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 Obama's 100 Days Presidential Press Conference Coverage — Wednesday, April 29, 2009 — Obama Administration | President Obama | Presidential Press Conference | Twitter | Video | White House Press Corps Labels: Obama Administration, President Obama, Presidential Press Conference, Twitter, Video, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 5:33 PM  Thrilled To Have Him - Air Force One Press Gaggle by Robert Gibbs 4/29/09  Q Robert, it's fairly unusual for a sitting President to basically endorse a candidate in a party primary. Can we expect President Obama to be doing more of the same in the next election cycle?MR. GIBBS: I don't think it's at all irregular for a President to endorse an incumbent member of his own party even if it's a new member. I think you can go back and find a lot of examples of that. The President is, as I said and he said yesterday, happy to have Senator Specter as a member of the Democratic Party, thrilled to have him, support him fully. He's made a decision of how to best represent the people he represents in Pennsylvania and we're happy that he did so. Q Robert, to follow up on Ed's question, it was -- I think, seven minutes lapsed before the President was on the phone with Senator Specter saying he would support him in the primary -- MR. GIBBS: Seven minutes after he called him, yes. Q Well, could you on that point say when did he have an inkling before that -- he thought it through? How did he arrive at the decision to offer that support, and did he consider supporting maybe a candidate who had been backed by the unions? MR. GIBBS: No, he supported a -- he supported the, albeit new, member -- incumbent member of his party. There wasn’t any meeting about it. The President offered his support to Senator Specter and it's a commitment he'll keep. Q Did he decide in that seven-minute span? I think he said no. MR. GIBBS: My sense is it probably took him less than about seven seconds, so he might have had some extra time to think about other stuff. Air Force One | Democrats | Elections | President Obama | Press Gaggle | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: Air Force One, Democrats, Elections, President Obama, Press Gaggle, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 3:10 PM Grading On A Curve - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 4/28/09  Q At the 100-days mark, what kind of a grade would you give the President on bipartisanship? Certainly his idea of bipartisanship isn't to have people change parties. How would you grade him on working with --MR. GIBBS: Well, but I don't think we're sending anybody back, if that's your -- (laughter.) Look, I think on each and every issue the President has reached out to members of the other party. Q And how has he done MR. GIBBS: I think he has -- I think at every turn he's asked for their help and their support and asked for their ideas. On some issues we've seen big bipartisan votes; on others we've seen more partisan votes. I said here yesterday I'd let the Republicans delineate for you the thinking behind their strategy of the first 100 days. I think if you look at both what the President and the team have achieved in the first almost hundred days it's something we're proud of, understanding that there's a lot of work going forward and that -- my sense is that whatever hundred-day mark we're at, 100, 200, 300, or so forth, that the next hundred days will be equally or more important than the previous. The President takes the long view on all this, as he did during the campaign. He thinks the American people are focused on what our efforts are doing to produce jobs and stabilize the economy, not just on the 99th, or 101st, or 100th day, but each and every day. Q Is he dissatisfied with his achievement on bipartisan so far? MR. GIBBS: No, I think he'll continue to work on it. I think he'll continue to have members of Congress down here to discuss the issues. I think he'll continue to reach out to the bipartisan leadership and see how we can work together to move things forward. I will tell you, Ann, our goal is to get First Lady-type approval numbers. (Laughter.) Bipartisanship | Congress | Legislation | President Obama | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: Bipartisanship, Congress, Legislation, President Obama, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 2:58 PM I Would Contact The White House - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 4/27/09 Q Second question, do you guys feel you owe folks in New York City this morning an apology for this incident having to do with the airplane that looks like Air Force One with two fighter jets? There seemed to be a lot of panic -- MR. GIBBS: I would point you to the FAA or Air Force. Q Everybody's pointing us to the White House Military Office, so that's why -- MR. GIBBS: Well, then I would contact the White House -- Q Well, the White House Military Office won't tell us anything -- they'll refer us to you. (Laughter.) MR. GIBBS: Well, then let me go discuss with the White House Military -- I don't -- I have seen some news reports but -- Q What was the photo op for? MR. GIBBS: I don't know. That's -- I have no information on this other than what I saw -- Q I mean, I understand the way this works. I'm just saying, appearance-wise, it's odd that you guys don't have a response. I mean, this is the President's aircraft or what looks like -- MR. GIBBS: I understand. I was working on other things. You might be surprised to know I don't know of every movement of Air Force One or what happens to it. But I will certainly talk to the Military Office. Q -- very edgy about it. Air Force One | Obama Administration | Open Government | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | White House | White House Press Corps Labels: Air Force One, Obama Administration, Open Government, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, White House, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 2:36 PM Hopeless To Appeal? - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 4/24/09  Q Robert, on the issue of the release of photos of -- photos being released of abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan, two