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'Meet the Press' transcript for Jan. 27, 2008
Broadcast videos, highlights |
 Netcast Jan. 27: Two days before the crucial Florida Republican primary, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) joins us live from Tampa to talk about his presidential campaign. Then, we have insights and analysis on the race for the White House with Maureen Dowd of the New York Times, Chuck Todd of NBC News, and Byron York of the National Review |
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 | 60 years of ‘Meet the Press’ A photographic look back at the longest-running program in television history and the guests who graced the broadcast – from Martin Luther King Jr. to Jimmy Hoffa. more photos |
MR. RUSSERT: I want to bring you back to Thursday in an exchange we had.
SEN. McCAIN: Mm-hmm.
MR. RUSSERT: Here's a question I asked you and your response. Let's watch.
(Videotape)
MR. RUSSERT: Senator McCain, you have said repeatedly, "I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated." Is it a problem for your campaign that the economy is now the most important issue, one that, by your own acknowledgement, you're not well versed on?
SEN. McCAIN: Actually, I don't know where you got that quote from. I'm very well versed in economics.
(End videotape)
MR. RUSSERT: Well, I'll tell you...
SEN. McCAIN: Now I know where you got that quote from. Now I know where you got the quote from.
MR. RUSSERT: I will show you where I got the quote from. I got it from John McCain, and here it is. "McCain is refreshingly blunt when he tells me I'm going to be honest, I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated." Wall Street Journal, November 26th, 2005. You repeated it to the Boston Globe in December of '07. You said it.
SEN. McCAIN: OK. Let me tell you what I was trying to say and what I meant in that soundpiece. I spent 22 years in the military. I spent 20 years in the Senate Armed Services Committee. I've been involved in national security issues all my life. I attended the National War Cause. Of course I know more about national security than any other issue. That's been my entire life. Am I, am I smart on economics? Yes. I was chairman of the Commerce Committee. Why--that's why people like Phil Gramm, Tom Coburn and Warren Rudman and Carly Fiorina and the real strong economic minds, Jack Kemp, the real strong minds on the economy and, and conservatives on the economy are supporting me. They don't think that I'm--of course, I always have things to learn, and I continue to learn every day. But I'm very strong on the economy, and, frankly, my economic record is a lot stronger than that of the governor of Massachusetts when you look at his record as governor.
MR. RUSSERT: One of the questions that has been raised repeatedly in this campaign, Senator, is your opposition to the Bush tax cuts back in 2001.
SEN. McCAIN: Mm-hmm.
MR. RUSSERT: One of only two Republican senators. Back then you gave a floor speech and said this...
SEN. McCAIN: Mm-hmm.
MR. RUSSERT: ..."I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us at the expense of middle-class Americans who most need tax relief."
Then you were on MEET THE PRESS in April of '04. I asked you about that vote. I also asked you about postponing the Bush tax cut, and this is what you said.
(Videotape, April 11, 2004)
SEN. McCAIN: I voted against the tax cuts because of the disproportional amount that went to the wealthiest Americans. I would clearly support not extending those tax cuts in order to help address the, the deficit.
(End videotape)
MR. RUSSERT: You wouldn't support extending them...
SEN. McCAIN: Mm-hmm.
MR. RUSSERT: ...but you are now supporting extending them...
SEN. McCAIN: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
MR. RUSSERT: ...on the, on the radio with this ad.
SEN. McCAIN: Mm-hmm.
(Audiotape)
SEN. McCAIN: I'll make the Bush tax cuts permanent.
(End audiotape)
SEN. McCAIN: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
MR. RUSSERT: That's a direct contradiction.
SEN. McCAIN: Well, at the time I still wanted to do two things. One was a different set of tax cuts that also had more emphasis on middle and lower income Americans. But most importantly, most importantly, we are now facing a situation with a shaky economy with tax cuts not being permanent, then the people experience an increase in their taxes.
And let me go back to 2001 again. I was right, we had to have restraint of spending. I'm proud to have been one in the Reagan revolution where we not only cut taxes, which I'm proud to have supported and I have a record of it, but we restrained spending. And when you have tax cuts and not restrain spending and let things go completely out of control, as we did, look, we lost the 2006 election because we didn't restrain spending. So I not only didn't--had a different set of tax cut proposals, which were very strong, but I also had restraint of spending. And I believe to this day if we'd adopted the tax cuts that I proposed, and I did have a strong tax cut proposal, today we'd be talking about further tax cuts instead of alienated our base by letting spending get completely out of control, and then we then are facing--and it's one of the major contributors to the fiscal difficulties that we have in America today. I'm proud of my record of tax cutting, I'm proud of my record of, of being a fiscal conservative. Would I have had those tax cuts differently? Of course I would have. And now, right now today, Americans in 2010 are facing, unfortunately, the prospect of a tax increase when we had--if we don't make them permanent, if--in a time of a very shaky economy. I think that's the worst thing we could do.
MR. RUSSERT: But you have changed your mind?
SEN. McCAIN: No, I have not changed my mind in that I want restraint of spending. I would have had a different set of tax cuts. We've got to make these tax cuts permanent. We have to, otherwise I think it'll have a negative impact on our economy.
MR. RUSSERT: But you told me in '04 you were against making them permanent.
SEN. McCAIN: In '04 our economy was fine. And I have said many, many times since then, I've said many, many times, as the tax cuts came closer to whether they need to be made permanent or not, I've said 500 times that I want the tax cuts to be made permanent. Did I want my tax plan approved when I was running in 2000? Yes. And if we'd have done what I wanted to do, we'd be talking about more tax cuts today.
MR. RUSSERT: There's a suggestion that one of the reasons that you're now in favor of the tax cuts is because criticism, criticisms about you and how good a Republican you are. Here's the headline from the St. Petersburg Times, which I'll share on the screen: "Is he Republican enough? Florida Republicans say McCain's not always conservative." They point to that tax cut vote, your support for McCain-Feingold campaign finance spending. Rick Santorum, former colleague of yours...
SEN. McCAIN: Mm-hmm.
MR. RUSSERT: ...said this: "The bottom line is that I served 12 years with [McCain], six years in the United States Senate as one of the leaders of the Senate who had" "responsibility of trying to put together the conservative agenda, and almost at every turn on domestic policy, John McCain was not only against us, but leading the charge on the other side."
SEN. McCAIN: Well, I don't know what to say except examine my record. Look at my ratings by the objective organizations that judge these things: Citizens Against Government Waste, National Taxpayers Union, Citizens for a Sound Economy. I am proud of my conservative record and the rankings--those people who observe--the National Federation of Independent Businessmen who named me the taxpayers' hero. I have a clear, consistent record. Have I always gone along with the Republican Party? Rumsfeld's strategy was a Republican policy. Abramoff's--who I investigated--was a Republican, and we have former Republican members of Congress that are in serious trouble as a result of it. Did I fight against the appropriators time after time after time and when we saw these pork barrel spending projects? Of course I did. And that's why people like Senator Tom Coburn, the strongest fiscal conservative in the Senate, is supporting me. That's why I have a broad base of conservative report--support. Tim, I am confident, as a nominee of the party, I will unite the party, I will bring all of them together. And I'm very proud, by the way, that polls show that I'm the most competitive by far against Senator Clinton or Senator Obama, when all others lag far behind because I not only can consolidate the Republican base, but I can reach out to independents as well. And there are times, I am very proud to say, I will put my country above my party. But I am a proud, proud Republican that was in on the Reagan revolution, and I'm proud of my conservative record.
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