Notes From Today's White House Press Briefing

White House Press Briefing
With Press Secretary Robert Gibbs


NORTH KOREA ATTACK

Gibbs said the US is involved in reviewing South Korea’s claim that North Korea was responsible for the sinking of one of its vessels back in March. Gibbs says the White House “strongly condemned” the attack when it happened, and said the administration is in consultations with the South Koreans and other nations, as well as the UN Security Council. Gibbs called the attack an “act of aggression” and said if in fact, North Korea was behind the attack, their actions will have isolated them even more from the rest of the world. Gibbs said the US is committed to South Korea’s defense. Gibbs called the alleged attack “extremely troubling.”


OIL SPILL

Gibbs said that the EPA supports BP’s use of an underwater dispersant to deal with the oil that is spilling 5,000 feet below the sea surface in the Gulf. Gibbs said that POTUS, however, would like BP to make its clean up efforts a bit more transparent. Gibbs defended the White House’s decision to send a letter to BP putting pressure on the company to speed up its clean-up efforts and informing the company that it will be held liable for all clean-up costs associated with the giant spill. Gibbs said Coast Guard Commander Adm. Thad Allen told him that he hasn’t seen a situation as bad as this in over 30 years. Gibbs said Allen has agreed to stay on as the White House’s point man on the spill even after he retires later this year. Gibbs said he wasn’t bothered that BP CEO Tony Hayward will be traveling to Europe to attend meetings. Gibbs refuted the notion that BP cares more about preventing a public relations crisis then fixing the leak and cleaning up the spill. Gibbs repeated the White House’s assertion that BP will be forced to pay for all the cleanup fees. “They will get the bill,” he said. “The taxpayers won’t.” Gibbs said everything that can be done to stop the leak is being done. Gibbs also said that the five Gulf state Governors have been participating in morning conference calls about the spill every day.


SESTAK/WHITE HOUSE RUMOR

Gibbs refused to address reports that the White House offered Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) a job in the administration earlier this year to keep him from running for the Senate against Arlen Specter. Said Gibbs, “I don’t have anything to add to what I said in March.”


FINANCIAL REFORM

Gibbs said POTUS believes in putting strong rules in place in the financial system, and said that doing so would improve the condition of the country’s economy as a whole. Gibbs said financial reform would directly benefit folks on Main Street struggling to either keep their jobs or find new ones. When asked about the Senate bill, Gibbs said, “we’re coming to the end of the process.” Gibbs said that the mid-term elections this November will be a partial referendum on financial reform.


PRIMARIES

Gibbs said the primaries proved that the Democratic Party is truly the ‘big-tent’ party. Gibbs downplayed the fact that newly-elected Congressman Mark Critz (D) ran away from POTUS during his primary race, saying he doubted that there are many Democrats in Congress who agree with everything POTUS does or supports. Gibbs said the primaries showed that Republicans are “having an internal battle with themselves.” On the topic of Arlen Speter, Gibbs said only that the GOP kicked Specter out of their party after his years and years of service to them. He said the same for Charlie Crist and Bob Bennett, and agreed with the belief that this is a tough year for any incumbent in Congress. Gibbs said VPOTUS connected with Specter earlier today. Gibbs also said that Rand Paul’s remarks about not voting for the Civil Rights Act “should not have a place in our political dialogue in 2010.”


SALAHIS

Gibbs was asked about a report which alleged that the Salahis were apparently stopped by Secret Service in their limo near the White House last night, and he responded that once again, they were not on the guest list. “I shook my head...once again,” he said while explaining that he was aware of the report. “It seems like their 15 minutes of fame were up six months ago,” he added.


CALDERON VISIT

Gibbs more or less sideswiped a question about POTUS’s feelings on Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s remarks yesterday on the recently-passed immigration law in Arizona. Gibbs said only that both Presidents share the view that they disagree with the law. Gibbs did not specifically say whether or not POTUS agrees with Calderon’s call for a flat-out ban on assault weapons, Gibbs said he had not heard of a report yesterday that an elementary school student told FLOTUS, who was visiting the schoolchildren, that her mother was an illegal immigrant.


IRAN NUCLEAR AGREEMENT

Gibbs called Iran’s agreement with Turkey and Brazil over its uranium stockpile a “step in the right direction....assuming Iran keeps up its end of the deal.” Gibbs said the proposal between the three nations still does not fully address all the concerns that the P5 have about Iran’s nuclear program. Gibbs added that the agreement is less than what Iran agreed to eight months ago.

Calling All Scientists: More Science Innovation Needed

By Courtney Ann Jackson- Talk Radio News Service

Higher value on science innovation and education is needed in the United States according to both political and scientific leaders. The leaders participated in the “Best and Brightest Forum on Medical Innovation: Achieving Recovery Through Discovery” Friday at the Newseum, and discussed the economic impact that medical innovation policies can have.

U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (D-Penn.) delivered the keynote address and commented both from the political perspective and from the perspective of someone who has fought through serious health issues, including battling cancer twice.

Specter has recently introduced new legislation entitled the Cure Acceleration Network (CAN).

Said the Senator, “there is the so-called valley of death between what happens in the laboratory and what happens in application. A lot of great ideas from the National Institute of Health have been translated to the bed-side with great delays...This legislation would set up a separate agency with separate funding to push for clinical trials so that we can realize the benefits of this great research.”

Sen. Specter added that he just couldn’t stand by the Republican party given the economic problems of the country and the prospect of falling into another Great Depression. He said that was one of the driving forces behind him leaving the party.

Also present for the event was Dick Gephardt, former U.S. Democratic House Majority Leader and Founder/President of the Council for American Medical Innovation. Said Gephardt, “today’s policy decisions will have a long-term impact on the future of medical innovation in the United States.”

McConnell: Specter’s Decision Purely Political

By Jonathan Bronstein, Talk Radio News

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell

The Republican ship is sinking and Senator Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) is first to jump off the boat. While to some experts the recent defection of Specter to the Democrats marks the end of an electable Republican Party, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) said they were far less concerned.

“This was simply, nothing more and nothing less than political self-preservation,” said Cornyn, adding that “(Specter’s) own pollster told him that he could not win the Republican primary in Pennsylvania, so his only options were to leave the Senate or join the Democratic Party.”

Additionally, McConnell downplayed Specter’s decision as a Pennsylvania problem, and not a national problem for the Republican Party.

“This is a Pennsylvania story about his inability, according to his pollster, to be renominated by the Republican Party,” said McConnell.

But one aspect of Specter’s decision could not be denied, as he, coupled with Al Franken’s election in Minnesota, would give the Democrats the necessary votes to block any Republican filibuster.

“But it sets up the potential for the majority, if it chooses to, to run rough over the minority. To eliminate checks and balances and the kind of restraint that Americans have historically wanted from their government,” said McConnell.

Nevertheless, while the loss of Specter lessens Republican power, McConnell tried to lessen the blow by saying, “He (Specter) made a totally political decision.” and that the decision was not symptomatic of other underlying issues within the party.