For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 4, 2004
President's Remarks at Ask President Bush Event in Ohio
Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School
Brecksville-Broadview Heights, Ohio
8:58 A.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all for coming. (Applause.) Go ahead
and be seated. Thanks for coming. Thank you all. I appreciate you
coming today. (Applause.) Thank you. Okay, be seated. We got some
work to do here. Thanks for coming. I've got an interesting way to
describe to you how we're going to make America a safer world and a
more hopeful world. And today I'm going to do so by talking to some of
your citizens about some interesting ideas as to how to improve life
throughout America, throughout Ohio and throughout the Cleveland area.
Then I'd like to take some of your questions, if we've got time. Then
I've got to get back on the bus. (Laughter.)
See, I'm out -- I believe you have to go ask people for the vote.
And that's what we're doing in Ohio again, asking people for the vote.
(Applause.)
Before I begin, before I talk about issues that are on your mind, I
do want to talk about something that's on my mind and I know on your
mind, as well. Today on our TV screens, last night on our TV screens,
we saw the horror of terror in Russia. And I can just imagine the
heartfelt anguish of the moms and dads of those Russian kids. Our
prayers are with those families. And yesterday is a grim reminder of
the nature of the terrorists we face. That is why this country must be
strong and diligent, never yielding. We must bring them to justice
before they harm us. (Applause.)
So when I asked Laura to marry me, she said, fine, just so long as
I never have to give a speech. (Laughter.) I said, okay, you never
have to. Fortunately, she didn't hold me to my word. What a fabulous
speech she gave, and she's a -- (applause.) You need to put me back in
so she can have four more years as First Lady. (Applause.)
So I'm up here giving the speech and I'm staring right at Janet
Voinovich. What a comforting feeling that was. (Applause.) I
appreciate George and Janet being here. Thank you all for coming.
(Applause.) George Voinovich is a great United States senator and he
needs to be reelected. (Applause.)
And then when I could tell Janet was tired of me looking at her, I
switched over to Fran DeWine. She's not with us, but her great
husband, Michael DeWine, the United States senator from Ohio, is with
us. (Applause.) And Alice, sweet Alice, Alice DeWine, a student at
Miami University, Miami of Ohio. (Applause.) Alma mater, I want you
to know, of my grandfather, Marvin Pierce. (Applause.) You know, they
always say politics is local. My grandfather, Marvin Pierce, went to
Miami of Ohio. My other grandfather, Prescott Bush, was raised in
Columbus, Ohio. (Applause.) You know, as I told them in Columbus the
other day, why don't you put a home boy back in the White House.
(Applause.)
Ralph Regula is with us, a great United States congressman. Thank
you for coming, Mr. Chairman. (Applause.) It's fitting we're here in
a high school, and Ralph being here. He's a -- he's got a lot to do
with the federal funding of schools. I really appreciate Steve
Farnsworth, who is the superintendent of the Brecksville-Broadview
Heights High School district. (Applause.) I want to thank Brian
Wilch, who's the principal. (Applause.) If he thought bringing order
to a high school with a bunch of high school kids was hard, he learned
there's something harder and that's welcoming a President. (Laughter
and applause.) Thank you for your hard work, appreciate your
hospitality. (Applause.)
Part of making sure America is a more hopeful place is to raise the
standards in all schools; is to measure whether or not children are
achieving those standards; is to correct problems early before it's too
late; is to challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations; is to trust
local people to make decisions for their schools -- and that's what
we're doing. And schools are improving around America because of it.
(Applause.)
Mayor Glen Goodwin is with us. Mr. Mayor, thanks for coming.
Mayor Jerry Ruby is with us. I'm honored the two mayors are here.
Where are they? (Applause.) Oh, thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mayor.
(Applause.) One time somebody said, did you ever give the Mayor
advice? I said, I did -- fill the potholes. (Laughter.) Works every
time. (Laughter.)
Michael Hargrove. (Applause.) Mike, yes, thanks for coming. He's
a -- he's not going to believe I know this, but he's from Pampa,
Texas. (Laughter.) Isn't that right? Pampa, Texas, it's part of the
Panhandle. That's where they raise really fine people -- good, solid,
down-to-earth people who perform. (Applause.) And I appreciate Mike.
He's a great baseball player for the Rangers. Thanks for coming.
(Applause.)
In order to make sure America is a more hopeful place, we've got to
make sure our economy grows. We've been through a lot in this
economy. We've been through a recession. When you're out gathering
people up for vote, remind them, if you've got the undecided person out
there, just tell them the facts. The country has gone through a
recession, went through corporate scandals, which affected the
confidence of our economy -- the people in the country, which affects
the economy, and we endured a terrorist attack. And that attack hurt
our economy. In other words, there was great obstacles to growth, yet
we're overcoming those obstacles today. The economy is strong and it
is getting stronger.
One reason why it's strong and getting stronger is because we've
got great workers. Another reason why is because the entrepreneurial
spirit in America is alive and well. The small business sector of our
economy is really good. (Applause.) Our farm economy is strong. The
ranchers are making a living. We've overcoming the obstacles. I also
think one of the reasons why is because of tax relief. (Applause.)
We're going to talk to some people who have benefitted from the tax
relief, small business owner and a family. They can tell the story
better than I can. But the facts are real. This month -- last month,
we added 144,000 new jobs. (Applause.) People are getting back to
work. And when you look at June and July and revise the numbers
upwards like they did, it means 200,000 new jobs were added in the last
monthly report. Over 1.7 million new jobs added since August of '03.
The economy is growing. I understand there is -- there's places in
America where -- that lag behind the national growth rate. Ohio has
got pockets of unemployment that are unacceptable. But the
unemployment rate nationally is 5.4 percent. That's lower than the
average of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. (Applause.)
We have got a plan to make sure that people who want a job can find
one. The plan says that in order to keep jobs in America, we got to
keep your taxes low. Running up the taxes on the people right now
would hurt the economic vitality and growth.
There's a difference of opinion in this campaign, by the way.
(Laughter.) My opponent has already promised $2 trillion of new
spending, and we've still got a little ways to go in the campaign.
