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 The Information Or Disinformation Scale - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 8/12/09 — Wednesday, August 12, 2009 — Q Yesterday the President said AARP endorsed the plan. As you're aware, yesterday AARP said it hasn't endorsed a plan. Where on the information or disinformation scale would the President's remark fall? MR. GIBBS: Well, the President said -- well, AARP has said they are certainly supportive and have been for years on comprehensive health reform. I don't think the President meant to imply anything untoward. I think he discussed the notion that AARP is supportive of -- or, I'm sorry, an agreement that would fund filling the doughnut hole for seniors as part of Medicare Part D, as well as additional savings for comprehensive health care reform. Q The President is doubtless aware AARP hasn't even endorsed the House pending committee legislation or the Senate legislation. MR. GIBBS: Which is what I just said. Q Right. So he's aware of that. So he wasn't trying to mislead anyone -- MR. GIBBS: No, no. Q He just misspoke. MR. GIBBS: Right. Q Is that something that can happen in this debate? MR. GIBBS: That people can misspeak? Q Right, without intentionally meaning to mislead. MR. GIBBS: Sure. I don't know if it's happened on certain subjects, but yes. Q Okay, so is -- within the range of this whole discussion, something can be wrong but not necessarily intentional misinformation is what I'm getting at. MR. GIBBS: Yes. I think most of what the President has addressed, though, has been in many ways intentional misinformation. Q That he's been trying to correct; understood. MR. GIBBS: Right. Q Senator Isakson put out a statement yesterday, also taking issue with what the President describes as his position and his involvement in the end-of-life legislation in the House. Do you want to amend or correct anything the President said, or you said about that? Because Mr. Isakson has a completely different interpretation than the President used and you used yesterday. He didn't have -- he had no role in the House legislation. He opposes the language in the House -- MR. GIBBS: Well, I didn't say -- let's take what I've talked about on the back of the plane. Let me just read what -- let me just read the question, a series of questions and answers from Senator Isakson: "How did this become a question of euthanasia?" Senator Isakson: "I have no idea. I understand, and you have to check this out, I just had a phone call where someone said Sarah Palin's Web site had talked about the House bill having death panels on it where people would be euthanized. How someone could take an end-of-life directive, or a living will as that is nuts. You're putting the authority in the individual rather than the government. I don't know how that got so mixed up." Question two: "You're saying this is not a question of government, it's for individuals?" Senator Isakson: "It empowers you to be able to make decisions at a difficult time, rather than having the government make them for you." Question three: "The policy here, as I understand it, is that Medicare would cover a counseling session with your doctor on end-of-life options." Senator Isakson: "Correct. And it's a voluntary deal." Q I believe those are answers in response to his amendment in the HELP bill, not the longer and more defined involvement of these end-of-life panels that's in the House bill. That's how it's been explained to me by his people, so I'm just wondering if -- MR. GIBBS: Well, I would ask them, those people to interpret: "I just had a phone call where someone said Sarah Palin's Web site had talked about the House bill having death panels on it, where people would be euthanized. How someone could take an end-of-life directive or a living will as that is nuts." Not my words. His. Q Right, I understand. But what the President talked about yesterday was saying that Senator Isakson had some role in helping to craft or developed the House legislation -- MR. GIBBS: I think what the President mentioned -- Q -- implying that he supported it. And I'm just saying that Senator Isakson denies that he had any role and he doesn’t support it. MR. GIBBS: Again, I don't think that's what the President was implying. I think the President mentioned that Mr. Isakson had been in the House -- that may have been some of the confusion. He was a member of -- did, obviously, represent Atlanta suburbs before becoming a U.S. senator from Georgia. I think, again, what the President was trying to say was, in a question about some of the misinformation, asked specifically about euthanasia and death panels, and I think -- and I said this also in the back of the plane yesterday -- I think what Senator Isakson says in addressing that misinformation could not be more clear, that for someone to take, as he says, talked about the House bill -- his words, not mine -- "having death panels on it where people would be euthanized, how somebody could come up with that" -- and roughly paraphrasing -- in that sense is nuts. Q Right. And I'm not trying to beat this into the ground, but he doesn't support the language in the House bill. You can have differences over -- MR. GIBBS: No, no, I understand. What I'm saying is I think there may be some confusion -- Q -- of end-of-life counseling is and be clear to understand that neither of them calls for anything approaching euthanasia -- MR. GIBBS: I think the one thing that -- Q Setting that aside for a second -- MR. GIBBS: I mean, again, one thing that -- Q -- he doesn't back the House language, had no role in it, and believes that yesterday there was comments from the President that indicated that -- MR. GIBBS: I certainly didn't read it that way and I don't think my comments -- Q Should be interpreted that way. MR. GIBBS: Well, I didn't say that, to interpret it that way would be nuts. But -- Q He's too sensitive about this? MR. GIBBS: Again, I read what he said in an interview that was posted on WashingtonPost.com yesterday. I think if you go back and look at some amendments that he's offered and cosponsored -- Q He -- (inaudible) -- MR. GIBBS: Right, but this -- he's offered and cosponsored other amendments with Senator Rockefeller in dealing with this. I think -- whether this is uncomfortable or not, I think he and the President agree. Health Care | President Obama | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | Townhall Meetings | White House Press Corps Labels: Health Care, President Obama, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, Townhall Meetings, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 9:11:00 PM
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