Sit-in at Republic Windows and Doors

CHICAGO (AP) — Representatives of the company whose laid-off employees are staging a sit-in at the shuttered factory where they worked will meet Monday with union and bank officials, a congressman said.

Some 200 workers who abruptly lost their jobs last week have said they won't leave the Republic Windows and Doors plant until they get assurances they will receive their severance and vacation pay. Their demonstration has drawn support from President-elect Barack Obama and others.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez said early Monday that a meeting arranged for late afternoon would address the workers' concerns.

The Chicago Democrat said officials of the now-closed Republic Windows and Doors would meet with representatives of the workers' union, the United Electrical Workers, and of the bank that has canceled its financing of the company.

Company representatives have not commented since the sit-in began on Friday, and have not responded to calls and e-mails.

Gutierrez said Republic officials had signed a waiver permitting the opening of its financial records at the meeting.

Republic Windows and Doors told the workers on Dec. 2 that they would be out of work by the end of the week.

Leah Fried, an organizer for the United Electrical Workers, said the company told the union that Bank of America had canceled its financing. The bank had said in a statement that it wasn't responsible for Republic's financial obligations to its employees.

The announcement of the meeting comes after a wave of publicity about the sit-in and appearances by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Obama, who said Sunday that the company should honor its commitments to the 200 workers.

"The workers who are asking for the benefits and payments that they have earned, I think they're absolutely right and understand that what's happening to them is reflective of what's happening across this economy," Obama said at a news conference Sunday.

To their amazement, the workers have become a national symbol for thousands of employees laid off nationwide as the economy sours.

"We never expected this," said factory employee Melvin Maclin, vice president of the union local that represents the workers. "We expected to go to jail."

One of the factory's workers, Silvia Mazon, said in Spanish that she needs the money owed to her for an $1,800 monthly house payment. The 40-year-old Cicero resident said she has enough money saved to survive for one month.

"We're making history," she said.

Republic Windows closing doors

masters move-on employees remain
Republic Windows & Doors will shut its doors Friday, causing about 300 workers to lose their jobs at the North Side manufacturer.

The company, which has been in business since 1965, told employees Wednesday that its main lender, Bank of America, had canceled its line of credit due to a severe downturn in business at the plant.

At the high point of the residential construction market, product sales to home builders totaled $30 million at the company. This year, those sales will total $6 million, said Amy Zimmerman, vice president of sales and marketing. Sales of replacement windows will total $38 million this year, down from $40 million.

"Banks are in the business to make money and at some point they have to make a business decision and that's what this is," Zimmerman said. "Certainly the new construction segment didn't help. If the bank saw some type of light at the end of the tunnel, maybe the bank would have extended a line of credit to Republic."

The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers, which represents 260 workers at the factory, is protesting the closing, saying workers were not given the 60 days' notice of a mass layoff as required by federal law, and has been told workers will not receive their vacation pay. The union is directing its ire at Bank of America, not Republic.

A spokesman for Bank of America declined to comment.

Republic sold its massive 348,000-square-foot Goose Island plant to Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. in 2006 for $31 million.

At the time, Republic had nearly 700 employees.

Carmakers 'affect entire economy'

The chairman of the Senate committee deciding whether to rescue the Detroit Three carmakers has said the health of the entire US economy is at stake.

GM year-on-year sales fell 41% in November

Democrat Christopher Dodd said that letting Chrysler, General Motors or Ford fail would be playing "Russian roulette with the entire economy".

Failure would affect "almost every sector of the economy", he said.

He also severely criticised the US Treasury and financial institutions for their handling of the credit crisis.

"This is not about acting to save individual companies. If it were, I would let them fail," said Sen Dodd, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee.

With "hundreds of billions in outstanding debt obligations", he said the credit crisis would get a lot worse if the carmakers were not able to repay their debts.

Inaction, he said, "is simply not a solution."

Rounding off his opening salvo, the senator said the US was mired in a deep recession caused by "irresponsible actions in the financial sector", before criticising the Treasury Department for "misusing" its authority by spending the $700bn bail-out package agreed by Congress in an "ad hoc manner".

The authorities had not, he said, attached stringent enough conditions to the package.