(Laughter.) It's awfully tempting out there to tell people what they
want to here, and there's no telling how much more he's going to
promise. But they've asked him how are you going to pay for it. He
said, oh, don't worry, we'll just tax the rich. You've heard that
before, haven't you? You know what that means, just tax the rich.
First of all, you can't tax the rich enough to pay for $2 trillion of
new spending. Second of all, the rich hire accountants for a reason.
(Applause.) He's not going to be taxing anybody in '05, because he's
not going to win. We're going to win Ohio and we're going to win the
country. (Applause.)
A couple of other things. The -- so here's how you keep jobs here
in America. You're wise about -- we've got to be wise about how we
spend your money in Washington. We've got to keep your taxes low.
Congress will get an energy plan to my desk that encourages
conservation, that encourages the use of renewables, such as ethanol,
biodiesel; that explores for ways to make sure that we use technology
to leapfrog the current problems we have like hydrogen-powered
automobiles, that works on clean coal technology; that says we'll
explore for natural gas in environmentally friendly ways. It's a plan,
though, that recognizes that we must become less dependent on foreign
sources of energy if we want to keep jobs here in America. (Applause.)
Our vision of economic vitality and growth says we'll cut down on
needless regulations and we support legal reform. We believe that
lawyers --(applause.) We believe these lawsuits are making it hard for
small businesses to keep their doors open.
We believe, in order to keep jobs here in America, that trade ought
to be free and fair. In other words, we open our markets for products
from overseas, and that's good for consumers. See, if a consumer has
got more to choose from, he or she is more likely to get the product
you want, at a price you want, and at the quality you demand. So the
only fair thing to do is to say to other countries like China, you
treat us the way we treat you, and that's precisely what this
administration is doing. (Applause.) We are holding them to account
when it comes to trade laws. We're making sure that trade is fair.
That's why I took the action I did on steel, and the steel plants are
up and running here in the Cleveland area and all around the state of
Ohio, because of the firm action this administration took. (Applause.)
A couple of other points I want to make right quick, and then we'll
start talking to some people here. In order to make sure jobs stay
here, our health care systems have to work well. See, health care is
costly, and I think the role of government is to address the root
causes of high cost. We must allow small businesses to pool together,
to pool risk together, so they can purchase insurance at the same
discounts that big businesses get to do. (Applause.) And that's
important. That's an important policy, because 50 percent of the
uninsured in America work for small businesses. So if we can help
small businesses address the cost of health care, it will help people
get insurance.
Another thing we need to do is to make sure that we expand
community health centers to every poor county in America. We want
people, the low-income and the poor, to be able to get preventative
health care in community health centers, not in emergency rooms in
hospitals all over America. (Applause.)
Finally, in terms of health care -- there's a lot of things we're
going to do. We'll make sure the Medicare reforms we've got in place
continue to work. Seniors, by the way, it makes no sense in old
Medicare to say we'll pay for the hospitalization for a heart surgery
and not pay for the prescription drugs that would have prevented the
heart surgery from being needed in the first place. (Applause.)
That's why we reformed and strengthened Medicare, so it worked on
behalf of our seniors and it made sense for American taxpayers.
Beginning in 2005, seniors will get free preventative screenings in
Medicare. It never happened before. It's now happening because of our
leadership. And I want to thank the Senators who are here, and the
Congressman who is here. You see, it makes sense to give seniors
screening so you can detect problems early and begin to address them
before they become acute. In 2006, seniors will have prescription drug
coverage in Medicare. We went to Washington, D.C. with the idea of
solving problems. We have done the job when it comes to improving
health care for our seniors. (Applause.)
Finally -- one other point I want to make on health care, and if
you got some other questions, I'll answer them. But listen, these
frivolous lawsuits are running docs out of business and running the
cost of medicine too high. (Applause.) This is a national problem.
It's a national problem. Small businesses are having trouble affording
health care because premiums are up because doctors are being sued and
they practice defensive medicine. The frivolous lawsuits hurt you as
consumers. We need medical liability reform in Washington, D.C. now.
This is -- there is a big difference on this issue in this
campaign. (Applause.) There is a fundamental difference in this
campaign. You cannot choose between being pro-doctor, pro-hospital and
pro-patient and pro-plaintiff attorney. I mean, you have to choose.
You can't be for both. You can't be pro-doctor, pro-hospital,
pro-patient and pro-plaintiff attorney at the same time. (Applause.)
You've got to choose. My opponent chose and he put him on the ticket.
(Applause.) I made my choice.
One of the things -- we're living in changing times. That's one of
the points I tried to make the other night. It's a very important part
of this campaign. It's who recognizes the times we live in and who's
got a plan to help America -- it's not dictate to Americans, but help
Americans realize their dreams. The systems that we now live under --
the tax code, the health care plans, the worker training programs and
the retirement programs -- were all designed for yesterday, if you
think about it. And what I told the American people Thursday night is
the next four years we'll design the systems for tomorrow to help
people realize their dreams. And we're going to talk a little bit
about that today. (Applause.)
They say, what do you mean? Well, take a look at Social Security.
Social Security is solvent for boomers like me and old guys like
Voinovich. (Laughter.) Older guys like Voinovich. (Laughter.) If
you're retired or near retirement, you have nothing to worry about in
Social Security. But if you're a younger worker just getting started,
you better listen carefully to the rhetoric of this campaign. See, I
believe we ought to strengthen Social Security by allowing younger
workers to take some of their own tax money and set up a personal
account that they can call their own. (Applause.)
It's a different attitude, it's a different way of looking at
things, but it means the younger worker is going to get a better rate
of return on the money. It means the younger worker will have a nest
egg they can call their own. And it means the younger worker can take
that nest egg and pass it on to another generation. It's a way to make
sure Social Security fulfills its promise to the young people of
America and encourage ownership at the same time. (Applause.)
I believe this country ought to set up opportunity zones. An
opportunity zone says that if you've lost manufacturing jobs, if you've
lost plants, if you've lost retail sales, you qualify. An opportunity
zone is different from an empowerment zone. Empowerment zones are the
old zones that said it just, all that matters is the poverty levels.
We're saying that matters, too. Poverty levels count. But if you've
been affected by the changing times, you ought to be allowed to set up
an opportunity zone. Parts of Ohio qualify. These are changing
times. The job base is changing.
