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White House Daily Press Briefing Focuses On Economic Plan Before Congress; Questions Arise Over Pork Spending, Deficit Spending
Aired January 28, 2009 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
QUESTION: That is in the House, and I understand your emphasis in the Senate, but in the Senate, there are earmarked projects as well. $70 million for a super computer for NOAA, $75 million for education for smoking cessation. President Obama can tell these Democratic Senators and members of the House, take this stuff out of the bill. He obviously did so with Congressman Waxman. Why can't he do it for all these earmarks?
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Let me talk a little bit about what he said yesterday at these meetings. Because he said that there's no doubt this will produce a process whereby every person does not like 100 percent of every part of the bill. That that would be true whether Democrats were writing the bill, or Republicans were writing the bill. And he said that to two rooms full of Republicans, which I think there was a pretty broad agreement.
This is a process based on a series of principles and framework that our economic team and the president sent to Capitol Hill. To create a plan that we believe will move this economy along. I know there is a tendency, and there always will be, to focus on, as I mentioned, 0.02 of 1 percent of a piece of legislation. I have a hard time believing that the 98 100ths of the other 99 percent aren't the large focus of members of Congress that are going to vote both today and over the course of the next few weeks.
QUESTION: President Obama didn't have that problem calling Chairman Waxman and telling him to remove a 0.02 of 1 percent from the bill.
GIBBS: Right.
QUESTION: When he saw it was a hurdle. >
GIBBS: Again, let's focus on the larger picture. Let's focus on the fact that we have $275 billion in tax cuts to put money directly into the pockets of hard-working Americans, that will spend that money and get our economy moving again. Let's focus on the fact that there's $550 billion in spending that will put people back to work. But as we get focused on this number and that number and 0.02 of 1 percent, and all that kind of stuff, understand what we've seen in just the last 48 hours, Jay (ph); 70,000 people, since Monday, have gotten pink slips from the companies that they work for. All right?
The unemployment figures that came out just yesterday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics found every state in the country - every state in the country, saw job loss, every state in the country. The layoffs continue today with Boeing announcing an additional 10,000 jobs that will be shed over the course of the year.
QUESTION: Precisely my point, wouldn't it be better to take that $75 million instead of sending it to a smoking cessation program, to send it to these people that are out of work?
GIBBS: I think the vast majority, the great bulk of that bill does exactly that. We hope that Republicans and Democrats alike look at not just whatever page you're focusing on, but whatever other pages they've decided not to focus on, and understand that the program that is being crafted -- and it will change, this is -- there's a great tendency, we've done this over the last few days in this room, to try to figure out what the score of the baseball game is after the third inning, OK? My team would probably be great if we stopped doing that. This is a long process that we hope is concluded by president's day recess, and the president heard this from CEOs today, we can't afford to wait. We have to act.
Tonight the House, we believe, will take an important step. We think if members focus on this bill, they'll see that it moves the economy forward. That money will be spent in this economy, 75 percent of it in the first 18 months. The jobs will be created. Jobs will be saved. Money will get put back into people's pockets. This, along with the financial stability package, reregulation, and a plan to deal with home foreclosures, will push this economy forward and put people back to work.
And hopefully one day we can come up here and I won't have to answer a question based on the fact that another company's decided to lay off 2,000, or 10,000 or 20,000 people.
Jim.
QUESTION: The president was incredibly well received yesterday by Republicans. They called him everything from sincere to nice to brilliant. One said he talks more like a Republican than a Democrat. They obviously like him. And they think he's very serious about this. Yet it appears he has had no effect on the vote, perhaps a handful, or a couple of votes. Is it frustrating or disappointing to him to go up there to be so well received and have no effect on the vote?
GIBBS: No. Again, this is a many-vote, many-day process. There will be a vote tonight. There will be a vote next week. There will be votes the weeks after that. Until we eventually have what we think will be a bipartisan proposal to get this economy moving.
Again, you know, I hesitate to call the game after the third inning. I hate to declare the winner. I hate to declare -- I know we all have analysis to write, but let's not stop after the third inning and tell us who won in the ninth. It's a long process.
Hold on.
Look, the president, as I said from this podium yesterday, believes that the three or so hours he spent on Capitol Hill were well spent yesterday. We're having bipartisan leaders come down to the White House tonight. Congressman Wallop, of Tennessee, said that what he saw from the president yesterday was not a PR stunt. That it was sincere, as the quotes that you read suggest. The president is very serious about this. Whether it all happens overnight, in terms of votes, we'll wait and see. But my sense is that over the long run, listening to both parties, changing the way this town works and listens to each other is important not just as we focus on this piece of legislation, but as we focus on the many ideas and many pieces of legislation that are going to have to be undertaken in order to move the economy forward.
