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American Morning
Discussion With Minority Leader Gephardt
Aired May 22, 2003 - 07:33 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: With the nation on high alert again this weekend, homeland security undoubtedly one of the more pressing issues for Congress and for Representative and now presidential candidate Dick Gephardt. It is only one of many items on his agenda.
He is live here in New York City.
Nice to see you.
Good morning to you, as well.
REP. DICK GEPHARDT (D-MO), MINORITY LEADER: Bill, good to be here.
HEMMER: We apparently have a deal between the House and the Senate right now, a $350 billion tax deal. The White House says this is the stimulus the economy needs to create jobs and get things moving. You say what to that?
GEPHARDT: I say that's not true. I think we need a tax cut, but it ought to be a tax cut for everybody, not just a tax cut that's mainly aimed at a few. And there ought to be a tax cut for health care. We need to get everybody in this country covered with health care insurance that can't be taken away. If we did that, that would be a heck of a lot better than this tax cut that's going through the House.
HEMMER: And part of your plan for a universal health plan would essentially raise taxes on a lot of families in this country.
How can you, as critics contend, how can you sell that argument right now, given the state of the economy today?
GEPHARDT: My plan is a different tax cut, a better tax cut, because it gives it to everybody in a more or less equal way so that everybody can get guaranteed health insurance. The president's tax cut is primarily aimed at people that have dividends, that have lots of stocks in their portfolio. That's not most Americans today. Most people's portfolios have been depleted in the last two years.
So my plan is a different kind of tax cut, but it's given to get everybody covered with health insurance that can't be taken away. It will put money in people's pockets. It'll lower the cost of health care for people. We think it puts approximately $1,800 into the average family's pocket a year.
HEMMER: Go back to the dividend argument. The White House is saying no one should be double taxed on their income. Isn't there a point there, living in this country, in America, that, indeed, no one should pay that price?
GEPHARDT: Most people aren't double taxed. They aren't taxed at all because most people don't have dividends. This is really, again, something that goes for the favored few. It's like the president's tax cut last year, 60 percent of it goes to people at the very top, people earning over $300,000 a year.
HEMMER: But given the amount of 401Ks that we see right now and the amount of mutual funds and the pensions, it does not necessarily go to that high end, after all, does it not, because we are all pretty much now invested when it comes to the stock market?
GEPHARDT: But even with those folks, I think my tax cut is better because it goes to health care, which is people's biggest cost today. It puts more money in the average person's pocket than the president's tax cut. So if we're going to get rid of taxes, it seems to me we ought to do the most for the people in the middle and the people trying to get in the middle.
HEMMER: Let's talk about Iraq right now. There's a report out today, the "New York Times" is saying right now that the CIA records of the past fall will be reassessed and reevaluated as to what the U.S. is truly looking for and finding in weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Was that argument over sold, looking back now?
GEPHARDT: I don't think so. I think we're eventually going to get to the bottom of this. Obviously, the Iraqis went to great lengths to get rid of this stuff, to destroy it, to get it put away or sent somewhere else. But we're going to get to the bottom of this. It's going to take some more time. The scientists in Iraq are the people we have to get cooperation from. Eventually that's going to happen.
HEMMER: You're here in New York City to raise money. More fundraisers today. But across town at the U.N., apparently the Security Council has reached agreement that will give the United States and Britain great latitude in managing the future of Iraq.
A pretty good sign?
GEPHARDT: It is a good sign. I've said from the beginning you've got to get the U.N. involved. We need help. We need money help. We need people help from other countries. That's why I urged the president from the beginning to try to get the U.N. involved. He did try, finally. Unfortunately, we couldn't get them, but now maybe we can get them involved. We need help.
HEMMER: Quickly, in the 15 seconds we have left, we are on a heightened state of alert in this country heading into the Memorial Day weekend. More police officers working 12 hour shifts.
Can you say right now, as opposed to 48 hours ago, that Americans in this country are safer?
GEPHARDT: I think we're in for a long siege and I wish the president would talk more about the various reasons that terrorism is upon us and what we need to do. There are layers and complications to this problem. There's no one simple easy answer. He keeps saying we're going to get 'em. We all want to get 'em, but there are a lot of other things we need to do to prevent them from doing acts of terrorism.
HEMMER: We have a lot of topics to talk about. We'll continue it.
Thanks for coming in today.
GEPHARDT: Thank you.
HEMMER: We had Joe Lieberman on yesterday and we have promised all the hopefuls, Democrat and Republican, we'll give them a shot eventually here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Thanks.
Good to see you again.
