Robert Gibbs

“ Unfortunately, we've got a recovery and reinvestment plan that has to put people back to work in order to get this economy moving. We have a financial stability package that has to be put in place so that the money that the taxpayers have given and appropriated to deal with this financial system and what's wrong with it can be spent differently now than it was before, and restore confidence not just in consumers, I think, but in the way government acts. ”

“ It underscores the security environment with which our forces and Afghanistan forces -- the environment in which they operate in. Obviously we're reminded today of the brutal tactics that extremists like the Taliban wish to employ. It hardens our resolve, but it also hardens our resolve to get the next steps in Afghanistan right. ”

“ Our hope is that members of Congress from both parties will look through and find a balanced approach that provides some stimulus to the economy that will create jobs and get people working again, put money directly into people's pockets, make the necessary long-term investments to ensure our long-term economic growth, and to do so in a way that gives people confidence based on the transparency and accountability that's in that legislation. ”

“ But isn't housing the one that the American people really feel the most, more than --
GIBBS: You know, if somebody has a house but not a job, my guess is they'd say a job. If somebody has a job but not a house they might say the home foreclosure. If somebody has lost their job because -- or can't get a loan because of something that a CEO did in rigging the system, my sense is they might say regulation. ”

“ No, again, I think that the people that have been involved in the creation of the plan that the Secretary outlined yesterday, throughout the agencies in this government that have to coordinate the response -- the federal response to financial stability, would say that the outreach has been quite vigorous. People have been involved in both -- that work in both government and in the private sector. But, look, the transparency involved continues on our side, the collaboration with the private sector. ”

“ I've counseled many times in my very brief tenure of standing up here not to always judge leaks in the newspaper as fact. I know -- I have no doubt that at some point in this briefing today somebody is going to ask me about Secretary Gates and the decision to send more troops to Afghanistan -- a decision I have counseled that the President has yet to make, despite reading it many times in the newspaper. I have no doubt that what some people read in the newspaper charged their excitement and expectations up about something that wasn't ultimately in a plan. ”

“ It's important that the President and his economic team signal to all that are listening that the way that this money is going to be spent will be different than the original $350 billion was spent -- to do it in a way that's transparent, to ensure that that lending gets to the families and the businesses that need it. ”

“ Obviously you guys know that members of our budget team were up on Capitol Hill late last night, as was our Chief of Staff, hoping to get an agreement quickly for the American people.
[REPORTER] : Back on Geithner, you said before you've got to get past the headlines and the bold type and look at the details. Barney Frank, a key Democrat, is saying that he's disappointed that there was nothing on the housing crisis in this rollout. Where is your plan? I mean, every economist across the board says housing is at the root of this. ”

“ Individual members of Congress will certainly make up their minds and -- through an evaluation of the specifics of any final agreement. That's not going to change the President's reaching out to Democrats and Republicans. This isn't the first or the last issue that either this White House or Congress will deal with this year. And obviously that outreach is going to continue on any number of issues to ensure that we get some -- we hope to get their support on many things particularly dealing with an economic recovery. ”

“ Following up on Ed's first question, we're told that the stimulus deal that may be announced pretty soon up on Capitol Hill is unlikely to attract much more, if any, additional Republican support. Is the President at the point now where he's saying that he won the election, the American people are behind him, according to the polls, and the Republicans can either support his plan or get out of the way? ”

“ This is an enormously complicated problem. And to date, the program that has dealt with many of these bad investments and bad assets has been flawed. It's important that as we move forward, that the government is able to follow through on the commitments that it makes.
Secretary Geithner understands that, again, as I said, this is not going to be judged on the one-day market reaction, but instead by what is best for the long-term economic health of America. ”

“ Some of that market reaction may be based on what the plan does not do -- right? I'm sure many in the banking sector had hoped, presumably, that bad assets would be paid for either in an unreasonable way or at an unreasonable value, or that insurance that -- whose cost is borne primarily by the taxpayers but might primarily benefit shareholders isn't, in this case, part of that solution. ”

“ To go back to the attacks for a minute, I think the -- as the President said in his inaugural address, that we will not be judged by what we tear down, but by what we build up -- I think it's obvious that the Taliban are interested only in tearing down -- but believes that a renewed coalition will be focused on building up. ”

“ I just have one follow-up, which is, you're right in saying that this plan shouldn't be judged by a one-day market reaction, but one of the things that is really going to affect your ability to reboot the economy is the price that people who buy our debt demand in return for investing in it. ”

“ It's undoubtedly going to take us some time to get to a system of financial stability. But I think the beginnings of a framework to do just that were outlined yesterday by the Secretary.
[REPORTER] : Robert, if I can follow up on Jennifer's question, do you feel -- the President said on Monday night in his press conference Secretary Geithner would unveil details the next day. Do you feel that -- do you feel that it was ready? Was the plan ready? Does the President feel it was ready? And number two, if so, is he pleased with how it was communicated yesterday and how it was rolled out? ”

“ I think that obviously the team and the President are -- want to focus on getting something done, getting it done in a bipartisan way with leaders on both sides of Capitol Hill so we can get some help to the American people. ”

“ Well, he is on the recovery board, right? I guess two things. Caterpillar has also opposed the "buy American" provisions in the stimulus package. Recently a spokesman for Caterpillar said that they were like snake oil. ”

“ I think that to look through -- look, there's no doubt that people are going to look at who votes for what. The President, as I've said many times, and he has, too, is focused not on what the score is on the outcome, but how many jobs this plan can and will create to put people back to work. ”

“ Not necessarily. Again, I think the review encompasses more than just a military decision. It involves any number of things, as well as dealing with Pakistan and the many issues that go along with that.
[REPORTER] : Yes, Robert, one more on Secretary Geithner. Again today he was refusing to even estimate how much more money is going to be involved. Why is that? Surely there must -- and I realize you guys have only been in office for a few weeks -- but surely there must be some floor that you're operating with, that you know it's going to be at least a certain amount of money. ”

“ People -- thousands of people every week are being thrown out of their homes. Where is your plan?
GIBBS: Thousands of people every day.
[REPORTER] : Where's your plan?
GIBBS: Well, as the President said yesterday in visiting the location that was -- that had the highest rate of home foreclosure of any area in the country last year, that that likely was coming very soon. ”