A Plan for Creating Opportunity for America's Workers

"The role of Government is not to create wealth; the role of our Government is to create an environment in which the entrepreneur can flourish, in which minds can expand, in which technologies can reach new frontiers."

Three years. Three tax cuts. An economic recovery—American ingenuity—unleashed. At a critical moment in the Nation's economic history, while a recession was taking hold, America was attacked, and corporate fraud was exposed. In response to these challenges, the President acted decisively to strengthen the economy and create jobs. The President's leadership resulted in Congress returning taxpayer money to the families, entrepreneurs, innovators, and investors who earned it.

In his second term, President Bush will focus on building a more prosperous, competitive economy that will continue to be a strong engine for jobs and prosperity for years to come. The essential elements of his plan include: taking the next bold steps in reforming education; building a skilled and effective workforce; encouraging a pro-growth, fair, and simpler tax system; promoting research and development in both the public and private sectors; opening markets for American goods around the globe; meeting our energy needs and lessening our energy dependence; reducing the regulatory burden; and reforming Government to be smaller and more efficient, responsive, and effective. President Bush is committed to making sure America has the best prepared, best educated, and highest skilled workforce in the world.

President Bush believes that education is the key to opportunity and America's best tool in an increasingly competitive global economy. This means that every child deserves a world-class education and every worker deserves the support of a Government that makes a lifetime of learning a top priority.

Three days after taking office, President Bush submitted as his first legislative proposal the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Less than a year later, a bipartisan coalition in Congress passed the most comprehensive restructuring of K-12 education since 1965 - and the first education bill to demand results for every child.

Since President Bush signed NCLB into law, every state has developed a specific plan to ensure that its schools improve. We are already seeing hopeful results. Fourth graders in urban schools are showing strong gains in both reading and math. And from Georgia, North Carolina, and Maryland, to Illinois, Wisconsin, and New Mexico, minority children are showing improved test scores and they are narrowing the achievement gap. President Bush will continue to demand accountability so that every student is proficient in reading and math by 2014, as promised by NCLB.

"Under the No Child Left Behind Act, every student in this country will be held to high standards, and every school will be held accountable for results."

Early childhood development is one of the best investments America can make to ensure that children are successful in school and later in life. Studies show that vocabulary, letter knowledge, and phonological awareness, in addition to social and emotional factors, have a significant impact on later success in school. Whether in pre-school or at home with parents or other caregivers, every young child should have the opportunity to develop the skills they need to succeed in school.

President Bush is continuing his efforts to improve early childhood education through the Healthy Start, Grow Smart program, including his proposal to strengthen Head Start. The President will:

Strengthen Head Start - Focus Head Start more clearly on school readiness, and allow states to integrate Head Start programs into their existing pre-school preparedness efforts in order to make better use of combined Federal and state resources. The President will give priority consideration for funding to states that have a coordinated early childhood plan involving Head Start, pre-K, and child care services.

Continue to Fund Research - President Bush will fund development of the most effective curricula and programs for teaching children early literacy and math skills; establish developmentally appropriate measurements; and identify effective adult and family literacy programs.

Expand the Reach Out and Read Program - Expand Reach Out and Read, which seeks to make early literacy a standard part of pediatric primary care.

Expand Healthy Start, Grow Smart - Continue and expand distribution of Healthy Start, Grow Smart booklets to provide parents the information they need to enhance their children's early development.

Engage Faith and Community-Based Organizations - Help provide parents with the skills they need to advance their children's healthy development.

Increase Minority Outreach - Increase outreach efforts to minority families to better disseminate effective early childhood development strategies.

The No Child Left Behind Act demands accountability in exchange for the record levels of Federal spending now going to K-12 public education, an increase of 49 percent since 2001. These reforms are already beginning to show strong results, but President Bush also wants to take the next steps to ensure that all high school students are better prepared to enter higher education or the workforce. In his second term, President Bush will:

Improve High School Assessments - President Bush proposes extending state assessments in grades three through eleven in reading and math. More than $250 million in annual funding will be provided to help states design and administer these assessments, which would require states to add two tests in high school over the next several years.