QUESTION: Robert, a follow-up? I'd like to give it to Secretary Salazar, if I could? No.
GIBBS: You should ask me a softball question.
QUESTION: At the cocktail party tonight. What was the genesis of that idea? And it's evenly divided, 6-6, I believe from the House, and 5-5, party-wise from the Senate.
GIBBS: So that is so the basketball games are easier.
QUESTION: Is that going to be the way it is around here? Is he going to have just as many Republicans visiting him here as Democrats? And is he going to see the Republicans just as often on the Hill as the Democrats? Is it going to be that bipartisan?
GIBBS: Well, I think the second part, as I said yesterday, I don't -- the offer was made. He accepted that offer, to come to Capitol Hill yesterday. Congressman Panson (ph) invited him back and said the door is always open. I said, I thought the president would likely take him up on that opportunity. He's serious about that. I don't know the particular ratios of tonight. I think we have an equal number of leaders on both sides of the aisle, and in both the House and the Senate, that the president looks forward to getting to know better, to being able to establish a strong working relationship with; to move the priorities of the American people forward.
At the end of the day, the president understands that both he and Congress will be judged by what we can all do for the American people. And I think that is a step in this process toward being able to work together. And provide some hope and hopefully some better times for the American people.
QUESTION: Robert, the head of the CBO went up to the Senate Budget Committee today and said that the TARP, the financial bailout, hundreds of billions of dollars short. Do you guys concur with that assessment from CBO?
GIBBS: I have not - I did not see that report before I came out here. I know that, as I've said, the economic team continues to work on a series of proposals for the president to look at. Again, during the economic daily briefing the president had today, he had Mr. Volcker in to talk about financial re-regulation. What we talked about yesterday on Capitol Hill was not one thing, or one aspect, that will solve our economic crisis. But instead, how an economic Recovery Reinvestment Plan, a financial stability package, and a re-regulation package all together can help move the economy forward. The one thing I did see, now that you've mentioned our good friends at the CBO, the CBO says without stimulus the shortfall in the nation's output relative to its potential would be the largest in terms of both length and depth since the Great Depression. I think those are clear words from the Congressional Budget Office in understanding, if anyone needed any more numbers, to understand how very important it is that the House take these important steps tonight, and that the Senate soon follow, and ultimately we get to the president's desk a Recovery & Reinvestment Plan.
QUESTION: My understanding is the conversation with Senate Republicans with the president had a lot to do with the bigger picture of the economic environment.
GIBBS: It did.
QUESTION: Did he get suggestions of how -- because if this CBO report is true, and it sounds like you believe about - you like to quote from the CBO, so you must believe -
GIBBS: There are some papers (ph) that I have read from the CBO.
QUESTION: ... that they do some accurate reporting. Did they give you suggestions of how you can sell the American people on this idea that you're going to have to get billions of more dollars in taxpayer money?
GIBBS: I think the main message -- and I - I struggle every day just to be the spokesperson for one individual in this town. So I very much hesitate to speak for an entire group.
QUESTION: You were in the room.
GIBBS: I was in the room, so let me give you my impression. Which was the main message that I heard, and I heard it again on cable this morning from Republican members of the senate, was that -- and this is a concept that the president agrees quite strongly with -- and that is that one aspect of this alone isn't going to solve our problems. And isn't going to fully or adequately address the economic crisis, that only by addressing each of the legs of this stool will we create something that can stand on its own.
I don't think they got -- I don't recall at least getting into specific numbers. You know, they -- I think both the president and Senate Republicans understand the urgency of the next set of funds being used differently, more transparently, with a far greater eye to actual lending of money. We've all been reminded of, in the last couple days, how entities can get money from the American taxpayers and seek to use it poorly. And, thankfully that, I think because of the outrage of Capitol Hill, and some phone calls got stopped.
But the focus was more on a notion that many things had to happen in order for our economy to get moving again. I think Senate Republicans, and I think the president are heartened that there is agreement that tackling one won't solve it. We are going to have to work together, and on parallel tracks to address many of these problems over the course (AUDIO GAP).
QUESTION: He wasn't just lobbying for a stimulus, he was lobbying for all three legs of this stool to cover --?
GIBBS: I think he was agreeing with the discussion that each of these aspects is extremely important if we are to see the economy recover and American s get put back to work.
