay it back. But we'll have to see what the overall package looks like in the end.
Thanks a lot, everybody.
Q Thank you.
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