Interview January 29,2009 on CNBC
Interview with John Harwood on CNBC on January 29.
Talking about the stimulus package.
Biden: It’s not over yet. We’ve only gone through the first phase of this. That is, it’s passed the House, which is a big, big step. It’s about to pass in the Senate and we’re going to go to conference. And I’m sure there’s going to be some additional changes in this.
Harwood: What kind?
Biden: Well, my guess is you’re going to see maybe some additional infrastructure spending. You may see some changes in some of the things that have been put forward by the House in terms of spending, and maybe even some changes on the tax side. But, look…
Harwood: More tax cuts then?
Biden: Well, I don’t… that may occur. But here’s where we are. You have as, for a city that did not function for eight years, in terms of any kind of bipartisan consensus, any kind of real coordination, here we are, God, we’re willing, with less than, you know, 20 days into the first session, of passing the most significant stimulus package in the history of the United States of America. That is, and it’s going to spend out 75% of it quickly; ah, does it spend out every way we want to? I mean, for example, you have a circumstance where, you want to make sure you don’t create as they say a tail. You don’t want to start a spending program that locks you into long, long term spending. And the other side of it is, you’d also like to be able to, if you could write it as if, you know, there was no Congress, you could just write it yourself, you would like to have significant reforms built into this as well.
Could it be better? When you have two branches of Government and three separate entities working on something, I’m not sure that it could have gotten, at this stage, much better than this. I think it’s good. I think you’ll see it get better. And I think you’ll also see Republicans voting for it.
Harwood: What kind?
Biden: Well, my guess is you’re going to see maybe some additional infrastructure spending. You may see some changes in some of the things that have been put forward by the House in terms of spending, and maybe even some changes on the tax side. But, look…
Harwood: More tax cuts then?
Biden: Well, I don’t… that may occur. But here’s where we are. You have as, for a city that did not function for eight years, in terms of any kind of bipartisan consensus, any kind of real coordination, here we are, God, we’re willing, with less than, you know, 20 days into the first session, of passing the most significant stimulus package in the history of the United States of America. That is, and it’s going to spend out 75% of it quickly; ah, does it spend out every way we want to? I mean, for example, you have a circumstance where, you want to make sure you don’t create as they say a tail. You don’t want to start a spending program that locks you into long, long term spending. And the other side of it is, you’d also like to be able to, if you could write it as if, you know, there was no Congress, you could just write it yourself, you would like to have significant reforms built into this as well.
Could it be better? When you have two branches of Government and three separate entities working on something, I’m not sure that it could have gotten, at this stage, much better than this. I think it’s good. I think you’ll see it get better. And I think you’ll also see Republicans voting for it.
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