For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
October 2, 2004
President's Remarks at a "Focus on Ownership" Event
Renaissance Theater
Mansfield, Ohio
12:15 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Thank you all for coming. Thanks
for being here.
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming. I'm proud you're here.
Go ahead and be seated. Thank you all. Thanks for coming.
(Applause.)
It's great to be here in Mansfield. It's an honor to be back in
the state of Ohio. You might have noticed I'm spending some quality
time here. (Laughter and applause.) And there's a reason: I believe
you have to get out amongst the people and ask for the vote. And
that's what I'm doing here today. I'm here to say, I'd like your
vote. (Applause.)
And I'm also here to ask for your help.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: You got it! (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: I appreciate it. (Laughter.) I want to thank all
those who are involved in the grassroots politics here. I know our
party chairman is here; I know there's a lot of people putting up the
signs and making the phone calls. I know people worked hard to turn
out such a great crowd, and I thank you for it.
I'm going to thank you now for what you're going to do --
(applause) -- which is to register people to vote. Don't overlook
discerning Democrats, like Zell Miller, when you do so. (Applause.)
And then remind people that in our free society we have an obligation
to vote. And then when you get them headed to the polls, tell them if
they want a safer America, a stronger America and a better America, to
put me and Dick Cheney back in office. (Applause.)
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Got a lot of work to do here.
(Laughter.) I'm here to let you know I have a reason for wanting to
serve for four more years. It's important for a person running for
office to say, here's what I've done, but only to verify that which I'm
going to do. And that's what we're here to talk about. I appreciate
you giving me a chance to come. As you can tell, we've got some
citizens from the area here who are going to help illuminate the points
about the -- about the approach to government that I take, which is the
role of government is to help people realize their dreams, not tell
people how to live their lives. (Applause.)
And that's a fundamental difference in this campaign. It's a
fundamental difference. I'm running against a fellow who trusts
government. I trust the people. (Applause.) And we're going to spend
some time talking about it.
Before I do so, I want to tell you, Laura sent her best.
(Applause.) She was a public school librarian in Texas when I asked her
to marry me. She said, okay, just so long as I never have to give a
speech. (Laughter.) I said, you've got a deal. (Laughter.)
Fortunately, she didn't hold me to my promise. (Laughter.) People of
this country got to see her in New York City. They got to see the
woman I know: decent, compassionate, strong, and a great First Lady.
(Applause.) She said, "hi." I'm going to give you some reasons to put
me back into office, but perhaps the most important one of all is so
that Laura will be your First Lady for four more years. (Applause.)
I'm proud of my Vice President. He's been a great friend and a --
(applause) -- good advisor. I admit it, he doesn't have the waviest
hair in the race. (Laughter.) I didn't pick him for his hair.
(Laughter.) I picked him because he's got good judgment, he's got
great experience. I picked him because he's getting the job done for
the American people. (Applause.)
I'm proud Oxley's here. I know you're proud to have him as your
Congressman. Mike Oxley is a fine, fine man. (Applause.) Thanks,
Ox. And I see the chairman is with us, Ralph Regula. Thank you,
Ralph, for coming, as well. Appreciate both of you here. (Applause.)
I just got off the bus and Mike DeWine went up the road. He is the
warm-up person for the next speech, but he sends his best. Mike's a
great United States senator, and I hope you understand what a great
senator you have in George Voinovich. Please put him back into
office. (Applause.) Thanks for coming.
Let me -- a couple of things I want to say to you. One, as you're
gathering up the vote, it's important for you to remind your fellow
citizens what this country has been through for the last
three-and-a-half years, and the fact that we have taken decisive action
to deal with the issues that have confronted us. Take the economy.
When we got in there, the stock market had been in decline for a
while. It was kind of an indication of things to come, and then there
was a recession. Recession, of course, means that small business
owners have trouble making payroll, that people are just -- great
uncertainty, that people are worried about their jobs. And then, just
as we were beginning to get our balance in the recession, we found out
that some of our citizens were not responsible citizens. They didn't
tell the truth. And that affected our economy. Make no mistake about
it, those corporate scandals affected the economic vitality of this
country. So we acted. It's called the Sarbanes-Oxley bill.
(Applause.) It's a bill that says we're not going to tolerate
dishonesty in the boardrooms of America.
And then, after that, the enemy hit us and it cost us jobs. The
attacks of September the 11th caused a lot of grief, a lot of concern.
It caused us to change our -- aspects of our foreign policy, which I'll
talk about in a little bit. But it hurt our economy. There have been
major obstacles in the path for economic success, yet we've overcome
them. We've overcome them because the entrepreneurial spirit in
America is strong. We've overcome it because our small business owners
are optimistic people. We've overcome it because we've got great
workers in America. And we've overcome it because of well-timed tax
cuts. (Applause.)
We're going to talk a little bit today about how the tax relief
helped individual families, as well as the small business owners. The
economy of this country is strong and it's getting stronger. The
national unemployment rate is 5.4 percent, which is lower than the
average of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. (Applause.) We're growing at
rates as fast as any in nearly 20 years. I understand there's pockets
of unemployment here in Ohio. It's been tough on this state, and I
know that. That's why pro-growth policies will help. You'll hear
other ways to help the people who are hurting here. So long as anybody
is looking for work, I'll continue to make sure this economy has got
what it takes to grow.
