    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book II)]
    [November 13, 2007]
    [Pages 1463-1468]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the Federal Budget in New Albany
    November 13, 2007

        Thank you all. Thanks for coming. Thank you. Please be seated.
    Thanks for the warm welcome. I needed that uplifting applause because I
    just finished eating lunch at Sam's. [Laughter] Had just a little too
    much chicken. [Laughter] But I'm honored to be with you. It's great to
    be back in New Albany. This is a fantastic hall. It is really special. I
    know you all are proud of it. I appreciate the great history of this
    part of the world. I appreciate the fact you got great people and great
    basketball. [Laughter]
        It's also a good place to do business. And I thank One Southern
    Indiana for your efforts to strengthen the spirit of enterprise. I
    appreciate what you do. Your members create jobs, attract investment,
    and add to the vitality of this region and our country. People here know
    that customers should be treated respectfully, money should be spent
    carefully, and new taxes should be opposed strenuously.
        And that's what I want to talk about today. Kerry, thanks for giving me a chance to come by. I appreciate it.
    I'm sorry my wife is not with me--so are most
    people when I travel. [Laughter] She's doing great, and she sends all
    her best.
        I'm proud to be traveling today with Congressman Baron Hill. Congressman, thanks for coming. Good to see you,
    sir. He was reminding me of the days he was a point guard. He said,
    ``Just don't remind them here in New Albany that I used to tear them
    up.'' So I won't. [Laughter]
        I want to thank the Lieutenant Governor
    of the great State of Indiana, Becky Skillman, for joining us today.
    Governor, appreciate you coming. The mayor, James Garner, has joined us from New Albany. Mr. Mayor, I
    appreciate you coming. Thanks for being here. Mayor Rob Waiz of Jeffersonville is with us today. Proud
    you'd be here, mayor. I thank Mayor-elect Greg Ballard of the city of Indianapolis that's joined us here. Mr.
    Mayor, thanks for coming. We've got other State and local officials.
    Former Congressman Mike Sodrel and
    Keta are with us today. Glad you're here.
        And I thank you for letting me come by to share some thoughts about
    what's happening in Washington. It's an important time for our economy.
    In October, America created 166,000 new jobs. We now have had 50
    straight months of job growth, the longest period of uninterrupted job
    growth on record. Since August of 2003, American businesses--American
    small businesses and large businesses, American entrepreneurs and
    dreamers and doers have created more than 8.3 million new jobs. The
    national unemployment rate is a low 4.7 percent. Here in Indiana, the
    unemployment rate is even lower, 4.5 percent. Thanks to America's
    workers and entrepreneurs, our economy grew at a vigorous rate of 3.9
    percent in the third quarter. This economic vitality, this economic
    growth is lifting our Federal tax revenues, and that's driving down the
    deficit. The deficit today is at 1.2 percent of GDP, and that's low.
        At the same time, this economy has got some strains, and you know it
    as well as I do: high oil prices, the housing market is challenged, the
    financial markets have got uncertainty. Families are working hard to
    meet rising mortgage payments and college and health care expenses and
    the cost at the gas pump.
        These are serious challenges. But as we have seen in recent years,
    this economy of ours is resilient. And that's important for the American
    people to understand. Sure, there's some challenges facing us. But the
    underpinnings of our economy are strong, and we're a resilient economy.
        Just a few weeks after the terrorist attacks of September the 11th,
    2001, our

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    economy was growing. Think about that. After the worst attack on
    American soil, where nearly 3,000 of our citizens died, this economy
    recovered. That's a resilient economy. After Katrina--two quarters after
    the devastation of Katrina--our economy grew at a powerful rate of 4.8
    percent. Despite the ongoing costs and uncertainty of war, the budget
    deficit is low. And the reason is clear: This economy is flexible; it is
    dynamic; and it is competitive enough to overcome any challenge we face.
    And the responsibility of Washington--in Washington--of people in
    Washington is to keep it that way. And that's what I want to talk about
    with you today.
        One of the keys to meeting economic challenges is wise policy from
    your Federal Government. Wise policy helps keep us resilient; lousy
    policy will hurt the ability for this economy to grow. The decisions we
    make in Washington have a direct impact on the people in our country,
    obviously.
        And as we debate the decisions, you got to understand there are two
    very different philosophies being played out. My philosophy is that the
    American people know how to spend their money better than the government
    can. That's the core of my philosophy, that I'd rather you have more of
    your own money to spend, save, and invest as you see fit. Every time the
    Government collects a dollar in taxes, it means you have a dollar less
    to invest in your business or to spend on your family or to put aside
    for the future. Government has certain responsibilities, such as
    protecting our citizens, and we're going to meet those responsibilities.
