|
President Bush told Rotarians and Chamber of Commerce leaders he will veto
Paul Santay, a Stafford County employee, photographs the scene along U.S. 17 before President Bush arrives.
Newly elected Congressman Rob Wittman (R-1st) speaks to Rotary Club members before President Bush arrived |
President Bush stood in the dining room of the Yak-a-Doos restaurant on U.S. 17 in Stafford County yesterday and asked Congress not to raise taxes.
He pledged before the Stafford Rotary club to veto any tax increase sent to his desk. His half-hour speech touched on the economy, the housing market, health care and energy.
"There's quite an appetite for your money in Washington," Bush told the group of 85 members of area Rotary clubs and the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The president was optimistic about the country's economy, but acknowledged that the credit and housing crises pose challenges.
With those problems, he said, "The most negative thing that Congress can do is to raise taxes on the American people."
Before his remarks, Bush joked that people were probably wondering why the president "would bother to come to a place out in the country."
Before his arrival, Washington journalists who had come down for the event were puzzling over what dateline to put on their stories, since the Holiday Inn where Bush spoke lies outside of Fredericksburg, but not really in any town in Stafford County.
Bush said the setting was important "because this is where jobs are created. It kind of reminds me of being in Texas, to come to a place where it's just down-to-earth people."
Those "down-to-earth people" had to sit down to lunch at 10 in the morning, an hour and 20 minutes before Bush arrived, to hear his speech.
The president flew by helicopter into Stafford Regional Airport and rode in a motorcade to the Holiday Inn.
Bush took questions from audience members after his speech, be he didn't always have an answer.
When local financial planner Kate Hopper asked Bush to make a prediction about how the markets would fare in 2008, he looked dead ahead and said, "No."
"I don't think you want your president opining on whether the Dow Jones is going up or down," he said. "If I were an investor, I would be looking at the basic fundamentals of the economy."
When asked how the region could get more money for transportation, Bush denounced congressional earmarks, political tools sometimes called "pork," which pump money into specific projects all over the country.
"There's no question that we're going to have to rethink for the long range how we fund highways," he said. "It's hard to get Washington to change."
But as for a Rotarian's request that the region get federal help for traffic problems that are created in part by the placement of federal jobs, Bush said, "I'll leave that to your congressman."
Both of the region's congressional representatives were on hand yesterday.
Rep. Eric Cantor, who represents Orange, Culpeper and part of Spotsylvania counties, said he agrees with the message he heard Bush deliver, which was to "set our priorities and stop the unnecessary wasteful spending in Washington."
Cantor said there are "storm clouds" on the economic horizon, including the mortgage crisis and rising gas prices, but, "At the end of the day, if we can make sure we keep taxes low and allow this economy to stabilize, then we should have an optimistic outlook."
Rob Wittman, who was elected last week to represent the 1st District as a Republican, said he was impressed with the president's candor.
"I think it's great the president took time out of his schedule to come down and visit with folks here today," he said. "I thought it was absolutely fantastic about how candid he was about issues across the board."
When a Rotarian asked Bush what he would do about nations that are pursuing nuclear weapons programs, and then put both Iran and Iraq in that category, Bush corrected him.
"Not Iraq," he said as laughter resounded in the room.
As for Iran, Bush said the recent intelligence report that said that country had halted its covert nuclear weapons program four years ago was no reason to let up pressure.
"They need to tell the world why they had a program they didn't report," Bush said. "We will continue to work with our friends and allies to convince them that it is in their interest to suspend their enrichment programs."
On his way out of the room, Bush signed autographs and even gave out a hug to Shirley Heim, a breast cancer survivor and former director of finance for Stafford County schools.
Heim said she was talking to Bush about his remarks on health care when the people around her pointed out that Stafford County just named a school after her.
"He said, 'That deserves a hug and a picture,'" Heim said.
Emily Battle: 540/374-5413|
ON THE FEDERAL BUDGET AND TAXES:
"I'll veto any tax increase," Bush said.
He said the budget that Congress crafts "must include money for our troops in harm's way," but must not include "an artificial timetable on withdrawal." ON HOUSING: Bush said government shouldn't bail out lenders and speculators, but that there are "some people that are credit worthy and should be encouraged to stay in their homes."He touted plans that the Federal Housing Administration and Treasury Department have worked out to help credit-worthy people stay in their homes. "We're not bailing people out, we're helping them refinance their money," Bush said. "We're helping them stay in part of the American dream." ON HEALTH CARE: Bush said a government takeover of health care is not the answer to the industry's troubles. He thinks the federal government should do things to encourage "consumerism" in the market for health care."When a third party pays your bill, you tend not to worry about price," he said. He said the tax code should be changed so that small-business owners and individuals could get a tax credit for the money they use to buy health care. He thinks this would help grow an individual market for it. He said the government, as a large consumer of health care, can help by encouraging health companies to provide more transparency in the pricing and quality of their products. ON ENERGY: "We're too dependent on oil from overseas," Bush said. He thinks that increasing fuel economy standards "in a reasonable way, without sacrificing automobile safety," along with looking for alternative sources of fuel beyond corn-based ethanol and using more nuclear power for electricity are ways to wean the nation from foreign oil. |
