Is There a Solution for America's Economic Crisis?

Rep. Paul Ryan on president's jobs plan, GOP proposals

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," November 3, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST OF, “HANNITY”: Now, although the allegations facing Herman Cain may have caused a distraction in recent days, it's important to remember what next year's election is all about, and that's putting the American people back to work. Now, for nearly three years, the President has failed dramatically in that department. And to date, he remains unwilling to work with Republicans on a bipartisan jobs bill. Instead, he's busy campaigning and out there blaming everything on Speaker John Boehner and those rascally Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: In the House of Representatives, what have you guys been debating? John, you've been debating a commemorative coin for baseball? You had legislation reaffirming that "In God We Trust" is our motto? That's not putting people back to work. I trust in God. But God wants to see us help ourselves by putting people back to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: I kind to say, the President isn't being truthful, would be a gross understatement because in reality, the Republican-controlled House has passed at least 15 pieces of job-creating legislation that are now stuck in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Joining me now with more on all of this, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan. Correct me, there’s 15 bills, Cut, Cap and Balance, dead on arrival. Your plan dead on arrival and demonized. I know my friend; Connie Mack has pushing the Penny Plan. I don't see the president out there supporting that one, which would balance the budget in eight years. But the President says, your plan is for dirtier air, dirtier water and you’re passing frivolous legislation. Your reaction?

REP. PAUL RYAN, R-WIS., HOUSE BUDGET COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Don't forget regulatory reform, tax reform, drilling for oil and gas in our own country creating jobs here, we are stacking up bills in the Senate that are going nowhere. And let's also not forget that this is a 918th day, today that the Senate has now passed a budget. It's been 918 days since the Senate chose to even bothered trying to pass a budget. If you want to get things done, if you want to have economic policy, fiscal policy, got to pass a budget. And they haven't done anything for 918 days.

We’re passing our bills, we’re passing our reforms. And the President is pushing for another round of stimulus, same policies only about half as large, those proved not to work, unemployment went up to 10 percent after stimulus passed, not the eight percent they promised. And more importantly, the president is going on a country doing all these kind of campaigning, impugning the motives of your political adversaries, if you really think the president is looking for bipartisan compromise to get job legislation passed, do you think he’d be talking like that? Do you think he’d be going around the country acting like that? It seems to me, Sean, that he’s more interested in conflict than natural compromise.

HANNITY: You, I thought gave a phenomenal speech last week. You took the president on directly on his campaigning tactics, class warfare, he's using it almost every speech, every media opportunity. He said the Republican plan for the country is for dirtier air, dirtier water. He said, or Joe Biden went out there and said, if you pass the president's plan or rapes and murders are going to go up, implying that, well, the Republicans obviously want rape and murder to go up. They’re not supporting the plan. Don't you think that the president is making a fundamental mistake here, he's losing his likeability?

RYAN: I do. I do. Look, if I believed all that stuff, I wouldn't vote for myself. I mean, think of all of this. I mean, I do think he's doing that. Because when you’re getting here, Sean is the president's agenda didn't work. I mean, he doesn't have a record to run on, he's obviously not interested in changing his policies. He wants to stay in the same direction. And so, all that he seems to have left is this commitment to division. This idea that you need to talk to people as if they're in some class conflict with one another. And so, the message of hope and change from 2008 has now become one to exploit the emotions of fear, envy and resentment. And what does that is it just damages America. It makes us weaker, not stronger. And so, what I’m saying is sewing social unrest and class envy that is not what we do in America. We believe in upward mobility, we believe in economic opportunity and prosperity, helping people who haven't had a chance at success, get there, not demonizing the people who have already reached success in their lives.

HANNITY: You seem to be one of a few Republicans that are willing to really call out the president on the divisive rhetoric that he's using. You have advice for your fellow Republicans. And that's -- yes, don't be quiet any longer. Start calling the president out. That you don't want dirty air, you don't want dirty water. You’re not there for the rich. You’re there to create an opportunities for society. Why don't you think more republicans are not following your lead on that?

RYAN: I think people get intimidated by the bully pulpit. I think people get intimidated by, you know, the colleague that come on you when you call up the president. I for one just got fed up with it. I thought he needed to be called on this. Look, our presidential candidates are busy competing with each other for the nomination. And that's what they do. And I just felt the need that somebody had to step up and call him on this because this rhetoric is just as damaging as these policies that they produce because they put people into conflict with one another. It basically agrees with this premise that life is a zero-sum gain. One man's gain comes at another man's loss in America. That is not true. That's not who we are -- that's not the country our founders founded -- that's not the country our veterans fought for.

HANNITY: Are you going to endorse in the primary? Have you picked anybody?

RYAN: No, I'm not. Because I can't, actually, because I have agreed to become the chairman of the presidential trust, which is what the Republican Party can do to prepare for the eventual nominee. So that is the system that basically sets up the general election campaign. I'm the chair of that, and because of that, I cannot endorse any of these primary candidates in the primary.

HANNITY: All right. Congressman, always good to see you. Thank you for your time.

RYAN: You bet, Sean.

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