MSNBC ON-LINE INTERVIEW WITH ELENA KAGAN, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE DOMESTIC
POLICY COUNCIL
Aired on February 2, 1999
Our guest is Elena Kagan, Deputy Director of the Domestic
policy
Council and Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic
Policy, to
chat about the budget.
Host Elena_Kagan says:
Hi, it is great to be here. I'm ready for the first
question.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Question from Leeds: Most economic experts. including
Alan
Grenspan, have said Clinton's social security plan which
involves
government investing in the stock market would seriously
undermine
our free market economy. Have you rethought this proposal?
Host Elena_Kagan says:
First, letO,s talk about what Greenspan said. For the
most part he
approves the SS, plan. The main point of the proposal is
to take
62% of the Surplus and to pay down debt, and to use the
savings
for Social Security -- he said that that was exactly the
right thing
to do.
Greenspan has been very supportive of our Social Security
proposal.
Greenspan criticized one aspect of that proposal. Which
was to put a
small portion into the stock market. We respectfully
disagree with
Mr. Greenspan. We feel that this can occur with real
safeguards so
there is no politicization of the returns.
This will make it possible to preserve SS for the future.
So in
short Mr. Greenspan agreed with the main proposal - to use
the
62% surplus for SS. And for the part he didn't agree with
- to
use a small part for the stock market, we think that Mr.
GreenspanO,s
concerns are not correct and that we can put enough
safeguards in to
make stock market investments appropriate.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Question from ed: The budget as submitted depends almost
entirely
on new taxes from cigarettes. Why do you feel cigarette
smokers
should be penalized?
Host Elena_Kagan says:
The Budget submitted does not depend entirely on new taxes
from
cigarettes. Cigarettes are one way in which to raise
funds .. Only
oneO(And not the largest. We don't believe smokers should
be
penalized. We believe that increasing the price of
cigarettes will
reduce smokingO(especially by youth. We know that
increasing the
price will prevent some kids from smoking and we are
committed to
reducing youth smoking in America and thatO,s why the
President's
budget has an increase in cigarettes. Let me say one more
thing, in
our budget the money that we get from that increase
cigarette tax'is
used to reimburse the Government that are incurred as a
result of
smoking. Every year the govt. spends billions of dollars
paying for
the costs of lung cancer, heart disease, and other
diseases ... we do
that for Federal employees, military, veterans, every year
we do it
in Medicare. We use the money in that tobacco tax to
reimburse the
government for those costs. We feel it should be the
tobacco
companies who pay for those costs and not the American
people.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Question from tired: Why aren't any funds from the
budget allocated
to paying off the national debt?
Host Elena_Kagan says:
There actually are a large part of funds that will payoff
the
National Debt. The President has said that 62% of the
surplus in
the next 15 years ought to go to Social Security ... but the
way that
works is in these next 15 years ... where the money first
goes is to
pay down the national debt. Then as a result of the
savings that the
government realizes there will be more money for the
government to
spend on SS. So when the President says 62% for the
surplusO (from
the savings from paying down the national debtO(.we will
have the rest
for Social Security.
This is an extraordinary thing. If the budget were
adopted, the
national debt would fall sharply.
Right now itO,s 44% of gross domestic productsO(that would
fall to
7.1%. And that would be the lowest level of national debt
since
WW I .
What the budget really does is take these surplus dollars,
reduce the
national debt and take the savings for SSO(and in the
process the debt
would go down to its lowest level since World War I.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Waltzer: Ms. Kagan
Why doesn't the President support eliminating the marriage
penalty
presently in the tax laws?
Host Elena_Kagan says:
We have felt that eliminating the marriage penalty is a
very serious
proposal that needs thought. The problem is that itO,s
extremely
expensive and we have never been able to figure out how to
pay for a
proposal to eliminate the marriage penalty. Every tax cut
in our
budget is paid for and eliminating the marriage penalty is
so
expensive that we have not been able to propose it within
the context
of a balanced budget. Some people would want us to use
the surplus
monies or give some other very large cut tax ... but we feel
these
surplus dollars ought to go to save SS and Medicare to
make sure
those programs are solvent well into the next century.
This is the course of fiscal restraint that has brought us
the
economic good health that we now have.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Question from lynn: How come the President doesn't
create a better
tax break for stay-at-home moms? $500. for the first year
of life
does not really mean much to most .. it seems like a phony
gesture at
best.
