Strigouiiate

Strigouiiate's Thoughts
2003-01-07 23:49:58 (UTC)

da man

12:07 P.M. CST

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. It's a windy day
out there, which is -- (laughter) -- a good day for a
windy speaker. (Laughter.) I'm honored to be your guest
here at the Economic Club of Chicago. I want to thank
Michael for the invitation. I like a short introduction;
he didn't let me down. (Laughter.)

For 75 years, the business leaders and the entrepreneurs
in the club have helped make Chicago a prosperous and
energetic city. You understand the concerns facing
American workers and employers -- and you believe, as I
do, that we must address those concerns honestly and
aggressively.

Today in Washington, a new Congress convenes -- and I will
ask members of both parties to work with me to secure our
economic future. We cannot be satisfied until every part
of our economy is healthy and vigorous. We will not rest
until every business has a chance to grow, and every
person who wants to find work can find a job. So today,
I'm announcing a growth and jobs plan to strengthen
America's economy -- specific proposals to increase the
momentum of our economic recovery.

And this is a good city to give it in. This is one of
America's great cities. And one of the reasons why is
because you have a great Mayor in Richard Daley.
(Applause.) We're from different political parties, but we
have some things in common: We both married above
ourselves. (Laughter.) It is good to see the First Lady of
Chicago here. Thank you for coming. (Applause.) We both
have famous and influential brothers. (Laughter.) Our dads
spent a little time in politics. (Laughter.) And we love
our country more than we love our political parties.
(Applause.)

The thing I like most about the Mayor is he gets the job
done for the people of Chicago. And, Mr. Mayor, I'm proud
to call you friend. (Applause.)

And I want to thank another proud son of Chicago, Rod
Blagojevich, for being with us today, as well. He's soon
to have the second best job in America, being a governor.
I congratulate him on his election. I look forward to
working with him for the good of Illinois and for the good
of our country. Thank you for coming, Governor-elect. I
appreciate you being here. (Applause.)

I flew in today with the Senator from Illinois, Peter
Fitzgerald. I appreciate his leadership; I appreciate his
friendship. And as we speak, the Senate is debating the
Fitzgerald bill which will extend unemployment benefits to
those who are looking for work in America. And, Peter, I
want to thank you for your leadership on this important
issue. (Applause.)

And on that very same airplane was traveling with me Steve
Friedman, who is the new Director of the National Economic
Council. I'm honored that such a respected economic leader
has agreed to join my administration. I appreciate the
fact that he's willing to take time away from a
comfortable private life to serve our country. He is a
strong addition to a great economic team, and I want to
thank him for his willingness to serve America. Thank you
for coming, Steve. (Applause.)

I've also named two other good people to join this team.
John Snow is my nominee to serve as the Secretary of
Treasury. Bill Donaldson is my nominee to be the chairman
of the Securities and Exchange Commission. They will fill
essential positions in my administration, and I urge the
Congress to confirm them quickly.

As the new Congress meets today, our duties to this nation
are clear. We have a responsibility to meet great dangers
to our country, wherever they gather. We will continue to
hunt down the terrorists all across the world. Cell by
cell, we are disrupting their plans. One by one, we're
showing these merciless killers the meaning of justice.

We're also confronting the outlaw regime in Iraq that
lives by violence and deception, and is arming to threaten
the civilized world. The world's demands are clear: For
the sake of peace, Saddam Hussein must disarm himself of
all weapons of mass destruction, and prove that he has
done so. Should he choose the other course, in the name of
peace, the United States will lead a coalition of the
willing to disarm the Iraqi regime of weapons of mass
destruction and free the Iraqi people. (Applause.)

And we're dealing with North Korea, as well. It's a regime
that has expelled international inspectors and is
attempting to defy the world through its nuclear weapons
program. The United States and other nations will confront
this threat, as well. In this case, I believe that by
working with countries in the region, diplomacy will work.
We have no aggressive intent, no argument with the North
Korean people. We're interested in peace on the Korean
Peninsula.

As we deal with the dangers of our time, different
circumstances require different strategies. Yet our
resolve in each case will be clear: We will not permit any
regime to threaten the freedom and security of the
American people, or our allies and friends around the
world. (Applause.)

Even as we confront these dangers, you need to know I know
we have needs here at home, especially the need for a
vigorous and growing economy. Too many Americans today are
wondering about our economy. They're asking, how is the
economy really doing? Well, the American economy is the
strongest and most resilient economy in the world. In
spite of the terrible shocks that our nation has received,
our economy is growing -- and the entrepreneurial spirit
in America is strong.

