MSNBC - Transcript

Interview

Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen, Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee, today appeared on MSNBC to discuss to discuss Democratic efforts to extend the payroll tax cut.

CHRIS JANSING, MSNBC: Joining me now is Chris Van Hollen. Besides that matchup we just showed, 30 percent of people say that they are worse off than actually since the President took office; 54 percent say they're the same; and just 15 percent say they're better off. So, if that's the question people vote on, is the President in trouble?

REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN: I don't think the President's in trouble. I think the President recognizes that Americans are struggling. Mitt Romney obviously has a very different view of things, given what you were just talking about, and he is out of touch. But the key question will be whether or not Americans sense that the economy is headed in the right direction, whether the jobs situation is improving, and I think the good news is that while the economy remains fragile, we have seen some signs of improvement. Now the key is to make sure that we take whatever action is necessary to sustain that recovery and help nurture that recovery.

JANSING: There is a little good news in that poll for the President because he's gaining with his base. Most Democrats say the country is headed in the right direction. In fact, that number is up 21 points since the fall, but is that enough for him to win an election? And the independents are very skeptical as you know.

VAN HOLLEN: Well again, Chris, I think the question is how will the economy behave between right now and November. And the good news is things do seem to be improving and the President's been very clear that we need to extend the payroll tax cut to make sure that 160 million Americans have a little bit more income in their pockets so they can go out and buy goods and services and that means that more small businesses will be able to sell those goods and services and then hopefully hire more people. So, there are obviously some promising signs. Now, if the Republicans in the House were to get their way today and pass this legislation that would prevent the United States from paying its debts and obligations for the first time in our history, that's a quick way to wreck the economy and hurt jobs. The good news is at the end of the day more responsible heads, I think, will prevail. But I do think it's an indication of where a lot of the tea party Republicans are and I think the more people see that kind of extremism, they'll recognize that the President has presented a much better way forward.

JANSING: House Republicans today, and I'm hearing it's between four and five, are going to take that vote against the debt ceiling, but it's a political vote. It's not going to matter. Going into 2012, is it going to be the same often fruitless battles that we saw last year? Because something else we see in this poll and others is just how much the American people are sick of it.

VAN HOLLEN: Well, that's right. And I don't know what the next ten months in Congress will bring. What I do know is that we've got to finish the job with respect to the payroll tax cut, make sure that we extend unemployment compensation for folks out of work through no fault of their own, and make sure that doctors who serve patients on Medicare get fully reimbursed so they keep seeing those patients. That's our goal. We should be able to do that fairly quickly so long as our Republican colleagues aren't doing what they did last December, which is trying to add a lot of unrelated stuff to that.

JANSING: And Mitt Romney may be making $374,000 in speaking fees, but you are number 24 on GQ's list of the most powerful people in Washington. They put a really nice picture up there, too. You getting a lot of ribbing about that, Congressman?

VAN HOLLEN: Yeah, I haven't seen it yet so I'll have to take a look at it. Look, I'll have to figure out exactly who else is on that list in GQ, but hey, I have to take a look at it, you got to look at it before I did.

JANSING: Thank you so much for coming on.

VAN HOLLEN: Thank you.

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