Host Elena_Kagan says:
Well $500 could mean a great deal to many families. What
we're
saying by this proposal is that all new parents need
helpO(new parents
who go to work need help to pay for childcareO(but new
parents who
stay at home also need assistance. This proposal of $500
is designed
to give that assistance. For some families that might not
mean
anything, but for a great many families that means a great
deal. So
whatever choice the parents make, we should respect those
choices and
assist those families.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Question from ok: Do you feel the majority will accept
the SS
changes the pres. has suggested?
Host Elena_Kagan says:
We have been encouraged that the Republicans in Congress
for the most
part have agreed with the Presidents idea of taking 62% of
the
surplus and strengthening social security with it. What
we would
like to do is get together with the Republicans and work
in a
bipartisan way to further save SS. Taking the surplus
will make the
SS trust fund solvent until about 2055 - 57 years from now.
We would like to make it solvent for 75 years. We hope to
work with
the Republicans in a bipartisan way to meet that. We
would also like
to work with them to take a part of the surplus and put it
into
Medicare so it is also able to keep paying the benefits it
does to
our older citizens. The Republicans have been less
accepting, but we
hope that after giving this some thought they will agree
that the
President is right when he says that a part of the Surplus
(15%)
ought to be used for Medicare.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
jack_hershey (Jack Southwick) : Ms. Kagan, Does the
President's
budget address any of the more creative "alternative"
education areas such as home schooling or charter schools?
Thank you.
Host Elena_Kagan says:
The President is a big believer in Charter schools. His
budget asks
for increases consistently for more funding for Charter
schools. The
result is an enormous expansion of those schools. There
were only a
few when the President took office, now there are
thousands. This
years budget will include a substantial increase once
again .. And
encourage other kinds of public school choice:
Another innovative idea: Some work sites have started to
reach
agreements with schools to put schools on or near a
work-site so
parents can be near their childrenD(and there has been a
lot of
success with these type of schools.
The President has a little bit of money in his Budget to
increase
choice of schools in a variety of ways.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Question from Leeds: Historically school budgets and
programs have
been the perrogative of local and state governments. Does
the Clinton
administration want to nationalize educational policy
making by its
proposed educational programs at the national level?
Host Elena_Kagan says:
We don't want to nationalize education. We understand
that local and
state governments want primary responsibility, but we do
want to make
sure that Federal dollars spent on education are spent
wisely as
well. The system needs to be held accountable for
results. We want
to make sure schools across the nation do what we know
works; end
social promotion, stop using unqualified teachers &etc
State and school districts take responsibility for
. identifying and
turning around their low performing schools. In short, we
want to
make sure that there is accountability in the school
system and that
we do get results for the money we spend. And we're not
apologetic
for that desire to use Federal taxpayer money well to
improve our
schools.
Host Chris_M5NBC says:
Question from Jamielsbell: But your plan is just
"re-inventing
a bigger government" right? The surplus is taxpayer
money .. not
yours! Most of us want a tax cut.
Host Elena_Kagan says:
We have an important decision to make hereD(on how to
spend the
surplus.
There are some, as the person asking the question, who
think that we
should do a very large tax cut - take the surplus and give
it away.
But we don't think that thatD,s the strategy that brought
us to the
economic position that we are in today. We have this
economy because
we followed a policy of fiscal restraint and fiscal
discipline. We
kept our spending within bounds and we have not done the
kind of tax
cuts done in the Reagan administration that caused these
deficits.
We feel if we stick to our policy, these economic good
times can last
a while longer. We would like to use the surplus to
reduce the
national debt and to secure 55 and Medicare into the
future.
Host Chris_M5NBC says:
Question from BigG: how come the president doesn't
propose a tax
cut for fathers that pay their child support ?
Host Elena_Kagan says:
Well, we think that paying child support is an obligation.
Not
something that ought to be rewarded. Something that
fathers should
have to do.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Question from Audrey Michaels: Ms Kagan, What does the
President
have in the budget for veterans? Thank you
Host Elena_Kagan says:
The President has a strong budget for veterans as he has
had for the
last six years ... with continued increases for Veteran
spending and
particularly Veteran heal th benefi.ts.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Question from scrounge: I understand that budget policy
is
developed via memos. However i am interested in how often
you have
the opportunity to meet with the president and have you
expressed a
view that he has acted upon in this meeting. in other
words will he
respond directly without counsel
Host Elena_Kagan says:
The President meets with his budget team frequently from
about the
middle of November through Christmas - during the period
the budget
comes together. The President meets with the Treasury
Secretary,
Deputy Treasury Secretary, and the Director of the Office
of
Management and Budget and with officials from the National
Economic
Council, and the Domestic Policy Council, where I work.