questions. One, can you explain why those are going to be released?MR. GIBBS: Sure. Q And secondly -- well, let's start with that. MR. GIBBS: Sure. The Second Circuit Court ruled in December of 2008 that the photos had to be released. The previous administration lost a court case on that. The Department of Justice decided based on the ruling that it was hopeless to appeal, and a mandate ordering the release of those photos came Monday. And the administration, the Pentagon, and the court entered into an agreement to release those photos. So this is part of the very same case that OLC memos were derived from. This was a court case based on information that was compelled to be released. Q So did this administration think that it was out of legal options, it had no more recourse, or did it decide it was time to release those? MR. GIBBS: I'll double-check. Specifically on the second part of that, I know that the Department of Justice determined specifically based on the ruling that they were not likely to be successful. Q And more big picture, just one last one. When these are released, are you concerned at all that that's going to be another version of the debate we've had here for the last week of a lot of looking back, looking back to the Bush administration and that time? MR. GIBBS: Well, again -- again, this was -- this was largely compelled by a court decision than this is -- there are going to be actions that -- many actions that are out of our control. But I think the President believes that -- the President believes that, as I've said throughout this process, that it is important to look forward and not to look backward, and that's the posture that he'll continue to take. Department of Justice | Interrogation | Obama Administration | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | War on Terror | White House Press Corps Labels: Department of Justice, Interrogation, Obama Administration, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, War on Terror, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 2:15 PM Whether To Prosecute - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 4/23/09 — Friday, April 24, 2009 —  MR. GIBBS: Steve.Q Robert, as you said, it's up to the Justice Department, not the White House, to decide whether there were crimes committed and whether to prosecute. Will the White House -- MR. GIBBS: Let me say -- let me -- I want to rephrase it. I haven’t said that. Well, I have said that, but that's what -- that's the legal system that's set up in this country. I mean, I -- what I said -- I didn't say that in terms of setting this doctrine up, right? Like if you drive 85 miles an hour on your way home, I may think it's against the law, but it's not likely I'm going to be the one providing you a speeding ticket, Steve. Q Will the White House play any role in that conversation, particularly if the decision is made to charge high-ranking officials like the Vice President or the President with a crime? MR. GIBBS: I think the President campaigned on, and will continue to keep the promise that he made in that campaign, as he has on many others, to leave legal determinations up to those that make legal determinations, not the President. Q Well, the White House worked with the Justice Department on the determination not to hold accountable the field operatives that are responsible for this behavior. MR. GIBBS: But that wasn't a political decision, Major. That was a decision based on -- Q I'm just saying it was a cooperative arrangement between this White House and the Justice Department on that decision. MR. GIBBS: I wouldn't discuss this as an arrangement. I think two people can understand that -- again, this isn't -- this is a fairly time-honored legal tradition, if you follow legal advice rendered in good faith to govern your actions that you're not going to be held accountable or prosecuted for those actions. All this is to say the best way to determine -- Q That's not what I'm talking about. What I was talking about is the collaborative effort between the White House and Justice Department some places and not elsewhere. MR. GIBBS: The best way to determine -- the best way to determine who's going to -- the rule of law is to have it determined by lawyers who can determine whether or not somebody knowingly broke the law. Q We've started talking in the last 24 hours more and more about very high-ranking people - MR. GIBBS: I haven't talked about -- Q -- Condoleezza Rice, Dick Cheney -- MR. GIBBS: -- you guys have. Q If in fact it reaches that level, would the President weigh in? MR. GIBBS: Okay, you guys and Jay Rockefeller. (Laughter.) I'm sorry, what was -- Q Would the President weigh in -- MR. GIBBS: Now, that we've -- Q -- turn to very high-ranking levels of the government? What does he think, for example, of the fact that Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon? Was that a breach of the presidential duty, or should that have been left to the Attorney General? MR. GIBBS: I think the President has seen Frost/Nixon, but I do not know whether he's determined the efficacy of such a pardon. Thanks, guys. Department of Justice | Interrogation | Obama Administration | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: Department of Justice, Interrogation, Obama Administration, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 5:08 PM The Non-Clarity of Yesterday - Air Force One Press Gaggle by Robert Gibbs 4/22/09 — Wednesday, April 22, 2009 —  Q Any clarity from yesterday on the President's position on torture memos, and any reaction to Dennis Blair's memo that appeared in papers today?MR. GIBBS: Well, on the first question, what exactly -- what clarity are you looking for? Q We're looking -- you said you were going to talk to -- get back to us with clarity on the President's remarks. MR. GIBBS: Well, I think what -- maybe what I wasn’t clear about yesterday and -- because what was said yesterday was exactly what the President has said for not just the past week, as we've dealt with these OLC memos, but for the past many months. Let's just go through the whole sort of decision in general. The President, at the beginning of his administration, banned the use of enhanced interrogation techniques