Here's what an opportunity zone means. It means that the local
governments will come together and present a transition plan that says,
we're going to reduce regulation. We're going to create an environment
for economic growth. And the federal government will provide
significant tax relief to businesses that provide businesses in those
opportunity zones; will direct federal monies to community colleges;
will help with housing money. In other words, it will be an intensive,
holistic effort to address the fact that the economy is changing. And
that's what I want to spend some time talking about, as well as working
some other issues.
We've got a small business owner, Frank Piunno, with us today.
There he is. Get up here, Frank. (Applause.) Frank is a -- he's an
entrepreneur. That means he's a dreamer, that he creates jobs because
he has got a start -- he started his own business, or owns his own
business. By the way, there's nothing better than a society in which
more and more people are saying, I own my own business. That's why we
believe in an ownership society in America. (Applause.)
Frank, tell us what you do.
MR. PIUNNO: My company is marketing communication research, and we
do confidential data printing and mailing. We do things like your
patient -- hospital patient bills. We print and mail those. We
personalize printing for universities. We do work in the manufacturing
sector. We do price books and catalogs, mostly confidential
information, printing it.
THE PRESIDENT: Good. How many employees you got?
MR. PIUNNO: We have 20 employees, two of which are my sons.
THE PRESIDENT: Really? Good. Well, he probably wants to make
sure the death tax is gone forever. (Applause.) So did you add any
employees this year?
MR. PIUNNO: Yes, we've added three employees this year.
THE PRESIDENT: Why -- why have you added three employees?
MR. PIUNNO: Well, we've been able to take advantage of the tax
credits to invest in equipment. But we've also been able to keep
equity in the business, which has allowed to add people.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Interesting, isn't it -- one of the things
that sometimes these numbers really don't reflect is the fact that the
small business sector is adding people. See, he's added three this
year. And that happens all over the country. One of the things you
like to hear, if you're a fellow like me, is that the small business
sector is thriving because most new jobs in America are created by
small businesses. And when you hear Frank say, well, he's added three,
that's good because there's a lot of Franks around adding three here,
10 there, 15 there. (Applause.) One of the other things -- Frank is
called an S corp. Right?
MR. PIUNNO: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: That's a legal term. I'm not a lawyer either.
(Laughter and applause.)
MR. PIUNNO: Neither am I.
THE PRESIDENT: That's why I said, either. See, here's something
interesting about the tax relief we've provided that nobody -- or very
few people focus on, except for Frank -- if you're an S corp, or a sole
proprietorship -- these are legal terms for small businesses -- you pay
tax at the individual income tax rate. Most small businesses are S
corps, like Frank's, and sole proprietorships. So when you heard us
say we're going to reduce taxes on everybody who pays taxes, reduce the
individual income tax rates, nearly a million small businesses
benefitted because they got more -- they've got more money in their
coffers. The tax relief helped him. It gave him a different frame of
mind -- putting words in his mouth. I'm not even a lawyer. (Laughter
and applause.)
So one of the things, when they say they're going to tax the rich,
think about small businesses. That's what they're talking about. When
they run up the top rate, they're affecting S corps and sole
proprietorships. It would be bad for our economy to take money out of
this guy's small business. He's growing. Just when he's beginning to
add people, why would you want to tax him? It makes no economic sense
to tax people like Frank. (Applause.)
What did you invest in?
MR. PIUNNO: We -- where? We invested in equipment, digital
printing equipment -- equipment and full-color equipment.
THE PRESIDENT: See, he got extra tax benefits. We provided
incentives for small businesses to invest. Why? Because most small
businesses -- most new jobs are created by small businesses. Secondly,
when a company is investing, it means somebody has got to make the
product that they're purchasing. Somebody has got to make this machine
he bought. When we increase demand for goods and services through tax
relief, the economy grows. Somebody has got to be working on the
machine that he wants to purchase. More importantly, his workers
become more productive, so they're more likely to keep a job.
Accurate?
MR. PIUNNO: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Good. (Applause.) If this county is declared an
opportunity zone, here's how Frank's business will benefit. First,
because he's a small business, he'll receive additional tax savings.
In other words, they'll say, here's more incentive to expand.
Secondly, because he's a small business, he will receive more expensing
allowance when it comes to purchasing equipment. Right now, the
limit's at $100,000. We'll double the amount he can expense when he
buys equipment. That will be helpful for this part of the world.
Thirdly, the -- he will get wage credit for hiring people who live in
the opportunity zone. In other words, the opportunity zone says to a
small business, stay here and expand and there will be economic
benefits if you do so. I'm pretty confident he would like this to be
an opportunity zone here.
MR. PIUNNO: Yes, I would.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. Well, it's got a very good chance of being
one, because this part of the world is changing. That's what we're
talking about. And so the question is, what do you do about it? And
what we do about it is we create opportunities, new opportunities, by
streamlining regulations and focusing tax relief to expand the job base
in the community in which has been affected. And a good way of doing
that is to help the small business owners around this part of the
world. And that's what we're going to do.
Thanks, Frank. Good job.
MR. PIUNNO: Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: Claire Rosacco. Claire Rosacco is the Vice
President of Public Affairs and Information with --
MS. ROSACCO: Cayahoga Community College.
THE PRESIDENT: Cayahoga Community College. (Applause.) Tell us
about your community college.
MS. ROSACCO: Cayahoga Community College, as I hope many of you are
aware, we also call Tri-C. It's our nickname. And we are the largest
and first --
THE PRESIDENT: Kind of like W. (Applause.)
MS. ROSACCO: We're the largest and first community in the state of
Ohio. We service all of northeast Ohio. And I'm excited to tell you
about some new initiatives we have that we think will complement your
opportunity zone. We started in this past year what we are calling
"corporate college," and I hope some of you have heard of corporate
college. (Applause.) It's really -- thank you -- it is to help all of
us hone on our skills for professional development and upscaling our
own skills as we go through this new knowledge-based economy.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, can I interrupt you? Sorry.
MS. ROSACCO: Sure.
THE PRESIDENT: Obviously, can't stand to have her have the mike
the whole time. (Laughter.) Look, I just want to reflect on what she
just said. Jobs change. This is a changing world. The worker
training programs must reflect the fact we're in a changing world.
