HAVE NOTHING THAN TO GIVE WAY ON
WHAT HER FANTASY MIGHT BE.
LOU: AND JOINING US NOW, A MAN
AT THE EPICENTER OF NEARLY EVERY
MAJOR ISSUE FACING THE
ADMINISTRATION, THE GOVERNMENT
AND THE COUNTRY, TREASURY
SECRETARY STEVEN MNUCHIN.
MR. SECRETARY, IT IS GREAT TO
HAVE YOU WITH US.
LET’S TURN, FIRST, TO THE
INSISTENCE, THE BOBS NANCY OF --
BOBS OFFENSE CITY NANCE OF NANCY
PELOSI.
WHERE ARE WE, WHAT DO YOU
THINK’S GOING TO UNHOLD?
>> LOU, IT’S GREAT TO BE BACK
WITH YOU.
AND, UNFORTUNATELY, THE SPEAKER
AND SENATOR SCHUMER JUST DON’T
WANT TO NEGOTIATE IN GOOD FAITH.
THEY REFUSE TO MEET.
WE REACHED AN AGREEMENT ON MANY,
MANY ISSUES, BUT THEY SAID
UNLESS WE COME OUT WITH THE TOP
LINE -- THEY WON’T EVEN GIVE US
DETAILS AS TO WHAT THEY’RE
INTERESTED IN.
AGAIN, I THINK IT’S BAD FAITH.
AND, UNFORTUNATELY, THE
PRESIDENT WANTS US TO HELP WITH
MORE MONEY FOR KIDS AND JOBS,
AND WE CAN PUT OVER ANOTHER
TRILLION DOLLARS INTO THE
ECONOMY QUICKLY.
AS I’VE SAID BEFORE, IF THAT’S
NOT ENOUGH AND THE SPEAKER
THINKS WE NEEDED TO DO MORE, WE
COULD AT LEAST COME BACK AND DO
MORE.
WITH WE ARE HAVING A GREAT
ECONOMIC COMEBACK AS WE’VE
REOPENED THE ECONOMY.
WE’RE GETTING A LOT OF JOBS
BACK, BUT THE PRESIDENT IS NOT
DONE WITH HIS WORK UNTIL WE GET
EVERYBODY BACK TO WORK.
LOU: WITHOUT QUESTION.
AND AS HE’S DEMONSTRATED ONCE
ALREADY IN HIS FIRST TERM.
LET’S GO BACK TO PELOSI BECAUSE
THIS LOOKS LIKE A SUICIDE PACT
AMONG SCHUMER AND PELOSI AND THE
RADICAL DEMS.
THEY’RE FACING ALL SORTS OF
BLOWBACK IF THEIR EFFECTIVE
EMPOWERMENT OF ANTIFA, BLACK
LIVES MATTER AND THE OTHERS WHO
ARE CARRYING OUT SUCH VIOLENCE
ACROSS DEMOCRAT-RUN CITIES IN
THIS COUNTRY.
HOW IS THERE ANY WAY IN WHICH
THE ADMINISTRATION CAN BE MOVED
FORWARD WITH THOSE FOLKS IN
CONTROL, PARTICULARLY SCHUMER
AND PELOSI?
>> WELL, LOU, WE’RE GOING TO
KEEP TRYING BECAUSE IT’S TOO
IMPORTANT FOR THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE.
MARK MEADOWS AND I HAVE BEEN
HOSTING DAILY CALLS WITH MITCH
McCONNELL AND THE REPUBLICANS
IN THE SENATE, AND WE’VE BEEN
KEEPING KEN McCARTHY AND HIS
TEAM UP -- KEVIN McCARTHY AND
HIS TEAM UP-TO-DATE.
HOPEFULLY, MITCH WILL INTRODUCE
LEGISLATION NEXT WEEK THAT KIDS,
JOBS, LIABILITY PROTECTION FOR
SMALL BUSINESSES.
AS YOU KNOW, THERE’S STILL TOO
MANY SMALL BUSINESSES THAT HAVE
BEEN HURT BY THIS.
HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THEIR OWN
ISSUE.
PARTS OF THE ECONOMY HAVE OPENED
VERY QUICKLY, PARTS OF THE
ECONOMY STILL SUFFER.
LOU: THEY ARE, AND AT THE SAME
TIME WE’RE SEEING A REMARKABLE
RECOVERY AND REBOUND.
THERE ARE GREAT POCKETS OF DEEP,
DEEP ECONOMIC PAIN.
BUT OVERALL WE’RE SEEING SOME
ASTOUNDING RESILIENCE IN THIS
ECONOMY.
THE FEDERAL RESERVE, MAYBE YOU
CAN HELP ME WITH THE FEDERAL
RESERVE.
JEROME POWELL SAYING HE HAS
DISCOVERED THE PHILLIPS CURVE IS
NO LONGER IN EFFECT, AS BEST AS
I COULD UNDERSTAND HIS POLICY
DECISION.
GIVE US YOUR REACTION TO WHAT HE
HAS DECIDED WHICH IS TO HAVE 2%
TARGETS THAT REALLY DON’T MEAN
MUCH ANYMORE TO THE FED.
