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Snow Day: Rough Sledding for Treasury Nominee?
Aired December 09, 2002 - 14:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: As you may have noticed from the numbers in the corner of your screen, Wall Street isn't bowled over by Snow's nomination, and Democrats in Congress aren't either. But they say the real problem is the president's economic strategy, not the people he chooses to execute it.
CNN's Jonathan Karl live from Capitol Hill with some reaction from there.
Hi -- Jon.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra.
You know, as a matter of fact, Democrats so far in the kind of early wave of reactions to this news of this nomination are actually quite positive on Mr. Snow. They believe he is somebody who comes with a good mix of business and political experience, and somebody who gets points for speaking out on the issue of corporate corruption.
Tom Daschle today at a press conference this morning on another subject was asked about this. Here's what he had to say about Mr. Snow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D-SD), MAJORITY LEADER: I think last week's actions by the administration was an admission of failure. The real question now is whether or not they can turn that failure to success, and they won't do it unless they do more than rearrange the chairs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KARL: So, Daschle, if this is a rearranging of chairs, doesn't mind this rearranging of chairs. He says his initial reaction to Snow is a positive one, but he believes the fundamental problem here for the White House and for the country is the president's economic policy, not the people implementing that policy. That's kind of the line you're hearing from most Democrats.
But what's interesting is while all of this is going on from the White House, House Democrats, led by their new leader, Nancy Pelosi, have been meeting today trying to develop their own economic strategy, their own economic plan. Originally this two-day summit, if you will, for the Democrats in the House was billed as an opportunity for Democrats to actually put forth their alternative to the president's economic plan, but that has been significantly downsized.
House Democrats are now saying now is not the time to come out with their plan. That will come later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER-ELECT: Before Democrats proceed with our own economic plan for economic growth that creates jobs, that is fair, that stimulates the economy in a way that does not disrupt our budget, we want to hear a clear analysis of the economy, a clear diagnosis of what is wrong before we prescribe our remedy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KARL: So, not surprisingly, the Republican response to all of that Democratic criticism is how can the Democrats criticize if they don't have their own plan, their own alternative?
As for John Snow, he, of course, cannot become Treasury secretary until he is confirmed by the Senate. The committee that will be holding those confirmation hearings will be the Finance Committee. The chairman of that committee, a Republican -- now that the Republicans are back in control of the Senate -- Chuck Grassley put out a statement saying that he will look at Mr. Snow's qualifications. He will hold hearings just as soon as possible and move forward with that confirmation process.
So, that will happen probably not too long after Congress gets back officially into session on January 7 -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jonathan Karl -- thanks, Jon.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired December 9, 2002 - 14:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: As you may have noticed from the numbers in the corner of your screen, Wall Street isn't bowled over by Snow's nomination, and Democrats in Congress aren't either. But they say the real problem is the president's economic strategy, not the people he chooses to execute it.
CNN's Jonathan Karl live from Capitol Hill with some reaction from there.
Hi -- Jon.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra.
You know, as a matter of fact, Democrats so far in the kind of early wave of reactions to this news of this nomination are actually quite positive on Mr. Snow. They believe he is somebody who comes with a good mix of business and political experience, and somebody who gets points for speaking out on the issue of corporate corruption.
Tom Daschle today at a press conference this morning on another subject was asked about this. Here's what he had to say about Mr. Snow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D-SD), MAJORITY LEADER: I think last week's actions by the administration was an admission of failure. The real question now is whether or not they can turn that failure to success, and they won't do it unless they do more than rearrange the chairs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KARL: So, Daschle, if this is a rearranging of chairs, doesn't mind this rearranging of chairs. He says his initial reaction to Snow is a positive one, but he believes the fundamental problem here for the White House and for the country is the president's economic policy, not the people implementing that policy. That's kind of the line you're hearing from most Democrats.
But what's interesting is while all of this is going on from the White House, House Democrats, led by their new leader, Nancy Pelosi, have been meeting today trying to develop their own economic strategy, their own economic plan. Originally this two-day summit, if you will, for the Democrats in the House was billed as an opportunity for Democrats to actually put forth their alternative to the president's economic plan, but that has been significantly downsized.
House Democrats are now saying now is not the time to come out with their plan. That will come later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER-ELECT: Before Democrats proceed with our own economic plan for economic growth that creates jobs, that is fair, that stimulates the economy in a way that does not disrupt our budget, we want to hear a clear analysis of the economy, a clear diagnosis of what is wrong before we prescribe our remedy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KARL: So, not surprisingly, the Republican response to all of that Democratic criticism is how can the Democrats criticize if they don't have their own plan, their own alternative?
As for John Snow, he, of course, cannot become Treasury secretary until he is confirmed by the Senate. The committee that will be holding those confirmation hearings will be the Finance Committee. The chairman of that committee, a Republican -- now that the Republicans are back in control of the Senate -- Chuck Grassley put out a statement saying that he will look at Mr. Snow's qualifications. He will hold hearings just as soon as possible and move forward with that confirmation process.
So, that will happen probably not too long after Congress gets back officially into session on January 7 -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jonathan Karl -- thanks, Jon.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