Require Twelfth Grade NAEP - The President's plan includes 12th graders in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

Support Early Intervention - President Bush proposed the establishment of a $200 million fund for states to encourage schools, with the input of parents, to use 8th grade test data to develop performance plans for entering high school students and to use assessments to monitor progress.

Expand Funding for the Striving Readers Initiative - President Bush proposes to increase funding to $200 million annually for his Striving Readers initiative for high school students who have fallen behind in reading.

Expand the Mathematics and Science Partnership - The President will increase funding to $269 million for a partnership to improve high school math achievement by providing professional development for teachers.

Improve Advanced Placement - The President's 2005 budget provides a $28 million increase, bringing total spending for advanced placement courses for low-income students to nearly $52 million.

Encourage Students to Take More Rigorous Courses - By expanding the State Scholars program, the business community and educators can partner to encourage students to take rigorous classes to prepare them to succeed in college or the workplace.

Strengthen and Modernize Vocational Education - The President's proposal directs $1 billion in annual funding from the Perkins Vocational Education program into a new Secondary and Technical Education program to ensure participating schools offer four years of English, three years of math and science, and three-and-a-half years of social studies as part of their vocational education curriculum.

Provide Extra Incentives for Teachers - President Bush will provide an incentive fund for states and schools to reward effective teachers when students achieve a higher level of results.

Expand Loan Forgiveness for Teachers - President Bush would increase loan forgiveness from $5,000 to $17,500 for highly qualified math, science, and special education teachers who serve low-income communities.

Promote the Adjunct Teacher Corps - The $40 million Adjunct Teacher Corps initiative will bring experienced professionals into the classroom and allow them to teach one or more courses while on leave from their jobs, or teach online courses.

President Bush is committed to expanding access to higher education and training for all Americans. To accomplish this, President Bush will:

Increase Student Financial Aid to Help More Students Afford College - More than 10.3 million students will be able to afford college through President Bush's record $73 billion in financial aid assistance - an increase of $25.9 billion, or 55 percent, over 2001. The President's plan will provide a record $12.9 billion investment in Pell Grants, a 47 percent increase over 2001, to help an additional one million students afford college. Offer an Enhanced Pell Grant - The President will allow low-income students who take the rigorous high school curriculum required by the State Scholars program to receive up to $1,000 in additional Pell Grant funding, bringing the total maximum award up to $5,050.

Increase AmeriCorps Education Awards - The President is increasing to 75,000 the number of AmeriCorps members. Full-time members will receive an education award of $4,725 to pay for college or graduate school.

Reform Student Loans to Better Serve Students - The President will increase loan limits for first-year students from $2,625 to $3,000 and allow low-default schools more flexibility in loan disbursements.

Encourage Dual Enrollment - President Bush would provide $125 million in grants to serve as an incentive for community colleges to provide dual enrollment programs, which allow high school students to earn college credit and graduate in less time. In addition, he will provide incentives for states to make it easier for students to transfer credits earned at community colleges to four-year institutions.

The President believes that workers need educational opportunities throughout their lives to ensure that they remain competitive in the workplace. In his second term, the President will:

Reform Federal Job-Training Programs to Double the Number of Workers Trained The President will invest $250 million annually for Community-Based Job Training Grants to strengthen the role of community colleges in workforce development.

The President will provide more workers with Innovation Training Accounts, flexible accounts that which allow workers to choose the training that best serves their needs.

President Bush will reduce Federal red tape to save an estimated $300 million and give governors more flexibility in distributing training funds.

Eliminate Restrictions That Prevent Adult or Part-Time Students From Receiving Federal Student Aid - The President's proposal makes financial aid more flexible and effective in helping these non-traditional students acquire necessary skills. The proposal eliminates restrictions through: Short-Term Training - Allows student loans to be used for short-term training, especially for dislocated workers and older Americans who need retraining.

Student Aid to be Used for Competency-Based Programs and Traditional Credit Hour Programs - Competency-based programs assess skill levels and provide students with degrees or certifications, including teaching certifications.

