FOX "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren" - Transcript:

Interview

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: $85 billion sequester quickly approaching and a debt quickly headed towards $17 trillion. Sound like reasons for concern? Well, not if you ask Vice President Joe Biden, the vice president saying the American people are no longer worried about our economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're no longer traumatized by what was a traumatizing event, the great collapse in 2008. They're no longer worried, I think, about our economy being overwhelmed either by Europe writ large, the EU, or China somehow swallowing up every bit of innovation that exists in the world.
They're no longer, I think, worried about our -- our economy being overwhelmed beyond our shores, but -- and I don't think there are any more -- there's no -- there's very little doubt in any circles out there about America's ability to be in position to lead the world in the 21st century.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAN SUSTEREN: Arizona governor Jan Brewer joins us. Nice to see you, Governor.

ARIZ. GOV. JAN BREWER: Nice to be here, Greta.

VAN SUSTEREN: Governor, the vice president says -- and let me take part of his quote -- "They" -- meaning the American people -- "are no longer traumatized by what was a traumatizing event, the great collapse in 2008."

BREWER: Obviously, the vice president is clearly out of touch. The Americans are concerned. They're concerned about the direction in which the country is going, and they certainly are concerned about the current leadership.

VAN SUSTEREN: You know, it -- I'm not sure exactly -- I mean, what he -- what he meant by that because...

BREWER: It's a little disjointed. Sometimes, we find that they talk in code and you have to decipher it. I think he's saying that the American public, that they're not concerned, that they feel full confidence in what's taking place. And he needs to get out, I believe, and speak with the public. And they are concerned and they want leadership. They see a government, that it's not functioning. They have no plan. They're not showing leadership. They just keep doing the bait and switch. It's...

VAN SUSTEREN: You were at the White House today, and when the president was speaking -- he threw the press out. But I'm curious. What did the president say about this, about the sequestration and all the money problems?

BREWER: Well, you know, he definitely says that he wants to work together, but obviously, he doesn't want to compromise one little bit. Bottom line is, is that he wants to raise taxes, and he doesn't want to cut. And I think the American people believe that. You know, the time now is to start cutting the budget, $17 trillion deficit. And he wants to continue to spend. He doesn't want to do that. He wants to raise taxes.

VAN SUSTEREN: Is there any room in your mind -- I know you were on "Face the Nation" yesterday talking about -- about the sequester. In your mind, is there any room to increase taxes on anybody or close loopholes or get rid of deductions?

BREWER: You know, on the federal level, Greta, I really, truly believe spending has been out of control, just totally out of control. We cannot continue down that path. Compromise is always a good thing, but he's not going to compromise. It's his way or the highway.

VAN SUSTEREN: Did he say anything at all or give you any sort of glimmer of hope today?

BREWER: He -- hope?

VAN SUSTEREN: Yes.

BREWER: No.

VAN SUSTEREN: OK.

BREWER: He told me that, and the rest of the governors that were there, that he wasn't running for election. His elections were behind him and that he was going to do what he thought was right for the country. And he wasn't going to look at polls, like some politicians do because always looking forward to that next election.
And that gave me a chill because that tells me that he's going to do whatever he wants to do. And he's big on executive orders and exercising his power. So I think it's going to be a real scary time for America, not hopeful.

VAN SUSTEREN: Did any of the governors grill him or go at him with questions?

BREWER: Everybody was relatively polite, thanking him for inviting us, talking about certainly the sequester, certainly about the defense cuts. And certainly, we're all concerned about what that's going to -- what effect that's going to have on our budgets because they are going to have effects, real effects.
Arizona, for example, you know, we have a strong military presence and manufacturing of military components, like Raytheon, which will take tremendous hits, and that means there goes the jobs. He wants to talk about growing the economy, well, you know, he's killing the economy. He's killing the job market.

VAN SUSTEREN: Governor, always nice to see you. Welcome to Washington.

BREWER: Thank you.

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