xfdfx FOX-ON-THE-RECORD-WIT-02
<Show: FOX ON THE RECORD WITH GRETA VAN SUSTEREN>
<Date: June 15, 2009>
<Time: 22:22:00>
ADVERTISEMENT
<Tran: 061502cb.260>
<Type: Show>
<Head: Biden Says Administration Guessed Wrong About Economy>
<Sect: News; Domestic>
<Byline: Greta Van Susteren>
<Guest: Sudeep Reddy>
<Spec: Politics; Economy>
VAN SUSTEREN: Well, the stimulus plan hasn't exactly stimulated the economy to the extent the White House was expecting, or maybe guessing. The stimulus package was pitched in January under the promise that it would keep unemployment at an 8 percent level. But where is it now? At 9.4 percent.Meet the Press's David Gregory asked the vice president if the stimulus package had been oversold. Now, here's what Vice President Biden said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... what would happen was it would save or create jobs. It's doing that. It is doing that. Everyone guessed wrong at the time the estimate was made about what the state of the economy was at the moment this was passed. Now, we're going to recalibrate this in terms of what we've inherited and what, in fact, is going on out there. But look, the bottom line is that jobs are being created that would not have been there before.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: Joining us is Sudeep Reddy, economy writer for The Wall Street Journal. Nice to see you, Sudeep.
SUDEEP REDDY, WALL STREET JOURNAL: Good to be with you.
VAN SUSTEREN: Everybody guessed wrong. I mean, I seized on the word
guessed as a real poor choice because when you're talking about $787 billion that nobody bothered to read anyway and it was really pushed in as -- boy, that's a bad word to use.
REDDY: That probably created a bit of heartburn in the White House when that word came out. He was specifically referring to what the state of the economy was at the time. And so that's why you had these kind of wildly optimistic projections for what would happen with the stimulus package, that we'd keep unemployment far lower. Obviously, we're well above that they projected and we're probably going to hit 10 percent by the end of the year.
VAN SUSTEREN: But when you say they guessed on the easy econometric models that they -- you know, they sort of, I mean, implied that they were really on top of what they really -- I guess, as a citizen, I would have felt better if they said, This is high risk. We're taking a chance. But there was such a level of certainty. And I also realize that unemployment numbers are sort of lagging numbers, but -- you know, that's a lousy -- I mean, it's a lousy thing to hear at this point.
REDDY: It's a lousy way to phrase it, but his case actually may have been better if they had used some of the more dire scenarios that we have actually ended up fulfilling. What -- it's hard to really focus on the 8 percent number now that we're at 10 percent, but you have to remember that we're 18 months into this recession right now. It's the longest recession already since the Great Depression, and we have a long way to go before we come out of this, this crisis that we're in.
So you can actually make a case that you need the stimulus money more on the back end of this because the unemployment rate's going to be so high and you need some of that support to come out of it. But to get into it and to make the pitch in the first place, they were really pushing hard, and that's why they came up with these projections that are creating a lot of problems (INAUDIBLE)
VAN SUSTEREN: All right, well, tell me why I should feel good when the vice president of the United States says, We guessed wrong. I mean, tell me -- can you -- can you convince me anyway -- and I look at unemployment. It's now at 9.4 percent. Even though I know it's a lagging indicator, and I know, though, that that really understates it because it doesn't count the people who have given up looking for a job -- so convince me why I should feel good about this.
REDDY: Well, if he had actually guessed right, then...
(CROSSTALK)
REDDY: ... would have been able to make a case for a stimulus package much larger than $800 billion. So if you didn't like the package the way it's structured now, then they may have actually been able to get more out of it if they had guessed right about the state of the economy at the time and how bad things really were.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right, well, tell me what is -- tell me when I should -- I mean, when I can reach a conclusion whether the stimulus package really worked? What's the indicator and at what point?
REDDY: That's -- it's really difficult to measure these things, but...
VAN SUSTEREN: Are they guessing? Are they guessing about that?
REDDY: Everybody is really guessing on the ultimate measurements of the stimulus package, and that's why this econometric modeling that he referred to is so uncertain. We will know further down the road. You'll be able to measure the -- to some extent, how much of that money has come in and what it's done. And overall, the situation with the economy will be less bad than it would have been otherwise because of this. But actually measuring what the net effect was is going to be really tough for him and for everyone in the White House, and they will get a lot of the pressure that they deserve in making those calculations.
VAN SUSTEREN: Well, I don't -- I got a job, and it makes me nervous. I feel bad for the 14.5 million people who don't have a job, and the increasing number, and then we hear the vice president say guessing and doesn't make me feel much better. But anyway, thank you, Sudeep. Always nice to see you.
REDDY: Thank you, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: Coming up: We have the latest in the growing controversy over David Letterman about his insulting remarks about Governor Palin's daughter. Could he lose his job? Well, yes, if our next guests have their way. Meet the members of Firedavidletterman.com. Plus: The governor has a very unlikely ally, a liberal female that you often see on TV. Find out who that is. You'll never guess.
And later: Dethroned, fired, Carrie Prejean no longer can wear the Miss California crown, so does Carrie Prejean blame Donald Trump? Well, she goes On the Record and she will tell you herself.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
Content and Programming Copyright 2009 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2009 CQ Transcriptions, LLC , which takes sole responsibility for the accuracy of the transcription. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No license is granted to the user of this material except for the user's personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon Fox News Network, LLC'S and CQ Transcriptions, LLC's copyrights or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation.