'Meet the Press' transcript for Feb. 22, 2009

MR. GREGORY:  But this housing plan, can you describe how it will stop the slide of housing prices?

GOV. CRIST:  Well, I'm not sure that it will.  I don't think we know that yet.  I think it's too early to tell.

MR. GREGORY:  Can it be called a success if it doesn't do that?

GOV. CRIST:  Well, probably not.  But you know, none of us have a crystal ball.

MR. GREGORY:  Mm-hmm.

GOV. CRIST:  So we have to try something, we have to do something to make this economy move forward.  I think it was Warren Buffett who said--and maybe it was quoted earlier--that this is like the Pearl Harbor of the economy.  I mean, we are in a crisis.  I think everybody understands that and appreciates it, whether it's housing or whatever sector.

MR. GREGORY:  Right.

GOV. CRIST:  We've got to do something to get it going again.

MR. GREGORY:  But there are critics of the plan, and here's one criticism that appeared in Bloomberg:  "The Obama administration?s mortgage-modification plan offers the most aid to homeowners who `really stretched to buy their house and lied the most about their income,' Amherst Securities Group LP analysts said."

I want to go back to Florida.  Again, biggest beneficiary of the housing boom. The rest of the country did not share in the upside that Florida shared of the housing boom, a huge speculative boom.  Why should taxpayers have to subsidize the poor decisions of so many Floridians who misrepresented their income, got in over their heads when it came to paying their mortgages, when people around the country played by the rules, didn't get in over their heads, bought what they could afford?

GOV. CRIST:  Well, we all have to play by the rules.  You know, we all have to strive to do what's right.  Some people speculated beyond their means and, and there shouldn't be a bailout for that.  That would be inappropriate.

MR. GREGORY:  But that's a big part of this plan.

GOV. CRIST:  Well, I didn't say the plan...

MR. GREGORY:  Three to four million people should get modifications on their mortgages.

GOV. CRIST:  I didn't say the plan is something that I've adopted.  We're looking into details.

MR. GREGORY:  But you--do you support it or don't you?

GOV. CRIST:  Well, I think we might.  It all depends on what the details are once they're finally laid forward.

MR. GREGORY:  But you're not sure yet.  I mean, that's a significant point, that the Florida governor doesn't support the plan yet.

GOV. CRIST:  Well, we have--we don't support it yet.  You know, we have to look over it, we have to review it and we have to be practical and pragmatic. I'm not going to lurch forward because we're on the show today.

MR. GREGORY:  Mm-hmm.

GOV. CRIST:  I appreciate the opportunity.  But I want to be prudent and I want to be cautious.

MR. GREGORY:  Do you think modifying payments, modifying mortgages works?

GOV. CRIST:  It can.  It can.  And you know, to renegotiate, we've encouraged that in Florida, David, and we think it's important that banks work with people.  We understand that this is a tough time when it's difficult for people to make those monthly payments, and so we got the Florida Banker's Association together and we said, "Look, you know, number one, can you suspend your foreclosures during the holiday season?" They did, voluntarily.  Another things we said is, "You know, wouldn't it be better, instead of foreclosing on the home--you don't want to beat a bunch of homeowners around the state of Florida--wouldn't it be better to renegotiate with those homeowners, maybe lower the amount that they have to pay during a month so that they can get through it, that the homeowner still has a place to have their family, still has a place to raise their children, and you don't have to take over the debt that would be on the house?"

MR. GREGORY:  Let me ask you about your political future.  Would you like to run for the Senate in 2010?

GOV. CRIST:  I don't know.  I'm focused on Florida.  And I think it's important in my case--we've got a session that begins the first week in March. I've got to get through what's happening in the Florida economy.  I'm focused on that and that's where my, my focus has been and will stay.

MR. GREGORY:  Let me ask you about the Republican Party generally.  Who's the leader of the party, would you say, right now?

GOV. CRIST:  The people.  The people are the leader of the party.  And...

MR. GREGORY:  But the, the, the people have to represent someone, have to actually elect someone to head the party.

GOV. CRIST:  Well, they've elected a lot of people, a lot of Republicans around the country.

MR. GREGORY:  Is there no one national leader right now?

GOV. CRIST:  I don't know if there is or is not at this time.  And I think--well, there is a national leader, his name is President Obama.  And, and the people elected him.  And, and I'm willing to give him a good shot and, and try to help make this work.  We're in a tough time, as we talked about before.  I think we do need to be bipartisan.  We need to be, in fact, nonpartisan.  We're all Americans.  Our country is at a dire point, and we need to do everything we can to work together to get America through this, and I know that she will.

MR. GREGORY:  You have disagreements with your party right now nationally with regard to the stimulus plan.  In your view, what is the key to the road back to power for Republicans?

GOV. CRIST:  I think the key is doing what's right for the people.  It, it's by having a compassionate approach, it's by being fiscally conservative and it's by utilizing common sense.  The people of our country want people in office who will put common sense in their decision-making process.  Many times government and common sense don't meet.  We're trying to introduce them a lot more in Florida.

MR. GREGORY:  Is it your view that the, the, the party in Washington, the Republican Party should not be the party of no?

GOV. CRIST:  Well, you shouldn't be the party of no.  I think you have to--well, there's a time to say no.  But I think you need to be a party that works across the aisle, that you participate.  Both of them have to do that. And I think it's important for both Democrats and Republicans to work together for Americans.

