WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) appeared on “Fox News Sunday” this morning to talk about the fiscal cliff.
Below are key excerpts of the interview:
On Why He Believes President Obama Sees Political Victory in Going Off the Cliff:
“I want to find a solution, I want us to not go over the cliff because I think if we do it hurts our economy and it hurts our country. When I listen to the President, I think the President is eager to go over the cliff for political purposes. I think he sees a political victory at the bottom of the cliff. He gets all this additional tax revenue for new programs, he gets to cut the military which Democrats have been calling for, for years, and, he gets to blame Republicans for it.”
On Whether Senate Republicans Would Support the President’s Proposal:
“I can’t even guarantee that the Democrats will vote for it. You have many Democrats on the record who don’t like this either in the Senate. The 250 number is too low according to a number of the Democrats. It doesn’t deal with so many of the issues out there. So, I’m not sure that they even get a majority in the Senate, even though the Democrats do have a majority of the members of the Senate.
“I just don’t think this is going to solve the problems—it actually doesn’t solve the problems. We have a spending problem in this country, Chris, we don’t have a taxing problem.”
On Whether or Not We Go Over the Fiscal Cliff:
“I believe we are and I believe the President is eager to go over the cliff for political purposes—he senses a victory at the bottom of the cliff. I think it hurts our country and it hurts our economy.
“I don’t want us to go over the cliff. I want to find a solution. The extension of making permanent the Bush tax cuts for everyone, I think would be a good idea.
“Realistically, what the President has just proposed, is raising taxes, now, perhaps, dealing with spending later, and we need to grow the economy, we need entitlement reform and the President seems to be ignoring those things, Chris.
“There is only one person that can provide the leadership and that is the President of the United States. Rather than campaigning, he ought to be here, leading and working with people and talking to folks on both sides of the aisle to get a solution so we don’t go over the cliff.”
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