Workers need new skills in order to fill the new jobs in a changing
world. That's what she's saying.
Go on.
MS. ROSACCO: Thank you. (Laughter.) We also believe that human
development is one of the drivers to help us with economic development,
and again, that is what you're getting back to. We work with small,
medium and large companies, and really, we are a lifelong learning
institutions, as many community colleges are around the country, and
that's what makes them so fun to work with and to be a part of.
As many of you know, we have child care centers, so we get the very
young. We offer early childhood education. We offer traditional
college for the associate's degree. And then we go on to job
retraining and training and we do certification programs. We're one of
the largest certification programs in the allied health field in the
country. We rank about eighth. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: One of the -- you know, one of the most unsettling
things that happens in a changing economy is a person says, oh, no, I
don't have the skill set. The job that I can do has changed. It may
have left. And government has the responsibility to help ease those
anxieties. And one of the ways to do so is to pay for a person going
to community college to learn a new set of skills, and one of the --
for example, the health care field she just mentioned, there's a lot of
good, high-paying jobs in health care, but there's a skills gap. And
the community college system is a great way to provide the skills
necessary to fill those jobs.
I met a lot of people around the country who have lost a job, gone
back to community college, and made more money after having got an
associate's degree at a community college than they did in the last
year of their previous job. In other words, skills raise productivity
levels, and productivity levels means higher pay, and the community
college system is a great place to do that.
I notice you're training people for the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame.
(Laughter.)
MS. ROSACCO: Absolutely. We have --
THE PRESIDENT: A couple of guitar players. (Laughter.)
MS. ROSACCO: We support the guitar players. (Laughter.) We have
a great recording arts technology program that is phenomenal, and so we
really do support that industry by teaching people all of the
electronics that go along with, for instance, producing a CD, or
producing a video. And we are blessed, because we have some of the
finest equipment that our students can work on if they would like to do
that. And in fact, we had a student project last year where they
produced their own CD with local Cleveland entertainers coming in, and
we pressed their CD for them.
THE PRESIDENT: Great. I appreciate you coming. But let me say
one thing about how community colleges fit into an opportunity zone.
There are streams of federal money. A lot of it is grant-driven,
formula-driven grants. And a community college in an opportunity zone
would be first in line for the money. In other words, it would be an
intense focus on federal funding.
When the strategy is in place, there will be a federal government
effort along with the state and local governments to focus resources,
to help a community which has been affected by changing times rise up
and get back on its feet and become a viable, productive part of our
national economy. And a community college system and the community
college in that opportunity zone will play an integral role.
I want to thank you for coming. I want you to know that I believe
community colleges are an integral part of helping people during
changing times, and that's why we invited Claire here. (Applause.)
We've got a homebuilder with us today. Rob Myers, there he is.
He's an entrepreneur. He's building homes. By the way, the home
ownership rate in America is at an all-time high. It is a hopeful
statistic to be able to say, more people are opening up their own door,
saying, welcome to my home, welcome to my piece of property, and we
intend to keep it that way. We intend to keep it that way.
(Applause.)
Tell us, you know, besides interest rates, tell us what else is on
your mind when it comes to building homes. If you've got problems,
what are they? If you don't have problems, sit down. (Laughter.)
MR. MYERS: Mr. President, we're about the most over-regulated
business there must be.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, see, people don't understand this about home
building.
MR. MYERS: Every city we work in has their own building code.
It's different in every city. Every city requires that we file tax
forms for every employee working in that city with that city. So if
you've got five employees working in 10 different cities, that's 50
local tax forms we got to fill out just to do one job. It's
unbelievable.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. I presume the federal government might pile
on a little bit, too.
MR. MYERS: Well, I don't know how much time you got here.
(Laughter.) The cost of land is more because the requirements to
develop land are just getting higher and higher and higher as trying to
deal with the paperwork, which is so vague, that they can't even define
things that are wetlands, which you'd think wetlands should be wet, but
a drainage ditch is a wetland today.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. See, here's -- what he's talking about is
that we've become a regulatory society at all levels of government.
And that damages not only the home builder, but really it really
affects the home buyer. If it's harder to build something, it makes
the product more scarce, and therefore, price goes up. What we're
trying to do is reduce price on homes. We want more homes to be built
so people have a chance to realize their dream of ownership. And
therefore, one of the advantages of an opportunity zone is we're going
to say to local folks, if you want to quality for an opportunity zone
to get priority in federal funding and good tax relief, streamline your
regulations.
In other words, before an application is accepted, they've got to
listen to people like this good man, Frank -- or Rob -- Joe.
(Laughter.) Rob. So as to streamline regulations. It makes no sense
if you're trying to revitalize a part of the country and the regulatory
burden is so heavy that there can't be a plethora of affordable homes.
So one of the reasons we asked this good man to come by was to be able
to talk about home ownership, but as significantly, is to remind people
about the burdens that stand in the way between the home builder and
the home buyer. And that's needless regulations at the local, state
and federal level. (Applause.)
Joe Goletz. So one of the things that needs to change in a society
where people change jobs is the concept of owning your own health care
plan. It makes sense in a changing world for people to have a health
care plan that they manage, that they own, and that they can take with
them from job to job. It's a little different from the way the old
health systems were set up. And so one of the things that we did in
the Medicare bill was establish what's called health savings accounts.
The principle of a health savings account is it says that an individual
is in charge of his or her health decisions. That the decisions for
health are made between doctor and patient, not by distant
bureaucrats.
And so here's -- we're going to talk to an owner of a health
savings account. These are new, they're necessary. They're going to
be really necessary to help small businesses afford health care. And
let me let him describe to you how they work.
MR. GOLETZ: I'll do my best on that. Well, being a small business
owner, I started a business about two years ago. That's what caused me
to look into other options, pooling with other small businesses. And
the medical savings accounts that preceded the health savings accounts
were out there at that time too.
But knowing the new law that's coming down beginning the first of
this year, we read through it and it made a lot of sense. My wife is a
stay-at-home mom with four young kids at home, so this is -- this had
to be a plan that could cover all of us.
THE PRESIDENT: Right.
MR. GOLETZ: And it does.
