President Meets with Workers and Small Business Owners on Economy
Remarks by the President in a Conversation on the Economy
SRC Automotive
Springfield, Missouri
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 investor's 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. (Applause.)
Congressman Roy Blunt, who you know well, is with us today.
(Applause.) He's a man who knows a good deal. I said, would you like
to fly down to your home town 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. (Applause.) Fill the potholes. (Laughter and
applause.) 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
decision-making 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 tornados 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 would
like to love themselves. (Applause.)
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 three 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 was an
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 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. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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 give Mr. Saddam Hussein a chance to disarm himself.
To do what the world had demanded, we went and disarmed him.
(Applause.)
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. Home ownership in America is at one
of the highest levels ever, and that's positive. People are owning
their own home. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.) 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. (Applause.) 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.
(Applause.) It says that we want to -- we want the tax code to work
the right way. We used to penalize marriage. That didn't make any
sense. We ought to be rewarding marriage in the tax code -- and so
there was a marriage penalty. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.) And we did that, and it's
helping. People have 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 sub-chapter 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, D.C. (Applause.)
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
dialogue. I believe we need to make the tax cuts permanent.
(Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
Anyway, that's enough from me. (Laughter.)
MR. STACK: I'm stimulated, stimulated.
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 risk-taker. And as a result of being an
entrepreneur and a risk-taker 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.
* * * * *
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 decision-making process 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, ten 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.
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: Mike's company is a sub-chapter S. That's a legal
term for they pay tax at the individual income tax rate. So when you
hear people talking about reducing 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 stay 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 you're
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.
* * * * *
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.
(Laughter.) That's how the economy 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.)
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: He got tax relief. See, everybody who pays taxes
got tax relief. He 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. (Applause.)
MR. BROWN: Yes, it is.
THE PRESIDENT: Sounds like a lot to me. (Applause.)
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. (Applause.)
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 203rd Engineer Battalion in Iraq. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Fabulous. Yes, thanks. I appreciate that. Pass
the word, the Commander-in-Chief is incredibly proud.
MR. BROWN: I will.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank her for her service. (Applause.) 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 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. (Applause.)
MR. BROWN: Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: Teresa, thanks for coming.
MS. 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. (Applause.)
Tell us about yourself. You're an accountant?
* * * * *
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 kid's 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 the 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. (Applause.)
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.
(Applause.)
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 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, hardworking people that really represent
the backbone of America. I'm proud that you all sat us there 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.
May God bless you all, and may God continue to bless this country.
(Applause.)