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American Legislative Exchange Council 8/6/92 [OA 5811]
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1
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
August 4, 1992
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
FROM:
STEVE PROVOST SF
SUBJECT:
ALEC Annual Meeting
I. SUMMARY
You are scheduled to speak at the Opening Session of the
19th annual American Legislative Exchange Counsel (ALEC) at
the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The
address is at 9:05 a.m., to an anticipated audience of
1,500.
II. DISCUSSION
ALEC provides a perfect forum to contrast your economic
strategy with the other side. Bob Grady has drafted the
attached remarks (14 minutes/teleprompted) which clearly
outline your differences on spending, taxes and economic
philosophy. The sound-bite is: On close examination,
The New Covenant may be the "New Cover-Up."
This draft is being staffed simultaneously.
(8/3/92)
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
AMERICAN LEGISLATIVE EXCHANGE COUNCIL
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 1992
Thank you, Fred Noye and Sam Brunelli, for that
introduction. For almost 20 years, the American Legislative
Exchange Council has helped bring conservative principles to bear
in our state legislatures.
Coming out here, I saw a chart that showed that ALEC's
success ratio in getting legislation passed is about seven times
that of the average Congressman. Then again, that's like saying
that Charles Barkley can dunk a basketball better than Charlie
Brown.
I want to talk to you today about three simple concepts:
Ideas. Actions. And Trust.
Yogi Berra once said that sometimes you can observe a lot
just by watching.
A close examination of these three concepts reveals a lot
about the choice America faces today.
Ideas. When all is said and done, ideas matter. When
Americans choose their leadership, they are choosing a direction,
a set of beliefs.
For two decades now, the tide has gone our way for a simple
reason: because the American people agree with us.
I suppose that we conservatives should be flattered. For
years, we have been holding the line on government spending.
Resisting the Pavlovian impulse of the other side to raise taxes
2
at every turn. Creating choice in education and child care.
Keeping America strong enough to be the guarantor of peace.
The other side has given up debating these core principles.
In words, if not in deeds, they now concede that they can't win
by trumpeting their true desire for higher taxes and more
spending. They concede, at least on paper, that more choice is
better than more bureaucracy. Their speeches even go so far as
to give oral endorsement to the need for a strong defense.
So in one sense, we gather today at a moment of triumph. We
have not only won the Cold War; we have won the war of ideas.
And we have won it with conservative principles.
of course, actions speak louder than words. So it's
important to look behind the speeches, to peel off the makeover
that the other side has undergone -- to see what lives and
breathes beneath the new face of supposedly reformed liberalism.
It's important, then, to go beyond the new labels and look
at the record. On close examination, the "New Covenant" may be
the New Cover Up.
First, let's take government spending. One candidate has
proposed to attack all three parts of the problem. He's proposed
a freeze on domestic discretionary spending. A cap on mandatory
spending, with specific proposals for savings. And an orderly
reduction in defense spending, consistent with America's mission
as the leader of the world.
That candidate is standing right in front of you.
3
Another candidate says in his speeches that government takes
too much of your money and gives you too little in return. But
if you look at the details of his economic plan, you see
something else: over $200 billion in new spending, and at least
$150 billion in new taxes.
That's the candidate of change all right: if he wins,
change is all you'll have left in your pocket.
One candidate supports the balanced budget amendment to the
Constitution, has proposed it in every budget and fought for its
passage. That candidate is standing right in front of you.
The other candidate says in his speeches that he's for
balanced budgets, but at the moment of truth -- when the balanced
budget amendment was on the floor of the House, he worked against
it. The amendment fell short by nine votes, after the henchmen
of the Democratic leadership convinced twelve co-sponsors to
change their position and vote no.
One candidate has proposed a line-item veto in every budget.
He's proposed to eliminate 246 government programs this year
alone, and kill over 4,000 wasteful projects. Once again, he's
standing right in front of you.
The other candidate says he favors a line-item veto. But
his co-conspirators in Congress have kept it from becoming law.
And when he released his economic plan, he searched and searched
through the millions of government programs, and found only one
that he would eliminate: subsidies for honey bee growers!
4
With his legendary caution, he's still probably afraid he'll
get stung by that one.
One candidate has recognized a central problem with our
budget -- mandatory spending is out of control. He has proposed
to cap it -- and has submitted specific savings: $70 billion in
this year's budget; $47 billion in last year's; $119 billion in
1990's.
