[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 25 (Monday, June 30, 2008)]
[Pages 901-905]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks at the Max M. Fisher National Republican Leadership Award Dinner 
in Livonia, Michigan

June 25, 2008

    The President. Thank you. Please be seated. Thanks for the----
    Audience member. We love you! [Laughter]
    The President. Thank you for the warm welcome. I'm fresh in from 
Washington, bringing greetings from First Lady Laura Bush, who's done a 
fabulous job. And I'm so pleased to be back in Michigan. I've spent

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some quality time in your State. I've enjoyed it every time I've come. I 
remember--you know, we've got a lot of fond memories here, such as the 
time when the Republican Party nominated a really good guy to be the 
Vice Presidential candidate with Ronald Reagan. That would be the first 
President George Bush.
    You might remember, that was in Detroit. And I remember the night--
the time that Ronald Reagan reminisced about that evening. As he told 
the story, a friend of his was watching the convention proceedings in a 
hotel lounge in California. And he was on the stage and my dad was on 
the stage and all the supporters were on the stage. And then he heard 
someone ask this question: ``Who are all those people up on the podium 
with Max Fisher?'' [Laughter]
    Everybody who knew Max Fisher loved Max Fisher. He was a man of 
uncommon grace. He was a person that could speak to the folks on the 
assembly line as well as to Presidents. He is a generous soul who gave 
to his community, his country, and the city of Detroit. He was a man of 
great courage. After all, he lived some 40 miles from Ann Arbor, but 
always reminded people he went to Ohio State. [Laughter]
    I'm proud to join you in honoring Max Fisher's legacy. And if he 
were with us today, here's what he would say, he'd say, ``Stop talking 
about me and getting to work.'' And our message is, is that we're going 
to get to work. We will return the Republican Party to the majority of 
the Michigan House of Representatives. We will take control of the 
Senate, House, and we will elect John McCain the next President.
    Mr. Chairman--Mr. Chairman, thank you for leading the party. And I 
believe, with your hard work, John McCain is going to carry Michigan.
    Today I had the privilege of flying down on Air Force One with 
Thaddeus McCotter, United States Congressman. This is the town in which 
he was raised. This is the district he represents. He is a smart, 
capable Member of the House of Representatives. And those of you who 
live here are lucky to have him as your Congressman.
    I'm proud to be here with Attorney General Michael Cox--Mike Cox, 
who happened to marry a woman named Laura. [Laughter] Thanks for 
serving, Mike. I appreciate your leadership.
    I'm proud to be here with Sheriff Mike Bouchard. Mike's been a 
friend of mine for a long time. And I know--the folks he represents 
through law enforcement really appreciate his dedication and hard work.
    I appreciate State Representative Jack Hoogendyk, and wife, Erin. 
And I wish Jack all the best in his run for the United States Senate. 
Thanks for running; appreciate--wish you all the very best.
    I thank my friend Chuck Yob, who's the Republican national 
committeeman from Michigan. And thank you all for coming.
    The last time I attended this dinner, I was the Governor of Texas, 
running for President of the United States. Maybe some of you are old 
enough to remember that. [Laughter] Since then, some things have 
changed: My daughter got married; my hair is grayer; the entourage is 
bigger; and I haven't seen a traffic jam in 8 years. [Laughter] But some 
things that haven't changed: the principles that are etched in my soul 
and my faith in the American people.
    Over the past 8 years, we've endured a lot together. When you think 
about what has taken place, it's been a challenging time for the 
American people. We've had a recession, high energy prices, housing 
downturn, unprecedented attack on our homeland, wars in Afghanistan and 
Iraq, and devastating natural disasters. The reason I bring that up is 
because you can't know what the future will bring, but you can bet 
there's going to be some unexpected challenges facing our country. And 
that is why the United States must elect a leader who has the experience 
and judgment necessary to handle those challenges.
    I know a lot about the Oval Office--the daily intelligence 
briefings, the unexpected challenges, and the tough decisions that can 
only be made at the President's desk. In trying times, America needs a 
President who has been tested and will not flinch. We need a President 
who will do what is right, even when it's not easy. And we need to elect 
a President who knows what it takes to defeat our enemies. And this 
year, there is only one

