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American Morning
America Recovers: Discussion with Ranking Democrat on House Budget Committee
Aired October 02, 2001 - 11:26 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.
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Still, there are some disagreements, again, between the Democrats and the Republicans, the Congress and the White House.
A veteran of what the president call the old budget battles of the past joins us now from Capitol Hill.
Congressman John Spratt of South Carolina is the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee.
Sir, I want to ask you first, we are told by our sources this morning that there is an agreement between the White House and the Congress on the spending levels for the current fiscal year which began yesterday, that the president will get $18.4 billion more in defense money. Democrats pressuring the administration to accept $4 billion more in education money. Is that deal done, sir? And what do you see as significance of it?
REP. JOHN SPRATT (D-SC), BUDGET COMMITTEE: It's my understanding that we reached that deal last week. And the White House blessed it this morning, $686 billion in new budget authority for discretionary programs. Thirteen different programs that we appropriate for, and 13 pieces of legislation and every year's budget.
KING: And, so, sir, gone is the debate over the Social Security surplus. Any question in your mind that this was to have been the big partisan fight in Washington this fall. Will this new budget tap into the Social Security surplus?
SPRATT: I'm afraid it will. And so the question remains, what do we do for the future? And that's one of the things we're trying to do with stimulus package we're still negotiating. We haven't come to closure on that. What we're looking for is something that will give a short-term stimulus, a kick to this economy. But the budget will recover when the economy recovers; it won't have a permanent impact to the budget, and we'll get back on the path we're on, which is saving Social Security instead of spending it.
KING: Well, let's talk about stimulus package, sir. A lot of kind words back and forth between the Democrats and the Republicans, but behind the scenes, if you call around to your office and others, one gets the sense that they're actually are some pretty sharp differences between the way the Democrats would like to do a stimulus package and the way the Republicans would like to do a stimulus package.
SPRATT: Well, first it's just a basic principle of let's do something temporary, because we've got a temporary downturn in the economy. But let's don't do it permanently, so that it permanently impacts the budget and leaves us borrowing from the Social Security trust fund, indefinitely and to the future, particularly since we are just a few years away from 77 million Baby Boomers who are about to retire. We need to back on that path of saving the Social Security trust fund. In the meantime, we are taking a detour from that, a deviation because of the war, and also because of the recession.
HEMMER: What specifically are you worried about, when you say, make sure its' temporary? What specifically do you see on table that you believe does not belong in this package?
SPRATT: Well, the president, for example, has proposed cut in the corporate income tax rate. That would be permanent. That would have a permanent impact on revenues, and it would affect the out-year budget. He's proposed changing depreciation rates. That, too, would probably be permanent. You could make it temporary. But that creates instability in the economy. That would probably become permanent once it got in the tax code. That would have a permanent impact on revenues and it would have a permanent impact on the bottom line. It would mean we would probably be borrowing from Social Security for a longer period of time.
KING: OK, sir, I want to end the budget discussion there, but quickly, before you go, just wondering if your office has received any update on the condition of the senior member...
SPRATT: I just learned about, but he's a hearty old warrior. I wouldn't count the old fellow out. He's come back time and again.
KING: All right, Congressman John Spratt, we will check in with you days ahead as this budget fight continues, so far politely.
We want to continue our discussion about this remarkable bipartisanship here in Washington with Ron Brownstein of the "Los Angeles Times," a frequent CNN political analyst.
Some differences, the Congressman just politely noted, how long will this the spirit last? And what do you see as potential breaking points, if you will?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, the Stimulus plan is where the bipartisan atmosphere that we've seen since the attack is really going to face its sternest test. In designing the plan, the process may be as controversial among members as the content. I mean, as you've mentioned, since the attacks, almost every major issue that has come to Congress has been dealt with mostly behind the scenes by the leadership quietly negotiating with the White House, on the airline bailout, on airport security.
But now, I think, there is a lot of pressure in both parties, especially on the Democratic side, because there is, in fact, serious differences on the stimulus plan, to air some of those differences in public and to draw some lines for the voters that would make clear where the parties stand.
KING: But often on issues, either the chairman or the ranking member, as Mr. Spratt is of the committee, get to speak for the party on key issues.
They are told being told by the leaders, muzzle it?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, by and large, I think so. The White House -- I talked to a White House official this morning. He said the president made very clear in this meeting with the bipartisan congressional leadership, and the leadership agreed that they wanted to proceed in the same manner they have been on these other issues, but what you see, John, is you're going to see the members in both parties putting out very different prescriptions. Republicans talking mostly about tax cuts, Democrats talking about a rebate to people who pay payroll, but not income taxes, and more spending. And the question will be, what do you do then? Do you then go into a room and resolve it all? Dick Gephardt in his interview with you this morning suggested there may be some limits in their ability to do that on this issue, as compared to some of the earlier disputes.
KING: Paint the bigger picture -- Al Gore goes out to Des Moines, Iowa this weekend. It was supposed to be his re-emergence. He gives a speech in which he says, make no mistake, George W. Bush is my commander-in-chief. Easier for him, because he's thinking three years down the road, as it is for those who October 2001. There are people on the ballot in November 2002, trying to frame election. How hard is that to do?
BROWNSTEIN: There was a very interesting tension at that meeting. I was at that speech that Al Gore gave. Tom Vilsack, the Democratic governor of Iowa, and Tom Harkin, the Democratic senator of Iowa, who were both on the ballot in 2002, made very clear that while they were supporting Bush on anything relating to the attack or the war effort, they wanted to find a way to begin reintroducing some of these other areas where the two parties disagree -- the stimulus plan, prescription drugs, patients' bill of right, and I think there is a chafing of both sides, but I think especially on the Democratic side, to find a way to begin to introduce some of those debates.
By and large, though, the leadership is saying, looks, we're going to stay in this bipartisan mode through the fall, get out, maybe get back to a more traditional kind of debate next spring. I'm not sure if they can delay it that long. I think the stimulus plan, you may see a little bit more like the way Washington operated before September 11th.
KING: Ron Brownstein of "The Los Angeles Times," we need to end it there.
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