The candidate who would bring spending under control is
standing right in front of you.
The other candidate says in his speeches that "we need a
government that offers more empowerment and less entitlement." "
Yet in his economic plan, he completely ignored the need to cut
entitlement spending. He offered only one small idea --
borrowed from my own budget, that would cut a mere one-tenth of
one percent from mandatory spending next year.
One candidate has led the world in a campaign against
aggression. He has offered an orderly phase down of defense
spending -- saving $18 billion in outlays over the next four
years -- with a plan to maintain America's security in a
dangerous world.
That candidate is standing right in front of you.
The other candidate talks about an "America with the world's
strongest defense." Yet, he plans to cut $60 billion in outlays
beyond what the experts say is responsible. That means a cut
four times as deep as mine. That plan would throw a million
5
people out of work. But one industry would prosper -- the
mothball industry.
Take the most important issue of all. Economic growth. One
candidate has proposed a growth plan -- with incentives for
investment to create jobs, help for first-time homebuyers, and
tax reductions for families trying to save. That candidate is
standing right in front of you.
The other candidate says that an expanding economy is the
best policy of all. Yet when his allies in Congress had the
chance to send me a growth package, they saddled it with a $100
billion tax increase. That one I stopped with my veto pen.
But I suppose we shouldn't be surprised. When he was
Governor, the new spiritual leader of the taxers in Congress
raised 123 separate taxes. His speeches once promised a middle
class tax cut, but when his economic plan came out, it was
nowhere to be found. Even the New York Times called it: "(You
know who's) Retreat."
And that brings me to my third concept: Trust.
It's a political year, and the other side is saying some
pretty appealing words these days. They promise that they've
reformed, and become "moderate." They've signed a pact with
their own special interests -- a VOW of silence on their real
intentions, at least until after the election.
It reminds me of a cartoon I saw the other day, of two
donkeys driving down the road. The sign read: "Left lane
closed, next four months. Election ahead."
6
But before you get taken in by the new labels being marketed
by the other side, read the Surgeon General's warning. It says:
"A $150 billion dollar tax increase will be hazardous to your
health.' "
And that raises the central question: whom do you trust to
control the size of government, to cut taxes, and to get this
economy moving again? A President who vetoed the Democrats' tax
increase, and sustained that veto?
Or a team that, given the chance to start with a clean sheet
of paper on how to fix our economy, proposed in their economic
plan the largest tax increase in American history -- larger than
those proposed by Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale combined.
Now there is no denying that the other side has become more
clever. Witness their recent convention in New York. Finding
the Democratic leadership of the Congress on that podium was
harder than playing "Where's Waldo?" on a board the size of a
football field.
But that is a symptom of the bottomless cynicism of a
campaign and a Congress that talk of change but block it, that
speak of growth but smother it, that feign interest in a
different future but remain wedded to the policies of the past.
Make no mistake: the Democratic leadership in Congress is
happily in collusion with the would-be new leadership of the
other party. They are rubbing their hands with glee at the
prospect of a President who, when it comes to new spending, will
replace the veto pen with the printing press.
7
But that leadership has a problem. The visions of
sugarplums and pork barrels now dancing in their heads will be
gone unless they can convince Americans that our country is a
mess. So for some time now, Congress has been engaged in a
conscious strategy: block measures to strengthen the economy,
and then complain loudly when growth stalls and progress slows.
Well I have a challenge for my opponents and their partners
in crime in the U.S. Congress. If you really believe in growth,
pass my growth package now. If you believe in the line-item
veto, put that bill on my desk right now, this month, and I'll
show you how to cut spending with this year's appropriations
bills. If you believe in a balanced budget, give me a balanced
budget amendment and let's send it to the states this fall.
My opponents' clever campaign and the corrupt Congress are
the Bonnie and Clyde of America's economic recovery. They look
like such nice people -- but their actions will shoot our economy
full of holes.
In the end, this campaign is about more than appearances.
It's about ideas. And actions. And trust.
Teddy Roosevelt once told a friend: "I want to see you
shoot the way you shout."
This year, when the shouting stops, Americans will face
fundamental choice. They can aim forward, with policies that
promote growth, and choice, and opportunity -- or they can aim
backwards, toward a new target with an oddly familiar ring to it.
8
One that gives off the sounds of higher inflation, higher
interest rates, and the misery index.
The choice is clear: we cannot turn back now.
Thank you, and God bless the United States of America.
