White House Gaggle With Jay Carney

En Route, Holland, Michigan
MR. CARNEY:  How’s everyone?
Q    Good.  How are you?
 MR. CARNEY:  It’s a pleasure to be with you today.
 Q    Really?
 MR. CARNEY:  Absolutely.  I love you guys.
 Q    Which one of us do you love most?
     MR. CARNEY:  Is that a Sophie’s choice?  (Laughter.)  Sorry.  No more film analogies today.
     Today, as you know, President Obama is traveling to Holland, Michigan, to tour the Johnson Controls, Inc., advanced battery facility.  While at Johnson Controls, the President will highlight the key role innovative technologies will play in helping automakers achieve the historic fuel economy standards, establishing U.S. leadership in advanced vehicle manufacturing, spurring economic growth and creating high-quality domestic jobs in cutting-edge industries across America.
     That’s obviously from our handout.  I’ll also read this from an article that I liked this morning.  It says, “People who actually care about what Presidents do might be interested in Obama’s trip to Michigan on Thursday.”  This is a quote.  “He’s visiting a factory that builds batteries for electric vehicles, a factory that exists for three reasons:  one, because President Obama saved the U.S. auto industry; two, because President Obama has ratcheted up fuel efficiency standards, boosting demand for green vehicles; three, because President Obama created a U.S. advanced battery industry from scratch.”
     Q    Where is that from?
     MR. CARNEY:  Time Magazine.
     The point is — I mean, obviously it’s the opinion of one journalist who focuses on these issues — is that the President today is focusing on something, an industry and a strategy that he has pursued as President that is focused on building our economic future.  And our economic future depends on us building industries that — in which we can be highly competitive, important industries like clean energy that will allow us to — or auto industry, for example — to hopefully dominate the 21st century the way it dominated so much of the 20th century.
     So he feels very strongly that we have to build a foundation for the kind of economic growth and job creation for the future through the kinds of investments that this administration has made in its first two and a half years.
     With that, I will take your questions.
     Q    On Syria, is the President moving any closer to explicitly calling for President Assad to leave office?
     MR. CARNEY:  I think we’ve been extremely clear about our feelings, our position on President Assad, what he’s been perpetrating on his people, the fact that Syria would be a much better place without him; that he has lost his legitimacy, and now long since lost his opportunity to lead the transition that the Syrian people are demanding take place.
     We have acted aggressively to isolate the Syrian government and figures within it through financial measures.  We continue to ratchet up the pressure on the Syrian regime, on the Assad regime with our international partners, as I said yesterday.  I don’t want to get ahead of anything else right now.
     Q    Is the U.S., in fact — I saw an article today — preparing for the eventuality of civil war in Syria?  What do those preparations entail?
     MR. CARNEY:  We believe that a transition needs to take place in Syria, and that Syria will be better off without President Assad.  And we support those who are seeking a peaceful transition in Syria.  That is why the Secretary of State met with Syrian oppositionists last week, why Ambassador Ford is on the ground in Syria and has traveled, as you know, to Hama, one of the areas where there’s been the greatest number of protests and crackdowns, and why we are working so aggressively with our international partners to put pressure on President Assad to get him to stop brutalizing his own people.
     Q    How concerned is the administration about open sectarian war in Syria?  Is that part of the reason why —
     MR. CARNEY:  That’s just the question I answered, so —
     Q    I couldn’t hear, sorry.
     MR. CARNEY:  That was pretty much my answer.  I’m just, again, spelling out what we’ve done, why we believe that President Assad’s opportunity to lead the transition has passed, why we believe Syria would be a better place without him, why we support those in Syria who are seeking a peaceful transition to a more democratic and brighter future in Syria — the actions we’ve taken, including the Secretary of State meeting with Syrian oppositionists last week, having Ambassador Ford on the ground in Syria, where he has met, as you know, in Hama, with the opposition and witnessed what’s going on there, and why we continue to put pressure, working collectively with our international partners, on Syria.
     Q    But the President still has not explicitly called on President Assad to step aside.  Is that because at the end of the day, once he does that, we’ve used up all our leverage?
     MR. CARNEY:  I think we’ve made very clear what our position is on President Assad and the fact that Syria would be better off without him.
     Q    The CEOs meeting tomorrow — can you tell us anything more today about that meeting?
     MR. CARNEY:  Just that it will be a small group of CEOs.  We’ll have more information about the attendees.  I think we’ve done that in the past on the day of the meetings.  So we’ll have more information about that.  He wants to discuss the economy, the industries that the business leaders represent, and what they’re hearing and seeing, and ideas they have.
     Q    About a half a dozen or so — when you say a small group, is that about right?
     MR. CARNEY:  Roughly accurate, but we don’t have a final count right now.
     Q    Cross-section of sectors and industries or some one specific niche?
     MR. CARNEY:  It will be diverse.  A small and diverse group.
     Q    Could you tell us about conversations that are taking place between the White House and officials in Europe about the debt situation there and how much concern is there that there might be a spillover with big effects in the global economy from this?
     MR. CARNEY:  Well, I think it’s clear that some of the turbulence that we’ve seen here in the United States has been due to the — some of the economic headwinds emanating from Europe.
     As I said yesterday, the President has made — has been in contact over the last several days with the German Chancellor, the French President, the Spanish President, the Italian Prime Minister and the — and Prime Minister Cameron of Great Britain.  And obviously Secretary Geithner has been and is in regular contact with his counterparts in Europe.
We believe that Europe and Europeans — Europe’s institutions have the capacity to handle this situation, and they’ll continue to monitor it, obviously, very closely.
     Q    Jay, is the speech tonight — or today — is that enough to convince Americans he has a jobs plan?  There was a poll out today from The Washington Post showing only a third of Americans now think the President has leadership on the economy.  Is today’s speech going to be enough to turn that around?
     MR. CARNEY:  We’re obviously very aware of the fact that Americans feel economic uncertainty as we continue to emerge from the greatest recession — the worst recession since the Great Depression, and growth has not been fast enough and job creation not been significant enough by our standards and by any standard, as far as we’re concerned, which is why this President is so focused on and has been focused on doing everything we can to — and that he can to grow the economy and create jobs.
     And he’ll continue to do that.  You have heard him in recent weeks talk — the fact is we do have a divided government, but he has talked very explicitly about the measures that this Congress could take and very easily pass because they have bipartisan support — and have had bipartisan support in the past, including passage of free trade agreements, passage of patent reform, infrastructure fund — ideas for creating an infrastructure fund where we could leverage a relatively small amount of public money to put private companies to work, hiring out-of-work construction workers to build our infrastructure —
     Q    — new proposals, concrete —
     MR. CARNEY:  You can be sure — you can be sure that the President is working on — working with his economic team every day, and that they are constantly evaluating new proposals and different ways to — different ideas for growing the economy and creating jobs.
     Q    Jay, is the Israeli approval of 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem going to make it more difficult for the White House to convince the Palestinians not to seek recognition at the U.N. next month?
     MR. CARNEY:  I think our position on that has always — has not changed, which is that we obviously urge both sides not to take any action that makes it harder for the two sides to come together and negotiate.  But I don’t have anything more on that for you.
     Q    Jay, he used to do these events almost weekly, and it’s been months since he’s been out for an event like this.  Can you just talk about his mood going into this?
   
