This is a rush transcript from "Your World," November 6, 2014. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: Forget this clash in Belgium over new government there. Are we bracing for an even bigger clash in our government right over here?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE RUSH LIMBAUGH SHOW")
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: They were not elected to fix a broken system. They were elected to stop the people who are breaking the system.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAVUTO: Fired up, and now the conservatives who are ready to fight.
Welcome, everybody. I'm Neil Cavuto.
And is the newly elected Congress getting the bum rush from conservatives like Rush, who want Republicans to stop ObamaCare, stop amnesty, stop this massive debt, and stop talking about compromising?
But how far will the GOP go?
Kansas Republican Senator Pat Roberts, fresh off his reelection win, on that with me now.
Senator, good to have you. Congratulations.
SEN. PAT ROBERTS, R-KAN.: Thank you, Neil. And I appreciate that very much.
CAVUTO: All right.
Now, what do you make of what the likes of Rush and other conservatives are saying, don't negotiate, don't blink, do not budge? You say what?
ROBERTS: Well, I say it's up to the president to indicate certainly a lot more than he's indicated today.
He seems to think the election -- well, he seems to think he won the election with the people that didn't vote. And then, of all things, comes out of the chute, saying basically he's going to pass by executive order yet another executive order, amnesty for millions of illegal aliens.
I think that's just -- as our leader said some days ago, that's like waiving a red flag in front of a bill -- a bull. But there are those of who think that we can -- there's a lot of things that we could do. We could open up the pipeline. We could repeal the medical device tax. We could get after that corporate tax rate.
There are a lot of things under the banner of tax reform we can do. If we don't repeal Obamacare, we can replace it with a lot more market-oriented principles, preserve the patient/doctor relationship. I mean, this laundry list goes way down the line, especially on regulatory reform.
We have got $2 trillion sitting on the sidelines waiting because people don't know about the next regulation that could actually harm their business plans. So there's a lot of things we could do if, in fact, the president is willing to do that.
CAVUTO: but I guess what I got to read when I talked not too long ago with Mitch McConnell is that there's only so much you can do. Even with the pickups you have had, you're not at 60 votes and then there are other problems. This is from Mitch McConnell.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: Well, it would take 60 votes in the Senate. No one thinks we're going to have 60 Republicans.
CAVUTO: Right. Right.
MCCONNELL: And it would take a president -- presidential signature. And no one thinks we're going to get that.
So the question is, what can you do about it? Well, I would like to put the Senate Democrats in the position of voting on the most unpopular parts of this law and see if we can put it on the president's desk and make him take real ownership.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAVUTO: So what he's saying is sort of what you did just now, sir, and that is go ahead and bit by bit sort of shove it back in the president's face, but not ignore the president, as some conservatives or maybe what people like Rush Limbaugh advocate.
What do you think?
ROBERTS: Well, I -- I don't know about shoving anything in anybody's face. I don't think you get anything done in Washington by doing that.
CAVUTO: Well, maybe you place -- no, I said it wrong. Maybe you just place it before the president.
ROBERTS: Oh, we could put it on a plate and offer it to him, you know.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: But there are so many things that we could do, regardless if it's President Obama. I mean, it just makes sense.
CAVUTO: Like what? What do you think is doable right now, the fighting notwithstanding?
And that's predictable in any election. Democrats are certainly experiencing even their fair share of that. So, this gets a disproportionate attention, but we have focused on that.
ROBERTS: Well, we could...
CAVUTO: But let me ask you about, what do you think is doable? Keystone, first and foremost, is that doable?
ROBERTS: Yes. That's -- well, that's doable because it has so many ramifications.
If we, in fact, export our energy products to Europe, they become less dependent with regards to Russia. That takes the ace card out of Vladimir Putin's deck. It's good for everybody. It stabilizes -- it really helps to stabilize the world.
At the last Republican love-in -- that's been over a year ago -- at which I was present, he said he would make that decision within three months. Well, here it is now a year and some. All we have to do, he's got five environmental studies that says there are no drastic environmental impacts at all. So turn on the pipeline.
CAVUTO: All right.
So let's say that's the most likely thing he could change on and move on quickly. But you're right. When I heard the president's press conference and everything else that has been coming out of him, first of all, he does not take my responsibility or claim that he had anything to do with the rout the Democrats experienced.
And so I'm thinking that maybe -- and I'm no psychologist -- he's not going to be changing his posture any time soon. So, what do Republicans do to respond?
ROBERTS: Well, responding is one thing.
But I will tell you, in Kansas, I think his approval rating is 31 percent. And he said weeks before the election that this was a referendum on his policies, his program, his legacy. His name was on the ballot. That's probably in part why I won so big with 11 percent. And...
CAVUTO: Well, no doubt, but he's not changing, despite that. He doesn't see any connection because of that.
ROBERTS: Oh, I know. I know. He thinks...
CAVUTO: So, I guess what I'm asking is, if that's the case, if he's in another world, then it's very hard for your worlds to mesh, right?
ROBERTS: Well, it may be very hard, but that doesn't mean that we can't try.
But I'm not talking so much about what we should do to please the president. I'm talking about shining the spotlight on the 360 bills where the good bills went to die in the Senate and working with the House and working with the Senate and working with Democrats in the Senate on the bills that we could pass.
And then, if the president wishes to just shove them aside, he can, but I think he does so at our risk and our country's risk. We're at a place where we're at a tipping point. We have to start working together, but we can do it with good conservative programs that everybody knows is going to work, especially on behalf of the business community, farmers and ranchers, for instance.
My word, get ahold of the EPA and say calm down on these regulations on things that are absolutely foolish. I don't think there's any greater spectrum of our populace that's been picked on so much as our farmers and ranchers.
CAVUTO: All right.
ROBERTS: And it's all by regulation. It's not necessary. We don't have to do it. We may have to take the appropriation bills and take their money away. That may be the only way we really get this done.
But surely we could work that out.
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: Sorry to jump on you, sir, but do you then sense that these next two years are going to be heated and messy or what?
ROBERTS: It doesn't have to be heated and messy. All we have to do is present good, commonsense, conservative ideas and principles and issues where we can work and we can get this country going again.
CAVUTO: All right.
ROBERTS: We can get our country back. We can get rid of a lot of unnecessary regulations, just commonsense things that we can attract quite a few Democrats to do and lay them down one by one on the president's desk.
CAVUTO: Gotcha. All right.
We will watch it very closely. Senator Roberts, again, congratulations.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Neil.
CAVUTO: Very good seeing you, Senator Pat Roberts. OK.
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