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 How Many Jobs Did Robin Hood Create - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 2/26/09 — Friday, February 27, 2009 —  Q On jobs, which is the big complaint up on Capitol Hill right now from Republicans, that this plan is a job killer, I mean, the $787 billion plan was all about jobs more than anything else, and now you've got a plan in place that -- how can you possibly tax people making over $250,000 something like $667 billion over the next 10 years and not have a downward effect on jobs? MR. GIBBS: Well, Chip, how did it work in 1994 and 1995 and 1996 and 1997? Q I guess their argument would be, imagine if they didn't have those -- those taxes, how much better it would have been? MR. GIBBS: Isn't it interesting that there's always some little slip? Again, you know -- again, I don't do this by happenstance. There isn't a member of Congress, if they were to file a single taxpayer form, that makes above $200,000 a year. Q Well, Congress. MR. GIBBS: Well –- Q There's a lot of millionaires up there. MR. GIBBS: Well, that's true. But it's on their income. I mean, I think it's interesting, as people listen to those complaining about some aspects of the budget, I think it's just interesting to note -- I think the President was pretty clear on Tuesday -- we're talking about people that earn in excess of a quarter of a million dollars a year. Q And a huge percentage of those people are small business owners. MR. GIBBS: Some of them are, sure. Some of them are big business owners. Some of them are home-run hitters in major league baseball. Some of them run kickoffs back for a living. Some of them are the President of the United States. Q But a lot of them create jobs. MR. GIBBS: Some of them -- certainly, some of them, that's what their job is. But I would reject this overall premise that when we're asking for tax fairness from the American people, that we're -- that this is going to kill jobs. I guess if I follow the logic of the Republicans on Capitol Hill, how do you explain last month's unemployment figures? Current tax rates, 550,000 jobs -- what happened? Q This is a unique moment. (Laughter.) MR. GIBBS: Apparently, it always is. The President believes that he's put forth a budget and a Reinvestment and Recovery Plan that will save and create 3.5 million jobs, get our economy back on track, make the necessary and needed investments for sustained long-term growth in things like health care, education and energy, and do so in a way that's most fair for the American people. And again, I go back to my first thing -- the President ran specifically on the promises that are contained in what he believes is a blueprint and a vision for our future. And that's what the American people -- that's the result they rendered in November. Economy | Obama Administration | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | Taxes | Unemployment | White House Press Corps Labels: Economy, Obama Administration, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, Taxes, Unemployment, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 3:31:00 PM  Charity Begins With Government - White House Press Briefing by OMB Director Peter Orszag 2/26/09 — Thursday, February 26, 2009 —  Q Peter, for those who are making more than $250,000, I understand that they're going to be limited in terms of the itemized deductions for their -- filing their taxes, including charitable contributions. Considering that at least one-third of charitable organizations last year took a real nosedive, and you have some big names -- the Salvation Army, Goodwill, American Red Cross -- how do you stop the bleeding when it comes to those charitable groups, considering that you're now taking away an incentive to actually contribute?DIRECTOR ORSZAG: Well, let me be very clear. In the recovery act, the President supported -- and contained in the recovery act, there's $100 million to support non-profits and charities as we get through this period of economic difficulty. In addition, the recovery itself will provide a strong boost not only to charities, but to the overall economy and to the people who contribute to charities. But I think the real question as you look out over time is the following: When a middle-income family makes a $1,000 contribution to a charity, they save $150 in their taxes. When Bill Gates makes that same contribution to that same charity, he saves $3,500 in his taxes. All we're saying is we think Bill Gates should get a $2,800 tax break -- still a lot larger than a middle-income family -- rather than the $3,500 one. Q And to the larger point, is there a concern that you have people -- that the wealthier folks who are providing the jobs, who are spending the money, and also contributing to charitable organizations -- that in some ways they are going to start saving, that they’re not going to give, and that they're going to undermine the success or the progress that you're making? DIRECTOR ORSZAG: I really don't think so. I think what drives charitable contributions is overall economic growth, is other motivations. It's -- typically, again, it's not done for a tax incentive, but rather out of benevolence or some other related desire. And furthermore, if you really wanted to get wonky, if you look at all the provisions in the budget, even from a narrow economic perspective, I think you'll see that there's roughly a wash in terms of the financial incentives for giving to charitable contributions -- to charities. Charity | Economy | Obama Administration | Office of Management and Budget | Peter Orszag | Press Briefing | White House Press Corps Labels: Charity, Economy, Obama Administration, Office of Management and Budget, Peter Orszag, Press Briefing, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 7:44:00 PM Lessons from Alexander the Great - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 2/25/09 — Wednesday, February 25, 2009 —  Q Has the President learned any lessons from the past? What makes him think he can prevail in Afghanistan after Russians, the British, Alexander the Great could not?MR. GIBBS: Good question. (Laughter.) You had me -- I had you up until you said Alexander the Great. (Laughter.) Q Genghis Khan -- Genghis Khan. MR. GIBBS: -- Alexander the Great -- (laughter.) No, I -- Q It's under -- (inaudible.) MR. GIBBS: Unfortunately, it's not. No, I'm kidding. (Laughter.) No, the President -- again, the administration is undergoing a review as it relates to our policy there. The President's decision in the interim to send additional forces in the spring and in the summer related to a sharp deterioration that we've all seen in the security situation; that General McKiernan had long requested additional troops -- Q Why are we there? MR. GIBBS: Why are we there? Because that's the part of our planet that is exceedingly dangerous, and saw on September 11th the root cause of attacks that resulted in the death of more than 3,000 Americans -- the deadliest attack on American soul. The President has, I think, stated clearly and forcefully last evening -- Q Were they all Afghans on 9/11? MR. GIBBS: Well, I don't know what their citizenship were. I know where they were when they planned the attacks. I think the American people do, too. But the President said clearly and forcefully last night that, under his watch, we're not going to have safe havens in the country of Afghanistan that are planning a next series of attacks on our citizens. Afghanistan | President Obama | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | War on Terror | White House Press Corps Labels: Afghanistan, President Obama, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, War on Terror, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 9:38:00 PM Tax Fairness He Can Believe In - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 2/23/09 — Monday, February 23, 2009 —  MR. GIBBS: Jake.Q Without getting ahead of the President, he has made it clear that -- (laughter) -- MR. GIBBS: I'm going to bring him and put him right here, so that I can stand at least two steps behind him. (Laughter.) He, when we do that, won't be taking any questions. So just FYI. Q But he'll just be ahead of you. MR. GIBBS: Slightly. (Laughter.) Q Without doing that, he's made it very clear that at the very least, letting the Bush tax cuts expire is in the game plan. I'm just wondering, there