     MR. CARNEY:  I can tell you that he is absolutely looking forward to this trip today and to the bus tour next week — for three days through the Midwest — because, as you say, he has been pretty much full-time in Washington for a sustained period of time as he has dealt with Congress on the debt ceiling negotiations.
And he thinks it’s really important to get out and talk with Americans from around the country and hear what they’re seeing and feeling about the economy, hear their ideas, explain to them what his views are, his principles, the things that we’re doing — why, for example, today, that the measures that he’s taken to help grow this vital area of the economy and clean energy are so important.  So he’s really — he’s in a great mood.  He’s looking forward to this.
Q    What are the other two stops on the bus tour?  Only Iowa has been announced.  What’s the Minnesota stop and the Illinois stop?  Do you have that?
MR. CARNEY:  It hasn’t been announced.  I don’t have it for you, sorry.  I actually — I would probably get it wrong.  Well, I’m sure we’ll have that for you soon.
Q    Did he have any thoughts on Mitt Romney’s approach toward S&P reported today?  And also, any words about Iowa tonight?
MR. CARNEY:  Well, I haven’t spoken to him about those two subjects.  I did note with some interest that report that you mentioned.  Look, I think — speaking not for the President, but I think in general, that what I’m curious about is whether or not anyone participating in the debate tonight will have any concrete proposals for growing the economy and creating jobs that aren’t retread ideas that didn’t work in the past.  I mean, one of the — going back to what the President is doing today, the investments that this administration made to help undergird an advanced battery market in this country that we can be highly competitive in is a concrete step that has resulted in a growing segment of the economy and the creation of real jobs.  And that’s how America is going to win the future.  That’s how America is going to be globally competitive.  It’s not — we’ve tried a lot of ideas in the past, including just giving very large tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans, and that didn’t work out so well.
Q    There’s only about 75 jobs created from the Recovery Act investment there in Holland, and how many millions of Americans out of work.  How would you make the — I’m assuming the President would want to make the case that a small number of jobs now would become a large number later, but —
     MR. CARNEY:  — the amount of job creation overall, and clean energy has been — this is one place, one factory worth highlighting because of its success and the importance in the industry.  And what I think has been obvious from the approach that President Obama has taken from the beginning is that you have to — you have a multi-pronged approach to growing the economy and creating jobs, and it includes a variety of measures, including, in this case, our investments in clean energy.
     Q    Jay, tonight’s fundraisers in New York City, are you worried that that’s going to send the wrong impression, that he’s with these very wealthy people at a time when Main Street is especially hurting?
     MR. CARNEY:  Well, I think that Americans understand that our political system functions the way it does, and that candidates have to raise money.  And I certainly expect that members of Congress are doing the same thing, as well as presidential candidates.
     Q    Thank you.
     MR. CARNEY:  All right?  Thanks.
                             END           1:20 P.M. EDT
——-