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man who has shown those kind of leadership qualities, and that man is 
John McCain.
    And a President McCain is going to need allies on Capitol Hill. That 
means we need to put the House and the Senate back where they belong, in 
Republican hands. And a President McCain will need people he can work 
with in this State on behalf of the people of Michigan, and that needs--
means we need to put the Michigan House of Representatives where it 
belongs, back into Republican hands.
    And I want to thank you all for helping make that reality come true. 
Thanks for your hard work that you're going to do, and thanks for your 
contributions that will help make this party vibrant and competitive 
coming down the stretch. After all, the campaign season really hasn't 
begun. It may seem like it's begun to you, but it really hasn't, because 
the main campaign is going to be in the fall. And that's the time most 
Americans are going to take measures of the candidates, and they're 
going to be wondering about what they believe for the future. And when 
the people start paying attention, and when they start looking at the 
philosophical differences, they're going to find that there's a wide 
chasm. There really are fundamental differences between what Republicans 
believe and what Democrats believe.
    On the issues that matter most, from taxes and spending to 
confirming good judges and building a culture of life to protecting our 
people and winning the war on terror, the American people are going to 
have a very clear choice. When they get in that voting booth on election 
day, when they think about what really matters to them, they're going to 
vote Republican. They're going to vote Republican for Congress; they're 
going to vote Republican for the Michigan statehouse; and they're going 
to vote Republican for President of the United States.
    This November, the American people are going to have a clear choice 
when it comes to taxes and spending. Republicans believe that American 
families can spend their own money far better than the government can. 
We've worked hard to restrain spending in Washington. We delivered the 
largest tax cuts since Ronald Reagan was the President. We cut taxes for 
married couples. We don't think you ought to penalize marriage in the 
Tax Code. We cut taxes for families with children. We cut taxes for 
small businesses. We cut taxes for capital gains and dividends. We put 
the death tax on the road to extinction. We eliminated income taxes to 
nearly 5 million families in the lowest tax bracket, and as a result, 
the American people have more of their own money in their pocket, and 
that is the way it should be.
    Now, our opponents have a different view on taxes, as you well know 
here in Michigan. After all, you've seen the Democrats propose and pass 
millions of dollars in new taxes. And if they increase their numbers in 
Lansing, we all know that that tax burden is likely to continue to grow.
    And in Washington, the Democratically controlled Congress refuses to 
make the tax relief we passed permanent. When the tax relief expires, 
every income tax rate in America will grow--go up. The marriage penalty 
will return in full force. The child tax credit will be cut in half, and 
taxes on capital gains and dividends will increase significantly. The 
death tax will return to life. A typical family of four with an income 
of $40,000 will face a tax crease [increase] * of more than $2,000. At a 
time when our citizens are struggling with high food prices and high gas 
prices and economic uncertainty, the last thing we need is a tax 
increase. That is why we must elect Republicans to the Congress and John 
McCain to the Presidency to make the tax relief permanent.
    * White House correction.
    Now, there's a reason why the Democrats want to raise taxes. It's 
because they need more of your money to increase--to pay for all the new 
spending they have in mind. This is a well-thought-out plan on their 
part. You've seen this on the Federal level. When the Democrats 
campaigned for Congress in 2006, they promised fiscal responsibility. 
And since they took office, they've been acting like teenagers with a 
new credit card. [Laughter]
    When those bills to increase spending and raise taxes reach my desk, 
I answer them with my favorite veto pen, and the famous words of Elvis 
Presley: ``Return to Sender.'' [Laughter]

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    And one area where the Democrats in Congress has failed to lead is 
on energy policy, and that's becoming more and more apparent to the 
American people. You know, I know that you're concerned about rising 
gasoline prices, and so am I. I've repeatedly proposed ways to boost 
America's domestic oil supply. And the Democrats have rejected virtually 
all of them.
    It puts them in an interesting position. They say they want lower 
prices at the pump, but they're against measures that would actually do 
that. You might say, when it comes to energy policy, the Democrats in 
Congress are running on empty.
    This November, the American people have a clear choice when it comes 
to confirming good judges and building a culture of life. Republicans 
aspire to build a society where every human being is welcomed in life 
and protected in law. We funded crisis pregnancy centers and supported 
parental notification laws. We outlawed the cruel practice of partial-
birth abortion, and we defended this good law all the way to the Supreme 
Court, and we won.
    And that victory shows how important it is to put good judges on the 
bench. Republicans have made it--they made it clear what our view is 
about the judiciary, the role of our courts in our democracy. We believe 
that judges should strictly interpret the law and not legislate from the 
bench. We need more judges like Justice Sam Alito and Chief Justice John 
Roberts.
    Our opponents see things differently. There's no clearer 
illustration of the differences than this: The Democrats' chosen 
candidate for President voted against both these good men. And our 
candidate for President, John McCain, voted for them.
    And we recently received a fresh reminder of the importance of the 
courts. A bare majority of five Supreme Court Justices overturned a 
bipartisan law that Congress passed and I signed to deliver justice to 
the detainees at Guantanamo Bay. With this decision, hardened terrorists 
now enjoy the same legal rights previously reserved for Americans.
    This is precisely the kind of judicial activism that frustrates the 
American people. And the best way to change it is to put Republicans 
back in charge of the United States Senate and John McCain in the White 
House.
    And the best way to keep judges in Michigan from substituting their 
own political views for the clear principles of the Constitution is to 
elect more judges like Cliff Taylor on the Michigan Supreme Court.
    This November, the American people are going to have a clear choice 
when it comes to protecting our country and winning the war on terror. 
Republicans believe that our most solemn duty is to protect the American 
people. And since September the 11th, 2001, we have worked day and night 
to stop another attack on our homeland.
    At home, we've strengthened our defenses, we've reformed our 
intelligence community, and we've launched a new program to monitor 
terrorist communications. Around the world, we have gone on the offense 
against the terrorists and advanced freedom as the great alternative to 
their ideology of hatred and violence. In a time of war, we need a 
Commander in Chief who understands that we must defeat the enemy 
overseas so we do not have to face them here at home, and that man is 
John McCain.
    In Afghanistan, we destroyed Al Qaida training camps and removed the 
Taliban from power. And today, we're helping a democratic society take 
root and ensuring that Afghanistan will never again be a safe haven for 
terrorists planning an attack on America.
    And in Iraq, we removed a dangerous regime run by Saddam Hussein. 
The decision to remove Saddam Hussein was the right decision at the 
time, and it is the right decision today.
    Early last year, when the situation in Iraq was deteriorating, we 
launched what's called the surge. And since the surge, violence in Iraq 
has dropped, a lot. Civilian deaths and sectarian killings are down, and 
political and economic progress is taking place. A democracy is taking 
root where a tyrant once ruled.
    In Afghanistan, Iraq, and around the world, our men and women are 
performing with skill and honor. Some of these brave troops have come 
from Michigan. We honor their sacrifices. We are grateful to their 
families. And every single American should be proud of their noble work.