QUESTION: All of these pages that you see as being selectively picked apart and questions are raised about them add up to a lot of money in tight times. To what extent do you see any further paring of those kinds of programs before this thing comes out of conference and goes to a final vote?
GIBBS: I think this largely proves my somewhat, maybe possibly weak, baseball analogy. That, again, this is a -- if the vote's happening in the third inning, we've got six more innings to go. So, you know, you can -- you can look at each one of these things each and every day. I think it's more important to see where we end up.
QUESTION: They score each inning.
GIBBS: They do. They do. But they don't declare winners -- you get up and stretch at one point during the game, and there's a man saying you can't buy beer after a certain time. But the umpire doesn't declare the game over except for at one point in the game.
(CROSS TALK)
(LAUGHTER)
GIBBS: I guess I would stress that even as you get up to stretch and buy beer, they only call one winner. So let's hope that that one winner is the American people, because both teams have worked together.
(LAUGHTER, GROANS)
I'll take two. Yes, sir?
QUESTION: To follow up on that. The president today, and previously has talked about skepticism. Aren't these the very kind of programs that engender skepticism, smoking cessation programs and these kinds of things?
GIBBS: Again, here's my point is, let's write a story on the money that's going to go to rebuild schools that the president visited, like the ones in South Carolina that haven't been refurbished or redone since, I think it was 1899. Right? I think there's a lot more money that goes to something like that, that will put people back to work in South Carolina, which has seen its unemployment rate grow to 9.5 percent according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics just yesterday.
Or let's focus on building roads and bridges in a place like Michigan. That has watched its unemployment rate increase to 10.6 percent, as of yesterday, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Or any other investments in jobs, or health care, or energy in a place like California that watched 80,000 jobs be shed just last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
I think we can get focused on a lot of different things. I think it is important to understand, and to look at the long view of this. To understand that there are committee processes, there's votes, there's the rules committee, there's the floor, there's amendments, there's final passes, there's all these fancy legislative terms. But let's look at the final product that we get, and understand that the president hopes, sincerely hopes, that each person looks at the totality of the package and what it will do to get the economy moving.
QUESTION: Jus a logistical question. Can we expect to hear from him after the House vote?
GIBBS: We will have something for you after that vote. I'm not entirely sure what form it will take.
QUESTION: Robert, I'd like to go back to the oil drilling, OCS.
(INAUDIBLE, LAUGHTER)
QUESTION: Is it the goal, or once this review is completed, will there be more oil drilling, or will it be a little change?
GIBBS: Let me get some - right, right, well, let me get some legislative advice on this, as it relates to where we are in the policy. I know the -- I know that Congress did not renew the ban on offshore oil drilling. The president, as the secretary said, supports some new drilling as it relates to a larger and more comprehensive energy independence plan. I think you heard the president say throughout the campaign, much like the financial crisis that we face, that it's not one thing that's likely to -- that we're likely to do on any given day and wake up and be far less dependent on foreign oil. It's not just going to be drilling offshore, just like it's not just going to be wind or solar energy or biofuels. It will be all those things taken together.
I think that's what the president hopes to do. I think a down payment on that larger investment to getting ourselves to energy independence is contained within the Recovery & Reinvestment Plan, that he thinks and hopes we'll move forward.
QUESTION: I understand that. But he shifted his position when the gas was above four bucks a gallon.
GIBBS: I think both candidates shifted their position. Amazing how politicians can do that as it relates to the winds of their constituencies.
QUESTION: But what I'm getting at is will there likely be more drilling once this review is done?
GIBBS: I think that, as I said yesterday, the president supports increased exploration, domestically, for more energy, just as the president also believes that that will only make a difference if we take a whole series of steps to both reduce the demand, as well as increase an energy supply to make ourselves truly energy independent.
QUESTION: Robert, I want to start with Afghanistan. I want to ask a follow-up on the economic stimulus.
GIBBS: Sure.
QUESTION: Yesterday, Secretary Gates said the following: "We need to be very careful about the nature of our goals we set for ourselves in Afghanistan." He also said, "The civilian casualties are doing U.S. and NATO forces enormous harm." As you review goes forward, can you tell the American people what are the specific goals for this new policy in Afghanistan? And how will the implementation of that policy confront this issue on civilian casualties? And also on Afghanistan, the Secretary of State said she believes NATO nations are now more prepared than under President Bush to offer more forces in Afghanistan.
Since you've given us written readouts on the president's call to NATO leaders on Afghanistan, is Secretary Gates right in making this assertion?