Now, let me tell you about our economy. It's one thing to have
overcome obstacles; the question is, how do you make sure the growth we
have now is lasting prosperity. It's really the issue in this
campaign. The best way to make sure work stays here in America, the
best way to make sure people can find work is to make sure America is
the best place in the world to do business. (Applause.) That means
less regulations on our business owners. That means legal reform, so
frivolous lawsuits don't make it hard to hire. (Applause.)
We open up our markets to goods from other countries. It's
happened in previous administrations, both Republican and Democrat
Presidents have done so, because it's in your interest. The more
products you have to choose from, the more likely it is you're going to
get that which you want at a better price and higher quality. That's
how the marketplace works. So in return, rather than closing our
markets and isolating ourselves from the world, I've said to other
countries, like China, you treat America the way America treats you.
The best trade policy is to work to open up markets around the world
because we can compete with anybody, anytime, anywhere if the rules are
fair. (Applause.)
In order to keep jobs here, make sure the doors of our businesses
stay open, we need an energy plan. I submitted a plan to the United
States Congress. Congress needs to get it to my desk. It's a plan
that encourages conservation. We spend billions on research to make
sure that we can find alternative sources of energy. I strongly
believe we ought to be using ethanol and biodiesel in the energy mix,
which we are. I know we can use technology to see to it that our coals
burn more cleanly. We need to be using technology to explore for
natural gas in environmentally friendly ways. But to keep jobs here in
America, this country must become less dependent on foreign sources of
energy. (Applause.)
We've also got to be wise about how we spend your money in
Washington. In order to make sure this -- this economy grows, we've
got to be wise. We've got to set priorities and stick to those
priorities, and we've got to keep your taxes low. (Applause.) If you
want this economy to grow, it's important to keep your taxes low, and
it's an issue in this campaign. My opponent has, so far, proposed $2.2
trillion of new federal spending -- that's with a "T." That's a lot,
even for somebody from Massachusetts. (Laughter and applause.) And so
they said, how are you going to pay for it? They asked him, how are
you going to pay for it? He said, I'll just tax the rich. We've heard
that, haven't we, before? Just tax the rich.
Today, I'm going to talk to a small business owner that is
evidently a part of that equation. There's a tax gap in his plan. As
well, he's going to propose $2.2 trillion, by -- but by raising the two
top brackets, you only raise a little over $600 billion. That's the
tax gap. Guess what happens when there's a tax gap in Washington?
Guess who gets to fill the tax gap?
AUDIENCE: We do!
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. As well, when you hear him say, "Tax the
rich," just remember that the rich hire lawyers and accountants for a
reason, to slip the bill and pass it to you. The good news is, we're
not going to let him tax you. I'm going to win in November, with your
help. (Applause.)
Thank you all. Hold on, we've got to work here. Thank you all.
Behave yourselves back there. (Laughter.) They got the best view in
the house. (Applause.) Not now. (Laughter.)
A couple other things I want to talk about. I want to remind you I
understand we're living in a changing world. And it's changed -- just
think about the work place. It used to be where a person had one job,
one career, worked for one company, one pension plan, one health care
plan, and that person was a male -- generally a male. Today, the work
place has changed a lot. People are changing jobs and careers quite
frequently. Women are working inside the house and outside the house.
And, yet, when you think about it, the fundamental systems of our
government -- like the tax code, and the health care plans, and the
pension plans -- were designed for yesterday, not tomorrow. I'm
running to change those systems so that people have the opportunity to
be able to realize the great promise of America.
Let me talk about health care right quick, and we're going to talk
about an interesting example of what I'm talking about.
The health care system today, we've got a choice, it seems like to
me, and the choice is whether or not the government is going to run the
health care or you're going to run the health care. I believe it's as
simple and as stark as that. I've analyzed my opponent's plans and,
when you think about it, everything he's going to do, it's going to
cause the government to be more intrusive in the health care system.
To me, that's the wrong approach.
About 50 percent -- so here's some practical ideas for you to talk
to your neighbors about. First of all, there ought to be a safety
net. There's a safety net when it comes to Medicare. I went to
Washington to solve problems. I saw a problem in Medicare. Medicare
would pay nearly $100,000, but not a dime for the prescription drugs
which would prevent the heart surgery from being needed in the first
place. That didn't make any sense. It certainly didn't make any sense
for our seniors. It didn't make any sense for the taxpayers. We
brought Republicans and Democrats together, we modernized Medicare, and
our seniors will be getting a prescription drug benefit in the year
2006. (Applause.)
I believe -- I believe in community health centers, places where
the low-income Americans can get primary and preventative care, in
places other than your emergency rooms. And I believe every poor
country in America ought to have a community health center. I believe
in a children's health insurance program, but we've got to make sure
all those who are eligible are signed up to do so.
But I also understand this reality: 15 percent of the working
uninsured work for small businesses. Small businesses are having
trouble affording health care. And in order to enable them to be able
to better afford health care, I think small business ought to be able
to pool risk so they can buy insurance at the same discount big
businesses get to do. (Applause.) My opponent opposes that. I think
it -- I don't think it makes sense, I don't think it's practical,
commonsense policy to not enable small businesses to be able to afford
health insurance for their employees.
Another problem we have in America, and it's America-wide, is the
fact that there's too many lawsuits which are running good docs out of
business and running up the costs of your health care. (Applause.)
You can't be pro-doctor and pro-patient, pro-hospital and pro-trial
lawyer at the same time. I think you have to choose. (Applause.) My
opponent has made his choice and he put a trial lawyer on the ticket.
I made my choice: I'm for medical liability reform now. (Applause.)
I believe in health savings accounts. We're going to talk about
health savings accounts in a minute. A better way for me to describe
it is to let somebody who owns one describe what they mean. But,
really, what they are is a chance for somebody to own their own health
care account. And I believe good government policy will encourage --
needs to encourage small businesses to set up health savings accounts
for their employees, accounts that you call your own. In a changing
world, when people change jobs, it makes sense to have somebody be able
to own their own health care account that they can take from job to job
and that they can pass on to other generations. See, if you own
something in a changing world, you have more stability in your life.
Let me talk about the retirement plans in America. It's really
important, in my judgment, to think about ownership in the Social
Security system in order to make sure our younger workers have got a
system that is viable. Now, let me make -- let me say this to you. In
2000, when I campaigned, I clearly remember some of these television
ads saying to our seniors, if George W. gets in, you're not going to
get your check. Well, you got your check. (Applause.) It's not going
to happen. It didn't happen in 2000, it's not going to happen in
2005. Seniors will get their checks. Baby boomers, we'll get our
checks.
But we need to be worried about our young kids, our children and
grandchildren. There's a big bulge of us baby boomers getting ready to
retire and there's not enough people putting money in. That's the
issue. And to make sure Social Security is viable for our younger
workers, the money in the Social Security trust has got to be earning a
higher rate of return. That's why I believe younger workers ought to
be able to take some of their own tax money and set it aside in a
personal savings account to help fulfill the promise of Social
Security, an account they call their own, and an account the government
cannot take away. (Applause.)
A couple other things I want to say to you about how to cope in a
changing world. The labor laws were designed for yesterday; we need to
change them so that people working outside the home are able to have
flex-time or comp-time. They're able to be able to store up time so
they can better juggle. There needs to be a mom and a worker at the
same time. The labor laws ought to be family friendly. The labor laws
ought to recognize times have changed and give people flexibility so
they can manage both their home and their career. (Applause.)
Right quick about education. First of all, I went to Washington to
challenge this system that sometimes, and too many times, just shuffled
kids through, grade after grade, year after year without teaching the
basics. It is not right to allow a child to go through the school
system without having the tools necessary to be able to compete and
work in the world of the 21st century. And so I said to Washington,
let's just think differently. We'll increase federal spending,
particularly for the poor and disadvantaged, but in return, we'll start
asking some basic questions: have you taught the child how to read,
write, and add and subtract?
And so, now, in return for increased federal money, states must
design accountability systems which are able to determine whether or
not we're meeting the high standards we've set. (Applause.) You
cannot solve a problem until you diagnose it. And so the idea is to
determine early in a child's career whether or not he or she can read
and correct the reading problem today, before it's too late. We're
closing a minority achievement gap in America. The system's working,
and we're not going to go back to the old days of no accountability and
no excellence in the classrooms, some of the classrooms of America.
(Applause.)
But there's more to do, more to do when it comes to education. You
know, many of the new jobs of the 21st century require a college
degree, but only one in four of our students gets there. That's why I
believe we've got to have at-risk programs for high school students so
they don't slip behind. We've got to emphasize math and science so
that skills -- kids have got the skills necessary for the jobs of the
21st century. Over time, I believe there ought to be accountability in
the high school systems so we can say we've raised the standards. We
need to increase Pell grants for low- and middle-income families. But
all this means that more and more of our kids will be able to start
their career with a college diploma, will be able to compete in the
21st century. (Applause.)
There's also a skills gap in America. Think about this. In many
communities, some communities, the job base is changing from the way it
was of yesterday, and, yet, many workers don't have the skills
necessary to fill those jobs. We've got a comprehensive program to
make sure the worker training programs fulfill the needs of the 21st
century. I am a big believer in the community college system, where
many of our workers have got the capacity and ability to be able to get
the skills necessary to fill the jobs in their own neighborhoods, in
their own communities.
And so what I'm telling you is, is I understand this world of ours
is changing. And we've got plans to say, in a changing world, the
systems of government will change with it -- not to tell people how to
live their lives, but to say, here's your opportunity. Government
can't make somebody be ambitious, but what government can do is say,
here's a chance. We'll give you the skills and opportunity to be able
to realize the great dreams of this country. That's a hopeful
America. So I'm telling the American people, give me a chance to be
President for four more years to build a more hopeful America, an
America based upon ownership. Do you realize, under my administration,
the home ownership rate is at an all-time high? (Applause.)
And we're about to talk to a homeowner. But before we do so, I
want to talk to -- Teresa Slaubaugh is with us. Thanks for coming,
Teresa. Glad you're here. You're married?
MRS. SLAUBAUGH: Yes, I am.
THE PRESIDENT: Husband's name, please?
MRS. SLAUBAUGH: My husband is Paul Slaubaugh.
