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January 27, 2009

Panel on Obama's Trip to Capitol Hill

Special Report With Bret Baier

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I don't expect 100 percent agreement from my Republican colleagues, but I do hope that we can all put politics aside and do the American people's business right now.

MIKE PENCE, (R) INDIANA REPRESENTATIVE: As grateful as we are for the president's spirit, as I told him personally, House Democrats have completely ignored the president's call for bipartisan cooperation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: President Obama up on Capitol Hill today talking to congressional Republicans about that $825 billion economic stimulus package. They call it a "recovery and reinvestment package." You just heard Republican Congressman Mike Pence expressing some disapproval of all of that.

Some analytical observations about all of this from Fred Barnes, executive editor of "The Weekly Standard," Mara Liasson, National Political Correspondent of National Public Radio, and syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer, FOX News contributors all.

Fred, your thoughts about today's push by President Obama, and the fallout?

FRED BARNES, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, "THE WEEKLY STANDARD": Smart by President Obama. He has talked about bipartisanship, and a part of it is at least listening to your partisan opposition. And going up to see Republicans--he has invited them into the White House. It makes a lot of sense.

Republicans, on the other hand, would like to drive a wedge between Obama and congressional Democrats. You can see that from the statement by Mike Pence.

In other words, they want to use the promises and words of Obama against congressional Democrats, who certainly have been not bipartisan at all in their dealings with Republicans on this stimulus package.

And then, I don't know, maybe something -- it will be up to Obama to decide if he's going to indulge in real bipartisanship. And he's not going to get 100 percent of Republicans. He used the figure--he would like to get 80 percent of congress, which would mean half or 55 percent of Republicans, as well as all the Democrats.

He can get them, but he has to give them something. He can't do it just by listening or talking or being nice. He has to give them something.

And they haven't asked for much. You know, they want reduced or lower tax rates, this 20 percent exemption for small businesses, and so on out of their income--I mean, are relatively small thing.

But you have to give them something. You have to give them some serious, permanent tax cut. And if he does, a lot of Republicans will vote for it.

MARA LIASSON, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO: The White House does have to decide what level of Republican votes they need. They don't need any, actually. They will get this through both houses of congress.

But I do agree with Fred--99 percent of life is showing up, and he set a tone just by going up there. Tonight at the White House Rahm Emanuel is inviting another small group of Republicans to come and talk.

The big question is what is he willing to do differently? I think the White House feels they already put in almost $300 billion of tax cuts in order to woo Republicans. They certainly aren't willing to change at least the refundable tax credit that some Republicans have such a big problem with.

I think if there is going to be any give and take, it will be in the Senate, where they have higher hopes of getting more Republicans, and then in the conference.

But the way Republicans are treating this president reminds me a little bit of Democrats and Ronald Reagan. He is personally popular. They don't want to take him on frontally. They are aiming all their fire at the House Democrats as if it is the House Democrats' bill and it's not Obama's. It is Obama's bill--

BARNES: Except they wrote it!

LIASSON: Yes, but he's guiding it, and if he didn't like something in it, as he didn't like the money for contraception, he would tell them to take it out.

BAIER: Hold it out.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: There might be a tax cut that the Democrats or the president could throw in that would attract enough Republicans to give him a broad base of support, but I think that would be a mistake on the part of Republicans.

I think they ought to oppose the bill on a matter of principle. And the principle is that this is the largest and the most rapidly run through stimulus spending package in American history, and a lot of it is simply not stimulus.

The president has talked about having three-quarters of it spent in the first two years. Well, if it's not spent in the first two years, it's not stimulus. It shouldn't be in the bill. It should be in the regular appropriations.

You've got almost half a billion for the study of climate change. Well, that could be a worthy cause, but it doesn't stimulate the economy or create jobs. It ought to be in the regular appropriation process, which has served us rather well over the 200 years.

The stimulus is supposed to be a response to a national emergency. That's why it's a huge amount of money being quickly legislated on way ahead of any other schedule. So that has to be stimulus.

I think Republicans ought to insist not that three-quarters happen in the first two years, but all of it. And, otherwise, vote no.

BAIER: There is a lot of focus, Fred, on these congressional budget office projections about when the money would really impact the economy. When you look at the new estimates, really, the biggest impact is from the tax cuts at the front end, tax cuts that many Democrats opposed, right?

BARNES: You mean the Republicans opposed? You mean the one that will go to--the refundable tax credit that will go to people who don't pay any taxes at all, or at least any income taxes? Sure, that money can get out pretty quickly.

The question is whether Obama wants to give Republicans something that's not a tax cut that's welfare, but something that will actually help him and the economy.

Remember what happened in the New Deal. After four or five years of all the infrastructure and all the projects, which can put people to work, FDR cut back.

And what happened? There was not a strong, robust private economy to step in and take over because he raised taxes on wealthy people and the attacked corporate America and so on, and didn't produce what Obama-what is lacking in this bill.

Obama needs, after a couple of years of stimulus, he needs a strong private economy. He's not going to get it from this bill.

LIASSON: No, but this isn't the bill that is meant to do it-

BARNES: Yes it is!

LIASSON: The TARP is meant to do it, and the financial package to shore up the banks, and to do re-regulations, that is what is supposed to do it.

BARNES: Then why do they call it a stimulus? It is supposed to stimulate the economy.

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