GIBBS: Well, I'm certainly not going to question Secretary Gates' assertion. I think those are backed up by discussions that both the president has had as well as the secretary has had.
I think honestly, the best answer to what our goals are in Afghanistan, as well as the path that we have to take to ensure that we meet those goals is best contained in what Secretary Gates said yesterday. That it's going to take quite some time and that we have to be realistic about both that timeline and those goals. The president said that, as I restated earlier, that Afghanistan and the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan represent the central front on the war on terror.
That today, in those places, terrorists likely plot their next steps, both against governments in that region, as well as against us. And the safety and the security of the American people are utmost on the president's agenda. Through that comprehensive review, we'll adjust whatever we need to, to meet goals and timelines as it relates to Afghanistan.
Go ahead.
QUESTION: That's it on Afghanistan.
On the economic stimulus, Alice Grivelin (ph) , Democrat, who supported this president, is looking to spend to create jobs, both from a congressional perspective and from the Office of Management and Budget. Said yesterday, she's concerned that structurally the stimulus plan doesn't focus all of its attention on immediate job creation. That there's problematic things, some that have been raised here in the briefing today, that while it may be preferable and maybe it should be done, shouldn't be in a stimulus plan; that the stimulus plan should focus 100 percent of its spending and legislative intensity on immediate job creation. Is the structural debate over what's going to be in this bill over as far as the White House is concerned? And it's just a matter of the overall dollars?
(OFF MIC)
QUESTION: I would probably say from her point of view, helpful criticism of the way this bill is currently structured.
GIBBS: Well, look, I think there are probably opinions on either side, of this debate. The president believes that the rough outlines of the plan, as they are now, the -- both in tax cuts and in direct spending - present the best way forward in helping the health of our economy.
Obviously, as I said yesterday, and as the president will meet with the Republicans today -- or see Republicans today, he's listening to ideas. I think the structure of what that might ultimately -- the ultimate structure is certainly something that will move around and be debated, not just this afternoon, tonight, before the House, but later on in the Senate and in committees. And the president's ready, willing and able to listen to good ideas.
As I said yesterday, the president believes ultimately we have to get a good plan quickly to the American people. There are, I think, some disagreements, and I would disagree with some of the characterizations of -- you know, again, I've seen people say that hiring cops isn't a stimulus program. As I said yesterday, if you're about to fire cops, hiring cops is a stimulus program. It creates jobs. I think increasing Pell grants and letting kids go to college without having to borrow tens of thousands of dollars helps our economy grow.
The president is committed to ensuring that 75 percent of the money in this plan is spent out in 18 months, to create jobs, but also to lay the groundwork for long-term investments, and long-term economic growth. We are not going to be out of the woods after only a certain period of time. There are obviously going to be time periods after that where we're going to have to continue to do -- we're going to have to continue to make investments in order to continue that economic growth and that job growth. This isn't a one-time deal. We are going to have to work actively, not just this year, not just next year, but likely the year after that. The stimulus program isn't going to, in and of itself, solve every problem. We've got a lot of work to do. And it's going to take a long time to get that done.
GIBBS: Robert, to follow up on Major. By your own definition, only 75 percent of this is short-term stimulus, or 65 percent according to CBO. What was the reason for not taking that extra, whatever it is, 25 percent or 35 percent, which is a lot of money, out of $900 billion, since it's not short-term stimulus, however worthy an investment it might be, and actually paying for it instead of just adding it to the deficit? Since by your definition it's not short-term stimulus?
GIBBS: Let's understand. Let's take the larger question for a second. Because the president has said, and they talked about this yesterday, particularly in the House, and I forget whether this came up a lot in the Senate, but if we don't take steps right now to grow our economy, a $1.2-trillion deficit that this president inherited from his predecessor is not going to get any better. We're not going to grow the economy, we're not going to see a lessening of those deficits if unemployment hits 10 percent, or if nobody can borrow money because banks can't lend it and people don't have jobs to do it.
So the first thing we have to do, we have to take actions necessary in the short term to ensure economic growth that will ultimately reduce that deficit once the economy begins to grow again. The reason that some of this money isn't completely spent out in '09 and 2010 is precisely what I just talked to Major about. I don't think we're going to wake up on January 1st, 2011, you know, like Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz", we're going to go from black and white to color. We'll still have a lot of battles to face and economic hardship to move the economy to a better place. So that the investment and the stimulus that happened as a result of this legislation don't drop off like a cliff, some of that money bleeds into 2011. The CBO, I think, talked about in its report that that money would create jobs in 2011.