Loan proposals

Earlier this week, Chrysler, Ford and General Motors submitted their proposals to Congress for multi-billion-dollar loans upon which their survival could depend.

The so-called Detroit Three of troubled US carmakers have asked for a combined total of $34bn (£22.8bn; 26.8bn euros).

Slashing costs, reducing levels of debt and investing in greener technologies form the centre-piece of each proposal.

The chief executives of Ford and GM have even offered to work for $1 a year if Congress approves the emergency aid.

General Motors asked Congress for a loan of $12bn, with an additional $6bn if necessary, to help it survive.

Ford requested a $9bn bridging loan, which it hopes it will not need.

Chrysler sought $7bn to survive the dramatic slump in sales that has decimated its cash reserves.

Avoiding criticism

The heads of all three companies decided not to use private jets to travel to Washington for their presentations to avoid public criticism.

GM chief executive Rick Wagoner and his counterpart at Ford, Alan Mulally, drove to Detroit in hybrid cars produced by their own respective firms.

GM has warned it could run out of cash in a matter of weeks and cannot wait until President-elect Barack Obama - who may be more sympathetic to industry pleas - takes office in in January.

But Republican critics and some Democrats say the financial crisis is not the only reason why the biggest US carmakers are in trouble.

They say that Ford, GM and Chrysler's production is inefficient, and that their labour costs are higher than many of their foreign rivals.

The Bush administration has offered to accelerate the payment of some $25bn in green investment credits already allocated to the car industry, but this has been opposed by Democrats in the House of Representatives.

come and get it

GM Chevrolet Volt

By John Crawley and Kevin Drawbaugh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Majority leader Harry Reid wants to try to find a way to avert threatened bankruptcies in the U.S. auto industry with Detroit Three chief executives readying for a make-or-break hearing on Thursday on a $34 billion bailout request.

With House Speaker Nancy Pelosi saying a day earlier that auto bankruptcies were not an option and some government aid for industry was likely, Democratic leaders in both houses positioned themselves to at least support the urgent cash needs of gasping General Motors and Chrysler, which amount to less than a third of the rescue proposal.

There appears initially to be little appetite in Congress to provide a $34 billion package during a short session planned for next week, especially among Republicans, according to a snapshot of sentiment provided by lawmakers, aides and lobbyists on a day when neither house was in session.

Despite pledges from Reid and Pelosi to help, House and Senate aides said there was no clear legislative path yet to how a major aid package -- which would likely include requirements for broad restructuring -- could be arranged so quickly.

The White House did not dismiss the industry's $34 billion figure on Wednesday but said it was too early to say what it might support on an emergency basis.

Both Congress and the administration insist that any assistance be conditioned on the industry's commercial viability, which the companies outlined in plans submitted to Congress on Tuesday along with their funding proposals.

Some Republicans flatly oppose a bailout but aides said most lawmakers agree automakers need help and that a collapse of one or more of them would devastate an economy already a year into recession.

Industry says 1-in-10 U.S. jobs are directly or related to the auto manufacturers.

General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC told Congress on Tuesday they face possible failure if they do not receive government loans. GM wants $4 billion and Chrysler $7 billion by year's end. GM also wants another $8 billion in early 2009 and a $6 billion line of credit if its cash position deteriorates further.

A spokesman for Reid said the Nevada Democrat was "committed" to finding a way to helping avert any bankruptcies, but aides to other lawmakers and industry insiders say the degree to which Congress may be willing to help will be clearer after upcoming Senate and House hearings.

How chief executives Rick Wagoner of GM, Alan Mulally of Ford and Bob Nardelli of Chrysler respond to lawmaker questions and proposals in the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday and the House Financial Services Committee on Friday could determine the fate of the aid proposal.

"All options are on the table," Banking Committee member Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, told CNBC television.

Congressional leaders said the executives' unconvincing testimony two weeks ago coupled with partisan political wrangling over the issue torpedoed Detroit's initial attempt to win $25 billion in bailout funds. They were given a second chance by Reid and Pelosi.

