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Skriven 2006-12-16 23:49:48 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (061216) for Sat, 2006 Dec 16
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President's Radio Address
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 16, 2006

President's Radio Address


ÿÿÿÿÿ Audio ÿÿÿÿÿ In Focus: Jobs and Economy ÿÿÿÿÿ

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Christmas is fast approaching, and I know many
of you are busy trying to finish up your holiday shopping. This week, we
received good news about the economy that should brighten the season and
keep us optimistic about the year ahead.

First, the Commerce Department released figures showing that sales for
America's retailers were up in November and that the increase is much
larger than expected. These figures are important because for many American
businesses November and December are their highest sales months for the
year. So the healthy increase in retail sales is a good sign for American
employers and workers.

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America's working families also received another bit of holiday cheer this
week: We learned that real hourly wages rose by 2.3 percent over the past
year. That may not sound like a lot, but for the typical family of four
with both parents working, it means an extra $1,350 for this year. At the
same time, our growing economy continues to create jobs and that has
brought unemployment down to just 4.5 percent. These numbers give all
Americans a reason to celebrate: More people are working than ever before,
and paychecks are going further than they used to.

When you decide how to spend your paycheck, you have to set priorities and
live within your means. Congress needs to do the same thing with the money
you send to Washington. That was one of the clear messages American voters
sent in the mid-term elections. And one of the best ways we can impose more
discipline on federal spending is by addressing the problem of earmarks.

Earmarks are spending provisions that are often slipped into bills at the
last minute, so they never get debated or discussed. It is not surprising
that this often leads to unnecessary federal spending -- such as a swimming
pool or a teapot museum tucked into a big spending bill. And over the last
decade, the Congressional Research Service reports that the number of
earmarks has exploded -- increasing from about 3,000 in 1996 to 13,000 in
2006. I respect Congress's authority over the public purse, but the time
has come to reform the earmark process and dramatically reduce the number
of earmarks.

Reforming earmarks is the responsibility of both political parties. Over
the past year, the Republican Congress succeeded in eliminating virtually
all earmarks for three major Cabinet departments. And I'm pleased that
Democratic leaders in Congress recently committed themselves to support
reforms that would restore transparency and accountability to earmarks. For
this year's budget, they pledged to maintain current levels of spending and
not include any earmarks. And they agreed to a temporary moratorium on
earmarks.

This is a good start, but Congress needs to do much more. My administration
will soon lay out a series of reforms that will help make earmarks more
transparent, that will hold the members who propose earmarks more
accountable, and that will help reduce the number of earmarks inserted into
large spending bills.

Republicans and Democrats alike have an opportunity to demonstrate our
commitment to spending restraint and good government by making earmark
reform a top priority for the next Congress. When it comes to spending your
money, you expect us to rise above party labels. By working together to cut
down on earmarks, we can show the American people that we can be fiscally
responsible with their money and that we can come together in Washington to
get results.

Thank you for listening.

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