Remarks By President Barack Obama At The Closing Of The Fiscal Responsibility Summit; Also Participating: Vice President Joseph Biden; Senator John McCain

Press Conference

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PRESIDENT OBAMA: (Applause.) Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Please have a seat.

Well, this says something, and I don't know what, about all of you, that I hear you really enjoyed this fiscal responsibility summit. (Laughter.) I mean, I -- (laughs). It's a sign of -- (chuckles) -- something. (Laughter.)

All right.

I understand you guys had great breakout sessions, and my advisers just filled me in on some of the issues that came up. I want to -- I want to just provide a few opening remarks, and then I'm -- just open it up for questions and comments.

The idea here was to bring everybody together because it's been a long time since we had this conversation.

And over the last eight years, I think we've seen a continued deterioration in the government's balance sheets.

My sense is that, despite partisan differences, despite regional differences and different priorities, everybody is concerned about the legacy we're leaving to our children. And the hope was, is that if we had a forum like this to start talking about these issues, that it would turn out that there are real opportunities for progress -- there are going to be some areas where we can't make progress -- but that we have more in common than we expect.

And I appreciate that while we may have different opinions, there's a renewed willingness to put some concrete ideas on the table, even on those issues that are politically tough. And that's real progress.

Couple of take-aways that my staff indicated to me. There was a healthy debate on Social Security, but also a healthy consensus among some participants, including Congressmen Boehner and Hoyer, as well as Senator Graham and Senator Durbin, that this was a moment to work in a bipartisan way to make progress on ensuring Americans' retirement security. And I think one of the things we want to do is to figure out how do we capture that momentum.

Over the longer run, putting America on a sustainable fiscal course will require addressing health care. That seemed to be an issue that there was a lot of consensus around. Many of you said what I believe, that the biggest source of our deficits is the rising cost of health care. It's a challenge that impacts businesses, workers and families alike. And voices as varied as Senator Alexander, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, to Senator Baucus and Senator Dodd and Representative Waxman, all agreed to try to tackle health care this year; which I think that offers extraordinary promise, although peril as well.

The tax reform discussion underscored clear agreement that the tax process has to be simplified for all Americans. The task force on the budget process yielded some unanimous agreement that the existing -- existing process wasn't working. The question is whether we'll have the commitment and discipline to do what we know needs to be done, and whether we need to create some new mechanisms to deal with these challenges.

Now, I want to make sure that the conversation doesn't end when we go home today. We've got a lot of hard choices to make. We need to build off this afternoon's conversation and work together to forge a consensus.

So one of the things that I'm hoping to do is that my team, each of whom were taking copious notes during the course of these respective break-out sessions, will issue a report or a summary of the conversation. It will be distributed to each of the participants in those respective discussions. We will then ask for concrete ideas either about substance or process and we will ask that you get those back so that we can then issue a final report coming out of this conversation in 30 days.

And we're -- I think somebody just dubbed this the "fiscal sustainability project," so that's as good of a name as any. And the idea, then, is that there will be a constant loop between the White House and all of you about how we should move forward on this. And hopefully this will start breaking down into some concrete take-aways and tasks.

Some of the recommendations that have been made are already reflected in the budget that we're proposing. Some new ideas may have arisen that we did not think of and that can be incorporated as the budget process moves forward in Congress. And so we're very much looking forward to hearing from your ideas both about process and about substance. And then we will, in 30 days' time, be able to come out with a series of recommendations.

In some cases, there may be some things that we can do by executive order that don't require legislation, but there seems to be some consensus are smart things to do. In other cases, it's going to require a legislative -- some legislative decisions, and we're going to collaborate closely with the relevant chairs and committees that have jurisdiction.

So with that, let me just stop. And what I want to do is just get some comments. A lot of you have been working hard on this, but I'm going to use my presidential prerogative and call on a couple of people first.

And then if other people have comments that they want to offer, please raise your hands.

And I'm -- I'm going to start with John McCain. And -- and, you know, he and I had some good debates about these issues. (Laughter.) But I -- and I mean what I say here -- I think John has also been extraordinarily consistent and sincere about these issues. And I want to see if -- if you, John, you've got some thoughts about where we need to go and some priority areas. I know you were in procurement, for example, which is an area I know we would like to work on together with you.

