This week President Bush talks about the biggest untold story of the Bush II era: the robust economy. It’s a good thing he mentions it, because Lord knows the MainStreamMedia won’t. Why, that might reflect well on the Bush Administration, and we can’t have that now, can we…
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning.
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This week was filled with more good news about America’s economy. We learned that our economy grew at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. Overall, our economy grew 3.4 percent in 2006 — up from 3.1 percent in 2005. The Dow Jones reached an all-time high this week for the 27th time in the past four months. And we learned that America created 111,000 new jobs in January, which means we have added over 7.4 million jobs in the past three-and-a-half years.
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This good news is a result of the hard work of the American people and pro-growth economic policies like tax relief. By cutting taxes, we put more money into the hands of American families and small businesses. You have used this money to produce strong and lasting economic growth. And now Congress needs to make this tax relief permanent, so we can keep America’s economy growing.
This really is the very essence of the difference between a President like Bush, who believes WE THE PEOPLE know how to best spend our own money, versus the liberal Democrat viewpoint, as exemplified by the Clintons, who think only government knows how to best do that. Unfortunately, with the new Congress, tax cuts will only be a fond memory of days gone by…
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President Bush continues:
Pro-growth economic policies also play a vital role in our plan to balance the Federal budget. Our growing economy has produced record levels of tax revenue. This increase in tax revenue has helped us cut the deficit in half three years ahead of schedule. And on Monday, we will take the next step when I submit to Congress a budget that will eliminate the deficit by 2012.
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To meet this goal, we must set priorities for government spending. My top priority will continue to be keeping America safe and winning the war against extremists who want to destroy our way of life. The budget I will submit to Congress includes the cost of funding the global war on terror, including in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our troops deserve our full support, and this budget gives them the resources they need.
I hope he has a few bucks tucked away somewhere in there for dealing with Iran, too. He then discusses the need for restraint in spending in other areas in order to get a handle on the budget. It’s too bad he didn’t try this when the GOP was in control of Congress. Perhaps some restraint might have helped in the past election. Now it’s too little, too late. He then suggests this:
Cutting the deficit during a time of war requires us to restrain spending in other areas. One good way to help eliminate wasteful spending is to pass earmark reform.
Hmmm. Why now? Why not when the Republicans were in charge? Oh, that’s right- the Republicans in Congress were addicted to these. Now they’re out. It seems strange that this might have a better chance of actually getting fixed with big-spending Democrats, but, whatever– just do it! The President tells us what these are and why they must go:
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