    But we must always remember that your paycheck belongs to you and that
    the economy thrives the more money you have in your pocket.
        The philosophy has been the centerpiece of my economic policy since
    I've been honored to be your President. Since I took office, we've cut
    taxes for every American who pays income taxes. We've worked to restrain
    spending, while ensuring that we have the resources necessary to protect
    the homeland and to make sure our military has what it needs to do the
    job. We set a goal to balance the budget by 2012, and we're on pace to
    meet that goal.
        Now, there's a different philosophy in Washington. And I'm not
    saying these aren't good people; they are, but they just have a
    different point of view. Instead of trusting in the judgment of the
    people, they trust in the judgment of the Federal Government. They
    believe in a Federal solution to every problem, and somehow, that
    solution always seems to include raising your taxes.
        Congress now sitting in Washington holds this philosophy. The
    majority was elected on a pledge of fiscal responsibility, but so far,
    it's acting like a teenager with a new credit card. [Laughter] This year
    alone, the leadership in Congress has proposed to spend $22 billion more
    than my budget provides. Now, some of them claim that's not really much
    of a difference; the scary part is, they seem to mean it. [Laughter]
    Over 5 years, their proposed spending spree adds up to an extra $205
    billion. Put another way, that's about $1,300 in higher spending every
    second of every minute of every hour of every day of every year for the
    next 5 years.
        Think about what it means for you. If you're driving a half hour to
    visit your grandparents, Congress would have spent an extra $2.3
    million. If you attend church for an hour, Congress will tally another
    $4.7 million. If you watch a football game, Congress would rack up $14
    million; unless, of course, it goes into overtime. [Laughter]
        It's easy for politicians to claim that this spending won't have
    much of an impact on you. But you got to understand that when the bill
    for all that spending comes due, Congress is going to turn to the
    working people and to the small-business owners and the entrepreneurs.
        The conclusion does not require an active imagination. All you have
    to do is look at the record. For example, leaders in the majority
    recently proposed raising taxes on

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    millions of working Americans by increasing the tobacco tax. It can be
    tempting to view this as a one-time action aimed at an unpopular
    product, but that's not the way things work in Washington. Raising taxes
    is habit-forming; once you start in one area, it's hard to stop in
    others. In fact, in addition to the tobacco tax proposal, Congress has
    proposed to raise taxes on oil and natural gas, on dividends and capital
    gains, and stock and bond transactions.
        If that's not enough, Congress's budget also allows the tax relief
    we delivered to be taken away. Here's what that would mean for the
    average taxpayer. If you have children, your taxes would rise $500 per
    child. If you have a family of four making $60,000 a year, your taxes
    would be more than $1,800 higher. If you're a small-business owner, your
    taxes would increase almost $4,000.
        And they're not picky about how to raise taxes. To them, every bill
    on the floor is an opportunity for a tax hike. Congress has proposed tax
    increases in the farm bill, the energy bill, the small-business bill,
    and the children's health bill. If you find a bill that doesn't have a
    tax increase, just wait a while, they'll put one in there.
        The price of these tax increases would not be paid in the Halls of
    Congress; it would be paid in the living rooms and shop floors and
    office buildings across America. Higher taxes would mean that you'd have
    to put in longer hours to bring home the same amount of money, which
    would lead to more time at work and less time with our families. Higher
    taxes would mean paying more to meet the priorities of the Washington
    politicians and less to meet the priorities of your family. And higher
    taxes would mean fewer opportunities for entrepreneurs, a tougher time
    for workers trying to get ahead, and a greater likelihood of a slowdown
    across our economy.
        People--American people understand the cost of tax-and-spend
    policies. We had some interesting results at the ballot box last week.
    In the State of Oregon, voters rejected the plan to raise tobacco taxes
    to further enlarge a government health program. In other words, when the
    voters were given a chance, they voted such a plan down in the State of
    Oregon. Right here in Indiana, voters in your capital voted for Greg
    Ballard and ousted an incumbent mayor, in large
    part because the incumbent mayor supported raising taxes. A newspaper
    report explained that the winning candidate, quote, ``rode a wave of
    voter discontent over tax increases'' to a stunning upset.