SEN. MCCAIN: Well, thank you, Mr. President, and thank you for doing this. I think it's very important, and particularly the breakout session that we had. Our secretary of Homeland Security was our leader, and so we -- I think it was a very fruitful discussion.

Just one area that I wanted to mention that I think consumed a lot of our conversation on procurement; it was the issue of cost overruns in the Defense Department. We all know how large the defense budget is. We all know that the cost overruns -- your helicopter is now going to cost as much as Air Force One. I don't think that there's any more graphic demonstration of how good ideas have cost the taxpayers an enormous amount of money.

So the -- we will -- and I know that you've already made plans to try to curb some of the excesses in procurement -- we really have to do that. We're going to have to pay for Afghanistan, as you well know, and we're not done in Iraq. But most importantly, we have to make some tough decisions -- or you, Mr. President, are going to have to make some tough decisions about not only what we procure but how we procure it. And I thank you for the opportunity of sharing (your ?) thoughts with a lot of very smart people.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, John, I mean, this -- this is going to be one of our highest priorities. By the way, I've already talked to Gates about a thorough review of the helicopter situation. (Laughter.)

The helicopter I have now seems perfectly adequate to me. (Laughter.) Of course, I've never had a helicopter before. (Laughter.) You know? Maybe, you know -- (chuckles) -- maybe I've been deprived and I -- (laughter) -- I didn't know it.

But -- but I think it is a -- it is a -- an example of the procurement process gone amok. And -- and we're going to have to fix it. Our hope is -- is that you, Senator Levin and others can really take some leadership on this.

And -- and one of the -- the promising things is, I think, that Secretary Gates shares our concern, and he recognizes that simply adding more and more does not necessarily mean better and better, or safer and more secure. Those two things are -- are -- are not -- they don't always move in parallel tracks, and we've got to think that through.

Steny, you participated in the -- the Social Security panel. What --

REP. STENY HOYER (D-MD, House majority leader): Mr. President, I think that the Social Security discussion was a very, very productive section. I think there were some obvious, as you would say, disagreements, but as was indicated earlier, John Boehner, myself, Dick Durbin, Lindsey Thomas (sp) --

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Lindsey Graham too. (Cross talk.) I don't know about Lindsey Thomas (sp), but I know Lindsey Graham --

(Laughter.)

REP. HOYER: Lindsey Graham. (Cross talk, laughter.)

MR. : South Carolina. It's not Louisiana, all right? I got it. (Laughter.)

MR. : (It's all work ?). (Laughter.)

REP. HOYER: But Lindsey Graham -- everybody gave some very solid recommendations (here ?), and I think there was in fact a consensus, notwithstanding the different perspectives and ways and means to get to an objective -- was essentially that getting to an objective served a number of purposes. Obviously from a fiscal standpoint it served a purpose, but also in giving both seniors and young people confidence the benefits would be available to them in the short term and, in -- from young people's standpoint, in the long term.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: So -- thank you.

REP. HOYER: But -- (off mike) --

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Please.

REP. HOYER: I think your comment that follow-through is going to be essential.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: (Great ?).

REP. HOYER: If we've come together and had a good discussion -- (off mike) -- a lot of bright people who had some very good information from very different interest groups who represent large constituencies. If it just stops there, then it won't have been as useful as you want it to be and as the country wants it to be.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Good.

Speaking of bright people with large constituencies, Bill Novelli -- where's Bill? Is he still here? There you are.

I know you participated in the health care panel. Bill, your thoughts on Medicare and the -- the interest of your membership in getting an equitable solution to what is an unsustainable situation.

BILL NOVELLI (CEO, American Association of Retired Persons): The whole entitlement thing is as you've characterized it. We have a real sustainability problem.

But I think you've put the right frame on this, Mr. President, by saying that the path to sustainability is health care reform.

And our group, I think, had tremendously good ideas. Most of the policy ideas that we all know and share were on the table today. There's a lot of hard policy work that's going to have to go on, but I think we have some momentum.

