Lawrence Ari Fleischer

“ For example, the question of making certain that communities don't have old machines, that the machines are able to work and be operative. I think the President is prepared to listen to good ideas and to work with Congress on matters pertaining to that. But questions about military voters not being allowed to vote, having their absentee ballots thrown out, that's not a question of funding, that's a question of protecting the rights of men and women who serve in the military, to have their votes counted. ”

“ The President made the case that, number one, it's very important that we come to an agreement on the budget because of the state of the economy, the worsening state of the economy, and his desire to make certain that American people get tax relief so that consumers can be protected in this difficult economic time. ”

“ Q Ari, do you have any comment on the election of the new Japanese leader, Junichiro Koizumi, who calls for the radical reform of the Japanese economy? MR. FLEISCHER: Of course, he's been elected the leader of his party. There remains another step until he becomes the prime minister. The United States will, at all times, look forward to working closely with Japan. Japan is a very important ally to this country, and whoever the Japanese select to lead their government, the President will look forward to working closely with. ”

“ Any actions that the President takes to support members of his party who are running for office - and he will take actions to support members of his party who run for office -- will be done in accordance with the laws and in accordance with this high standard of ethics. ”

“ The matter of networks calling elections before the elections are over, and therefore discouraging voters from turning out because they think it's already done, that the election has been decided, so why should they vote. ”

“ The President is going to help raise money for people who will support his agenda of improving education by voting for more accountability, he will allow people to keep more money in their pockets for tax relief and he won't go on spending sprees. ”

“ There are laws in place to help protect people who happen to suffer from natural disasters. And as FEMA Director Allbaugh also indicated, that there has been a series of steps taken by residents in the community to protect themselves, to prevent their regions from being flooded once again. There have been a series of floods along the Mississippi River in the past, and it's a real sign of progress being made by local officials if they have put resources into their local communities to prevent similar repeats. ”

“ So is this administration concerned as well, but this decision, even though you say it's separate from the standoff with Beijing over the surveillance plane, could make relations even tenser than they are now? MR.FLEISCHER: Kelly, the President believes very strongly that the best way to promote peace and stability is to make certain that Taiwan has the means necessary to secure its defense needs. ”

“ He urged them to move as quickly as is possible, and is pleased with the action and the pace of Congress up to this point. Now, the House and the Senate will meet and we will await their action, but it's increasingly clear that tax relief will soon be on the way. Q Does he really think that that's going to put the economy back in stride again? MR. FLEISCHER: Actually, the more you look at some of the private sector forecasts, what they anticipate growth to be at the later part of the year. ”

“ Much of their forecasting is, indeed, based on an assumption that Congress will cut taxes, which is one of the reasons that the private sector does believe there will be an uptake at the end of the year. So, failure to get it done would clearly be detrimental to the economy and to the consumer. Q Ari, even though it has not been officially announced as yet, it now appears that Taiwan will not be getting the four Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. And despite the rhetoric to the contrary, China must be pleased of this. ”

“ And that's why prompt congressional action is helpful to the economy and to the consumers. Q What's your view of making -- just while we're on taxes -- capital gains part of the tax cut that's retroactive? ”

“ And Congress, even though it doesn't have a special committee, certainly still can make progress on election reform. You don't need to always have a new committee to get things done in Congress. So the President's position is very clear, and the President hopes that progress can be made on election reform issues. He thinks it's important. Q Ari, can we expect to hear him speak out directly on this? ”

“ His message was that he -- that the American people should get a tax cut as large as possible, as close to $1.6 trillion as possible. And the President pointed out to the members of Congress that the smaller the tax cut, the more money will be on the table in Washington where it will be spent. Q Just to follow up on Taiwan, how important a factor are China's missile deployments along the coast as a factor in considering what kinds of weapons to sell? ”

“ The discussion with the President was about how to protect communities. So I'm not aware of the premise of your question. It was not a topic of the Director's meeting with the President. Q Do you have a message, then, for communities such as Davenport that have not done as much as others? MR. FLEISCHER: The message is, as Director Allbaugh indicated yesterday, that the United States government stands by and stands ready to help if necessary. Q Ari, this morning, on Argentina, you said the Argentinean government hasn't asked the U.S. for bilateral economic assistance. ”