have been other ideas floated out there in terms of tax cuts, whether -- or tax increases, rather, on people who make more than a quarter million dollars a year. If it doesn't make sense to raise taxes this year because of the recession, might it also be problematic for the economy to recover if taxes are raised next year? Would that principle not still apply? MR. GIBBS: Well, I guess it -- some of that depends maybe where we are on the economy. Let's understand where we are in terms of the fiscal -- I'm sorry, in terms of the economic recovery plan. You have one of, if not the largest, tax cut ever enacted in a two-year period, as the President stated this weekend, going into people's paychecks beginning April 1. The President campaigned on a promise to ensure that money would get into people's pockets that had seen their wages decline over the past few years. And he made good on that promise through the recovery plan, and believes that will have a stimulative effect on the economy. The President has also talked about in some form or another letting the tax cuts for the top 1 or so percent either be repealed or expire, because the President believes that after many years of having a tax code that favored the few over the many, that a combination of both the recovery plan and what may or may not be in the budget for future years begins to right the tables a bit on who this tax code is written for and the people that deserve to be part of the benefit now. Q Because -- if I could just follow up -- to be more precise in my question, isn't it true that the people who we're talking about raising their taxes, people who make more than a quarter million dollars a year, whether it's going from 35 to 39.6, or the hedge fund managers going from 15 to 35 or 39.6, or capital gains taxes going from 15 to 20 -- that these are the people who will invest to create the new jobs, and at a time of recession, taking their money and giving it to the government or giving it to other people actually could impede the cause of job growth? MR. GIBBS: Well, I think the President talked about this extensively on the campaign -- Q But that was before the recession became as big as we now see it. MR. GIBBS: I think I would posit that the recession was big at the end of the campaign. Again, I think there's an element first of tax fairness. And I think that -- I think this President understands that there have been many benefits for the few at the expense of a few benefits for the many; that through the recovery plan and in the coming years, the President believes it's important that those that have not seen much in the way of an increase in their paycheck have more money in their pockets. That may require those that shared in great benefits, huge benefits in the tax cuts from 2001 and 2003 -- again, importantly, for those making more than $250,000 a year, I think the top 1 percent of all wage earners in this country -- is fairness that the President believes is important. Economy | President Obama | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | Taxes | White House Press Corps Labels: Economy, President Obama, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, Taxes, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 9:46:00 PM Weekend Roundabout Briefs - Gibberish - 2/22/09 — Sunday, February 22, 2009 — 
Fairness Doctrine Feature of the Week Karl Denninger's response to Mr. Gibbs' statements regarding criticism of President Obama's anti-foreclosure plan: Obama Administration Robert Gibbs Roundabout Briefs White House Press Corps White House Press Secretary Labels: Obama Administration, Robert Gibbs, Roundabout Briefs, White House Press Corps, White House Press Secretary >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 6:49:00 PM This Time, It's Personal (Video) - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 2/20/09 — Friday, February 20, 2009 — White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs directly attacks CNBC's Rick Santelli and his call for a New Tea Party protest against President Obama's anti-foreclosure plan. Apparently, to answer Rick's question, President Obama was listening and didn't like what he heard. Q On the foreclosure plan, aside from Rush Limbaugh and that cable rant on the floor of the Exchange, there really does appear to be some -- MR. GIBBS: Chuck's network? (Laughter.) Q -- there really does appear to be some anger out there from people who just don't believe the President when he said that only people who acted responsibly are going to be helped here. How can you assure people that you're going to reward only people, only homeowners who acted responsibly? MR. GIBBS: Well, let's go through this, because I do think this is very important. And I've watched Mr. Santelli on cable the past 24 hours or so. I'm not entirely sure where Mr. Santelli lives, or in what house he lives, but the American people are struggling every day to meet their mortgage, stay in their job, pay their bills, to send their kids to school, and to hope that they don't get sick or that somebody they care for gets sick and sends them into bankruptcy. I think we said a few months ago the adage that if it was good for a derivatives trader that it was good for Main Street. I think the verdict is in on that. Here's what this plan will do: For the very first time, this plan helps those who have acted responsibly, played by the rules, and made their mortgage payments. This will help people who aren't in trouble yet keep from getting in trouble. You can't stay in this program unless you continue to make mortgage payments. That's important for Mr. Santelli and millions of Americans to understand. Here's what this plan won't do: It won't help somebody trying to flip a house. It won't bail out an investor looking to make a quick buck. It won't help speculators that were betting on a risky market. And it is not going to help a lender who knowingly made a bad loan. And it is not going to help -- as the President said in Phoenix, it is not going to help somebody who has long ago known they were in a house they couldn't afford. That's why the President was very clear in saying this was not going to stop every person's home from being foreclosed. But Mr. Santelli has argued, I think quite wrongly, that this plan won't help everyone. This plan will help, by the money that's invested in Freddie and Fannie -- will drive down mortgage rates for millions of Americans. The President in his speech was very clear in saying that every American with a mortgage payment should call their lender and see if they can refinance right now. This plan helps people that have been playing by the rules but can't get refinancing, get that refinancing so their home doesn't become foreclosed on. And Mr. Santelli might also know that if you live in a home that's near one that's been foreclosed, your home value has likely dropped about 9 percent, which for the average home is about $20,000. Now, every day when I come out here, I spend a little time reading, studying on the issues, asking people who are smarter than I am questions about those issues. I would encourage him to read the President's plan and understand that it will help millions of people, many of whom he knows. I'd be more than happy to have him come here and read it. I'd be happy to buy him a cup of coffee -- decaf. (Laughter.) Chuck. Q I want to sort of follow up on the criticism that -- MR. GIBBS: Let me do this, too. This is a copy of the President's home affordability plan. It's available on the White House web site, and I would encourage him: download it, hit print, and begin to read it. Q The criticism that's coming on the housing plan is similar to the criticism that came on the bank bailout vote before you came into office and in Phase II, which is there are people who were irresponsible who will be helped -- period. It's going -- that is a fact, that is going to be -- that is going to be -- people are going to use that to say this is not fair. So what do you -- how do you -- you know, how do you justify that? I mean, how do you -- MR. GIBBS: Well, look, there is -- there will be people that made bad decisions that, in some ways, will get help. This plan, though, I think it's important for the American people to understand, was designed to help those that have been responsible. As the President has said, if your neighbor's house is on fire or if several