President Bush's Saturday Radio Address-09/29/2007

Cross posted from Wake Up America.

From the White House website.

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning.

Today I am signing emergency legislation to fund the Federal government for the next seven weeks. This legislation was necessary because Congress failed in its most basic responsibility: to pass the spending bills that fund the day-to-day operations of the government. There are 12 of these bills this year, and Congress did not complete a single one of them, so Congress had to send me a stop-gap measure before the fiscal year ends this Sunday at midnight.

Congress's failure to pass these 12 spending bills is disappointing, but I do thank the Congress for passing this temporary measure, and for passing it without any new spending, new policies or new projects. It would have been wrong to deny essential government services to the American people while Congress works through its annual spending bills.

I also appreciate the way this bill handles our disagreements over the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Congressional leaders have put forward an irresponsible plan that would dramatically expand this program beyond its original intent. And they know I will veto it. But it is good that they kept the program running while they try to work out a more responsible approach.

Congress now has more time to complete its work on its annual spending bills. Earlier this year congressional leaders promised to show that they could be responsible with the people's money. Unfortunately they seem to have chosen the path of higher spending. They have proposed spending increases that would add an extra $205 billion on top of my Administration's budget request over the next five years. There's only one way to pay for such a large spending increase, and that is to raise taxes on the American people. So it is no surprise that the same Members of Congress who are planning this big increase in Federal spending are also planning the biggest tax increase in American history.

If these members get their way, the tax relief my Administration delivered could be taken away from you. Let me explain what this would mean for an average taxpayer. If you have children, your taxes would rise by $500 for each child. If you're a family of four making $60,000 a year, your taxes would be more than $1,800 higher. If you're a single mother with two children, working to make ends meet, your taxes would go up by more than a $1,000. If you're a small business owner working to meet a payroll, your taxes would increase by almost $4,000. And if Congress allows our tax relief to expire, more than 5 million low-income Americans who currently pay no income taxes would once again have to pay taxes.

These are not the only taxes Congress wants to raise. They're proposing higher taxes on dividends and capital gains. They're proposing higher taxes on cigars and cigarettes. They're proposing to raise taxes on domestic oil and natural gas production. They're proposing new taxes on stock and bond transactions. And they refuse to make the Internet tax moratorium permanent. If this tax ban expires, it would open the doors for State and local officials to impose new taxes on your access to the Internet.

At a time when many American families are dealing with rising mortgage rates, college costs, and health care expenses, it is wrong to take even more money out of your paychecks. Washington's elected leaders can do better. By working together, we can keep taxes low, help keep the economy growing, balance the Federal budget, and build on our record of fiscal discipline and greater economic opportunity for all Americans.

Thank you for listening.

END

The Democrats response shows they are not above using children for their political points. LITERALLY.

Earlier in the week, House Democrats brought children to a press conference on the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Senate Democrats upped the pressure on Wednesday when they brought a priest, a nun and a rabbi as part of a "people of faith" press conference pressuring Bush to sign the $35 billion expansion of the SCHIP program.

And tomorrow, a 12-year-old boy who receives SCHIP benefits will read the weekly Democratic radio address. The boy, Graeme Frost of Baltimore, who suffered severe brain injuries in a car accident a few years ago, says he may not have survived his injuries and the follow up therapy if he hadn't been receiving the federal health benefits.

Republicans have moaned that Democrats have used children as props during this debate.

“To use an innocent young child as a human shield and misrepresent the position of the president of the United States is, frankly, beyond the pale," said Kevin Smith, a spokesman for House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio). "Republicans strongly support renewing SCHIP but we oppose using money meant for low-income children like Graeme Frost on adults and upper-income children who already have health insurance.”

The President will veto this and then we will have to see if both houses have enough votes to override the veto.

The SCHIP program was always meant to cover children from low income families, not children from families that can afford private healthcare. This proposal would allow those that can afford to insure their children to now enroll them in government funded healthcare which would take away from those children from families that cannot afford it.

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There is more, much more, regarding taxes and our fiscally irresponsible Congress.

For instance, Hillary wants to give every new baby $5,000. With an average of 4 million births per year, that comes to somewhere around $20 BILLION dollars per year. Where do you think THAT money is going to come from? Of course, this proposal was presented at the Congressional Black Caucus, making it seem--AT FIRST--as if it were for blacks only (more of her pandering to get votes, of course), when of course she means EVERY newborn. The stated purpose of this "baby bond" would be to "access it to go to college or maybe they will be able to make that downpayment on their first home".

What would the cost be if we figured in the illegals already here? A conservative estimate of the number of illegals is 12 million here; divide that in half (just for the sake of figuring here) for women only to 6 million. Six million illegals even having one baby with this proposal would be in the vicinity of $30 BILLION dollars coming out of your and my paychecks.

For anchor babies.

Even using the conservative figure of 6 million total (to include the illegals already here), that's an extra $30 BILLION out of the people's paychecks. You may not be able to pay for your own child's college tuition, but she's damn sure going to make sure you pay for every other child's college tuition.

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The Republicans APPEAR to have learned from the 2006 elections. It wasn't a change in the Iraq war people were fed up with--it was Republicans acting like Democrats. It was Republicans spending OUR money as if they had a right to go on a shopping spree at the drop of a hat.

Well, now the Republicans are doing all they can to get back to the values of fiscal conservatism. And the Democrats are PISSED.

TOO DAMN BAD. Get that veto pen warmed up, Mr. Bush. And Mitch McConnell needs to stay relentlessly on these idiots backs--pointing out to the country all the ridiculous earmarks and pork.

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