CNN "State of the Union with Candy Crowley" - Transcript

Interview

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JOHNS: Here to talk about the work of the Senate and that payroll tax extension, Democratic Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, and Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, who was recently elected to the Senate Republican leadership.

And, Senator Blunt, start with you. House passage of this payroll tax deal is just not a done deal yet. We're hearing from the speaker of the house on another program saying he's not happy with this two-month extension.

Did you all in the Senate leadership communicate with the House leadership on this or how did all this get messed up?

SEN. ROY BLUNT (R), MISSOURI: Well, you know, I don't know. I really don't officially become a member of the Senate leadership until we start the year next year. It is my first year in the Senate, trying to figure the Senate out still. But I do understand the House pretty well. And in fact I had a couple of calls from some of my buddies in the House this morning saying, we don't want it do this, we liked the one-year extension that the House voted for and that was bipartisan, too.

It wasn't as bipartisan as the Senate vote, but several Democrats joined Republicans and said, let's do this for a year, let's include the Keystone pipeline, let's pay for it so there is no tax increase.

And, of course, that -- the Senate bill also was a paid-for bill, so no tax increase, a paid-for bill, some job creation added to it. And I guess we'll just have to work this out.

I heard Gene Sperling say it is Washington, and you can't determine for sure what -- anything could happen and it still might, but I think our friends in the House are going to have to work through this.

JOHNS: All right. So, Senator Menendez, are you planning on coming back to town here? How likely is it that the Senate is actually not out of here for the holidays yet?

SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ (D), NEW JERSEY: Well, look, in 24 hours middle class families in this country went from relief that they had, a continuing payroll tax cut and $1,000 in their pockets, to seeing Republicans in the House, because, in their own words, they're itching for a fight with Democrats and the White House, to undermine that relief.

You know, I'd love to see a year, too, but I want to see a year in which we pay for it in a way that doesn't take money from the middle class to give it to the middle class. I mean, in the House version, they take money from middle class families in Medicare, they take money from middle class families in health care, they take money from middle class civil servants.

And so, you know, the question is, yes, I'd love to see a year, too. We had proposals for a year. If they're willing to stop, you know, fighting for millionaires and billionaires and finally start fighting for the middle class, we could have a full year extension, which we all want.

But there's no wonder that Frank Luntz, the Republican -- the key Republican pollster has said, you know, the public doesn't trust you on the middle class. This is the latest example.

JOHN: I'd just ask you to respond to that, Senator.

BLUNT: Well, I don't know what Republicans in the House were saying they're itching for a fight. I think what they're saying they wanted the one-year extension. They paid for it. There was no tax on anybody in the Senate bill, either.

I know Bob Menendez would love to increase taxes as part of any package but this package in the Senate didn't do that. They were both paid for and they both had this huge job creator. The Keystone pipeline is a big thing if it could happen. The shortest path to more American jobs is more American energy and more jobs that relate to American energy. The Keystone pipeline is 20,000 of them without a single tax dollar involved.

Republicans in the House and the Senate and apparently a bunch of Democrats in the Senate as well would like a situation where we get a decision on that and can move forward.

JOHNS: Do you think you've just sort of given the president of the United States a way out if the House were to take this bill, that he could simply say, well, 60 days, not enough time, I'm not going to sign off on this, end of the story?

BLUNT: No, I think he would sign off on it, though a week ago he was saying he wouldn't sign a bill that wasn't for a year and he wouldn't sign a bill that included the Keystone pipeline. I think the president would sign this if it got to his desk and we'll see in the next week whether it gets to his desk or not.

I think the House has to deal with it and look at the fact that it was paid for, it extends not just the payroll tax but also the unemployment insurance and there is a doctor issue that has been out there since 1997 that has always been a phony pay-for that would be taken care of as well so that doctors don't have their Medicare reimbursement cut back to 10-year-ago levels on January the 1st. And nobody wants any of these things to happen, so I believe this will be worked out in a way that doesn't raise taxes, that hopefully helps create some additional private sector jobs, as well as just spending tax dollars.

JOHNS: Now I have to ask you both, you've seen, I'm sure, the polls that talk about congressional approval ratings. They're really at historic lows right now. And we have a graphic we can show you.

This is a CBS News poll that shows 11 percent approval of the United States Congress right now. And I just asked the staff to go back and look at the approval ratings of the only president who ever resigned his job in disgrace. This is Richard Nixon's job performance approval ratings 24 percent, actually higher than the United States Congress right now, which seems to be extraordinary.

Start with you, Senator Menendez, why don't people like the Congress?

MENENDEZ: Well, look, people are hurting in the country. And that is very clear. I see it in my state of New Jersey as I travel throughout the state, and listen to people who sometimes with tears in their eyes tell me, Senator, this is the first time in my life that I've been unemployed and for a long period of time. And the fundamental American promise has been shaken for them.

That's why we as Democrats are trying to restore that promise. That's about getting people back to work. That's what the president's job package was about. That's what this payroll tax that we have been leading the fight on and that Republicans have largely fought us tooth and nail.

And I know Roy made the comment that, you know, I would want to increase taxes. The bottom line is what I don't want to see is a greater pound of flesh being taken out of the middle class. That's what the House Republicans do.

They do it in so many different ways. And so it seems to me that this is a question and that will go to the question of the next elections, whose side do you stand up for? Are you standing up for millionaires and billionaires who got some of the biggest tax cuts? And -- or are you going to stand up for the overwhelming middle class?

And that's why every economist says to us you need to extend both the payroll tax and the unemployment compensation because not do so, as Mark Zandi said, would throw us back into recession.

Ameriprise says the extension of the payroll tax would create a million jobs. That's far more than ultimately would be given to giving more money to the millionaires and billionaires.

JOHNS: Senator Blunt, just go ahead, I'm sure you want to talk about that.

BLUNT: Well, you know, I don't know who the 11 percent are. The Congress is almost totally dysfunctional right now. All we've done this year, in my first year in the Senate, and I'm in the minority in the Senate, is barely keep the doors open. And of course people are not satisfied with that.

I do think the president's obligation to lead has not been met. His numbers are lower than any president in the history of the country at this point in his presidency. They're not nearly as low as the Congress but the Congress as an institution will not be on the ballot next year. The president of the United States will be.

JOHNS: Now, Senator Blunt, let me ask you, the question of the tea party in Congress, the tea party movement, a lot of controversy there.

JOHNS: And some people would blame the Tea Party for at least partially bringing down the numbers of the approval.

But you also defeated a Tea Party supported member of the Senate for your leadership position. Do you think we're in a zone now where the Tea Party bubble is about to burst?

BLUNT: Well, no, I don't think that at all. I think the Tea Party has brought important issues to the table. I think their concern about fiscal responsibility, about paying the bill is a concern that they keep building that fire under. And Ron Johnson, who was my opponent in this recent leadership race, is a great member of the Senate. I look forward to working with him.

I think that the focus on where are the private sector jobs and why is the federal government spending so much money was the focus of the Tea Party in 2010. It will be a big focus of voters in this election as well, and the Tea Party will continue to drive that message.

JOHNS: Senator Blunt, Senator Menendez, good to see you both again, and hope to talk to you again soon.

Coming up -- Jon Huntsman on his conservative credentials and his strategy in New Hampshire.

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