This morning, Senator Mark Warner, a member of the Senate Budget Committee, joined the hosts of CNBC Squawkbox, Joe Kernen and Becky Quick, to discuss the looming government shut down.

The hosts noted the unwillingness of some to negotiate a bipartisan compromise to fix sequestration and raise the federal debt ceiling. Senator Warner responded, “You know I’d like to take some of my colleagues down to Norfolk or Hampton Roads where the Admiral last week said 66,000 soldiers and 22,000 shipyard workers are going to be forced to say home. This is crazy.”

In response to the host pointing out that many in the Senate are tying this crisis to their opposition to Obamacare, Senator Warner said, “This is not about Obamacare. We need a rational argument or discussion about what’s good in it, what’s bad in it, where do we fix things- like this ridiculous disincentive to hire people full time with this 30 hours cut off. This is political theatre at its worst. What we oughta talk about is how to get our nation’s balance sheet back on track. Which means Republicans are going to have to give on revenues, Democrats are gonna have to give on entitlements.”

The host asked Senator Warner about how his experience in the private sector influences his policy solutions and whether or not he ever makes that case to his own party and the Obama administration. Senator Warner said he does in fact discuss this with people of both parties. “I do a lot of work with Senator Corker, and there is my old Gang of Six. There are senators in both parties who are up to here with these kind of antics back and forth.”

At the end of the interview, Senator Warner advocated for improvements that would help our current debt and deficit problems such as overhauling the tax code, fixing inefficiencies in health care, and reforming and strengthening entitlement programs.