White House Press Gaggle

By Press Secretary Jay Carney

Aboard Air Force One

En Route Cleveland, Ohio

MR. CARNEY:  Good morning, everybody. 

     Q    Good morning.

     MR. CARNEY:  You guys ready?  I just want — before I take your questions, I wanted to remind everybody why we’re here, for the Winning the Future Forum on Small Business.  As you know, in addition to the President of the United States, we have Cabinet members attending the event, and that includes the Treasury Secretary, Commerce Secretary, Labor Secretary, Energy Secretary, the SBA Administrator, the CEA Chair, and Gene Sperling, the National Economic Director.

     As you know, the President talked about the need for innovation and for businesses in particular and small businesses to be the engine of growth in our economy.  And he wants to hear from small business owners in this forum about what drives success and what barriers lie in the way of success.

     Cleveland is actually a city that’s done a great deal of positive work in positioning itself in both the field of biotechnology and clean energy.  It’s really poised to be a global leader in the 21st century in these new industries, and the President is obviously very excited about that.

     So from here on there will be other events similar to this that Cabinet secretaries will participate in.  This is not just a one-time deal.  It was a major theme of the President’s State of the Union address and will continue to be.

     So, with that, I will take your questions.

     Q    On Libya, can you tell us what is going on behind the scenes at the White House?  And also, is there concern that unlike in Egypt, there is nothing that you can really do, there’s no real ties with Libya and there’s very little the administration can do in that situation?

     MR. CARNEY:  Well, first let me point you to the fact that on Friday, while we were on this plane, the President issued a statement condemning the violence in Libya, the use of violence against peaceful protesters in Libya as well as two other countries.  Yesterday, the Secretary of State issued a very strongly worded statement condemning the violence and expressing our great alarm at the violence used against peaceful protesters.  We offer our condolences to the families of the victims in Libya of this appalling violence.  And the Secretary of State will speak again today at approximately 2:30 p.m. where she will address some of these issues.

     Q    Will the President speak about this today?

     MR. CARNEY:  I don’t anticipate that, but we’ll see.

     Q    Do you have a — can you give us anything on the death of the hostages at the hands of the pirates?

     MR. CARNEY:  Well, for details about what happened I’d refer you to the Pentagon.  What I can tell you is that the President was notified this morning at 4:42 a.m. by Homeland Security director — or advisor, rather, John Brennan about the outcome in which the four American citizens’ lives were lost, the tragic outcome of that event.

     The President did, over the weekend on Saturday, authorize the use of force in the case of imminent — of an imminent threat to those hostages, and that’s — for other details I can refer you to the Defense Department.

     Q    Are there, do you think, measures that — the Security Council is meeting today on Libya — are there international measures that the U.S. can take with its partners to try and affect what’s going on inside Libya, or is it a question of lacking substantial leverage?