We've made great progress these past two years. Remember,
in the summer of 2000, during the presidential campaign,
the market had started on a steady decline. Job growth
started to dwindle. The economy had begun to slow. When I
took office, the signs of recession were real.

So I worked with the United States Congress to reduce
income taxes for everyone who pays them -- more than 100
million individuals, families, and sole proprietorships
received tax relief. This tax relief was the largest in a
generation, and it gave the economy a boost just at the
right time, ensuring that the recession was one of the
shortest and shallowest in modern American history.

Americans should be able to count on those tax cuts as
they plan their financial futures. So I will continue to
press the Congress to make these tax cuts, including the
end of the death tax, permanent. (Applause.) We know that
tax cuts worked, and Americans deserve to know their tax
cuts will not be taken away. (Applause.)

We faced a second test with the attacks of September the
11th, 2001. These attacks caused terrible suffering, and a
massive disruption of the economy. Flights were canceled.
Many hotels and stores were empty. Stock trading was
halted for nearly a week. So we acted -- we reopened the
markets; we helped the people of New York City recover; we
assisted the airlines; we provided tax incentives for
business investment; and we passed terrorism insurance, so
building and real estate projects could go forward.

And then our economy was tested a third time, when
Americans discovered serious abuses of trust by some
corporate leaders. So we passed historic reforms to assure
corporate integrity, to punish wrongdoers, and defend the
interests of workers and investors. Corporate greed and
malfeasance cause innocent people to lose their jobs,
their savings, and often their confidence in the American
system. For the sake of justice, and for the sake of every
honest business in America, I have made this my
commitment: Corporate misdeeds will be investigated; they
will be prosecuted; and they will be punished. (Applause.)

We have met the tests before us because the American
people have worked hard through difficult times. And now
our country has entered its second year of economic
growth. Our trade with other nations is expanding,
bringing lower prices that come from imports, and better
jobs that come from exports. More Americans are buying and
building houses -- a central part of the American Dream.
The homeownership rate is now 68 percent, close to the
highest ever. Low interest rates have allowed Americans to
tap the rising value of their homes. In 2002, refinancings
added more than $100 billion to American pocketbooks,
money that helped renovate homes, or pay off debt, or
cover tuition, or purchase other goods.

The most important indicator of our economic strength is
the growing skill and efficiency of the American worker.
The productivity of American workers went up by 5.6
percent over the last four quarters for which we have
data, the best increase since 1973. As productivity rises,
so do wages, and our standard of living. Nationwide,
incomes are rising faster than inflation.

We have the most productive, creative and promising
economic system the world has ever seen. (Applause.)
America sets the standard for scientific research,
engineering skill and medical innovation. Our companies
and universities attract talent from every single
continent. Investors from around the world know America is
the safest place to put their money. People around the
world who search for a better life still dream of working
and living in the United States of America. (Applause.)

All these conditions create a platform for long-term
growth and prosperity. Yet, in spite of successes, we have
more work to do, because too many of our citizens who want
to work cannot find a job. And many employers lack the
confidence to invest and create new jobs.

We can help assure greater success tomorrow with the
policies we choose today. Now, these policies must
recognize that our $10-trillion economy is sustained by
the labor and enterprise of the American people.
Government spends a lot of money, but it doesn't build
factories, it doesn't invest in companies, or do the work
that makes the economy go. The role of government is not
to manage or control the economy from Washington, D.C.,
but to remove obstacles standing in the way for faster
economic growth. That's our role. (Applause.)

And those obstacles are clear. Many jobs are lost in
America because government imposes unreasonable
regulations, and many jobs are lost because the lawsuit
culture of this country imposes unreasonable costs.
(Applause.)

I will continue to press for legal and regulatory reform.
But today -- today I want to talk about these concerns:
Americans carry a heavy burden of taxes and debt that
could slow consumer spending. I'm troubled by that. I'm
also troubled by the fact that our tax system unfairly
penalizes some productive investments. And I worry about
people who are out of work; they need our help, both in
short-term benefits and long-term opportunity. By directly
confronting each of these challenges, we can preserve the
hard-won gains our economy has made and advance toward
greater prosperity.

Our first challenge is to allow Americans to keep more of
their money so they can spend and save and invest -- the
millions of individual decisions that support the market,
that support business, and help create jobs.

Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of our
economy. It has been the driving force of our recovery.
Yet there are warning signs I won't ignore, and I hope the
Congress doesn't ignore either. Many Americans live in
constant and increasing personal debt, with credit card
bills so heavy they often cannot pay much more than the
monthly minimum. Millions of citizens spend their entire
adult lives living paycheck-to-paycheck, never getting a
chance to save for their children's education or their own
retirement. Americans today are paying about a third of
their income in taxes. All of this puts pressure on family
budget, and therefore clouds our economic future.

Americans facing these struggles are due to receive
additional tax relief in 2004, and again in 2006.
Republicans and Democrats in Congress already approved
these rate reductions. And the time to deliver the tax
rate reductions is now, when they can do the most good for
the American businesses. (Applause.)

For the sake of economic vitality, I'm asking Congress to
make all the tax rate reductions effective this year.
(Applause.) The tax cuts should be retroactive to January
1st. (Applause.) Upon passage I'll order the Treasury
Department to immediately adjust the amount of money
withheld for income taxes, so that Americans will keep
more of their paychecks right away. (Applause.) By
speeding up the income tax cuts, we will speed economic
recovery and the pace of job creation. If tax relief is
good enough for Americans three years from now, it is good
enough for Americans today. (Applause.)

An additional beneficiary of this tax cut will be small
businesses. About 30 million Americans include small
business income when they file their individual tax
returns with the IRS. Faster tax relief will help these
businesses to expand sooner, to hire new people faster,
and to build a stronger foundation for the recovery.

We also know that middle-income families need additional
relief. So today I'm asking Congress to speed up three
other tax reductions promised in 2001 -- tax reductions
that will help our middle-income families. Instead of
slowly reducing the marriage penalty until 2009, we should
do it now, to help 35 million married couples. Instead of
waiting until 2008 to move more taxpayers from the 15
percent bracket to the lowest bracket of 10 percent, we
should make that change now and help 2 million working
Americans. And instead of gradually raising the child tax
credit from $600 to $1,000 per child by the year of 2010,
for the benefit of 26 million families, we should raise it
now. (Applause.)

These tax reductions will bring real and immediate
benefits to middle-income Americans. Ninety-two million
Americans will keep an average of $1,083 more of their own
money. A family of four with two earners and $39,000 in
income will receive more than $1,100 in tax relief -- real
money to help pay the bills and push the economy forward.
And the sooner Congress acts, the sooner the help will
come. (Applause.)

Taken together, these income tax cuts will put an
additional $70 billion to work in the private economy over
the next 18 months. And there's no better way to help our
economy grow than to leave more money in the hands of the
men and women who earned it.

Our second challenge is to encourage greater investment by
individuals and small business -- the kind of investing
that builds personal wealth and helps company expand and
creates new jobs.

We are increasingly a nation of owners, who invest for
retirement and the other financial challenges of life. One-
half of American households own stock, either directly or
through pension funds. And we have an obligation to make
sure -- now more than ever -- that American investors are
treated fairly.

We can begin by treating investors fairly and equally in
our tax laws. As it is now, many investments are taxed not
once, but twice. First, the IRS taxes a company on its
profit. Then it taxes the investors who receive the
profits as dividends. The result of this double taxation
is that for all the profit a company earns, shareholders
who receive dividends keep as little as 40 cents on the
dollar.

Double taxation is bad for our economy. Double taxation is
wrong. Double taxation falls especially hard on retired
people. About half of all dividend income goes to
America's seniors, and they often rely on those checks for
a steady source of income in their retirement.

It's fair to tax a company's profits. It's not fair to
double-tax by taxing the shareholder on the same profits.
So today, for the good of our senior citizens, and to
support capital formation across the land, I'm asking the
United States Congress to abolish the double taxation of
dividends. (Applause.)

The benefits of this tax relief will be felt throughout
the economy. Abolishing double taxation of dividends will
leave nearly 35 million Americans with more of their own
money to spend and invest, which will promote savings and
return as much as $20 billion this year to the private
economy.

By ending this investment penalty we will strengthen
investor confidence. See, by ending double taxation of
dividends, we will increase the return on investing, which
will draw more money into the markets to provide capital
to build factories, to buy equipment, hire more people.

