'This Week' Transcript: Rep. Paul Ryan and Rep. Chris Van Hollen

Rep. Paul Ryan and Rep. Chris Van Hollen are interviewed.

ByABC News
March 30, 2012, 3:56 PM

NEW YORK, APRIL 1, 2012— -- STEPHANOPOULOS: Good morning and welcome to "This Week."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANOPOULOS: An historic battle at the Supreme Court.

CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN G. ROBERTS: Can the government require you to buy a cell phone?

STEPHANOPOULOS: After days of tough questions, is Obamacare going down? How will the decision change the presidential election and your health care?

Then, as Republicans close ranks around Romney, he fires at Obama.

ROMNEY: President Obama's economic strategy is a bust.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And the president fires back.

OBAMA: Their philosophy is simple - you are on your own.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Plus, the House passes Paul Ryan's budget. Is it a big victory for the GOP or a campaign gift for Democrats? What's at stake for you? Questions this morning for our headliners, Republican Budget Chair Paul Ryan and the ranking Democrat Chris Van Hollen.

Then.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: American dream. Only takes one dollar.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Mega Millions mania. Three lucky winners, but are these lotteries a bonanza for state budgets or bad public policy? That and all the week's politics on our powerhouse roundtable with George Will, former Obama adviser Van Jones, conservative columnist Ann Coulter, Matt Bai of the New York Times, and ABC's Supreme Court expert Terry Moran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Good morning, everyone. A whole lot going on in politics this week, and our headliner is in the middle of most of it. Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan put his weight behind Mitt Romney right before his state's Tuesday primary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: What a leader in our party, what a conservative, really a man –

(APPLAUSE)

--and I very much appreciate his support, and endorsement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: And after the House passed Ryan's budget, President Obama put it at the center of his campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: You look at their budget that the Republicans in the House of Representatives just passed. It's no exaggeration – they would gut things that we've always believed were at the core of making America great.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: And Congressman Ryan joins us now, along with the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, Chris Van Hollen. Gentlemen, thank you both for joining us. And Congressman Ryan, let me begin with you. I want to get to the budget, but first just a little bit of politics. Mitt Romney is predicting victory in your state on Tuesday. Is he right, and will that effectively end this nomination fight?

RYAN: I think he will win, but we expect a close race. We always have close races here in Wisconsin. And I do think if Mitt wins this - we also have Maryland and D.C. I think Mitt has a really good chance of winning a lot of delegates on Tuesday, and so yes, I think conservatives should coalesce around the Romney campaign and move on to the general election. And I hope a big victory on Tuesday will do just that.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You are already on the short list to be Romney's vice president. I know you're not going to say much about that this morning, but many Democrats—

RYAN: No.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Are actually excited about that prospect, because they believe that this ties Romney even more closely to your budget, which passed the House this week. And you heard the president. They are prepared to argue that this is going to cripple government programs that working Americans rely on. Your response?