        We need to make sure the message is heard in the Nation's Capital,
    and I've come to New Albany, Indiana, to let you know I'm going to do my
    part. Under the Constitution, the President has the power to veto bills
    he thinks are unwise. And with all the other pressures on our economy,
    raising taxes is one of the most unwise things Congress could possibly
    do. I hope the leaders in Congress will cooperate and send me reasonable
    spending bills that I can sign. But if they insist on trying to raise
    taxes on the American people, I will not hesitate to use my veto pen to
    stop them.
        For all their plans to increase Federal spending, you would think
    that the leaders in Congress would be in a hurry to get the Government's
    annual spending bills to my desk. But that's not the case. It took until
    last week for Congress to send me the first of these spending bills.
    This was the latest date in 20 years that Congress has sent its first
    annual appropriations bill to the President's desk. I know they wanted
    to be remembered by history, but I don't think that's what they had in
    mind.
        As of this morning, Congress has sent me only two annual
    appropriations bills. One is the spending bill for the Defense
    Department. This isn't a perfect bill; it includes some unnecessary
    spending. But this morning in the Oval Office, I signed that bill to
    make sure our military has the full support of the Federal Government.

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        The other spending bill is for the Departments of Labor, Health and
    Human Services, and Education. This bill is 44 days late and nearly $10
    billion over budget and filled with more than 2,000 earmarks. Some of
    its wasteful projects include a prison museum, a sailing school taught
    aboard a catamaran, and a ``Portuguese as a second language'' program.
    Congress owes the taxpayers much better than this effort. And so today
    in the Oval Office, I vetoed this bill. Congress needs to cut out that
    pork, reduce the spending, and send me a responsible measure that I can
    sign into law.
        While Congress was passing the bloated labor and health spending
    bill, it delayed action on a good bill for the Department of Veterans
    Affairs. The bill includes vital funds for veterans' benefits and care
    for our wounded warriors. It had almost unanimous support. The House
    passed the bill 409 to 2 in June, and the Senate passed it 92 to 1 in
    September. I urged Congress to show its commitment to our veterans by
    sending me this bill by Veterans Day. Well, they didn't listen. Our
    veterans have already waited longer than they should have to. At the
    very least, Congress should send me a clean veterans bill before leaving
    for its 2-week Thanksgiving vacation.
        Another priority that Congress has failed to meet is energy. Leaders
    of both parties understand that America's dependence on oil creates
    problems for our economy, our environment, and our national security.
    When they were elected last November, majority leaders in Congress
    promised to pass an energy bill to reduce our dependence on oil. I
    consulted with members of both parties, and in my State of the Union
    Address, I proposed a plan to reduce America's gasoline consumption by
    20 percent over 10 years. I call this plan 20-in-10 and asked Congress
    to pass it by beginning of the summer driving season.
        Now the summer driving season is over, the price of oil has jumped
    to nearly $100 a barrel, and Congress has not acted. America clearly
    needs legislation that expands the use of ethanol and biodiesel,
    promotes energy conservation, invests in advanced technologies like
    clean coal and nuclear power. Listen, breaking our reliance on oil and
    gas is not going to happen overnight.
        Congress should also authorize environmentally responsible oil
    exploration offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
    American consumers and businesses are looking to Washington for action
    on this issue. And Congress needs to pass a bill that encourages the
    development of more energy that makes us less dependent on foreign
    sources of oil, and they need to do it now.
        Congress is grappling with another difficult issue. It's called the
    Alternative Minimum Tax. Decades ago, this section of the Tax Code was
    designed to ensure that the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, but
    its provisions are not adjusted for inflation. As a result, it's become
    increasingly likely that middle class taxpayers will be subject to the
    AMT. This would come as an unpleasant surprise to many American
    families, who would be forced to calculate their income taxes twice and
    then pay the Government the higher amount.
        In recent years, Congress has passed a temporary patch that prevents
    most middle class taxpayers from having to pay the AMT. But this year,
    Congress has not done so. With no relief in place, 25 million taxpayers
    would be subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax. On average, they would
    have to send an extra $2,000 to the IRS, which is a huge tax increase
    they do not expect and do not deserve.
        Some in Congress have looked at this impending tax burden and used
    it as an opportunity to raise taxes. Last week, the House passed a bill
    that provides relief for AMT, but raises taxes on others. Preventing a
    tax increase in one area should not be an excuse for raising taxes in
    other areas. Congress should eliminate the tax increases in the bill and
    send the AMT relief to

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    my desk as soon as possible. That's what the American taxpayer expects.
        The timing of congressional action on AMT relief is critical. I want
    to spend a little time explaining why. The longer Congress waits, the
    more difficult it will be to print and distribute tax forms on time.
