CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript - Budget

Interview

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BANFIELD: Governor walker, let me get to you jump in on this. The intransigence on both parties has been deplorable according to most Americans who are asked and who know about this. At the same time, the Republicans are taking it on the chin a whole lot more than the Democrats are. And when you have the House speaker saying over and over and over again, you know, revenue increases are not on the table, period, I've heard you say otherwise. I've heard you say and I think in a Bloomberg interview maybe down the road. How do you feel about the House speaker's position, do you agree or disagree?

GOV. SCOTT WALKER, (R ) WISCONSIN: I certainly think it's a problem right now. What I mentioned on Bloomberg was the concern I had is the economy is just slowly starting to recover, the last thing we need to do is take more money out of the private sector and put it in the hands of the government. That's certainly my concern. I don't want to see a slowing down or even a reversal of the economic recovery. But last Monday I and most every other governor in America was at the White House and one of the suggestions I raised to the President of the United States was that if he didn't like it, I think most of us agree, the arbitrary nature of the sequester cuts, the perfect alternative is for him to do what most governors have done over the last two years, and that is bring his cabinet in, put together a responsible list of reductions, and provide it as an alternative. And I think both House Republicans as well as members of the Senate would go along with that if they were a viable alternative to sequester cuts.

But just saying we'll change things and suddenly ask for higher taxes as well as maybe cuts in the future, I don't think it's must have to get past the sequester deal. And remember, it's not just what happened last Friday. There's another part of the sequester that happens at the end of this month on the 27th. And for most of us, we'd like to on get past that on a reasonable basis.

BANFIELD: You know, governor, John said there is somewhat of a luxury for a governor who doesn't have the luxury, rather, of careening from debt Band-Aid to debt Band-Aid, but at the same time I can't imagine that you would want to be a part of the House and Senate and the gridlock. John's laughing. Add to that, John.

KING: Governors can't do this, they have to balance their budget every year. And people have always talked about I'm not endorsing any proposal, but it's one of the reasons some people want a balanced budget amendment in Washington, others say go to two year budgeting at least so once you get it done you get some breathing space. I do think it's been 16 years since Washington passed a budget according to the rules. So it's not just president and this Republican House. I would say because of that trust deficit and because of the constant campaigning for the next election, they've taken the dysfunction to new lows.

BANFIELD: And governor, last word on that. Trust deficit. Is this the biggest problem right now facing Washington?

WALKER: No doubt John is exactly right. You had the sequester, but before that, you had the fiscal cliff, you have all these in some ways manufactured, or self manufactured crises out there, that Congress punts things down the road, they kick the can to use several metaphors there, but they don't really solve things. In our state, we took a $3.6 billion budget deficit and turned it into a nearly half a billion dollar surplus. We're not alone. Plenty of other governors, including some in both parties did that over the last two years. I think most of us would wish people in Washington would step up and lead. That's what leaders do in times of crisis. Lead. And get us back on track.

BANFIELD: I think every one of us wishes that. Governor Walker, thank you for taking the time to be with us, hope it's not our last chance to speak. John King, always a pleasure, my friend, thank you.

Coming up next, I want to take you into a courtroom where a woman is fighting for her life. You know her by now. Jodi Arias, whose name is now almost synonymous with sex, lies and murder. Find out what she's saying now.

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