Most of the pressure will be on Wagoner and Nardelli as Ford Motor Co says it has sufficient funds for the moment and has limited its request to a $9 billion line of credit. The money would be tapped only if recession worsens and pushes already depressed auto sales to severe new lows.

One issue expected to come up on Thursday is the option of pre-packaged bankruptcies. Under that scenario, rejected by the companies, agreements to cut labor and other costs and renegotiate supplier and lender terms are arranged ahead of a Chapter 11 filing. Restructuring would be faster than normal.

Democratic leaders, the companies and the United Auto Workers have sought to dampen any discussion of Congress possibly facilitating a bankruptcy. They say Chapter 11 would kill the industry.

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said on Wednesday the union would surrender job security protections and delay payments to a retiree healthcare trust to help clinch government help. He said the UAW would consider other changes to contracts.

(Reporting by John Crawley and Kevin Drawbaugh; Additional reporting by John Poirier in Washington and David Bailey in Detroit; Editing by Maureen Bavdek, Toni Reinhold, Gary Hill)

screw Georgia: Saxby Chambliss wins Georgia runoff

Josh Kraushaar | Dec. 2nd, 2008     Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss won a resounding victory over Democrat Jim Martin in the Georgia Senate runoff Tuesday, capturing a second term and ending Democratic hopes of gaining a 60-seat filibuster-proof Senate majority. 

Chambliss defeated Martin by 16 percentage points, 58 to 42 percent, with 93 percent of precincts reporting. Turnout was moderate across the state– estimated to be around 30-35 percent – a development that unexpectedly played to Chambliss’ advantage. 

In the battle to get out the vote, Republicans won decisively. GOP turnout in the party's metropolitan Atlanta suburban strongholds surged for Chambliss, while African-American turnout dropped off significantly from the levels attained in the November election. 

The runoff was necessitated after Chambliss came up about 9,000 votes short of the 50 percent threshold necessary to win the seat outright on Election Night. 

In his victory speech, Chambliss said his re-election was a triumph of conservative principles. 

Ford studying possible sale of Volvo

By John Reed in London and Bernard Simon in Toronto

Published: December 1 2008

Ford Motor on Monday said it was re-evaluating its options for its Volvo subsidiary, including “the possible sale” of its lossmaking Swedish premium brand.

The announcement came ahead of Ford’s presentation to Congress on Tuesday alongside General Motors and Chrysler as the three companies make their case for $25bn in federal emergency aid.

Ford said the options for Volvo were in line with “actions Ford is taking to strengthen its balance sheet and ensure it has the resources to implement its product-led transformation plan.”

Volvo reported a third-quarter loss of $458m and is in the process of laying off about 6,000 workers, or about one-quarter of its staff.

Ford has held talks with Sweden’s government about loan guarantees and other aid for Volvo. GM is seeking government aid for Saab, its own lossmaking Swedish premium marque.

Ford made no immediate comment on whether it was in contact with possible buyers of Volvo, whose largest market is the US, and which has been hit by declining demand for larger vehicles.

The US automaker said that the review would probably “take several months to complete”.

“As we conduct this review, we are committed to making the best decision for both Ford and Volvo going forward,” Alan Mulally, Ford’s chief executive, said in a statement.

Selling a car brand, especially a lossmaking one, could prove challenging as global carmakers contend with depressed markets and a contraction of credit.

GM has not yet sent out a sale memorandum for its Hummer brand, which it is seeking to sell, despite plans to do so in October. Several overseas carmakers have said they are not interested in buying it.

Ford, GM and Chrysler have warned that they could run out of cash early next year. Ford’s needs for fresh capital are less urgent than its two Detroit rivals’, but it has still asked for access to the emergency funding facility.

The three companies’ chief executives are due to make their case before a Senate committee on Thursday and a House of Representatives committee on Friday.

They were excoriated by lawmakers at their last appearance 10 days ago for bringing their begging bowls to Washington in their corporate jets.

Lawmakers are likely to seek assurances from Ford and GM that they are building leaner operations, and that US taxpayer-funded aid will not go to subsidise lossmaking operations.

GM is expected to announce that it has plans to dispose of Saab in the long term as part of the business and financial plan it presents to Congress.

