Fox News "Your World" - Transcript

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Fox News "Your World" - Transcript

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MR. CAVUTO: (In progress) -- the Senate rescue bill tonight is something that they call a well tax. It would force the rich to pay for any bailout. Senator Bernie Sanders is the bill's sponsor.

Senator, good to have you back. Thanks for coming.

SEN. SANDERS: Good to be with you, Neil.

MR. CAVUTO: How would this work, Senator?

SEN. SANDERS: Very simple. There will be a 10 percent surtax on households that earned $1 million a year. That's 0.3 percent of the American population.

MR. CAVUTO: And you --

SEN. SANDERS: And that would raise --

MR. CAVUTO: Go ahead.

SEN. SANDERS: -- that would raise over $300 billion, which, if the government sells assets and regains revenue, should be enough for the bailout.

MR. CAVUTO: All right. Now, it's going to be introduced tonight. I'm told there aren't enough votes for it tonight. But you're as much making a statement here, right?

SEN. SANDERS: Right. That's right. What I'm saying, Neil, is this financial meltdown has been caused by the greed of Wall Street. And during Bush's seven-and-a-half years in office, what we have seen is a decline in the middle class. People are working longer hours for low wages, poverty is increasing, while the people on top -- not just on Wall Street, the former CEOs of the big Wall Street companies, but the CEOs of major companies, big business in general -- have done very, very well. And we now are in the situation where the top 1 percent earn more income than the bottom 50 percent. And it seems to me that given the fact that working families had nothing to do with the causation of this problem -- they're already hurting by President Bush's policies. They should not have to pick up the cost of this bill.

MR. CAVUTO: But Senator, I know it's very easy to look at the last year and say President Bush is horrible and he has locusts and he looks in a mirror and can't see his reflection, but you know, prior to this last year, the economy was doing pretty well. It was generating a lot of jobs, right?

SEN. SANDERS: Oh, Neil, Neil, that is -- no. That's what -- you've been listening to President Bush and the administration too much.

MR. CAVUTO: No, no, no, I -- you know, Senator, I tell you, I have no horse in this race. I just look at economic numbers. I'm the nerd at Fox. I look at numbers.

SEN. SANDERS: All right, but --

MR. CAVUTO: So I'm just saying in the last year. All I want to ask you, Senator -- I know you are a good and decent man and you're a real patriot, because you take some very controversial stands, even within your own party. I know you're an Independent collectively here, but -- do you just have it out against rich people? Do you just not like rich people?

SEN. SANDERS: Well, Neil -- no, that's not true at all. But Neil, you're factually incorrect. Since President Bush has been in office, median family income has declined for working families by over $2,000. Seven million Americans have lost their health insurance. Six million Americans have left the middle class and went into poverty.

MR. CAVUTO: So, wait a minute, wait a minute --

SEN. SANDERS: How is this a strong economy.

MR. CAVUTO: -- the jobs -- no, no, wait, wait, wait. The jobs that had been gained prior to last year, the homes that had been scored prior to last year, do you just wipe all that out and just say disaster?

SEN. SANDERS: No. What I'm telling you -- I think the vast majority of the people understand, Neil -- is the middle class is at the verge of collapse. People are losing their pensions. They're losing their health care.

MR. CAVUTO: Do you -- but wait a minute, Senator. Did this middle class fall just magically start on January 20th, 2001?

SEN. SANDERS: No, no -- well, no. The answer is no. I think the trends were there well before that. But I think if you compare the economic results of Clinton's years versus Bush's years, the difference is pretty apparent. But I'm not going to suggest --

MR. CAVUTO: But, Senator, you are a great historian. You would certainly remember the bursting of the Internet of the bubble and you remember this little thing called 9/11, right?

SEN. SANDERS: Absolutely. Right.

MR. CAVUTO: So just to put it in context, all I'm saying -- I'm not taking sides here, Senator, I'm just saying, you know, it's very easy to look now and say disaster, hell in a handbasket, if you got a lead suit, wear it, things are -- it's the end of the world

SEN. SANDERS: Neil, all of that --

MR. CAVUTO -- but it's like you're not putting it in context.

SEN. SANDERS: All right. Fair enough. but that's not what we're talking about. What we're talking about right now is one very simple proposition. We're looking tonight at a $700 billion bailout. Should it be the middle class, who have seen a decline in their real income, pay for this, or should it be the wealthiest people in this country who have done quite well in the last seven years? What is fair? What is the right thing to do? And in my view --

MR. CAVUTO: But you don't -- you don't hate rich people.

SEN. SANDERS: No, I don't hate rich people.

MR. CAVUTO: I got you.

Senator, it's always fun. Thank you very much.

SEN. SANDERS: Thank you, Neil.

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