President Bush's Actions Are Helping to Drive Our Economy Forward

President Bush has brought our economy back so it is growing again and creating new jobs. Now is not the time to change the policies that are strengthening our economic recovery.

The American economy has faced serious challenges over the last three years:

• Recession : The President took office as we were headed into a recession. The manufacturing sector started losing jobs in August 2000, and by January of 2001 orders for capital goods were falling. The stock market peaked in March 2000 and was in decline in 2001.
• Terrorist Attacks : We lost nearly one million jobs in just the three months following 9/11 . In fact, nearly 70 percent of net job losses from the end of 2000 to the low-point in August occurred in 2001 during the recession and especially after 9/11.
• Corporate Scandals : Investor confidence was hurt and energy, telecommunications, accounting, and other key sectors were damaged.
• Uncertainties of War : Build up to a possible Iraq War lasted from 2002 to March of 2003 when the war began.

The President has acted decisively to bring us back from recession to recovery:

• Cut taxes on families by lowering tax rates for all taxpayers, increasing the child credit, and reducing the marriage penalty.
  
• Across the country, more than 105 million taxpayers will see their taxes decline this year under the President's 2001 and 2003 tax relief. Over 33 million married couples will benefit from the reduced marriage penalty, and more than 25 million couples and single parents will see an increase in their child tax credit.
  
• Phased out the death tax, helping preserve family farms and businesses.
• Encouraged business investment by providing incentives for small businesses to grow.
• Made the stock market stronger by cutting taxes on dividends and capital gains.
• Passed strongest corporate reforms since FDR was President.
• Proposed Six-point Plan to encourage economic growth and job creation by: making tax cuts permanent, reducing the cost of health care and making it more affordable, reducing unnecessary regulations, curbing frivolous lawsuits, ensuring a reliable, affordable supply of energy, and opening foreign markets to U.S. products and services.
• Proposed Jobs for the 21 st Century initiative to improve education for high school students and train workers for industries creating the most new jobs.

There is still more work to do, but the economy is growing and jobs are rising. Now is not the time to change what is working. We face a choice:

• We can move forward with the economic policies that are causing unemployment to fall and incomes to rise; or
• We can change course and go back to the tired old policies of tax and spend, economic isolationism, and economic pessimism—a proven recipe for economic disaster.
• America is not going back to the failed policies of the past. We are going forward with pro-growth policies that are jumpstarting our economy and fueling the creation of new jobs.