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White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 4/15/08 (OPEC, Gas Taxes and McCain)
— Tuesday, April 15, 2008 —
 Q Dana, another visitor to the White House this week will be British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and he's coming at a time when oil prices are hitting a new peak. Brown is also pushing for oil-producing countries to increase production, rather significantly, to ease prices. Is the President ready to join in a concerted effort, a new push for OPEC, by oil-consuming countries? MS. PERINO: I think it's a little premature to say exactly what the President and Prime Minister Brown will talk about, but certainly economic issues is sure to be high on the agenda. And within that, energy is one of the issues. Let's, I think, let the meeting take place and see if anything comes out of that in terms of a concerted effort. But I think that if you look back to what the President has said, and then the Vice President, across the board, the administration, along with other countries that are dependent on foreign sources of energy, we do believe that because there is a supply and demand problem, that we would like to see more supply. OPEC has disagreed and they think that the market is well-supplied. So, at the same time, the other thing that we have to do as developed countries is to work on technologies that will reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy, but also be clean-burning so that we can prevent pollutants from going into the air, as well as combat the problems -- the challenges that are posed by global climate change. So let's let the meeting take place. Q And what does the President think about Senator McCain's proposal for a gas tax holiday during the summer? MS. PERINO: Well, as I said this morning, I'm not going to comment specifically on the proposal. I know in the world of -- in a campaign, everybody wants a quick reaction. The White House, when new policy proposals are poised to the White House, it's not always necessarily the quickest way to get an answer. In theory and in our philosophy, we are always for lower taxes. And I think what John McCain has laid out is his proposal for how he would get there. But anytime there's a proposal such as that, whether it would come from Senator McCain or Senator Kennedy or Senator Dodd, there's a policy process we go through to look at that. So I'm not going to comment on that one in particular, but I will say that as we near the November time frame, as has happened with other presidential elections, the distinctions between the two parties become very clear, and taxes is going to be one of those core issues that Americans are going to be thinking about, especially in a time when they feel economic uncertainty. And what John McCain is showing today is that he is representing the party for lower taxes. And I think your question is best posed to his opponents. Dana Perino | John McCain | OPEC | Press Briefing | Taxes | White House Press Corps Labels: Dana Perino, John McCain, OPEC, Press Briefing, Taxes, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 7:29 PM  White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino 10/2/07 (Iraq War Tax and S-CHIP) — Tuesday, October 02, 2007 — Q Dana, on Iraq, Congressman Murtha and some other Democrats are now talking about a war tax, they're talking about a new surcharge that would pay for the war in Iraq. They say it will raise about $150 billion a year. Is that dead on arrival at the White House, or does the President think maybe there should be some sacrifice to pay for the war? MS. PERINO: Well, we've always known that Democrats seem to revert to type and they are willing to raise taxes on just about anything. There's no need to increase taxes. The President has shown how if we prioritize and if we get the spending bills done in a clean way, we can actually have a surplus in our budget by 2012. We don't see any need to raise the taxes. Q But when you talk about priorities, tomorrow we're expecting the President is going to veto the S-CHIP bill over saving $30 billion, and meanwhile you're spending hundreds of billions of dollars in the war in Iraq -- MS. PERINO: But the President -- the President's first and foremost responsibility is making sure that Americans are safe, including children are safe. And, frankly, that's Congress's main responsibility, as well. And that's where the priorities are. I think that anyone -- I think it's apples and oranges to try to compare S-CHIP to funding for the troops. Q Well, they're all in the same federal budget, you do have to pick priorities on what you're spending money on, don't you? MS. PERINO: What the President wants is for S-CHIP to revert back to what is the original intent of the law, which is that the neediest children should be taken care of first. That's not what the law that they sent to the President does -- well, we don't have it yet, we'll get it soon -- but that's not what that law does. I would also say that, in a time when Democrats are very concerned, supposedly, about people being worried about how they're going to pay for their mortgage, that raising taxes on them doesn't seem like the wisest fiscal policy. In a time when they think that they want to increase funding for children's health care, they're actually wanting to pay for it with a cigarette tax, which includes -- people who smoke are usually -- the majority are in the low-income bracket. And so they're raising taxes on something to pay for a middle-class entitlement. It's just completely irresponsible. Stop the madness on Capitol Hill. Q And yet 70 percent of the public in the latest poll yesterday, an ABC/Washington Post poll, supports that increase in the S-CHIP, but opposes the $190 billion in war funding spending. MS. PERINO: Well, you know, I don't know how all those questions were asked in the poll, and you might want to take a look at that and be a little bit skeptical. But I think that people would agree that we -- well, and also what I said yesterday: Republicans often taken on really unpopular positions because it does sound great to say that you're going to spend a lot more on children's health care, but when you start digging deeper and realize that they've got a funding cliff, that basically in 2011, there's no money left for the S-CHIP program. They don't fund it sustainably. And on this idea of raising taxes on the American people right now to fund a war, well, does that sunset? Do they wait for al Qaeda to wave a white flag and then those taxes are going to go away? Does anyone seriously believe that the Democrats are going to end these new taxes that they're asking the American people to pay at a time when it's not necessary to pay them? I just think it's completely fiscally irresponsible, and the President won't go along with it. Bret. Q Dana, can I follow -- Q Who's paying for this war? Q On that line, Representative Obey said today that Democrats will not pass a supplemental spending bill for the Iraq war until next year, in an effort to pressure the President to change course. All of this, they say, is designed that if you don't want the taxes, end the war. What's the response to all that? MS. PERINO: Well, they're asking -- I don't know exactly what they're asking for; I can't think like they do. But what they're -- I think what they want is for all the troops to come home. And if it's an immediate end to the war that they want, they've already proven several times that they're not going to be able to get that law passed. So if you look also out on the Senate side, I think it was the Gregg-Murray resolutions from last year that said, no matter what your position is on the war, we're not going to risk not funding the troops. And I can't imagine that the Senate is going to go back on their word. And many of these members of Congress went to Iraq over the recess, during August, and I would find it hard to believe that they would tell these troops that they're not going to provide them the funding. Dana Perino | Iraq | Press Briefing | S-CHIP | Taxes | White House Press Corps Labels: Dana Perino, Iraq, Press Briefing, S-CHIP, Taxes, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 6:41 PM
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