In this week’s radio address, President Bush talks about the economy. It is no secret that the economy is humming along at a pretty good clip at the moment and jobs are generally available to those who want to work. Additionally, opportunities abound for those with the entrepreneurial drive to make it on their own. All in all, for many people, these are good times. Funny though, we don’t hear much about any of this from the mainstream media these days. That’s because any good news might reflect kindly on the President, and of course, we couldn’t have that now, could we? If Clinton were the President, that’s all we’d be hearing 24/7- you know, the great "Clinton economy."
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While I believe that it’s the people themselves that actually make this great economy work, there are actions engaged in by the federal government that can help it or hurt it. Luckily for us, President Bush’s policies are more about helping it by getting government out of the way of the forward motion of our industrious spirit. Oh- and these policies allow more of us to keep a larger portion of the fruits of our labor by paying less in taxes. On this, President Bush is spot-on. The President explains:
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Election Day is around the corner, and one of the biggest issues at stake in this campaign is your taxes. Here is my philosophy: I believe that our economy grows and the American Dream reaches more citizens when you keep more of what you earn. With more money in your pocket, it is easier for families to afford a good education, it is easier for young people to afford the down payment on a home of their own, and it’s easier for small business owners to go out and invest and create jobs.
Amen! While President Bush isn’t much of a conservative when it comes to the size of government and how his administration prepares the budget, his aforementioned "philosophy" should be music to every conservative’s (and ordinary working American’s, for that matter) ears. But alas, we don’t hear it much these days, as the mainstream media focuses on all that they can to make Bush and the Republicans look bad. The President continues, explaining what’s been done to let us keep more of our hard-earned paychecks:
So my administration and the Republican Congress enacted the largest tax relief since Ronald Reagan was in the White House. We cut taxes for every American who pays income taxes. We doubled the child tax credit. We reduced the marriage penalty. We cut taxes on small business. We cut taxes on capital gains and dividends to promote investment and jobs. And to reward family businesses and farmers for a lifetime of hard work and savings, we put the death tax on the path to extinction.
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Now the results of these tax cuts are in. The tax cuts we passed have left more than a trillion dollars in the hands of American workers, families, and small businesses, and you have used that money to fuel a strong and growing economy. Last year, our economy grew faster than any other major industrialized nation. This week, we learned that our economy grew by 1.6 percent during the third quarter of this year. As we expected, this rate is slower than in previous quarters. Yet the evidence still points to a vibrant economy that is providing more jobs and better wages for our workers and helping reduce the federal deficit.
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So my administration and the Republican Congress enacted the largest tax relief since Ronald Reagan was in the White House. We cut taxes for every American who pays income taxes. We doubled the child tax credit. We reduced the marriage penalty. We cut taxes on small business. We cut taxes on capital gains and dividends to promote investment and jobs. And to reward family businesses and farmers for a lifetime of hard work and savings, we put the death tax on the path to extinction.
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Now the results of these tax cuts are in. The tax cuts we passed have left more than a trillion dollars in the hands of American workers, families, and small businesses, and you have used that money to fuel a strong and growing economy. Last year, our economy grew faster than any other major industrialized nation. This week, we learned that our economy grew by 1.6 percent during the third quarter of this year. As we expected, this rate is slower than in previous quarters. Yet the evidence still points to a vibrant economy that is providing more jobs and better wages for our workers and helping reduce the federal deficit.
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