[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book II)]
[December 16, 2006]
[Pages 2192-2193]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's Radio Address
December 16, 2006

    Good morning. Christmas is fast approaching, and I know many of you 
are busy trying to finish up your holiday shopping. This week, we 
received good news about the economy that should brighten the season and 
keep us optimistic about the year ahead.
    First, the Commerce Department released figures showing that sales 
for America's retailers were up in November and that the increase is 
much larger than expected. These figures are important because for many 
American businesses November and December are their highest sales months 
for the year. So the healthy increase in retail sales is a good sign for 
American employers and workers.
    America's working families also received another bit of holiday 
cheer this week: We learned that real hourly wages rose by 2.3 percent 
over the past year. That may not sound like a lot, but for the typical 
family of four with both parents working, it means an extra $1,350 for 
this year. At the same time, our growing economy continues to create 
jobs and that has brought unemployment down to just 4.5 percent. These 
numbers give all Americans a reason to celebrate. More people are 
working than ever before, and paychecks are going further than they used 
to.
    When you decide how to spend your paycheck, you have to set 
priorities and live within your means. Congress needs to do the same 
thing with the money you send to Washington. That was one of the clear 
messages American voters sent in the midterm elections. And one of the 
best ways we can impose more discipline on Federal spending is by 
addressing the problem of earmarks.
    Earmarks are spending provisions that are often slipped into bills 
at the last minute, so they never get debated or discussed. It is not 
surprising that this often leads to unnecessary Federal spending, such 
as a swimming pool or a teapot museum tucked into a big spending bill. 
And over the last decade, the Congressional Research Service reports 
that the number of earmarks has exploded, increasing from about 3,000 in 
1996 to 13,000 in 2006. I respect Congress's authority over the public 
purse, but the time has come to reform the earmark process and 
dramatically reduce the number of earmarks.
    Reforming earmarks is the responsibility of both political parties. 
Over the past year, the Republican Congress succeeded in eliminating 
virtually all earmarks for three major Cabinet Departments. And I'm 
pleased that Democratic leaders in Congress recently committed 
themselves to support reforms that would restore transparency and 
accountability to earmarks. For this year's budget, they pledged to 
maintain current levels of spending and not include any earmarks, and 
they agreed to a temporary moratorium on earmarks. This is a good start, 
but Congress needs to do much more. My administration will soon lay out 
a series of reforms that will help make earmarks more transparent, that 
will hold the Members who propose earmarks more accountable, and that 
will help reduce the

[[Page 2193]]

number of earmarks inserted into large spending bills.
    Republicans and Democrats alike have an opportunity to demonstrate 
our commitment to spending restraint and good government by making 
earmark reform a top priority for the next Congress. When it comes to 
spending your money, you expect us to rise above party labels. By 
working together to cut down on earmarks, we can show the American 
people that we can be fiscally responsible with their money and that we 
can come together in Washington to get results.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 9:40 a.m. on December 15 in the 
Cabinet Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on December 
16. The transcript was made available by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on December 15 but was embargoed for release until the 
broadcast. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish 
language transcript of this address.