James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
ROBERT GIBBS: How's everyone today? Good. I apologize, my voice is a little on the scratchy side, but we'll muddle through.
At the conclusion -- or later on today, you're going to get -- you'll get a quick statement from us just announcing something that Secretary Clinton talked about a little bit ago on her trip that President and Mrs. Obama will visit the United Kingdom, France, Germany and the Czech Republic March 31st through April 5th of this year. So be on the lookout for that. Obviously that's a combination of the G20 meeting and the NATO event, as well.
So, with that, I will take a few questions.
[REPORTER]: Yes, Robert. I wanted to follow up on a couple of points the President made today. One of his comments was that those who seek to block any reform at any cost will not prevail this time around in the health care debate. Could you explain who he's talking about there? Who does he mean when he says, those who are trying to block reform at any cost?
GIBBS: Well, I think that many times health care reform has been tried, and many times health care reform has failed, based on any number of things.
Sometimes it's -- it's special interests. But what we have to do and what the President believes strongly is that we can -- we cannot wait for health care reform any longer; that we have to do all that we can. And I think today's event was an important start in that process. I think many people have written today in stories about a number of people that opposed health care reform 15 years ago, 15 or so years ago, were in a room today with others that wanted health care reform working together to try to come to a solution. The President wanted to get stakeholders involved from differing viewpoints, representing different constituencies, into the same room to begin this process, understanding that there are shared goals, but there may be differences as to how to achieve them. I think that's why this process -- the beginning of this process was so important.
[REPORTER]: You've said that the goal is to have this done by the end of the year. I understand that as a goal, but can you explain why, given the history and the complexity to this, why that's feasible, how that's feasible?
GIBBS: Well, again, I think it's feasible largely because we can't wait for it to happen. The problem has only gotten more intense over the past few years. Getting sick eats into people's retirements. It's eating into the federal budget. It affects millions of families that are watching the cost of their health care skyrocket. And he believes that all the stakeholders are poised and ready to act, and I think that's why today was an important first step in ensuring that that process moves forward.
It's ambitious, but as the President has said and as we've noted, that for quite some time we've -- we've run up huge deficits, we've spent money we didn't have, and didn't get anything for it. This President has decided that we're going to make tough choices and invest in health care and education and energy independence in order to ensure sustained long-term economic growth. And one of the only ways we're going to do that is to deal with the health care problem.
Yes, sir.
[REPORTER]: General Motors says its auditors have raised doubts about its ability to survive without bankruptcy, and now General Electric says that it may have -- may face a cut in its credit rating, which raises some concern that it might have to also resort to federal bailout money. What is the administration's level of concern about these -- the problems of these two definitely heavyweights? And with new problems of this sort cropping up by the day, is there any consideration that the level -- the amount of money that is being -- that's being allocated to financial bailout may not be adequate?
GIBBS: Well, let me -- let me try to address many of those questions, break them off a little bit.
Obviously I don't think it comes as a big surprise to many that the auto industry is in crisis. I think if you look at the plans that were submitted recently by GM and Chrysler, and certainly if you look at last month's auto sales, you understand the level and the depth of the crisis that the auto industry is in.
But it's also important to understand that it's not just GM and Chrysler. Toyota sales were down 40 or so percent from the corresponding point a year earlier. They've asked the Japanese government for help.