Boone Pickens Homepage Electronic Publishing Center| |
|
| Boone Pickens Homepage Electronic Publishing Center |
|
REMARKS TO THE REPUBLICAN MEN & WOMEN CLUBS OF GREGG COUNTY
|
|
[Handwritten addition: Media — Wife on Parks & Wildlife - tried to give 500 Rio]
[Handwritten addition: James — thank you for the [Text illegible: ] & faxes]
[Handwritten addition: 1929 Ken Bennett]
[Handwritten addition: OAMe — Food excellent]
[Handwritten addition: No rubber chickens]
Thank you Mike (Wellman).
[Handwritten addition: Julie ask me to come back before I spoke [Text illegible: ] & thank you]
I want to talk to you [Text stricken: today] about the future of the Texas economy and give some remarks on the oil and gas industry.
I want to leave plenty of time for questions, so I’ll keep my remarks short (Dad’s remark... best speech ever)
[Handwritten addition: Bill when I first went to Repub mtgs everybody was 30 to 60 yrs older than I was — that was a long time ago.]
[Handwritten addition: 1990 — ballot — a must for the state — we can’t stand Democrats with our economy is like it is need leadership]
Texas economy improving:
— Tom Brown story; “Damn tired of it.”
Good reasons for the brighter outlook... but my optimism is for a diversified Texas economy, not another oil boom.
The price of oil has improved, but I’m looking more toward natural gas for the future.
Natural gas is plentiful, clean... a good replacement for imported oil.
Once the gas deliverability bubble disappears, the industry will start growing again because of price... $3 to $5 with expectation of $10 gas.
But the natural gas business won’t be enough to revive the entire state... Fortunately, it won’t have to.
The oil price collapse was rough on us all, but it has worked to strengthen the Texas economy.
A couple things happened when times got tough... Businesses restructured, became lean, [Text stricken: mean,] efficient and competitive; We had to stay alive.
And as oil profits plummeted, our economy began diversifying.
Entrepreneurs opened their own businesses and succeeded in expanding the state’s economic base.
Texas’ biggest asset is it’s entrepreneurs.
Hard to quantify, but we have more in Texas than anyplace in the world (Remark about Canadians... They look like us, talk like us, but don’t think like us).
In addition to restructuring and promoting entrepreneurship, Texas has worked to provide a good business climate... taxes low, regulations in check.
So what it comes down to is a three-pronged offensive for economic growth.
First: Restructure businesses to become as competitive and efficient as possible... And look for opportunities.
Second: Encourage entrepreneurship [Handwritten addition: Story on how much is enough... “Pig trough”] Never discourage an entrepreneur.
Third: Attract out-of-state businesses and help our existing businesses... The key is to keep the Texas business climate attractive:
— And don’t forget, people like to say they’re from Texas
But there’s no need for give-aways... Reasonable real estate prices, no state income tax and a highly skilled workforce... We don’t need to subsidize business with taxpayers’ money.
If Texas has the leadership and resolve to pursue these three avenues, we will be the model for the entire country.
But it takes leadership... it takes effort... it takes involvement... and it takes a dedicated commitment to a unified set of goals.
Texans have demonstrated these attributes in the past, and I know they can be counted on in the future... to build a stronger Texas.
Thank you.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS