Statement By 60 Plus Association President Jim Martin

Arlington, VA — “It’s hard to deny that the economy has come roaring back. It’s even harder to deny that the tax cuts engineered by President Bush are the key reasons why. But deny it his opponents will. However, the unmistakable signs of a burgeoning, thriving marketplace are everywhere.

The ‘Death Tax’ cuts benefit seniors while the marriage penalty tax relief helps seniors’ children and grandchildren.

When the two largest tax cuts of President Bush’s presidency are taken together, the benefit is enormous:

* 14 million seniors will see their taxes fall on average $1,883

* 111 million individuals and families will receive an average tax cut of nearly $1,600

* 49 million married couples will save an average of $2,602

* 25 million small businesses will see their tax bills sliced by $3,001

President Bush has been battered over the war in Iraq, over homeland security and yes, over the economy. Iraq is now moving daily towards a freedom it has never known. Our borders are safer than they have ever been — and now — the economy is humming along on all cylinders.

Voters, too, are getting the message. President Bush’s poll numbers have improved lately as proof of this — and the incontrovertible fact is that more than 1 million new jobs have been added to the economy since last September.

Real GDP growth is at a 20-year high. Manufacturing jobs are up 37,000 in just the past 3 months alone. Unemployment is down another .7 percentage point from June of last year to April of this year, unemployment insurance claims are down to 318,000, and falling, which is a stark contrast to the end of the 2000 economy when we were on the throes of a full-scale recession; unemployment insurance rates at the end of 2000 were rising to nearly 400,000. And one of the truest barometers of a strengthening economy is the housing market — which is as strong today as it has been in more than 20 years.

When Candidate Kerry asks the question — and he will — ‘are we better off than we were four years ago’ — I’m certain that seniors and most Americans now feeling the impact of an improved economy, will answer in the affirmative. Thank you, Mr. President, for insisting on tax relief across the board, just as Presidents’ Kennedy and Reagan did.”

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*Mr. Martin’s comments came after attending a White House address by the President.*