I don't want to get hung up on sort of these rigid times and not understand that we're going to wake up the beginning of 2011 and want people to be employed, families to be borrowing money to buy the things that they want to, like cars, or loans for their kids to go to school, and to have healthy small businesses that are creating jobs. All that stuff's got to happen. It's not just going to happen overnight.
QUESTION: I don't want to nitpick, but yesterday you were very eloquent in your defense of resodding The Mall, which is no longer in the plan.
GIBBS: I almost made it out of there without a comment (ph).
QUESTION: So, have you changed your mind on that now that it seems like Congress has decided that that wasn't as stimulative as you very convincingly said?
(LAUGHTER)
GIBBS: I should make you a committee chair. I think it demonstrates the perils of playing umpire in the third inning.
(LAUGHTER)
I said I would call on you, so I will call on you now.
QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. Gibbs.
Two questions, please. Before my question, I first want to really bring my best wishes and congratulations to President Obama and the first lady from Indian-American Community and 1 billion, plus, people in India.
My question is, that many people around the globe are expecting too much from the president because of the changes coming.
GIBBS: You mean to the people in this room?
(LAUGHTER) QUESTION: No. People around the world, and regional South Asia, let's say, in India. What changes are we expecting as per the U.S./ India relations are concerned and especially the terrorism and the reason the president hasn't been talking about it, including you?
GIBBS: Without getting into a lot of specifics, I think the president believes that obviously the U.S. and India are natural friends and natural allies. The president looks forward over the course of this term to deepen the partnership that's been built between the two countries over these past many years, to strengthen those ties. He will have more to say about that in the future.
And I think the president would like to certainly express and extend his best wishes to the prime minister as he recovers from surgery, and looks forward to talking to him soon. And I can come give you guys a readout on that.
QUESTION: As far as - I met a lady at 15th and K Street, in a wheelchair, a very old lady, and disabled, of course, and I asked her, and she said you go to the White House? And I said, yes. Can you pass on my message to the President Obama? I said, what do you want from him? And she said, tell him, please, increase the disability payments.
GIBBS: Increase the disability payments? I will pass that along to both the president and his advisers.
(CROSS TALK)
QUESTION: What will the president's message to Canada be regarding the economic crisis given that Canada is the U.S.'s largest trading partner?
GIBBS: Well, I think, without getting into what a bilateral agenda might be for that trip, I think it is safe to say that the health of each economy and the health of the global economy will be a large part of that agenda. And I strongly anticipate, as was the case when the president met -- then president-elect met with the leader of Mexico, that trade will be part of that docket.
(CROSS TALK)
GIBBS: I will try to see if that -- I don't know that it's been slated in the schedule yet.
QUESTION: Days? Weeks?
GIBBS: Let me try to see if I can get a little bit better guidance.
(CROSS TALK)
QUESTION: When will the president visit India?
(END LIFE FEED)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: All right, The White House spokesperson, right there, Robert Gibbs, kind of wrapping up what turned out to be a good hour-long briefing there, White House briefing. Talking about everything, trying to break down some of the portions of the stimulus package and also a prelude to President Obama's meeting at the Pentagon.
And right now, on Capitol Hill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Let's listen in as she takes in some questions there on the stimulus debate.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE (joined in progress): We're so pleased because, in a few -- in just these two weeks we've been here, we passed the Children's Health Insurance bill and the pay -- Rosa DeLauro's two bills, Lilly Ledbetter bill and the pay discrimination bill, putting women and children first.
And then today with this historic legislation. As my colleagues were reading the -- talking about the provisions in the bill, it continues to be a source of great pride to all of us who worked on it, because of the impact it will have on the lives of the American people. Yes, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) What areas are you going to compromise on as you go forward (INAUDIBLE)?
PELOSI: Well, the -- we'll not compromise on meeting the needs of the American people. We have listened to them. We have heard their concerns. They want jobs. They want certainty in terms of the education of their children. They want opportunity in terms of health care. They want us to be acting on their behalf.
The Republicans are talking about process. I think when you lose the argument on substance, on policy, what do you do? You talk about process, and you talk about personality. We prefer to keep the conversation on substance and policy, because this is, again, an initiative for the future.
That's why it has the support of the National Association of Manufacturers, over 100 high-tech executives, over 150 economists, some of whom are Nobel laureates, about those who minister to the needs of our children in school from preschool to higher education.
So, we're very, very proud of this. We're always open to ideas. And some of the initial legislation was in fact suggested by the Republicans. And that operating loss carried back was not a particular favorite of mine, as you can imagine, but it is something they suggested to us. We put it in the bill earlier.
