Sen. Hutchison Discusses Supreme Court Obamacare Oral Arguments & Gas Prices on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street”
Washington, DC - Today, U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) joined CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" host Carl Quintalla to discuss the Supreme Court's Obamacare oral arguments as well as speculation that the Obama administration might tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Below is a transcript of her interview, or to watch the video, click here.
Carl Quintalla: Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison says the law is unconstitutional. Senator, good to see you this morning. Good morning.
Sen. Hutchison: Thank you, Carl. Good to be here.
Quintalla: Quite a few dramatic days of testimony. We'll be talking about this case for a long time, no matter how they rule. How do you think they'll come down? What decision do you think they'll give?
Sen. Hutchison: I think all indications are that the Justices were very skeptical of the overreach of that mandate and that it looked like they thought you couldn't fix it with a tweak -- that everything depended on that individual mandate. That's the indication. However, I will say, Carl, I've watched the Supreme Court for a long time, and you can never tell from the tenor of the questioning what they're thinking. Sometimes hostile questions means they're looking for your arguments; sometimes it's the opposite, and you really can't judge it. But it looked to me like the judges were asking the right questions and that they did see the encroachment on freedom as an issue.
Quintalla: I understand your point about being careful about predicting decisions, but you sound relatively confident that severability is not a possibility, that if the mandate is thrown out, the whole thing is gone.
Sen. Hutchison: I was in the court yesterday, and I felt like the severability issue wouldn't even be close. That most of the Justices seemed to be saying: you can't throw out the pay-for, the tax or the fines and keep the services because that would certainly not be Congressional intent. So, it felt like a pretty sure thing if the mandate is gone that they would probably say start all over. But that's just a guess.
Quintalla: Do you see any danger in a 5-4 decision? Do you think the public views the court as inherently political in ways that would be damaging to the court long-term?
Sen. Hutchison: Not at all. And I don't think the Justices should be thinking about that, the numbers. I think that they have to look at the facts, and I think that severability issue particularly, there is no severability clause. I don't think the Justices are going to make one up. I think they will look at the facts, I think they will look at the Constitution, the precedents, and make their decision without that political influence.
Quintalla: Let me switch gears quickly before we run out of time, talk about some energy. I know you know the sector well. All these various reports about a potential SPR release. What's behind it? Does it actually happen this summer?
Sen. Hutchison: Oh, I hope not. Unless there is a real crisis and we are stopped from getting the oil and gas that we need for the economy of our country and for businesses to function, we shouldn't use the SPR. The SPR is for real crisis emergencies, and we're not in a crisis emergency. There are so many things we can do to bring down the cost of gas. And that would be to have drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, which this administration is virtually not doing, and to, for heaven's sakes, get the Keystone pipeline going. We could create jobs and bring down the cost of gasoline at the pump. We should not be using our emergency reserves because prices are high. We should fix the prices by opening the markets.
Quintalla: Crude at 103, off more than 2 bucks today, Senator, appreciate your time. We'll see you next time.
Sen. Hutchison: Hey, thank you.
RESOURCES:
Sen. Hutchison's YouTube Video: "Obamacare By The Numbers"