THE PRESIDENT: Good. He is -- (laughter.) Just getting warmed
up. (Laughter.) How many kids you got?
MRS. SLAUBAUGH: I have two beautiful children.
THE PRESIDENT: Two beautiful children. Are they here?
MRS. SLAUBAUGH: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Let me see if I can pick them out here. No.
(Laughter.) I've asked Teresa to join us just so people understand
what the tax relief meant. Now, when I talk about tax relief, first of
all, we cut the taxes on everybody who pays taxes. See, if you pay
taxes, you ought to get relief. (Applause.) And, secondly, we raised
the child credit. Two beautiful children meant that the child credit
went up for Teresa and her husband, Paul. It is Paul?
MRS. SLAUBAUGH: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Whew. (Laughter.) Whooo. (Laughter.)
This family of four, because of the reduction in rates, the
creation of a new rate, the 10 percent bracket, raising the child
credit -- and oh, by the way, just one other thing before I let Teresa
speak -- she's probably wondering if she's ever going to get a word in
edgewise. (Laughter.) The code penalizes marriage. It doesn't make
any sense to penalize marriage. We ought to have a tax code that
encourages marriage. (Applause.)
And so, how much relief -- how much tax relief did you all get in
'03? Do you know? I know. You saved $1,700. That's not a lot in
Washington terms, I understand that. Did that mean anything to you and
Paul?
MRS. SLAUBAUGH: It meant quite a bit to us.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, like how?
MRS. SLAUBAUGH: My husband, Paul, works as a -- a high school
teacher, and he serves our country as a Navy Reservist.
THE PRESIDENT: Great.
MRS. SLAUBAUGH: I'm a home school mom, I'm a stay-at-home mom, and
-- (applause) -- we have benefited from your administration. This has
allowed us to purchase curriculum for our son, school supplies for our
son. We have been able to supply piano lessons, physical education
classes where we have to go outside the home environment to supplement
his education. And we've been able to take field trips to various
places.
THE PRESIDENT: Good. Listen, I think it's important -- let me
just -- this will help me make my point. After government meets its
obligations, after we set priorities and fund them, I think it makes
sense to let Teresa and her husband, Paul, keep as much money as
possible. She can spend her money better than the government can spend
her money. That's the philosophy. That's our philosophy in this
campaign. (Applause.)
And think about what this means. Think about what the tax relief
means. I'm so pleased you're here, because it gives me a great
example. Think about what it means. It means that as a result of tax
relief, the Slaubaugh family has got more choices. It provides more
freedom. And they've chosen to educate their child at home. First of
all, that's a -- it's got to be really hard to be the mom and the
teacher, although moms should be teachers, but this is, mom, teacher,
and teacher. (Laughter.)
And, yet, the money is freeing them up to do what they want to do.
When you hear me talk about government policy to create more freedom,
that's what I'm talking about. They have the freedom to be able to
make a choice that they want to choose. And I want to thank the
Congress for making sure that the child credit, the 10 percent bracket
and the marriage penalty relief that we passed was made permanent for
five more years. I appreciate your work. (Applause.)
Wait a minute. Hold on. We've got a lot more work to do yet.
So one of the things I love is to hear a story about somebody who
said, I've started my own business. I think one of the -- I know one
of the strengths of this country of ours is the small business sector
of our economy. And today we've got Grant Milliron will us.
(Applause.) Pretty well-known, evidently. (Applause.) Pretty soon
you'll be running for mayor.
MR. MILLIRON: You never know.
THE PRESIDENT: That's right. So tell the people at what age you
started your business.
MR. MILLIRON: I was 18 years old, and I was nine days away from my
19th birthday. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: You talk about the entrepreneurial spirit, I mean
-- I can't tell you how many people I've talked to that said, well, I
started my business at the kitchen table, or, in my garage. I don't
know where you started yours?
MR. MILLIRON: Very similar. We started with one acre of property
and 12 automobiles.
THE PRESIDENT: Really? So what do you do? Give people a sense of
what your business does.
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: There you go. Hold on, hold on. He's doing
great. A couple of points, he said something interesting I want to
remind you. He said, your policies have meant a lot to us recently,
and he talked about capital intensive business -- that means, machines,
got to buy equipment. And one of the things he's referring to is the
fact that we provided incentives for small businesses to make purchases
and investments, and there's a reason why. I'll get to it in a
minute.
So with this incentive, did you buy anything? What did you buy?
MR. MILLIRON: We certainly have. We began a program in late 2003
of re-entering the solid waste business. I was in that business, too,
for about 15 years. The first thing we did is buy three brand new
trucks. Those trucks are very expensive. We spent almost a
half-a-million dollars for three trucks.
THE PRESIDENT: Somebody had to make the trucks. See, he said --
what the tax policy did was it increased demand; that good tax policy
says to a Grant, here's something to help you in the decision-making
process, which is to make a capital investment. When he decides to
make the capital investment, somebody has to make it for him. That's
how the economy works. His decision, based upon tax relief, caused
somebody else to be able to work, and at the same time, meant his own
workers were more productive. That's why good tax policy is -- is --
that's how good tax policy happens. (Applause.)
Go ahead. How many workers have you got?