Year-Round Pell Grants for Low-Income Students - The President proposed providing an additional $84 million for year-round Pell Grants for students who graduate early. In the current system, students are allowed to receive only one Pell Grant during a traditional school year.

Eliminating Barriers to Distance Learning and Developing an eLearning Clearinghouse -The President's proposals enable greater access to web-based programs and virtual schools and expand the number of students who can be enrolled in distance education to help those in underserved areas.

Improving Adult Literacy - The President proposed developing a comprehensive web-based literacy tool for adults aimed at increasing adult literacy across the U.S.

Providing Workers with Additional Flexibility for Selecting Services to Help Them Return to Work - Under the President's Personal Reemployment Accounts pilot program, certain unemployed workers would be eligible to receive up to $3,000 that could be used for training and services, such as child care and transportation, that they believe will help them get back to work. As an incentive, the program would allow the recipients to keep the balance of the account as a cash bonus if they find a job within 13 weeks.

A highly-skilled, highly-educated workforce needs a growing, competitive economy to provide the highpaying jobs they deserve. In his second term, President Bush will continue working to create a fertile environment for American businesses, lowering costs and regulatory burdens, and making America the best place in the world to do business.

In 2000, George W. Bush ran for President on a promise of lowering taxes, allowing the American people to keep more of what they earn. President Bush believes that our economy grows when families and businesses have more of their own money to spend and invest.

President Bush has delivered on his promise, passing three major tax cuts. As a result, 111 million Americans will see lower taxes: a typical family of four earning $40,000 a year will receive more than $1,900 in tax relief this year.

The tax relief helped spur a strong economic recovery, despite the recession inherited by President Bush, the impact on the economy of the terrorist attacks, and revelations of corporate fraud. Since last August, the economy has produced almost 1.5 million new jobs and spurred some of the fastest economic growth in two decades.

In a second term, the President has made it a priority to lock in these gains by:

Making the Tax Relief Permanent - Many of the tax cuts - including the new, low 10 percent tax bracket, the reduction in the marriage penalty, the doubling of the child tax credit, the phase-out of the death tax, and the increase in small business expensing - are set to expire. This tax relief must be made permanent so families and businesses can plan for the future with confidence.

Making the Tax Code Fairer, Simpler, and Pro-Growth - President Bush will work with Congress to make the tax code simpler for taxpayers, encourage saving and investment, and improve the economy's ability to create jobs and raise wages.

President Bush recognizes the need to provide assistance to communities that have lost a significant portion of their job base and workforce in the past decade. President Bush will provide assistance to communities in transition by:

Creating Opportunity Zones - The President's Opportunity Zones initiative encourages private and public investment within needy communities. In exchange for reducing local barriers to growth and development, these Opportunity Zones would receive tax benefits to encourage businesses to locate, invest, and hire new workers in the community. The plan includes incentives to spur the development of residential construction. These areas will also receive priority consideration for Federal education, job training, and housing funding.

America's economy leads the world because our system of private enterprise rewards innovation. Entrepreneurs, scientists, and skilled workers create and apply the technologies that are changing our world. President Bush believes that Government must work to help create a new generation of American innovation and an atmosphere where innovation continues to thrive. The President also recognizes that as innovation produces new industries, we must invest in developing human capital - the skills, capabilities, and education of individuals - so people can secure these high-skilled, high-paying jobs.

To help support top-flight American research and technological innovation, President Bush will:

Make the Research and Development Tax Credit Permanent - President Bush will push to make the R&D tax credit permanent and propose reforms to the credit to make it a more effective catalyst for private sector research.

Increase Federal R&D Funding - The President's 2005 Budget provides a record $132 billion for R&D - a 44 percent increase from 2001. The President completed the doubling of the budget for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to over $28 billion and increased the National Science Foundation budget by 30 percent.

Increase Support for Basic Research - The President's 2005 budget requests an all-time high of $26.8 billion for basic research.