houses are on fire, you don't debate it; you get a hose and try to put the fire out. That's what's most important. This plan will stop the spread of those foreclosures because it addresses those that are -- that potentially could be in trouble but aren't there yet, get the help they need so that the foreclosure sign doesn't go up on their front yard. But I also think it's tremendously important that for people who rant on cable television to be responsible and understand what it is they're talking about. I feel assured that Mr. Santelli doesn't know what he's talking about. CNBC | Economy | Legislation | Press Briefing | Rick Santelli | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: Economy, Legislation, Press Briefing, Rick Santelli, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 4:56:00 PM Prejudging the Deteriorating Situation - Joint Press Conference by President Obama and Prime Minister Harper of Canada 2/19/09 — Thursday, February 19, 2009 —  Q Thank you, Mr. President, Mr. Prime Minister. I have Afghanistan questions for you both. Mr. President, General McKiernan requested 30,000 extra troops; your new order calls for 17,000. How likely is it that you will make up that difference after the review you've mentioned? And more importantly, how long can we expect all U.S. combat troops to be in Afghanistan?And, Mr. Prime Minister, based on your discussions today, are you reconsidering the 2011 deadline for troop withdrawal, and are you also thinking about increasing economic aid to Afghanistan? PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, David, the precise reason that we're doing a review is because I think that over the last several years we took our eye off the ball, and there is a consensus of a deteriorating -- that there is a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan. I don't want to prejudge that review. I ordered the additional troops because I felt it was necessary to stabilize the situation there in advance of the elections that are coming up. But we have 60 days of work to do. They -- that review, which will be wide-ranging, will then result in a report that's presented to me. And from -- at that point, we will be able to, I think, provide you with some clearer direction in terms of how we -- how we intend to approach Afghanistan. In terms of length, how long we might be there, obviously that's going to be contingent on the strategy we develop out of this review. And I'm not prejudging that, as well. I should mention, just to preempt, or to anticipate Prime Minister Harper's -- the question directed at him, that I certainly did not press the Prime Minister on any additional commitments beyond the ones that have already been made. All I did was to compliment Canada on not only the troops that are there, the 108 that have fallen as a consequence of engagement in Afghanistan, but also the fact that Canada's largest foreign aid recipient is Afghanistan. There has been extraordinary effort there, and we just wanted to make sure that we were saying thank you. PRIME MINISTER HARPER: Just very quickly, as you probably know, it was just last year that we were able to get through Parliament a bipartisan resolution extending our military engagement in Afghanistan for an additional close to four years at that point. As we move forward, we anticipate an even greater engagement on economic development. That was part of the strategy that we adopted. I would just say this -- you know, obviously we're operating within a parliamentary resolution -- I would just say this in terms of the United States looking at its own future engagement. We are highly appreciative of the fact the United States is going to be a partner with us on the ground in Kandahar. The goal of our military engagement, its principal goal right now, beyond day-to-day security, is the training of the Afghan army so the Afghans themselves can become responsible for their day-to-day security in that country. I'm strongly of the view, having led -- you know, as a government leader, having been responsible now for a military mission in Kandahar province, that we are not, in the long term through our own efforts, going to establish peace and security in Afghanistan; that that job ultimately can be done only by the Afghans themselves. So I would hope that all strategies that come forward have the idea of an end date, of a transition to Afghan responsibility for security, and to greater Western partnership for economic development. Afghanistan | Canada | President Obama | Presidential Press Conference | War on Terror | White House Press Corps Labels: Afghanistan, Canada, President Obama, Presidential Press Conference, War on Terror, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 10:46:00 PM "Let's be clear:" Just Kill Me Now - White House Press Briefing with HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and FDIC Sheila Chairman Bair 2/18/09  Q You suggested that there would be help for people with non-conforming loans. I thought that there was not.SECRETARY DONOVAN: To be clear, the modification program that is being announced today will allow any servicer who -- whether that loan is a conforming loan with the GSEs, or it is held by a private label security -- any type of loan as long as the servicer and the investor are willing to step up, they have some skin in the game, so to speak, they're willing to bring the payments down to 38 percent what we call DTI -- debt to income ratio -- we will provide incentives. We will split 50/50 the reduction of those payments down from 38 percent to 31 percent. So any loan, whether it's a GSE loan or not, can participate in that program. And those homeowners who are underwater and also can't afford to pay their mortgages can participate. Q -- respect to the lender? SECRETARY DONOVAN: Just to be clear, we do have guidance -- as Secretary Geithner said earlier, we have guidance as part of TARP, that anyone receiving TARP funding must participate in this program. And we have a range of incentives that will make sure that servicers who have not been able to participate before can do so. Let's be clear: One of the problems is these securities that hold many of these loans are so complex -- they've been sliced and diced into so many pieces -- that they are lots of problems for servicers that have a financial incentive to modify, but they haven't been able to do that. So we're going to provide standardized guidance across all the mortgage market that defines what a reasonable modification is. That will provide a lot of comfort to these servicers who have been concerned about lawsuits. That's first of all. Second of all, we're going to provide the incentives that I talked about before, so there's a financial incentive to participate. And third, a program which really Sheila Bair has been a leader on -- we're going to provide this insurance pool -- the $10 billion insurance pool -- to make sure that future price declines aren't a reason for servicers to not participate. Right now, many are afraid if they modify and home prices fall further, that they're going to lose from that. We're going to help ensure against that so we get greater participation, as well. We think the combination of the carrots and the sticks will be effective in getting much greater participation. Sheila, do you want to add on this? MS. BAIR: Yes, I just need to clarify, there's a difference between a conforming loan and a loan under the conforming limit. So the loans, the modification, "do they have to be below the conforming limit?" That doesn't mean they have to be conforming loans. A lot of them are not. A lot of the high-risk mortgages are in these private label securitizations. And I guess to go back also to an earlier question about, well, why pay them for doing something that makes economic sense already. And I can assure you, our hands-on experience when we became conservator of IndyMac and we're dealing with the investors to try to get those loans modified in the servicing portfolio of IndyMac, and there were two key problems. One, is that investors have different interests. If you reduce the interest rate on these loans, some investors get hurt by that, some get help. If you foreclose, some get hurt, some get help. So the economic incentives are misaligned. The servicer has no skin in the game at all, right? So there's inertia there to begin with. The investors