But I think one of the things that also came out of the session was we need to engage the American people. Yeah, we have to think of them as patients; we have to think of them as insured or uninsured. But we also have to think of them as taxpayers and as voters. They need to understand what the trade-offs are, what they might lose, what they might gain. We can all do that, but nobody can do it as well as you can. You've got the bully pulpit to really carry the message to the public.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, I appreciate that. This -- this is the only area where we had done a little pre-judging of what needs to be done. We've scheduled a health care summit next week. It's not that I've got summit-itis here, but rather it's actually exactly the point that you're making, Bill, which is everybody here understands a lot of the trade-offs involved in health care and that there are no perfect solutions, but in the sound bite political culture that we've got, it's very hard to communicate that. And we think that it's very important to have some forums.

And I talked about this during -- way back in the primary campaign -- that there is a process that the public can listen to about what these trade-offs are, because I think that some of us get on our high horse and say we've got the answer to health care. Well, it turns out that, you know, there are costs involved on the front end, even if the benefits accrue, you know, in -- in the out years. There are situations in terms of people, if they've got health insurance, sort of liking what they've got now. They just want it for cheaper. There are, you know, issues in terms of providers and them feeling like they're getting squeezed.

And so making sure that all that stuff is surfaced in public and we're educating the public on some of these issues can be very important if we're going to make progress, because, you know, some of these things will ultimately involve some tough decisions and some tough votes.

So, budget process. Ken, you participated, and I want to get both your views and John Spratt's views on -- I don't know if John's still here -- there he is -- on -- on budget process and how you think we're going to need to clean this stuff up.

SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR KEN SALAZAR: Well, first of all, thank you for doing this. I thought it was a terrific start in the White House. I think Bob Greenstein said it very well when he talked about us being on an unsustainable course, the debt being the threat. Because we've doubled the debt in the last eight years, tripled foreign holdings of the debt. Last year when we went out to finance this debt, 68 percent came from foreign entities. So that creates a vulnerability.

How do we address it? That is the $64,000 question. And that's what we addressed in our group. I think it's fair to say there were different views. Many of us believe it's going to take some special process to bring all of the players together to write a plan so that we see the tradeoffs between what's available for health-care reform, which without question is the 800-pound gorilla; Social Security, which also has to be addressed for the long term; and revenue. Revenue is the thing almost nobody wants to talk about. But I think if we're going to be honest with each other, we've got to recognize that is part of a solution as well.

And it's very hard to know what are you going to do with Medicare, unless you know what revenue is going to be. It's very hard to know what you can do with Social Security without knowing what revenue's going to be.

So somehow, we've got to come together around a plan. And course, that depends on presidential leadership, which you've certainly provided here today.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: All right. Thank you.

John?

REP. JOHN SPRATT (D-SC): I got a bum leg, Mr. President. Sorry -- excuse me, sir.

And thank you (for holding ?) this. I was -- participated in the 1997 balanced-budget negotiations. That was the last time we were at the White House to discuss in common, Democrats and Republicans, some common ground where we could both take -- (off mike).

Thank you for doing this, again. This is only a beginning. I would agree with Kent that -- we agreed we need a special process. We didn't come to final agreement on exactly what that process would be, whether it be a task force or a steering committee, within the Congress or a commission from without the Congress. That's still an issue to be resolved.

But I think -- I don't think it's an issue we can't resolve. And we moved towards a discussion of some sort of hybrid of the two. Clearly that's important.

I think that everyone in that room would agree that if we're to succeed, in what we're setting out to do, we need a special process, by which we can accomplish it.

We need to force the issue. We need to have some assurance that whatever we agree upon can indeed be brought to the floor of each house and brought to a vote.

Many of us think it's too draconian to compare this to the BRAC process, where you get a up or down vote, no amendments. But there needs to be some sort fast track and special procedure, to ensure that whatever the entities come up with, it will be duly considered.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Okay. Thank you, John.

Since I see her sitting right next to you, Susan, you were in the procurement.

SENATOR SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): Yes.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Therefore do you have any thoughts on --

SEN. COLLINS: Yes.