THE PRESIDENT: Let me describe how it works, and then you can tell
us whether it worked for you.
A health savings account says that somebody will purchase a
catastrophic health care plan with a large deductible. In other words,
say
it's got a $3,000 deductible associated with the plan, which is
less costly than regular insurance, by the way. The family or the
person will be covered from $3,000 and above with medical expenses. So
the fundamental question is what happens between zero and 3,000.
A health savings account says to a small business owner, small
business employee, sole proprietorship, you can put money in that
aspect of your health savings account tax-free. You earn money within
the health savings account tax-free. You can take money out for health
reasons tax-free. And if you don't spend all you've got in your
account, you roll it over to the next year tax-free. In other words,
it says -- (applause.)
So he and his family have got a $5,000 deductible, zero to $5,000.
He's responsible, in his case, for the money between zero and $5,000.
In other words, he goes to the doctor's office, he pays for it. He
buys a prescription drug, he pays for it. By the way, small businesses
can set these up and they can pay for their employees from zero to
whatever the deductible is to the top of the deductible.
Anyway, what was your -- give us a sense of savings.
MR. GOLETZ: Well, before the plan, we were paying roughly $700 a
month for family coverage. And now, we're paying $225 a month. And --
THE PRESIDENT: You're saving $475 a month -- (applause) -- on his
insurance. And he's out of pocket from zero to $5,000. But he's
putting money in the account tax-free. It's earning money tax-free.
And if they don't spend any money this year, it rolls over, so it's a
savings account for health purposes. It's a way for somebody to say,
this is my health care plan, I own it for all my life, and I can pass
it to my kids for their health care plans, as well. (Applause.)
Go ahead.
MR. GOLETZ: Just one more thing on that, too, is we didn't have to
switch doctors. We were with Cleveland Clinic Doctors, and that was
very important to us. And this plan allows us to stay there and do
that, so our kids have the same pediatrician. We have the same
doctors. It's been a very good plan for us.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, see, and by the way, just to complete the
story -- because of the tax relief we passed, this family saved $2,900
in the year '03, and $2,900 in '04, to help him with this health care
costs if they arise. Tax relief helps American families. (Applause.)
Thanks for coming.
Where are the Dotsons? Right here in front of me. Julie and Carl
Dotson. They're -- what do you do?
MR. DOTSON: I'm a C&C; machinist at Luke Incorporated in Wooster,
Ohio.
THE PRESIDENT: Fabulous. Julie?
MRS. DOTSON: I'm a stay-at-home mom.
THE PRESIDENT: Very good.
MRS. DOTSON: We have two sons. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Very good. Look at these little guys. The reason
I've asked them to come is because a lot of times when we talk about
tax relief you just hear slogans and numbers. And I think it's
important to put a face on tax relief so that the people who are
deciding whether or not you're going to keep your taxes low actually
hear what tax relief means for families.
The tax relief we passed, by the way, reduced all rates. We said,
let's be fair about it. You pay taxes, you get relief. (Applause.)
As opposed to playing politics with tax relief. But we also did some
other things. We helped small businesses. We raised the child
credit. If you're a mom or dad raising kids, raising the child credit
helps. We reduced the marriage penalty. See, the tax code ought to
encourage marriage, not penalize marriage. (Applause.)
How much money did you save?
MRS. DOTSON: We saved $2,000.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, see, that's probably not a lot for some of
them in Washington. It's only got three zeroes attached to it.
(Laughter.) What did you do with it?
MRS. DOTSON: We used our money to upgrade and renovate our home,
to upgrade our plumbing, and also to remodel our boys' room to give
them a desk and to make their room more conducive to doing their school
work.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, that's a good thing, isn't it, guys?
(Applause.) You will do your school work, and we're remodeling your
room so you'll do so. Did you do the work yourself?
MRS. DOTSON: No, actually, we did part of it ourself, but we also
hired a plumbing contractor to do our plumbing.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, see, here's the way the economy works. We
increase demand for a service. Tax relief caused these people to make
a decision that enabled a plumbing contractor to find additional work.
No telling whether the plumbing contractor needed to expand his job
base because of your demand, but nevertheless, money starts moving.
See, the role of government, in my judgment, is to set priorities, fund
those priorities, and let people keep as much money as we can, because
you can spend your money better than the federal government can.
(Applause.)
Okay, real quick. That bus is beginning to warm -- I can smell its
diesel fumes -- (laughter) -- and I've got a little more to say.
One thing, though, is that they're talking about permanency in the
tax code. You might have heard me say it the other night. If we don't
make the tax relief permanent, these people's taxes are going up, and
that's a mistake. It affects their family, it affects their planning,
it affects their comfort. It will also affect the economy. Congress
needs to listen to people like these good folks, and keep that tax
relief that we passed permanent. (Applause.)
Before I answer some questions, I do want to talk about how to keep
America safer. I just want to give you some principles on which I'm
making decisions. First and foremost, you cannot negotiate with the
enemy. (Applause.) These people are -- you can't hope for the best
with them. You cannot sit down and rationalize with them. That's not
the way they are. These are people who have adopted an ideology of
hatred, and used terror to shake our will. They use terror as a tool
to try to drive us out of the world and stop the march for freedom.
That's just the stakes of the world we live in, and therefore, we must
be resolute, firm, never yielding. We must find them in other
countries so we do not have to face them here at home. (Applause.)
Secondly, second point is, when the President says something, he
better mean it, for the sake of peace and freedom. (Applause.) I just
had a couple of things I want to share with you. I said if you -- this
is a different kind of war. By the way, I never wanted to be the war
President. If they would have said, here's a list of things that you
can be when you're President, it would have been my last choice. This
war was brought on us. This war came to our soil. We didn't ask for
it. (Applause.) We didn't ask for it, but we'll deal with it. That's
the hand -- that's what -- history has called us to act.
It's a different kind of war. It's a war that -- where we've got
to find people who are buried in caves and hiding in cities. And
therefore, the doctrine that says, if you harbor a terrorist, you're
just as guilty as a terrorist, has been and will continue to be
enforced. I said that about the Taliban in Afghanistan. They're no
longer in power. America is safer for it because Afghanistan is no
longer a safe haven for al Qaeda. (Applause.) And the Afghan people
are better off, and that counts. (Applause.)