are pushing different ways, perhaps threatening lawsuits. So I think what we're trying to do is align economic incentives by saying, if you come this far for us, 38 percent, then we'll help with the interest deduction between 38 and 31. We'll also give you some protection. We know home prices are going down. We know that some of these loans will redefault -- may redefault later and you will have to take a loss because the foreclosure value will be less. So we're going to give you some additional insurance, guarantee against that. Those are the two huge issues that we've heard from investors over and over again. And we think -- it would be nice if it happened voluntarily. We tried voluntary. It didn't work. And we are woefully behind the curve. So I think this program is necessary. I think it does have the right incentives that should get the job done. These modifications, though, absolutely make business sense. At IndyMac, we -- even assuming a 40 percent redefault rate, which is very high, higher than we think -- we're still making $50,000 on average for every loan we modify, just because the value of a performing loan is so much higher than that of a foreclosed home. So this is -- this makes economic sense. It will help the economy. It will help stabilize home prices and prevent us from overshooting, which I think we are in a distinct danger of doing right now. Q It's my understanding that this only applies to first mortgages, so that if you had a second -- a first mortgage and you're not technically underwater with it, but you are with your first and second combined, you're not eligible for assistance, correct? And why not? SECRETARY DONOVAN: That's not correct, actually. We do have one element of the program that says if your total debt, including second lien but also credit card and other debt, is more -- your payments on all that debt is more than 55 percent of your income, then we think you're very unlikely to succeed. And therefore, we're going to require those families to go into counseling to try and reduce their other debts, and then they could become eligible for the program. Q (Inaudible.) SECRETARY DONOVAN: If they want to benefit from the program, we're going to have to do something to reduce their overall debt. What we don't want is to provide a modification that's set up for failure. We want to make sure that we're setting people up to succeed. So if their overall household debt is too high, that's going to be a requirement to be able to participate in the program, if they want to get the -- but on second liens, you are eligible to participate. And what we have generally seen is that the second liens on modifications are not a problem to participation, because no payments are made to the second liens whatsoever under this program. We're going to focus on getting affordability. Their payments have to get down to the 31 percent level. And we will not be making payments to those second liens, because, frankly, they're not -- they don't have a value in this case if the homeowner can't even afford to pay the first mortgage. So no payments will be made. We've been in extensive discussions with the servicing community; we don't believe that's going to be an issue for the program and they will be able to participate. Economy | FDIC | UUD | Press Briefing | White House Press Corps Labels: Economy, FDIC, HUD, Press Briefing, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 4:31:00 PM Any Particular Concerns - Air Force One Press Gaggle by Robert Gibbs 2/16/09 NOTE: Due to the incredibly slow and sporadic manner in which the White House Press Office releases press briefing and gaggle transcripts, this entry is just now being posted after a delay of several days. This transcript was only released at about 8pm on 2/18/08, even though the timestamp on the document misleadingly claims "February 16th, 2009 at 1:51 pm". "For Immediate Release" seems to be a relativistic term on these documents and should not be taken seriously.  Q And what about Wall Street worries? Are there any plans -- are there any worries about what Wall Street might do after these reports are given to the administration tomorrow?MR. GIBBS: You know, I don't know of any particular concerns that Wall Street might have over these. Obviously, I think Wall Street and Main Street continue to be concerned about where we are economically. But, again -- I'll paraphrase part of your question, which was to put our economy back on a path toward sustained, long-term economic growth is likely going to require us looking beyond one day's market reaction to anything, in order to get us on that pathway. Air Force One | Economy | Press Gaggle | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: Air Force One, Economy, Press Gaggle, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 12:03:00 AM Because Democrats and Republicans Worked Together (Laughter) - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 2/13/09 — Wednesday, February 18, 2009 —  Q Can I follow up one thought, or try Jennifer's question one more time --MR. GIBBS: Sure. It's allowed. (Laughter.) Q -- looking forward on the Gregg nomination. What can you do differently to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again. Does it -- does the White House Counsel's Office need to be more deeply involved? Do they need to ask more questions? I mean, you know, the -- MR. GIBBS: Well, I just -- I'm not entirely sure. You guys ask questions for a living. What might we pose that -- Q Yes, that would be an excellent idea. Get us involved. (Laughter.) MR. GIBBS: "Are you likely within a seven-day period to come to a different conclusion than the one which you're giving the President?" (Laughter.) You know, I don't -- Q Well, most of us thought he might. (Laughter.) MR. GIBBS: I mean, I don't know -- I don't know, maybe -- Q "Are you aware the President is a Democrat?" (Laughter.) MR. GIBBS: You know, the ten best questions I'll certainly get from you all over e-mail, I'll pass on to the Counsel's Office to expand our process. You know, again, I think that -- you know, like I said, it's hard to generalize over individual instances. You know, I mean, there's been a lot of discussion about, even in today's papers, about what does this mean for bipartisanship; is bipartisanship dead; isn't it just futile or silly for the President to reach out to the other side of the aisle? You know, it all seems somewhat silly to me, the arguments. I think if you look at the four -- the almost four weeks of this administration, and even a little bit beforehand because the President had to be -- was involved in talking to senators, including working with Senator Gregg on approving the money for -- the additional $350 billion for financial stability. That was done with Democrats and Republicans. The legislation the President signed to ensure that if a woman works in a factory all her life and is paid less than a man, that that won't stand in a court of law in this country. And that was done with Democrats and Republicans working together, and the President's signature. The expansion of children's health insurance, a very successful program that will now cover an additional 4 million people, was done with bipartisan support, and the President's signature. And I think when the dust finally settles today, whatever time that is, I think you'll see an economic recovery plan that moves forward because Democrats and Republicans worked together in order to get it to the President's desk -- something, as I've said, he'll sign quickly. And then we'll look forward and continue to reach out to Republicans in a way that moves an agenda forward that works best for the American people. The President is not going to -- the President is not going to stop reaching out to Republicans because one Republican he respects decided to change his mind and continue to serve and represent his state in the U.S. Senate. The President will continue to work and reach out to folks to move the agenda of this country forward. Bipartisanship | Congress | Economy | Legislation | Nominees | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: Bipartisanship, Congress, Economy, Legislation, Nominees, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 9:22:00 PM Public Comment Period Waiver - Air Force One Press Gaggle by Robert Gibbs 2/12/09 NOTE: Due to the incredibly slow and sporadic manner in which the White House Press Office releases press briefing and gaggle transcripts, this entry is just now being posted after a delay of 7 days. This transcript was only released at about 8pm on 2/18/08, even though the timestamp on the document misleadingly claims "February 12th, 2009 at 8:02pm". "For Immediate Release" seems to be a relativistic term on these documents and should not be taken seriously.  