In those
meetings there is intensive discussions about the options
with the
budget, what tax cuts to offer, what investments to
propose, and
about what the overall structure of the budget should look
like. The
President responds frequently and vigorously to his
advisorsD,
questions and comments. There is a lot of debate about
particular
proposals. The President is very involved in determining
what the
budget looks like and what goes into it.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Question from Christopher: On what issues do you and the
president
differ?
Host Elena_Kagan says:
Even if we did differ on something, I wouldn't say it on
the Internet
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Question from Allison: What nation's business is not
getting done
because of the impeachment inquiry?
Host Elena_Kagan says:
Well the President is doing the Nation's business
throughout this
year. The President has stuck to his work and every day
he gets up
and does what the people of the united States asked him to
do when
they elected him. I think it's more distracting for
Congress than
the President and his Staff. I work hard at the White
House every
day doing domestic policy and my work hasn't been effected
at all.
The President puts in a full day thinking about what
matters,
education, health care, crime, and social security. The
President
does what the people elected him to do ... and what
Congress does is
for Congress to answer.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Question from sandflea: What particular proposal has
required more
time and effort to resolve?
Host Elena_Kagan says:
I think that the question of what to do with this amazing
surplus has
required the most time to resolve.
It is such an important question because its such a large
surplus ... and we can waste it or use it in a way that
secures our
future. The President and his budget team put an enormous
amount of
time into thinking about the different options for the
surpl us ... and
considering how we could use the surplus that continues
our economic
success and that secures these critically important
programs - social
security and Medicare. ThatD,s what we spent the most
time on this
year.
Host Elena_Kagan says:
Thank you, I very much enjoyed this. The questions have
been great. I
had a good time here tonight!
END
MSNBC ON-LINE INTERVIEW WITH ELENA KAGAN, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE DOMESTIC
POLICY COUNCIL
Aired on February 2, 1999
Our guest is Elena Kagan, Deputy Director of the Domestic
Policy
Council and Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic
Policy, to
chat about the budget.
Host Elena_Kagan says:
Hi, it is great to be here. I'm ready for the first
question.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Question from Leeds: Most economic experts. including
Alan
Grenspan, have said Clinton's social security plan which
involves
government investing in the stock market would seriously
undermine
our free market economy. Have you rethought this proposal?
Host Elena_Kagan says:
First, letD,s talk about what Greenspan said. For the
most part he
approves the SS, plan. The main point of the proposal is
to take
62% of the Surplus and to pay down debt, and to use the
savings
for Social Security -- he said that that was exactly the
right thing
to do.
Greenspan has been very supportive of our Social Security
proposal.
Greenspan criticized one aspect of that proposal. Which
was to put a
small portion into the stock market. We respectfully
disagree with
Mr. Greenspan. We feel that this can occur with real
safeguards so
there is no politicization of the returns.
This will make it possible to preserve SS for the future.
So in
short Mr. Greenspan agreed with the main proposal - to use
the
62% surplus for SS. And for the part he didn't agree with
- to
use a small part for the stock market, we think that Mr.
GreenspanD,s
concerns are not correct and that we can put enough
safeguards in to
make stock market investments appropriate.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Question from ed: The budget as submitted depends almost
entirely
on new taxes from cigarettes. Why do you feel cigarette
smokers
should be penalized?
Host Elena_Kagan says:
The Budget submitted does not depend entirely on new taxes
from
cigarettes. Cigarettes are one way in which to raise
funds .. Only
oneD(And not the largest. We don't believe smokers should
be
penalized. We believe that increasing the price of
cigarettes will
reduce smokingD(especially by youth. We know that
increasing the
price will prevent some kids from smoking and we are
committed to
reducing youth smoking in America and thatD,s why the
President's
budget has an increase in cigarettes. Let me say one more
thing, in
our budget the money that we get from that increase
cigarette tax is
used to reimburse the Government that are incurred as a
result of
smoking. Every year the govt. spends billions of dollars
paying for
the costs of lung cancer, heart disease, and other
diseases ... we do
that for Federal employees, military, veterans, every year
we do it
in Medicare. We use the money in that tobacco tax to
reimburse the
government for those costs. We feel it should be the
tobacco
companies who pay for those c'osts and not the American
people.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Question from tired: Why aren't any funds from the
budget allocated
to paying off the national debt?
