Text 1966, 384 rader
Skriven 2006-01-06 23:33:20 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0601063) for Fri, 2006 Jan 6
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Press Gaggle by Trent Duffy and Al Hubbard, Chairman of the National
Economic Council
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
January 6, 2006

Press Gaggle by Trent Duffy and Al Hubbard, Chairman of the National
Economic Council
Aboard Air Force One
En route Chicago, Illinois



10:58 A.M. EST

MR. DUFFY: Happy New Year to everyone, again -- for those of you who
weren't on the New Year's Day trip.

Let me go through the President's schedule, then I'll turn it over to the
Chairman of the National Economic Council for his comments on the
President's speech.

This morning the President taped his radio address, about our strong
economic growth and job creation. He then had his normal briefings. He is
traveling now to Chicago, Illinois, where he will tour the Chicago Board of
Trade, as we all know, and then make remarks to the Economic Club of
Chicago, at the Hilton, and then return to the White House later this
afternoon. And he will spend the weekend at Camp David.

With that, let me turn it over to Al Hubbard for remarks about the speech.

CHAIRMAN HUBBARD: Thanks. Obviously, the President is talking about the
economy and how pleased he is, how pleased we all are with continued
economic growth. Obviously, the numbers today confirm that: over 400,000
jobs in the last two months, and the unemployment rate dropping to 4.9
percent, which, as you know, was lower than it was on average in the '70s,
the '80s or the '90s. He's going to talk about the fact that this economic
- positive economic record is tied directly to the tax cuts of '01 and '03
and the importance of keeping those tax cuts, making them permanent,
preventing certain folks in Congress from trying to raise those taxes so we
can ensure that the economy continues to grow robustly in the future.

He's then going to talk about the importance of continuing to be very
earnest and keeping spending under control, keeping the deficits under
control, encouraging Congress to pass the reconciliation spending bill
which will reduce mandatory spending growth, or entitlement spending growth
by about $40 billion. The President is going to encourage Congress to get
that done.

And he's going to talk about how it's very important to him, and to all
Americans, that every American be given the opportunity to enjoy the
benefits of this strong, robust economy. And the way to do that is to make
sure every American has an opportunity for an excellent education; and for
those Americans who are already adults, to have an opportunity for job
training that fits the needs of the marketplace, and fits the needs of
employment opportunities.

As you all know, the most important factor in determining one's
compensation is your education. And that's why the President from the
beginning has talked about the importance of education; that's why he
supported No Child Left Behind. No Child Left Behind is working and he's
going to talk about the importance of expanding on that.

And, finally, he's going to remind people how important trade is to
America, how important it is to the people of Illinois -- a large number of
people in Illinois who depend on exporting industries; and make the point
that he's made over and over again, that he's confident that when there's
free and open markets and when there's fair trade and a level playing
field, that the American worker can out-compete anyone in the world. And so
that that's why he's working so hard, with Rob Portman as his Trade
Representative, to open up markets to American products, American services,
so there will be even more economic growth in the future.

Q Do you find no cause for concern that the December jobs report was much
lower than economists had predicted? I know you're looking at the two-month
average, but --

CHAIRMAN HUBBARD: Well, look -- and, by the way, we really look at trends
more than an individual month, or even two months. And the important thing
is that we've grown by -- since May of '03, I think we've created about 4.6
million jobs. We continue to create jobs at about 175,000 a month, on
average. That is very healthy. That's faster than the new job entrants, and
that's why the unemployment rate is continuing to drift down.

You know, these numbers are -- these estimates are always around 175,000,
plus or minus 150,000. These are -- there are huge variations from month to
month, and the important thing to look at is what the trends are. And the
trends are very positive. We think we're on a very sustainable path, and
that '06 will be a good year economically.

Q Are you concerned at all that interest rates are going to rise to a level
that will choke off the expansion that's going on right now?