because he believed they were -- they opposed our values and, on balance, they made the country less safe. As part of an ongoing legal proceeding, the President released these memos because there was no legal justification for continuing to keep them classified; that a lot of the information that was contained in the memos, that the types of techniques were in the public domain. So that is part of the backdrop of where we are. The President also believes that the memos and their release should be a moment for us to reflect, but not a moment for retribution. The President, as he said yesterday, has a lot on his plate and he believes that our focus looking forward should be on the crises that we have in the bank industry, in unemployment, the financial sector, and as he and the Attorney General have said, that while no one is above the law, those that worked within the four corners of the legal advice they were given, and those that acted in good faith based on the advice they were provided should not be subject to interrogation. That's what the President said -- that's what the President has said all along. Q Should not be subject to what? MR. GIBBS: Should not be subject to prosecution. Q The President said yesterday that he wanted to ensure that if there was any kind of investigation, politics were not part of the equation. Given that, would he be supportive at some point appointing a special prosecutor to look into these Bush-era officials? MR. GIBBS: Well, look, I think this goes into the -- in some ways, the non-clarity of yesterday. Let me use an example. If you go in the back of the plane, Air Force One, and spray-paint the walls and smoke in the bathroom, the President isn’t going to determine whether you broke the law; a legal official is going to determine whether you broke the law. That's the determination that will be made in any instance whereby anybody knowingly breaks the law. Q But due to the fact that his AG, Eric Holder, is a political appointee, would it not be less political to have a prosecutor to look into these issues? MR. GIBBS: I think that the lawyers that are involved are plenty capable of determining whether any law has been broken. I want to stress that that determination is not going to be made by the President, or the Vice President, or anybody that works in the White House, because that's why many, many, many, many moons ago we created a Department of Justice. Q To switch gears, can you tell us a little bit more about this planned summit with Zardari and Karzai? What does the President hope to achieve with this, what I understand is going to be a three-way? MR. GIBBS: Yes, it will be a trilateral meeting in early May. Look, obviously, without getting into a lot of the technical details, these are -- this is part of the ongoing new policy and process that was put into place at the conclusion of the review of where we are in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Understanding that this is a very important and very dangerous part of the world, the President wants to be personally involved, as he has been throughout his administration, in seeking to find solutions to the problems that are in this region and to protect the United States. Q He said before that he doesn’t -- that they're not going to have a blank check. Is that something he's going to communicate to them again when he meets them? MR. GIBBS: Absolutely. And I don't -- the President will reiterate his hopes and his belief of the opportunities, but also the responsibilities that each leader has. Q There are lots and lots of news reports today saying that what the President did yesterday was open the door, change his policy, make a surprising announcement. Are all of those stories just flat wrong? MR. GIBBS: Yes. And let me -- again, I'll use the example that I used with Jonathan to you -- I think you were getting a pen or something. If you spray-paint the back of this plane, if you tear up one of the seats, even though it's Air Force One, the President doesn’t make a determination as to who broke the law. That's a legal official. The notion that the President is open to anything is -- I think misses the point. If somebody knowingly broke the law, that's a determination that will be ultimately made by a legal official, not by the President of the United States, or not by anybody else. Air Force One | Interrogation | Obama Administration | Press Gaggle | Robert Gibbs | War on Terror | White House Press Corps Labels: Air Force One, Interrogation, Obama Administration, Press Gaggle, Robert Gibbs, War on Terror, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 7:34 PM Whatever Confusion Might Exist - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 4/21/09  Q It sounded as though the President took a somewhat different policy today than his Chief of Staff did on Sunday regarding possible prosecution of those who devised the policies. The President said today, regarding those who'd formulated these legal decisions, that that's more of a decision for the Attorney General. And Rahm Emanuel said on Sunday, for those who devised the policy, he -- being the President -- believes they should not be prosecuted. Is that a shift in position?MR. GIBBS: Well, let's -- instead of referring to what anybody might have said, I think it's important -- or anything that I might have said -- it's important to refer to what the President said, and what he said over the course of many months, in all honestly, because this dates back to questions that has received in press conferences or even during the transition, and that is, very much as he said -- reiterated today, that he says as a general deal, I think we should be looking forward and not backward. The President has also said he does not believe that people are above the rule of law. And the President stated accurately that any determination as to whether a law was broken would rightly be made not by the President but by the chief law enforcement officer of the United States. Q But it did seem like a sound -- at least a difference in tone, if not policy, by particularly saying the Attorney General would be the most likely one to look at those who devise a policy. That sounds different from what he has said in