Host Elena_Kagan says:
There actually are a large part of funds that will payoff
the
National Debt. The President has said that 62% of the
surplus in
the next 15 years ought to go to Social Security ... but the
way that
works is in these next 15 years ... where the money first
goes is to
pay down the national debt. Then as a result of the
savings that the
government realizes there will be more money for the
government to
spend on SS. So when the President says 62% for the
surplusO(from
the savings from paying down the national debtO(.we will
have the rest
for Social Security.
This is an extraordinary thing. If the budget were
adopted. the
national debt would fall sharply.
Right now itO,s 44% of gross domestic productsO(that would
fall to
7.1%. And that would be the lowest level of national debt
since
WW I.
What the budget really does is take these surplus dollars,
reduce the
national debt and take the savings for SSO(and in the
process the debt
would go down to its lowest level since World War I.
Host Chris MSNBC says:
Waltzer: Ms. Kagan
Why doesn't the President support eliminating the marriage
penalty
presently in the tax laws?
Host Elena_Kagan says:
We have felt that eliminating the marriage penalty is a
very serious
proposal that needs th9ught. The problem is that itO,s
extremely
expensive and we have never been able to figure out how to
pay for a
proposal to eliminate the marriage penalty. Every tax cut
in our
budget is paid for and eliminating the marriage penalty is
so
expensive that we have not been able to propose it within
the context
of a balanced budget. Some people would want us to use
the surplus
monies or give some other very large cut tax ... but we feel
these
surplus dollars ought to go to save SS and Medicare to
make sure
those programs are solvent well into the next century.
This is the course of fiscal restraint that has brought us
the
economic good health that we now have.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Question from lynn: How come the President doesn't
create a better
tax break for stay-at-home moms? $500. for the first year
of life
does not really mean much to most .. it seems like a phony
gesture at
best.
Host Elena_Kagan says:
Well $500 could mean a great deal to many families. What
we're
saying by this proposal is that all new parents need
helpD(new parents
who go to work need help to pay for childcareD(but new
parents who
stay at home also need assistance. This proposal of $500
is designed
to give that assistance. For some families that might not
mean
anything, but for a great many families that means a great
deal. So
whatever choice the parents make, we should respect those
choices and
assist those families.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Question from ok: Do you feel the majority will accept
the SS
changes the pres. has suggested?
Host Elena_Kagan says:
We have been encouraged that the Republicans in Congress
for the most
part have agreed with the Presidents idea of taking 62% of
the
surplus and strengthening social security with it. What
we would
like to do is get together with the Republicans and work
in a
bipartisan way to further save SS. Taking the surplus
will make the
SS trust fund solvent until about 2055 - 57 years from now.
We would like to make it solvent for 75 years. We hope to
work with
the Republicans in a bipartisan way to meet that. We
would also like
to work with them to take a part of the surplus and put it
into
Medicare so it is also able to keep paying the benefits it
does to
our older citizens. The Republicans have been less
accepting, but we
hope that after giving this some thought they will agree
that the
President is right when he says that a part of the Surplus
(15%)
ought to be used for Medicare.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
jack_hershey (Jack Southwick) : Ms. Kagan, Does the
President's
budget address any of the more creative "alternative"
education areas such as home schooling or charter schools?
Thank you.
Host Elena_Kagan says:
The President is a big believer in Charter schools. His
budget asks
for increases consistently for more funding for Charter
schools. The
result is an enormous expansion of those schools. There
were only a
few when the President took office, now there are
thousands. This
years budget will include a substantial increase once
again .. And
encourage other kinds of public school choice:
Another innovative idea: Some work sites have started to
reach
agreements with schools to put schools on or near a
work-site so
parents can be near their childrenD(and there has been a
lot of
success with these type of schools.
The President has a little bit of money in his Budget to
increase
choice of schools in a variety of ways.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Question from Leeds: Historically school budgets and
programs have
been the perrogative of local and state governments. Does
the Clinton
administration want to nationalize educational policy
making by its
proposed educational programs at the national level?
Host Elena_Kagan says:
We don't want .to nationalize education. We understand
that local and
state governments want primary responsibility, but we do
want to make
sure that Federal dollars spent on education are spent
wisely as
well. The system needs to be held accountable for
results. We want
to make sure schools across the nation do what we know
works; end
social promotion, stop using unqualified teachers &etc
State and school districts take responsibility for
identifying and
turning around their low performing schools. In short, we
want to
make sure that there is accountability in the school
system and that
we do get results for the money we spend. And we're not
apologetic
for that desire to use Federal taxpayer money well to
improve our
schools.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Question from Jamielsbell: But your plan is just
"re-inventing
a bigger government" right? The surplus is taxpayer
money .. not
yours! Most of us want a tax cut.