     MR. CARNEY:  There is activity at the United Nations Security Council today.  We are participating in meetings.  We look forward to working with the international community so that the international community speaks with one voice in condemning the violence.  And we feel like when the international community speaks with one voice, it can be most effective, so we are obviously participating fully in that.

     Q    Is the White House having any conversations with other world leaders about — the President himself having any conversations with world leaders about Libya?

     MR. CARNEY:  I have no announcements on presidential conversations right now.

     Q    Oil is at a two-year high.  How closely is the President monitoring the situation in Libya?

     MR. CARNEY:  Well, as you know, when there is unrest in the world and specifically in that region, that can affect oil prices.  We are closely monitoring that situation, but I would not speculate on where oil prices would go in the future.

     Q    Do you think the events of the last few days have shown perhaps that the attempts to kind of rehabilitate Qaddafi — particularly the Europeans sort of took part in it the last administration as well — were a mistake?

     MR. CARNEY:  What I’ll say, Steve, is that the future of Libya needs to be decided by the Libyan people.  As is the case throughout the region, our policy is — pertains in Libya or towards Libya as it did — does to Egypt, to Bahrain and other countries, which is that we call very strongly for an end to the use of violence against peaceful protesters.  We call for respect for the universal rights that these — peoples of this region, as peoples all around the world, have:  the right to peaceful assembly, to freedom of expression.  And we recognize their legitimate aspirations.

     We call on the governments of the region to listen to and respect the legitimate aspirations of their people and to reform accordingly.

     Q    Jay, there’s going to be a labor rally in Columbus about the time that the President is here.  There’s of course the unrest in Wisconsin.  You’re also seeing it in Ohio and Indiana, and there’s going to be a large protest of teachers in early March over labor rules proposed by that legislature.  Is the President going to address any of that today?  And does he have any thoughts on this ongoing situation?

     MR. CARNEY:  I don’t have anything for you on what the President will say today.  He’s focused very much — with regard to that, he’s focused very much on this important forum, small business forum. 

And as far as his thoughts, he expressed them in an interview with a Wisconsin television station — I believe it was last week — where he made clear that he absolutely recognizes the need that state governments have, governors and legislators, to deal with their fiscal situation; that everyone needs to tighten their belts, and that includes public sector employees.  But he also expressed his concern that the efforts specifically in Wisconsin were aimed at going right after the collective bargaining rights of unions.

So — but that’s the extent of the White House involvement.

Q    What about Kasich’s efforts in Ohio to go after collective bargaining?

MR. CARNEY:  I don’t have anything on that for you.

Q    What’s his reaction to the House vote at 4:40 a.m. in the morning, Saturday morning?

MR. CARNEY:  Look, we continue to believe that we will be able to work out common ground on these issues.  I would point you to the fact that all four leaders of Congress, leaders of the House, leaders of the Senate, have expressed their confidence that we can work this out before March 4th, and we believe we can.

Q    Does the administration stand by a veto threat if the House-passed package gets to the President’s desk with those big cuts?

MR. CARNEY:  Well, the White House’s position, the President’s position was clearly stated in that statement of administration policy.  That hasn’t changed.

Q    Any contingency plans yet?  Are you still working on any plans for a shutdown?

MR. CARNEY:  I would refer you to the Office of Management and Budget, which is the agency within the executive branch that needs to deal with these sorts of things.  And I’d simply state that there have been contingency plans for government shutdowns since 1980, and those plans are obviously updated accordingly, but they’ve been around for a long time.

Q    You said 1980?

MR. CARNEY:  1980 is what I understand, but I’d refer you to Ken Baer at OMB.

Q    How confident are you that a shutdown can be avoided?

MR. CARNEY:  Well, as I said, we believe, as do the leaders of the House and the Senate, including Senator McConnell and Speaker Boehner — we agree with them that we do not want a shutdown of the government and that we can come to an agreement that avoids that.

Q    Any comment on the Iranian warships going through the Suez Canal today?

MR. CARNEY:  Nothing new beyond what I said Friday, I think it was, which was that we monitor that situation closely.  And obviously Iranian behavior in the region is something we always watch.

Anything else before we land, which looks to be in about —

Q    Any minute.

MR. CARNEY:  — two minutes to three minutes?  I don’t want anyone to get hurt. 