#
#
#
#
#
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 8- 5-92 :10:06AM ;
2024566218:# 1
Document No. 342815ss
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
DATE:
8/4/92
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: WED. 8/5 NOON
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: AMERICAN LEGISLATIVE EXCHANGE COUNCIL
SUBJECT:
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - - 8/6/92
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
HORNER
SKINNER
MCBRIDE
>
SCOWCROFT
MOORE
DARMAN
PETERSMEYER
BRADY
PORTER
BROMLEY
PROVOST
CALIO
SMITH
DEMAREST
YEUTTER
FITZWATER
FINDLAY
GRAY
KAUFMAN
HOLIDAY
GRADY
KILBERG
REMARKS:
Please forward your comments directly to Bob Grady, Rm. 260
X4844, no later than NOON, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, with a copy
to this office. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
6 AUG 4:51 A.M.
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AUG-06-1992 03:57 FROM
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AMERICAN LEGISLATIVE EXCHANGE COUNCIL
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 1992
9:05 A.M.
THANK YOU, FRED NOYE, FOR THAT GENEROUS
INTRODUCTION.
I WANT TO THANK MAYOR ISAAC FOR HIS HOSPITALITY. I
ALSO WANT TO RECOGNIZE SAM BRUNELLI, AMBASSADOR HOLLY
COORS, MY GOOD FRIEND JIM DOBSON, AND YOUR INCOMING
CHAIRMAN -- BILL RAGGIO. BILL FLEW IN WITH US FROM
RENO LAST NIGHT ON AIR FORCE ONE -- AND ALL THE WHITE
HOUSE STATIONARY FROM THE PLANE IS MISSING THIS MORNING
-- BUT BILL SWEARS THERE IS NO CORRELATION.
20 YEARS AGO WHEN ALEC STARTED, YOU WERE A LONE
VOICE IN THE CONSERVATIVE WILDERNESS. NOW YOU GATHER
IN THESE COLORADO MOUNTAINS - -- AT A TIME WHEN THE
ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST IS TOPPED BY THAT CREATURE
RARELY SPOTTED OUTSIDE OF THE 202 AREA CODE: THE
UNRECONSTRUCTED LIBERAL. YOUR ENERGY, IDEAS AND
ENTHUSIASM HELPED LEAD THE IDEOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATION
OF AMERICA - so IT IS AN HONOR TO BE INVITED TO SPEAK
TO YOU TODAY.
AUG-06-1992 03:57 FROM
TO
55577 P.03
- 2 -
I UNDERSTAND THAT NO FEWER THAN SIX MEMBERS OF MY
CABINET WILL SPEAK HERE. AND I AM ESPECIALLY DELIGHTED
THAT YOU HAVE CHOSEN TO GIVE THE THOMAS JEFFERSON
FREEDOM AWARD TO THE IDEA MAN OF THE CONSERVATIVE
MOVEMENT: JACK KEMP.
COMING OUT HERE, I SAW A CHART THAT SHOWED THAT
ALEC'S SUCCESS RATIO IN GETTING LEGISLATION PASSED IS
ABOUT 10 TIMES THAT OF THE CONGRESS. I THINK THAT'S AN
INCREDIBLE ACCOMPLISHMENT. BUT I GUESS A CYNIC MIGHT
SAY THAT IT'S LIKE SAYING THAT CHARLES BARKLEY CAN DUNK
A BASKETBALL BETTER THAN CHARLIE BROWN. //
AS YOU KNOW, so FAR THIS ELECTION HAS BEEN A LITTLE
ONE-SIDED. FOR NINE MONTHS, FIVE OTHER CANDIDATES AND
VARIOUS SUNDRY SURROGATES HAVE AIMED A FIREHOSE OF
CRITICISM AT ME. I HAVE BEEN BLAMED FOR EVERYTHING
EXCEPT THAT CRAZY SCORING SYSTEM THAT WAS USED IN THE
OLYMPIC BOXING COMPETITION. I SHOULDN'T GO OUT ON A
LIMB LIKE THAT -- BECAUSE I HAVEN'T CHECKED THE A.P.
WIRE THIS MORNING.
AUG-06-1992 03:58 FROM
TO
55577 P.04
- 3 -
I ADMIT I'VE BEEN A LITTLE SLOW TO FIGHT BACK. MY
OPPONENT HAS MENTIONED MY NAME ABOUT ONCE EVERY FIVE
SECONDS. I STILL HAVEN'T EVEN SAID HIS NAME IN FULL.
