Remarks at a reception for congressional candidate John T. Doolittle in El Dorado Hills, California

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Oct 9, 2006

October 3, 2006

Thank you for coming. Thanks for the warm welcome. It's good to be in El Dorado County. [Laughter] I can see why you live here. It's a beautiful part of the world. And I'm honored to be standing here with a man who has done a fine job as a Member of the United States Congress, John Doolittle.

He was telling me on the way in, you did a pretty good job filling the hat--[laughter]--and I want to thank you for doing that. He deserves your support. He's a straight-forward, honest, decent man with a lot of common sense. That's what we need in Washington, DC--a lot of common sense. And I'm proud to be standing with John Doolittle, and I appreciate Julie, and I appreciate his family.

I'm also proud to be here with the Congressman from the next district, and that would be Dan Lungren. Dan, thank you for coming, and I'm glad you brought Bobbi with you. I also appreciate Doug Ose, a former Congressman. Doug is with us, a good friend of mine--I'm proud to be with him.

The truth of the matter is, old John, when he's thinking about who could come and speak, really didn't want me first. [Laughter] He had somebody else in mind for this event--not Barbara--[laughter]--Laura. That shows good judgment. [Laughter] Laura sends her best to the Doolittles. She, like me, strongly believes John deserves to be reelected to the United States Congress. And we want to thank you for doing that.

By the way, I know I'm not very objective, but I think Laura is a fabulous First Lady. I know she's a great wife and a fabulous mother, and she's got to be the most patient woman in America. [Laughter]

I believe strongly that our philosophy represents the philosophy that is the most hopeful for all Americans. I believe our philosophy is one that works, because we've seen it work. Take, for example, the economy. I want you all to remember that the past 5 years, this economy has been through a lot. It's been through a recession, corporate scandals; it's been through a terrorist attack on the United States. The economy had to endure the fact that I decided to protect this country by going on the offense against the terrorists, and so we had a war in Afghanistan and a war in Iraq--and natural disasters we had to deal with, high energy prices. And yet, the economy of the United States is the envy of the industrialized world. People are working. The entrepreneurial spirit is strong. Our farmers and ranchers are doing well. Small businesses are growing. Productivity is up.

Something happened, and what happened was, we cut the taxes on the working people and the small-business owners. Our philosophy is that the more money you have in your pocket, the better off the economy is. We like it when you've got more money to save, spend, and invest. We know that when you save, spend, or invest, the economy glows.

That stands in stark contrast to our opponents, the Democrats. They believe they can spend your money better than you can. And make no mistake about it, one of the fundamental differences of this campaign is what will the tax rates look like. If you vote Republican, we're going to keep the taxes low. If the people vote Democrat, the Government is getting into your pocket and spend your money on your behalf.

Now, you might not--listen carefully to the rhetoric in this campaign. You see, we've got these tax cuts in place, and a lot of them are going to expire. So when you hear people say, "Well, we're not going to extend the tax cuts," that really means they're going to raise your taxes. It's like saying to somebody--just giving them a raise and say, "Well, I'm going to take the raise away from you." That's not a raise.

In order to make sure this economy continues to glow, in order to make sure the entrepreneurial spirit remains strong, in order to make sure our small-business sector continues to lead economic growth, we need to make the tax cuts permanent. And John Doolittle understands that. He knows it loud and clear. He stands on principle in Washington, DC. He trusts you with your own money.

You'll hear these--all kinds of excuses about why they want to raise your taxes. Perhaps the one you hear the most of is, well, we just need to raise your taxes to balance the budget. The problem is, that's not the way Washington, DC, works. I've been up there long enough to know how it works. They'll figure out new ways to spend your money when they raise your taxes. They'll have more money to spend on pet projects. The best way to balance the budget is to keep taxes low, glow the economy--which yields more tax revenues, set priorities with your money, and be fiscally sound. And that's what we're going to continue to do.

And the single biggest priority to spend with your money is to make sure our troops have all the equipment, training, and support they need to do their job. And Congressman John Doolittle understands that. And I'm proud to say that by working with people in the Congress like Congressman Doolittle, our military is well-funded and the esprit de corps is high. I can't tell you how great it is to be the Commander in Chief of such wonderful people, men and women who, in the face of danger, said, "I volunteer to serve the United States of America to protect our freedoms." Our military is great, and we intend to keep it that way, for your sake.