CHAIRMAN HUBBARD: You know, the President and all of us on his team have an
enormous amount of confidence in Chairman Greenspan and the Federal Reserve
Board, and soon to be Chairman Bernanke. We're confident that they will
keep inflation under control in a way that provides opportunity for the
economy to continue to expand robustly.

Q Despite the fairly consistently strong growth and the pretty good jobs
numbers, and good productivity numbers, there's still a lot of people who
look at wage growth, and say it just hasn't been what you'd expect to see
in this kind of economy. Why do you think that is, and to what extent can
policy do anything about that?

CHAIRMAN HUBBARD: Obviously, that's a big concern to the President. If you
look at wage growth, there are a couple of factors that are important.
Number one, compensation has continued to appreciate, but because of rising
health care costs, a bigger portion of compensation increases have been
going to support health care than in the past. And that's why the President
is very concerned about the escalating cost of health care. He's going to
refer to that today, and I think that's something he'll be talking more
about in the future.

Secondly -- and this is something I mentioned earlier -- it's the people
with lower skills and less education who are not enjoying the wage
appreciation like others. And that's why it's so important that we give
everyone in America the opportunity to have an excellent education and to
have job training opportunities. You know, the average American, believe it
or not -- and the President is going to mention this; my numbers aren't
perfect here -- but between the ages of like 18 and 40, change jobs 10
times. And that's why it's important that we be -- how many times have you
changed jobs? (Laughter.)

Q Zero.

CHAIRMAN HUBBARD: But there may be an opportunity in the future.
(Laughter.)

MR. DUFFY: No, no, we hope not.

CHAIRMAN HUBBARD: That's why it's so important that we have -- that all
Americans are well educated and have the opportunity for job training, so
we can be prepared for our future economy.

MR. DUFFY: -- and productivity and wage growth.

CHAIRMAN HUBBARD: Yes, that's another very important point, thank you. You
know, probably the most remarkable statistic about this administration is
the productivity growth. Between '73 and '95, productivity grew at 1.4
percent per year, which means -- and by the way, over the long haul,
compensation is tied directly to productivity growth. So when it's growing
at 1.4 percent a year, it takes 50 years to double your standard of living.

Since the President has been in office, we -- productivity growth has been
approximately 3.5 percent a year, more than twice what it was between '73
and '95. Now, we don't think that's sustainable, but we do think that it's
sustainable to productivity growth to continue in the high two's, which
means our standard of living should be doubling every 25 to 28 years, as
opposed to every 50 years. And that's because of the -- the reason
productivity growth has improved is, one, we're a more flexible economy;
two, the lower tax rates, leaving more money in the hands of the private
sector, so the private sector can decide how to spend that money, so the
private sector can decide how to invest that money; lowering the cost of
capital, which means more investment and new technology, which provides for
higher productivity, which then allows for higher compensation for all
Americans.

Q You mentioned taxes, spending, and trade as three policy areas in which
the President is going to call for more progress on the agenda that he's
laid out. Could you draw a clearer distinction between the Democratic views
on those issues and where the President is, and what the implications would
be for the economy should the Democratic positions prevail? In other words,
what's at stake here?

CHAIRMAN HUBBARD: There's an enormous amount at stake here. The growth rate
of the economy, without question -- and I encourage you to talk to business
people around the country. The lower tax rates have had a very, very
positive impact on economic growth. It's had a positive impact on
investment, which has resulted in higher productivity. It's had a positive
impact on cost of capital, which again results in more investment and more
economic growth.

The President's fear is -- and to be perfectly frank, many Democrats on
Capitol Hill have even said they want to raise taxes on the American
people. That would be extremely harmful to the economy. And equally as
important is, it would mean that hard working Americans are having to give
up their hard-earned money, and give it to the government. And that's not
fair. They ought to be allowed to keep that money. And the wonderful thing
is, by keeping that money, it has a very positive impact on the economy. Q
Where does the money come from for additional job training and for
additional education?

CHAIRMAN HUBBARD: Well, it ultimately comes from the American taxpayer. And
--

Q So how do you figure that out when you're also trying to cut
non-discretionary spending -- how do you reallocate what's already there?

