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Skriven 2006-09-25 23:31:26 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0609253) for Mon, 2006 Sep 25
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Press Gaggle by Tony Snow
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 25, 2006

Press Gaggle by Tony Snow
Private Residence
Riverside, Connecticut



12:25 P.M. EDT

MR. SNOW: Okay, first, I'll run through the schedule for the day. The
President had his normal briefings this morning, then there was a meeting
with business leaders on the Lebanon Private Sector Initiative. He is now
here.

Next, on to Cincinnati. There will be tour of the Meyer Tool, Incorporated
facility, then a statement on the economy, followed by a Mike DeWine for
U.S. Senate and Ohio Victory 2006 reception, at which point we return to
the White House.

Q Are you returning, or dropping off in your home village?

MR. SNOW: Oh, no, I'm coming back.

Q Just kidding. (Laughter.)

MR. SNOW: Just dropping by.

Q Tony, the President is doing five closed fundraisers this week, beginning
with these two today. We're in Connecticut, and then he's going to Ohio --
places where candidates maybe have not been entirely eager to be seen with
him. Is that why we're having all these closed fundraisers? Are Republicans
--

MR. SNOW: No, we're having them because they're in private homes. So I
think you're going to find in a lot of places we're going to be doing -- as
I've already told you before, Sheryl -- we'll have a lot of open events --
we'll let your phone turn off.

Q Sorry.

MR. SNOW: It's really quite elegant; it fits the circumstances. But there
will be plenty of open events.

Q Can you tell us a little bit about who's inside? Is the Republican Senate
candidate inside, or any --

MR. SNOW: I'll go and check. I saw Chris Shays, but I don't know who else.

Q Tony, how do you justify five events where the public has no idea what
the President is saying, what the pitch is, who he's meeting with -- in
some cases, how much money is raised --

MR. SNOW: I think people understand what the President stands for. It's not
as if -- typically, you try to make sure that if you're having an event in
somebody's private home, that it remains private. That's been a standard
not only in this administration, but prior. It's not like the
administration is pulling rabbits out of his hat. He's saying things that
you've heard before and that you're aware of.

Q Well, actually, in the previous administration they started this way and
there were a lot of protests from the media -- and from Republicans, as a
matter of fact -- and they allowed a feed to come out to reporters and they
allowed a print reporter to be in.

MR. SNOW: Understood.

Q So are you all considering that at all?

MR. SNOW: No.

Q Why not?

MR. SNOW: As I said, because, frankly, we're just not in the business of
revisiting this. The President is certainly going to be plenty accessible
to you guys and he's going to be accessible to the public and you know what
his positions are. And we're going to continue to express them.

Q But is this the way for Republican candidates who perhaps might not want
to be pictured publicly with the President to avail themselves of his
fundraising prowess while not being seen with him?

MR. SNOW: You're going to have ask them. That's not my reading, but feel
free to ask them.

Q Any reaction to former President Clinton's comments on what he did about
Osama bin Laden, compared to what's been done -- the Fox interview,
especially? He kind of implied that he'd done more than had been done the
first nine months. I wonder if there's any comment on that.

MR. SNOW: Well, he retorts; you decide. It's my view that -- well, not my
view. President Clinton clearly had strong feelings, but I'm going to let
-- we're just not going to engage.

Q Tony, does the President have any reaction to the reports in yesterday's
newspapers about the intelligence estimate, suggesting that the war in Iraq
had, in fact, spawned new terror cells and made --

MR. SNOW: I think it's important -- one thing that the reports do not say
is that war in Iraq has made terrorism worse. And by the way, the DNI will
be making public comments later today and he'll be taking questions in
Washington. This is -- and I'll tell you what, I'm going to -- because
rather than just trying to fake it, I've been in communication with the DNI
just to make sure that we get this right. Hang on a second.

The report is not limited to Iraq. I'll just read these out. First, the
false impression has been created that the NIE focuses solely on Iraq and
terrorism. This NIE examines global terrorism in its totality, the morphing
of al Qaeda and its affiliates and other jihadist movements. It assesses
that a variety of factors, in addition to Iraq, fuel the spread of
jihadism, including longstanding social grievances, slowness of the pace of
reform, and the use of the Internet. And it also notes that should
jihadists be perceived to have failed in Iraq, fewer will be inspired to
carry on the fight.

