in their own words
 |
|
|
|
 A Bill To His Desk As Quickly As Possible - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 1/6/10 — Wednesday, January 06, 2010 — MR. GIBBS:Chip. Q Following up on Dan's question, during the campaign the President on numerous occasions said words to the effect of -- quoting one -- "all of this will be done on C-SPAN in front of the public." Do you agree that the President is breaking an explicit campaign promise? MR. GIBBS: Chip, we covered this yesterday and I would refer you to yesterday's transcript. Q But today is today and -- MR. GIBBS: And the answer that I would give today is similar to the one -- Q But there was an intervening meeting in which it's been reported that the President pressed the leaders in Congress to take the fast-track approach, to skip the conference committee. Did he do that? MR. GIBBS: The President wants to get a bill to his desk as quickly as possible. Q In spite of the fact that he promised to do this on C-SPAN? MR. GIBBS: I would refer you to what we talked about in this room yesterday. Q But the President in this meeting yesterday -- MR. GIBBS: And I addressed that -- Q -- pressed for something that's in direct violation of a promise he made during the campaign. MR. GIBBS: And I addressed that yesterday. Mike. Q Well, does the President think it would be more helpful if this process were more transparent, that the American people could see -- MR. GIBBS: Mike, how many stories do you think NBC has done on this? Q Speaking for myself -- MR. GIBBS: Just a guess. Q That's not the issue. The issue is whether he broke an explicit campaign promise. MR. GIBBS: So the answer is -- Q I deal with the information that -- MR. GIBBS: So the answer is hundreds, is that correct? Q Right, but that's got nothing to do with it. I deal with the information, however much or little of it, there is. I'm saying would people benefit by having more information? MR. GIBBS: Have you lacked information in those hundred stories? Do you think you've reported stuff that was inaccurate based on the lack of information? Q Democrats ran against the very sort of process that is being employed in this health care -- MR. GIBBS: We had this discussion yesterday. I answered this yesterday. Is there anything -- Q But the President met with members of Congress in the meantime -- MR. GIBBS: And he'll do so today. Q -- and pressed them to -- MR. GIBBS: Do you have another question? Q -- short-circuit the process. C-SPAN | Health Care | Open Government | President Obama | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: C-SPAN, Health Care, Open Government, President Obama, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 4:03:00 PM  Why Can't You Answer The C-SPAN Question - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 1/5/10  Q A question on health care. C-SPAN television is requesting leaders in Congress to open up the debate to their cameras, and I know this is something that the President talked about on the campaign trail. Is this something that he supports, will be pushing for?MR. GIBBS: I have not seen that letter. I know the President is going to begin some discussions later today on health care in order to try to iron out the differences that remain between the House and the Senate bill and try to get something hopefully to his desk quite quickly. [...] Q Okay, just lastly, why can't you answer the C-SPAN question -- MR. GIBBS: I did. Q Well, you didn't, because you said -- MR. GIBBS: I said I hadn't seen the letter, which I haven't -- Q Why do you need to see a letter? I mean, this is something the President said during the campaign and he talked about he wants everything open on C-SPAN -- MR. GIBBS: Dan asked me about the letter and I haven't read the letter. Q Well, I'll just ask you about having it on C-SPAN -- MR. GIBBS: I answered Dan's question and I answered this before we left for the break, Keith. The President's number-one priority is getting the differences worked out, getting a bill to the House and the Senate. We've filled your newspaper and many others with the back-and-forth and the details of what's in these bills. I don't want to keep that from continuing to happen. I don't think there's anybody that would say that we haven't had a thorough, robust, now spanning two calendar years' debate on health care. Q There are a lot of reasons not to do it on C-SPAN -- people could showboat. Does he regret making that statement during the campaign? MR. GIBBS: No. C-SPAN | Health Care | Open Government | President Obama | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: C-SPAN, Health Care, Open Government, President Obama, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 1:31:00 PM
|
|
