NBC "Meet The Press" - Transcript

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

MR. GREGORY: Good morning. The president and his family are on day four of their 10-day vacation. But before leaving for Martha's Vineyard, the president crisscrossed the country in campaign mode, making the case for Democratic candidates in some tough races this November. Here with us now, the man hoping to become the new majority leader in the Senate, the current minority leader, the leader of the Republicans, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Leader McConnell, welcome back to MEET THE PRESS.

SEN. MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): Good morning.

MR. GREGORY: We will talk politics, but I also want to talk about the controversy surrounding plans to build a mosque in a community center in Lower Manhattan near the site of Ground Zero. Here is Time magazine, out on newsstands now, with the cover, "Is America Islamophobic? What the anti-mosque uproar tells us about how the U.S. regards Muslims." We know it is their right to build a community center and a mosque near Ground Zero. My question for you is, is it the wise thing to do?

SEN. McCONNELL: Well, obviously this is not about freedom of religion in America. Typically, these kinds of decisions are made by local officials. What's been different about this one is you have the president of the United States weighing in on this issue on--actually on each side of the issue within 24 hours, which has helped stimulate a great national debate, not about freedom of religion, about--but about the appropriateness of the location.

MR. GREGORY: What is your view about whether it should be built?

SEN. McCONNELL: Well, ultimately that's going to be decided by the people of New York. But I think we--because of the, the nature of the attack on 9/11, a lot of people, not just in New York, but around the country, have strong views about this. And I hope the people of New York who can actually make the decision will take into account public opinion, not only locally, but around the country, in making a final decision on the location of this facility.

MR. GREGORY: Well, that would suggest you think it should be moved, because public opinion is squarely against it.

SEN. McCONNELL: Well, I would suggest that, what I said a minute ago, the local officials, in the end, are going to make this decision. It's a symbol to a lot of Americans because of the 9/11 attack. Governor Paterson, I note, is weighing in and trying to work something out. I hope they'll weigh public opinion in the United States in making a final decision about the location of this center.

MR. GREGORY: Do you think the president appropriately stepped in to this debate? Was that leadership?

SEN. McCONNELL: Well, it certainly made it a much bigger issue. It was already a developing issue, but it made it a much bigger issue when the president of the United States decides to weigh in on a local, basically, zoning decision made--or site selection decision made by local officials in most communities in America.

MR. GREGORY: But, Senator, this is about more than a local zoning decision. I mean, President Bush went out of his way after 9/11 to talk about the way the West, the way America should relate to the, the Muslim world. This is about the wounds of 9/11; it's not simply about a development project. Don't you think it requires Republican leaders like yourself to be the faces of leadership on this, and not the likes of Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin?

SEN. McCONNELL: Look, I mean, the president's been ignoring public opinion all year long on a variety of things. People were not in favor of the stimulus bill, they were not in favor of the healthcare bill, they're certainly not in favor of the spending, the debt, the Washington takeovers, and they're not in favor of the tax increases that they have in mind in September. I think one of the reasons the president's approval rating is so low now is that he doesn't pay a whole lot of attention to public opinion.

MR. GREGORY: Let me move on to something that seems to be related to this and has gotten a lot of attention this week, and this is the poll about the president's own faith from the Pew Research Center. Eighteen percent of those polled believe that the president is a Muslim. Among Republicans, this is striking, 31 percent believe he's a Muslim. Of course, he's not. Why do you think these views prevail?

SEN. McCONNELL: Well, look, I think the faith that most Americans are questioning is the president's faith in the government to generate jobs. We've had an 18-month effort here on the part of this administration to prime the pump, borrow money, spend money hiring new federal government employees, sending money down to states so they don't have to lay off state employees. People are looking around and saying, "Where's the job?"

MR. GREGORY: Right.

SEN. McCONNELL: The president's faith in the government to stimulate the economy is what people are questioning.

MR. GREGORY: That, that, that's certainly a side step to, to this particular question. Again...

SEN. McCONNELL: Well, no, I--the--I--the president...

MR. GREGORY: ...as a leader of the country, sir, as one of the most powerful Republicans in the country, do you think you have an obligation to say to 34 percent of Republicans in the country--rather, 31 percent who believe the president of the United States is a Muslim? That's misinformation.

