Remarks by the President on the Economy

Business Wire, May 2, 2008

Now, some of you are saying, you think I'm ever going to see my money? We've heard "the check is in the mail" deal before. Well, it's coming. They started hitting last Monday, and Secretary of the Treasury Paulson is on top of this, and so you'll start seeing -- if you're not -- if you didn't get your money electronically, you're going to start seeing it come in the check form.

And for those people in Missouri, and around the nation, that do not file income taxes, you need to contact the local IRS office because you're likely to be eligible. And therefore, you got to make sure you sign up for the program in order to get the money. We want you to get the money. And so if you're involved in a church group that's worried about helping people, then make sure that parishioners, or make sure people in the community centers understand that if you're not a filer you're still eligible to get a check.

Now, the other aspect of the program was to stimulate investment for companies like World Wide. In other words, there's a -- you can effect the tax code that provides incentives for the CEOs to say, I think we need -- we ought to buy some equipment. And that's important for a couple of reasons. One, it makes you more productive, it makes you more competitive, it gives the employees a better chance to keep this company on a cutting edge.

Secondly, somebody has to make that which you purchase. So if the tax code says it's in your interest to buy a piece of equipment, or to buy software, or to buy something to make this company a better company, then somewhere in the economy somebody is going to make it for you. And that also creates jobs. There's a ripple effect for using the tax code to stimulate investment.

I was talking to Dave and Jim, and they were telling me that the incentives built in the pro-growth plan for businesses are causing them to make new investments for you that they may have put off for later years. And the effects of this aspect of the pro-growth plan are beginning to kick in, as well. In other words, it's just starting. We passed the deal in February.

The point I'm trying to tell you is, is that we worked well with Congress and that the effects of a robust attempt to inject life hasn't really kicked in yet. And I'm -- if you believe these economists, if they had three hands they'd say, on the one hand, on the other hand, and then on the third hand. (Laughter.) But we've got some smart folks around that are analyzing what this means, and they feel confident about it.

I've been -- since I've been your President, I want to remind you we have been through a recession, we have been through a terrorist attack, we have been at war, we have had corporate scandals, we have had major natural disasters, and yet this economy always recovers. We're a resilient economy because we've got good, capable, smart, hardworking people in America. And I know it's tough times, and I know you're having to pay more at the fuel pump than you want, but this economy is going to come on. I'm confident it will. And I want to thank the folks at World Wide for being a part of the leading edge of optimism here in America; a leading edge in making sure that people can find good, hard -- paying jobs.