[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 7 (Monday, February 16, 2004)]
[Pages 210-216]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in a Discussion on the National Economy in Springfield, Missouri

February 9, 2004

    The President. Jack, thanks for having me. I want to thank the good 
folks who work here for allowing us to disrupt your day to talk about 
our economy and how it works. And hopefully out of this discussion, 
people will learn better how people make decisions, decisions with their 
own money or decisions with investors' money. I hope people come away 
from this discussion with this great sense of optimism about the future 
for our country. It's exactly what I believe. I believe we ought to be--
[applause]. So this ought to be a lot of fun.
    I am thrilled to be here with the two United States Senators from 
Missouri, Kit Bond and Jim Talent. I appreciate their friendship and 
thank them for coming. Congressman Roy Blunt, who you know well, is with 
us today. He's a man who knows a good deal. I said, ``Would you like to 
fly down to your hometown on Air Force One?'' [Laughter] Guess what his 
answer was? [Laughter]
    I appreciate the mayor coming, Tom Carlson. Mr. Mayor, thank you for 
being here. Fill the potholes. [Laughter] Sorry, Mr. Mayor, you didn't 
ask for any advice. [Laughter]
    I also want to thank the other State and local officials and 
community and business leaders for coming here. Thank you all for coming 
as well.
    Before I begin to talk a little bit about the economy and then of 
course have our panelists talk about what they think and some of the 
decisionmaking they made, I want to introduce a fellow who you may or 
may not know. His name is Travis Morrison. Travis, why don't you stand 
up right quick. [Applause] I guess you know Travis. [Laughter] I didn't 
until I arrived, but I know a lot of people like Travis.
    See, Travis is a person who takes time out of his life to volunteer 
in your community. When the tornadoes hit here, he went up to help those 
who suffered. When people are looking for food, particularly children, 
he's willing to take time out of his life to fill the knapsacks full of 
food for the kids. He walks for the March of Dimes. He works for the 
United Way. He's a soldier in the army of compassion.
    A lot of times, this country talks about our strengths, and we 
should. We talk about the military strength of America, and that's 
important, and we're going to keep us strong. We talk about how fat our 
wallets may be, and that's important too. But the true strength of 
America is found in the hearts and souls of people like Travis, people 
who are willing to love their neighbor just like they'd like to love 
themselves.
    I like to talk about the Travis Morrisons of the world because 
everybody can be an army--a soldier in the army of compassion. Everybody 
can make a difference. This country's strength is found in the faith 
centers and neighborhoods and community centers, where people help 
somebody who hurts. And one of my jobs is to lift that spirit of America 
and invigorate it and to call people to action. One of the best ways to 
do so is to remind people that in Springfield, Missouri, there are 
thousands of people like Travis, and if you want to help your community, 
help make somebody's life a little brighter. Travis, thanks for what you 
do. Thanks for being a solid, sound American by volunteering to help 
somebody who hurts.
    Speaking about strengths, our country has been through a lot over 
the last 3 years. I just want you to think about what the economy has 
been through. In March of 2000, the stock market started to decline. And 
that matters if you own stocks, and a lot of you do. You own them 
through your retirement accounts, for example. It's the indication of 
the rough times ahead. See, when a stock market sometimes indicates--is 
a predictor of the future, and sure enough, in the first quarter of 
2001, the country was in a recession. And when you're in a recession, it 
means somebody is not going to be able to work. Things are going 
backwards. The economy is in decline. People are starting to get