    Last month, Treasury Secretary Paulson
    wrote a letter that said this: ``To avoid confusion and delays for
    taxpayers, it is critical that an AMT patch be enacted by early
    November.'' Well, early November has come and gone, and Congress has not
    acted. If Congress does not act before Thanksgiving, $75 billion worth
    of tax refund checks could be delayed.
        Yet when the Senate majority leader was asked
    if he could pass an AMT patch before Thanksgiving, he said, ``No.''
    Well, that's not a good enough answer for the American taxpayer.
    Congress needs to protect the middle class from an unfair tax hike. They
    need to finish their business quickly; they need to make sure those who
    get their refunds get them on time.
        When it comes to taxes and spending, they don't have a very good
    record, but here's a good way to start, is to make sure that Congress
    passes the war supplemental funds we need to give our troops the very
    best equipment possible in the theaters of Afghanistan and Iraq.
        I think it's important for Members of Congress to hear the words of
    Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England
    when he wrote them why the funds, the supplemental funds to support the
    war effort--see, these are funds separate from the defense bill; these
    are funds specifically to support our troops in harm's way and other
    measures. And here's what he wrote: ``If you''--he said, delaying could
    have this kind of, quote--in other words, what Congress is trying to
    do--some in Congress are trying to delay spending this money. Some of
    them in Congress want to say, we're going to spend some of the money,
    and by the way, tell you how to conduct the war. That's not going to
    work. We don't need Members of Congress telling our military commanders
    what to do. We need our military commanders telling us what to do so we
    can win the war against these extremists and radicals.
        See, I think it's important to get the advice from the military. I
    don't want our kids in uniform to think that the President is playing
    politics with their lives. I want those in the battle to understand that
    I'll be making decisions based upon the considered judgment of our
    military commanders. If you've got somebody in harm's way, you want the
    President being--making advice, not--be given advice by the military and
    not making decisions based upon the latest Gallup Poll or focus group.
        And so they're delaying the money that needs--our troops need to
    have. And here's what the Deputy Secretary
    said: He said, it would have ``a profoundly negative impact on the
    defense civilian workforce, depot maintenance, base operations, and
    training activities.'' In other words, there's a consequence for not
    funding this money.
        Congress's responsibility is clear: It should not go home for the
    Christmas holidays without giving our troops on the frontline the funds
    they need to succeed. Now, look, I understand some of them in Congress
    didn't agree with my decision, and that's fine. I can understand that.
    That's what that democracy is all about. Nobody likes war; I understand
    that. And I understand some were critical of the decision I made, and
    that's okay. But whatever their position on the war is, we should be
    able to agree that our troops deserve the full support of those of us in
    Washington, DC.
        By the way, look at these folks in uniform; I just got to tell you,
    I'm incredibly proud to be the Commander in Chief of such amazing
    citizens who volunteer to serve our country in the face of danger. What
    a remarkable country we have to have citizens such as these. Thank you,
    guys.
        It's important for Congress to get their spending bills done. See,
    the strategy may

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    be to put them all in one big bill, kind of delay and delay and delay,
    and then send it all in one big package, and no telling what's going to
    be in there. The best way to get the business done--the people's
    business done is to pass these appropriations bills one at a time and
    get them to my desk in a expeditious way. Unfortunately, the number-two
    leader in the Senate, Democrat leader said
    this: ``I don't think it's physically possible for us to do all the
    bills individually.'' That's frankly not good enough for the American
    people.
        So obviously, I had something on my mind. And I thank you for giving
    me a chance to come and share it with you. It's a critical time. I have
    great respect for the process, and I've got respect for people in
    Washington, DC. But they're coming at you with new taxes, and I'm going
    to do everything in my power to stop them. We don't need to raise the
    taxes on the working people; we don't need to raise the taxes on our
    farmers and ranchers; we don't need to raise taxes on the small-business
    owners. What we need to do is set clear priorities with the people's
    money, which is defend this homeland, support our troops, and make sure
    we reduce the deficit and keep this economy growing strong.
        As I mentioned earlier in the speech, there's some uncertainty in
    the economy. But we have dealt with that before, and we can continue to
    deal with it, particularly if we keep the taxes low.
        I'm honored to be back in southern Indiana. It's a thrill to be with
    you. Thank you for your hospitality. Thank you for being--loving your
    country. God bless you all. God bless America.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:43 p.m. at The Grand. In his remarks, he
    referred to Kerry M. Stemler, chairman, One Southern Indiana; and Gov.
    Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr., of Indiana.