Sens. Chambliss and Thune on the Stimulus Deal

HANNITY: And now we bring in Republican senator, Saxby Chambliss, and John Thune.

Guys, welcome back. Thank you for being with us.

SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R), GEORGIA SENATOR: Good to be with you, Sean.

JOHN THUNE (R), SOUTH DAKOTA SENATOR: Good evening, Sean.

HANNITY: Saxby, let's start with you. Looks like Snowe, Collins and Specter. Do we know the final price tag, number one? Do we have any -- has there been any discussion with those three as to why they went along with this? What -- it can be described as the single biggest transfer of assets and power for the federal government from the private sector?

CHAMBLISS: Well, Senator Specter and Senator Collins both spoke on the floor tonight, and obviously, they made a very impassioned plea for their reasons why they're doing this, but nothing other than that that we know, Sean.

The final price tag is not known yet. What we do know is that in addition to the $780 billion that they apparently agreed to, there's another $42.5 billion that's been passed in a way of amendments to the bill, so we know that this magnanimous bill that was too big to believe that came over from the House has now been exceeded in the Senate.

HANNITY: Yes.

CHAMBLISS: And as John and Cameron -- we were just talking a little earlier. That's not the way it usually happens. It's usually the other way, so.

HANNITY: Well.

CHAMBLISS: . it's pretty amazing night.

HANNITY: We know, for example, Senator Levin said, Senator Thune, that he wants to put whatever was taken out of this bill. He'd like to see put back in conference, so there may even be ultimately a bigger price tag come the end of all this.

Now my biggest problem, Senator, is that Congressional Budget Office numbers. This is the Democrats' own economists are saying that this is not going to be a stimulus bill, that this is a spending bill, and that we're likely, ultimately, to see a reduction in the growth in the economy.

That's what their own economists are saying, so why was there just total support on the Democratic side on this?

THUNE: Well, it's really stunning, Sean, and we are borrowing it all. And as you mentioned, the CBO study that came out yesterday suggested that it could create as few as 1.3 million jobs. The price tag keeps growing, and if you figure that out on a per job basis, it's hundreds of thousands of dollars per job created.

I come from a state where the average annual salary is under $30,000 a year. I -- I honestly don't know why you would have right thinking, Democrats or Republicans, for that matter, who would be for this, but it looks like it's going to pass the Senate.

HANNITY: Well, so, in other words, the people in your state, they're not going to want to pay for ATV parks, they're not going to pay -- want to pay for golf course updates. They're not going to want to pay for Frisbee golf.

I'm shocked, Senator. I would think that's got to be on the top of the list of everybody in your state. Those are priorities.

Let me ask you this. One of my biggest complaints is the rhetoric and the language that has been used, gentlemen, by the president in the last number of days. He keeps using the word "catastrophe," that if we didn't pass this bill.

Do you think, Senator Chambliss, that this was fear tactics that had an impact on the psyche of the American people?

CHAMBLISS: Well, it's difficult to say what's in the minds of people, but what we do know is that there is a big split among economists, Sean, as to whether or not, with all of this money being spent it's going to make any difference or not. And the fact is, we know by spending it, again, according to CBO, the chances are that in 2019 GDP is going got start turning downward, and we know when GDP goes down, inflation goes up, this type of spending creates additional inflation, so this is probably the most serious vote that John and I have never ever taken in all of our years in Congress.

HANNITY: Yes.

CHAMBLISS: And he's exactly right. We have just burdened our children and grandchildren here, or at least we're headed in that direction, in an unbelievable way.

HANNITY: I've got to tell you, it's no longer big government, limited government. I've been saying it to my audiences, senators, that this is now a battle of capitalism versus European socialism, and tonight the European socialist act of 2009 is on its way towards full passage.

Thank you both for being with us and giving us an update. We appreciate it.