Host Elena_Kagan says:
We have an important decision to make hereD(on how to
spend the
surplus.
There are some, as the person asking the question, who
think that we
should do a very large tax cut - take the surplus and give
it away.
But we don't think that thatD,s the strategy that brought
us to the
economic position that we are in today. We have this
economy because
we followed a policy of fiscal restraint and fiscal
discipline. We
kept our spending within bounds and we have not done the
kind of tax
cuts done in the Reagan administration that caused these
deficits.
We feel if we stick to our policy, these economic good
times can last
a while longer. We would like to use the surplus to
reduce the
national debt and to secure SS and Medicare into the
future.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Question from BigG: how come the president doesn't
propose a tax
cut for fathers that pay their child support ?
Host Elena_Kagan says:
Well, we think that paying child support is an obligation.
Not
something that ought to be rewarded. Something that
fathers should
have to do.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Question from Audrey Michaels: MS Kagan, What does the
President
have in the budget for veterans? Thank you
Host Elena_Kagan says:
The President has a strong budget for veterans as he has
had for the
last six years ... with continued increases for Veteran
spending and
particularly Veteran health benefits.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Question from scrounge: I understand that budget policy
is
developed via memos. However i am interested in how often
you have
the opportunity to meet with the president and have you
expressed a
view that he has acted upon in this meeting. in other
words will he
respond directly without counsel
Host Elena_Kagan says:
The President meets with his budget team frequently from
about the
middle of November through Christmas - during the period
the budget
comes together. The President meets with the Treasury
Secretary,
Deputy Treasury Secretary, and the Director of the Office
of
Management and Budget and with officials from the National
Economic
Council, and the Domestic Policy Council, where I work.
In those
meetings there is intensive discussions about the options
with the
budget, what tax cuts to offer, what investments to
propose, and
about what the overall structure of the budget should look
like. The
President responds frequently and vigorously to his
advisorsO,
questions and comments. There is a lot of debate about
particular
proposals. The President is very involved in determining
what the
budget looks like and what goes into it.
Host Chris MSNBC says:
Question from Christopher: On what issues do you and the
President
differ?
Host Elena_Kagan says:
Even if we did differ on something, I wouldn't say it on
the Internet
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Question from Allison: What nation's business is not
getting done
because of the impeachment inquiry?
Host Elena_Kagan says:
Well the President is doing the Nation's business
throughout this
year. The President has stuck to his work and every day
he gets up
and does what the people of the United States asked him to
do when
they elected him. I think it's more distracting for
Congress than
the President and his Staff. I work hard at the White
House every
day doing domestic policy and my work hasn't been effected
at all.
The President puts in a full day thinking about what
matters,
education, health care, crime, and social security. The
President
does what the people elected him to do ... and what
Congress does is
for Congress to answer.
Host Chris_MSNBC says:
Question from sandflea: What particular proposal has
required more
time and effort to resolve?
Host Elena_Kagan says:
I think that the question of what to do with this amazing
surplus has
required the most time to resolve.
It is such an important question because its such a large
surplus ... and we can waste it or use it in a way that
secures our
future. The President and his budget team put an enormous
amount of
time into thinking about the different options for the
surplus ... and
considering how we could use the surplus that continues
our economic
success and that secures these critically important
programs - social
security and Medicare. ThatO,s what we spent the most
time on this
year.
Host Elena_Kagan says:
Thank you, I very much enjoyed this. The questions have
been great. I
had a good time here tonight!
END
Oh come on, I read the transcript and you did great!
And let me just say thanks to you for participating in the on-line
interview. I hope it was a good experience for you and we can do more in
the future.
And Laura, thanks to you for all of your help in getting the interview set
up,
best,
mark
Elena Kagan
02/03/99 11:35:07 AM
Record Type: Record
To: Mark A. Kitchens/WHO/EOP
cc:
Subject: Re: MSNBC On-line Kagan Interview Transcript
good lord why did you send that out???
Oh come on, I read the transcript and you did great!
And let me just say thanks to you for participating in the on-line
interview. I hope it was a good experience for you and we can do more in
the future.
And Laura, thanks to you for all of your help in getting the interview set
up,
best,
mark
Elena Kagan
02/03/99 11:35:07 AM
Record Type: Record
To: Mark A. Kitchens/WHO/EOP
cc:
Subject: Re: MSNBC On-line Kagan Interview Transcript
good lord why did you send that out???
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