CHAIRMAN HUBBARD: Well, the President is going to mention in his speech
that in our most recent budget we eliminated and dramatically cut over 90
programs in government. I can tell you he -- we've just been through the
budget process with Josh Bolten, the President has, and Josh and OMB are
aggressively looking at other ways to cut spending and to make sure that we
are allocating spending to the highest priorities, where we get the most
bang for the buck, and cutting unnecessary spending. And holding spending,
the growth of spending. You know, the growth of non-security, discretionary
spending has dropped every year that the President has been in office. It
was actually negative last year. Obviously, I'm not going to preempt what
the budget is going to say for this year, but I can assure you the
President -- and I've been in meetings where he's made it clear to Josh and
the budget team that it is important to keep spending under control.

Now the biggest challenge, and the President is going to mention it today,
are entitlements -- you know, Social Security, Medicare -- because the
growth of entitlements are really contributing the bulk of the growth in
government, even today. It's a significant problem today. And the problem
is going to grow bigger and bigger. And entitlements are growing faster
than the economy, and they're growing on a non-sustainable pace. And that's
why we have got to address them. That's why the President made it -- made a
big push on Social Security last year. Unfortunately, the Democrats were
not willing to come to the table. But he's not going to walk away from
that, because, unfortunately, it's a problem that's not going to go away
until it's addressed by government leaders.

Q As interest rates go up this year, and consumers face higher energy
costs, that's going to sap the economy of one of its main growth engines.
What's going to be the catalyst for growth this year?

CHAIRMAN HUBBARD: Well, the business investment -- the forecasts on
business investment are quite healthy for '06. There's an enormous amount
of opportunity for business expansion. And the consumer, despite the
so-called savings rate, which is a very technical term, is really in quite
good shape. I mean, the net worth -- the household net worth is at an
all-time high; it's up 22 percent over when the President came into office,
and it's at $51 trillion. Consumer debt is at a reasonable level, and we
expect the consumer to continue to be a source of stimulation for the
economy.

Q Thank you.

Q Anything more on Sharon?

MR. DUFFY: Obviously, the President continues to pray for the recovery of
Prime Minister Sharon. And we hope he has a full recovery. The President
spoke about him yesterday and what a historic figure he is, as far as
bringing peace to the Middle Eastern region. And our thoughts and prayers
continue to be with him.

Q Do you have anything to say about what Pat Robertson said about Sharon
and it being some sort of divine retribution for his Gaza pullout?

MR. DUFFY: I think those comments were wholly inappropriate and offensive,
and really don't have a place in this or any other debate.

Q The Prime Minister's condition seems to be -- well, it is growing more
critical. How is the President being kept up to date, by whom, and where is
he getting his information from? I mean, even while we're on this flight,
is he in touch with anybody?

MR. DUFFY: The way he normally gets information, through top U.S.
government staff and the information system that we have in place.

Q Is the President going to meet with Speaker Hastert today?

MR. DUFFY: Yes, sorry, I should have mentioned that at the top. Speaker
Hastert and Senator Durbin will be joining the President on Marine One when
we fly from here to the Chicago Board of Trade.

Q Is there going to be any discussion about where Republicans can get their
leadership after Tom DeLay, or does the President still support Tom DeLay
and his leadership ability in the House?

MR. DUFFY: Scott has addressed that several times, there's nothing new to
add on that. The President has great confidence in Speaker Hastert and the
leadership team to deliver on continued accomplishments for the American
people. We're talking about one today, one of the strongest economies in
recent memory, that's created 4.6 million new jobs; and continuing to win
the war on terrorism and protect the American people. We've got other items
to accomplish, like in health care and education and in strengthening our
pension system. And the President looks forward to working with Speaker
Hastert and with Senator Frist and the Republican leadership on continuing
to deliver on behalf of the American people.

