Terry Everett, October 16, 2006

There was very good economic news last week as President Bush announced that he has already met his goal of cutting the Federal budget deficit in half. What's more, he has reached the goal a full three years ahead of schedule. This success is due to the President's effort to lower taxes on workers and employers to stimulate the economy.

The Federal budget deficit is the amount of money that the Federal government overspends in a given year versus what it takes in through revenues. This is Federal red ink, and the carrying over of these deficits year after year contributes to the overall national debt.

Our nation has been carrying a budget deficit in recent years largely due to the shock of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which came on the heels of an economic slowdown. Soon after, President Bush and Congress resolved to jumpstart the economy through the enactment of major tax relief for workers and their employers. This bold move has paid dividends in that it has helped to sustain national job creation and encouraged business activity.

President Bush announced in 2004 that he would aggressively work to cut Federal red ink in half by 2009. Two years ago, the Federal budget deficit was $521 billion. Last week, the President announced that it had dropped to $248 billion - a decline of $71 billion from last year. Therefore, the goal of cutting the budget deficit in half has already been realized.

This success is remarkable when you consider the shocking impact of 9/11 on the national economy - which brought a virtual shut-down of the aviation and tourism industry - combined with unplanned spending demands for recent major natural disasters, jumps in world energy prices, and the war on terror. Such a snowballing of events could have led to a national economic recession with surging unemployment and high interest rates, yet the opposite is true.

Since August 2003, more than 6.6 million jobs have been created; 1.7 million of those were generated in just the last year, reflecting 37 straight months of job gains. Over the last year, employment has increased in 48 states, including Alabama. The national unemployment rate of 4.6 percent and Alabama's rate of 3.5 percent are both at historic low levels. Furthermore, recent economic indicators have shown promising signs. The national economy grew at a strong 4.1 percent during the first half of the year and productivity has risen a solid 2.5 percent over the last year. As a reflection of this positive news, the stock market is also back in record setting territory.

For sure, our work is not yet done. For those who have lost jobs, they deserve the opportunity to gain new employment from our growing economy. Therefore, it is vital that the tax relief that President Bush and Congress enacted in 2003 remain in place. We've doubled the child tax credit, reduced the marriage penalty, cut taxes on capital gains and dividends, and reduced income taxes for every American who pays taxes. In fact, the average tax-paying American family with children has seen an extra $2,500 in tax relief due to our efforts.

Despite this obvious success, many liberals still favor a return to higher taxes and bigger spending. I remain committed to growing our economy for the benefit of all Americans, not stifling it to satisfy a partisan political agenda.

Congressman Terry Everett, a Republican, represents Alabama's Second Congressional District, which includes the state capitol, Montgomery.