Q During the campaign I'm pretty sure it was on your website that you said that all bills should have some kind of public comment period and they should be posted on the website for five days before the President signs it. What are you going to do about this one?MR. GIBBS: That included non-emergency legislation. Q Ahhh -- the waiver. (Laughter.) There was a waiver. MR. GIBBS: It's not a waiver, it was written right there on the website. We are working out a series of procedures to ensure that -- for non-emergency legislation, that people do have five days to look at the legislation that's been passed by Congress before it's signed into law. There have been some -- we're working through the technicalities of how that happens and we'll get a process together. I know there's something up on the White House blog on this right now, or has been within the past few days. Obviously, if we get this bill, this would certainly meet the President's test of emergency legislation. And if we're lucky enough to have it pass, we'll sign it rather quickly. Q And I just have a question about that. What would be the point of the public only getting to look at it by the time it's been completely passed and the President is about to sign it? I mean, by then it's kind of all over. MR. GIBBS: Mara, I'm amazed at the number of differing hurdles that -- Q I'm just curious. You know, you didn't post it while it was in progress. In other words, you're just waiting until the very end -- MR. GIBBS: Mara, people can go to the same website you go to when you read bills. There's congress.gov, there's the Library of Congress. There are any number of resources. I can only imagine that your reporting is informed by the careful examination of that very legislation throughout the process -- Q I'm just wondering why you wanted the five days in the first place. MR. GIBBS: It's important to put out -- for people to understand -- I think we've seen instances where legislation is done quickly and it's important for people to get a look at what's in those bills. And that's why the President outlined that policy. Air Force One | Legislation | Obama Administration | Open Government | Press Gaggle | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Office Labels: Air Force One, Legislation, Obama Administration, Open Government, Press Gaggle, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 8:23:00 PM Obviously, Eh? - Press Briefing by Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough 2/17/08 NOTE: whitehouse.gov has yet to post the 2/13/09 press briefing after 5 days. That's right five days.  Q Hello, Denis and Bill. One quick question, just to confirm, this is the first -- President Obama's first face-to-face meeting as President with another foreign leader, right?MR. McDONOUGH: That is -- MR. BURTON: As President, but during the transition there was the meeting with Mexican President. Q Yes. And can you please just speak a little bit more, elaborate on the import of Larry Summers and Carole Browner being a part of the delegation? MR. McDONOUGH: Well, you know, the President is obviously, as I said, eager to develop a close, personal working relationship with the Prime Minister. But he also wanted to have some of his key White House staff join the delegation. Obviously, the White House staff are closely coordinating with their agencies here in Washington. But given the strong importance of the economic recovery plan and the investments that the President and Congress have called for in that plan, he thought it would be very important to have Larry along on the delegation to make sure that there is an opportunity to, as I said before, look at the synergies and the opportunities in these two packages, both Canadian package and the President's economic recovery plan. Obviously trade, as I mentioned before, is a piece of that; it's a $1.5 billion trading relationship back and forth every day. And of course as I mentioned with Dr. Browner that given the simple fact that Canada is our largest energy supplier, and given the fact that we share, obviously, a lot of environmental concerns and a lot of geography, and obviously given that we want to begin to prepare for the global efforts that will be undertaken over the course of this year, we wanted to make sure that we hit the ground running with a very important neighbor and ally. Canada | Denis McDonough | Economy | Press Briefing | White House Press Corps Labels: Canada, Denis McDonough, Economy, Press Briefing, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 4:48:00 PM MR GIBBS: I don't know - Press Gaggle by Robert Gibbs 2/17/09 — Tuesday, February 17, 2009 —  Q Has the President had a chance to review the Leahy truth commission proposal since his press conference?MR. GIBBS: I don't think I -- I don't have anything to add to what he said last week. Q Another on the joint address. How much of it will be foreign policy? MR. GIBBS: I think there will be -- I mean, I think you'd have a hard time talking about our economy without talking about our commitments around the world, the health of our force structure, and obviously what is going on in both Iraq and Afghanistan. So obviously that will be a part of the address. Q Is the Afghanistan decision ready yet? MR. GIBBS: Soon. Q There are reports that President Obama is going to keep all 93 U.S. attorneys; he's not going to fire any of them. Can you comment on that at all? MR. GIBBS: Let me check on that report. I don't remember if that's quite right, so before I get out there I will -- I'll check when we land. Q Robert, did the President invite any members of Congress to fly with him today? MR. GIBBS: I don't know -- I don't think there are any members of Congress on this flight. Press Gaggle | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps | White House Press Secretary Labels: Press Gaggle, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps, White House Press Secretary >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 5:35:00 PM Robert Gibbs' Response to Sen. Gregg's Withdrawal as Commerce Secretary 2/12/09 — Thursday, February 12, 2009 —  Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) announced he was withdrawing his name for Secretary of Commerce today:"However, it has become apparent during this process that this will not work for me as I have found that on issues such as the stimulus package and the Census there are irresolvable conflicts for me. Prior to accepting this post, we had discussed these and other potential differences, but unfortunately we did not adequately focus on these concerns. We are functioning from a different set of views on many critical items of policy.White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs released the following statement on Sen. Gregg's withdrawal as a nominee for Commerce Secretary: "Senator Gregg reached out to the President and offered his name for Secretary of Commerce. He was very clear throughout the interviewing process that despite past disagreements about policies, he would support, embrace, and move forward with the President’s agenda. Once it became clear after his nomination that Senator Gregg was not going to be supporting some of President Obama’s key economic priorities, it became necessary for Senator Gregg and the Obama administration to part ways. We regret that he has had a change of heart."Not to dispute the official White House version of events, but The Atlantic had this out 50 minutes before Gibbs' statement was released: "Sen. Judd Gregg's decision to withdraw caught the White House by surprise. The press office found out about it at about the same time as the world did. If senior administration officials had advance notice, they did not widely disseminate it." Commerce Department | Nominees | Obama Administration | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Office Labels: Commerce Department, Nominees, Obama Administration, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Office >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 