Senator John McCain in Washington. Thanks for joining us this morning Senator. And we just heard Jake go through the agenda. The President made an opening bid yesterday. He moved your way on this freeze of all pay for federal workers. Are you prepared to move the President's way on any items on his agenda?
Well, what I would hope that we could do is agree to the extension of the tax cuts at all levels and also reach some agreement on moving forward with the START Treaty as well. I think that that is a serious result that could ensue from the meeting today. And I would point out that the election was about tax cuts, economy and jobs. That's what it was about. It wasn't about the dream act, it wasn't about "Don't Ask Don't Tell". It was about the tax cuts give some confidence to businesses, large and small that they will have some surety and confidence about what their financial situation will be in the coming year. And hopefully, we can move forward on that.
Let's talk about the tax cuts because the Democrats now seem to be prepared to compromise at least a bit. Before they were saying extend the tax cuts only for Americans earning under 250,000 dollars, now they are saying many of them are saying they are willing to move that ceiling up to a million dollars that the tax cuts would expire only for Americans who make more than a million dollars a year. Here's Senator Claire McCaskill on that.
Well, I think we should draw the line in the sand for millionaires. Honestly with all of the talk and righteous indignation about the deficit, are we really gonna hold up tax cuts for all of America just for the millionaires?
What's the answer to that?
The answer to that is let's give everybody confidence in the future that they can invest, they can hire. Understandably, the amount of money that corporations and businesses are sitting on is all time high. They, we want to give them confidence so there will not be any tax increase.
But do Americans making more than a million a year really need a tax cut right now?
Or a billion dollars, or ten billion dollars. What we are doing here is trying to find some level where the populism will take over. The fact is that we don't want to raise anybody's tax in a time of economic recession that we are in and that's the fundamental principle that we are adhering to. And we believe that's the message that the American people sent to get some confidence into businesses large and small as to what their future will be so they can invest and hire.
You said you also wanted to see action on this START Treaty. It's your colleague from Arizona Senator Jon Kyl who says he does not prepare to vote on it this year. But as you know, many even Republican former Secretaries of State and Defense said this is vital to America's national security. Can a compromise be reached before the end of this year?
I hope so, I have some concerns about missile defense. In fact, I'm a little disturbed that the news this morning that tactical nuclear weapons have been moved closer to Europe than by the Russians. But that is not directly related to the START Treaty, but certainly is an indication of the need to have verification. I believe that we could move forward with the START Treaty and satisfy Senator Kyl's concerns and mine about missile defense and others and I hope that we could do that.
This year?
I would hope so, I would so. But Senator Kyl's concerns are very legitimate and I think they are the attempts are being made to address them.
Finally, sir, you know on Wikileaks, I know you think that leak is deplorable but I'm wondering is there's anything that can be done about it?
Well first of all, let's go back to the principle of need to know. Why would a private first class have access to all of this information?
That’s a very good question.
Somebody is responsible for that. And it isn't just the private first class. They should be held accountable and responsible for a change. We should make sure that we have the fixes in, that we have confidence, that the information will not be disseminated except those who need to know. And frankly, I 'm worried about the additional information that Wikileaks apparently has and how much damage that will do to America's national security. Let's fix the problem, hold people responsible and make sure this kind of thing never happens again.
Okay. Senator McCain, thanks very much for your time this morning. Thanks for having me on, George. |