Apr. 27 / Administration of Barack Obama, 2013 The President’s Weekly Address April 27, 2013 Hi, everybody. Our top priority as a nation There is only one way to truly fix the sequester: must be growing the economy, creating good by replacing it before it causes further damage. jobs, and rebuilding opportunity for the middle A couple of weeks ago, I put forward a bud- class. get that replaces the next several years of these But 2 months ago, Congress allowed a series dumb cuts with smarter cuts, reforms our Tax of automatic budget cuts to fall across the Fed- Code to close wasteful special interest loop- eral Government that would do the opposite. holes, and invests in things like education, re- In Washington-speak, these cuts were called search, and manufacturing that will create new the sequester. It was a bad idea then. And as jobs right now. the country saw this week, it’s a bad idea now. So I hope Members of Congress will find Because of these reckless cuts, there are the same sense of urgency and bipartisan coop- parents whose kids just got kicked out of Head eration to help the families still in the cross- Start programs who right now are scrambling hairs of these cuts. Members of Congress may for a solution. There are seniors who depend not feel the pain felt by kids kicked off Head on programs like Meals on Wheels to live inde- Start or the 750,000 Americans projected to pendently looking for help. There are military lose their jobs because of these cuts or the communities—families that have obviously al- long-term unemployed who will be further ready sacrificed enough—coping under new strains. All because of these cuts. hurt by them. But that pain is real. This week, the sequester hurt travelers, who The American people worked too hard, for were stuck for hours in airports and on planes too long, rebuilding from one economic crisis and rightly frustrated by it. And maybe be- just to see your elected officials keep causing cause they fly home each weekend, the Mem- more. Our economy is growing. And our defi- bers of Congress who insisted on these cuts fi- cits are shrinking. We’re creating jobs on a nally realized that they actually apply to them consistent basis. But we need to do more to too. help middle class families get ahead, and give Republicans claimed victory when the se- more folks a chance to earn their way into the quester first took effect, and now they’ve de- middle class. We can do that, if we work to- cided it was a bad idea all along. Well, first, gether. That’s what you expect. And that’s what they should look at their own budget. If the I’m going to keep on working on every single cuts they proposed were applied across the day to help deliver. Thanks so much. board, the FAA would suffer cuts three times deeper. NOTE: The address was recorded at approxi- So Congress passed a temporary fix, a ban- mately 4:40 p.m. on April 26 in the Dwight D. daid. But these cuts are scheduled to keep fall- Eisenhower Executive Office Building for ing across other parts of the Government that broadcast on April 27. The transcript was made provide vital services for the American people. available by the Office of the Press Secretary And we can’t just keep putting bandaids on ev- on April 26, but was embargoed for release un- ery cut. It’s not a responsible way to govern. til 6 a.m. on April 27. Remarks at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner April 27, 2013 White House Correspondents’ Association I’d like to introduce the President of the Unit- President Ed Henry. And without further ado, ed States. 338 Administration of Barack Obama, 2013 / Apr. 27 [At this point “Hail to the Chief” began to play. kids. I go out on the basketball court, took 22 The music then changed to “All I Do Is Win” shots, made 2 of them. [Laughter] That’s right: by rap artist DJ Khaled.] 2 hits, 20 misses. The executives at NBC asked, “What’s your secret?” [Laughter] The President. Thank you. Thank you, ev- So yes, maybe I have lost a step. But some erybody. [Laughter] How do you like my new things are beyond my control. For example, entrance music? Rush Limbaugh warned you this whole controversy about Jay-Z going to about this. Second term, baby. [Laughter] Cuba, it’s unbelievable. I’ve got 99 problems, We’re changing things around here a little bit. and now Jay-Z is one. [Laughter] That’s anoth- [Laughter] er rap reference, Bill. [Laughter] I wanted to Actually, my advisers were a little worried let you know. about the new rap entrance music. [Laughter] Of course, everybody has got plenty of ad- They are a little more traditional. They sug- vice. Maureen Dowd said I could solve all my gested that I should start with some jokes at problems if I were just more like Michael my own expense, just take myself down a peg. I Douglas in “The American President.” [Laugh- was like, guys, after 4½ years, how many pegs ter] And I know Michael is here tonight. Mi- are there left? [Laughter] chael, what’s your secret, man? [Laughter] I want to thank the White House correspon- Could it be that you were an actor in an Aaron dents. Ed, you’re doing an outstanding job. We Sorkin liberal fantasy? [Laughter] Might that are grateful for the great work you’ve done. To have something to do with it? I don’t know. all the dignitaries who are here, everybody on Check in with me. Maybe it’s something else. the dais; I especially want to say thank you to [Laughter] Ray Odierno, who does outstanding service on Anyway, I recognize that this job can take a behalf of our country, and all our men and toll on you. I understand, second term, you women in uniform every single day. need a burst of new energy, try some new And of course, our extraordinary First Lady, things. And my team and I talked about it. We Michelle Obama. Everybody loves Michelle. were willing to try anything. So we borrowed [Laughter] She’s on the cover of Vogue, high one of Michelle’s tricks. [Laughter] poll numbers. But don’t worry, I recently got my own magazine cover. [Laughter] [Several images of the President with a bangs hairstyle were shown.] [An image of a magazine titled “Senior Lei- sure” with a photo of the President and Vice I thought this looked pretty good, but no President Joe Biden playing golf was shown.] bounce. [Laughter] Anyway—— I want to give a shout-out to our headliner, Now, look, I get it. These days, I look in the Conan O’Brien. I was just talking to Ed, and I mirror and I have to admit, I’m not the strap- understand that when the Correspondents’ As- ping young Muslim Socialist that I used to be. sociation was considering Conan for this gig, [Laughter] Time passes. You get a little gray. they were faced with that age-old dilemma: Do [Laughter] you offer it to him now or wait for 5 years and And yet, even after all this time, I still make then give it to Jimmy Fallon? [Laughter] That rookie mistakes. Like, I’m out in California, was a little harsh. [Laughter] I love Conan. we’re at a fundraiser, we’re having a nice time. And of course, the White House press corps I happen to mention that Kamala Harris is the is here. I know CNN has taken some knocks best looking attorney general in the country. lately, but the fact is, I admire their commit- [Laughter] As you might imagine, I got trouble ment to cover all sides of a story, just in case one when I got back home. [Laughter] Who knew of them happens to be accurate. [Laughter] Eric Holder was so sensitive? [Laughter] Some of my former advisers have switched And then, there’s the Easter egg roll, which over to the dark side. For example, David Axel- is supposed to be just a nice, fun event with the rod now works for MSNBC, which is a nice 339 Apr. 27 / Administration of Barack Obama, 2013 change of pace since MSNBC used to work for sky, and a giant kitten shooting laser beams out David Axelrod. [Laughter] of its eyes at a monster truck in the background The History Channel is not here. I guess was shown.] they were embarrassed about the whole Obama-is-a-devil thing. [Laughter] We were just trying to tone it down a little bit. [Laughter] That was an awesome day. [An image of Satan, played by actor Mohamen [Laughter] Mehdi Ouazanni, from the History Channel’s There are other new players in the media miniseries “The Bible” was shown.] landscape as well, like super PACs. Did you know that Sheldon Adelson spent $100 million Of course, that never kept Fox News from of his own money last year on negative ads? showing up. [Laughter] They actually thought You’ve got to really dislike me—[laughter]—to the comparison was not fair—to Satan. spend that kind of money. I mean, that’s Oprah [Laughter] money. [Laughter] You could buy an island But the problem is, is that the media land- and call it “Nobama” for that kind of money.