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Q So, Robert, can we come back to health care, then, talk about that and Nancy Pelosi's --
MR. GIBBS: If that's what you'd like to talk about next, Mark, let's go there.
Q I think that's a fair assumption. Nancy Pelosi is now saying that she does not have the votes to take the Senate bill and run it through the House. Are you looking now at a long, drawn-out period of negotiating a scaled-down package?
MR. GIBBS: Well, look, Mark, the President obviously knew from the beginning of this that finding a solution to a very complex problem would be a challenging one. This, as I said, is a -- it is a very complex issue. The President has heard from millions of those -- or has heard from those that represent millions that -- as I said a minute ago,
small business owners that are dealing with the skyrocketing costs, families that are dealing with premium increases, dealing with preexisting conditions -- conditions, quite frankly, that are only getting worse.
He's seen both before he was elected and after what health care costs do to the federal budget. Lots of hard work has gone into getting us to this point. Lots of hard work has gone into getting a bill through the House and through the Senate. And many hours have been spent here trying to merge those small differences together.
Obviously Tuesday resulted in new political circumstances. The President believes that the Speaker and the Majority Leader are doing the right thing in giving this some time and figuring out the best way forward. We welcome the input, as I talked about yesterday, from members of Congress from any political party that are serious about dealing with, as the President has been, and as Republicans and Democrats have been in the committee process and in the House and in the Senate, who are focused on dealing with those issues.
Obviously as the Majority Leader and the Speaker look for the best way forward, the President has -- continues to have a very full plate. Financial reform was something he talked about; getting our economy back on that firmer foundation; dealing with Iraq and Afghanistan; the problems of terror. So there's plenty of work for the President to do in the time being.
Q So does that mean health care is now on the back burner while he works on those other issues?
MR. GIBBS: No, again, I repeat simply that the President believes it is the exact right thing to do by giving this some time, by letting the dust settle, if you will, and looking for the best path forward.
Understand this, Mark, as I said yesterday.
Families dealing with, small businesses dealing with skyrocketing health care costs; insurance companies that won't cover people because of preexisting conditions; as a result of economic conditions people losing their health care -- that problem existed two years ago, it existed a year ago, it existed yesterday. If we don't do anything, it will only get worse in the days to come.Q But didn't you tell us yesterday that in an election year, time is working against you?
MR. GIBBS: Look,
I think the political process works against any solution. We've seen it happen -- when insurance companies invest millions and millions and millions of dollars in advertisements to stop something from happening, that works against you, too.
The President believes it's the right thing to do to let the dust settle and give those on Capitol Hill some time to search for the best path forward.
linkExactly. If the President governed by polling, he'd be a fool.
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