The carmakers and their supporters have grown increasingly angry that, as they see it, their industry is being harshly criticised and scrutinised even as the Bush administration and Congress shower hundreds of billions of dollars onto banks and other financial institutions.

The Financial Times Limited 2008

Obama to name national security team Monday

CHICAGO (Reuters) - President-Elect Barack Obama will unveil his national security team at a news conference in Chicago on Monday, expected to include Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.

A person close to Clinton, Obama's former rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, said on Sunday that "she will be in Chicago tomorrow to be named secretary of state."

Obama has been widely expected to name Clinton as secretary of state and current Defense Secretary Robert Gates as his Pentagon chief.

The pair will face the crucial task of rebuilding the United States' image abroad, extricating U.S. forces from Iraq and tackling a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan, where a NATO-led campaign against the insurgent group is faltering.

Obama's office said in a statement on Sunday that Obama would announce members of his national security team at a news conference at 10:40 a.m. EST (1540 GMT) on Monday. Vice President-elect Joe Biden will also attend.

U.S. media have speculated that Obama may also name retired Marine Gen. James Jones, the former top operational commander of NATO, as White House national security adviser, and Janet Napolitano, the Democratic governor of Arizona, as head of Homeland Security.

(Reporting by Ross Colvin and Steve Holland; editing by Mohammad Zargham)

Minnesota Senate seat recount continues

Tensions rise on Day 2 of Senate recount in Becker County

DL-Online - Jason Adkins
Published Tuesday, November 25, 2008

DETROIT LAKES – The 55 missing and then found ballots, plus a high number of challenges by incumbent Norm Coleman and challenger Al Franken’s campaigns, caused tensions to run high on Tuesday during Day 2 of the U.S. Senate recount in Becker County.The strife was seen in interaction between campaign observers from Coleman and Franken, and election officials monitoring the recount effort.

With 112 ballots being challenged on Tuesday – bumping the total number of challenges to 137 over a day and a half of work – and ballots being misplaced on Election Day and found today, the novelty of having the first statewide recount in a general election in 46 years was wearing off.

Coleman's campaign made 74 challenges on Day 2 – 87 so far – and Franken’s observers made 38 challenges - bringing his total to 50 in Becker County thus far.

Statewide, a total of 3,594 ballots have been challenged thus far.

The recount for Toad Lake precinct was an issue as well. Five duplicate ballots were in the ballot box, but only one of the originals was found. Duplicate ballots are those created by election workers in case a ballot cannot be read by a machine.

Observers from the Coleman and Franken campaigns couldn’t agree on whether to use the duplicates or originals, so by default the originals were used. The Franken campaign wanted the duplicated to be used, but Becker County Auditor-Treasurer Ryan Tangen did not release a tally of what votes were recorded on the duplicates.

Only 10 precincts remain to be recounted on Wednesday.

Near the end of the recount, nine ballots were missing from Sugar Bush Township's totals.

As with missing ballots in Lake Eunice and Spruce Grove Townships earlier in the day, Tangen contacted township officials to see if the ballots were in the sealed ballot box in the township office.

All nine ballots were found in the ballot machine by 6:00 p.m. Tuesday.

Other disagreements that surfaced included who is acting as a lead observer for the Franken campaign, whether to count original or duplicate ballots, and to allow the recount to continue at one table by setting aside ballots from one precinct and move on to another one.

Tangen also questioned some of the challenges brought up and said that both sides are trying to match the number of challenges each candidate has thus far.

Joe Aronsen, a Franken observer, had an exchange with Tangen concerning voter intent on a ballot that was marked for Coleman.

At first, Aronsen asked why the election judge at his table was questioning his challenge.

“I don’t have to explain myself,” Aronsen said.

When asked if he was making a blanket challenge of Coleman ballots, he said, “I’m not blanketing anything.”

Whether the strain of the recount was affecting Tangen, it conveyed what he thought of the high number of challenges on the day.

“Do you have a basis for the challenge other than you feel that way?,” Tangen said to Aronsen.

Aronson replied: “You don’t get to decide whether a challenge is frivolous or not.”

Tangen eventually let the challenge go on to the state canvassing board and let them make the final decision.