the past, where he always talked about let's just move forward -- MR. GIBBS: Well, again -- Q -- and in fact, Rahm Emanuel -- MR. GIBBS: Well, again, whatever confusion might exist, I think it's important -- again, the President said throughout the campaign that he would leave determinations on science in his administration to scientists; that he would leave determinations about the law to those in the Justice Department. And I think he reiterated that today, that people aren't above the law. I do think it's important to make a distinguishing -- to distinguish exactly what the President said last week. The President believes and was assured by the Justice Department that those that have acted in good faith on what they believed was legal won't be prosecuted. The President still believes that. Yes, ma'am. Q Robert, I just want to follow up on Chuck's question, because it does seem that there is a shift there. Because if you look at what the President said today, he said, with regard to those who formulated the legal decisions, he said that that was a decision for the Attorney General, and he said he didn't want to prejudge that. But Rahm Emanuel on Sunday said that those who devise the policy, he believes that they should -- that they were -- should not be prosecuted either, so -- MR. GIBBS: Well, to clear up any confusion on anything that might have been said, I would point you to what the President said. Q Did he have a change of heart on this issue over the last few days? Is he -- MR. GIBBS: No, I think the President, as I said, you can date back to the -- I think was asked, at least I recall it being asked in the transition -- and discussed the rule of law, that nobody in the country is above that rule of law. Q And just on the issue of a further accounting, which he talked about today and which Chuck also asked you about, is he actively considering a 9/11-type of panel? Is he -- MR. GIBBS: No, I think -- Q -- it seemed like he was trying to get at something like that, he said that he would like to see something outside of the hearing process. MR. GIBBS: Well, I think he was asked, if something were to be set up, how would it be set up. How would -- Q Right. But wouldn't he be the one to set it up? MR. GIBBS: Not necessarily. I'm reminded that Congress has a pretty big say in something like that, given their ability and their lawmaking power. Q Is he conferring with people on that? MR. GIBBS: I will check if it's something that's active. Again, the President's position is to look forward. If there are those that want to look back, I think the President strongly believes that anything has to be done in a way that doesn't, as he said today, doesn't overly politicize and hamper either the ability of anybody involved to carry out the functions of their job or the functions that protect our country. Yes, sir. Q Robert, what changed over the last 24 hours, though? Because yesterday you were flat in saying that we're not going there, as Rahm was on Sunday. And in the last 24 hours we've seen groups like moveon.org on the left come out and write a petition to the Attorney General saying they want accountability from the Bush administration. Is this an example of this White House giving in to pressure from the left? MR. GIBBS: I don't -- I have not, and I doubt the President has been on moveon.org in the last 24 hours, so, no. Q Okay. But then why was Rahm so firm on Sunday, and you were firm yesterday in this very room; what changed? MR. GIBBS: Again, to clear up any of the confusion, I would simply say that the President reiterated that there is -- that, as he said, his general posture is to look forward, and that at the same time, nobody is above the law. Q Why would there be any confusion, as you call it? I don't understand. This is a pretty straightforward topic. MR. GIBBS: Well, I predicated your question then posited some confusion with acknowledgment. Q Did you misspeak? Or did Rahm misspeak? MR. GIBBS: You know, I -- whether or not anybody was confused or misspoke, I would take what the President said as -- I'm informed he got more votes than either of the two of us. Q Can I follow on -- Vice President Cheney yesterday weighed in on this and said he found it disturbing that the President put these memos out. And he also is charging, if you can answer, that this White House basically selectively declassified some of these torture memos, and that there are other memos somewhere in the CIA that would show that the interrogation actually yielded what the former Vice President would call good intelligence that prevented terror attacks. How do you answer that? MR. GIBBS: Well, I would suggest that you contact the CIA. You might be -- Q Well, they're not about to turn these over to me or anyone else in this room? MR. GIBBS: Including me. (Laughter.) Q But if the President wanted to declassify it, he could. He just declassified it -- MR. GIBBS: Yes, I would -- Q So the question is, are there other memos that you're keeping under wraps? MR. GIBBS: And I just said, I don't know. Again, that's why I would -- I know sometimes when I ask you to contact the agencies with the wherewithal to answer your questions, you think that I'm not answering your question. But as you just said, they're not going to give them to you, they're coincidentally not going to give them to me. And I think the best place to ask about their existence is the CIA. Attorney General | Bush Administration | Interrogation | Obama Administration | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | War on Terror | White House Press Corps Labels: Attorney General, Bush Administration, Interrogation, Obama Administration, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, War on Terror, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 3:08 PM I'm Being Completely Sincere - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 4/20/09 — Tuesday, April 21, 2009 —  Q Thank you. The $100 million target figure that the President talked about today with the Cabinet, can you explain why it's so small? I know he talked about -- you know, you add up a hundred million, a hundred million, a hundred million and eventually you get somewhere, but it would take an awfully long time to add up hundred