Democratic Michigan Representative Dan Kildee joins The Final Round panel to discuss the latest on the stimulus relief package and his thoughts on how the developments are proceeding.

Video Transcript

MYLES UDLAND: Dan Kildee is a Democrat from Michigan's 5th congressional district. Representative, thanks for joining the program today. So let's just start with how you see the state of play right now. Democrats in the House passed a bill a couple of months ago, so we've known this was coming for some time. There's been no movement from the administration, from Republicans in the Senate. Where do you see things going as we get towards now the first full week without these benefits for millions of workers?

DAN KILDEE: Well, of course, the hope is that we'll get a deal soon, and I do think there's been movement, movement in the sense that it wasn't that many weeks ago-- actually, only a few days ago-- that many Republicans, including Leader McConnell, were simply dismissive of the idea that we needed to extend these benefits and, in fact, offered a pretty paltry $200 per week pandemic supplement. I think now that we're talking about the numbers-- we're talking about what it actually takes to keep a family from going upside down-- I think that the negotiations will move our way. I think it's only a matter of time before the Senate comes to grips with the reality that that $600 benefit is not only important for those families that have not been able to get called back to work or are not feeling safe to go back to work.

That $600 benefit has been supplying the economy with much needed demand in the marketplace. And if we lose that demand, then the impact, the sort of cascading impact that the loss of those benefits will have on the overall economy will have the effect, I think, of increasing unemployment, decreasing whatever minor stability we've been able to put into the business sector, and especially for small businesses, could be the difference between staying afloat and going belly up. So this is really a critical moment, and I think the reality is that Republicans are going to be coming our way. Many of them are starting to express that publicly now.

JESSICA SMITH: Hi, Congressman. Jessica Smith here in Washington. I know Speaker Pelosi has said that she does not want a short-term deal. She does not want to address this piece by piece. But as this drags on with no end in sight, at what point is something better than nothing? So if it just addresses those unemployment benefits, I mean, at what point do you have to say, OK, let's address what we could possibly agree on?

DAN KILDEE: Well, I mean, I think in the abstract, they get the argument. But I think the problem we have is that there isn't any one element of this problem that by itself stands on its own. For example, if we address a short-term unemployment deal but don't deal with the state and local government issues, we're going to see 1 million to 1.5 million state and local government employees go on unemployment. So we have to take this multi-pronged approach, and I think the Speaker has been spot on in saying, look, I'm not going to negotiate against myself. I'm not going to give a short-term deal on one aspect of this and then see this house of cards that we're trying to hold together all completely crumble.

The difference between the position that Democrats have taken and what the Republicans have taken is two-- in two ways really significant. One, we've passed our bill. That's-- I mean, that's most important. Secondly, we are trying to calibrate the response equal to the size of the problem. We're not just trying to check a box and say, oh, we've done unemployment or we've done state and local government.

Unless those resources are enough to keep those institutions-- or in this case, it's families-- from failing, then what's the point of doing it? So our approach is let's do it right. Let's do it at a scale that is equal to the problem. And I don't think there is a negotiation when it comes to that. I think they just have-- Republicans are just going to have to come to grips with the reality that this is what we need to do to keep this country together.

JESSICA SMITH: What do you make of the president's threats to do this through executive action, and do you feel any added pressure to get something done if the president is saying he's going to try and do this on his own if Congress can't come to a deal?

DAN KILDEE: Yeah, the president has, let's just say, unique perspectives on the executive authority that he possesses, so I don't think he has the authority to do many of the things that he says. And of course, he often stops short of actually taking action. So you know, I've been in Congress almost eight years. I've served alongside this president for three and a half years. And it's taken me a while, but I've gotten to the point where I just don't listen to what he says anymore. I only look to his actions. And you know, a tweet or a speech doesn't quite make policy, so I'm going to hope that we can rely on Secretary Mnuchin to actually take some serious steps and that the president will go along.