MR. MILLIRON: In one company, the iron and metal company, we had
23 people going into the first of this year. We have added seven
people. And once our shredder operation is up and running, we know
we'll be hiring six or eight more people.
THE PRESIDENT: Think about that. That's what's happening in this
economy. Grant's got optimism. He sees a brighter future. He's
making some capital investments to make his business more competitive,
and he's hiring people. He's added seven people. He says he's going
to add seven more. It's happening all over America. The small
business sector of this country is leading this recovery. Seventy
percent of new jobs are created by small business owners just like
Grant. (Applause.) Isn't that right? (Applause.)
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: See, the small business sector of this economy is
leading the recovery. But I want to tell you something interesting and
why my opponent's policies are wrong, in my judgment. Grant's company
is a subchapter-S. That means he pays tax at the individual income tax
level. About 90 percent of the small businesses pay individual income
tax. They don't pay corporate tax. They pay individual tax. That's
because they're a subchapter-S corporation or a sole proprietorship.
So when you hear my opponent saying, oh, we're just going to tax the
rich, remember this. Thousands of small business companies are the
so-called rich, in his vernacular. It makes no economic sense to tax
this man as this economy is recovering. He just said he's thinking
about hiring seven more people. It is less likely that Grant will hire
people if he knows his taxes are going up. (Applause.)
Good economic policy rewards investment, rewards risk-taking, and
honors the fact that 70 percent of new jobs in this country are created
by small business owners just like Grant. John Kerry's economic
policies will hurt this economy. (Applause.) You ready? Good job,
thank you.
Joanna Williams. How are you?
MS. WILLIAMS: Good.
THE PRESIDENT: You are married to Taylor?
MS. WILLIAMS: Exactly. Very good.
THE PRESIDENT: Where is old Taylor?
MS. WILLIAMS: Oh, he's right back there.
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, yes. Hey, Taylor.
MS. WILLIAMS: You just made his day.
THE PRESIDENT: I made his day. Well, I'm trying to get him on
TV. (Laughter.) Give him a, "Hi, Mom," Taylor. (Laughter.)
I've asked Joanna here, and Taylor, because, guess what? They
bought their first home this year, isn't that right?
MS. WILLIAMS: Yes, we did. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: I told you home ownership rates are at an all-time
high. And so, what was it like?
Ms. WILLIAMS: To buy our home?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
* * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, one reason why people are able to afford homes
today is because of -- mortgage rates are low, interest rates are low.
This is not the effect of -- this is caused by the Federal Reserve
Board. I can't claim credit for that. But I can claim credit for
this, a policy -- a tax policy which left more money in the hands of
those that earned it.
I presume that tax relief helped you afford the down payment?
MS. WILLIAMS: Yes, it did. And it also helped with Noah's
nursery, and we did home renovations around the house, too.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, see? Did you have to buy something to do the
home renovation?
MS. WILILAMS: The home? (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: No, I know. To do the renovation in the home. You
had to buy the home, that's for sure. (Laughter.)
MS. WILLIAMS: No hard questions. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: Did you go to your local store and -- (laughter.)
MS. WILLIAMS: Yes. Yes. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: You did? (Applause.) That's called, stimulating
demand. The tax relief helped them buy the home, it helped them
renovate their home. And when they renovated the home, they had to buy
something to renovate it with. That's how it works. That's how the
economy works. That's why you want to unleash the individual
decision-making. See, the economy works on the decisions made by
consumers, not by government people. That's how it works. (Applause.)
And so this good family's decision-making was affected by good tax
policy. And she owns her own home. We've got plans that encourage
others to own their own home. We've got a down payment plan to help
those who can't afford down payments. We've got counseling programs to
help people understand the fine print. You know, a lot of first-time
home buyers, I don't know if they'd affected you or not, but they take
a look at that contract, you know, I'm not so sure I want to sign. You
need a magnifying glass to read the print. And so we've got counselors
to help people -- first-time home buyers -- to understand the contracts
they're signing.
I love it when, in this country, more and more people are opening
up the door where they live and saying: Welcome to my home; welcome to
my piece of property. (Applause.)
Good job. Thanks for coming. Give Noah a hug.
MS. WILLIAMS: I will.
THE PRESIDENT: Kevin is with us. He is -- what do you do, Kevin?
MR. McELLIGOTT: I'm an insurance agent.
THE PRESIDENT: Good. So you know something about that which
you're able to talk about.
MR. McELLIGOTT: Well, property and casualty. But I do work with
health care.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Anyway, he's the owner of a health savings
account. Explain to people what that means.
MR. McELLIGOTT: It's an insurance policy. It's a high deductible,
around $4,000. We recently just got a couple quotes, conventional
versus HSA. Conventional is approximately 50 percent higher. My
employer -- thank you -- takes that money in savings and gives it back
to my family in a bank account that we can use for our deductible.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, okay, let me -- let me help. (Laughter.) He
owns one, I don't, yet. So what he's saying is, is that they purchased
a high deductible insurance policy. In his case -- I mean, you can get
all kinds of deductibles -- but in his case, they've chosen a $4,000 --
is that right --
MR. McELLIGOTT: Correct.
THE PRESIDENT: -- dollar deductible, meaning the insurance pays
the cost of health care above $4,000. And when you have a high
deductible policy, it costs you a lot less than a regular insurance
policy does. In other words, you --
MR. McELLIGOTT: About 50 percent.