millions to make a dent in the deficit. Why not target a bigger number?MR. GIBBS: Well, I think only in Washington, D.C. does $100 million -- Q The deficit is very large. It's not a joke. The deficit is giant; $100 million really is only a dent. MR. GIBBS: No joke -- Q You can make a joke about it, but it's not funny. MR. GIBBS: I'm not making a joke about it; I'm being completely sincere. But only in Washington, D.C. is $100 million not a lot of money. It is where I'm from. It is where I grew up. And I think it is for hundreds of millions of Americans. Q But the point is it's not a very big portion of the deficit. Q You were talking about an appropriations bill a few weeks ago -- that at $8 billion -- being minuscule; a billion in earmarks. We were talking about that and you said that that -- MR. GIBBS: Well, in terms of -- Q A hundred million is a lot, but $8 billion is small? MR. GIBBS: What I'm saying is I think it all adds up -- just as the President said, just as Jennifer was good enough to do in her question. If you think we're going to get rid of a $1.3 trillion deficit by eliminating one thing, I'd be and the administration would be innumerably happy for you to let us know what that is. Q Why not try to get a bigger number so you can get a -- at a bigger share -- MR. GIBBS: Let me explain sort of what has happened. Let's walk through this so that everybody understands this. The President has laid out cuts, large and small, in both the administrative costs and in the program costs of the federal budget. Some of the examples that we were -- we provided you all will add up. For instance, the Department of Veterans Affairs either cancels or delays 26 conferences that can be better, or more effectively and more cost-effectively done by video conferencing that saves almost $18 million. A lot of these administrative things will add up. This is a short-term goal to come back with, over the course of the next few weeks, to identify further administrative savings that secretaries haven't already both identified and eliminated. The President has also proposed savings on a much larger scale. The President has proposed ending the bank middle man for college loans, saving $94 billion over a 10-year period of time. The President has attacked, in his budget, the subsidies that we provide insurance companies to provide the same Medicare coverage -- private insurance companies the same type of Medicare coverage that's already being offered at a savings of over $200 billion. Jennifer, the reason that the President can stand up with the backing of the Congressional Budget Office and talk about cutting the deficit in half over the course of four years time is because there are cuts that are large -- student loans and Medicare Advantage -- as well as small. This is part of the President's promise and proposal to go line by line through the federal budget deficit. Will we enumerate programs that don't work that we're going to eliminate in the future? Yes. Some of those cuts will be large; some of those cuts will be small. But we are not going to put ourselves back on a path toward fiscal sustainability if we don't look at each and every item in this federal budget and make some of the cuts that are necessary to get us on that path. Federal Deficit | Obama Administration | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: Federal Deficit, Obama Administration, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 3:47 PM One-on-One with Mr. Chavez - Mexico City Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 4/16/09 — Friday, April 17, 2009 —  Q This weekend with the Summit of the Americas, number one, are you ruling out a one-on-one meeting with Hugo Chavez? And also I know you guys keep -- keep this secret, I guess -- are you having any one-on-one meetings with any leaders now?MR. GIBBS: We will get you a list of the highly secret meetings that we're having in Trinidad. How careless of me to -- having included you all on such a secret trip -- (laughter.) We'll get you a list. There's no one-on-one meeting with Mr. Chavez on the schedule. I believe he is among several leaders that are in a multilateral meeting. We will get you a list tonight of what meetings we're doing. There are a couple of bilateral meetings, but most of them are multilateral meetings. Q Would he at all -- if Chavez pulled him aside to say, let's have a conversation -- would President Obama -- MR. GIBBS: Every time I pull the President aside to have a conversation we've had that conversation, so I assume he would do the same. Hugo Chavez | International Relations | President Obama | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: Hugo Chavez, International Relations, President Obama, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 8:35 PM Handing Out Tea - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 4/15/09  Q Robert, on taxes, the President can say with justification that he hasn’t raised taxes on anyone making less than $200,000 --MR. GIBBS: No, the President can say with much justification that he’s cut taxes for the largest number of -- Q Not only not raised them, he’s cut them, okay. Okay. MR. GIBBS: Let’s not -- I don’t know if you are handing out tea, but I just want to -- (laughter.) Q My question is that -- is that pledge to not raise taxes on the 95 percent of working families, is that a kind of "read my lips" pledge going forwards? Because the reason I ask this is that the tea party people say it’s no so much they feel that he’s taxing them now, but they’re worried in the future to pay for all these programs he’s simply going to have to raise taxes on the vast majority of people. And even the tax hikes that he sent up on the wealthy to Congress -- to pay for health care, for instance -- had been rejected. So the question is, you know, where else are you going to get the money. I'm wondering if this is a kind of "read my lips" pledge going forward that he will never raise taxes to pay for any program on the 95 percent of working families. MR. GIBBS: Well, whether this is a "read my lips" or however -- it’s a statement and a promise that the President has made. Q But not just up until this point, but going forward -- MR. GIBBS: He didn’t say, I make this