FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

July 8, 2004
JS-1775

The Honorable John W. Snow
Portland Regional Chamber Luncheon
Portland, ME
July 8, 2004

Thank you very much for having me here today; it's great to be in Maine.

Maine is a magnificent place to live, and if this group has its way it will be one of the best states in the nation to do business!

I appreciate very much what you do to make this area friendly to entrepreneurship and industry… because that means it's friendly for job-creation.

And the state of Maine is doing well in terms of jobs right now. Businesses like those represented here today added 2,100 jobs to the state economy last month, and your unemployment rate has fallen to 4.1% from 4.8% at the beginning of the year. Your rate is well below the national average, and that's good news for the families of this state.

I know that Mainers are independent and take care of themselves, but I hope you have also felt the benefits of a rising national economy in recent months. I hope that you took advantage of the tax cuts that the President designed with small-business owners like you in mind. If you did, you no doubt became part of the increased economic activity that put us where we are today.

And just where are we? Well, we're head and shoulders and more above where we were just one year ago, when some forecasters warned of a double-dip recession or even held out the specter of deflation.

Instead, today, we are doing extremely well. Economic growth in this country is the highest it's been in 20 years. The economy has posted steady job gains for each of the last ten months – creating more than 1.5 million jobs since August. We'd like the unemployment rate to be even lower, but as it is it's lower than the average rate of the 70s, 80s and 90s.

The manufacturing sector has made a comeback, reporting increased activity and new orders and, most importantly, up 64,000 jobs since its low point in January.

American's standard of living is on the rise, with after-tax incomes up 11% since December of 2000.

Consumer confidence is at its highest level in two years and homeownership is at an all-time high.

What all this means is that the American economy is on a powerful trajectory. It is beyond "recovery;" what we see is real, sustainable growth.

The key now, as you know better than just about anyone, is sustaining this growth. We want to see good months and years ahead for your businesses, for your employees, and for the families of Maine.

We need tax rates to stay low – 490,000 taxpayers in Maine will have lower income tax bills this year because of the President's tax cuts, and we don't want to see their taxes increase. Business taxpayers like you are benefiting from the cuts – 130,000 of you will have lower tax bills this year, and we should keep it that way. 

We also need to address issues that amount to a hidden tax on your business. The first one I'd like to lower is the "tort tax" and it comes from abusive lawsuits, and the threat of lawsuits, on your business.

We know that the current tort system is costing America well over $200 billion each year… that's a tort tax – paid in the form of lower wages, higher product prices, and reduced investments – of $809 for every individual and more than $3200 for a family of four. And this is a regressive tax, imposed indiscriminately across our economy

To make the situation even less fair, less than 50 cents of each dollar of those tort costs go to victims… and, of that, only 22 cents goes to compensate them for actual economic losses they have suffered… meanwhile the personal injury lawyers profit enormously.

At a time when our economy needs to be expanding, this is unacceptable.

Because an abusive lawsuit has never created a single job – except jobs for personal injury lawyers – but baseless and excessive suits have killed many.

It is wrong to hold businesses and individuals hostage with the threat of these suits. And it is a tragedy that this country, made great by its "can do" attitude, is becoming known for its "can sue" attitude as well.

We need federal and state level lawsuit abuse reform, and we need it yesterday.

Other drags on your business include the cost of health insurance, and the cost – in both time and money – of over-zealous regulations. You're deeply impacted by energy costs as well. You have a lot on your plate, as business owners. Government tends to create more problems than solutions for you. But you still thrive; you are still innovative and productive and create jobs for the people of your communities.

In short, as entrepreneurs… you are what make Maine, and America, great.

Your government owes it to you to bring down the cost of your health insurance through market reforms like Health Savings Accounts and Association Health Plans. We owe it to you to implement an energy policy that reduces our dependence on foreign oil, brings costs down and creates American jobs. And we owe it to you to be careful when creating new regulations, mindful that a well-intentioned government can choke a small firm, killing all the jobs it has created.

I'm proud to represent our federal government here in Portland, Maine today. And I pledge to represent you, and to carry your thoughts and needs and frustrations, back to Washington, DC.

Thank you so much for having me here today.