We've had 26 hours of amendments in the committee process. They said they wanted markups. We gave them markups. They wanted to substitute, they have a substitute. They wanted a motion to recommit, they have a motion to recommit. They want amendments on the floor, they have amendments on the floor.
But what they have to have are ideas for the future. And we will not, we will not be stuck in the past. And this is an initiative for the future, and some of the initiatives they have put forth are really the same policies that got us into this terrible economic crisis that we are in. So again, we'd rather -- WHITFIELD: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic leadership there on Capitol Hill, underscoring that she's proud of the potential of this stimulus package, a stimulus bill that also has another name, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, it's formally known. And it's 647 pages long of new federal spending and tax cuts that will add $825 billion to the national debt. Dan Lothian, who, besides Congress, Dan, has the president been lobbying on this?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's really been lobbying business leaders, trying to lay out the case to them that the stimulus package will help their businesses, meeting with CEOs, from companies like Jetblue, Motorola, Honeywell and Xerox this morning here at the White House. And the message to them is that he's confident that this bill will get passed.
Now, as you know, the president was up on Capitol Hill yesterday meeting with both Senate and House Republicans. It was by all accounts a very cordial meeting. But at the end of the day, it did not appear the president was able to sway any of those Republicans that don't believe that they can really support this package. They believe that there are not enough tax cuts, too much spending.
Again, though, the president confident that this can get passed. And the reason for that, obviously, is because you have majority Democrats. He doesn't on paper actually need Republicans to get this passed. But certainly the White House saying that they want to get bipartisan support for this first big bill out of the gate, because they feel it can instill confidence in this administration -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Right. Symbolically it would be good. All right, thanks so much, Dan Lothian, coming from a very wintry Washington there.
Meantime, it's wintry in other parts of the country, too. Major highways have been shut down, schools and businesses closed. Hundreds of thousands of people are actually without power. We'll get the latest on the big winter storm that is spreading misery from Texas to New England.
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PETER KIELSBACH, IREPORTER: This august I was laid off, along with many of my colleagues, from a drug discovery company in New Jersey. I thought it was unfortunate this is my first layoff in over 30 years in research and development engineering. I've worked for just two companies in my career. But I'm finding that there are not many jobs, and there's a lot of competition for the few there are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The painful reality, that's just one of our CNN iReporters desperately trying to find a job. So, perhaps you, too, are looking for work, or you want to make sure that you're ready just in case. Career coach Maggie Mistal will join us with job-hunting tips straight ahead here in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: You know times are tough when you can't find takers for free money. The Federal Reserve has cut the cost of borrowing to virtually zero. Still, the credit crunch continues. Just moments ago, the Fed wrapped up another meeting with no change to key interest rates. Rate-setters really couldn't really go much lower. And a hike certainly would have been unthinkable.
So, investors are taking stock of the Fed's decision and explanation. And so are we. CNN's Stephanie Elam on Wall Street and Christine Romans at our New York bureau. So, let's begin with you, Stephanie, at the New York Stock Exchange. How is this being received, and explain further for us.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Fred, it went something like this. It was pretty much as expected. The Federal Reserve opting to keep interest rates unchanged at a target range of 0 percent to .25 percent. You can't really go much lower than that.
There was clearly no room to make changes there, making the central bankers' main job to prove to investors they're doing everything they can to combat the recession. There was little suspense leading up to the decision since the key benchmark lending rate was already so low and the Fed was unable to use the rate-cutting tool to boost the economy.
Still, the central bank does plan to take additional steps to help the economy and ease the credit crisis, including the purchase of long- term treasury secretaries and large quantities of agency debt. The Fed statement also said that they plan to keep interest rates low for some time to come.
And it said the economy has weakened further since it met in mid- December as both business and consumers come back on their spending. So, with no major surprises from the Fed, the stock market rally that's been in play all day holding up. The Dow Industrials right now up 177 points to 8351. The NASDAQ still better by about 3 1/3 percent, so strong numbers there.
Now, with more of what the Fed decision means and how that's going to affect everything, we're going to talk to Christine Romans here who is standing by uptown.