promise at or until April 15th of 2009. I think you can assure people across the street that that's not the case. Q Okay, but you're saying that he will not -- MR. GIBBS: I would restate what he said in the campaign, and that is he won’t raise taxes on people that make above $250,000 a year. Q Below. MR. GIBBS: I’m sorry, below. See? (Laughter.) You've even confused me. (Laughter.) Now I'm all flummoxed. Again, I can’t speak to what you said in terms of this notion that people are more concerned about -- they’re not actually concerned about what’s happened now, but they’re concerned about what could happen in the future. Again, I would encourage you to go out there and ask them about the tax cuts that they’ve already gotten. Q Well, I'm not disputing that. I'm talking about -- and I'm not talking about just the tea party people. But when people see Congress saying, okay, we don’t want to eliminate the tax deductions for the wealthy to pay for health care, the question is where else is this money going to come from. MR. GIBBS: I don’t know how much polling NPR has done; I've certainly seen it from other organizations that denote even this week healthy support among the American people for those that make above $250,000 a year to pay more in taxes. Q But that's not my question. I'm talking about is he confident that he can stick to his pledge -- MR. GIBBS: He is. Q -- and not raise taxes. Okay. MR. GIBBS: He is. President Obama | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | Taxes | White House Press Corps Labels: President Obama, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, Taxes, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 2:29 PM Making Work Pay Government - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 4/14/09 — Wednesday, April 15, 2009 —  Q Thanks, Robert. Tomorrow is tax day and a number of conservative groups are organizing these so called "tea parties" across the country; there are going to be grassroots uprising revolts against the administration's policies so far. Is the President aware that these are going on and do you have any reaction to this?MR. GIBBS: I don't know if the President is aware of the events. I think the President will use tomorrow as a day to have an event here at the White House to signal the important steps in the economic recovery and reinvestment plan that cut taxes for 95 percent of working families in America, just as the President proposed doing; cuts in taxes and tax credits for the creation of clean energy jobs. We'll use tomorrow to highlight individual and instances in families that have seen their taxes cut and I think America can be -- Americans will see more money in their pockets as a direct result of the Making Work Pay tax cut that the President both campaigned on and passed through Congress. Q Is anyone monitoring these or kind of paying attention to what's coming out? MR. GIBBS: I've neither monitored them nor spoken with the Spanish about them. (Laughter.) Democracy | President Obama | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | Taxes | White House Press Corps Labels: Democracy, President Obama, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, Taxes, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 6:46 PM Ungoverned Spaces - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 4/13/09 — Monday, April 13, 2009 —  MR. GIBBS: Do you have one more follow-up on this?Q No, I’m thinking about pirates. MR. GIBBS: All right. Well, thank you. MR. RESTREPO: Thank you, sir. Q So, pirates. MR. GIBBS: Yes, what's next? Q Well, the President talked, both in his statement yesterday and in his remarks today about addressing the bigger picture here, the increasingly problematic situation off the Horn of Africa. In his briefing over at the Pentagon, the Defense Secretary said, you know, some language, something like we're going to have to figure out what in the world to do, which implies that there really isn't much -- a plan or a strategy yet to figure out how to attack this problem. Can you talk about what's going on here? MR. GIBBS: When you say that, you mean the -- do you mean specifically maritime or do you mean -- I mean, obviously, you've got -- look, I think you've got a number of problems. Q Well, I mean, the maritime piracy problem, which I think is what the President was referring to when he said -- MR. GIBBS: Right. Well, I think also -- you know, the President has spoken about this before, and I'm sure will continue to speak about and work on the issue also of ungoverned spaces. And I don't think that can be in any way really minimized here. That's something that -- that trip when -- when he went to Africa in 2006, we spent some time in this region of the world and -- (Cell phone interruption.) MR. GIBBS: At least it's a normal ring. (Laughter.) We spent some time in this region of the world, and you quickly understand some of the challenges that lay before you. I think some of the things that we can -- that we have done and can continue to do to ensure maritime safety is to work for sustained international cooperation in order to coordinate security. Q Does that mean more military power on the part of the U.S.? MR. GIBBS: I think that is certainly -- operationally, I would point you over to the Pentagon, but I know in terms of the increased risk that we had over the past few days, you saw more resources and assets. Obviously this is a -- it's also a very huge expanse of space that has to be patrolled. I think also what has to happen is we do have to evaluate and be prepared to take stronger action interdicting acts of piracy. And I think another thing is to encourage greater efforts to bring individuals and groups suspected of these type of acts, to bring those to justice. We have seen an increase in this type of violence and I know the President is concerned about the safety and security of men and women that are in that area. Africa | Military | President Obama | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: Africa, Military, President Obama, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 8:41 PM Did He Bow Or Didn't He - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 4/9/09 — Thursday, April 09, 2009 — Q And then one unrelated