White House Gaggle

By Shirley Chang
President’s Schedule

The President had his usual round of briefings and participated in a NSC meeting on Iraq this morning. He is looking forward to the first cabinet meeting of the year to talk about the priorities he outlined during his State of the Union address as well as the 2006 budget. According to Scott McClellan, the president is expected to talk to the cabinet about the importance of meeting the nation’s priorities and "exercising even greater spending restraint than we have in the first few years. He wants to make sure that the cabinet is focusing on results and that programs are achieving their intended results and that taxpayer dollars is being spent wisely." At 2:05 pm, the President looks forward to a photo opportunity with the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch and other members of his team at the Oval Office. This afternoon, President Bush has a brief meeting and photo opportunity with Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez and family. Secretary Gutierrez is being sworn in at around 10 am in the Chief of Staff’s Office. Scott briefs at 1:30 pm, Joshua Bolten, Director of OMB, will be brief at noon on the release of the 2006 budget briefs. The State Department briefs at 1:00 pm and various cabinet departments will be holding briefings to discuss their specific budget items this afternoon.

The President’s Budget Plan

Helen Thomas said that the poor are going to be more disadvantaged under President Bush budget plan and asked, "Aren’t they on the priority list?" Scott replied, "Absolutely" and said that expanding opportunities is a key part of the president’s priorities and there are increases in the "No Child Left Behind Act." Scott concluded by saying, "Helping low income Americans has always been a top priority for this president and an important role that government plays."

Meetings with Middle East leaders in the Spring

In response to a reporter’s request for more detail on Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas’ acceptance to visit the White House this spring, McClellan stated: "We’re still working on the modalities . . . and the president is pleased that they have accepted the invitation and looks forward to seeing both leaders later this spring." The visits by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Abbas will be separate visits held sometime during the March and April months. A reporter asked if there are hopes of bringing the two leaders together at the same table. Scott’s answer was, "This is a very hopeful period we’re in the Middle East. We want to do everything we can to support efforts to move forward on the president’s two-state vision and there have been a number of encouraging steps taken." Scott said that it was important to recognize that there will be periods of ups and downs along the way and all parties recognize the importance of seizing this opportunity. "All parties have responsibilities and as Secretary Rice addressed, it is important to crack down on terrorism and have a unified security structure in the Palestinian areas."

White House Events Screening Process

A reporter asked whether there will be any additional screening processes other than security for the president’s speech at the Detroit Economic Club tomorrow. Scott said that typical events held by the White House are ticketed events and those tickets are spread throughout the community. A reporter continued to ask what kind of guidance is there where you "embargo 40-45 people who are on some sort of a . . . blacklist because of past opposition . . . to some of the president’s programs?" Scott replied, "I don’t know about any specific list." Scott reiterated that the tickets to such events are given to community leaders and "we welcome a wide variety of views and people at these events." Scott stated that even for those who wish to protest, there is still a designated area for these people to express their views. Helen Thomas interrupted and asked, "Where?" Scott replied, "Outside the event." Helen responded, "So people are screened for their opinions?" Scott replied, "No, I didn’t say that. Anyway, I’m trying to address Peter’s question."

The President’s Thoughts on Steroids

One reporter asked for the president’s thoughts on the use of steroids by major league baseball players. Scott said, "The president recognizes that the use of steroids in athletics is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. He urged Major League Baseball and representatives of the players to work together to tackle that issue and they have taken an important step to address the issue and increase some of the penalties for players who do use steroids or are caught using steroids." Scott said that major league baseball has increased testing as well in an attempt to address the issue. Scott added, "The president believes that the use of steroids by athletes who are often times role models, sends the wrong message to our children. It also has harmful effects on the players."

The President and Tax Cuts for Social Security

A reporter stated that over the weekend Senator Kennedy and others have mentioned that there would be better long term effects for Social Security if the government rolled back a third of President Bush’s tax cuts. Scott said that the president has made clear why it is important that we make those cuts permanent. He said, "The program policies we’ve implemented are working to strengthen our economy and we’re seeing sustained economic growth. 2.7 million new jobs have been created since May 2003 and the president’s policies are working. But we also live in a changing economy and that’s why we need to take additional steps to make sure we have an educated work force to fill the jobs of the twenty-first century." Scott stated that for those reasons, tax cuts are important and "certainly by strengthening our economy, we are increasing revenue to the federal government as well, and that’s an important part of the deficit reduction plan."

Personal Accounts in Social Security

A reporter asked Scott about how personal accounts reduce the cost of Social Security. Scott answered the reporter, "The social security system is unsustainable and is headed towards bankruptcy." The reporter then followed up with a question, to which McClellan answered: "What I’m saying is that we’ve put out the cost for the personal accounts for the first ten years because we know what that actual cost is and beyond that, we don’t know the cost . . . .We know that personal accounts do not add any additional costs, that’s why I said so called costs. By permanently fixing the system and establishing voluntary personal accounts, we actually save money in the long run. It is similar to paying off a mortgage on a home early, to reduce the long term cost." The reporter continued, "How do personal accounts reduce the cost of social security?" Scott answered, "I just said . . . .I said personal accounts don’t add any additional cost to the system. Some Democratic leaders put out that the cost is going to be two trillion dollars over the first ten years and that was not accurate. Some were more interested in trying to pass this problem onto future generations than focusing on solutions." Another reporter asked which generation would be expected to pay off the Social Security debt. Scott concluded by saying, "We’re going to saddle our children and grandchildren with a massive debt if we don’t address Social Security."