The Fed says that it see a gradual recovery in the economy, as far as economic activity is concerned, Christine, beginning later this year. So, is that the biggest take-away? Because after this news came out, we actually saw the market sort of rally a little bit on that.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think it's not the biggest takeaway. It's definitely not. I'll tell you why, because before they get to that part of the statement where they're saying they see perhaps a gradual recovery, they say in about 15 different ways that things are looking tough. Every sentence with another word like, "the economy has weakened further." That's pretty much the meat here, that industrial production, housing starts and employment have continued to decline steadily. Again and again, conditions appear to have improved in some financial markets, in part reflecting all of these government efforts, but overall here the risks remain to the down side. So this is the Fed telling us that the economy has weakened further and that it's going to do absolutely everything it can.
Now, you're right, that there wasn't a lot of suspense. But look how the Fed has moved here. It has come down dramatically to this level over the past year and a half. And it's not really the Fed moves that has gotten everyone's attentions, it's the extraordinary measures the Fed has taken. It's almost as if every time there's been a Fed meeting, there's been some new creative surprise from federal policymakers about how they're going to try to heal the financial system and the economy. They have cut interest rates to near zero. They have guaranteed money market deposits. They have backed short- term business loans. That's the commercial paper market. That's more than a trillion dollars in business loans they're backing. They've pledged to buy up consumer and mortgage debt. They've bailed out financial firms again and again. They're talking about this program to get consumer and student loan credit slowing. They talked about that again this time. And they say they're prepared to buy longer term Treasuries if it will get credit going. They don't say they're going to do it, but they say they're prepared to do it.
It's all of these other things that they're doing that's really gotten a lot of people's attention. And remember, all these bailouts from the Fed, from the Treasury, from the federal government, the interventions, the loans that guarantees the - there's the monetary policy and all these other things. Together it's more than $7 trillion of money they've committed to try to heal the financial system. So what the Fed is doing, locked interest rates with monetary policy, it's is incredibly important. It's all the other things that the Fed is doing, too, to try to get the economy going.
The take-away from me here is that the Fed says the economy has weakened further. They also make a note here about deflation. They don't say deflation, but they say inflation remains at rates that are below ideal for maximum growth. I mean, that's something to watch, too. The idea of falling prices and how that could hurt the economy. So a lot of different things in here. You know, there's just an incredible - there's a lot going on in the economy. There really, really is. And we'll be very closely watching to see what the government's going to do next about the banks. People are still talking about the banks. That it might need more money, might need more attention, and waiting to see what this new administration is going to do about it.
Fredricka?
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Christine Romans as well as Stephanie Elam, thanks so much to both of you.
All right, well, the misery of job cuts seem to get worse by the day. The latest, Boeing says it will slash 10,000 jobs, or about 10 percent of its work force. The total includes 4,500 previously announced. Yesterday, six different companies cut 11,500 jobs. Monday, even worse; seven companies announced that they were eliminating more than 71,400 jobs. And in this month alone, more than 215,000 jobs have simply been wiped out.
The impact to the recession is reaching all corners of the country. Here's a story of one of our i-reporters.
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JOHN STEVENS, IREPORTER, TORRINGTON, CONNECTICUT: Things are tough. Still haven't found a job. I've applied for over 80 jobs. And either the people don't call you back, and when you follow up with a phone call, they don't return your calls. Or they tell you they've actually stopped hiring and they've cut back themselves. So things are very, very tough on the job front. I mean, I've even applied at my local Wal-Mart and Target stores, and the answer I get is, we can't hire you. You have too much experience.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Oh, man. So, we'd like to hear more about how you are coping with the recession. Email us at ireport.com and we'll do our best to air your responses in the newsroom.
So, with thousands of people like our i-reporter looking for work, how can you improve your odds of actually getting a job? Career coach and Sirius XM radio host Maggie Mistal from New York.
Maggie, you're going to tell us about how effectively one can look for a job. And you actually speak of your own personal experience. Your own job crisis. You were working for a company, you kind of saw the red flags that it was about to crumble, and then you landed yourself a job just about a week before that company went under. But tell me about how you marketed yourself, because you actually made a huge transition, right? You chose a field that wasn't quite part of your expertise. How did you do it?
MAGGIE MISTAL, HOST, "MAKING A LIVING," SIRIUS-XM: Well, Fredricka, you know, I'm sad to say that, you know, I do feel the pain that everybody else is going through right now. And I think it's important to remember that oftentimes there's a really good reason why a particular job is going away from you. I often see it's because there's something better out there. For me...
WHITFIELD: That's the optimist in you.
MISTAL: I can't help myself. But I actually experienced and the optimism helps because right now, we could use a little bit of that right now.