question. When the President met with King Abdullah, there was something that took place that I believe the White House explained as just the President being taller than the King. We took a look at the video, and it does appear that the President actually bowed to King Abdullah. Did he bow or didn't he? MR. GIBBS: Well, I think he bent over with both -- to shake with both hands to shake his hand. So I don't -- Q It appears to show one hand, that he was just -- MR. GIBBS: Well, I -- Q Did he bow or didn't he? MR. GIBBS: No. But I think this meeting was like a week ago, right? Q That's right, but this is something that a lot of people are still talking about today. MR. GIBBS: I can only imagine it is of great cause and concern for many people struggling with the economy. (Laughter.) G20 | International Relations | President Obama | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | Video | White House Press Corps Labels: G20, International Relations, President Obama, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, Video, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 9:34 PM Around Here - Al Faw Palace Press Gaggle by Robert Gibbs 4/7/09 — Wednesday, April 08, 2009 — Q When we went in there, the President said that he'd be meeting in person with both Maliki and Talabani -- I’m just listening to the tape again. You said -- I just want to know what's right. MR. GIBBS: There are updates on the schedule even as we speak, so I’ll come back out and do that again. Q Okay. Q I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear that part. MR. GIBBS: There are updates to the schedule, and I’ll come out there -- Q So he may have a face-to-face with Talabani? MR. GIBBS: Yes, yes. Q But still here? Everything here? MR. GIBBS: Somewhere in Camp Victory, yes. Q He’s not going to the Green Zone, right? MR. GIBBS: Right. It will be somewhere -- I don't -- Q Around here. MR. GIBBS: It's not likely to be in that office, but it will be nearby. International Relations | Iraq | President Obama | Press Gaggle | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: International Relations, Iraq, President Obama, Press Gaggle, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 12:20 AM Trying To Test Him - Prague Press Gaggle by Robert Gibbs 4/5/09 — Tuesday, April 07, 2009 —  Q I didn’t read this, but does it include whether different phases, different stages of the missile worked and others failed?MR. GIBBS: It says just, "Stage one of the missile fell into the Sea of Japan, the remaining stages, along with the payload itself, landed in the Pacific Ocean." Q So nothing got into space? MR. GIBBS: "No object entered orbit and no debris fell on Japan." Q But it got over Japan and into the Pacific. MR. GIBBS: Yes. Q Robert, the broader timing of this, though, even if you don’t think it was necessarily timed for the speech, the broader timing of it is it comes very early in your administration. Do you think the North Koreans are trying to test him? And trying to get his attention? MR. GIBBS: Well, I think that -- I’m trying to be careful -- I think that the North Koreans have disregarded their responsibilities and international resolutions for many, many years now, going back at least to the last two presidencies. So I don’t think this has anything to do with President Obama; I think it has to do with the disregard of the North Koreans, the steps backwards that they are continuing to take and that the President supports the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Q Will you have any more six-party talks now that this has happened, in good faith? MR. GIBBS: Let me get a better answer on that. North Korea | President Obama | Press Gaggle | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: North Korea, President Obama, Press Gaggle, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 11:48 AM The Gravest Security Danger - Prague Press Gaggle by Robert Gibbs 4/5/09  Q So the President has not yet been told whether this was in fact a satellite launch, or a missile test, or something in between?MR. GIBBS: I won't get into that during this briefing. I will say this: The President has -- the launch today was not a surprise by any means. The President has been involved in several meetings about this situation over the course of the past three to four weeks. So this was something that had long been planned for. And had at any moment we determined that this launched posed a threat to the United States of America, we would have taken whatever steps were necessary to ensure the safety and security of the American people. Q At any time were America's defenses placed on alert? MR. GIBBS: I think it is safe to say that defenses were monitoring the situation. Q Has the President reached out yet to -- directly to any allies -- Japan or South Korea? MR. GIBBS: The President hasn't spoken yet with Aso or with Lee. Not yet. Q So just to back up, he was woken up? MR. GIBBS: Yes. Q Who woke him up? MR. GIBBS: I did. Q What was his first reaction? MR. GIBBS: Again, it wasn't completely unexpected. He asked me for a rundown of the situation. Obviously at that point there wasn't a ton of detail, and not long after we went back and gave him more up-to-date information about what to -- what defense came back with. Q Did he stay up then to -- get on the phone from that point on? MR. GIBBS: He was up at that point, yes. Q Obviously this makes a big impact on the speech, it ties into the speech, but it overshadows it in some ways. What is he going to say -- MR. GIBBS: I don't think -- I don't think it overshadows it, because I don't think -- I think it makes even more urgent, as the President said, the agenda and the policies that he'll lay out today: The spread of this technology, the spread of weapons of mass destruction, and the threat of -- the threat that those weapons pose are the most -- are the gravest security danger our country faces. And I think what the President will outline today is a robust agenda to deal with the problems and the security threats that they pose. North Korea | President Obama | Press Gaggle | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: North Korea, President Obama, Press Gaggle, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 