CNN "Anderson Cooper 360" - Transcript

Interview

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KING: And, Congressman, before we get to the stimulus program and health care, I want to get your reaction to the announcement tonight that the Pentagon will offer the H1N1 vaccination to detainees at Guantanamo Bay who want it. A good decision?

REP. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: Well, no, I think it's a terrible decision, John.

And I -- you know, I don't know if -- if detainees at Gitmo should never be given the H1N1 vaccine. But, certainly, at a time of such acute shortages, again, involving American citizens, and the heartbreaking stories you just led with, I think the administration should immediately suspend the plan to deploy H1N1 vaccines to terrorist detainees at Guantanamo Bay, until such a time that sufficient vaccinations are made -- made available to the American public.

I think this is exactly the kind of misadministration of health care, this and other aspects of the way this government is responding to the H1N1 virus, that ought to give the American people great pause about this massive government-run insurance plan that's been unveiled this week by House Democrats.

KING: Well, we will come -- come back to health care in a second. But I want to focus on the economy right now, because you were one of the conservatives who, at the beginning, said, no, the country can't afford $787 billion in stimulus right now.

PENCE: Right.

KING: And you didn't think it would create jobs.

You know the administration's numbers today, 650,000, they say. I want you to listen to Vice President Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yesterday, the GDP, it was announced, grew. It grew by 3.5 percent. It hasn't grown that much since 2007, over two years ago. The economic forecasters have attributed -- and, by the way, left, right and center -- they have attributed the vast bulk of this growth to the Economic Recovery Act.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KING: He says you are wrong, sir.

PENCE: Well, you know, I -- I -- I don't mean to parse the vice president's words, but, you know, I -- number one, I welcome growth in the economy. I think every American welcomes the growth in the gross domestic product.

But, John, it's hard to believe that borrowing $700 billion from the Chinese and spreading it around in the economy wouldn't have some effect. But what's not happening is, we're not seeing jobs created.

You know, when the stimulus bill was passed, unemployment in this country was at 7.5 percent. The administration, including the vice president, said that, unless we -- we borrowed $700 billion from future generations of Americans, that unemployment would go over 8 percent.

It's now 9.8 percent, and it may get worse a week from today. It's a -- if we're in a recovery -- and I hope we are -- it's a jobless recovery. And, until we start seeing jobs created, until we start seeing unemployment go down, the American people are not going to be satisfied.

And -- and I think they're going to continue to clamor for the kind of stimulus in the form of across-the-board tax relief for small- business owners and individual working families, that will really get the economy moving again.

KING: Let me just follow up on that point. Your home Department of Transportation, the Indiana Department of Transportation, said 2,400 jobs have been created with stimulus funds in your state. Do you dispute those figures, or is it you don't think -- that you think those jobs just cost too much?

PENCE: Well, I remember reading an account in the Evansville paper that had that number. And we talked to some people at the Department of Transportation in Indianapolis. And it's -- it was hard to figure out exactly where that number came from.

But, look, I -- I -- I have no doubt that what Governor Schwarzenegger said was right. I think there's some public employees that have been kept in place because of the money that we have borrowed from future generations. I have no doubt that some of these road and infrastructure projects have helped.

But, John, bottom line is, unemployment is at 9.8 percent. God forbid, it may well go over 10 percent before we get through these difficult times. And the American people know we can't borrow and spend and bail our way back to a growing economy.

What we got to do is have fiscal discipline in Washington, D.C., and give the American people more of their hard-earned dollars to get the economy growing again.

KING: Let's close on health care. The speaker put out the Democratic bill this week. It's 1,990 pages. It includes a public option. It includes what she says is a plan that would ultimately reduce the deficit.

And I got a bunch of press releases today from some of your colleagues listing seven or eight bills Republicans supported, trying to refute the argument, when Democrats say you're the party of no and you don't have a plan.

But many have said, if you want to get your footing in this fight, Congressman, the Republicans need a comprehensive plan, maybe not 1,990 pages, but a comprehensive plan to go up against the Democrats. Will that be coming?

PENCE: Well, stay tuned, John.

I will tell what you. The American people want health care reform that will lower the cost of health insurance and lower the cost of health care, but the American people don't want a government takeover of health care.

And what the Democrats unveiled this week is literally a freight train of big government, loaded with taxes and mandates on individuals, taxes on -- on businesses during these difficult economic times.

The word "shall," which is mandatory language in the law, the word "shall" actually appears 3,425 times in the Democrat bill. This is a government takeover of health care. The American people don't want it.

But Republicans are going to be raising the curtain in the coming days on proposals that we believe will resonate with the majority of the American people. But we have got to stop the government takeover first, and then we can move to some items that will be modest and will address the issue of lowering costs, without exploding the deficit or growing government.

KING: We're reading the 1,990 pages. And, Congressman, when the Republican plan is out, we will read those, too, and we will have you back.

Appreciate your time on a Friday night.

PENCE: Thank you, John.

KING: Congressman Mike Pence, thank you, sir.

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