MSNBC Interview - Transcript

Interview

MSNBC Interview - Transcript

MSNBC NEWS INTERVIEW WITH REP. CYNTHIA LUMMIS (R-WY)
SUBJECT: THE REPUBLICAN PARTY OPPOSITION TO THE ECONOMIC STIMULUS PACKAGE INTERVIEWERS: CONTESSA BREWER AND CARLOS WATSON

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MS. BREWER: Right now on Capitol Hill, Republican Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming.

I know that you did not support the stimulus. You used to be the treasurer of Wyoming. You know finance. So don't you think stopping the economy's collapse will take big action?

REP. LUMMIS: Oh, if I believed that this were stopping the economic collapse, then I would have supported it. But quite frankly, the stimulus package did not even meet the president's own standards of being timely, temporary and targeted.

It was a shotgun approach. It included growing government and not just creating jobs with infrastructure and tax relief, but rather a massive plan to increase the size of government. That's not the answer. The American people are hurting. We know that. But the answer is to give the American people more of their own money, so they can make decisions.

MR. WATSON: So Representative Lummis, we've heard a lot from Republicans about tax cuts, but if you were to lay out -- again, you're someone with a pretty deep financial background. If you were to lay out a fiscal recovery plan, talk to us about the two or three significant items we would see in a Lummis budget.

REP. LUMMIS: Well, it would definitely include either frozen spending or cuts in non-military, non-veteran discretionary spending. It would include tax breaks, so the American people could keep more of their money in their own pockets and make their own decisions about it. And it would include spending on infrastructure.

I sponsored -- co-sponsored a bill in the House that would have cost $315 billion less and created more jobs in my home state of Wyoming and other states as well. So we offered an alternative that was not considered, not debated, not marked up, did not go to committee. And as a consequence, we're seeing markets continue to slide, because of a lack of confidence.

MS. BREWER: But Congresswoman, you just said that your priorities for spending: infrastructure spending and tax breaks. Those are things that President Obama has included.

REP. LUMMIS: Those were things that President Obama said he prioritized. Nevertheless, cuts were made in the amount of money that would stay in the American people's pockets, cuts were made in the amount of money that would be spent on infrastructure like roads and bridges, in order to grow more government. And growing the federal government does not stimulate the economy.

MS. BREWER: Cuts in infrastructure in what way?

REP. LUMMIS: They reduced, between the House and the Senate bill, the amount of money that would be spent on roads and bridges. That was a significant departure from the bill as we saw it initially.

MR. WATSON: Representative Lummis, I finally want to go to energy. Obviously, Wyoming -- that's a big issue there. And the president is proposing major energy legislation. We know that the country spends almost a trillion dollars on energy, much of it going overseas and accounting for a lot of our trade deficit.

President Obama is trying to move us towards alternative energy sources, but you're opposing it. Explain why that makes sense in a world in which that's been part of our economic troubles.

REP. LUMMIS: Oh, well, cap-and-trade legislation, as proposed in the Obama budget for next year, would increase taxes on people who consume energy by $646 billion. So everyone in this country who uses electricity of any kind will be paying that bill. That is what increases the burden on the American people and makes it harder for our economy to recover.

Furthermore, there are impediments to drilling and producing energy in America which will push more of our money off-seas to offshore sources of oil and gas.

MS. BREWER: And Congresswoman Lummis, I just have to say, as I'm thanking you, nice necklace. Apparently -- I'm getting messages that she and I are wearing, for all intents and purposes, the same necklace.

MR. WATSON: Congresswoman Lummis, you know we're doing a lot of twittering and tweeting these days.

REP. LUMMIS: Yes.

MR. WATSON: And so Contessa's got messages that compliment you not only on what you shared substantively today, but on the necklace, so --

REP. LUMMIS: (Laughs.) Well, thank you, Contessa.

MS. BREWER: Well, and thanks to the people who are watching so closely and pointed it out.

Congresswoman Lummis, thanks so much. Appreciate your time.

REP. LUMMIS: Thank you both.

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