WH Press Secretary Dismisses NYTimes, Wall Street Journal

During a Thursday press briefing, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs dismissed the potential impact of a story appearing in this weekend's New York Times magazine -- a story in which President Obama dismisses the idea of a shovel-ready jobs -- by claiming that no one reads it.  Likewise, he said the Wall Street Journal lacks influence:

QUESTION: Can you elaborate a little bit on what the President meant when he said there’s no such thing as a shovel-ready project?  Does that mean that the stimulus on the infrastructure side has not been helpful to the economy?

ROBERT GIBBS: No, I — look, there are — more than 75,000 job-creating projects have been started as a result of the infrastructure investment in the Recovery Act.  Did every project start as quickly as you would have hoped?  No.  But 75,000 have. Investment in each state in improving the infrastructure of the roads, the bridges, the airports — fundamental investment in building a foundation for a stronger tomorrow, which was necessary and needed, and has created jobs, has led to economic growth.  The President has no second thoughts about that.

Q: Do you think that the timing of this self-criticism is helpful to Democrats going into this election?

GIBBS: No offense, I don’t think — I don’t know how many people will read the New York Times magazine.