Q    Thanks, Jay.

MR. CARNEY:  Are you good?  Thanks a lot.

                      END             10:49 A.M. EST



White House Gaggle

By Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton                                                                                                     Aboard Air Force One, En Route Miami, Florida

     MR. BURTON:  Okay.  Thank you all for coming.  Go ahead.

     Q    I have a question on Pakistan.  A State Department official, a deputy special representative for the regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan, said that the flooding there and the crisis there is a long-term crisis that’s going to get worse.  How concerned is the administration about how this will affect —

     MR. BURTON:  Well, this catastrophe is one that’s on a human scale and widespread, and the United States is doing everything that it can to help the country of Pakistan.  We’ve given them tens of millions of dollars in aid.  U.S. helicopters and C130s are there delivering hundreds of thousands of pounds of food and medical supplies. 

     Tomorrow Secretary Clinton, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah will be up at the U.N., focused on this issue as well, where they’ll be talking more about the needs.  We’re responding to all the requests that come in from the Pakistani government.  We’re working with them and NGOs on the ground to ensure that we’re doing all that we can to help them out.

     Our relationship with Pakistan is one that’s more than just about fighting armed extremists and we’re hoping to help them where we can.

     Q    Just one follow-up to that.  There was an article last week about how many of the charity arms of some of these violent extremist groups have come in to fill the void, to get supplies much faster and relief much faster to the Pakistani people.  There’s concern that that could win over people to their cause.  What is the response of the administration? 

     MR. BURTON:  Well, I think that this is an ongoing humanitarian crisis.  We’re responding very quickly, as are our international partners.  I’m confident that we’re going to do what we can to help those folks out.

     Q    The U.N. said that aid to Pakistan is flowing a lot slower than it did for Haiti and other disasters.  Is the President thinking about going before the American people like he did with the Haiti case, to make an appeal for more aid?   

     MR. BURTON:  Obviously Secretary Clinton has done that, and we’re responding as quickly as we can to their requests as they come in so that we’re doing what’s possible to help the folks who are most in need.  Like I said, this is ongoing and we don’t even know the full scope of the disaster just yet.  But you can bet that the United States is going to continue to do its part to help those folks that have been so terribly affected.

     Q    Any chance that the President might add Pakistan to his Asia trip now?

     MR. BURTON:  I haven’t heard any discussion of that.

     Q    Bill, the President talked again today about how a lot of people are still hurting and there’s more work to go in the economy.  Does he have any concerns at all about at least the  perception of taking a 9, 10-day vacation in an affluent part of the country at a time when a lot of people are hurting?

     MR. BURTON:  Well, I don’t think there’s an American person who doesn’t know that the President is working hard to do everything possible to get this economy back on the right track, to move initiatives through Congress that are going to help businesses right away to create jobs and to make our economy even stronger.

The President — any presidential vacation — whenever you talk about a presidential vacation you ought to put the word “vacation” in quotes because you can bet that there will still be work that he’s doing every day.  He’ll continue to get his daily intelligence brief from John Brennan who will be there.  He’ll be getting constant updates on what’s happening in the economy and other issues.

     But I do think that just like a lot of American people, the President is taking a little time with his family to recharge his batteries.  As you know, he’s really into batteries.  We spend a lot of time at battery plants.  (Laughter.)  And he’ll be spending a lot of time doing that this weekend.

     Q    Is he staying at the same place he did last year?

     MR. BURTON:  We’re not going to announce where he’s staying until he gets there for security reasons.  But he’s renting a house. 

     Q    It will be announced when he gets there?

     MR. BURTON:  Yes.  Of course, you’ll all be there.

     Q    Would you say he really needs a vacation?

     MR. BURTON:  I would say that — you guys have seen him out on the trail this week.  I got a lot of questions this week on whether or not the President enjoys being out on the campaign trail.  I think that seeing him at some of these fundraisers, you know the answer to the question.  He’s clearly having a good time talking directly with the American people about the choice that’s before them this November when it comes to the midterm elections. And he’s got a lot of hard work to do this year, but he does look forward to the time that he’s going to be able to spend with his family.

     Q    Brennan is going with him tomorrow?

     MR. BURTON:  Yes.

     Q    Will there be more campaign trips like this one after his vacation?

     MR. BURTON:  Yes.  (Laughter.)

