BIRMINGHAMPresident Bush’s economic speech may not have boosted Wall Street investors’ confidence, but it certainly had an impact for Congressman Bob Riley, R-Ashland, and other Alabama Republicans running for office.
The presidential visit raised $4 million for Riley’s warchest, which could push his campaign into equal status in terms of funding with incumbent Gov. Don Siegelman. In June Siegelman reported about $4.2 million saved for his campaign; Riley reported less than $562,000.
The president spoke to about 850 area business leaders at the Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center in Birmingham about the strong state of the American economy and his plans to make it even stronger. The Dow Jones industrial average fell as much as 439 points before climbing back to close down just 45 points at 8,639.19.
Afterwards Bush attended a fund-raiser luncheon on behalf of Riley’s campaign. He encouraged 3,000 to 4,000 guests to vote for Riley and other Republicans running for office this November.
Seats for the economic speech were invitation only and the Republican Party distributed the tickets.
Tickets for the luncheon were $1,000 apiece and a photo with the president after lunch was $50,000.
The day was not solely devoted to Riley’s campaign. The president taped a commercial for Riley and Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, who is running for a second term as Alabama’s junior senator.
After the speech, Rep. Mike Rogers also had to hurry to catch a plane for Washington, D.C., for a fund-raiser Alabama's senior senator, Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, is hosting for him tonight.
In his speech, the president focused primarily on explaining why the economy is now fundamentally strong and how he plans to continue to increase investor confidence in the future.
“In order for us to have the security we all want, America must get rid of the hangover that we now have as a result of the binge, the economic binge we just went through,” Bush said. “But I want you to know the economy, our economy, is fundamentally strong.”
Bush listed several factors including low inflation, reasonable interest rates, high productivity, strong first-quarter growth in 2002, increased orders for durable goods in the last six months and better retail sales in the last month.
But he recognized those numbers do little good without investor confidence.
“The American economy is constructed on confidence: confidence to invest and build, confidence for our small business owners to take risk, confidence the job base will expand, confidence to produce and hire.”
To build that confidence, Bush touched on several plans including holding corporate America to a higher ethical standard, continuing the tax cuts Congress passed earlier this year, expanding foreign trade for Alabama farm goods, continuing the war on terror and bettering the country’s education policy.
Rogers, who is running for Riley’s seat in Congress, said that is exactly what people in the 3rd District want to hear and want to see happen, especially increased defense spending and improved education programs.
“It is an extremely difficult process, but (the people of east Alabama) appreciate that the president will have difficult time to move (the defense department and homeland security) budgets through Congress,” Rogers said. “They also recognize we have an immediate opportunity with the automotive industry and … jobs in the high-tech area. But we have to have the educational opportunities that he made reference to in his speech.”
Area Republicans agreed with Rogers that what the president outlined nationally was directly tied to what they wanted to happen locally.
“If Congress will follow what he says, the economy will follow,” said Tom Semmes, chairman of the Calhoun County Republican Executive Committee.
Semmes said the stock market is the main low point for the economy now, and if the country’s confidence would climb that could help everyone, including Calhoun County.
But the most important part of his speech, Sara Semmes said, was the president’s positive attitude and the encouragement he showed for others to follow his lead.
Concerning the economy, Bush said he wants to create more stringent rules for corporate executives that “cook the books.”
“To be a responsible American, you must behave responsibly,” he said, stating that last week he set up a Corporate Fraud Task Force in the Justice Department and has proposed doubling jail time for corporate fraud.
Congress must control its spending as well to help the economy, he said. He lashed out at Senate Democrats for not passing a budget yet this year and for adding billions to the funding request he sent them for the war and homeland defense.
Bush also asked Congress to give him trade-promotion authority to open up more foreign trade, which he said would help Alabama and Texas farmers. He challenged Democrats saying that a lack of confidence on their part is holding the country back.
Education was another pillar of his economic plan. He highlighted that adding 2,000 new jobs to Honda is wonderful, but does little good unless Alabama has 2,000 well-educated workers.
“And it starts with public schools,” Bush said. “It is making sure every child in America learns the basics — learns to read and write and add and subtract. Which means you start with setting the highest of high standards.”
He advocated federal testing to ensure accountability in schools and defended his policy of focusing on test scores to determine school funding.
“If you expect children to learn, we want to know, and the testing ought to be viewed as a way to determine what works and what doesn’t work,” he said.
The president also touched on the need for continuing his tax relief plan past the 10-year sunshine clause Congress added to it, telling the audience that only if it continues can entrepreneurs, business leaders, farmers and Americans engage in long-term planning that will help the economy.
Walter Howlett, chief executive of the Booker T. Washington Insurance Co., said he was impressed with Bush’s economic speech as well as his brief, earlier remarks to less than a dozen business leaders in a closed “business roundtable.”
“He asked us about our concerns about the economy,” said Howlett. “I think the subject that came up the most often was lack of confidence.”
Howlett said Bush appeared to have a “good grasp” of issues that are important to small business. “He understood clearly that small business drives our economy,” he said.
At the luncheon following the economic speech, Bush repeated many of the points he made in the earlier economic speech, but added his support for Riley, Sessions and other members of Alabama’s congressional Republican representatives and state Republican offices.
Particularly, Bush focused on Riley’s education policy.
“I know his passion about education, because he helped me get the education bill through the House of Representatives,” Bush said.
Riley’s support for the President’s No Child Left Behind program also shows that Riley wants “local folks to chart the path to excellence,” Bush said.
Yet, in closing, Bush returned to the war on terror and his faith that America can emerge from the evil that has been done to it as a better place.
“… Out of the evil done to America is coming a culture of personal responsibility for me to boldly predict that we’re much more likely now to bring hope … and to make sure this American experience is available.
“It’s going to happen, because we are the greatest nation on the face of the earth, and it is my honor to be the president of such a nation.”