6:57:00 PM One Measurement - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 2/11/09 — Wednesday, February 11, 2009 —  Q Robert, if I can follow up on Jennifer's question, do you feel -- the President said on Monday night in his press conference Secretary Geithner would unveil details the next day. Do you feel that -- do you feel that it was ready? Was the plan ready? Does the President feel it was ready? And number two, if so, is he pleased with how it was communicated yesterday and how it was rolled out?MR. GIBBS: I was going to say, you're not judging me already, are you? Again, I think there's a -- again, I think there's a tendency to look at simply one measurement of this, and by and large that measurement was a few stock markets. I don't believe -- Q Well, a few stock markets that people all over the country are investing in. MR. GIBBS: I understand, I understand. But what I'm saying is the plan wasn't created, nor do I think it should be judged by a one-day reaction in any of those stock markets. The plan that was outlined was ready. Again, part of what this plan will do will be to consult with those private entities in not just the formation, but the execution of the plan. And those consultations are ongoing. But again, the -- again, I just hesitate to judge the breadth of this and the comprehensiveness of this based on one day's reaction. I don't think that's -- I don't think that's how we judge the health of the financial system and I don't think it should be how one judges this plan. Q Even if you don't -- even if you disregard the fall in the market, there was widespread confusion about the plan, period. Is that a result of poor communication, or is that a result of it not -- just all the details not being there? MR. GIBBS: You know, I would ask you to go back and look at all of the news on this, read beyond the larger font and the bigger, bolder print, and dig deep into many of the things that I outlined that were pointed out as big weaknesses in the previous plan that are addressed by what Secretary Geithner said yesterday -- a plan that's based on transparency and disclosure; something that works with the private markets and understands that the taxpayers alone can't do all of this work; that coordinates among the agencies that are involved; that evaluates the financial health of the system and the individual banks, and does so by greatly expanding a program that we think will help provide credit to families and businesses and to people looking to buy homes right now. I think if you look through this you'll find -- you'll undoubtedly find, as I said, some disappointment by people that had hoped that there would be some large big bank announced that would take up in one fell swoop everything that had been wrong with the system over the course of several years and wipe it away overnight. But I think the President was very clear yesterday in saying there's no easy way out of this. There's no easy way out of this for the country, and there's also no easy way out of this for Wall Street. Economy | Obama Administration | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | Treasury Department | Treasury Secretary | White House Press Corps Labels: Economy, Obama Administration, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, Treasury Department, Treasury Secretary, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 7:58:00 PM So Transparent, You Can't See It - Some WH Press Briefing Transcripts Go Dark - 2/11/09  In another demonstration of their acclaimed tech savviness, President Obama's White House Press Office today has removed, lost, deleted, who-knows-what recent press briefing transcripts since 2/4/09 with no comment as to their eventual return.Press briefing transcripts for February 4th, 5th and 6th 2009 are no longer listed at http://www.whitehouse.gov/pressbriefings/ and their old links will gift you an Official White House 404 message. Monday's Air Force One Press Gaggle is missing from the list but the link still currently works. Monday's first Presidential Press Conference, not hosted under the Press Briefings section, still remains available on the site. Besides the continuing delayed and slow posting time of press briefing transcripts, the team running the whitehouse.gov site has had a confusing and conflicting information architecture since the site's relaunch. URL references have flipped back and forth between different standards and styles for postings, so we just assume this is another glitch in their operation. UPDATE: The transcript for today's 2/11/09 briefing (using the more dominate URL style) has now appeared on whitehouse.gov but not the missing transcripts. UPDATE #2: The transcripts for the February 4, 5 and 6 briefings were finally reposted sometime on February 12th. Yay. However, the February 9th Air Force One Press Gaggle is still MIA on the whitehouse.gov Press Briefings page although still available at this link. What a mess. Obama Administration | Open Government | Press Briefing | White House Press Office Labels: Obama Administration, Open Government, Press Briefing, White House Press Office >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 7:07:00 PM The Party Now Is Over - Press Conference by the President 2/9/09 — Tuesday, February 10, 2009 — Q Thank you, Mr. President. In your opening remarks, you talked about that if your plan works the way you want it to work, it's going to increase consumer spending. But isn't consumer spending or overspending how we got into this mess? And if people get money back into their pockets, do you not want them saving it or paying down debt first before they start spending money into the economy? THE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, I don't think it's accurate to say that consumer spending got us into this mess. What got us into this mess initially were banks taking exorbitant, wild risks with other people's monies based on shaky assets. And because of the enormous leverage where they had $1 worth of assets and they were betting $30 on that $1, what we had was a crisis in the financial system. That led to a contraction of credit, which in turn meant businesses couldn't make payroll or make inventories, which meant that everybody became uncertain about the future of the economy, so people started making decisions accordingly -- reducing investment, initiated layoffs -- which in turn made things worse. Now, you are making a legitimate point, Chuck, about the fact that our savings rate has declined and this economy has been driven by consumer spending for a very long time -- and that's not going to be sustainable. You know, if all we're doing is spending and we're not making things, then over time other countries are going to get tired of lending us money and eventually the party is going to be over. Well, in fact, the party now is over. Economy | President Obama | Presidential Press Conference | Stimulus Package | White House Press Corps Labels: Economy, President Obama, Presidential Press Conference, Stimulus Package, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 7:43:00 PM Hulu & Twitter Coverage of President Obama's First Press Conference 2/9/09 — Monday, February 09, 2009 — President Obama | Presidential Press Conference | Twitter | White House Press Corps Labels: President Obama, Presidential Press Conference, Twitter, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 7:30:00 PM A Plan That Folks Agree On - Air Force One Press Gaggle by Robert Gibbs 2/9/09  Q Axelrod pointed out that the President's approval ratings, when you talk about the stimulus, are higher than Congress. Why isn't the President taking more of a leadership role. You just said, the makeup of the bill should be up to the House and the Senate. Why not -- why doesn't the President say, okay, no, no, this is a provision, this is a provision?MR. GIBBS: Well, let me -- let me start by rejecting more or less the premise of your question, that the President isn't taking a leadership role. Q Well, I don't say he wasn't, I said "more of a." MR. GIBBS: Okay. Maybe I misunderstood the question. Q No, I didn't mean to suggest that he wasn't taking a leadership role. Like, why not -- why not exert more about the details of the plan than the House and the Senate? MR. GIBBS: I feel confident that by -- certainly through Tuesday and then hopefully by the end of the week, we can get a