If you look across the federal government, there are problems in IT contracts no matter where you look. And one recommendation that our group talked about is establishing some kind of Nunn-McCurdy law to apply to IT contracts.

In general, we also talked about the need for more competition, in contracts, for justification for -- (inaudible). My favorite pet peeve is, we don't have enough skilled contracting officers.

We've had an enormous increase in the volume of contracts, at a time when the acquisition workforce has actually declined by 22 percent. So those were some of the issues that we discussed, in addition to what Senator McCain said.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Charlie, you're right here in front. Ken talked about revenue. You were participating in the tax reform panel.

REPRESENTATIVE CHARLES RANGEL (D-NY): First, let me thank you for bringing us together. (Off mike) -- making certain that recognized how important it was, to the countries of the world, that we do something.

The corporate part of the tax structure; people thought it was relatively easy to dramatically reduce the rates, to make us internationally competitive. The problem of course was the different views they had on how you handle the individual rates.

I don't think there's any committee in the House that would be more anxious to bring forth a product -- (inaudible) -- to bring forth something in a bipartisan way. And I think this is a dramatic first step, to see where we're going.

As I said, I don't want to seem to be corny. But it would appear as though that if America recognizes a crisis, then they're not looking for a Democratic or Republican solution.

And in order for us to be politically successful, they're going to have to believe that it was done in a bipartisan way.

So I think this initiative is a strong first step. I only hope at the end of the day we can come out -- maybe not until we've seen it -- but certainly in a bipartisan way.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: This is just a quick thought on taxes, Charlie. My instinct is, is that you're absolutely right that the individual tax rate is always the hardest thing. There are some philosophical differences between the parties on this and, you know, I understand that.

On the corporate side, I at least have always maintained that if we tried to think in the same ways that we thought about it in 1986, and if you closed loopholes, you could actually lower rates.

REP. RANGEL: No question about it.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: And that that's an area where there should be the potential for some bipartisan agreement, you know, because I think on the books, the rates in the United States are high; in practice, depending on who it is that you can -- you know, what kind of accountant you can hire, they're not so high. And that's an area where we can work on -- simplification, same thing. You know, I don't think there's anybody out here who thinks that, you know, we are -- we are making it customer-friendly for the taxpayer. And that's an area where we can make some great progress.

REP. RANGEL: Well, if you're looking for a fight, and a partisan fight, any loophole you close is a tax increase. And we have to get over that, to make certain that the vast majority of businesses recognize it's in their best interests to do the right thing as relates to those who take an unfair advantage of the code.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, you were here in '86. It's been done before. We might be able to get it done this time.

REP. RANGEL: Well, under your leadership, I'm looking forward to it.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Eric, you got some thoughts?

REP. ERIC CANTOR (R-VA): Mr. President, I, too, want to thank you very much for having us. It's -- it is a great opportunity, I think, for us to really come together on some of these very, very big issues. You said before when we were in discussions on the stimulus debate that we're going to have some very tough choices to make.

And we look forward to your address tomorrow night and, you know, working through some of these very big issues, as well as trying to address what's on Secretary Geithner's plate in the immediate -- as far as the bank fix, the housing fix and others.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Good.

REP. CANTOR: Thank you.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thanks.

Max? You were in the health care panel, but obviously you've got jurisdiction over everything. (Laughter.)

SEN. MAX BAUCUS (D-MT): I know how the Finance Committee works, so -- (laughter) -- well, Mr. President, first, all of us are enormously grateful for what you're doing here, not only the specific issues but also our fiscal problems. It needs to be done and we deeply appreciate your taking this on together.

I'd like to just make a little bit of a pitch, if you will, on, again, health care reform. I think it's very symbolic, very interesting that the first person you called upon was John McCain. And that's the approach I think we need to take here generally and specifically with health care reform.

You had a different view during the campaign on health care reform. John McCain had a different view during the campaign on health reform. But here's the opportunity for us to come up with something that's uniquely American; it's public and private. And I do believe if we just keep that working-together approach and keep at it, follow-up meetings, et cetera, take advantage of this opportunity where the stars are now aligned as to heath care and we'll get it done.

But I was very pleased that you called on John first, because that, I think, is the tone that we have to take here to make sure we're working together.