SEN. McCONNELL: The president says he's a--the president says he's a Christian, I take him at his word. I don't think that's in dispute.

MR. GREGORY: And do you think--how, how do you think it comes to be that this kind of misinformation gets spread around and prevails?

SEN. McCONNELL: I have no idea, but I take the president at his word.

MR. GREGORY: Let's move on to some domestic matters. Here was the headline in a Washington Post editorial on Friday with regard to policy issues: "With the tax vote, Republicans fail in their attempt to appear fiscally responsible." You and other Republicans would like to see the Bush-era tax cuts extended. The president, of course, wants to repeal them except for those on the wealthiest Americans; in other words, those taxes would go up. What are you prepared to do to pay for an extension of tax cuts for everybody?

SEN. McCONNELL: This has been tax law in, in America for almost 10 years now, existing tax law. What the administration is proposing, and the majorities in the House and Senate, is to raise taxes on the top 2 brackets, which will affect 50 percent of small business income and in--and impact 25 percent of the work force. For example, if you look at last--the last quarter of last year, 84 percent of the jobs that were lost were lost in small business. I think it is outrageous to suggest that raising taxes in the middle of a recession is a good idea.

MR. GREGORY: Point taken. But, Senator, my question is...

SEN. McCONNELL: If they want to have--if they want to have that debate...

MR. GREGORY: But my question is how do you pay for an extension of tax cuts? Because if you're concerned, as Republicans say they are, about cutting spending and the deficit, you have to acknowledge that tax cuts are not paid for.

SEN. McCONNELL: Well, what, what, what, what are you talking about paid for? This is existing tax policy. It's been in place for 10 years. What they're talking about is raising taxes, impacting 50 percent of small business income in the middle of what most Americans think is a recession. That is not a responsible thing to do in my judgment.

MR. GREGORY: It still--but it's still borrowed money. Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, on this program August 1st, said the following. Watch this.

(Videotape, August 1, 2010)

MR. ALAN GREENSPAN: Look, I'm very much in favor of tax cuts, but not with borrowed money. And the problem that we've gotten into in recent years is spending programs with borrowed money, tax cuts with borrowed money. And, at the end of the day, that proves disastrous. And my view is I don't think we can play subtle policy here.

MR. GREGORY: You don't agree with Republican leaders who say tax cuts pay for themselves?

MR. GREENSPAN: They do not.

(End videotape)

MR. GREGORY: The CBO, Senator, this week made it very clear that the long-term picture for the economy, for the deficit, is very dark if you extend the Bush-era tax cuts without somehow paying for them.

SEN. McCONNELL: Look, what we're talking about here is, is tax increases in the middle of a recession. We are going to have the third year in a row, under this administration, of an annual deficit of more than a trillion dollars. That is not because we are taxing too little, David, it's because we're spending too much.

MR. GREGORY: But, Senator, with respect...

SEN. McCONNELL: We need to freeze...

MR. GREGORY: ...you're being unresponsive to a question, which is are tax cuts paid for going forward...

SEN. McCONNELL: Well...

MR. GREGORY: ...or is it borrowed money at a time when you and other Republican leaders say we must get serious about the deficit? It's a straightforward question.

SEN. McCONNELL: I--yeah, I know. And I, and I gave you a straightforward answer. What we're talking about here is raising taxes in the middle of what most Americans think is a recession. That isn't going to produce more revenue. We've, we've got a serious job loss problem in this country. They have primed the pump, they've borrowed money, they've spent money for the last year and a half, unemployment is still almost at 10 percent, and now the job creators, the small businesses in this country they're suggesting they're taxes go up? Look, the president called in a bunch of small businessmen to the White House a few weeks ago, and he asked them why they weren't expanding. And their answer was, "Mr. President, with all due respect, your agenda"--healthcare mandates, tax increased headed their way, more and more burdensome regulation. I mean, look at the new healthcare bill for example. There's a provision in there that requires that small businesses send a 1099 form to the IRS for every vender they do $600 worth of business with. That's just a massive amount of paperwork and problems. This administration...

MR. GREGORY: But, Senator...