Promote Broadband Innovation - The President has set the goal of making affordable broadband access available to all Americans by 2007. Innovation will be possible through next-generation technologies such as ultra high-speed wireless services.

Make the Ban on Internet Access Taxes Permanent - The President has signed into law a two-year extension of the Internet Access Tax moratorium. In addition, he has called on Congress to pass legislation to expand the moratorium to cover broadband and make it permanent.

Improve Math and Science Education - President Bush understands the importance of strong math and science skills in a globally competitive economy, and has proposed initiatives to improve math and science instruction in our schools and encourage students to enter these important fields. His proposals include: The Presidential Math and Science Scholars Fund, which will allow low-income students to receive up to $5,000 to study math or science in college.

The Math and Science Partnerships Program, which will provide funding to promote strong teaching skills for elementary and secondary math and science teachers.

Expanding loan forgiveness, from $5,000 to $17,500, for highly qualified math and science teachers who teach in low-income schools. The $40 million Adjunct Teacher Fund, which will encourage professionals with core content knowledge, especially in math and science, to teach middle and high school courses.

Funding to expand the State Scholars program to all fifty states. This program encourages high school students to take more rigorous courses, especially in math and science, to prepare them for college and the workplace.

In his first year in office, President Bush made a comprehensive, long-term energy policy a top priority. His goal was clear and far-sighted: to promote affordable, reliable, and secure energy supplies by increasing conservation, investing in new technologies, and exploring for new domestic sources of energy. That plan included over 100 specific recommendations - nearly half of which addressed conservation, renewable energy, and energy efficiency.

President Bush has also provided substantial funding to increase energy efficiency in Government buildings and American homes and improve fuel economy for automobiles. And last year, President Bush launched a groundbreaking initiative to develop technologies to produce, store, and distribute hydrogen for use in fuel-cell vehicles, electricity generation, and other applications. In his second term, President Bush will build on these important steps to help reduce America's dependence on foreign sources of energy. At the same time, he will continue to make clear to foreign oil producers our mutual interest in maintaining adequate and secure supplies of foreign oil to meet our energy needs and to ensure the continuation of global economic growth. To achieve these goals, President Bush will:

Initiate Environmentally Safe Exploration - President Bush will seek to promote environmentally sound domestic oil production in just one percent of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which could provide up to 1 million barrels of oil a day for nearly 20 years.

Promote Natural Gas Production - President Bush will provide incentives to develop natural gas production from deep formations in shallow waters in the Gulf of Mexico, but not off the coast of Florida.

Build an Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline - President Bush will work to ensure construction of an Alaska natural gas pipeline to increase domestic natural gas supplies.

Promote Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) - President Bush will facilitate construction of LNG terminals to meet growing demands for natural gas.

Continue Energy Partnerships - President will continue to develop a North American energy partnership to develop closer energy integration with Canada and Mexico.

Help Build Refineries - President Bush will remove unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles to help build new refineries to increase domestic capacity.

Utilize Nuclear Power - President Bush will ensure a future for nuclear power as a viable and emissions free energy source.

Ensure Greater Electricity Reliability - President Bush will work to modernize our electricity grid, establish mandatory reliability standards, and encourage new transmission investment, in order to help prevent a repeat of last year's blackout that affected 50 million people.

Encourage Use of Efficient Technologies - President Bush will provide incentives for deployment of efficient technologies for storage and transmission of energy, further contributing to the reliability of our electric grid.

Support Energy Technologies - The President's plan will provide $4 billion in tax incentives to spur the use of energy technologies.

Help in the Construction of Energy-Efficient Homes - President Bush will fulfill his commitment to provide $1.4 billion over ten years to make homes more energy-efficient.

Improve Vehicle Fuel Economy - President Bush will advance a broad strategy to foster development of new technologies, provide a $4,000 tax credit to purchase hybrid gasoline-electric and other highly fuel efficient vehicles, and improve the Corporate Average Fuel Economy program to increase fuel economy in a way that saves lives and American jobs.