GEPHARDT: Thanks, Bill.
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 May 22, 2003 - 07:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: With the nation on high alert again this weekend, homeland security undoubtedly one of the more pressing issues for Congress and for Representative and now presidential candidate Dick Gephardt. It is only one of many items on his agenda.
He is live here in New York City.
Nice to see you.
Good morning to you, as well.
REP. DICK GEPHARDT (D-MO), MINORITY LEADER: Bill, good to be here.
HEMMER: We apparently have a deal between the House and the Senate right now, a $350 billion tax deal. The White House says this is the stimulus the economy needs to create jobs and get things moving. You say what to that?
GEPHARDT: I say that's not true. I think we need a tax cut, but it ought to be a tax cut for everybody, not just a tax cut that's mainly aimed at a few. And there ought to be a tax cut for health care. We need to get everybody in this country covered with health care insurance that can't be taken away. If we did that, that would be a heck of a lot better than this tax cut that's going through the House.
HEMMER: And part of your plan for a universal health plan would essentially raise taxes on a lot of families in this country.
How can you, as critics contend, how can you sell that argument right now, given the state of the economy today?
GEPHARDT: My plan is a different tax cut, a better tax cut, because it gives it to everybody in a more or less equal way so that everybody can get guaranteed health insurance. The president's tax cut is primarily aimed at people that have dividends, that have lots of stocks in their portfolio. That's not most Americans today. Most people's portfolios have been depleted in the last two years.
So my plan is a different kind of tax cut, but it's given to get everybody covered with health insurance that can't be taken away. It will put money in people's pockets. It'll lower the cost of health care for people. We think it puts approximately $1,800 into the average family's pocket a year.
HEMMER: Go back to the dividend argument. The White House is saying no one should be double taxed on their income. Isn't there a point there, living in this country, in America, that, indeed, no one should pay that price?
GEPHARDT: Most people aren't double taxed. They aren't taxed at all because most people don't have dividends. This is really, again, something that goes for the favored few. It's like the president's tax cut last year, 60 percent of it goes to people at the very top, people earning over $300,000 a year.
HEMMER: But given the amount of 401Ks that we see right now and the amount of mutual funds and the pensions, it does not necessarily go to that high end, after all, does it not, because we are all pretty much now invested when it comes to the stock market?
GEPHARDT: But even with those folks, I think my tax cut is better because it goes to health care, which is people's biggest cost today. It puts more money in the average person's pocket than the president's tax cut. So if we're going to get rid of taxes, it seems to me we ought to do the most for the people in the middle and the people trying to get in the middle.
HEMMER: Let's talk about Iraq right now. There's a report out today, the "New York Times" is saying right now that the CIA records of the past fall will be reassessed and reevaluated as to what the U.S. is truly looking for and finding in weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Was that argument over sold, looking back now?
GEPHARDT: I don't think so. I think we're eventually going to get to the bottom of this. Obviously, the Iraqis went to great lengths to get rid of this stuff, to destroy it, to get it put away or sent somewhere else. But we're going to get to the bottom of this. It's going to take some more time. The scientists in Iraq are the people we have to get cooperation from. Eventually that's going to happen.
HEMMER: You're here in New York City to raise money. More fundraisers today. But across town at the U.N., apparently the Security Council has reached agreement that will give the United States and Britain great latitude in managing the future of Iraq.
A pretty good sign?
GEPHARDT: It is a good sign. I've said from the beginning you've got to get the U.N. involved. We need help. We need money help. We need people help from other countries. That's why I urged the president from the beginning to try to get the U.N. involved. He did try, finally. Unfortunately, we couldn't get them, but now maybe we can get them involved. We need help.
HEMMER: Quickly, in the 15 seconds we have left, we are on a heightened state of alert in this country heading into the Memorial Day weekend. More police officers working 12 hour shifts.
Can you say right now, as opposed to 48 hours ago, that Americans in this country are safer?
GEPHARDT: I think we're in for a long siege and I wish the president would talk more about the various reasons that terrorism is upon us and what we need to do. There are layers and complications to this problem. There's no one simple easy answer. He keeps saying we're going to get 'em. We all want to get 'em, but there are a lot of other things we need to do to prevent them from doing acts of terrorism.
HEMMER: We have a lot of topics to talk about. We'll continue it.
Thanks for coming in today.
GEPHARDT: Thank you.
HEMMER: We had Joe Lieberman on yesterday and we have promised all the hopefuls, Democrat and Republican, we'll give them a shot eventually here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Thanks.
Good to see you again.
GEPHARDT: Thanks, Bill.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
