Robert Gibbs

“ The President also feels, again, that yesterday's numbers make the job of members of Congress, of members of this administration, and of him, to act quickly; that we can't delay, that we need to get stimulus into this economy; that the more we delay, the more people are going to lose their jobs, the less impact that this is going to have quickly. ”

“ Obviously it's a proposal that the President has supported in the past and is going to wind its way through Congress.
The President believes that particularly those that have seen their pay and their wages either flat-line or decrease over the past few years, and that have the least buffer in what they make and what their bills are, those are exactly the type of people that we should be giving tax cuts to, because those are the very people that are likely to turn around and spend that money. ”

“ One point eight million people stood on the Mall, which happens to be the most visited national park that we have, right? I think that you can make a very credible case -- and the economic team has -- that reconditioning the National Mall will create jobs, probably through spending in small businesses. I saw editorials over the weekend, you know, "How is hiring cops stimulative?" Well, if you're about to fire cops, then hiring cops is stimulative. It's putting people back to work. ”

“ There is a consensus that one thing alone is certainly not going to do it, and if we don't begin to do these things in concert with each other -- meaning the proposals -- that we're not going to enjoy an economic recovery.
The President met with -- as part of his economic daily briefing -- with Secretary Geithner and Dr. Summers for about 50 minutes today in the Oval Office. They talked about economic news, they talked about the recovery, and I believe the economic team continues to be in the process of putting together some ideas. ”

“ Well, it's a good question, Jeff, because the President said, and I think both members on the -- Republican members on the House and the Senate side -- talked about and understand that the stimulus or the economic recovery plan is just one part of a series of things that have to happen, a financial stability package, some regulation of the financial industry to ensure that this type of thing never happens again. ”

“ I do believe that the President, regardless of what country or what group we're talking about, believes that urgency in dealing with the very important issues of nuclear proliferation are important and must be done quickly, must be done with the diplomacy of other countries and, when it's necessary, through direct diplomacy of the United States. ”

“ And I think on any number of occasions -- whether it's going up there when he was President-elect, whether it's bringing a group down here last week, whether it's going back up there today -- that the President believes honestly that we can put something together with input from both parties that will most benefit the American people. ”

“ I think at the end of the day we'll have a bill that a lot of people support and a lot of people are proud of. We understand that this is a long process. It doesn't dampen or diminish the President's willingness to seek those opinions and to go out and talk to different people. ”

“ But the public comments we hear are quite predictable. Democrats are accused by Republicans of larding it up and ramming it down the throats of the Republicans. Republicans are concerned that there's far too much stimulus and not enough tax cut. ”

“ On tax cuts, it's been argued, though, that the "Making Work Pay" tax credit is less stimulative than actually reducing the tax rates for the lowest two brackets. And also, Grassley has also said that if you were to just pass the minimum -- alternative minimum tax, that would reach more of your lower-end taxpayers. ”

“ So I think what people can take from that interview is that you have a President that is willing to reach out and talk to the Muslim world to ensure that they know that the aspirations that he has for them are what they have for themselves and what they have for their children. ”

“ And this may be somewhat unique in this town to watch the President of the United States go up to Capitol Hill, but I don't -- it may be the first in our seven-day-old presidency, but I can assure you it won't be the last time the President goes up to talk to members of Congress and seek their input on something as important as getting our economy going.
[REPORTER] : But what you're talking about, and what you say the President talked about, seems more aspirational. And to judge by the public --
GIBBS: We do aspire to pass a strong bill. ”

“ At the meeting today Congressman Pence, among others, expressed concern that they had been shutout of this process when it comes to negotiation on Capitol Hill. Does the President think that Speaker Pelosi and Chairman Obey have been bipartisan the way he likes to hold out bipartisanship as a goal?
GIBBS: You know, Dick, I have not been in meetings about the stimulus bill. I can only talk most substantively about the viewpoint of the President and his involvement in this. ”

“ The message that the President brought today, and the same message I think that Republicans have when they met -- we all see the statistics that come out once a month about where the employment numbers are or consumer confidence which is low or housing numbers that while slightly better are still far different than they were just a year ago, and we can get caught up into acronyms and all that kind of stuff. ”

“ I think the President during the campaign and throughout the transition has talked about what's required of everybody involved. Obviously -- I think many of us know, without enumerating the individual choices, what issues lay before us. ”

“ That process that started at the beginning of this administration continues tomorrow at the Pentagon. I think they'll talk about a number of issues. Obviously one of them will be Iraq and Afghanistan.
He'll also, again, at some point have a meeting similar to the one we had on the 21st with -- that will involve General McKiernan, to talk specifically about Afghanistan. But throughout this process, the President has laid down the test of ensuring that he hears specifically from both those on the ground and in the region before he makes decisions on our force posture going forward. ”

“ Is he concerned that he's being used as a political weapon?
GIBBS: If the President becomes a walking comment box that gets an economic recovery plan faster into the American economic bloodstream, then my guess is they'll have to fill up the cars and we'll drive up there a lot more often.
Mark.
[REPORTER] : New subject?
GIBBS: Yes, sir.
[REPORTER] : Karl Rove's attorney wants to know what the White House Counsel thinks about whether Rove is still covered by executive privilege in a subpoena that he received yesterday from the House Judiciary Committee. ”

“ When we speed down the interstate and it says, "slow, workers ahead" -- those are jobs.
I think the spending in this bill will create jobs, it'll put people back to work, it'll get this economy moving again. Some people might not want to do that. The President believes we face an economic crisis that doesn't allow us the option to turn our back on that happening.
Michael.
[REPORTER] : Robert, the President today urged the Republicans on the Hill to put aside politics. ”