[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 18 (Monday, May 8, 2006)]
[Page 857]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on the National Economy

May 5, 2006

Frager's Hardware

    The President. Listen, thank you for your hospitality. I'm here to 
talk about our economy. Today we got some good news: 138,000 additional 
Americans found jobs over the last month, which is good; the national 
unemployment rate is 4.7 percent. This economy is strong.
    And one of the hopeful things about our economy is, small businesses 
are doing well. Small businesses provide most of the job growth in our 
country. The small-business sector is doing well; so is the American 
economy.
    One thing we've got to make sure is that we keep the people's taxes 
low to keep this economy growing. Raising taxes will hurt small 
businesses; raising taxes will hurt consumers; raising taxes will 
particularly affect working people, now that the price of gasoline has 
gone up. So one of the things Congress has got to do is be mindful that 
the economic growth we're seeing, the strong economic growth, is 
dependent upon good tax policy.
    At the same time, Congress should be wise about how they spend the 
people's money. They've got to make sure the supplemental comes to me at 
a rate that I'll accept, $92.2 billion, plus money for the pandemic flu. 
We've got a plan to make sure this economy keeps growing, but today's 
news is good news for the American people.
    And I want to thank you for coming by here to say hi, too.
    John Weintraub. All right, I thank you.
    The President. It's a good place to shop, by the way. I just spent 
some of my hard-earned money on Barney. I bought him a couple of toys to 
chew on--but don't let him know until I get over there, because it's a 
surprise. Thanks for letting me come by.

Note: The President spoke at 10:08 a.m. at Frager's Hardware. 
Participating in the visit was John Weintraub, co-owner, Frager's 
Hardware. A tape was not available for verification of the content of 
these remarks.