MSNBC Interview - Transcript

Interview

MSNBC Interview - Transcript

MNSBC INTERVIEW WITH MICHIGAN GOVERNOR JENNIFER GRANHOLM (D)

SUBJECTS: ACCEPTING STIMULUS MONEY INTERVIEWER: NORAH O'DONNELL

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MS. O'DONNELL: And as we're waiting for President Barack Obama to address the governors there at the White House, we want to bring in Michigan Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm, who has been involved in today's meetings, and she joins us now.

Governor, thanks so much.

GOV. GRANHOLM: Thank you, Norah.

MS. O'DONNELL: Let me ask -- the big news of course today was that the president said that his vice president, Joe Biden, will be in charge of making sure this money is spent well in the economic stimulus plan. Your reaction to that?

GOV. GRANHOLM: You know, that was very well received by the governors. Certainly, I think it's a wise choice. It demonstrates that the president is very serious about keeping the mobilization, the implementation, the transparency and the accountability related to the stimulus money very, very close.

Plus, Joe Biden has got a tremendous team of people. The governors were all surrounding him as the meeting ended today to say, "All right, who do we need to put -- you know, who's our point person? How do we do this? How do we make contacts?" So I think it's going to be -- it's going to work very well for us.

MS. O'DONNELL: How well was it received among the governors that the president said, "Okay, starting Wednesday, there's going to be $15 billion ready to go to the states to help with Medicaid"?

GOV. GRANHOLM: You know, the sooner the better is -- what we keep saying is that as soon as we are able to get this -- these funds, the sooner we'll be able to deploy them in a reasonable, rational manner. Obviously, we want to have transparency and accountability. The Medicaid dollars are going to be used specifically to be able to keep people on health care, to make sure we don't cut benefits during this time of recession. But there are other tranches of money that he described that will be coming soon.

For example, the Department of Transportation is going to soon allocate the infrastructure dollars to start putting people to work. Again, this has got to be spent to put jobs in our states, but also to be done in a very prudent manner that allows for transparency and oversight.

MS. O'DONNELL: Governor, I'm curious about your reaction to some of the Republican governors who say that they're going to turn down a portion of the stimulus money that has to do with unemployment benefits and play for you exactly what Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana had to say about this. Let's listen.

LOUISIANA GOVERNOR BOBBY JINDAL (R): (From videotape.) I appreciate the opportunity to come and to listen to the president, to talk with him and his senior administration officials. We had a chance to meet with senior Cabinet officials. And I think that healthy dialogue was very good.

I think there could have been a very different stimulus than written. There could have been a stimulus bill that was truly targeted and temporary, focused on infrastructure, focused on the kinds of tax credits that would have gotten investment moving in the private sector.

MS. O'DONNELL: Governor, do you think he's being a political opportunist by saying that he's going to turn down some of this money?

GOV. GRANHOLM: Well, all I can tell you is this money is for people. This is not for him. It's not for state budgets. It's for people. I mean, when you're talking about unemployment benefits for people who have been unemployed as a result of this recession, it's going to help the people in Louisiana. When you're talking about putting people to work in building roads and bridges, that's for people all across the country.

I don't understand any governor who says that they're not going to take these dollars to help alleviate the suffering of people in their states. And I can tell you, as governor of Michigan, I'm going to take every single dollar. And every dollar that another governor doesn't take in this use-it-or-lose-it system, I'll use theirs if they lose it.

MS. O'DONNELL: Yeah. Let me ask you then finally, too, about Ford and, I understand, the UAW have reached a tentative deal on changes to retiree health care and, of course, Ford now getting some of these union concessions. What -- we know, of course, Ford has not taken any of the money, but what does that mean for the future of auto industry?

GOV. GRANHOLM: Well, I think it's a very, very important step. It shows definitely what the automakers, the workers, the unions -- the stakeholders -- are all making enormous concessions in order to ensure that this industry is viable. And that is what's so important.

We cannot have an auto industry that has left this country because it's the backbone of manufacturing. We've got to be making things in this country. And believe me, if you allowed -- if one allowed an auto industry to fail in this country, that's three-and-a- half million jobs, just the amount of jobs that we're trying to save or create with this fiscal recovery plan. So it is important that we make sure we have an auto industry and a manufacturing industry, and that's a very good step in the right direction.

MS. O'DONNELL: All right. Finally, Governor, I just want to ask you a quick question. I read some of the pool threads from last night about Earth, Wind & Fire and the governors at the White House. Did you get up and do a little boogie woogie? (Laughs.)

GOV. GRANHOLM: I'm telling you, what goes on in the White House stays in the White House. I can't say a word. (Laughs.)

MS. O'DONNELL: (Laughs.) Well, there you go. And they shooed us cameras out, so we'll never know. Michigan's Governor Jennifer Granholm, nice to see you. Thanks so much.

GOV. GRANHOLM: Thanks. Good to see you, too.

END.

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