Thank you.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you, Max.

Jim, you got any thoughts on this?

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): Well, I just wanted to thank you very much, Mr. President, for doing this.

I was thinking, when you called upon Senator McCain, I came to this Congress having worked for four governors, two Democrats and two Republicans. It was remarkable, the things we were able to do in South Carolina, with Jim Edwards, as many of you may remember, Carroll Campbell, John West and Dick Riley, simply because he started thinking about what we needed to do for the people of our good state.

I think that what we're doing here today provides a framework for us to really get some things done for the people of our great nation, that we can do this. And I'm so pleased that you've set this tone here today and I think we all feel the same.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Mike, were you in -- were you in the health care?

SENATOR MIKE ENZI (R-WY): Yes.

MR. : That would be -- (inaudible) -- answer, share some thoughts.

SEN. ENZI: Thank you, Mr. President. And I, too, appreciate the effort to bring these people together. We had both a number of associations as well as House and the Senate. And one of the things I want to emphasize is the -- is the need that Senator Baucus has pointed out to be bipartisan at the start of the -- at the beginning of the process rather than at the end of the process, to do that.

And we do have a task force set up in the Senate that Senator Baucus is heading up that has had several meetings already that have brought out the issues that -- all of the issues to be put on the table, and the words not to use. Because there are some words that send us right into the weeds in the debate, and so --

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Socialized medicine? (Laughter, applause.)

SEN. ENZI: They're --

PRESIDENT OBAMA: That one of them?

SEN. ENZI: They're words from both sides of the aisle. (Laughter.) (Off mike) -- not get into the debate that sends us into the weeds. (We just ?) stay up on the bigger things that -- (I guess ?) principles together, and then talk to the stakeholders and then take us through the regular Senate process. It is possible to do that sort of thing. Senator Kennedy and I and Senators Baucus and Grassley were in the pensions debate, and that took an hour of time on the floor plus two amendments to get that resolved, because it went through that very difficult process.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Right. Good.

SEN. ENZI: So I appreciate you putting that -- (off mike).

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Who did we -- did we have some representatives from the chamber of business participating?

JOHN CASTELLANI (President, Business Roundtable): Mr. President, I'm John Castellani. (Inaudible) -- we saw each other the other day.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Right. Yeah.

MR. CASTELLANI: I was in the health-care discussion, and the one thing that we all agreed on was that it is absolutely imperative, for both fiscal reasons as well as personal reasons and competitive reasons, to move forward on health care. We simply cannot afford as a nation, and we certainly cannot afford as businesses, to maintain the status quo, because it is unsustainable.

And I think as Bill pointed out and has certainly been pointed out by the people that were participating in it, all the senators and members, there are a lot of good ideas out there. The time is now to put those good ideas down in a piece of legislation and move forward so we have something that delivers quality health care to everybody in this country in a way that everybody can afford.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, business leadership, I think, is going to be critical. Andy Stern is sitting right next to you. Andy, you've been working on this front for a long time. You got some thoughts?

ANDY STERN (President, Service Employees International Union): Yeah. I mean, I just want to say that I am sitting next to John because he and I and Bill Novelli and others really have built a relationship over a long period of time, because we don't see this as a Democratic problem or a Republican problem. It's just America's problem. And it's time to solve it.

And if Lee Scott and I and business and labor and others can come together outside the Congress, it really is time for the Congress to get this job done, because the American people need it.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Nice scarf, by the way.

MR. STERN: Thanks. (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: David Walker?

Where -- where -- where is -- where is David at?

DAVID WALKER (President and CEO, Peter G. Peterson Foundation): Mr. President, it's an honor to be here. Thank you for your leadership. You touched in your remarks on our balance sheet.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Right.

MR. WALKER: As the former comptroller general of the United States, I can tell you we're $11 trillion in the hole on the balance sheet. And the problem's not the balance sheet. It's off balance sheet: 45 trillion (dollars) in unfunded obligations.

You mentioned in January about the need to achieve a grand bargain involving budget process, Social Security, taxes, health-care reform. You're 110 percent right that we need to do that. The question is, how do we do it?