I HAVE REFERRED OCCASIONALLY TO "MY OPPONENT," "THE
OTHER GUY," AND EVEN -- "THE GOVERNOR OF A CERTAIN
STATE WITH A PROFITABLE CHICKEN INDUSTRY ON THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER LOCATED SOMEWHERE BETWEEN TEXAS AND
OKLAHOMA. "// LET ME TELL YOU WHY I HAVE WAITED. AS I
LISTEN TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE -- I GET A SENSE OF
SOMETHING YOU MIGHT PICK UP FROM OWN CONSTITUENTS.
PEOPLE ARE SICK OF POLITICS. TIRED OF CHARGES AND
COUNTERCHARGES. THEY WANT IDEAS -- THEY WANT ACTION -
- AND THEY WANT TO TRUST THEIR LEADERS TO TURN THE
FIRST INTO THE SECOND.
AUG-06-1992 03:58 FROM
TO
55577 P.05
- 4 -
THAT'S WHAT I WANT TO TALK ABOUT THIS MORNING.
IDEAS. ACTION. AND TRUST. ALTHOUGH I DON'T WANT TO
GET TOO PARTISAN -- I WILL DRAW A FEW COMPARISONS.
BUT IF YOU'LL GRANT ME ONE FAVOR, I'LL SAVE THE "C
WORD" FOR MY CONVENTION IN HOUSTON. I'LL JUST STICK
WITH THE ALL-PURPOSE TITLE -- "MY OPPONENT.' "//
IDEAS MATTER. WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE, IDEAS
COUNT - -- ALEC KNOWS THAT. WHEN AMERICANS CHOOSE THEIR
LEADERSHIP, THEY ARE CHOOSING A DIRECTION, A SET OF
BELIEFS.
FOR THE PAST QUARTER CENTURY, THE TIDE HAS FLOWED
OUR WAY FOR A SIMPLE REASON: THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AGREE
WITH US.
AUG-06-1992 03:58 FROM
TO
55577 F.06
- 5 -
IF IMITATION IS THE SINCEREST FORM OF FLATTERY, THE
WHOLE WORLD IS WEARING THOSE RED ALEC BLANKETS THAT BOB
ROGGI GAVE ME LAST NIGHT. FOR YEARS YOUR MEMBERS --
WORKING IN BOTH POLITICAL PARTIES - HAVE BEEN HOLDING
THE LINE ON GOVERNMENT SPENDING. YOU HAVE BEEN
RESISTING THE PAVLOVIAN IMPULSE TO RAISE TAXES AT EVERY
TURN. YOU'RE FIGHTING TO GIVE PARENTS THE CHANCE TO
CHOOSE THEIR KIDS SCHOOLS AND DAY CARE. YOU'VE HELPED
KEEP AMERICA STRONG, AND SUPPORTED THE COURAGE TO SHARE
OUR IDEALS FROM MANAGUA TO MOSCOW.
ON MANY OF THE MAJOR ISSUES OF THIS CAMPAIGN,
HOWEVER, MY OPPONENT AND I HAVE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT
IDEAS. ON EDUCATION, HEALTH CARE, ABORTION, DEFENSE
AND PRAYER IN SCHOOL -- FOR EXAMPLE - -- WE ARE SEPARATED
BY A GULF AS WIDE AS THE GRAND CANYON. BUT ON SOME
ISSUES ESPECIALLY ECONOMIC ISSUES -- WE SOUND
REMARKABLY THE SAME.
AUG-06-1992 03:59 FROM
TO
55577
P.07
- 6 -
OF COURSE, UNLIKE MY GREAT PREDECESSOR, I'M NOT
KNOWN FOR THREATENING DANIEL WEBSTER'S PLACE IN
ORATORICAL HISTORY. TO ME -- REAL ELOQUENCE IS ACTION.
so WHEN IT COMES TO IDEAS FOR FIXING OUR ECONOMY, I
SAY: LOOK NOT JUST AT WHAT WE SAY, LOOK AT WHAT WE DO.
LET ME GIVE YOU SOME EXAMPLES OF WHAT I MEAN.
I BELIEVE WE MUST GET A HANDLE ON THIS BUDGET
DEFICIT, BEFORE IT STRANGLES OUR FUTURE. MY OPPONENT
AGREES WITH ME. HE SAYS IN HIS SPEECHES THAT
GOVERNMENT "TAKES TOO MUCH OF YOUR MONEY AND GIVES YOU
TOO LITTLE IN RETURN."
WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT? WELL, I HAVE FOUGHT FOR A
FREEZE ON DOMESTIC DISCRETIONARY SPENDING. A CAP ON
MANDATORY FEDERAL SPENDING, WITH SPECIFIC PROPOSALS FOR
SAVINGS. AND A RESPONSIBLE REDUCTION IN DEFENSE
SPENDING, CONSISTENT WITH AMERICA'S MISSION AS THE
LEADER OF THE WORLD.
AUG-06-1992 03:59 FROM
TO
55577 P.08
- 7 -
MY OPPONENT HAS TAKEN A DIFFERENT APPROACH. HE
HAS PROPOSED OVER $200 BILLION OF NEW SPENDING AND AT
LEAST $150 BILLION IN NEW TAXES. WHEN IT COMES TO ANY
CONCERN ABOUT THE FEDERAL BUDGET DEFICIT, HIS ACTION
SOUNDS LIKE JOHN MCGLAUGHLIN'S SIGN OFF EVERY WEEK --
BYE, BYE.
ULTIMATELY I BELIEVE THE ONLY WAY TO GET THIS
BUDGET DEFICIT UNDER CONTROL IS WITH A BALANCED BUDGET
AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION. YOU HAVE DONE FOR THE
AMENDMENT WHAT RUSS LIMBAUGH HAS DONE FOR THE ART OF
PASSIONATE COMMUNICATION. AGAIN, MY OPPONENT AGREES
WITH ME -- IN PRINCIPLE. BUT AT THE MOMENT OF TRUTH,
WHEN THE AMENDMENT WAS ON THE FLOOR OF THE HOUSE THIS
SUMMER, HE CAME OUT AGAINST IT. THE AMENDMENT FELL
SHORT BY NINE VOTES, AFTER LIBERAL CONGRESSIONAL
LEADERS CONVINCED TWELVE CO-SPONSORS TO CHANGE THEIR
POSITION AND VOTE NO.
AUG-06-1992 04:00 FROM
TO
55577 P.09
- 8 -
OKAY, IF IT WE CAN'T GET A BALANCED BUDGET -- AT
LEAST GIVE ME A LINE-ITEM VETO -- LIKE VIRTUALLY EVERY
GOVERNOR IN AMERICA. AGAIN, MY OPPONENT SAYS HE FAVORS
THE IDEA. BUT LOOK AT OUR ACTUAL PROPOSALS. IN MY
BUDGET THIS YEAR, I IDENTIFIED 246 GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS
THAT I WOULD END -- AND ANOTHER 4,000 WASTEFUL PROJECTS
THAT I WOULD ALSO GET RID OF ALTOGETHER.
THIS LIST INCLUDES SOME BIG TICKET ITEMS, AS WELL
AS SOME SMALLER THINGS LIKE A VITALLY IMPORTANT FEDERAL
RESEARCH PROGRAM INTO THE MATING HABITS OF MINKS. THE
COUNTRY SINGER RANDY TRAVIS SINGS . -- "LOVES GOES ON
FOREVER, AND EVER." I'M NOT SURE EVEN RANDY WOULD SAY
THE SAME THING ABOUT A TAXPAYER SPONSORED MINK RESEARCH
PROGRAM.
AUG-06-1992 04:00 FROM
TO
55577 P.10
- 9 -
AGAIN, ON THIS ISSUE, MY OPPONENT IS SINGING THE
SAME TUNE -- BUT THE DANCE STEPS ARE DIFFERENT. WHEN
HE RELEASED HIS ECONOMIC PLAN, HE SEARCHED AND SEARCHED
THROUGH THOUSANDS OF GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS, AND FOUND
ONLY ONE THAT HE WOULD ELIMINATE - -- FEDERAL SUBSIDIES
FOR HONEY BEE FARMS.
NOW I'VE GONE HEAD TO HEAD WITH SOME POWERFUL
SPECIAL INTERESTS. BUT I DOUBT ANYONE WILL GET STUNG
BY TAKING ON THE HONEY BEE INDUSTRY.
WHAT ABOUT MANDATORY SPENDING? IT'S DEVOURING MORE
AND MORE OF OUR BUDGET EVERY YEAR. I PROPOSE IT'S TIME
TO ROLL UP OUR SLEEVES AND GO AFTER IT -- NO MATTER
WHAT THE POLITICAL PRICE. MY OPPONENT NODS HIS HEAD IN
AGREEMENT -- SAYING, "WE NEED A GOVERNMENT THAT OFFERS
MORE EMPOWERMENT AND LESS ENTITLEMENT."