THE PRESIDENT: Fifty percent. So what does it cost you a month
for your high deductible, roughly?
MR. McELLIGOTT: Four hundred and ninety dollars a month.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. So the other one would have been --
MR. McELLIGOTT: Seven hundred and forty.
THE PRESIDENT: Something like that. So, in other words, you start
paying this to buy this high deductible. And so you say to yourself,
what about -- what happens between zero and 4,000, in his case? And
what they've done, and what anybody in America can now do because of
the new law, is set up a savings account that you call your own. Your
company helps you with the savings?
MR. McELLIGOTT: They take the money that they save from the
conventional, from the HSA and puts that right in your account.
THE PRESIDENT: So they put it in an account. So here he's got --
think about this now -- a family has got $4,000 of cash, earning
interest tax-free -- it's put in the account tax-free, it comes out
tax-free -- that they call their own. If they have expenses about
$4,000, the insurance policy kicks in. The company contributes the
money into the account. Think about now what this means. It means he
controls the decision-making process, not some, you know, insurance
executive or insurance worker somewhere. But Kevin and his family
makes the decisions.
If there -- spends less than $4,000 in the year, the money rolls
over to the next year tax-free. It's his money at this point in time.
He owns the account. If he changed jobs, the account goes with him.
This is a new way for health insurance that does a lot of interesting
things. It makes sure Kevin is the decision-maker. Is that right?
MR. McELLIGOTT: Yes, we have the freedom to choose which doctor,
which hospital, which pharmacy we use.
THE PRESIDENT: It's very important. Secondly, it provides an
interesting incentive, doesn't it, for he and his family to make
healthy choices, like walking every day, or running every day, or
swimming every -- exercising. It's proven that if you take time out to
exercise, you'll have less disease. And as less disease happens, he's
got more money in his account. This is an account that makes sure the
decision-making is between Kevin and the doctors, not between
bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. What else can you say about it?
MR. McELLIGOTT: Well, I have a wife and three kids. Just to let
you know, we use our health care. I have a three-year-old, Jack,
eight-year-old, Laura, and a 10-year-old, Chris, so we do use the
doctor. And we've been on this for three years and I don't have one
nickel out-of-pocket for medical care in three years. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I want people to look at these. (Applause.)
MR. McELLIGOTT: My wife, Michelle.
THE PRESIDENT: It's a different way of doing things, as opposed to
the government telling him what to do, or an insurance company saying,
oh, we'll just cover it. The decision-making process is essential to
making sure health care is available and is affordable. And this is a
way to make sure people are directly involved with health care
decisions. I urge everybody, small business owners out there to look
at these plans. It's a way to make sure health care is affordable for
your workers, and we're going to make sure that low-income Americans
have access to this, providing refundable tax credits that they can use
in a health savings account. It's much better if somebody owns their
own health account, than be reliant upon the government for health
care. It's much better for the system and it's much better for the
patient. (Applause.) Good job.
A couple of other things. In a changing world, things shouldn't
change. We stand for a culture of life in which every person matters
and every person counts. (Applause.) We stand for marriage and
family, which are the foundations of this society. (Applause.) I also
stand for putting federal judges on the bench who know the difference
between their personal opinion and the strict interpretation of the
law. (Applause.) Okay.
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Let me talk about one other
subject. I want to talk about how to make sure this country is safer.
I want to share some of the lessons I learned on September the 11th.
First of all, that we face a determined enemy that has no conscience.
These are -- these people are -- I call them ideologues of hate.
They've hijacked a religion in order to justify their brutal vision of
the world, and they are determined and they are tough. The best way to
do our duty to protect this country is to fight them overseas so we do
not have to face them here at home -- (applause.) -- is to stay on the
offense, never relent, use every asset at our disposal. (Applause.)
Second lesson of September the 11th is that this is a different
kind of war. I wish I wasn't talking about war. It's a war that came
on our shores. We didn't ask for it. Nobody wanted it. But it's the
calling of our time, to protect this country. It's a different kind of
war than we're used to. We face this ideologues who will hide in the
cities or caves, and therefore, a doctrine -- I laid out a doctrine
that said you can't harbor these people. If you do, you're just as
guilty. In order to protect ourselves, we have said to people around
the world, you will be held to account.
Now, when the President has said something, in order to sure this
world stays peaceful, he better mean what he says. (Applause.) That's
why, in the course of politics, you can't keep changing your position.
(Laughter.) You can't react to the political situation and say, well,
now I believe this, or, I believe that. There has to be a steadiness
when it comes to securing this country. And so when I said, if you
harbor terrorists, I was speaking directly to the Taliban who had been
harboring al Qaeda -- as a matter of fact, thousands trained in
Afghanistan -- I meant what I said, they didn't believe me, and they're
no longer in power and the world is better off for it. (Applause.)
I want you to think about what's happening in Afghanistan. Three
years ago, or a little over three years ago, many young girls didn't
get to go to school because the Taliban had such a dim vision of the
world. Women were taken into the public square and whipped, or sports
stadiums and killed, if they didn't adhere to the strict doctrine of
hatefulness. That was the reality and the truth. Plus, they were
dangerous, dangerous because al Qaeda, the parasite, was slowly but
surely taking over the host.
