Remarks in a discussion at Southridge High School in Beaverton, Oregon

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, August 23, 2004

Interestingly enough, Kathy has one of these accounts. Has it worked?

Ms. LaCorapte. It has worked. We had a MSA, a medical savings account, when they were first introduced probably 12 or 15 years ago, and it's worked really well for us. And so we were really anxious to have one of those available for employees. So we've been investigating that, and I think we'll go ahead and invest in that for our employees.

The President. Yes, you ought to look at it. I urge small-business owners to look at health savings accounts. It's a way to hold down costs. You can contribute, along with your employee--it depends upon your choice. You can contribute into the account itself, but the employee this is a portable account, obviously. The person owns the account. We have a different--we have a changing world, when you think about it. People are going from job to job, and it makes sense for them to be able to carry a health care policy with them from job to job--part of an ownership society.

You investing in anything this year?

Ms. LaCompte. We did invest this year. We were able to build a new packing facility and office complex. And it's just lovely, and we're really happy.

The President. She showed me a picture of it. It is spectacular.

Ms. LaCompte. It is. It's wonderful.

The President. Did you build it yourself? Or did you actually hire somebody?

Ms. LaCompte. We had some people help--

The President. That's how the economy works. She has a--the picture I hope we're beginning to paint is, is that there are millions of decisions that take place throughout our economy because the Tax Code has encouraged these decisions, which, in turn, stimulates growth. Somebody had to come and build the place. You just heard her. She didn't do it herself. She actually paid somebody. Somebody had to buy the nails. In other words, that's how the economy works. Government's role is to provide economic stimulus to encourage people's decision-making, which then leads to jobs, and that's precisely what we've done.

And in this campaign, I urge people to be careful about falling prey to the rhetoric, "I am going to spend this money and pay for it by taxing the rich." That's what you're hearing again, isn't it? That's political rhetoric. So, I'm running against a fellow, he's made about $2.2 trillion of new promises. [Laughter] And we've still got September and October to go. [Laughter] And so they said to him, "So how are you going to pay for it?" they said. They said, "How are you going to pay for it?" He said, "Well, we're going to tax the rich." Remember, when you tax the rich, you're taxing S corps and sole proprietorships. When you start running up those tax rates on individuals, the people who start paying are the small-business owners. I told you, by far, the vast majority of small businesses in America are sole proprietorships or S corps. And if they are halfway successful, he's running the taxes up on them. And why would you want to be taxing the job creators of America? It's bad economic policy to run up the taxes.