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laid off. There's a lot of uncertainty out there. People just aren't 
sure what their future looks like. It's tough times when the country is 
in a recession.
    We started to recover from the recession, and then we got attacked 
on September the 11th, 2001. In other words, we had tough economic times 
to begin with, and then the enemy hit us. And that changed us. It really 
did. It hurt us economically. It changed our whole outlook about the 
world. Perhaps by now, you're beginning to get an impression of how it 
changed my outlook. It changed the way I look at the threats to America. 
It reminded me that my most important duty, my most solemn obligation, 
is to protect our country and the people. I'll never forget the lessons 
of September the 11th, and when I see a grave and gathering threat to 
the United States, we will deal with it. We will deal with it for the 
good of our country.
    The war on terror goes on, unfortunately, but we're going to win. 
We're going to win because America is tough and strong and disciplined 
and patient. We'll win because we've got fabulous men and women in the 
United States military who are willing to sacrifice for our own security 
and for the freedom.
    And then, after we settled in with the new reality of the world, we 
discovered that some of the corporate citizens in America forgot what it 
meant to be a responsible citizen. See, when you're a CEO of a 
corporation, you have a responsibility. Jack knows that, and I suspect 
he might talk about--at least when he talks, you'll hear he recognizes 
that. But we had some people in this country who didn't tell the truth 
to their shareholders and their employees.
    By the way, we passed laws--and I want to thank the Senators and the 
Congressmen who are here--we passed laws, and now they know there will 
be a consequence in America for not telling the truth. We expect people 
in positions of responsibility, in CEO America, in corporate America, to 
be honest to their shareholders and their employees. That affected the 
people's confidence. Make no mistake about it, when we started reading 
that some of these CEOs of publicly held companies lied with the 
numbers, it affected people's confidence.
    And then, of course, as you know, I made the tough decision to 
secure America by--after having gone to the United Nations and after 
having worked to--given Mr. Saddam Hussein a chance to disarm himself, 
to do what the world had demanded, we went and disarmed him.
    The march to war affected the people's confidence. It's hard to make 
investment. See, if you're a small-business owner or a large-business 
owner and you're thinking about investing, you've got to be optimistic 
when you invest. Except when you're marching to war, it's not a very 
optimistic thought, is it? In other words, it's the opposite of 
optimistic when you're thinking you're going to war. War is not 
conducive to--for investment.
    And so we've overcome a lot. And I say we've overcome a lot because 
we're growing. The growth is good. New jobs are being created. Interest 
rates are low. Homeownership in America is at one of the highest levels 
ever, and that's positive. People are owning their own home.
    A lot of it had to do with the fact that we cut your taxes, a lot of 
the reasons why this economy is growing. Make no mistake about it, the 
main reason the economy is growing is because the entrepreneurial spirit 
of America is strong and we've got the greatest workers in the world. 
But it helps when those workers have got more money in their pocket, and 
it helps when the small-business owners have got more money in their 
coffers. And that's what tax relief does. See, when you cut the taxes 
for the people, you let them keep more of their own money. It means 
somebody is going to demand an additional good or a service, and when 
they demand an additional good or a service in our economy, somebody is 
going to produce that good or a service. And when somebody produces it, 
somebody is more likely to find work.
    And secondly, we did some smart things with the tax relief. We said, 
``If you have a child, you ought to get help with raising that child,'' 
so we increased the child credit to $1,000 per child. It says that we 
want the Tax Code to work the right way. We used to penalize marriage. 
That doesn't make any sense. We ought to be rewarding marriage