>> WELL, LET ME JUST, FIRST, SAY
I THINK CHAIRMAN POWELL AND THE
ENTIRE FED HAS DONE AN
EXTRAORDINARY JOB IN THIS
CRISIS, THE COVID ISSUES.
IN REALLY WORKING WITH TREASURE
TRUE, WITH WE STOOD UP AN I
ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF EMERGENCY
FACILITIES, PART OF THE REASON
WHY WE HAVE THE ECONOMY
REOPENING AS WE DO.
LOU: RIGHT.
>> I THINK THE FED’S BEEN TRYING
TO GET INFLATION UP FOR A LONG
PERIOD OF TIME, THERE HASN’T
BEEN MUCH.
I THINK WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
MAKES COMMON SENSE, THAT IF YOU
WANT TO AVERAGE 2%, THERE’LL BE
TIMES WHEN YOU RUN HIGHER AND
TIMES WHEN YOU RUN LOWER.
LOU: YEAH.
I THOUGHT IT MADE A LOT OF SENSE
TO BASICALLY DO WHAT THE
PRESIDENT HAD SAID.
WHY DON’T YOU LOOK AT THE
MARKETS, MAKE A DETERMINATION
AND DON’T BE REFLEXIVE AND
ANTICIPATORY IN JUDGMENTS THAT
ARE ALMOST WRONG WHEN YOU PUT
THE FED IN CHARGE OF ASSESS
EKING THE ECONOMY.
I DON’T KNOW MANY TIMES THAT
THEY’VE BEEN CORRECT,
PARTICULARLY FIRST TIME, EFFORTS
BY FIRST TIME FED CHAIRMEN.
I KNOW MR. POWELL’S A FRIEND OF
YOURS, AND I HAVE HAVE THE
GREATEST RESPECT FOR BOTH OF
YOU, BUT IT IS AN ODD FED THAT
WE’VE GOT RIGHT NOW.
SORT OF THIS REDISCOVERING
ECONOMIC REALITY.
LET’S TURN TO, IF WE MAY, THE
VIRUS AND THE ADMINISTRATION’S
RESPONSE TO IT.
OUT COMES THE CDC SAYING THAT 6
% OF THE DEATHS THAT HAVE BEEN
REPORTED AMONGST SPECIFICALLY
161,000, ONLY 6 OF THEM WERE
SOLELY ATTRIBUTABLE TO COVID-19.
I MEAN,S WHAT IS GOING ON WITH
OUR PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCIES?
THIS IS BECOMING ALARMING, THE
DEGREE TO WHICH WE’RE GETTING
NEW INFORMATION AND DIFFERENT
TAKES ON WHAT HAS ACTUALLY BEEN
GOING ON HERE NOW FOR SIX
MONTHS.
>> WELL, LOU, AS YOU SAID,
THAT’S A VERY IMPORTANT
STATISTIC THAT THEY JUST PUT
OUT.
AND AS WE HAVE BEEN SAYING ALL
ALONG, FOR MOST PEOPLE THIS IS
NOT A LIFE-THREATENING
SITUATION, IT’S REALLY JUST A
LIFE-THREATENING SITUATION FOR
PEOPLE WHO ARE AT HIGH RISK WITH
OTHER ISSUES.
BUT WE’VE MADE ENORMOUS
PROGRESS, AND I THINK YOU’RE
GOING TO SEE ENORMOUS PROGRESS
ON VACCINES QUICKLY, BETWEEN NOW
AND THE END OF THE YEAR.
LAST WEEK THE PRESIDENT MADE A
MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT WITH 150
MILLION NEW POINT OF CARE TESTS
SO THEY CAN BE CONTRIBUTE
DISTRIBUTED TO EVERY SCHOOL IN
THE COUNTRY SO SCHOOLS CAN GET
OPEN SAFELY.
THIS IS REALLY ABOUT MAKING SURE
OUR KIDS CAN BE AT SCHOOL AND
OUR SMALL BUSINESSES CAN GET
BACK TO WORK.
LOU: AND HOPEFULLY, OUR PUBLIC
HEALTH AGENCIES CAN GET THE
FACTS STRAIGHT AT LEAST IN THE
REPORTING.
IT’S GOT TO BE FRUSTRATING.
IS THE PRESIDENT FRUSTRATED?
ARE YOU US FROM TREATED BY THAT
KIND OF -- FRUSTRATED BY THAT
KIND OF REVELATION?
>> YOU KNOW, LOU, THE
PRESIDENT’S NEVER FRUSTRATED.
HE’S ALWAYS DEMANDING BETTER
INFORMATION, MORE INFORMATION,
PUSHING ALL OF US TO MAKE SURE
WE’RE WORKING ROUND THE CLOCK.
THE PRESIDENT IS ABSOLUTELY
FOCUSED, AS I SAID, TO GET THIS
ECONOMY BACK TO WHERE IT WAS,
THEST ECONOMY WE HAD GOING ON
BEFORE THIS.
LOU: WELL, MR. SECRETARY, I KNOW
YOU’RE WORKING FULL TIME, AND
YOU WORK SO HARD, THERE’S SO
MANY ISSUES WE COULD TAKE UP.
