[Applause] All right well you know that sound it is Today's closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange the day that we were Looking to see what was going to happen On a very important day really that's Right and we're ending worse than where We began in the red the Dow pulling back At least almost 350 points the s p and The NASDAQ also closed the day in the Red the s p down more than one percent The NASDAQ down about two percent Barat Rama Murphy joins us now he is a deputy Director of the National Economic Council just the person that we want to Speak to today so tell us first off how The White House is responding to Fitch's Credit rating downgrade and do you agree Fundamentally with the assessment that The current political vitriol is hurting The ability of our government to work For the people Well first I would say that we do Disagree with the uh the downgrade Announcement from Fitch I think if you Look at their own metrics by which they Are making this kind of decision it just Doesn't make much sense if you look at For example governance was a concern That they raised that decline during the Previous administration and was Improving during the current Administration under President Biden It's confusing therefore that they would
Use that as a reason for a downgrade at This time similarly over the past Several months we've gotten a day after Day of very positive economic data you Have multiple Banks you have Bank of America you have Morgan Stanley Announcing that any recession concerns That they had in the short term they're Reversing that I no longer feel like That's a real risk so you have a host of Good economic news so you put all that Together and the timing of this and the Justification for it is very confusing And I think a host of experts on the Outside agree with that assessment I Would say however that Republican Extremism which is underlying this Announcement Still Remains a threat you Look at what happened this earlier this Year where Republicans took the debt Ceiling hostage threatened a first ever Default on American debt the president Was able to defuse that situation and Reach a good outcome but this kind of Hostage taking by Republicans over and Over again is a threat to the economy And it's something that uh is going to Cost the American people in the long Term you know uh Barat you may disagree With the assessment but it's certainly Not a good look for the country right This type of reaction on Wall Street It's about emotion almost more than it Is about the data and as you've just
Described Republicans as hostage taking And extremists there are real Instability concerns when it comes to How the United States governs itself Especially there in Washington so how is The administration aiming to alleviate That and work with the Republicans on The other side of the aisle to get the Country of the business business of the Country done I think the president has shown quite Clearly that he can do that the Republicans started the Year by saying That they were going to threaten the First ever default honor of debt unless They got through their highly partisan Agenda which included massive cuts to Programs that middle class families Relied upon the president pulled Everybody together he ultimately passed A bill that that raised the debt ceiling And it avoided those kinds of severe Cuts that the Republicans were pushing For so I think that under this president At least people she'll should feel Confident that uh there is leadership That is able to pull together people From both sides of the aisle and avoid The kinds of uh outcomes that the most Extremist Republicans are pushing for That second of all it is important of Course to address the long-term fiscal Trajectory of this country that's why The president's budget actually cuts the
Deficit by three trillion dollars over The next 10 years through some targeted Spending reductions as well as some new Taxes on the very very wealthy and on The biggest corporations that Combination of policy changes could help Move our country in a much much better Fiscal Direction and the president has Made progress on that over the last two Years but as eager to work with Congress Now they move further in that direction It must be frustrating uh because Hearing the work that that as you're Touting the accomplishments of your Administration there's still this major Disconnect between the economic data and How Americans feel about the economy in Our most recent CBS News polling 35 Percent of Americans say that they are Falling behind compared to only 13 Percent that say they're getting ahead In fact according to our our month over Month polling more Americans say that The economy is getting worse this month Compared to just last month what do you Say to Americans who are struggling Look I I think if you look at the data Overall it suggests that the economy is Improving obviously at a at a headline Level inflation has come down Significantly from from last year it's Come down by about two-thirds at the Same time we've had extremely strong Economic growth and we're projected to
Have extremely strong economic growth Going forward wages have outpaced Inflation for the average household over The last several months as well all of That said we're not in a position to Tell Americans how they should be Feeling I think that it's going to take A little while for the improvements that We've seen in the economy over the last Few months to translate into people Feeling more secure in their financial Position it's not like we can flip a Switch and as soon as the indicators Start moving in a good direction Everyone's mood on the economy starts to Improve I think it takes a little bit of Time it takes a little bit of us Explaining what it is that the president Is trying to accomplish on the economy And I remain confident that if we Continue to get strong economic data That's going to show up in the polling Numbers and American satisfaction as Well and we should highlight to viewers That this is just one credit agency Um but you know let our viewers know who Are feeling the pinch now how will this Administration work to restore the AAA Uh rating and of course increase Borrowing costs will make the President's budget more difficult to Achieve in some respects Let's just say first of all that the Reaction on Wall Street in the markets
To this announcement has been quite Muted I think again experts uh from Across the political Spectrum have Acknowledged that uh in the last several Hours uh so I think the actual on the Ground impact of this credit rating Change is going to be relatively small I Think at the same time you know it is Important that we work together to Address uh the debt the deficit and the Fiscal trajectory of this country while At the same time ensuring that really Important middle class programs are Preserved and expanded as appropriate The president's budget accomplishes that Like I said it cuts the deficit by three Trillion dollars over the next 10 years And it does that while still preserving Really important programs everything From Pell Grants to the Head Start Programs uh to funding for housing and For schools and so on uh that's the Balance that we need to strike as I said Over the last two years the president Has brought down the deficit by over one Trillion dollars we're aiming to do Another three trillion dollars with this Budget so all we ask for here is a good Faith effort by Congress especially Republicans in Congress to work with us To move the country in that direction Which I think would be good for our Long-term fiscal sustainability All right well there's always an open
Invitation for this someone from the Sitting Administration to come on to CBS News uh ramamurti thank you so much for Being that person for us today thank you Thank you