Q    Anything locked in yet?

MR. BURTON:  Nothing locked in that I know of.  I know they’re still putting together the schedule.

     Q    I heard you say earlier nothing tomorrow morning before leaving?

     MR. BURTON:  Yes, there’s no events tomorrow before leaving.

     Q    In Florida, is the President going to sort of put to rest any of the questions about whether or not the White House is fully behind Kendrick Meek at this event?  What kind of things are we going to hear from him there?

     MR. BURTON:  I can’t control whether or not people ask questions about the President’s strong and unwavering support for Kendrick Meak.  He’s said that he is his candidate.  Florida Democrats know that he is his candidate.  He’s been down there. He’s raised money for the Florida Democratic Party.  He’s introduced Meek at events as the next United States senator from the state.  So given all that, I don’t know that people will stop asking questions regardless of what he does.

     But Kendrick Meek will be involved in the event today and you will hear from him.

     Q    Do you guys envision this as the President’s, like, full embrace of Kendrick Meek?  I mean, he hasn’t done something like this for him before.

     MR. BURTON:  I think that the President has fully embraced Kendrick Meek.  We envision this as going down and helping out Florida Democrats.

     Q    Can you say anything about the parent company to Fox News donating to the Republican Governors Association?  I mean, the President is raising money for governors on this trip.  You guys have obviously had back-and-forth with Fox News.  And their reasoning for donating is — insinuates that Democrats are anti-business, which is something that the President has been talking about.

     MR. BURTON:  Well, I’m sure it creates a lot of questions.  I’ve seen the report, but I don’t have any particular comment on it.

     Q    Do you have anything on the fundraiser tonight?  Is it all going to Sink, or is it being split —

     MR. BURTON:  I think it’s being split by — but you should check that with the contact I gave you for Florida.

     Q    And there will be nothing on Cuba?

     MR. BURTON:  No. 

All right?

     Q    Do you have a reading list for us?

     MR. BURTON:  He has not decided yet what he’s going to be reading.

     Q    Seriously?

     MR. BURTON:  Seriously.

     Q    You could make some recommendations?

     MR. BURTON:  I sure could.  Why?  Have you written a book?  (Laughter.)

     Okay, everybody take a seat and buckle in.

                                    END              2:37 P.M. EDT

——-

White House Gaggle

White House Gaggle with Robert Gibbs

Coast Guard Exercise
Gibbs said that to his knowledge they had no advance warning, and that there were exercises going on all over the country. We are all safer because of them. Before people report things like this, he said, checking would be good. He did not question law enforcement in trying to keep the nation’s capital safe. As best he could tell, there was reporting based on listening to a police scanner that was not verified. A lot of this might have been avoided. He saw no analogy to the Air Force One fly over in New York.

Asked whether the President has an opinion about whether the public should have been informed that there was a training exercise on September 11th, Gibbs said he did not think the President knew about every training exercise federal, state or local law enforcement do in preparation for something happening again. It was hard to divorce the media coverage from the question. He suggested people should call the White House. If anybody is unnecessarily alarmed based on erroneous reporting that claimed that shots had been fired, everybody is apologetic. It is a Coast Guard decision. Neither the Commander in Chief nor his spokesperson are going to micromanage the training exercises.

Gibbs said there are a lot of responsibilities. People owe it to everybody, not just in the memory of what happened eight years ago, but in the memory of whatever could happen again, that we may not get this story first, but we may be the first ones to get it right.


Senator Carl Levin on Afghanistan
Asked about Senator Levin’s statement on not sending more troops to Afghanistan until the Afghan army and police have been built up, Gibbs said he has not seen Levin’s statement. The administration continues to assess the situation as it has done since the transition. Reorienting the strategy and getting it right is of the utmost importance to the President. There is no imminent decision on increased resources to Afghanistan.

Gibbs said there never was a timetable for an imminent decision. He did not expect anything to happen for many, many weeks. The President made some decisions early on. All of the resources encompassed in those decisions have not gotten to Afghanistan.

Asked if the President was concerned that he is losing members of his own party on Afghanistan, Gibbs said there is not an imminent decision. They would work to get the policy right. For a long time there was not a sufficient focus on getting Afghanistan right. That is what the President would do working in the administration and with members of Congress.