Today, in Afghanistan, 10 million citizens, 41 percent of whom are
women, have registered to vote in a presidential election that will
take place in 10 days. (Applause.) As a matter of fact, I think -- I
think it's a week from today. If I'm not mistaken, the election is a
week from today. I could be corrected. But think about that. People
that once lived in darkness are now living in light. Freedom is coming
to Afghanistan, and it's important for our future to understand the
ramifications of a free Afghanistan. First of all, it serves as a
beacon for others to see. Secondly, we now have an ally in the war on
terror, not an enemy.
And in Iraq, it's been tough work there. Just like the tough
decision I had to make, which is the third lesson of September the
11th. When we see a threat, we must deal with it before it
materializes. If we see a -- this is an important lesson to remember
-- prior to September the 11th, it used to be we'd see a threat and
say, well, we may deal with it or may not deal with it, but it
certainly can't come home to hurt us. That changed on that day. Our
history changed. It's essential that the President and the people of
this country never forget that threats must be dealt with before they
fully materialize.
I saw a threat in Saddam Hussein. I'll tell you why I saw a
threat. First, he was a sworn enemy of the United States of America.
We had been to war with Saddam Hussein. He was shooting missiles at
our pilots who were enforcing the world sanctions. He had terrorist
connections. Abu Nidal, Abu Abbas, Zarqawi was in and out of Baghdad.
He ordered the killing of an American citizen from Baghdad -- Foley.
This is before the -- before -- before we went in. Saddam Hussein had
used weapons of mass destruction. I understood -- I understand today
that the connection between weapons of mass destruction and the
terrorist network is the biggest threat we face.
So I saw a threat. And I went to the Congress. And they looked at
the same intelligence I looked at and concluded Saddam was a threat,
and they authorized the use of force. My opponent looked at the same
intelligence, and voted, "yes" when it came time to authorize the use
of force. I guess it matters what the definition of "yes" is in his
mind. (Laughter and applause.)
Before the Commander-in-Chief commits troops into harm's way, he
must try everything else. And I did. I understood the consequences of
putting our kids in harm's way. That's why I went to the United
Nations, and I said, well, here's a threat. They looked at the same
intelligence. And as they had 16 different times, passed another
resolution. And the resolution said: disclose, disarm, or face
serious consequences. A President must mean what he says,
international bodies must mean what they say, too, in order to make
this world a peaceful place. (Applause.)
Saddam Hussein just didn't pay attention to it. He wasn't
interested in resolutions. Why should he be? The first 16 didn't mean
anything to him. My opponent the other night said, well, we should
have passed another resolution. What, the 18th resolution is going to
all the sudden make sense to Saddam Hussein? No, he's just waiting for
the world to turn a blind eye. We didn't find the stockpiles we found
-- that we thought would be there. We thought they'd be there.
Everybody thought they'd be. But he had that capability of making
those weapons. And when the world turned a blind eye, you can bet he
would have.
So the U.N. obviously wasn't interested in -- I mean, Saddam wasn't
interested in listening to the U.N. Diplomacy wasn't working. The
other night, my opponent said, well, we should have let the inspectors
work. The inspectors were being deceived. The facts are, as David Kay
pointed out, the reality on the ground was that the inspectors were
being deceived. How can the inspectors work if they're being
deceived. So I have a choice at this time. Diplomacy has failed,
Saddam Hussein is basically thumbing his nose at the world again, and
the choice is this: Do I take the word of a madman, do I hope for the
best with Saddam Hussein, do I forget the lessons of September the
11th, or take action necessary to defend this country? Given that
choice, I will defend our country every time. (Applause.)
Thank you all.
In the debate Thursday night, my opponent continued his pattern of
confusing contradictions about Iraq. After voting for the war, and
after saying my decision to remove Saddam Hussein from power was right,
he says, now, it was all a mistake. He's changing. Then he was asked
if our troops were dying for a mistake. He said, no. See, you can't
have it both ways. You can't say it was a mistake and then it was not
a mistake. You can't be getting -- you can't be for getting rid of
Saddam Hussein when things look good, and against it when things look
bad. You can't claim that terrorists are pouring across the border
into Iraq, yet at the same time, try to claim that Iraq is a grand
diversion from the war against terror. A President cannot keep
changing his mind. A President must be consistent. A President must
speak clearly, and a President must mean what he says. (Applause.)
Thank you all.
A couple of other things. A couple of other things.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: We love you, George. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: In the debate, my opponent said something really
revealing when he laid out the Kerry doctrine. He said that America
has to pass a global test before we can use American troops to defend
ourselves.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: You might remember that part of the debate.
(Applause.) What he said. See, Senator Kerry's approach to foreign
policy would give foreign governments veto power over national security
decisions. I have a different view. (Applause.) When our country is
in danger, it's not the President's job to take an international poll.
It's the President's job to defend this country. (Applause.) I work
hard with our friends and allies. I just talked to my friend, Tony
Blair, on the bus coming into Mansfield. (Applause.) We'll continue
working with our friends and allies for the sake of freedom and peace,
but our national security decisions will be made in the Oval Office,
not in foreign capitals. (Applause.)
A couple of other points I want to make for you. The -- we've got
to support our military when they're in harm's way. It's really
important. (Applause.) We owe it to the -- we owe it to the troops in
uniform. We owe it to their loved ones, too. (Applause.) That's why I
went to the United States Congress and asked for $87 billion of
supplemental funding in September of '03, and the response was great.
Members of both political parties understood that we needed to support
our troops in harm's way and voted overwhelmingly for my request. Four
United States senators voted for the authorization of force and against
funding, four of a hundred -- two of whom are my opponent and his
running mate. (Laughter and applause.)
Think about that, four members said, yes, we'll authorize force,
but we're not going to give you what you need. That's politics, isn't
it? So they asked him, they said, well, why? And he said, well, I
actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.
(Laughter.) Amazing statement. (Laughter.) The other night he said it
was a mistake to say it. No, the mistake was not voting "yes" to fund
our troops. That was the mistake. (Applause.)
Somebody said, well, you know, this war of yours is creating more
enemy. The enemy was plotting before we went into Iraq and
Afghanistan. The enemy was being trained in Afghanistan. These
ideologues of hate do not need an excuse for their killing. They're
trying to shake our will is what they're trying to do. They want us to
withdraw. We will stay on the offense against them two ways. One, we
use every asset at our disposal. Our troops are doing a great job in
Iraq. They are --(applause.)
And they're helping us implement our strategy. Our strategy was
transfer sovereignty, which we did early, to a government run by a
strong leader in Prime Minister Allawi. (Applause.) Our strategy --
our strategy is to train Iraqis so they can fight these folks who are
trying to stop the advance of freedom, and we're making progress.
We've trained 100,000; we'll have 125,000 trained by the end of this
year. And these soldiers are doing good work. Look on your TV screens
what's taking place in Samarra. The Iraqi soldiers are working hard,
and you shouldn't be surprised. They want to live in freedom. They
understand a free society will mean a hopeful society for their
children. There's a reason why Zarqawi and others are fighting. They
can't stand the thought of freedom. They understand how powerful a
free society will be in contrast to their dark view of the world. The
best way to defeat terrorism in the long-term is to defeat hopelessness
and poverty by spreading liberty and freedom, and that's why this
battle is taking place in Iraq. (Applause.) And that's why it's an
important signal to our troops the President should never send mixed
signals. We should never send confusing signals to friends and foe
alike. (Applause.)
We'll continue -- we'll continue our rebuilding efforts to help
these people get up and going. We've got $7 million obligated to be
spent over the next months. There will be elections in January. It's
one thing to be realistic, but I think you can be realistic and
optimistic. I believe we're going to succeed. (Applause.) As a
matter of fact, I'm confident we'll succeed so long as we don't lose
our will. And when we succeed, we'll have done our duty to protect
America. Not only will we have removed a tyrant that had been a source
of great instability and danger to our country, we will have helped a
country grow in democracy, and that's important, because I believe in
the power of liberty to transform societies.
I tell people this so people can understand better what I'm talking
about. I've got a great relationship with Prime Minister Koizumi of
Japan, an interesting guy. I saw him in New York a while ago at the
U.N. and I said, I'm telling people in our country about our
relationship, do you mind? He said, no, not at all, it's okay. He
likes Elvis. (Laughter.) I didn't tell him that part. I don't think
he would mind. Do you mind, friend? Anyway, it's interesting to think
about this conversation -- these conversations we have with him,
though, in this context. Fifty years ago, we were fighting the
Japanese. Think about that. They were a sworn enemy of the United
States of America. Fifty years isn't all that long, unless, of course,
you're 58 years old, which seems like -- (laughter) -- seems like an
eternity. (Laughter.)
Anyway, so we were at war with a sworn enemy. My dad fought
there. I'm sure, confident, other relatives of yours fought there as
well. And, yet, after that war was over, Harry S. Truman and others
said, why don't we help Japan become a democracy so it becomes a
peaceful part of the world? There were skeptics in America then, of
course. You can imagine, many of the families were saying, wait a
minute -- many of the families of the deceased were saying, wait a
minute, why would we want to help an enemy that killed my loved one
become a democracy? Why would we want to help them at all? But we had
a belief that still stands today -- that liberty can transform
societies, liberty can cause an enemy to become a friend.
And so, today, I sit down with Prime Minister Koizumi talking about
the peace we all want, talking about how to make this world a more
peaceful place. Someday, an American President will be sitting down
with the duly elected leader of Iraq talking about the peace in the
greater Middle East. And our children and our grandchildren will be
better off for it. (Applause.)
I believe -- I believe people throughout the world long to live in
free societies. I believe the women of the Middle East want to be
free. I believe if given a chance, people will choose the form of
government which enables people to better realize their dream,
democracy. I believe all these things not because freedom is America's
gift to the world. It's not. Freedom is the Almighty God's gift to
each man and woman in this world. (Applause.)
And so I've come here to Mansfield, Ohio. (Applause.) I've come
here to let you know I've got a reason for asking for the vote again.
I clearly see where this country needs to go. I strongly believe that
when I get four more years, this country will be a safer place, a
stronger place, and a better place for everybody who lives here.
Thanks for coming. On to victory. God bless. (Applause.)
END 1:20 P.M. EDT
|