MYLES UDLAND: Now, Congressman, the economic crisis we're dealing with right now, of course, is downstream from the pandemic that we are dealing with right now. It has been a tough summer, to say the least, here across the country. As you think about, you know, how things have gone in your district, how things have gone nationally, there's been certainly a federal leadership void on that. You know, this CARES Act, the HEALS Act, is focused on the economy. But in terms of the virus, are there still things that you would like to see done at a federal level to get programs in place to bring the spread of the virus under some kind of control?

DAN KILDEE: For sure. I mean, there is no replacement. There's no excuse for not having a coordinated national plan, and we simply have not had that. The president seems unwilling to take responsibility to pull that together and, in fact, he's tend-- he tends to denigrate those thoughtful federal officials who really are trying to pull this together-- Dr. Fauci, Dr. Birx, and others.

But I do think it's important to keep in mind that while it feels like these are two distinct crises, one caused by the other, the solutions are integrated in this really important way. The financial resources that we're trying to provide small businesses, state and local government, and particularly families give those individuals the financial ability to take the medical advice that they're being given. So for example, when we prop up additional support for child care, that allows a family to make the choice to separate themselves, to take the medical advice that they're being given.

Or we give an unemployment benefit-- that allows a family to not have to go into the workplace if, in fact, it's dangerous, and it allows them to have the financial resources they need to follow the medical guidance that they're being given. So in some ways, the financial crisis is a cause-- is caused by the health crisis. And the solutions that look like they're solutions to the fiscal and economic crisis also support our ability to do the right thing in dealing with the pandemic.

MELODY HAHM: You mentioned child care. I think just shortly before you joined our program, your own Governor of Michigan, Whitmer, did expand this mask mandate to kids under the age of four. Starting from two years old, now children are expected to wear a mask on public transportation, whether that's a school bus, heading to camp. I mean, realistically speaking, how do you anticipate this sort of EO to really mitigate a lot of the questions that are facing the entire nation? Do you feel like Governor Whitmer is doing a good job here?

DAN KILDEE: I do. I do think she's doing the job because she's being guided by the science, even when it means people get mad at her. You know, leadership is a tough job. Leadership is dangerous. It's hard, and sometimes people get mad at you. And if any of us want to just be at the front of a parade, you know, we should run for drum major. Doing this work is hard, and I think she's made the right choices.

And I think in particular-- you know, I have a-- I have two grandchildren. They wear masks. And for them, it's just, OK, we're wearing our masks. They don't have all the sort of political biases that somehow equate mask wearing with a political position. They wear a mask because the people who love them say, this will help keep you safe and the people around you. So what do they do? They put on the mask.

MELODY HAHM: I mean-- yeah.

DAN KILDEE: I wish adults would sort of take the lesson from some of these kids.

MELODY HAHM: Well, to that point, when you talk to your own constituents and when you are getting a pulse of how people are feeling, do you feel as though that has become more normalized, as we recognize that it is just purely effective, that there is no room for debate here? Or do you feel as though this politicized nature only continues to ramp up as you are have your pulse on the ground?

DAN KILDEE: I think lately, the last several weeks, as we've seen numbers tick up-- you know, even in states that have done pretty well, but especially as we've seen cases in Florida and Texas and California, Arizona really spike-- I think people are getting it, and they're wearing masks. Even some of my colleagues, who, in this sort of sense of, I think, false male bravado, refuse to wear masks when they're in public in the Capitol, are seen at the airport very quickly putting their masks on. So there's a lot there's a bit of hypocrisy in some of the positions that these sort of-- I don't-- I-- I'm going to be careful about what terms I use. But let's say, some of these members I think are making up for deficiencies in other aspects of their life.

MYLES UDLAND: All right, Congressman Dan Kildee, Democrat from the state of Michigan, thank you so much for joining the program. Hopefully we can be in touch.

DAN KILDEE: Thank you very much for having me on.