9:35 AM Shirking Responsibility - Air Force One Press Gaggle by Robert Gibbs 4/3/09 — Saturday, April 04, 2009 —  Q Does the President think -- General – excuse me, Secretary Gates said something about this over the weekend -- does the President think that leaders of NATO countries need to do more to convince their publics to contribute more troops? And how will he be communicating that?MR. GIBBS: Well, I think you’ll hear some of this, quite frankly, in his speech today in Strasbourg because, as I outlined earlier, I think he will talk about a strong partnership with Europe, but in that partnership, there have to be mutual responsibilities. Q This is the town hall event? MR. GIBBS: Yes. That we have -- in those mutual responsibilities that we have to understand there are real threats out there in this world. You’ll hear the President obviously outline those -- Afghanistan and Pakistan make real the threats that we have -- and that in understanding that this is more than just the concern of the United States but rather the concern of the world, that, yes, the responsibility is there for Europe to step up. Q So we should read that language in the speech today as an effort to motivate and convince the governments to do more? MR. GIBBS: Yes, I mean, I don't -- and I guess I'd phrase it partly this way -- you know, the criticism of the United States for the past few years was a go-it-alone diplomacy, but if you -- Q And you guys made that criticism during the campaign. (Laughter.) MR. GIBBS: I may have read that in a few of your publications or seen it on a couple of your news channels, but I appreciate your simply regurgitating what I say on such an easy basis. But with -- with a partnership, again, there have to be those shared responsibilities and you can't just have -- you can't have just one person bearing the entire load or responsibility in a partnership. Q Does that mean that the United States -- MR. GIBBS: And I think that's the importance, quite frankly, of NATO. I think we've seen that over -- you know, tomorrow we celebrate the 60th anniversary of NATO. The whole idea of that was shared responsibility. Q But does that assume then that the United States' position is that to date the other countries have been shirking that responsibility? MR. GIBBS: Well, I don't think that will be the tone. I think, again, we've only -- the strategy that we've outlined is only a little less than a week old. And, again, I think our process is to build an agreement on that strategy and then to meet that strategy with the appropriate resources, focusing, as I said, on -- partly on trading and partly on security around these elections. Afghanistan | Air Force One | NATO | Pakistan | Press Gaggle | Robert Gibbs | War on Terror | White House Press Corps Labels: Afghanistan, Air Force One, NATO, Pakistan, Press Gaggle, Robert Gibbs, War on Terror, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 4:30 PM The State Dictating Salaries - London Press Conference by the President 4/2/09 — Thursday, April 02, 2009 —  PRESIDENT OBAMA: All right, let me sprinkle in another -- it's got to be an international person. All right, this young lady right there. Q Mr. President, Emma Alberici from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. At the moment, in the U.S., the U.K., and in Australia, executive salaries and bonuses are decided in the boardrooms of major publicly listed companies. Who will be making those decisions on salaries and bonuses as a result of the agreement you've made here today? And if it is still the boards, will they be guided by principles or legislation? PRESIDENT OBAMA: The principles that we outlined I think put in place or move us in the direction of what I consider to be best practices, which is that there is some accountability with respect to executive compensation. Now, theoretically, that should be the shareholders. But the way that too many corporations have operated for too long is that you have a CEO who basically selects his board; the board, in a fairly cozy relationship oftentimes with the executive, hires a executive compensation firm, which, surprisingly, tends to think that it's necessary to retain the best talent to pay people $20 or $30 million a year; and we get into the kinds of habits and practices that I think have not been -- have not served shareholders well, I think ultimately distort the decision-making of many CEOs. When I was in the United States Senate, I actually worked on a piece of legislation that would -- made the simple proposition that executive compensation should be subject to a shareholder vote, even if it was nonbinding, so that there was transparency and accountability and perhaps a shame function that would take place. And that principle, I think, is reflected in these guidelines. What it says is, is that if you get shareholders involved and those shareholders are given a set of principles and best practices by which they can judge executive compensation, then you can still have outsized rewards and success for successful business people, but it will be based on not short-term performance, not three-month performance, not your ability to flip quick profits off products like derivatives that don't turn out to be particularly productive to the company, but based on sustained, effective growth. And that's what's embodied in these documents, and I think that you're going to see a lot of countries try to encourage that kind of transparency and accountability. It doesn't mean the state micromanaging -- ( sneezes) -- excuse me -- I've been fighting this all week -- it doesn't mean that we want the state dictating salaries; we don't. We -- I strongly believe in a free-market system, and as I -- as I think people understand in America, at least, people don't resent the rich; they want to be rich. And that's good. But we want to make sure that there's mechanisms in place that holds people accountable and produces results. Okay? Economy | G20 | International Relations | President Obama | Presidential Press Conference | White House Press Corps Labels: Economy, G20, International Relations, President Obama, Presidential Press Conference, White House Press Corps
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