I also told the families of our troops and, more importantly, those
who wear our uniform, when we put you in harm's way, you'll have all
the resources you'll need to fight and win the war against the
terrorists. (Applause.) Obviously, there's a difference of opinion
about that in this campaign.
I went to Congress last September and proposed supplemental funding
for our troops in harm's way -- body armor, fuel, ammunition, spare
parts, equipment that was necessary to uphold the promise to those who
wear the uniform, and their loved ones, that we'll support them in
their mission. And we got great bipartisan support. I mean, Democrats
and Republicans voted for this initiative. All but 12 people in the
United States Senate voted for the funding -- two of whom are my
opponent and his running mate. Do you know that there was only four
United States senators who voted for the authorization of war, but
against the funding for our troops in harm's way, and two of those are
my opponent and his running mate.
AUDIENCE: Booo!
THE PRESIDENT: So they asked him, they said -- they asked him,
they said, well, why did you make this decision? He said, I actually
did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it. And then they
kept pressing him and he finally ended up saying, it was a complicated
matter. There is nothing complicated about supporting our troops in
combat. (Applause.)
Third point -- two more points -- two-and-a-half more points and
I'm going to answer your questions. When we see a threat, we must deal
with it before it materializes, before it comes to hurt us. That's a
lesson of September the 11th. It's a vital, vital lesson that our
country must never forget.
The world changed on that day. You see, we used to see threats
prior to September the 11th. They'd say, we might deal with it, we may
not deal with it, but surely it's not going to come to harm us here at
home. And that all changed, and it's really important for people to
understand the consequences of what happened on September the 11th. I
understand it. And that's why, when I saw a threat with Saddam
Hussein.
I went to the Congress and said, there's a threat. They understood
it. They looked at the same intelligence I did, and they remembered
the same history of this guy. He's an enemy of America. He used
weapons of mass destruction. He harbored terrorists. He invaded his
neighbors. He killed thousands of own citizens. That's the definition
of a threat. And Congress looked at that intelligence and said, yes,
Mr. President, we agree with you, he's a threat. And they authorized
the use of force. My opponent voted yes when it came time to
authorizing the use of force. He looked at the very same intelligence
I did and came to the same conclusion I did.
The last choice of a Commander-in-Chief is to put his troops -- put
the troops in harm's way. So I went to the United Nations. We tried
diplomacy to deal with the threat before it fully materialized. The
U.N. Security Council voted overwhelmingly to say to Saddam, disclose,
disarm, or face serious consequences. He wasn't about to listen. As
he had for over a decade, he just -- he ignored the demands of the free
world. They sent inspectors into his country. And we knew that he was
systematically deceiving the inspectors. Why would you do that?
And so I have a choice to make at this time in our history. As I
told them the other night, it's a choice that only comes to the Oval
Office. It's a choice no President wants to make, but better be ready
to make. And I made the choice to remove Saddam Hussein from power
because I remembered the lessons of September the 11th. I knew he was
a madman. I knew we couldn't trust his word. And I knew my most
solemn duty was to defend the American people. (Applause.) Knowing
what I know today, knowing what I know today, I would have made the
same decision. America is safer with Saddam Hussein in a prison cell.
(Applause.)
Finally, one other point -- one other point, and I'm going to
answer some questions. One final point really quickly, and it's
important you know this about me: I believe that liberty can transform
nations. I believe that liberty has got the power of helping the world
be peaceful. I believe that freedom can convert enemies into allies.
I believe that freedom is how you promote peace. That's what I
believe. And so long as I'm your President, I will strongly believe
that.
I believe it for a couple of reasons. I believe it because I've
had conversations with the heads of -- head of a country who was --
which was a former enemy, Prime Minister Koizumi. Sixty years ago or
so, my dad and your dads were at war with Japan. They were a sworn
enemy. A lot of blood was spilled over that war. And yet today -- 60
years seems like a long time if you're 58 years old like me, but it's
not so long in the march of history -- 60 years later, I'm sitting down
at the table with this man, talking about keeping the peace. Liberty
has transformed Japan into -- an enemy into an ally. It's a powerful
force in history. (Applause.)
Liberty and freedom are powerful. They're powerful. I believe
every heart longs for liberty. I think it's wrong to condemn people to
tyranny. I don't think it upholds the ideals of our country to say
certain people can be free and other people can't be free, certain
people want to be free and other people don't want to be free. I
believe everybody wants to be free, because freedom is the Almighty
God's gift to each man and woman in this world, that's what I believe.
(Applause.)
Okay, I've got some more work to do here. Thank you all. But what
I'm telling you is, we've done the hard work, and now we can see a
peaceful world coming our way. I long for peace, and I know you do, as
well. We've done the hard work to defend our country, and by staying
firm and resolved, this world is going to be more peaceful for our kids
and grandkids. It's the legacy we'll leave behind, a legacy of a freer
world and a more peaceful world.
Now, let me answer some questions from you, and then I'm going to
head on the bus, up the road, shaking those hands and kissing those
babies. (Laughter and applause.)
Yes, sir.
Q Thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: I can tell you're a veteran. Thank you for your
service. (Applause.)
Q Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: I may even be able to guess the branch of service.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. I'm also the proud father of a
Navy pilot who flew in Operation Iraqi Freedom for ten months.
THE PRESIDENT: There you go. What carrier?
Q He was flying off with the Abraham Lincoln.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.
Q And on behalf of my son, I was wondering if you would permit
me the honor of giving our Commander-in-Chief a real Navy salute, and
not a flip-flop. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: God bless you. Thank you. That's great. Thank
you, sir. I appreciate that.
Okay, yes, sir, you got a question? Thank you, made my morning.
Tell your son thanks. (Applause.)
Q Mr. President, I have a comment and a question. My comment
is that since last summer, my company, Ohio Cat, which is headquartered
here in Broadview Heights, has added a hundred job.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.)
Q And those jobs are union jobs, non-union jobs, hourly,
salary, and they're throughout Ohio. So I'm proud of that, and I think
you can be, too.
THE PRESIDENT: I am proud of that, thanks. (Applause.)
