Children should not be used as pawns in a political fight.

The president made clear when he was a candidate for this office and when he took this office, that unfortunately prior to his taking office, because of the focus on Iraq, and the U.S. efforts there, that the original war, if you will, in Afghanistan had been neglected, the strategy there was unclear, and that it was not properly resourced.

I think, if you're a candidate and you want to be totally safe, and assure that what you say is not going to be recorded or broadcast on the Internet, you have to have something like safe cone. Everything is so viral right now that you have to assume as a candidate that anything you say will be broadcast.

The debate we won't be having is whether or not the debt ceiling should be raised. We will not have a situation where people will hold the American economy hostage in order to achieve a specific agenda - at least not until 2013. So we think that is incredibly important as a matter of economic good.

Obama wanted to offer his support to birth control activist Sandra Fluke. He wanted to express his disappointment that she has been the subject of inappropriate personal attacks and thank her for exercising her rights as a citizen to speak out on an issue of public policy.

The White House doesn't create jobs. The government together - White House, Congress - creates policies that allow for greater job creation.

When I go stand up at the podium in front of the White House press corps, I never lie. I never say something that I know is untrue. Credibility is enormously important to a press secretary.