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in the Tax Code, and so--there was a marriage penalty.
    We helped small businesses by encouraging them to invest. We cut the 
taxes on everybody. Sometimes in Washington you see them play 
favorites--so-and-so gets a tax relief, so-and-so doesn't. My attitude 
is, if you're going to give tax relief, you ought to give it to 
everybody who pays taxes. And we did that, and it's helping. People got 
more money in their pocket to spend. You know what I'm talking about.
    Small businesses are feeling pretty good about their future, because 
there's incentives for them to invest. And by the way, it's very 
essential for you to understand that when you say cutting taxes on 
everybody who pays taxes --in other words, you're reducing individual 
income tax rates--that affects small business. Most small-business 
owners are sole proprietorships or Subchapter S corporations, which 
means they pay tax at the individual income tax rate. So when you hear 
us talking about cutting individual income taxes, think small business 
as well.
    And most new jobs in America are created by small businesses. It 
makes sense to invigorate the small-business sector of this country. If 
you're worried about job creation, if you're worried about somebody 
finding work, it makes sense to stimulate the small-business sector of 
this economy. And that's what we did.
    Now, I want to--before we let Jack talk--he's probably wondering 
whether or not I'm filibustering. [Laughter] I think that's what you 
call it in the Senate, isn't it? Yes. Anyway, I do want to talk to you 
real quick that--this is one of the real challenges we face--a couple of 
challenges. One, my attitude is, in order to make sure people can find 
work, that we need to open up markets for U.S. products.
    I believe we need to have tort reform so that these frivolous and 
junk lawsuits--[applause]. I know we need tort reform particularly when 
it comes to health care. The costs of health care are going up 
dramatically. And that affects small-business owners; it affects 
employees. One cause of increasing health care costs is the frivolous 
lawsuits that are running these docs out of business, that are causing 
people to have to practice defensive medicine. We need medical liability 
reform now in Washington, DC.
    We need association health plans so small businesses can pool risk 
so they can better provide health insurance for their employees. We need 
health savings accounts. We've expanded them in the Medicare law, but I 
want people to understand they're available now. And it's a really good 
way for people to buy insurance, whether you're a small-business owner 
and/or an employee. People ought to look into health savings accounts.
    We want less regulation. We need an energy plan. We need to be less 
dependent on foreign sources of energy. If you're a business, you need 
to have reliable sources of energy available.
    But I don't know if you know this or not, but the tax relief we 
passed is set to expire, parts of it. And some of it's going to expire 
next year, in 2005. In other words, the child credit is going down in 
2005 unless Congress acts. The marriage penalty is going back up in 2005 
unless Congress acts. And that's going to be an interesting part of the 
national dialog. I believe we need to make the tax cuts permanent.
    There are some in Washington--and they're going to say, ``Let's not 
make the tax cuts permanent.'' That means it's going to raise your 
taxes. When you hear people say, ``We're not going to make this 
permanent,'' that means tax increase. Now is not the time to raise taxes 
on the American people. This economy is getting better. We're showing 
good growth, good, strong growth. Yet, some in Washington want to raise 
your taxes. Make no mistake about it--let me tell you what's going to 
happen when they raise them. They're going to say, ``Oh, we've got to 
raise it so we can pay down the deficit.'' No. They're going to raise 
the taxes and increase the size of the Federal Government, which would 
be bad for the United States economy. People have got to understand and 
listen to the rhetoric carefully. When they say, ``We're going to repeal 
Bush's tax cuts,'' that means they're going to raise your taxes. And 
that's wrong, and that's bad economics.
    Anyway, that's enough from me. [Laughter]
    Jack Stack. I'm stimulated, stimulated.

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    The President. I'm not interested in you being stimulated; I'm 
interested in the economy being stimulated. [Laughter] And since you're 
an entrepreneur--[laughter]. See, one of the things that's fabulous 
about this country is people can start their own business. We want 
people owning something in America. We want you owning your home. We 
want you owning your own business. We want you owning your retirement 
account or your health care plan. We want you managing your affairs.
    And Jack understands what it means to own something. He's an 
entrepreneur. He's a risktaker. And as a result of being an entrepreneur 
and a risktaker and somebody who has actually made it happen in a 
positive way, he's also an employer. He's hiring people.
    So, Jack, thanks for your--letting me come by.
    Mr. Stack. It's nice to have you here. You are definitely the 
toughest act to follow I've ever had in my entire life. [Laughter]
    The President. I think you can handle it.

[At this point, Mr. Stack, chief executive officer, Springfield 
ReManufacturing Corp., made brief remarks.]

    The President. Thanks for your vision.
    Mr. Stack. Thank you.
    The President. He said ``bonus depreciation.'' That means that it 
was the tax relief passed by Congress encouraged him to invest. When he 
buys a piece of equipment, somebody has to make the equipment, which 
means somebody is more likely to find a job. So when Jack makes a 
decision to buy a piece of equipment, based upon the tax relief, he 
really says, ``I'm going to not only help my workers become more 
productive--which means better pay over time--but it means somebody is 
going to have to make the equipment.'' And that's how the economy works. 
It's an economy that responds to the decisionmaking processes of a lot 
of people around the world like Jack.
    He said he's going to add employees. That's great. That's what I'm 
hearing all over the country. You know, 10 people here, 15 people there, 
but it adds up in America. It adds up because there's a lot of 
entrepreneurs and a lot of small businesses. In order to figure out how 
this economy is going to do and whether or not to be upbeat about it, 
just listen to the business owners, the small-business owners who are on 
the leading edge of hiring folks.
    We've got a fellow here named Mike Sadler. Mike is the president of 
Custom Manufacturing and Polishing. Why don't you tell us what you do.

[Mr. Sadler made brief remarks.]