Earlier in the day, Coleman’s lead observer, Andrew Schneider, seemed annoyed at the number of Franken observers making their opinions known.

He said that he wanted one person from the Franken campaign taking the lead so that the requests coming from that camp be clear, instead of having several observers making decisions without coordinating with one another.

The remaining precincts to be counted on Wednesday starting at 8 a.m. are Atlanta Township, City of Callaway, Callaway Township, Riceville Township, Round Lake Township, Shell Lake Township, Silver Leaf Township, Spring Creek Township, Two Inlets Township and Wolf Lake Township.

Citigroup Bailout Charts New Course for U.S. Government Rescues

Citigroup Bailout Charts New Course for U.S. Government Rescues
By Craig Torres and Robert Schmidt
Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. government’s emergency rescue of Citigroup Inc. offers a new model for bank bailouts: explicitly insuring against losses on toxic assets, with taxpayers footing the bill.

The Citigroup plan extends the federal commitment beyond the previous framework of capital injections from the Treasury and credit from the Federal Reserve. Now, the U.S. is a partner in the performance of $306 billion in real-estate loans and securities, sharing losses beyond $29 billion on what are likely to be some of Citigroup’s worst holdings.

“Everybody and his brother has got to have their hand out now,” said Eric Hovde, chief investment officer at Hovde Capital Advisors, which manages $1 billion in financial-services stocks. “The whole problem is so much bigger and deeper than the Fed and Treasury ever understood.”

Taxpayers are likely to be at greater risk from the new template, which may be used to help more companies as debt writedowns continue to climb, analysts said.

“Every situation will need to be evaluated on a case by case basis, but obviously we are able to draw from our experiences as we work through these issues in the financial system,” Treasury spokeswoman Brookly McLaughlin said.

Citigroup’s crisis escalated as it was forced to take on its balance sheet a number of special units created to invest in riskier securities. The New York-based bank’s shares lost 60 percent last week, and then recouped some of those losses yesterday after the government’s rescue. Other lenders remain vulnerable.

Weakened Banks

Wells Fargo & Co. is absorbing Wachovia Corp., the bank that regulators pushed in September to merge amid mounting losses from $120 billion in a portfolio of home loans. Bank of America Corp. has taken on both Countrywide Financial Corp., once the biggest independent mortgage lender, and Merrill Lynch & Co., the securities dealer hobbled by $24 billion of losses. Morgan Stanley slumped almost one third in the past three months.

Other banks “are going to show up” and ask for the Citigroup deal, predicted Joseph Mason, a professor at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge who previously worked at the Treasury’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The loss-sharing plan is another twist in the saga of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s management of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. Since the rescue fund was approved by Congress and enacted last month, Paulson has been criticized by lawmakers and others for not having a clear design for using the money. President-elect Barack Obama joined the chorus yesterday.

‘Confusion’ on Strategy

There has been “confusion on what the overall direction might be” of the Bush administration’s plans, Obama said in a press conference in Chicago. At the same time, he pledged to “honor the commitments” of the outgoing team.

“The model is that there is no model,” said V. Gerard Comizio, senior partner in the banking practice at the Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker law firm in Washington. “It is an improvisation battle plan.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Citigroup will cover the first $29 billion of pretax losses from the $306 billion asset pool, in addition to reserves it already set aside.

Citigroup will accept 10 percent of losses above that amount, with the government responsible for 90 percent. The Treasury is second in line, taking $5 billion in losses, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is third, absorbing up to $10 billion. If the portfolio plummets through those triggers, the Fed steps in with a loan for the remaining assets.

Initial $25 Billion

U.S. authorities acted after the second-biggest U.S. bank by assets touched $3.05, the lowest level since 1992, threatening confidence among its depositors and counterparties. Citigroup had already received a $25 billion infusion under Paulson’s $250 billion capital-injection program.

“The Treasury and the Fed are doing what they can do to hold the pieces together, and it hasn’t been easy,” said Martin Regalia, chief economist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which lobbies on behalf of 3 million businesses. “If we don’t keep the financial system going that is going to impose costs on the American public that will be real and palpable.”

The Fed’s exposure in the deal also represents a tack in the way the central bank has approached the crisis.

