BLITZER: Joining us now to talk about that and a lot more, Republican Senator Robert Bennett of Utah.

Senator Bennett, thanks very much for coming in.

SEN. ROBERT BENNETT (R), UTAH: Happy to do it.

BLITZER: The number's obviously not great, but certainly 247,000 jobs lost is a lot better than 600,000 jobs lost a month, or even 700,000 jobs lost a month. Unemployment went from 9.5 percent to 9.4 percent. Here's the question: Does President Obama's economic stimulus package deserve some credit?

BENNETT: Frankly, I don't think so, because a very, very large percentage of it simply hasn't been spent yet. I think it's something like six percent of the total amount has been put out, and you don't get that kind of a bang out of this.

Now, I don't think it's hurt, so I won't say that that's the situation, but what happened last September when the economy dropped off the cliff, everything stopped. OK. That meant that people were buying things that were in the inventory pipeline. That pipeline is now empty and you have to go back to work to start to produce things that people need to buy.

So, you've got a natural recovery going on in the economy at the same time the stimulus money has started to flow. But the flow of the stimulus money has been so slight I don't think you can say that that's the reason we're seeing what we're seeing.

BLITZER: They say they've got about $100 billion of that nearly $800 billion out there already that's starting to work and starting to have an effect, some of it already spent, some of it about to be spent. But a lot more is in the pipeline is going to be spent let's say over the next six months or the next year, which leads me to ask you this question -- is there light at the end of the tunnel as far as the recession is concerned?

BENNETT: Much too early to make that decision, because, as I say, you can make the case that the stabilization we've seen is all as a result of the handing of the inventory and the beginning to rebuild a little bit of inventory. The question is, are people going to start spending at the level that they did? Because if they don't, yes, we will be manufacturing to meet consumption demands but if consumption is say 60 percent of the economy rather than the 70 percent that it was before the recession, you're not going to see the kind of employment figures that you want. It's still much too early to start celebrating.

BLITZER: All right. Here is a question on the health care legislation that's out there. You're trying to work with Democratic Senator Ron Widen of Oregon and others to forge a bipartisan piece of legislation. Are you open at all, Senator Bennett, to legislation that would include, as the president wants, some form of a government option, a government health insurance group that would compete with the private health insurance companies?

BENNETT: Absolutely not.

BLITZER: Under no circumstances.

BENNETT: Under no circumstances.

BLITZER: So, do you have any reason to believe the president will back away from that? BENNETT: Yes. I think the president would sign a bill without a public option. I think behind the scenes we've already started to get those signals out of the administration. I won't pin anybody down or name any names. But the reason that I and I think every Republican and, as some Democrats have said, not a few Democrats will say no to a public option is that it is not competition. I heard the press secretary talk about, well, we're not in competition. When you're competing with the government, you're not competing and the statement, well, we need a government-run plan in order to keep the insurance companies honest, come on. The government owns General Motors. Do we want the government making decisions in General Motors to keep Ford honest or to keep Toyota honest? It's just ridiculous to say that the government should be in this business.

BLITZER: This concept that you're coming together with Ron Widen and some other Democrats and Republicans, how much will that cost American taxpayers if it were implemented?

BENNETT: I was interested again in the press secretary's comment about costs and we've got to get costs down. If you take the CBO score of their plan, it would cost an additional $1.7 trillion. If you take the Lewin Group score of our plan, it would save $1.3 trillion. We could turn the cost curve down while they're talking about turning it up, $1.3 saving versus $1.7 spending, that's a $3 trillion swing, Wolf. Even in Washington, $3 trillion is a lot of money.

BLITZER: You know there are some who raise questions about the Lewin Group because it's owned by a major health insurance company and as a result its numbers may not necessarily be all that objective.

BENNETT: No, I reject that categorically. You look at the work they do, you look at how careful they are, and they are as good as they come. Now, CBO, they've scored the Widen Bennett bill as revenue neutral with an undetermined amount of savings in the out year. So, CBO -- and this was a Democratic CBO -- is pretty much in the same ballpark.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Senator Robert Bennett of Utah speaking with me. Meanwhile, a senator catches every one off guard announces he's resigning before his term is up. Republican Mel Martinez is calling it quits. We'll tell you why.