For me, I made the transition. I had been a management consultant for several years and the travel was wearing on me. As great of job that it was, I was really ready for a change. And when Arthur Anderson, that was my employer, went under with Enron, I said, this is my chance to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I got career coaching and decided I loved it. And I still needed a job to pay the bills. And luckily, I had a firm like Martha Stewart, within my network. Actually a former Arthur Anderson person was in charge of the HR department. I did an informational interview with her, which are extremely great tools if you're looking for jobs. And she said, well, you know what? We don't have a position open, but we could use someone to do management training and career development. Would you be interested? And they actually created a position for me.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
MISTAL: So, in that case, there wasn't a job available.
WHITFIELD: So that's pretty comprehensive. But you laid out some tips, some real step-by-step kind of moves that people can make if they're in the situation you were in. Or really, you know, economic times are much harder now and you heard from that i-reporter, it's a different scenario. So, let's break down how you say you go about it. For one, separate your long and short goals. And perhaps even pay attention to maybe your two top, I guess, characteristics to make yourself more marketable.
MISTAL: Yes. Absolutely. I was just volunteer coaching yesterday, Fredricka, with people who are looking for work, just like the person you had on earlier. And what I tell them is, fine, you might need a job in the short term, but don't lose sight of your interests and talents and passions. Because in this economy there is a lot of competition for jobs. And don't discount the value of enthusiasm or the fact that you have passion for something. That's what gave me the chance in my informational interview with that job at Martha Stewart.
Also what I tell people, make it easy on yourself. You know, yesterday, I was talking to people when I was volunteering and they're saying, I'm going to change industries completely, not because of passion but because they're trying to follow the hot jobs. And it's a brand-new set of skills that they're going to have to develop and that's a long transition. If you need a job now, you're better off focusing on your strengths. Are you a great problem solver? Are you a great project manager? Focus on what you're best at.
Because, guess what. The good news, Fredricka, is that Fortune just launched the "101 Best Companies to Work For," and 73 of those top companies are hiring. And they're hiring the best and the brightest. So focus on where you're the best and the brightest.
WHITFIELD: And you've really laid out how you can make that transition easy for you and yourself. And other things, you need to prepare your pitch. Make
MISTAL: Oh, absolutely. I cannot underestimate an elevator pitch, Fredricka, is so important. No matter if you have a job or need a job or if you're a business owner. One of my favorite sites is 15secondpitch.com. And I actually have the founder of that site giving seminars to my coaches, because we all need to develop our elevator pitch. So I encourage people, if you're going to invest in your career, invest in a coach or invest in someone to help you with your pitch.
WHITFIELD: Maggie, fantastic tips. Maggie Mistal, appreciate it. Career coach and "Making a Living With Maggie," we appreciate your time. Thanks so much. Hopefully folks got a lot out of that and hopefully that better positions you to get another job.
MISTAL: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right, major highways shut down, schools and businesses closed. Hundreds of thousands of people are without power. We'll get the latest on the big winter storm that's spreading misery from Texas to New England.
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WHITFIELD: Well, you know the face. Very familiar one. We return to capitol hill and tell you what Al Gore is asking lawmakers are asking Congress to do now.
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WHITFIELD: He's a well-known champion of the environment, but today former Vice President Al Gore is also championing action on the economy. As he testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he urged lawmakers to pass President Obama's stimulus package. He says the plan is needed to stabilize the financial crisis and it's a much-need first step in protecting the planet. Gore argued the U.S. economy, national security and global warming are all serious subjects, and they're all intertwined, he said.
Well, President Obama crossing the Potomac, making his first trip to the Pentagon for talks with his top brass on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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WHITFIELD: All right, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, how to get U.S. forces out of one and fight the other. President Obama is to be briefed on those vexing issues by his top brass at the Pentagon this afternoon.
CNN's Chris Lawrence is there; Chris?
CHRISTOPHER LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Fredricka, he's going to hear directly. The chiefs of the - the heads of the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps are going to get a chance to express their personal opinions and feelings about some of these wars directly to the president. And that is something that he talked about, even before the election, that he wanted an open dialog with the military and the chance for them to express their opinions directly. We've been told both Iraq and Afghanistan will be on the table. They'll be talking about both. The President will spend about an hour here at the Pentagon, and then afterwards, after the meeting, he is expected to meet - possibly meet some enlisted members and tape a brief statement to the troops for the Superbowl. But in terms of brass tacks and what they'll talk about, obviously something to be talked about will be the drawdown in Iraq and also possibly the few new brigades that could be heading to Afghanistan by the summer.
Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: All right, Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon. Thanks so much. I appreciate it.
I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We'll see you here again tomorrow. The NEWSROOM continues with Rick Sanchez.
