MSNBC "Hardball with Chris Matthews" - Transcript

Interview

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SEN. CHRIS COONS (D), DELAWARE: Thanks for a chance to be on with you, Michael.

SMERCONISH: I"m going to talk plenty of substance, but let me ask you, what"s the coolest part so far? I see you got the double secret probation pin that you"re already wearing. Did they paddle you yet?

COONS: No paddling, Michael, no.

I would say the coolest thing was being able to be here with my whole extended family, my wife, our three kids, my parents, step-parents, in-laws, cousins, nieces, nephews.

The vice president took us all on a behind-the-scenes tour and took some pictures with us after the swearing-in. And we just got to talk as a family. That"s probably the best part of the day.

SMERCONISH: Did the vice president have any particular advice that you"re willing to share?

COONS: He encouraged me strongly to come home every night, if I possibly can. Delaware"s fairly close to our Capitol.

I have three young kids, 11-year-old twin boys and a 9-year-old girl. And my wife and I want to keep our family in Delaware, and I want to stay as connected to Delaware as I possibly can. So, his strong advice to me was to come home every night, if you possibly can.

SMERCONISH: Don"t know if you ever saw Robert Redford in "The Candidate," but there"s this great scene at the end of the movie.

You have. OK. Well, you know the line, then. "What do we do now?"

So, to you, I say, what do you do now?

COONS: Well, the message I got from Delaware across the entire campaign was simple, was consistent, and was clear. That"s that they wanted to hire someone in this election who would go to Washington and focus on getting us back on track, creating jobs, strengthening manufacturing and competitiveness.

They want me to tackle the deficit and the debt, and they want me to try and find bipartisan solutions. I had a great day, most of it spent with the 16 senators other than Governor Manchin. The other 14 will be sworn in, in January.

And we had sort of an orientation, a new senator session. I had some good conversations. I"m cautiously optimistic that the other freshman senators who are coming in also got that same message.

SMERCONISH: Senator Coons, it would seem as if the extension or contemplated extension of the Bush tax cuts are the hottest potato that will fall in your lap during this lame-duck session of Congress. How do you see that issue?

COONS: Well, as I said in the campaign, and I have repeated today, my view is that we ought to extend tax relief to the middle class, to the 98 percent of Americans who earn in their income less than a quarter-million a year.

And I"m willing to compromise and to talk about further extensions of the income tax cuts. But I think we ought to prioritize those further tax cuts, whether it"s in research and development, in green energy and manufacturing or otherwise, that have the best chance of creating jobs in the next two to three years.

Every extension of a tax cut or a tax credit in the short run, at least, will further add to our deficit and our debt. And while the extension of the Bush income tax cuts may be one hot potato, the second is the commission on debt and deficit. We have a very real and serious problem with our deficit and our debt, and I think we need to balance those two responsibly.

SMERCONISH: Give me a gut-check, if you would, now that you have referenced it, on Simpson-Bowles and what reaction you had, understanding that that"s not yet a matter ripe for consideration in the Senate. But what was your gut-check on the proposals they put forth on the deficit and the debt?

COONS: Well, I just got sworn in today. I have had a chance to look at them just briefly.

My impression, frankly, Michael, is that all options have to stay on the table, that we have to be willing to consider a whole range of very difficult choices, from cutting programs to raising revenue.

Obviously, the best way to get out of this deficit position is to grow our economy, to get people back to work, so that they"re earning more and they"re able to pay for the federal government services that all of us value.

But if we don"t make hard choices--and I think that deficit and debt commission early proposal points us in the direction of many of those hard choices--then we won"t make real progress in tackling the deficit, which I think, right after job creation, is one of the top priorities for our country.

SMERCONISH: Senator, congratulations, big day for you.

COONS: Thank you. It"s been a great day and I look forward to serving the people of Delaware and our country.

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