Candidly, I think it's going to take some type of an extraordinary process that engages the American people, that provides for fast-track consideration. And with your leadership, that can happen. But that's what it's going to take, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Okay. Well, I appreciate that. And -- and again, when we distribute the notes coming out of these task forces, I want to make sure that people are responding both in terms of substance but also in terms of process. Because we're going to need both in order to make some progress on this.

REP. ISSA (?): Mr. President, kind of a surprise from the procurement group that was together. We had almost universal recognition that over the last decade or so we've overdone, in some cases, outsourcing of critical federal requirements. And that means that in many cases, we spend more to hire a contractor or a non- federal worker than we would pay to invest in federal workers.

And so there was -- there was universal -- Republicans, Democrats -- House and Senate, even! -- (laughter) -- (inaudible) -- saying during this administration we need to assess where we can re- federalize some parts of the work force, particularly when it came to people who do the procurement and oversee the procurement.

Also that we do have a system which is disadvantageous to someone remaining in the federal workforce. Our retirement system pays you less and less the longer you stay. Yours is flat, by the way. One day and you get your retirement. (Laughter.) But the accrual system, in fact, causes people to leave the federal workforce to double-dip rather than being encouraged either during their working time or if we ask them to stay on past their retirement. So those areas were areas I think we had good common -- your folks -- Janet took a lot of notes -- so I think you're going to see that we have areas where our committees could work with you to make those changes.

And they are legislative changes that could save us money.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Which I think would be terrific. I mean, that's the kind of stuff that's not sexy, but it ends up over time making enormous progress.

Anybody else that would just want to -- go ahead.

JACKIE JOHNSON PATA (National Congress of American Indians): Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to bring up that in the health care, we talked a lot about individuals and the systems of health care that we have, and looking for places that we can cut. But as a community organizer, I know that you know that, investing in the community, we look at the models across the world. And the models in our country where health care prevailed to be the strongest and where people live the longest is because they have a community that has -- of support and a community-wide of health care.

And I think if we look at access issues for those from Native American communities like mine, or rural America, or other places that create that access with a community support, and have the right mid- level service providers and others that can reach to the smaller communities across America.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: That's important.

Yes, go ahead.

REP. JOE BARTON (R-TX): Mr. President, thank you for having us here at the White House. I'm going to take a little bit different approach.

Senator Baucus mentioned it and Chairman Rangel mentioned it, the need for bipartisanship. I think the House Republicans have shown that when we're not included in the decision-making, we're disinclined to sign off on the solution.

And it is very easy in the House -- it's been set up to get things done quickly if the majority is united -- to forget about the minority. But if you really want consensus, I would encourage you to encourage the speaker to -- to have a true open process.

This is a good first step, but if this is all we do, it's a sterile step. On the other hand, if you really follow up and include everybody in the process, you're more than likely to get a solution that everybody signs off on. And I have sat, or stood behind every president since Reagan in this room at bill-signing ceremonies that were the result of consensus. So I commend you for this first step.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, with regard to that, I think you're making an important point. And you know, my response, first of all, is I'm not in Congress, so I don't want to interject myself too much into Congressional politics.

REP. BARTON: We'd love you to interject yourself. (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: But -- but I do want to make this point, and I think it's important. On the one hand, the majority has to be inclusive. On the other hand, the minority has to be constructive. And so to the extent that on many of these issues we are able to break out of sort of the rigid day-to-day politics and think long-term, then what you should see, I think, is the majority saying, what are your ideas?

The minority has got to then come up with those ideas and not just want to blow the thing up. And you know, I think that on some of these issues, we're going to have some very real differences. And you know, presumably the majority will prevail, unless the minority can block it.

But you're just going to have different philosophical approaches to some of these problems. But on the issue that was just raised here, on procurement, on the issues, some of the issues surrounding health care, the way it cuts isn't even going to be Democratic- Republican.

It's going to be -- you know, there may be regional differences. There may be a whole host of other differences. And if that's -- if we can stay focused on solving problems, then I will do what I can, through my good offices, to encourage the kind of cooperation you're encouraging.

The gentlelady back there. And then I'll -- we'll go right here to Tom. And then probably that's going to be it, because I think I'm already over time. Go ahead.