plan that folks agree on and get it to his desk. I think you'll see the President continue to exert the type of leadership that the American people are looking for; that you'll see the President highlight for all of Washington the problems that Americans are facing, particularly in Elkhart and next in Fort Myers, and then Thursday in Peoria where, you know, Caterpillar announced layoffs based on a faltering economy. Air Force One | Economy | Legislation | President Obama | Press Gaggle | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: Air Force One, Economy, Legislation, President Obama, Press Gaggle, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 4:24:00 PM Swift Justice and Delays - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 2/6/09 NOTE: The White House Press Office delayed the release of the transcripts for the 2/6/09 press briefing for 3 days. MR. GIBBS: Jake. Q The President later today is going to be meeting with a bunch of families of terrorist victims. A lot of the people he's going to be meeting with take issue with his decision to stop the military commissions. They say that it's been through an extensive legal and legislative review, the Supreme Court has weighed in, and they don't understand what concerns the President has in this process. Could you explain what are some of the concerns the President has specifically about the military commissions? MR. GIBBS: Well, I think the main concern that the President has is the military commission's failure to bring those in detention to swift justice. The President invited family members -- families of those that were killed in -- first in the USS Cole incident in 2000, and next in the September 11th, 2001, terrorist attacks, and wants to discuss his plan to bring about changes in Guantanamo that he believes will make this country safer and bring about the very same swift justice that they desire on behalf of those that they know that have been killed. Q I'm sorry, how does delaying or even renewing the trials make it any swifter? MR. GIBBS: Well, I -- the act that the Cole families are disappointed -- the act that the Cole families were affected by happened in 2000. We've not yet seen justice brought now in 2009 to Mr. al-Nashiri. Judge Crawford withdrew the charges without prejudice to reinstatement of those charges. Mr. al-Nashiri remains in detention. And her decision brings all cases into compliance with the executive order that the President issued. But I think if you look at the number of those awaiting justice and those that have gone through the process, I think you'll see quite clearly that very few -- very few have been brought to justice. The discussion that the President looks forward to having today is part of the ongoing process with how to move forward. I don't believe that the families affected by the terrorist incident with the USS Cole have -- have seen -- they certainly haven't seen this President; I don't believe they saw the last President, either. And the President thought it was important to listen to their very personal cares and their concerns about anything that's involved in this process. Q The arraignment of al-Nashiri was supposed to be Monday. Because of the executive order, the President -- Crawford suspended the charges. I still don't understand, and -- how this is going to make the justice any swifter. I understand the cases that haven't been heard -- that's justice delayed. MR. GIBBS: Without getting into some of the specific aspects of this case, I think the President believed that the best course of action going forward to bring about the justice that both he and the families seek in this case was to go through the very process that Judge Crawford has done in the executive order that the President has signed. Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | War on Terror | White House Press Corps Labels: Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, War on Terror, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 4:04:00 PM Pertinent Transparency - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 2/5/09 — Friday, February 06, 2009 — MR. GIBBS: Jake.Q Robert, two questions. One is a housekeeping one. In the name of the transparency that you and the President herald so much, is there any way we could get the copies of the waivers that the OMB issues to allow certain Cabinet posts or deputy posts -- MR. GIBBS: I'll check on it. Q -- free of the ethics constraints you put up? And also the disclosure forms that your nominees put out that go to the Office of Government Ethics that somehow they're not able to email or put on the web -- is there any way we can get copies of those? MR. GIBBS: I will check. I don't -- I don't know how those forms are distributed. Q Just based on listening to the President's rhetoric, I'm sure it's something he'd want to do. (Laughter.) The question is -- MR. GIBBS: Knowing of your crystal clarity on his opinion, I'll certainly check. Q He doesn't believe in transparency? MR. GIBBS: Did you have another more pertinent question? Q I think that's pretty -- I think it's fairly pertinent here, Cabinet nominees and whether or not they pay their taxes and whether or not they have speaking fees. With all sorts of industries they're supposed to regulate, I think it's fairly pertinent. You don't? MR. GIBBS: Obviously I do, and obviously the President does. Q Okay, well, then we'll move on. A majority of the American people apparently support blocking or making major changes to the stimulus bill, according to a Gallup poll. Are you worried at all that you've lost control of the process on how this bill is perceived? MR. GIBBS: No. Nominees | Obama Administration | Open Government | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: Nominees, Obama Administration, Open Government, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 4:43:00 PM Trumping Principles - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 2/4/09 MR. GIBBS: Anne. Q The President talked yesterday in his interviews about not wanting there to be two standards for people, to understand there shouldn't be -- how then should people understand why it was okay for Timothy Geithner to go ahead in his job, but not Tom Daschle? MR. GIBBS: Well, as I said yesterday, obviously Senator Daschle made a decision to withdraw his appointment. And as I said yesterday, Mr. Geithner has gone through a process in the Senate that included passage through committee and passage through the full Senate with bipartisan support and is now the Secretary of the Treasury. So I don't -- Q Is there not a double-standard there? I mean, isn't -- MR. GIBBS: No, again, I -- there's a lot of -- we can look a lot of rearview-mirroring in different decisions, but I think the President probably did what many people don't here in this town a lot, and that's take responsibility and set a very high standard for himself and for this administration. Jeff. Q Robert, as you know, the President -- he said several times in those interviews that he screwed up or he messed up. What exactly does he believe that he screwed up? MR. GIBBS: Well, I think that -- taking, for example, the appointment for HHS, that obviously making health care more affordable is a, as you've heard him talk about a lot for many years, a very important issue to him. He worked on it in Springfield, he talked about it on the campaign trail, and hopes to make a significant impact on that important issue as the President of the United States. He found Senator Daschle, he believed, uniquely qualified to pursue health care reform that would meet many of the goals that he shared, despite making a mistake. I think in the interest of getting those appointments, the President trumped the principles that he laid out in the campaign. And he took responsibility for that. Health Care | Nominees | Obama Administration | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: Health Care, Nominees, Obama Administration, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 3:54:00 PM Health Care Taxes Obama Administration - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 2/3/09 — Tuesday, February 03, 2009 —  Q I'm sorry, can I follow up real quick? You didn't quite answer the question. Was Daschle given any kind of signal, yes or no, from the White House that he should withdraw?MR. GIBBS: I don't know how much more clear I can be. The decision was