Q Let me try that more directly. Does the President think it's time for
DeLay to give up any hope of returning as Majority Leader, and does he
think the House Republicans ought to hold an election within the next month
or so to elect someone new?

MR. DUFFY: The President is the President of the United States. He is not a
member of Congress, and he will leave that decision up to the members of
Congress.

Q He's the leader of his party.

MR. DUFFY: He's the President of the United States, he's not a member of
Congress.

Q One more on Sharon. Why is the White House so reluctant to talk about a
post-Sharon era? I mean, everybody has said it's clear he won't be taking
office again. Are you making plans for what happens when he -- what comes
next? It seems like you say he's in your thoughts and prayers, but are you
making no plans for the future?

MR. DUFFY: Secretary Rice addressed that directly yesterday, Patsy. She
said that we pray for his full recovery; he is a man of peace. She also
said, as Scott McClellan did yesterday in his briefing, that the United
States' view of the Middle East is that the desire for peace and progress
in that area runs wide and deep, and is not limited to the Israelis; that
there are those on the Palestinian side, of course, that want peace. And so
there is progress taking place.

Q So it doesn't really matter whether it's a Prime Minister Sharon or a
Prime Minister Olmert or a Prime Minister Netanyahu -- the road map
continues, as far as U.S. foreign policy and Israel is concerned?

MR. DUFFY: I didn't say anything of the sort, Rosiland. I said that we pray
for Prime Minister Sharon's recovery, but that the feelings and the desire
for peace and progress in that region are wide and deep.

Q It's been nearly four years since the President outlined the road map.
What concern is there within the administration that making progress on a
strategy that has been, by many analysts' view very slow going, could be
disrupted because Sharon would no longer be able to shepherd the Israelis
as the negotiations go forward?

MR. DUFFY: You're asking me to speculate. There may be a time for those
discussions; now is not that time.

Q Is he going to Camp David today, or waiting until tomorrow?

MR. DUFFY: Not going to Camp David, at the White House this weekend, I
believe.

Q I thought you said earlier he was going --

MR. DUFFY: Did I say that? I mis-spoke, I apologize. He is going to be at
the White House this weekend. My apologies.

Oh, Week ahead. Monday, January 9th, the President will have breakfast with
Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito, at the White House. Then he will
later hold remarks at the No Child Left Behind Act at the North Glen
Elementary School in Glen Burnie, Maryland. Mrs. Bush is currently
scheduled to attend that with him.

On Tuesday, January 10th, the President will make remarks on the global war
on terror at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. Later he will have
a photo opportunity with the 2005 Little League Softball World Series
Champions. That's in the Oval Office at the White House. As you may recall,
the event was originally scheduled for Thursday, January 5th, but had to be
changed.

Wednesday, January 11th, he will have a discussion on the global war on
terror in Louisville, Kentucky.

Thursday, January 12th, the President will travel to New Orleans,
Louisiana, where he will make remarks on Gulf Coast reconstruction and
later attend a Republican National Committee dinner at a private
residence.**

Friday, January 13th, the President will meet with the Chancellor of
Germany at the White House. He will have a joint press availability with
the Chancellor of Germany in the East Room, and will later meet with
business leaders on Central American relief and reconstruction efforts in
the Oval Office.

And finally, today, I've got some bittersweet news. The White House's chief
White House cameraman, the honorable Percy Arrington, is going to be
retiring after 39 years at NBC News. Percy traveled with us to Crawford for
the holiday break on one of his last presidential trips before he departs
for greener pastures. He's been working at NBC since June of 1967, and has
been working at the White House unit since President Reagan. I've only
known Percy for a little over two years, but given our shared appreciation
for British literature and "Old No. 7," I consider him a very good friend.
And we're going to miss him very dearly. Thanks a lot, Percy. (Applause.)

Q One thing on the schedule. Is the Wednesday/Thursday an overnight trip,
Louisville and New Orleans?

MR. DUFFY: No.

** The Republican National Committee dinner is at a private residence in
Palm Beach, Florida.

END 11:19 A.M. EST

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