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    The war on terror is the great challenge of our time. The Democratic 
Party has repeatedly shown that it would take America in the wrong 
direction, starting with the fact that many don't consider this to be a 
war at all. In their view, this is a--primarily a matter of law 
enforcement. In the war on terror, our focus should not be on 
prosecuting criminals after they have committed a crime. Our job is to 
find the terrorists and stop new attacks before they happen.
    To stop new attacks, we need to know what the terrorists are 
planning. And the best source of information about terrorist attacks is 
the terrorists themselves. After 9/11, we established a program at the 
CIA to detain and question key terrorist operatives and their leaders. 
This program has stopped new attacks on our country and has saved 
American lives. And despite these successes, Democratic leaders in 
Congress have tried to shut it down.
    To stop new attacks, we also need to deny terrorists safe haven, 
including in Iraq. And that's why we launched the surge. Yet the 
Democrats declared the surge a failure before it even began. And now 
that the surge has turned the situation around, they still call for 
retreat.
    The other side talks a lot about hope, and that sums up their Iraq 
policy pretty well: They want to retreat from Iraq and hope nothing bad 
happens. But wistful thinking is no way to fight a war and to protect 
the American people. Leaving Iraq before the job is done would endanger 
our citizens and embolden the enemies who have vowed to attack us again. 
When it comes to the war on terror, our Democratic leaders should pay 
more attention to the warnings of terrorists like Usama bin Laden and 
spend less time heeding the demands of MoveOn.org and CODEPINK.
    Over the next few months, you're going to hear a lot of talk about 
change. The Democrats say they're a party of change. Let me review the 
history of the Democratic Party. There was a time when they believed 
that low taxes were the path to growth and opportunity, but they've 
changed. There was a time when they believed in commonsense American 
values, but they have changed. There was a time when they believed that 
America should pay any price and bear any burden in the defense of 
liberty, but they have changed.
    This isn't the kind of change the American people want. Americans 
want change that makes their lives better and their country safer. And 
that requires changing the party in control of the Congress. And that 
requires having a Commander in Chief who will support our military and 
will fight and win the war against those who would do us harm, and that 
Commander in Chief will be John McCain.
    And so I thank you for coming tonight. I just want you to know that 
we've got a lot of work to do together. I don't know about you, but my 
energy is up and my spirits are high, and I'm going to finish my job 
with a sprint to the finish line.
    So with confidence in our vision and faith in our values, let's go 
forward together. Let's put Republicans back in control of the Congress 
and the Senate. Let's make sure Republicans run the statehouse here in 
Michigan, and let's do all we can to put John McCain in the Oval Office.
    May God bless you, and may God bless our country.

Note: The President spoke at 5 p.m. at Laurel Manor. In his remarks, he 
referred to Saulius Anuzis, chairman, Michigan Republican Party; 
Michigan State Attorney General Michael Cox; Michal J. Bouchard, 
sheriff, Oakland County, MI; Democratic Presidential candidate Barack 
Obama; Chief Justice Clifford W. Taylor, Michigan State Supreme Court; 
and Usama bin Laden, leader of the Al Qaida terrorist organization.