    The President. Mike's company is a Subchapter S. That's a legal term 
for they pay tax at the individual income tax rate. So when you hear 
people talking about reducing the individual income tax rates, you're 
really cutting taxes on his business as well. That's important if you're 
interested in job growth because he has got more money in his coffers, 
money that will enable him to more likely hire somebody as the demand 
for his products stays strong, money that will enable him to pay for 
health care benefits for employees.
    In other words, money available in the private sector and 
particularly in the small-business coffers is money that's going to be 
put to good use. It's money that's going to make it easier for somebody 
to find a job. And I'm telling you, Congress should not raise the taxes 
on people that are creating jobs and of people that are spending this 
money wisely.
    So I want to thank you, Mike, for coming. I appreciate your 
entrepreneurial spirit. You hiring anybody this year?
    Mr. Sadler. We're probably going to get two or three, yet, this 
year.
    The President. Two here or three there, all of a sudden, it starts 
adding up all across the country.
    Tricia is with us. Tricia Derges is the president and CEO of Mostly 
Memories. It's an interesting name.
    Ms. Derges. It's an interesting company.
    The President. All right, well, tell us about it.

[Ms. Derges made brief remarks.]

    The President. Good. Let me just pick up a couple of things she 
said. One, she is going to invest. I don't want to get repetitive, but 
I'm going to--somebody has got to make the conveyor belt. That's how the 
economy

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works. When your people talk about stimulating the economy, tax relief 
encourages her to make a decision, and that decision then affects 
somebody's ability to find work.
    Secondly, she talked about people who have been laid off. One of the 
most important things our society must do is to train people for jobs 
which exist. And I hope that the State of Missouri uses the community 
college system here in a way that says, ``Let's devise curriculum based 
upon the needs of the employers, so that people can find work.'' We've 
constantly got to upgrade the skills of our fellow citizens. As this 
economy changes, people need to get--learn new skills. And the best 
place to do that is a place like the community college. That's why I've 
called on Congress to provide money for job training.
    And I'm sure you had to help these people learn their jobs. But it's 
amazing what happens when people are able to gain new skills and a new 
lease on life, be more productive as a worker. Higher productivity means 
better pay.
    I'll never forget meeting a lady in Arizona, where she told me that 
she had worked 15 years as a graphic artist, went to community college, 
took some courses, then got employed by a high-tech company, and makes 
more in her first year in her new job as she did after 15 years in her 
old job. And so education provides ample opportunity for new workers if 
it's done right. And the best way to do it is to trust the local people 
to put a curriculum in place to train people for jobs which actually 
exist.
    Mr. Mayor, this is a good way to recruit business, by the way, is if 
you've got a good worker training program so that the employers know 
that they can find somebody who can do the job.
    Speaking about people doing the job, Gary Brown is with us. He's a 
warehouse supervisor here at SRC Automotive. Thanks for being with us. 
You've got kids. You've got----
    Mr. Brown. Yes, a lot of kids.
    The President. How many have you got?
    Mr. Brown. I have four kids.
    The President. That is a lot. [Laughter]

[Mr. Brown made brief remarks.]

    The President. He got tax relief. See, everybody who pays taxes got 
tax relief. They told me, about $3,000.
    Mr. Brown. That's right.
    The President. That may not sound like a lot--might not sound a lot 
to somebody. It's a lot to him.
    Mr. Brown. Yes, it is.
    The President. Sounds like a lot to me.
    Mr. Brown. Yes, and if we continue going down that road, it's only 
going to help us to--my wife is a stay-at-home mom. We home-school all 
our kids, and we'd like to continue that----
    The President. Congratulations.
    Mr. Brown. ----and hopefully, keep them home-schooled and with a 
good education.
    The President. Yes, that's a--first of all, Mom, you're doing--
that's tough. [Laughter] But it's--I appreciate that. I appreciate the 
idea of you wanting to give your children the education from you and the 
mom. Tax relief helps; $3,000 makes it a little easier for mom to stay 
at home, to help them meet their dreams and aspirations.
    I'm going to tell you what's going to happen if Congress doesn't 
make this permanent. When the child credit goes back down, this man and 
his family are going to pay $1,500 more--let me rephrase that--instead 
of $3,000 a year, they're only going to receive $1,500 a year from the 
Government. That's like a $1,500-tax increase. Now is not the time for 
Congress to be raising taxes on the people.
    Mr. Brown. To put some--talk about my wife a little bit. One thing 
she also does is she also takes care of my nephew, whose mom is right 
now serving in the 203d Engineer Battalion in Iraq.
    The President. Fabulous. Yes, thanks. I appreciate that. Pass the 
word, the Commander in Chief is incredibly proud.
    Mr. Brown. I will. Thank you.
    The President. Thank her for her service. And you might remind her, 
when Iraq is free and democratic and peaceful, it will change the world.
    These are historic times. These are times where we have a chance to 
define a more peaceful world for our children. I mean, we'll keep 
America secure by taking--making the