Develop Clean Coal Technology - President Bush will continue his commitment to provide $2 billion over ten years to develop clean coal technologies.

Promote Markets for Clean Coal Technology - President Bush will implement a market-based approach to cutting air pollution that will create a nearly $50 billion technology and services market for clean coal rather than forcing a shift to other fuels to meet air standards.

Pursue FutureGen Initiative - President Bush will lead this international public-private partnership to create the world's first zero-emissions coal-based power plant, producing electricity and hydrogen while capturing carbon dioxide.

Expand Use of Ethanol and Biodiesel - President Bush will work to secure passage of a renewable fuel standard requiring five billion gallons of ethanol or biodiesel in motor fuels by 2012.

Encourage Renewable Energy - President Bush will work to extend the tax credit for production of electricity from renewable resources including wind, solar, and biomass.

Develop Hydrogen Technology - President Bush will continue his $1.7 billion, five-year initiative to development for hydrogen technologies, including automobiles, homes, and businesses powered by hydrogen fuel cells with virtually no pollution.

Support Energy R&D - President Bush will dedicate research and development funding to increase America's energy security, including advancing and promoting clean energy resources from renewable sources like wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, and hydropower and developing the next generation of energy-efficient technologies such as high temperature super-conducting wires.

President Bush rejects economic isolationism because he understands that free and fair trade and global economic growth means more jobs, higher wages, and greater prosperity for Americans. The objectives of his trade and international economic agenda are to:

Open foreign markets for American manufactured goods, farm products, services, and intellectual property.

Provide American families with greater choices and the ability to stretch their budget through lower prices.

Promote the freedom and prosperity that comes from the opening of markets around the world.

Provide training and assistance to help American workers enhance their skills and remain the best in the world.

Encourage countries around the world to move to a system of free and fair trade, free capital flows, and flexible market-based exchange rates.

The Bush Administration will continue to use a number of tools to achieve these objectives, including:

Opening Markets Through Negotiating Multilateral, Regional, and Bilateral Trade Agreements - Opening foreign markets creates opportunities for U.S. workers and farmers to sell their goods and services abroad. In the last four years, the Bush Administration has completed free trade agreements with twelve countries and is actively negotiating with ten more. This Administration also launched and is working to successfully conclude negotiations at the World Trade Organization to open markets globally for American exports. Working closely with Congress, the President will also seek extension of Trade Promotion Authority so that we can continue to create economic opportunities for American workers, farmers, and ranchers.

Enforcing Trade Agreements and Achieving Real Results - To ensure that the U.S. is getting the benefit of its trade agreements, the Bush Administration has pursued and will continue to pursue an aggressive agenda of enforcement on a country-by-country, industry-by-industry, and agreement-by-agreement basis. Just this spring, the United States successfully resolved seven pending trade disputes with China without resorting to lengthy WTO litigation.

Ensuring a Level Playing Field - We will continue our aggressive actions to level the playing field around the globe for trade. For example, to ensure that our trade with China - one of our largest trading partners - is open and fair: we filed the first ever WTO action against China on its discriminatory practices against our high tech manufactured exports; we implemented the first ever WTO safeguard actions against Chinese textile imports; and we have put in place nearly as many anti-dumping orders against China as the previous Administration did in two terms.

Promoting Global Growth - We have and will continue to urge countries around the world to move to a system of free and fair trade, free capital flows, and flexible market-based exchange rates. We have achieved real progress on this front and will continue to work in this area.

Helping American Workers Remain the Best in the World - America has the best, most productive workers in the world. President Bush signed the Trade Adjustment Assistance Program to help workers maintain their competitiveness, acquire new skills, and find new jobs. The President has also, when needed, provided U.S. workers and industries with the breathing space to retrain and restructure to maintain their competitiveness.

In his second term, President Bush will continue to promote a forward-looking trade policy that opens new markets, breaks down barriers, combats unfair trade practices, and prepares the American workforce for the 21st century.

