President Bush Weighs In On The Latest Economic Report
Friday, April 07, 2006LINDA O`BRYON: An hour after those employment numbers were released by the Labor Department, President Bush weighed in on them, saying they show a strong economy. At mid-morning, the president met with a group of financial journalists for a wide-ranging briefing on the economy and other issues. One of those journalists sitting down with President Bush in the oval office today was NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT co-anchor Susie Gharib. She joins us now from the White House. Susie?
GHARIB: Linda, President Bush met with us in an off-camera, on-the- record session. He told us he`s upbeat about the economy, but just before that meeting, he appeared on camera to take credit for his economic policies that he says led to today`s strong jobs number and that drop in the unemployment rate.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These millions of new jobs are evidence of an economic resurgence that is strong, broad and benefiting all Americans. Real after-tax income has grown by more than 8 percent per person since I took office. That means on average Americans have an income that is $2,100 higher this year than it was in 2001, after adjusting for inflation.
GHARIB: Later, in the closed door session at the White House, President Bush was asked why consumers don`t feel better about the economy. He blamed it on the war in Iraq, saying that as Americans watch death and destruction on their TVs, it`s affecting their attitude about the future. He rejected the suggestion that the source of American discontent with the economy is because wages are barely moving up for average workers. The president believes rising health care costs are squeezing paychecks, and that`s why he`s pushing his plan for health savings accounts and passing legislation to limit medical malpractice lawsuits.
He also made the case for extending his tax cuts. He said tax cuts encourage investment and investment equals jobs. But the president promised to cut the deficit in half by 2009 and warned Congress to restrain spending or else quote I`ll use the veto pen. The president was asked many questions about the heated debate on immigration. He encouraged Congress to do quote what`s best for this country, not based upon the size of a parade or the numbers in a poll. When I asked him about the issue of illegal immigrants taking jobs from Americans, the president argued that immigrants are doing some jobs Americans won`t do, and without them, it would hurt our economy.
The president also said he hasn`t given up on Social Security reform and he plans to spend the next two and a half years of his presidency pushing through everything on his agenda, saying that he will quote sprint to the end. And, Linda, when he was asked whether Treasury Secretary John Snow will be with him on that sprint, all he said was, "John Snow is doing a good job." So you can take that any way you want.
O`BRYON: Susie, the president of China will be coming to the White House in two weeks. Did President Bush say anything about China during your briefing?
GHARIB: Actually, he did, and you`re right about that. He said one of the things that`s going to be on the agenda certainly is talking about the Chinese currency and revaluing it. He said already they`ve had some preliminary discussions with the Chinese government, talking to them about doing that, making that move and he`s confident that when the time is right that China will do that. But he also acknowledged he`s (ph) very understanding that China is facing a lot of challenges and that, you know, he says that, after all, they are new to dealing with the marketplace.
O`BRYON: A new survey shows Mr. Bush`s approval ratings have been falling in recent weeks. When he met with you today, what was his mood like?
GHARIB: Actually, you`re right about that. They`re at the lowest level of his presidency, something like 36 percent, but you wouldn`t have known it to see him today. He was positive. He was very focused on his agenda. My sense of him, he was quite relaxed. He was conversational in his tone when he was talking to us. And then after we bombarded him with so many questions, he chatted with us and shared with us some personal comments that something -- he`s been reading a lot of history books. He says reading history is important to understand what you`re going to do about the future. And he shared with us that he`s read something like 21 books so far this year. And he credits that to being a very disciplined person.
O`BRYON: Well, that he is. Thank you very much, Susie. Susie Gharib reporting live from the White House.
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