'Meet the Press' transcript for April 6, 2008

MR. RUSSERT:  Well, because we're trying to determine who's going to be the nominee in the, in the fairest way there.  But I, I--here's an issue.  Barack Obama was in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and talking about kids and sex education.  Let's watch.

(Videotape)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL):  ...teaching children, you know, that sex is not something casual, but it should also include, it should also include other, you know, information about contraception because, look, I've got two daughters, nine-year-old, now nine years old and six years old.  I'm going to teach them, first of all, about values and morals.  But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby.

(End videotape)

MR. RUSSERT:  "Punished with a baby." Is that an appropriate word?

SEN. CASEY:  Well, I--look, you can talk about better word choice, but what he's talking about is something he, as he always is, he's being very honest. He's honest about the idea that if a, if a teenage girl has a baby, that is a terrible burden and it's difficult.  And I think he's responding...

MR. RUSSERT:  But it's not a, it's not a punishment.

SEN. CASEY:  No, I think he's talking about the burden.  He's talking about the burden there.  But here, here's the thing.  If you listen to that whole answer, it showed again why he's a leader.  He talked about approaching these issues in a different way.  Usually on these tough issues, people in Washington fight with each other, they point fingers at each other.  Barack Obama's going to be the kind of president who'll be honest about differences, respect people that disagree with him but also try to reach a common ground. I think he's demonstrated that on issue after issue.  And, again, it's about being a strong leader.  Not having the loudest voice, but I think being a strong leader.

MR. RUSSERT:  But he should not have used the word "punished."

SEN. CASEY:  I think if he had answered that question again, he would--he'd, he'd use different words.  But I think the point he was trying to make was a very important point, that we've got to remember that if a teenage girl has a baby, it's usually, in most instances, a difficult burden.

MR. RUSSERT:  Governor Rendell, these were the headlines in the New York Daily News and across the country on Saturday.  Here it is, the "109 Million-Dollar Couple:  Bill and Hill make more than $15 million a year since leaving the White House." Fifteen million dollars a year, $109 million in seven years.  How is that going to play in Lancaster, Altoona, Erie, PA?

GOV. RENDELL:  Well, you know what's going to play well is that they paid a higher percentage of taxes, $33 million, than anyone--than the average in their income bracket, they gave almost 10 percent of their income, $10 million, to charity when the average person in that bracket gives about 3 percent.  I think Bill and Hillary Clinton, with the taxes they paid and with the money they gave to charity, demonstrated their commitment to the public good, no ifs, ands and buts about it, Tim.

MR. RUSSERT:  But the, the median income in Pennsylvania is $46,000 a year.

GOV. RENDELL:  I know.  But Pennsylvanians understand that Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, all of their lives until he left the White House, were devoted to public service.  If people want to pay for the president to give speeches, if people want to pay to buy either of their books, I think the public understands that.  What they're looking to see is not just charitable commitment in the last year before they're running for president, but what have they done over the last eight, nine years in terms of giving to charity. Ten million dollars, that's pretty spectacular.

MR. RUSSERT:  The concern is that tens of millions of dollars of that income was not speeches and books, but private partnerships, perhaps involving dealings with foreign governments.  And...

GOV. RENDELL:  No, over $80 million of it came from speeches and books and...

MR. RUSSERT:  That, that still leaves $29 million, Governor.  And, and here's what USA Today had to say about another $500 million that was raised:  "Donors have pledged more than $500 million for construction of the library and for the Clinton Foundation.  ...  That's an enormous amount for someone to be raising from friends, business partners, foreign governments and interested parties who are either barred from making campaign contributions or limited to the $2,300 maximum.  Because of the former president's unusual position and the sheer size of this conduit into a potential presidential administration, the complete list of donors should be made public." Do you believe that the $500 million given to President Clinton for his library and foundation, that those donors should be made public so voters know who's funding that?

GOV. RENDELL:  I think that's a issue for the foundation to, to determine. But look at what the foundation's done, Tim.  The way you act, you'd think that that money was used for some nefarious purpose.  That money's been used to save 1.4 million Africans from the plague of AIDS.  The Clinton Foundation is heralded all around the world for its incredible good works.  And so I think that what money raised for that goes for incredibly good public purpose, and I don't think it's a particular issue.  I mean, it's up to the president whether he wants to make those names available.  He can if he wants to.  But the foundation's work is so important that regardless of what happens to Senator Clinton in this campaign, I think all of us should want that foundation to continue to raise money and do its good works not just around the world, but here in America as well.

MR. RUSSERT:  So you don't think anyone who makes contributions 10, $20 million could be seen as perhaps currying favor in a future Clinton administration?

GOV. RENDELL:  No, it goes to the foundation for works that, again, we all should be praiseworthy of, just like the Rockefeller Foundation or the Ford Foundation or the Pew Foundation.

SEN. CASEY:  Tim, let me just follow up on that.  Look, I think voters'll make a decision about these income tax returns one way or the other, but it does, it does get us to the question of how broken our government is in Washington.  The--one of the reasons why people are so attracted to Barack Obama's candidacy is because they know that beating John McCain and stopping a third Bush term is not going to be enough.  We have to break the stranglehold of special interests to make progress on housing, to make progress on, on health care, to do a lot of things.  And I think the way Barack Obama has raised money from small donations, from more--almost $1.3 million people now, demonstrates clearly not just the kind of leadership but the, the new approach to politics, and that's going to be critical.

MR. RUSSERT:  But, Senator, stop there.  He has taken money from state lobbyists, he has taken money not from federal lobbyists, but people who work for federal lobbyists.  He has taken money from individuals in huge business sectors.  It--I mean, he's raised a lot of money from very influential people as well as small donors.

SEN. CASEY:  Sure he has.

GOV. RENDELL:  Power executives.

SEN. CASEY:  Sure, sure he has, Tim, but I think when you, when you, when you line up, when you line up the, the way he's raised money with, with the way most presidential candidates in both parties have for generations, there's no comparison.  A lot of people of very limited means have funded his campaign. I think it, it shows that he can bring about a new kind of politics.

GOV. RENDELL:  I, I disagree, Tim.  I think certainly he's raised a lot of money in a new way, but for him to claim that he hasn't raised money in the old way, as you said--nuclear power, utility executives, oil company executives, a lot of people in those sectors have bundled money for the Obama campaign.  And I think it's a little disingenuous to say, "I don't take money from special interests." He certainly has gotten a lot of money from the public, and, and he's to be praised for that.  Senator Clinton, by the old standards, has gotten a lot of money from the public.  Not, not anything to match Senator Obama, but they've both taken money from people connected to industries and, and organizations.

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