Lawrence Ari Fleischer

“ There is no question that if Congress lives within the limits of the budget resolution that the House and the Senate have already voted on and agreed to abide by, they will be able to pass the budgets that honor the President's priorities without tapping the Social Security trust fund, as the President has said. Again, the key to having increased revenues coming into the government is from growth. ”

“ By that description, you're saying that person is awash in money because they've got some money in their left pocket. No. It is one system. It is Medicare. It's one person. And when you add up the amount of money that Medicare spends for doctors, compared to the money it takes in; and when you add up the amount it spends for hospitals, the Medicare system is in deficit, not surplus. And the President believes that every penny of money that comes in for Medicare should be earmarked to Medicare. ”

“ I think if there is anything that our nation has learned as a result of this, it is the marvelous progress that is made in science and in medicine, so that millions of people -- who don't have to be the Vice President of the United States -- can have health problems, can have those health problems treated and then return to work. ”

“ There's an issue dealing with Social Security and there's an issue dealing with Medicare. The President has made it unequivocal to all that Congress should not take any action that would lead to any spending, at all, of Social Security money. That money belongs to Social Security. Under the Bush budget, even with these new numbers, Social Security need not be touched. ”

“ The White House has turned a corner, where the major initiative that the President believes will help the economy to recover has been put in place and has been signed into law, which will give a boost to growth and give a boost to the economy. ”

“ And I could go on, Merril Lynch, Lehman Brothers, all the financial accounting firms who make their living by trying to be as accurate as possible have all said that the tax cut will create more growth. The problem in revenues is a problem caused by low growth. The tax cut is the cure to the problem, because a tax cut leads to greater growth. Q While waiting for that cure to take, will the administration spend any of the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund surplus on anything other than hospitalizing the elderly? ”

“ Because on the one level I think that every politician wishes they could have a little more of their anonymity back but, at the same time, I think every politician recognizes they're lending to an awful lot of knowledge across the country, where other people go out and get the health care they need as a result of the coverage of what is typically a private matter for somebody. ”

“ The problem is in both parties. There have been holds put by people in both parties. And the people believes that it's the interest of good government for the Senate, now that a reorganization agreement has been reached in a bipartisan fashion, to step-up the pace and to confirm his nominees, because the only people who get hurt are the citizens of the country when we do not have a government in place.
Q What is the problem in both parties, Ari? MR. FLEISCHER: There is just a lag. It does not seem to be a high enough priority of the United States Senate for attention to be focused on it. ”

“ If poll numbers at the point at which the President has them are any indication of popular support, then previous Presidents who had virtually identical job approvals went on to landslide reelections just a week or two after those polls were taken. So the President enjoys solid support of the American people. By some measurements, that solid support is down from a very high level of support. ”

“ It should not be treated or seen as a partisan issue. It should be seen as an issue of how to fill an American government. Q -- to perhaps build bipartisanship with Senator Daschle, and to try to make sure that at least the folks on his side aren't -- MR. FLEISCHER: There's no question this is an opportunity for the Senate to speak in a bipartisan voice. These are nominations made by a Republican President that need to be approved by a Democrat Senate. And it has been the tradition of the Senate that regardless of who is in the White House, a President is entitled to put his people in place. ”

“ It presents challenges again for the government and for people, regardless of their party. It presents challenges for the Congress to have witnesses come up and testify. It presents challenges for the nation to have the appropriate ministerial officials go abroad to represent the United States in important meetings, and throughout the government. ”

“ And I think that that's a very encouraging sign for Americans from all walks of life about the state of technology, the state of science and the state of medicine. And I think it's -- it's always interesting for politicians to undergo any type of health treatment. ”

“ There will be an announcement made later today, and I'm not going to get into the specifics of it, by the Department of Interior. I will simply say that the President has heard the voices of many people in Florida; he is concerned about the environment; he's concerned about people in Florida and their reaction to development of resources off of their shore and there will be an announcement made later today by the Secretary of Interior. ”

“ In other words, it will help grow the economy and, therefore, bring in additional revenue at a time of a weakness in the economy. Q In the out-years, maybe. In the near-term, revenue has declined because of the tax cut, as well. ”