PBS NewsHour interviews outgoing Rep. Tom Perriello (D-VA)

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Run time: 08:20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSjeipsHG14   Posted on YouTube: December 29, 2010 By YouTube Member: PBSNewsHour Views on YouTube: 146   Posted on DU: December 30, 2010 By DU Member: alp227 Views on DU: 430

 
full transcript. Excerpts:

JUDY WOODRUFF: Is there something the president, Democrats, you could have done differently to change this outcome, do you think?

REP. TOM PERRIELLO: Sure. I think there are many things that you could do differently, but I think we made a serious attempt. We walked into the worst economic crisis since the Depression.

And we did something before the president was even sworn in that may be the only example in legislative history of preventing an economic depression. Now, I believe there was a chance to do something bolder, to really reinvent America's competitive advantage with a 10-year vision of how we're going to outcompete the world.

We didn't do that. We actually went, partly because of the need to get Republican support at the time, with a much tamer stimulus, frankly, that did prevent a depression and has led to 11 straight months of private sector job growth, which is somewhat of an economic miracle.

And, so, I do think that there's a lot to be proud of in there. But I think what people want is to make sure we're moving forward.

JUDY WOODRUFF: ...I have seen a poll just in the last few days -- I think -- I believe a Pew poll -- that said a large percentage of Democratic voters are out there saying they don't want Democrats to compromise with the other party.

And an even larger percentage of Republicans voters say they want -- they don't want Republicans in Congress to cooperate, to compromise.

REP. TOM PERRIELLO: Well, you know, I think, when you look at things like redistricting and the funding of campaigns, we have real structural problems in our democracy right now that does push in that direction.

We did make the effort in the last couple of years. And there's been a lot of talk about whether the administration went too far to the left. You had a stimulus plan that was supported by the Chamber of Commerce and Ronald Reagan's and Bush's economists. You had an approach to energy that was developed by the first President Bush and supported by John McCain.

You had a health care proposal that was supported by Mitt Romney and Bob Dole's plan back in the day. This was an attempt to actually get beyond the old partisan divisions of either not caring or thinking government was the solution. Here were market-based solutions.