HEIDI HARTMANN (Institute for Women's Policy Research): Thank you, Mr. President. Heidi Hartmann, Institute for Women's Policy Research. I just wanted to point out that in the Social Security group, I think, there was a fair amount of consensus that given the demographic trends, we're actually going to need to do some benefit increases for those at the bottom.

We may see poverty increase because we're going to have more older unmarried women, more older minority people. And there was even I think a fair amount of consensus that therefore we will need to see revenue increases going into the system. So I thought there was a surprising amount of consensus in the Social Security group.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Tom.

SENATOR TOM COBURN (R-OK): To echo what some others have said, thanks very, very much for bringing us together.

A couple of people said to me, coming into the meeting today, why is the president continuing to reach out to the minority? And I think the answer lies in part in a couple of weeks ago, the minister at my church gave a sermon. It was based on the parable of the sower of the seeds.

You may recall that some of the seeds were sown in stony ground and rough ground. And some of the seeds were sown in places with thorns. Some of the seeds were sown in the shallow soil. And nothing much came out of those. But some of the seeds were sown in fertile soil and multiplied hundredfold.

I urge you to continue to reach out, not just to Democrats in the House and Senate but to continue to reach out to Republicans in both chambers as well, because some of that stuff will fall in fertile soil. And when it does, the minority has a responsibility to --

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, I will certainly do that, Tom, because I'm just a glutton for punishment. And -- (laughter, cross talk) -- I'm going to keep on talking to Eric Cantor. Someday sooner or later he's going to say, boy, Obama had a good idea. (Laughter.) It's going to happen. You watch. You watch.

Well, look, the -- just in closing, again the sooner everybody can respond to our report, coming out of each of these groups, the sooner then we can circulate a summary of everything that happened and then start speaking with you individually and in groups, about moving the process forward.

One last point I want to make, just because I think that from the press perspective, there -- I was reading some of the newspapers today, and there was the sense of a -- that maybe we were doing a pivot because we had just moved forward on the recovery package; now we're talking about fiscal responsibility. How did those two things match up?

I just want to be very clear about this. I've said it to the governors this morning, and I've said it to my staff in the past.

We chose to move forward on a recovery package because there was a strong sense among the vast majority of economists that if we did not try to fill a $1 trillion-a-year hole in demand because of the drastic pulling back of businesses and consumers, that the recession would get worse, unemployment would increase, and as a consequence tax revenues would go down, and the long-term deficit and debt projections would be even higher. That was the basis for the decision. It was not ideologically driven. I have no interest in making government bigger for the sake of it. I've got more than enough on my plate, as Lindsey knows, between Afghanistan and Iraq, and issues of terrorism, that if the private sector was just humming along and we could just make government more efficient and not have to worry about this financial crisis, I would love that. But that's not the circumstance we find ourselves in. So I made the best judgment about the need for us to move forward on a recovery package.

There were some differences, significant differences, between the parties about this. I would suggest that if you look at the differences, they amounted to maybe 10 (percent), maybe 15 percent of the total package. There wasn't a lot of argument about countercyclical payments to states to make sure that people had extended unemployment insurance or food stamps. There wasn't a lot of disagreement about some of the infrastructure that needs to be repaired, and there wasn't a lot of disagreement on the tax cut front. Fifteen (percent), 20 percent of it, there were some disagreements about.

But the reason I make this point is that if we're going to be successful moving forward, it's important for us to distinguish between legitimate policy differences and our politics.

And the reason that I -- there is no contradiction, from my perspective, in doing the recovery package first but now focusing on the medium and long term is because our hope is that this economy starts recovering. We will have taken a hit in terms of our debt and our deficit. But as Bob Greenstein said, the recovery package will account for about one-tenth of 1 percent of our long-term debt. The real problems are the structural deficit and the structural debt that we've been accumulating and all of us are complicit in.

So we've got to get that taken care of. We would have had to take -- get it taken care of whether or not there was a recession. This just underscores the urgency of it. And I'm hopeful that we move forward in that spirit in the days and weeks and months to come.

So thank you, everybody. Appreciate it. (Applause.)

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