For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 6, 2007

Fact Sheet: Balancing the Budget Without Raising Taxes

White House News

      President Bush Discusses Fiscal Responsibility

Today, President Bush Visited Micron Technologies In Manassas, Virginia, To Discuss His FY 2008 Budget Proposal, Which Would Eliminate The Federal Deficit By 2012 Without Raising Taxes. By setting priorities and by spending taxpayer dollars wisely, we can balance the Federal budget without raising taxes on the American people.

• Micron Is A World Leader In Advanced Computing Technology, And A Great Example Of American Entrepreneurship. Micron is one of the world's leading providers of advanced semiconductor solutions. Micron's DRAM and Flash components are used in today's most advanced computing, networking, and communications products, including computers, workstations, servers, cell phones, wireless devices, digital cameras, and gaming systems.

Balancing The Budget Without Raising Taxes

Record Tax Revenues Generated By Our Growing Economy Have Helped Us Cut The Deficit By Over $150 Billion And Reach The President's Goal Of Cutting The Deficit In Half Three Years Ahead Of Schedule.

• Now, The President Has Announced A New Five-Year Goal: Balancing The Federal Budget Without Raising Taxes On The American People. Raising taxes would be the fastest way to set back our progress on the deficit and risk our economic gains. Instead, we need to make the tax cuts permanent.

The President's Economic Policies Are Helping Keep Our Economy Strong And Growing. Since the President's tax relief took effect in mid-2003, more than 7.4 million jobs have been created more jobs than the European Union and Japan combined. Over half a million jobs (513,000) have been added in the past three months alone. Our economy has now added jobs for 41 straight months, paychecks are growing, and the unemployment rate remains low at 4.6 percent. The President asks Congress to help keep our economy growing by making his tax relief permanent. The President's tax relief:

• Cut taxes on everyone who pays income taxes.
• Doubled the child tax credit.
• Reduced the marriage penalty.
• Cut taxes on small businesses.
• Cut taxes on dividends and capital gains.
• Put the death tax on the road to extinction.

Continuing To Spend Taxpayer Dollars Wisely

The President's Top Priority Is America's Safety And Security. The Budget ensures our troops have the tools and resources necessary to win the War on Terror.

While Investing In The Nation's Top Priorities, The Budget Restrains Spending Elsewhere By Focusing Resources On More Effective Programs, Reducing Wasteful Spending, And Addressing The Long-Term Challenge Of The Unsustainable Growth In Spending For Entitlement Programs. The President calls on Congress to further address these challenges by:

• Passing Comprehensive Earmark Reform To Eliminate Wasteful Or Unnecessary Spending. Earmarks are special interest items often slipped into spending bills at the last moment. More than 90 percent of earmarks never make it to the floor of the House and Senate for a vote. They are dropped into committee reports that are not even part of the bill that arrives on the President's desk, yet they are treated as if they have the force of law.

• In 2005, We Had More Than 13,000 Earmarks. To help eliminate wasteful or unnecessary earmarks, the President will work with Democrats and Republicans in Congress to:
• Continue reforming the budget process.
• Expose every earmark to the light of day and a vote in Congress.
• Reduce the number and cost of earmarks by at least half by the end of this session.

• Passing A Line-Item Veto To Control Spending And Bring Accountability To The Federal Budget. The legislative line-item veto would allow a President to send wasteful and unnecessary spending back to Congress for an up-or-down vote. Passing a line-item veto is in the interests of both parties and both branches of government.

• Passing Entitlement Reform To Address The Unsustainable Growth In Spending For Programs Such As Social Security, Medicare, And Medicaid. Millions of Americans rely on these programs for their retirement and health care needs. However, spending for these programs is growing faster than inflation, faster than the economy, and faster than our ability to pay for them.

• If We Do Not Act Now, Future Generations Will Be Faced With Three Bad Options: Huge Tax Increases, Huge Deficits, Or Huge Benefit Cuts. Our growing economy gives us a chance to address the challenge of entitlement spending from a position of strength. These programs are too important to be left to politics as usual. Congress needs to live up to its responsibility by coming together to fix Medicare and Medicaid and save Social Security.

Investing In America's Competitiveness

The President's American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI) Will Help Innovative Companies Like Micron Maintain America's Competitive Edge. Announced in last year's State of the Union Address and reflected in the President's FY07 and FY08 budgets, ACI will encourage aggressive investment by business in research and development, increase and prioritize Federal support for vital basic research, and improve math and science education for America's students.

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