AUG-06-1992 04:01 FROM
TO
55577 P.11
- 10 -
DO WORDS MATCH ACTION? WELL, IN MY PAST THREE
BUDGETS, I HAVE PROPOSED CAPS ON MANDATORY SPENDING --
AND SUBMITTED SPECIFIC IDEAS FOR SAVINGS. THE AMOUNTS
AREN'T PALTRY -- $72 BILLION IN THIS YEAR'S BUDGET, $47
BILLION LAST YEAR, $119 BILLION IN 1990.
WHAT DOES MY OPPONENT OFFER? YOU CAN SEARCH HIS
ENTIRE ECONOMIC PROGRAM -- AND FIND ONE VERY TINY IDEA
-- REDUCING MEDICARE SUBSIDIES FOR THE WEALTHY. IT'S
NOT A BAD IDEA. IN FACT, I PUT IT IN MY OWN BUDGET.
BUT KEEP IN MIND -- IT WOULD REDUCE MANDATORY SPENDING
BY ONE-TENTH OF ONE PERCENT NEXT YEAR. THIS HARDLY
QUALIFIES AS A PROFILE IN BUDGET CUTTING COURAGE!
DO YOU SEE A PATTERN HERE? WELL, LOOK AT OUR MOST
PRESSING ECONOMIC CHALLENGE -- HOW TO CREATE MORE JOBS
-- NOW.
AUG-06-1992 04:01 FROM
TO
55577 P.12
- 11 -
I HAVE PROPOSED A PACKAGE THAT INCLUDES INCENTIVES
FOR INVESTMENT TO CREATE JOBS, HELP FOR FIRST-TIME
HOMEBUYERS, AND TAX REDUCTIONS-FOR FAMILIES TRYING TO
SAVE.
MY OPPONENT SAYS THAT AN EXPANDING ECONOMY IS THE
BEST POLICY OF ALL. BUT FIRST HE PROPOSES THE LARGEST
TAX INCREASE IN AMERICAN HISTORY - LARGER THAN WHAT
MIKE DUKAKIS AND WALTER MONDALE PROPOSED TOGETHER. AND
THEN HIS FRIENDS IN THE CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP TOOK
MY GROWTH PACKAGE AND ADDED A TAX INCREASE TO IT, I HAD
TO STOP THAT IDEA WITH MY VETO PEN.
WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?
WELL, AS I PEEL THROUGH THE DETAILS OF OUR ECONOMIC
PLANS, I CAN'T HELP BUT THINK OF THE WORDS OF ANOTHER
GEORGE -- NAME OF MCGOVERN.
AUG-06-1992 04:02 FROM
TO
55577 P.13
- 12 -
NOW, GEORGE MCGOVERN HAS NEVER BEEN A BIG FRIEND OF
MINE, BUT YOU MAY RECALL DURING THE NEW YORK CONVENTION
-- HE CALLED THE OTHER TICKET - -- AND I QUOTE -- "A
TROJAN HORSE." HE SAID -- "THEY ARE REALLY MUCH MORE
LIBERAL THAN THEY APPEAR, AND THEY'LL SHOW IT AFTER
THEY ARE ELECTED."
THAT'S WHAT WORRIES ME. AS I COMPARE THE DETAILS
OF WHAT WE HAVE TO OFFER -- I BEGIN TO WONDER. IS ALL
THIS TALK OF A "NEW COVENANT" SIMPLY A COVER-UP FOR
SOME VERY OLD AND TIRED IDEAS?
WHEN THE OTHER SIDE TALKS ABOUT CHANGING THE
ECONOMY WITH NEW SPENDING AND TAXES -- ARE THEY
REFERRING TO WHAT YOU WILL HAVE LEFT IN THEIR POCKET?
I KNOW WE HAVEN'T HEARD MUCH FROM THE LEADERS OF
CONGRESS LATELY. SPOTTING ONE OF THEM ON THE PODIUM AT
THE CONVENTION IN NEW YORK WAS PRETTY DIFFICULT. IT
WAS LIKE PLAYING "WHERE'S WALDO ON A BOARD THE SIZE OF
A FOOTBALL FIELD."