SEN. McCONNELL: ...is extraordinarily anti-business, and raising taxes in the middle of a recession is not the way to go.

MR. GREGORY: For a final time, I'll go back to my question, which is the extension of the tax cuts would cost two point--$3.2 trillion. That's borrowed money that adds to the deficit. Do you have a plan to pay for that extension?

SEN. McCONNELL: You're talking about current tax policy. Why did all it of a sudden become something that may "paid for." Look, the problem is the spending problem. If we grind down the spending, we will begin to get a handle on this mounting debt, and if you push this economy further backward, we'll get less revenue for the government, not more. Raising taxes in the middle of a recession on the major job generator in America, small business, is a very, very bad idea.

MR. GREGORY: You talk about spending, and that's very interesting. This is what, what's called "A Roadmap for America's Future: A Plan to Solve America's Long-Term Economic and Fiscal Crisis," written by the conservative congressman, Paul Ryan, of Wisconsin. It lays out some Draconian steps to balance the budget, to cut spending in both Social Security and Medicare. I'm wondering why it is, if Republican leaders are so serious about cutting the deficit and cutting spending, why there aren't more than 13 co-sponsors in the United States Congress for this plan?

SEN. McCONNELL: Well, let me tell you what we are doing right now in the United States Senate. The majority leader, Harry Reid, told me on the floor of the Senate a couple of weeks ago that they're going to come down to the top line that we offered for this year's appropriations bill, which is essentially a freeze over last year. How much money will that save? The difference between that top line in annual spending and what the president asked for over 10 years will be $300 billion, which is not chump change.

Number two, the president has appointed a deficit reduction commission. This is not going to be your typical commission. It's going to issue a report, sit on the shelf, and gather dust. I put three members on it, very responsible members. John Boehner's put three members on it. We expect them to send up a recommendation no later than December of this year to deal with our long-term debt problem, and we do know that we have a serious long-term debt problem--unfunded liabilities related to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. I don't think we ought to make what they may be doing a political football between now and November. We'll wait for their report; and I, intend if it's a responsible report that I can support, encourage my members to support it. I think the president will do the same thing. We could, before the end of this calendar year, actually have a significant impact on our long-term debt problem.

MR. GREGORY: Why is it that you need a Democratic president's commission on cutting the deficit to figure out what it is, as Republicans, you think should be cut in federal spending?

SEN. McCONNELL: I don't think that it ought to be a political football between now and November. We've got a bipartisan effort here, a serious bipartisan effort supported by the president, by Leader Boehner and myself. They're going to report later this year. We will treat that report seriously. I hope it is the kind of recommendation that we can support on a bipartisan basis.

MR. GREGORY: Finally, the political question, as you look in--to the midterm race, the issues that are heating up, we've talked about a few of them, what is your prediction for the Senate in November? Does it remain in Democratic hands?

SEN. McCONNELL: Look, I'm, I'm not going to make a prediction. I will say this, if the election were tomorrow, we'd have a very good day. There are at least 12 seats in the Senate where Democrats are on defense. That's pretty unusual, because we had very bad results on our side in '06 and '08. So we're on offense, American--the American public has taken a look at this administration. They think it's spending too much, borrowing too much, taking over too much of the private sector, and now raising taxes on top of it. I think we're going to have a very good day.

MR. GREGORY: But you cautioned against irrational exuberance about your chances in the Senate.

SEN. McCONNELL: Yeah, I think irrational exuberance is not appropriate. There are 70 some-odd days been now and the election. I'm optimistic.

MR. GREGORY: The tea party debate, which we'll have here in just a moment with former Majority Leader of the House Dick Armey, is very much a factor in this race. And the tea partiers are talking about a hostile takeover of the Republican Party. What is their impact, do you think, in the fall?

SEN. McCONNELL: I think it's been entirely positive. It's an indication of, of broad public support for doing something about too much spending and too much debt. And this--the kind of genuine popular uprising against excessive government spending, I think, has been extremely helpful. It's produced a lot of energy in our primaries, and I think it's going to produce victories in November.

MR. GREGORY: Leader McConnell, as always, thank you very much for being here.

SEN. McCONNELL: Thank you, David.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source