In short, the news reports contain nothing that the President hasn't said.
There was that one conclusion that you just mentioned, Sheryl, that
appeared in I think one sentence of The New York Times report, and two
sentences in The LA Times. Those are conclusions from blind sources.
Obviously, we're not going to go into what the classified report does say,
but what we did see in the newspapers yesterday, the substance, is
precisely what the President has been saying: Al Qaeda -- the leadership
has been hit hard; it has become more dispersed; that there is more
independent activity; that they're using other means for communication and
organization, such as the Internet; that they have an ideology that is
directed at the West and at democracies -- it's a totalitarian ideology
that tends to unite them.

And reading the stories I thought, well, yes, I mean, this is what the
President has been saying.

Q What about reports that there may be a need for more troops in Iraq? The
report that came out, I think today, and may be in The Times.

MR. SNOW: This is a reflection of the fact, as reported, I think last week,
or maybe the week before -- it was General Casey or General Abizaid -- I'm
sorry, I forget which -- said that there was no expected draw-down in the
future, that we would have a sort of constant troop level for a while, and
this reflects the need to maintain constant troops -- you have troops
coming in and out. So this is really a reflection of that.

Q Anything in the Cincinnati speech that's new, or will it just be a
general review of what we've heard on the economy?

MR. SNOW: It's an economic speech. It will go over the same things that
you've been hearing about.

Q And this Meyer metal, this is the same guy who's an ambassador, right?
His family --

MR. SNOW: I'll check my notes. I'm not sure. You know what, I'll find out.
Timkin -- yes, Timkin, that's different.

Q Meyers, he's got a -- Meyers has a diplomatic posting. I could be wrong.
I could be wrong.

MR. SNOW: Let's find out. We'll find out.

Q You're from that area.

MR. SNOW: Well, so am I. But neither of us is to the manor born, so we --

Q I could be dead wrong.

Q How much is the dropping of gas prices, which has been fairly dramatic --
does that help kind of boost up the message on the economy, which has been
kind of hard to get across with some of the statistics? Everybody notices
gas prices.

MR. SNOW: Everybody does notice gas prices. Look, again, we've got a good
economic story to tell. The one thing I have been amused by is the attempt
by some people to say that the President has been rigging gas prices, which
would give him the kind of magisterial clout unknown to any other human
being. It also raises the question, if we're dropping gas prices now, why
on earth did we raise them to $3.50 before? You know, the fact is --

Q -- look good. (Laughter.)

Q Who said that he's been rigging gas prices? Who said that he's been
rigging gas prices?

MR. SNOW: There actually have been --

Q Internet stuff?

MR. SNOW: No, there have been conspiracy theories out there about rigging
gas prices.

Look, we're glad the gas prices are lower, but the more important thing is
to put in place conditions that are going to make it congenial for the
economy to keep growing, to keep building jobs so that people are going to
be able to have good employment prospects, rising incomes. And that's
really what the President has been arguing about for a long time is, you've
got to keep the tax cuts so it can stimulate the economy. The idea that you
let tax cuts expire and suddenly give everybody a federally mandated pay
cut -- that's what a tax increase is; they take home less money -- that
somehow that's going to make the economy stronger, it's not.

Q Will that be central to what he says about the economy today, just the --
keeping the conditions in place to keep this economy --

MR. SNOW: No, because you've got to have a dynamic message. It's not merely
keeping the conditions in place, but developing conditions where people can
offer hope. You've got a state [sic] in Ohio that has been pretty hard hit,
and in places that have enjoyed prosperity, but also those that have been
hard hit -- you have to be assuring people that even though you have
historically low levels of unemployment and so on, you strive always to do
better.

Q Is Alan Schlessinger, the Republican Senate candidate, in there?

MR. SNOW: I don't know. I really don't.

Q What's the --

MR. SNOW: We'll find out.

Q Is the President supporting him, or is he staying out of it?

MR. SNOW: We're staying out of it.

Q How much are they expecting to raise here?

MR. SNOW: I think, roughly, $800,000.

Q And how many people?

MR. SNOW: Sixty-five, I believe.

Q Thanks. He's not an ambassador.

MR. SNOW: He's not an Ambassador.

Q That's my understanding.

MR. SNOW: Okay, that's okay.

Q And is the host of this event, the investment banker Scott Frantz; is
that correct?

MR. SNOW: I think that's right. I will double-check spelling, but I think
that's right.

MR. DECKARD: That's correct.

MR. SNOW: I'm sorry, what?

Q Do you know which bank?

MR. SNOW: No, I don't, but I can find out.

Q And, roughly, do you have the fundraiser totals expected in Cincinnati,
while we've got you here, people --

MR. SNOW: I don't, but I'll find out. I'll come back and give you a
mini-gaggle on the plane.

He is the President of Haebler Capital Corporation, H-a-e-b-l-e-r.

All right, thank you.

END 12:36 P.M. EDT
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