Excerpts from Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer,
October 29, 2002 (Full
transcript)
QUESTION: In light of Quest restating their earnings and
consumer confidence a question at this point, what -- other than tax
cuts, what does the President plan, or does he have any plans to
think about stimulating consumer confidence in the economy?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, clearly, Congress has still left
unfinished the business of terrorism insurance with the hundreds of
thousands of jobs that that can create. And the President hopes that
when Congress comes back for the lame duck session, they'll be able
to finish the work on that. It got close, it didn't get finished.
The President hopes that Congress will fully fund the budget
priorities the President has sent up to the Hill, which are pending,
particularly in the area of homeland security, which has money for
bioterrorism defenses and for first responders' needs. There are
many issues pending up there that Congress has to address. And once
they're finished with these important priorities, the President
hopes that they will hold the line on spending, because the
President worries about the effect of deficit spending and
overspending can have on fiscal discipline.
The energy bill that is pending up in the Congress is also good
for America. It represents energy independence. It also represents
conservation. But the President still views the economy as the
fundamentals remain strong; that the economy is not as strong as he
would like it to be, but particularly, another area that can be
effective is the acceleration and the making permanent of the tax
relief.
QUESTION: Ari, on the economy, you mentioned a few moments
ago measures are pending in Congress that could help stimulate
growth. There are other measures out there that are being talked
about -- extending unemployment insurance, rebates, et cetera.
However, there is a column in the Wall Street Journal today by Allen
Murray which says that the best way to reinvigorate the economy is
not by changing monetary or fiscal policy in any of these ways, but
to end the business and investment uncertainty that now exists
because of our Iraq policy. If I may quote, he says that, "The best
tonic for the U.S. economy would be a successful war or a bloodless
end of the Saddam Hussein regime." What is the administration's
response?
MR. FLEISCHER: Well, the administration's response is that
in the event that there is any military action in Iraq, it's not
going to be driven by economic considerations, it's going to be
driven by the need to protect the American people from the real-life
threat involving Saddam Hussein in his pursuit of weapons of mass
destruction. That would be the factors that the President considers.
QUESTION: Do you believe, though, that in terms of
business uncertainty, that a factor that contributes to it right now
is this uncertainty as to whether or not the United States is going
to war?
MR. FLEISCHER: I think that a variety of economists have
looked at a variety of factors in the economy and tried to determine
what has created the economy that we presently have. And there's no
unanimity among the economists -- and I'm not an economist, so I
wouldn't want to venture into what the exact causes are.