White House corrects record on 'unpaid bills'

The White House has issued on Tuesday a corrected official transcript of a speech President Barack Obama gave Monday at a Democratic fundraiser in Chicago to include a joke he made about having unpaid bills.

Reporters attending the event heard the president joke about his move from his Chicago home, once he was elected president: \"One of the nice things about being home is actually that it's a little bit like a time capsule. Because Michelle and I and the kids, we left so quickly that there's still junk on my desk, including some unpaid bills (laughter) -- I think eventually they got paid -- but they're sort of stacked up. And messages, newspapers and all kinds of stuff.\"

But when the official transcript was released later by the White House, the bit about the unpaid bills was missing, and without explanation: \"there's still junk on my desk, including some -- newspapers and all kinds of stuff. \"

Now, a day later, the White House says that part was inaudible in the recording the stenographers use to make the transcript.

The updated version of the transcript, however, still does not correct the record with the actual words Obama used.

It indicates the portion the White House press office says was unclear on the tape: \"Michelle and I and the kids, we left so quickly that there's still junk on my desk, including some -- *(inaudible) -- newspapers and all kinds of stuff. \"

At the DNC fundraiser, where a $10,000 ticket granted guests an audience with the president at the home of Barbara Goodman Manilow, a well-connected teacher and chairman of the Francis W. Parker School in Chicago, Obama said that everything had piled up because he and his family \"left so quickly.\"

He told some 50 guests at the Lincoln Park neighborhood home that not much has changed since he left.

\"One of the nice things about being home is actually that it's a little bit like a time capsule,\" he said.