AUG-06-1992 04:02 FROM
TO
55577 P.14
- 13 -
BUT I WORRY THAT THE CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS ARE LIKE
KIDS ON CHRISTMAS MORNING, POISED AT THE TOP OF THE
STAIRS WAITING FOR ME -- THE GRINCH - -- TO GET OUT OF
THE HOUSE, so THAT SANTA CLAUS CAN SLIDE DOWN THE
CHIMNEY WITH A BAG FULL OF TOYS.
ONLY THOSE SUGARPLUM NEW SPENDING ITEMS AND TAX
PROGRAMS ARE GOING TO GIVE THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER A BAD
STOMACHACHE.
I HOPE I'M WRONG, I REALLY DO. I REALLY DO. JUST
MAYBE GEORGE MCGOVERN'S TROJAN HORSE WILL BE TIGER WHEN
IT COMES TO HOLDING THE LINE ON TAXES AND SPENDING.
AND so TODAY : -- I HAVE AN IDEA TO PROPOSE TO THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE.
A WAY TO MOVE AWAY FROM PARTISANSHIP. A WAY TO GET
SOME OF THE IDEAS YOU'VE FOUGHT FOR OFF THE DRAWING
BOARD. A WAY TO GET OUR ECONOMY MOVING TODAY, AND KEEP
IT GROWING TOMORROW. AND MOST IMPORTANT - A WAY TO DO
WHAT'S RIGHT FOR AMERICA.
AUG-06-1992 04:03 FROM
TO
55577 P.15
- 14 -
TODAY, I ISSUE A CHALLENGE TO MY OPPONENT - -- AND
HIS ALLIES IN THE CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP.
IF YOU REALLY AGREE WITH US THAT THESE IDEAS ARE
IMPORTANT, WHY HOLD THEM HOSTAGE TO A POLITICAL
CAMPAIGN? IF YOU REALLY BELIEVE THAT TAX CUTS CAN
CREATE JOBS, PASS MY GROWTH PACKAGE - --NOW. IF YOU WANT
TO GET A HANDLE ON GOVERNMENT SPENDING, PUT A LINE-
ITEM VETO ON MY DESK RIGHT NOW, THIS MONTH, AND I'LL
START CUTTING RIGHT AWAY. IF YOU WANT TO CONTROL
MANDATORY SPENDING, CONVINCE CONGRESS TO ADOPT MY
PROPOSED SAVINGS NEXT WEEK. AND IF YOU BELIEVE IN A
BALANCED BUDGET - -- LET'S CALL IT UP FOR A VOTE AGAIN -
-- AND SEND IT IMMEDIATELY TO YOUR STATES FOR
RATIFICATION./
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE TIRED OF SLOGANS, TIRED OF
POSTURING, TIRED OF EXCUSES, TIRED OF GRIDLOCK. THEY
TRUST US -- WHO HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF SERVING THEM --
TO PUT ASIDE POLITICS AND DO WHAT'S RIGHT FOR AMERICA.
AUG-06-1992 04:03 FROM
TO
55577 P.16
- 15 -
IDEAS ARE NOT ENOUGH - -- WE NEED ACTION. THE PLAN I
HAVE OUTLINED TODAY - -- A PLAN BASED ON so MANY ALEC
IDEAS AND INITIATIVES - -- IS so STRONG, so COMPELLING -
- THAT EVEN OUR OPPONENTS ARE TALKING ABOUT IT.
so TODAY I SAY TO THE OTHER SIDE -- SHOW THAT WE
CAN GET SOMETHING ACCOMPLISHED FOR AMERICA. PROVE THAT
THIS CONVERSION SHOULD BE TRUSTED - -- THAT THIS NEW TALK
OF MODERATION IS NOT A MASQUERADE. BECAUSE IF WE CAN'T
-- IF THE ACTION DOESN'T MATCH THE NEW RHETORIC --
THEN THE TAXPAYER'S HAND SHOULD TREMBLE AS THEY THEIR
PAYCHECK. BELIEVE ME, I WILL TAKE THAT CASE TO THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE.
THANK YOU, AND GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA.
#
#
#
##
#
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
August 5, 1992
MEMORANDUM FOR STEVE PROVOST
FROM:
DAN MC GROARTY DMCH
SUBJECT:
A.L.E.C. DRAFT -- SCHOOL CHOICE
Please see the attached article on the school voucher
initiative on the Colorado ballot November 3. We can be sure
Gov. Clinton will take his stand with Gov. Romer and the NEA when
he comes to Colorado. We ought to make clear President Bush
stands with parents -- against the status quo.