Since what was an effective purchase of $29 billion Bear Stearns Cos. assets in March, Fed officials have shown a preference for providing short-term credits for firms facing a cash squeeze.

Assets Swell

The central bank’s balance sheet expanded $1.3 trillion in the past year as the Fed auctioned $415 billion of cash to banks and purchased $272 billion of commercial paper.

Fed officials have pushed to keep the risks involved in future bailouts at the Treasury, which would be forced to negotiate with Congress about the use of taxpayer funds.

Now, the Fed is stepping outside the liquidity boundary once again. The central bank took a step toward risk sharing earlier this month when it opened two new facilities with up to $52.5 billion in loans to help American International Group Inc. wind down its portfolio.

“It is clear that regulators still lack a comprehensive plan to address problems in our financial markets,” Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, said through his spokesman Jonathan Graffeo. “It is unclear whether they have carefully considered the implications of their continued ad-hoc approach.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Craig Torres in Washington at ctorres3@bloomberg.net; Robert Schmidt in Washington at rschmidt5@bloomberg.net

Bush Issues 14 Pardons and Commutes 2 Sentences

Bush Issues 14 Pardons and Commutes 2 Sentences

By ERIC LICHTBLAU

WASHINGTON — President Bush granted 14 pardons and commuted two prison sentences on Monday, but the benefactors included none of the big names who had become the topic of speculation as Mr. Bush leaves office.

Mr. Bush has been relatively sparing in his use of pardons compared with past presidents, and the latest round of actions continued that pattern.

The closest any of the defendants came to celebrity was John E. Forté, a hip-hop artist and backup singer to Carly Simon who was convicted of aiding and abetting in the distribution of cocaine. (Ms. Simon put up the bail of $250,000 for Mr. Forté when he was arrested in 2001 at Newark International Airport.) Mr. Forté was sentenced to 14 years in prison, but Mr. Bush commuted the remainder of his sentence.

Amid a flurry of recent clemency requests that reached historic levels, a number of high-profile defendants have looked to Mr. Bush for help. They included Michael Milken, the former junk bond king convicted of securities fraud; Marion Jones, the former Olympic sprinter convicted for lying about her use of performance-enhancing drugs; Randy Cunningham, the former California congressman sent to prison in a bribery scheme; and John Walker Lindh, an American who pleaded guilty to serving with the Taliban.

There has also been growing speculation in Washington that Mr. Bush might issue blanket pardons to government officials and intelligence officers who took part in counterterrorism programs like Qaeda interrogations, to protect them from the threat of criminal prosecution.

But none of that came to pass on Monday. Those issued reprieves had been found guilty of mostly garden-variety offenses; one recipient, Leslie O. Collier, was issued a pardon for a 1996 conviction for the unauthorized use of a pesticide in killing bald eagles. Others who received pardons had been convicted of income tax evasion, unauthorized acquisition of food stamps, drug offenses and bank embezzlement, among other offenses.

The Justice Department and the White House offered no comment Monday on why the 16 people given clemency had been selected out of more than 2,000 pending petitions.

Four of the 16 people lived in Texas or were convicted there. There was no initial indication that anyone in the group had been a major donor to Mr. Bush’s campaign or had personal ties to him.

Pardons by presidents leaving office have sometimes created controversy, including ones that President Bill Clinton issued to his brother, Roger, and Marc Rich, the fugitive financier, in 2001 on his last day in office. The Rich pardon was at the center of Congressional and criminal investigations and has become an issue in the expected nomination by President-elect Barack Obama of Eric H. Holder Jr. as attorney general because of Mr. Holder’s role in it.

Mr. Bush has made relatively infrequent use of the broad clemency power granted to him in the Constitution, issuing 171 pardons and 8 commutations. He has issued fewer than half as many such actions as Mr. Clinton or President Ronald Reagan.

Mr. Bush’s most significant clemency came last year, when he commuted the sentence of I. Lewis Libby Jr., a top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, after his conviction on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice.

Mr. Bush has two more months in office to consider further pardons. Until then, “the president will continue to carefully review clemency requests and make determinations on a case by case basis,” said Carlton Carroll, a White House spokesman.