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tough decisions, by speaking clearly, and by being strong. But it's also 
important for our fellow citizens--and people who wear our uniform can 
attest to this--that a free Iraq in the midst of a part of the world 
where there's such hatred, such despondency and hopelessness, will be an 
historic moment for world peace. See, free societies are peaceful 
societies. People need to see what can happen when there's a free 
society.
    And you tell your relative----
    Mr. Brown. Sister.
    The President. Sister. You tell your sister, thanks a lot, and it's 
a meaningful sacrifice she is making.
    Mr. Brown. Thank you.
    The President. Teresa, thanks for coming.
    Teresa Noblitt. It's an honor to be here with you.
    The President. You don't have a big family, do you?
    Ms. Noblitt. Yes.
    The President. How many kids?
    Ms. Noblitt. Four. [Laughter]
    The President. It seems to be running here--is this company policy? 
[Laughter] You've got five--six--three.
    Tell us about yourself. You're an accountant?

[Ms. Noblitt, accountant, SRC Automotive, made brief remarks.]

    The President. Yes, that's good. See, one of the things she's saying 
is that with the tax relief means she can save more money and put it 
aside for her kids' education. That's noble and important.
    See, tax relief can be used to spend, and that's good, because it 
increases consumer demand, but tax relief also is being saved by a lot 
of our families, and that savings are really important in a society that 
rests upon the flow of capital. Savings actually is capital to be 
invested so people can find work. Tax relief is vital.
    This family received $2,700 in tax relief this year, every year, 
unless Congress, of course, doesn't act. When the child credit goes down 
and the marriage penalty goes up, which is going to happen in '05 unless 
this Congress acts, makes a decision, does what is right, this good 
family will pay $1,300--have $1,300 less in money to spend. And it means 
people in Congress will be spending it.
    Now, we've got plenty of money in Washington. I would rather have 
Teresa making the decision with that $1,300 than the people in Congress. 
She makes wise decisions with her money.
    I hope you've enjoyed the conversation. I have. One of the things 
that you hear if you listen carefully to what these folks are saying is 
that Government policies can make a difference in people's lives in a 
positive way. The entrepreneurial spirit in this country is strong. 
You've got people who started businesses out of garages and had people 
delivering goods in the streets, and they had to kick them out and make 
them go get a warehouse. [Laughter] A guy takes a huge risk on a giant 
debt-to-equity ratio and has succeeded. People buy the company. A man 
over here buys a company. This is--I love the entrepreneurial spirit in 
the country, and tax policy has got to encourage it, and we're going to 
keep it strong here in America.
    The other thing you hear, mothers and dads doing their duty, being 
responsible citizens by loving their children. Government needs to stand 
with the moms and dads. We need to be squarely on their side, whether it 
be sending signals to professional sports teams, we're not going to put 
up with any--you ought not to be putting up with any steroid use amongst 
your players. We ought to be supporting the moms and dads who are trying 
to teach their children the right lessons in life. We also ought to be 
supporting them, helping them raise their kids, and tax relief helps 
people raise their children.
    I'm glad you all came. I'm thrilled to be back in this part of our 
country, the great Springfield, Missouri. It's got good folks here, 
good, honest, down-to-earth, hard-working people that really represent 
the backbone of America. I'm proud that you all sat up here today and 
shared your stories with us. I hope the people listening have a better 
sense of how this economy works. I hope the people listening come away 
with a great sense of optimism about the future of America, primarily 
because the great strength of America is the people of this country. And 
you just heard five good people talk about America and where we're 
headed.

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    May God bless you all, and may God continue to bless this country.

Note: The President spoke at 12:25 p.m. at SRC Automotive, Inc. In his 
remarks, he referred to Mayor Thomas J. Carlson of Springfield, MO; and 
former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.