Q As you look backwards and forwards over your two
administrations, what do you see as your most important legacy to the
American people?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, thank you. Peace; that after eight years of a
presidency, the country is more secure and the world is a more peaceful
place. There will be more countries that understand the great value of
unleashing the hopes and aspirations of their own people.
See, the foreign policy of the country for a while had been, let's
just hope for the best in the Middle East, that they really don't care
for freedom, that stability is what is important. But underneath what
appeared to be a stable environment was brewing resentment. And the
long run solution in dealing with these ideologues who have got a
really dark vision of the world is to spread the light of freedom, is
to hold up the hopes and aspirations of its people.
And we're making progress. Remember, Afghanistan is now heading to
freedom. Iraq is becoming free. That will serve as a powerful example
for other countries in the neighborhood. My hope and dreams are that
the Palestinians shirk leadership that had denied the -- this kind of
path to free democracy, and find reformers, young reformers who believe
in the hopes and aspirations of their people so that a free and
peaceful society can co-exist with Israel. I think that would be a
great legacy, of moving liberty to -- around the world. (Laughter.)
At home, at home the legacy will be that the school systems
responded and challenged that soft bigotry of low expectation, and
raised the bars and standards, corrected problems early before they're
too late, and made sure that every child has a chance to realize his or
her dreams. I can't think of a better legacy than a school system
which responds to the deepest desire of every parent that his or her
child has a chance to realize the promise of America.
As well, I think it's very important for our society to be a
society based upon personal responsibility, that each of us must be
responsible for the decisions we make in life. (Applause.)
Let's see. Let me get this lady here and then you. Yes, ma'am.
Q When I vote for President, I'm voting for the man that I'm
willing to leave my children and my grandchildren to. And I just want
to say that I'm proud that I'm going to be voting for you.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. I appreciate that.
(Applause.)
You got a question? You're next. Be thinking of a question.
(Laughter.)
Q I was hoping you could comment on some of the tax reform
you're referring to, as it applies to revising the IRS and maybe even
going as far as looking at a flat tax.
THE PRESIDENT: No, I appreciate that. One of the antiquated parts
of our society is the tax code. It's complicated. It's full of
loopholes, and I believe it needs to be simplified. I know that
Senator Voinovich -- needs to be simplified. When I said it in my
convention speech, I thought he was going to fly right up on the stage
and give me a hug. I was hoping he wouldn't. (Laughter.) But we've
talked about this before.
And we're going to bring Republicans and Democrats together. I'm
not going to prejudge the outcome. It's certainly one option. I've
been asked in a variety of venues, do you favor the sales tax, do you
favor the flat tax. What I'm in favor of is changing the tax code to
make it easier to understand and more simple. I think by simplifying
the code, we will encourage economic growth. A complex code that is
hard to understand and requires enormous amounts of paperwork and time
and lawyers and accountants is really counter-productive to economic
growth.
So it's going to be important for me not to prejudge the outcome,
but I am not going to prejudge. -- I will not hold back in saying that
I'm adamant about bringing these people together and to present a plan
to the Congress that will make it easier for you to fill out your taxes
and make it easier for you to realize the system is fair. And that's
the best thing we can do with tax relief. (Applause.)
Yes, ma'am.
Q Do you like broccoli? (Laughter and applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: Do I like broccoli? It's okay. I'm not nearly as
turned off by it as my dad is. (Laughter.) If you really want to get
into it, I kind of like the top of the broccoli. (Laughter.) I don't
like the stalk itself. (Applause.) Not that good.
Yes.
Q What can we do in the next 60 days to make sure that you win
Ohio and get reelected?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, thank you, sir. (Applause.) I was hoping
he'd ask that question. That's the kind of question I was hoping to
get. (Laughter.) First, register people to vote. It's -- we have a
duty to vote. Did I tell you -- talk about the 10 million people in
Afghanistan today yet?
Q No.
THE PRESIDENT: Okay. It's hard to believe, isn't it? Ten million
people in Afghanistan have registered to vote. (Applause.) It's
amazing -- it's amazing, isn't it? Really think about that. Prior to
September the 11th, 2001, these people were living in the -- well,
prior to later on in 2001, they were still living in the clutches of
the Taliban. These barbaric people would not let young girls go to
school. They would whip their mothers in the public square if they
didn't toe their dark vision of Islam, you know, toe the line. They
were the opposite of the kind of people we are in America. We respect
human rights, we respect human dignity, we value the freedom to worship
the way you want to. They're the opposite. And yet, three years
later, people are lining up to vote, ten million people. This is in
spite of the fact that the Taliban is jerking people off a bus and
executing them because they're holding registration cards, or they were
workers trying to get people to register.
You cannot stop liberty. It's a powerful force. People want to be
free. (Applause.) Now, the reason I bring that up is we shouldn't
take that liberty for granted in our country, and we have a duty to
vote. And I would ask you to find friends and neighbors and register
them to vote: Republicans, independents, discerning Democrats, like
Zell Miller, for example. (Applause.)
Secondly, talk up the campaign. Get on the webpage,
georgewbush.com, and if you've got questions about issues, if you've
got questions about this agenda I laid out last Thursday night, read up
on it. And then talk to a friend or neighbor and say, here's what he
believes. Here's why I believe America will be a more -- a safe place
and a hopeful place under four more years of George Bush. Here's a
specific agenda item. If you get stuck, just tell them he's the kind
of guy who does in office what he said he was going to do on the
campaign trail. You might remind him that I -- (applause) -- anyway.
And then, come election time, help find people and turn them out.
This is a matter of encouraging people to vote, and then seeing to it
that they do vote. It's really important. It's called grassroots
politics. And I want to thank you for asking that question. I was
supposed to say that right off the bat. (Laughter.)
Let's see, a couple of more. Yes, sir.
Q Mr. President, thank you for your leadership, first of all.
(Applause.) Can you highlight the stark difference between the
policies of Kerry's camp versus yours with respect to the individual
psyche? It's clear that the economic policies of "we'll take care of
you because you can't take care of yourself," are much different from
yours, which is, "we'll create an environment to support you as an
individual," not to mention the right-to-life issue, which doesn't
value the individual in the womb.
