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 Have To Get Our Fiscal House In Order - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 11/23/09 — Monday, November 30, 2009 —  MR. GIBBS: Jake.Q While we're on the subject of the deficit, the President said last week, "I think it's important though to recognize that if we keep adding to the debt, even in the midst of this recovery, at some point people could lose confidence in the U.S. economy in a way that could actually lead to a double-dip recession." What steps is the President prepared to take to get us out of this hole? MR. GIBBS: Well, again, we'll broaden this just slightly. For the entirety of our administration, we've dealt with in many ways dual challenges: How do you get the economy back on track, what do you have to do to both create economic growth, which then is what you have to have in order to create job growth; as well as understanding a dramatic change in the past decade in our fiscal situation. So obviously, both of those have to be taken into account. Like I said a second ago, the biggest driver in -- the two biggest drivers were tax cuts and prescription drug benefit programs that weren't paid for. The second biggest driver is a downturn in our economy. So first and foremost, the President will focus on what can be done to get our economy moving again, what can be done to help spur the creation of jobs and continued economic growth. And like I said, I think the conversation in some ways has been changed. The discussion that's being had now, as you know, is how to pay for health care. Q I mean, that's not really any major -- I mean, so the answer to what can be done to get us out of the $12 million hole is to get the economy back in -- MR. GIBBS: Well, first and foremost that's -- yes, that's -- a downturn in the economy, caused by the recession, a change in tax receipts, is first and foremost what can be done. Obviously there are meetings that continue today in terms of putting the budget together for next year, understanding that the President believes that we are going to have to continue next year to balance what has to be done to create -- continue economic growth and create demand for jobs, as well as balancing our fiscal situation, which the President also said last week in those interviews. Q Right, but how could -- okay, understood, the economy -- getting the economy back on track, that will increase revenues. But the President said specifically, even if, when the economy bounces back and -- MR. GIBBS: Well, and you've heard the President talk quite a bit about the fact that we most assuredly have to get our fiscal house in order. Again -- Q Right, so what does he think should be done to do that? MR. GIBBS: Well, that's -- they're working on putting together the budget for next year. One of the first things he talked about was taking into account the massive amounts of money that the government spends on health care each year -- which passing health care reform, over the next 10-year period cuts about $130 billion, according to the Senate bill, out of the deficit. Q Well, that's $13 billion a year. That's not even a quarter of what we borrow from China every year. MR. GIBBS: Well, but if you don't start somewhere, Jake, you're not going to get anywhere. I think the President understands that we've got, again, very dual challenges that have to be addressed in getting our economy moving again, as well as taking into account our long-term fiscal health. Economy | Federal Deficit | President Obama | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: Economy, Federal Deficit, President Obama, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 9:53:00 AM  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 >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 3:47:00 PM
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