We must also encourage the investments that help turn
small businesses into larger ones. Small businesses create
the majority of new jobs in America, and they account for
half the output of the economy. Currently, tax law permits
small firms to write off as expenses up to $25,000 worth
of equipment -- like computers or machinery that they
need. I'm asking the Congress to raise that limit to
$75,000, and index that number for inflation. This change,
together with the faster rate reductions, will benefit
more than 23 million small business owners. My view is
this economy can thrive only if our small businesses
thrive. And we will provide them every incentive to grow
and create more jobs.

A third challenge facing our country is the need to help
unemployed workers and prepare them for the new jobs of a
growing economy. The unemployment rate today is 6 percent.
That's low for an economy coming out of recession; it's
higher than it should be -- and the unemployment rate is
projected to rise even further in the short run.

This hardship is concentrated in certain regions and in
certain industries. Manufacturing jobs have declined for
28 months in a row. You know what I'm talking about here
in the Midwest. You're showing signs of recovery here, yet
many people here and across this country are still looking
for work.

A woman in Arkansas tells a typical story. She talked
about the fact that her husband was laid off from his job
at a local steel mill. And both she and the husband have
been looking for a job for quite a while. Here's what she
said: "There's just nothing for me to find. We're trying
to save up what little money we have and move to another
community and look for jobs there." Got to be worried
about those kind of stories here in America. As we
encourage long-term growth, we will not forget the men and
women who are struggling today.

Close to 70,000 workers each week exhaust their
unemployment benefits -- and we have an obligation to help
our fellow citizens. So I'm asking this new Congress to
extend unemployment benefits that expired on December the
28th. And the benefits Congress approves should be
retroactive, like the Fitzgerald bill, so that people who
lost their benefits last month can receive their benefits
in full. Helping America's unemployed workers should be a
first order of business in the new Congress -- and it
looks like it's going to be.

We must be more creative when we help those who have the
hardest time finding work. To encourage innovation and
more choices, and to help those who are out of work find
the dignity of a new job, today, I'm unveiling a new
approach to helping unemployed Americans through Personal
Re-employment Accounts. Under this new program, Americans
who face the greatest difficulties in finding work will
receive up to $3,000 to use in their job search. They will
have great flexibility in how they use that money. A
person with a Re-Employment Account will be able to decide
whether to use the funds for job training, or child care,
or transportation, or even to cover the costs of
relocating to another city for a new job. If the job is
obtained quickly -- within 13 weeks -- the worker will be
able to keep the cash balance as a "Re-employment bonus."

As we see new economic growth, we will need well-trained
workers to fill new jobs. So I'm going to ask the Congress
to provide $3.6 billion to the states to pay for the Re-
Employment accounts -- enough money to help more than a
million unemployed men and women across America. In order
to strengthen this economy in the future, we must help
these Americans today.

The jobs and growth proposals I've outlined today are a
focused plan to encourage consumer spending, to promote
small business growth, to boost confidence in our markets,
and to give critical help to unemployed citizens. Overall,
this growth package will reduce the tax burden of
Americans by $98 billion this year and $670 billion over
the next decade. I proposed a bold plan because the need
for this plan is urgent, and I urge the Congress to act
swiftly and pass this bill. (Applause.)

Our nation has seen two years of serious and steady
challenges. The recession and the decline in the stock
market slowed earnings and cut into tax revenues and
created a budget deficit. And in this time of war, I can
assure you this government is spending what is necessary
to win the war. (Applause.) But the Congress must also
understand this: The American people deserve and expect
spending discipline in Washington, D.C. (Applause.) With
spending discipline and with pro-growth policies, we will
expand the economy and help bring down this deficit.

This growth and jobs package is essential in the short
run; it's an immediate boost to the economy. And these
proposals will help stimulate investment and put more
people back to work, is what we want to have happen. They
are essential for the long run, as well -- to lay the
groundwork for future growth and future prosperity. That
growth will bring the added benefit of higher revenues for
the government -- revenues that will keep tax rates low,
while fulfilling key obligations and protecting programs
such as Medicare and Social Security.

We're meeting the challenges to America. We're
strengthening our economy, and we're taking a battle to
our enemies. And we're not going to leave our work half-
finished. In the months ahead, we'll confront every threat
to the safety and security of the American people. We'll
press on to turn our recovery into lasting growth and
opportunity that reaches every corner of America. By the
courage and by the enterprise of the American people, this
great nation will prosper. And there's no doubt in my mind
this great nation we'll prevail.

May God bless you all, and may God bless America.
(Applause.)

END 12:40 P.M. CST




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