MR. GREGORY:  We will leave it there.  Governor Crist, thank you very much.

GOV. CRIST:  Thank you, David.

MR. GREGORY:  We'll continue our discussion online and ask Governor Crist some questions that our viewers have submitted via e-mail and Twitter.  You can watch our MEET THE PRESS Take Two Web extra.  It's up this afternoon on our Web site at mtp.msnbc.com.

And coming next, a closer look at this week's housing debate and insights on a very busy week for Washington and the Obama administration.  Our roundtable weighs in--Al Hunt, Michelle Norris and Becky Quick--only on MEET THE PRESS.

(Announcements)

MR. GREGORY:  We're back with our political roundtable:  Becky Quick of CNBC, Al Hunt of Bloomberg News and Michele Norris of NPR.

Welcome, all.

Becky, first time on the program.

MS.  BECKY QUICK:  Thank you, friend.

MR. GREGORY:  Glad to have a new voice here.

MS.  QUICK:  It's great to be here.

MR. GREGORY:  Thank you very much.

I want to start on this issue of housing, because the debate has been so fast and furious this week.  And, Al Hunt, I have to say, I was struck--Governor of Crist, governor of Florida, second highest foreclosure rate, he is still not necessarily on board with this plan to up the refinancing, lowering the standards for refinancing, and offering a reduction in payments for people who have real dangers now of foreclosing.  That, to me, is striking.

MR. AL HUNT:  Yeah, it is, David.  He, he rather equivocated.  I think he left open the fact he may come back and Tuesday suddenly find wisdom in the plan.  Look, it's really tough stuff.  Three million people have lost their homes, six million are threatened.  There are some people who say, "Well, why should we reward bad behavior?" On the other hand, my house may be fine because I, I financed it 20 years ago; but if the house next door is in trouble, that means my property values are going down.  Not to mention the six million people that lose their jobs.  So it's really tough.  Does Obama--has he come up with a perfect plan?  I suspect not.  Few plans are.  But I am struck by the range of experts who think it's a workable and a good plan, ranging from CEOs like...

MR. GREGORY:  Mm-hmm.

MR. HUNT:  ...Jamie Dimon, all the way to the consumer advocates on the housing side.  So I would say most people would give him a pretty good grade for a good start at this.

MR. GREGORY:  And, and I think we should frame this correctly, which is that the White House view here is that additional foreclosures is terrible for the housing market because it pulls down that market, pulls down prices further. And they believe that majority of people here would be refinanced if they are at risk of foreclosure, and that it's important to do that, again, for the, for the general health of the housing market.  But there is some significant disagreement on the merits.  Rick Santelli was on Becky's program "Squawk Box" this week.

MS.  QUICK:  Right.

MR. GREGORY:  He's a trader in Chicago--excuse me, an online--on air editor for CNBC.  And this is what he said about this effort to modify payments, reduce payments this week.  Watch.

(Videotape, Thursday)

MR. SANTELLI:  How about this, president and new administration?  Why don't you put up a Web site to have people vote on the Internet as a referendum to see if we really want to subsidize the losers' mortgages, or would we like to or least buy cars and buy houses in foreclose and give them to people that might have chance to actually prosper down the road, and reward people that could carry the water instead of drink the water.

How many of you people want to pay for your neighbor's mortgage that has an extra bathroom and can't pay their bills.  Raise their hand.  How about we all...

(Group boos)

MR. SANTELLI:  President Obama, are you listening?

(End videotape)

MR. GREGORY:  One person who was listening was the White House Press Secretary Roberts Gibbs, who had--took on Santelli by name from the podium.

(Videotape, Friday)

MR. ROBERT GIBBS:  I would encourage him to read the president's plan and understand that it will help millions of people, many of whom he knows.  I'd be more than happy to have him come here and read it.  I'd be happy to buy him a cup of coffee.  Decaf.  Let me do this, too.  This is a copy of the president's home affordability plan.  It's available on the White House Web site.  And I would encourage him, download it, hit print and begin to read it.

(End videotape)

MR. GREGORY:  Well, I have read the plan from top to bottom.

MS.  QUICK:  Yeah.

MR. GREGORY:  And the reality, Becky, is that Mr. Santelli's criticism is shared by a lot of people who think that it, A, is fundamentally unfair to subsidize people who may have misrepresented their income, gotten in over their heads, they owe what they owe.  There's also real questions about whether modifications work.  Fifty to 60 percent of modifications end up in a re-default.

MS.  QUICK:  Right.

MR. GREGORY:  That's a fact.

MS.  QUICK:  It is.  And we, we spoke with Jim Lockhart this week.  He is the head of OFHEO, which oversees Fannie and Freddie.  He said that they're hoping, they're hoping that 40 percent of these people that they help out won't fall into foreclosure anyway.  That's just what they're hoping at this point.  When Rick was talking, I mean, if you watch him on a daily basis, he does stuff like this all the time.  He yells about Wall Street getting a bailout.  He yells about 10-year Treasury prices on a regular basis.  But the reason this probably picked up steam is he touched on something, touched a nerve that lots and lots of people around the country are feeling.  They, they, they feel like the ants who are now being asked to take care of the grasshoppers.  Now, there were probably some ants that were out there working all summer, too, and you feel bad if they got stuck out in the rain, but there are people who are just angry about the idea that people lied on their mortgage applications and that they're going to get bailed out.

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