The last twenty years have witnessed an explosion of new Federal rules and paperwork requirements that burden consumers, businesses, taxpayers, and state and local governments. Although some regulations are essential to protect consumers, workers, and the environment, the cumulative regulatory burden has proven to be particularly onerous for small businesses and those trying to create new jobs. The President will continue to pursue smarter regulation by:

Insisting on Sound Science and Strong Economic Analysis - The President has insisted that each new Federal regulation be supported by good science and economics. At the same time, the Administration has worked closely with Congress to limit the number of new laws that would create additional unnecessary regulatory burdens.

Calling for Increased Flexibility - The President has directed the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Advocacy at the Small Business Administration to work closely with Federal agencies to ensure that new rules are necessary, cost-effective, and crafted with flexibility to foster - rather than harm - small businesses.

Reviewing Existing Regulations - The President will streamline existing Federal regulations. Already, the Administration is working on reforms to over one hundred rules, guidance documents, and paperwork requirements.

These fundamental steps have already resulted in a 75 percent decline in the growth of costly new Federal mandates. At the same time, the Administration has moved forward with crucial safeguards for homeland security, human health, and environmental protection.

The President has put our country on a path toward cutting the budget deficit in half over the next five years.

In the critical areas of defense and homeland security, the President is spending wisely. Every service man and woman will have what he or she needs to win the War on Terror. In other areas, the Administration has demonstrated fiscal restraint in a time of war.

President Bush will build on this budget discipline by supporting budget rules that make Federal spending conform to the kind of constraints and common sense known to every family.

Budget Enforcement Legislation - President Bush has sent to Congress budget enforcement legislation to restrain the growth in spending and offset proposed increases in mandatory spending.

Line-Item Veto - President Bush proposes a Constitutional line-item veto linked to deficit reduction that would provide authority to reject new appropriations, new mandatory spending, or limited grants of tax benefits whenever the President determines that the spending or tax benefits in question are not essential Government priorities. All savings from the line-item veto would be used for deficit reduction and could not be used to increase other spending.

Government Spending as a Percentage of the Economy is Projected to Shrink to Below the Historical Average

Since the beginning of his Administration, President Bush has sought to make Government more accountable, more responsive, and more results-oriented. With the help of the President's Management Agenda (PMA), departments and agencies are held accountable for the success of their programs.

Specifically with the help of the PMA, departments and agencies will continue to:

Ensure Results - Six hundred programs, accounting for $1.4 trillion in spending, have been assessed to date, and the remaining six hundred programs will be assessed within the next two years. Managers are held accountable for identifying areas where performance can be improved for each program, and taking the necessary actions to achieve better results.

Reduce Waste - Managers are being held accountable for keeping program costs to desired levels, eliminating an estimated $35 billion or more per year in improper payments, and ensuring that our over $300 billion in real property is needed and performing.

Improve Efficiency - Managers are being held accountable for determining whether it is more efficient to obtain commercial services from Federal employees or from the private sector. The projected savings from this competitive assessment, when fully implemented, are over $5 billion per year.

Hold Employees Accountable - Agencies are installing performance evaluation systems to more clearly define what's expected of each employee and how the employee is performing relative to those expectations.

Improve Customer Service Levels and Employee Performance - OMB has installed disciplines to ensure that the annual $60 billion expenditure on information technology delivers customer and management benefits far in excess of the cost, on-time and on-budget.

There is plenty of opportunity for America's workers, the problem is that the lower opportunities are given away to illegal immigrants, the higher opportunities are given away to H-1B's and L-1's, and what is left is a possible candidate for offshoring.

I don't know how you can look at that laundry list of big brother social spending programs and call it a conservative plan.

"The role of Government is not to create wealth;
-President George W. Bush

White House: Debt Ceiling Must Be Raised

"I am not among those who fear the people. They, and not the rich, are our dependence for continued freedom. And to preserve their independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude."
--Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Kercheval, July 12, 1816

"I am one of those who do not believe that a national debt is a national blessing, but rather a curse to a republic; inasmuch as it is calculated to raise around the administration a moneyed aristocracy dangerous to the liberties of the country."
-- President Andrew Jackson - (1824)

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