Senator Daschle's. Q No, no, no, no. He could have decided after he got a signal. Did he get a signal -- just say yes or no -- from the White House? You can answer that question, yes or no. MR. GIBBS: No, from the White House, he did not get a signal. Q From anywhere else? (Laughter.) I just -- words are chosen -- MR. GIBBS: You know what I'm going to do from now on? I'm going to have you guys write down your questions so I don't misinterpret -- Q Words are chosen very careful in this briefing room, as you know, that's why I'm -- MR. GIBBS: I don't know how much more clear I can be with the word "no." Laura, please phrase your question clearly and succinctly. (Laughter.) Q I'll do my best. MR. GIBBS: Speak in slow monotone so that I can understand. (Laughter.) Go ahead. Q I don't know about the slow monotone. But Robert, the President and others have spoken of Senator Daschle's unique qualifications to lead the health reform effort. Given his withdrawal, two questions. One, what impact do you think that will have on the opportunity to get health care reform, which was a heavy lift to start with? And secondly, was there or is there any consideration of keeping him on in the White House post, which does not require a confirmation? MR. GIBBS: The President -- well, Senator Daschle has withdrawn his nomination and withdrawn from serving in the White House in the capacity that we had talked about earlier. As it relates to your first question on health care, I think Senator Daschle would be -- and I think he says it, in essence, in his statement -- that much like the agenda that the President has outlined on any number of subjects, the issue of affordable health care for every American is bigger than one person; and the job of ensuring health care reform will outlast any person nominated for the Secretary of HHS and likely anybody that serves in this administration. This a problem that confounds federal and state governments. It confounds families and businesses large and small. We watch each year as health care prices get higher and higher and higher, and more people slip through the cracks, more businesses are unable to afford to provide health care coverage for their employees. We are hopeful to sign a bill this week that closes that gap for children by expanding the popular Children's Health Insurance Program. I don't think the effort slows down for health care reform, and I think Senator Daschle and others would admit that the effort is far bigger than any one individual. It's so important, it encompasses so much of our economy, and we understand that the system that we currently have whereby Americans pay more for health care and get less from it than virtually any industrialized country on the planet underscores that this is bigger than any one group or any individual. Q But given the fact that you now have to start all over trying to find someone to lead this effort -- MR. GIBBS: Well, we have to -- Q -- to be HHS Secretary, you don't think that this is going to put things back? MR. GIBBS: No, I -- no, because I think there are obviously many people in this administration that are working on this issue right now. We're looking for a new nominee, but the problem has existed for quite some time and the work toward a solution to make health care more affordable won't stop or won't pause while we look for that nominee. Major. Q Since you brought up the process with Secretary Geithner -- Max Baucus, the Chairman of the Finance Committee, has put out a statement saying he thinks that if allowed to stay, Tom Daschle would have been confirmed. John Kerry put out a statement saying it was a mistake to withdraw his nomination. Why would the White House believe it's a good idea to disappoint Democrats, who are their natural allies on health care, by preemptively taking away someone they believed could have been confirmed, as Mr. Geithner was -- despite his tax problems -- and they believe would have been someone that -- MR. GIBBS: Major, I wouldn't -- I think I'd address those questions to Senator Daschle, who, taking all of my answers into account on these subjects, made a decision to withdraw today, a decision that the President accepted. Q But it's the President's health care reform agenda, not Senator Daschle's, and -- MR. GIBBS: Well -- Q -- the natural allies of yours appear to be, A, believing he could have been confirmed, and disappointed that this was done, in their view, prematurely. What is your explanation to them? MR. GIBBS: My explanation to them is if you want to know the decision-making process of Senator Daschle, that's the best person to address that question to. Q How seriously would the White House consider Howard Dean for the Health and Human Services Secretary? MR. GIBBS: I've given -- been given many opportunities to play the name game and I don't want to spin the wheel and start today. Q So assuming that Daschle stays in the private sector, will he be able to lobby the administration on health care? And will he be in any way involved in health care? MR. GIBBS: I assume that Senator Daschle's passion for health care isn't diminished by today's announcement. But Ann, as you know, Senator Daschle has not been and is not a registered federal lobbyist; therefore, based on the rules that the government -- stringent rules that the government sets out, he can't lobby the federal government. Health Care | Nominees | Obama Administration | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | Taxes | White House Press Corps Labels: Health Care, Nominees, Obama Administration, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, Taxes, Wall Street, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 9:52:00 PM One Mistake - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 2/2/09  Q Thank you. On Tom Daschle -- I just want to step back just a minute -- I understand the President's remarks that he absolutely stands by him. But if you could just take a step back, you've got two nominees now who have had to pay more than $100,000 in back taxes. That's an awful lot of money. That's more than most people in the country make in a year, much less that they owe in taxes. What kind of a message does this send, do you think? How are people supposed to kind of get their heads around that and accept that as top people in your administration?MR. GIBBS: Well, let me also step back and say that no one in this building or in this administration is insensitive to the report that we were -- that was given this weekend about Senator Daschle. I think that includes Senator Daschle. He discovered a mistake, mistakes he'd made on his taxes, and he's paid now what he owed and paid interest on that. As it relates to Senator Daschle -- and I know he's meeting with the Finance Committee now -- we believe that the committee and the Senate as a whole will examine not just one mistake in a career, but look at that longer, three-decade career of public service, serving this country, serving the constituents both in South Dakota and across America. The President believes that Senator Daschle is the right person for the very important job of ensuring that we cut costs, reform our health care system, and finally give the American people in health care the outcomes that they deserve. We spend more money on health care than any other nation in the country [sic], but don't get the quality of care that many other countries get. So again, I think the Senate will lay a serious but corrected mistake against that three-decade career in public service. And in the end, the Finance Committee and the Senate as a whole will vote to extend his career in public service so that he can take on the very important task to America to reform that health care system and cut our costs. Q Is the President at all embarrassed by this? And does he see that there's any problem in the vetting that you all do -- MR. GIBBS: I don't think that we believe there's any problem in the vetting. When I say that no one is insensitive to the report in this building, that includes the President of the United States. He understands that. Obama Administration | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | Taxes | White House Press Corps Labels: Obama Administration, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, Taxes, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 4:18:00 PM
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