Previewing Monday’s Speech on Wall Street
Gibbs said that it will be on Wall Street because the financial instability started there and it caused it to be felt everywhere else on Main Street. It is the collapse of Lehman Brothers one year later and the financial instability that that signified and its dramatic impact on the economy. The President, even before that, but certainly on that day and the days that followed, has focused on ensuring that the U.S. gets its stability right, and there has been great progress on that. The speech will focus on the need to take the next series of steps on financial regulatory reform to ensure that after what happened a year ago, there are sufficient safeguards to ensure that does not happen again.

Asked if there was a new time frame for legislation, Gibbs said both chairs would say it is a big focus of their fall. The administration has outlined a financial plan and is working with Congress to implement it. It wants to demonstrate why it needs to move forward and why this can’t wait.


9/12ers Rally
When told about the “9/12ers” rallying on Washington on Saturday against the President’s health care reforms, Gibbs said he did not know what they were. “Have fun”, he said.


President's Minnesota Speech on Saturday
Gibbs said the President will talk about the perils of not acting, and what happens if we delay again, health insurance reform. Ticket distribution will be open to the public, first come, first served. There will be other rallies like this. Asked whether the event is a political event or a Presidential event, Gibbs replied that it is a Presidential event.


Health Care Mandates For Low Income People
Nancy Ann DeParle was on a Yahoo Chat yesterday and spoke about low income people and health care and fines. A question was asked in some detail about this. Gibbs said there are hardship waivers for individual mandates to avoid penalties.


Health Care For Illegal Immigrants
Asked about a back and forth yesterday about whether illegal immigrants could buy insurance on the health exchange, Gibbs said illegal immigrants would not be allowed to access the exchange that is being set up. Asked if people would have to show proof of legal residence or citizenship, Gibbs said that is something they would work out with Congress, but yes.


Paying For Health Care
Asked about criticism from moderate Democrats that there was not enough specificity in the speech Wednesday about how the President was going to pay for health care reform, Gibbs said there was a very constructive meeting with moderate Senate Democrats on Thursday. Some people are surprised that the President is actually going to pay for a proposal, Gibbs said.

White House Gaggle With Robert Gibbs

At 9.40 am the President signed into law the extension of the Cash for Clunkers legislation that the Senate approved yesterday.

Jobs Numbers
Gibbs said the numbers are more evidence that we have pulled back from the edge and brink of a depression. If you look at the averaging of the numbers over a period of time, the pace of job loss is declining, which is positive. However, last month, a quarter of a million people lost their jobs. The President is very focused on putting the economy back on track. It is still expected that the unemployment rate will reach 10% this year.

There will be good days and bad days. There is a long way to go. The Recovery Act has made a difference. Two thirds of the benefit has yet to make a difference. The focus is on implementing the recovery plan. Without seeing genuine, positive, sustained job growth, we will see the rate continue to 10%. We are pleased, though not satisfied, that the rate of that job loss is declining. Before recovery, there has to be stabilization.

Gibbs stated that he was informed of the jobs numbers at the same time as the markets. He said it is unclear if the numbers today are a trend. Asked if the numbers would go back up again, he said it was in all likelihood very possible. However, the rate of job loss has declined.

Death of Taliban Leader
Gibbs was asked if the leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, Baitullah Mehsud, has been killed. Gibbs said they cannot confirm it, though there is a growing consensus among credible observers. Mehsud is a murderous thug. He has planned and helped carry out some of the most heinous acts of terrorism and violence in Pakistan. He has killed scores of innocent men, women and children, and is supposed to have plotted the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. If he is dead, the people of Pakistan will be safer as a result.

The US is working very closely with the government of Pakistan to prevent the Taliban, al Qaeda and other affiliated terrorist organizations from killing innocent people. The US is very pleased with the level of cooperation and working together, and want to do everything to help Pakistan defeat terrorism. The President is regularly updated on this situation.

Closing of Guantanamo
Gibbs was asked whether there would be a delay in the closure of Guantanamo, based on something an administration official said yesterday. He said, no, he had looked at the transcript. He quoted the transcript which appeared to state that Guantanamo would close on time.

Violence at Town Halls
Gibbs was asked whether, with the increase of violence at town halls and a death threat, he would recommend that members of Congress do not hold town halls. He said no, that people that go to have their voices heard, that they have some respect for everybody else’s ability to be heard and participate in a town hall.