THE PRESIDENT: Right, yeah. Let me talk about that. There is a
-- we have a philosophical difference. I believe that government ought
to unleash the creative talents of the American people, ought to stand
by people, that we need to transform the systems of government so as to
help people realize their dreams. In other words, that's why health
savings accounts are important. That's why, in the Medicare reform,
seniors were given more choices. That's why, on the education reform,
we raised standards. We said, you measure, but correct problems early
before they're too late. If not, give parents additional options.
That's why we, on the tax relief, said that you can spend your money
far wiser than the federal government can.
In other words, it's the philosophy that drives much of what we're
doing, as opposed to a philosophy that says, here's another program --
like on health care -- here's a program that will empower the federal
government. The federal government will decide this. The federal
government will decide that. The federal government will make this
decision, as if the people can't decide for themselves as to what's
best for them.
And so it's a -- I like to put it this way. My opponent is for
expanding the role of the federal government; we are for expanding
opportunity for individuals. And I look forward to the philosophical
debate. (Applause.)
Q Ohio loves you. I had to say that.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. I accept that. (Applause.)
Q I support drilling in ANWR, and I just wanted to know what
your position is on that.
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, I appreciate that very much. The question is
whether or not we should explore for much-needed reserves in what's
called ANWR, which is a part of Alaska. I believe we should, and I
know we can do so in environmentally friendly ways. Let me explain it
to you now so you understand -- that the drilling area would be the
size of an airport in Cleveland, Ohio. In other words, it would be on
what would be like your airport, and the rest of the entire area here
would have no exploration at all. In other words, the pad, the place
at which they would place the equipment to drill for much-needed crude
oil and natural gas, would be the size of the airport region here
inside your entire county. It's a very small part of the world.
Secondly, I know we can do it in environmentally friendly ways.
Thirdly, it's important. They say that had we been exploring there a
decade ago, we'd have an additional million barrels of oil coming into
our country. That is necessary when we're in a world of tight supply.
In other words, there's -- the demand for energy has gone up primarily
because of China's growth. And the supplies of crude around the world
are not keeping up with demand. And so if you're dependent on foreign
sources of energy, like we are, you get affected at the gas pump. That
additional million barrels of oil a day would have affected world price
and would have helped America become less dependent on foreign sources
of energy.
People are concerned as to whether or not we can explore without
ruining the environment. I believe we can. I believe we can do so. I
know we have the technology available. (Applause.)
Now, there are -- listen, I've said we shouldn't be exploring off
the coast of California. I meant it. There are some parts of Florida
where we'll not explore. But there are some places where, in this
country, where there's ample reserves, we can do so without endangering
the environment. And it's a rational policy based upon the realities
of the 21st century.
George and I have talked about this before. I think one of the
things we ought to do is to expand nuclear power in America. We can do
so with new technologies. We can do so in a way that improves the
quality of our air, and it certainly makes us less dependent on foreign
sources of energy.
I know we need to continue to explore clean coal technologies and
we're doing that. We've got ample money in our budget so that we can
use coal in environmentally friendly ways. We're using more ethanol
than ever before, and that makes sense. It seems like to me that we
ought to be using our great research and development capacities to
expand ways to be able to use soybeans and corn as energy sources.
Nothing better than some President sitting down some day, and they come
in with the crop report, and they say, corn is up, we got more bushels
than ever before, and therefore, we're less dependent on foreign
sources of energy.
I know we can encourage more conservation, and we do so. I fully
believe that we're in a period of transition here in America and that
technology is going to solve much of our energy needs. And that's why
we've got ample research and development in our budgets to look for
different ways in which we can use hydrocarbons, or not even use
hydrocarbons at all. And one such initiative is the hydrogen-powered
automobile. We believe we're less than a decade away from getting that
on the market, which will change the whole nature of how we travel in
America. We'll be able to meet the consumer demands, and at the same
time become less dependent on energy.
Thank you for asking a simple question with a long, complicated
answer. (Applause.)
Last question. Yes, ma'am. And then we're going to get on the
bus.
Q Yes, Mr. President. My grandson is serving as a U.S. Marine
in the Middle East. And if I heard correctly, the last election, some
of their votes weren't counted.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
Q The military. Are they going to be counted this year?
THE PRESIDENT: As far as I'm concerned they will be. I appreciate
you saying that. It's -- I think -- (applause.) I think that, yes, I
think they're going to be counted. I certainly hope so. We learned
some lessons in the last campaign that we've got to be -- that we
needed election reforms. We passed good law to encourage good, honest
elections and to make sure that the registrations are good and honest,
to make sure that every ballot is counted. And I'm confident that
there will be a greater awareness when it comes to counting these
ballots.
I want you to -- where is --
Q -- don't know --
THE PRESIDENT: Okay, good. Well, you're not supposed to know
then, if you don't know. (Laughter.) And I'm not going to tell you.
No, I don't -- (laughter) -- I don't know either. But find him and
tell him the Commander-in-Chief is incredibly proud of his service.
He's serving in historic times. (Applause.)
Okay, one more thing, yes.
Q We haven't heard -- we haven't heard from him in around seven
to eight weeks. So we're really concerned.
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Well, maybe you ought to just give us his
name. Give it to that ugly looking guy right there -- (laughter) --
Todd. He'll be fine.
I mean, look, for those of you who've got a loved one in harm's
way, they're serving in historic times. This world is changing. It's
changing because the United States of America is leading. We're
leading because of our own self-interest; we're leading because we've
got a duty, and that's to secure the homeland. It's a solemn duty of
protecting the American people. But we're also leading because we love
liberty.
We have no desire to occupy territory. We're not interested in
conquering anybody. We're interested in protecting ourselves in the
short run by finding these people where they hide, disrupting their
plans, bringing them to justice. And we're interested in securing
ourselves in the long run, because we know the power of liberty can
transform societies to be peaceful and hopeful societies.
Your son, grandson -- grandson? -- grandson is serving in historic
times. Some time, I fully believe this, he'll look back and say to his
grandkids, you know, I had the honor of serving America during this
time of transition and the world is better for what I did.
God bless you all. Thanks for coming. I appreciate it. On to
victory. (Applause.) Thank you all.
END 10:10 A.M. EDT
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