Note, according to the article, that the Colorado Education
Association will tolerate school choice within the public system
but not extending to private or religious schools -- i.e.,
Clinton's position.
Note also that with California's school choice initiative
off the ballot, Colorado will be the battleground.
If there will be "war," we ought to fire the first shot. Is
there a way to build school choice into the point-counterpoint
section of the ALEC speech?
# # #
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, July 31, 1992 P.
6
School vouchers
head for ballot
Backers turn in a surplus of signatures, setting up Colorado as
national battleground for Bush's educational reform plan.
parents to select schools within
Colorado expected to be
order to fund schools and tighten
their home districts and even
academic standards.
national battleground
across district lines. But the group
Asked what happens next, for-
over hotly debated plan
objects to public funds going to
mer state Sen. Hugh Fowler. a
private or religious schools.
to give funds to parents
longtime advocate of school vouch-
The Colorado Catholic Confer-
ers, said, War,
ence, which includes the archdio-
By Bemy Morson
Supporters say school vouchers
ceses of Colorado Springs, Denver
Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer
will force public schools to im-
and Pueblo, supports vouchers but
prove by encouraging competition.
has not decided what role it will
A school voucher proposal is
Opponents say vouchers could de-
beaded for the Nov. 3 election
take in a campaign, a spokesman
stroy the public school system.
ballot, turning Colorado into a na-
for the Denver Archdiocese said.
Both sides say they will seck
tional battleground for the debated
Aaron Danielson, the treasurer
out-of-state funds that had been
school reform plan.
intended for California, where the
of the pro-voucber Coloradans for
Backers of the proposal, the
measure was thrown off the ballot
School Choice, said real reform
heart of President Bush's educa-
on a technicality. The money had
won't occur until schools are
tion reform plan, delivered 91,060
been expected to pour into Califor-
forced to compete for voucher
signatures Thursday to the secre-
nia from backers on both sides of
funds. He called Romer's proposal
tary of state for verification. Only
the issue nationwide.
"more of the same."
49,279 valid signatures are need-
The Colorado Education Associ-
Vouchers give-poor people the
ed to put the measure to a vote.
ation, the state's largest teachers'
same choices as the wealthy, who
Colorado conservatives have
union, has vowed to oppose the
can send their children to private
been pushing for school vouchers
voucher plan and has access to
schools, Danielson said. "The only
for at least 20 years. Assuming the
national union funds.
option (for the poor now) is to cope
signatures are valid, this is the
CEA president Dan Morris said
with an inferior education of a
first time Colorado voters will de-
his group believes a voucher pro-
second rate establishment."
cide whether parents should be
posal could be "detrimental to the
given vouchers worth about
survival of public schools" by
$2,500 to send their children to
draining money away. More than
the school of their choice, includ-
30,000 students now in private
ing private schools.
school would be entitled to vouch-
The voucher proposal comes
ers, with the money coming from
one day after Gov. Roy Romer
the public school budget, he said.
turned in 147,000 signatures on a
Morris said the education asso-
plan to raise the sales tax by 1% in
ciation doesn't oppose the right of
mm
mm
########
/
OFFICE OF PRESIDENTIAL SPEECHWRITING
FACSIMILE TRANSMITTAL SHEET
Number of Pages (Including Cover) 9
To Jim CICCONI /JEREMY SHANE
Fax Number 336-7943
Date 5 AUGUST 1992
From DAN MCGROARTY
Office Number 202-456-2930
******
COMMENTS
******
COMMENTS DUE 12 NOON.
S AUG 26
DMI's
(8/3/92)
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
AMERICAN LEGISLATIVE EXCHANGE COUNCIL
copy
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 1992
Thank you, Fred Noye and Sam Brunelli, for that
introduction. For almost 20 years, the American Legislative
Exchange Council has helped bring conservative principles to bear
in our state legislatures.
Coming out here, I saw a chart that showed that ALEC's
success ratio in getting legislation passed is about seven times
that of the average Congressman. Then again, that's like saying
that Charles Barkley can dunk a basketball better than Charlie
Brown.
I want to talk to you today about three simple concepts:
Ideas. Actions. And Trust.
Yogi Berra once said that sometimes you can observe a lot
just by watching.
A close examination of these three concepts reveals a lot
about the choice America faces today.
Ideas. When all is said and done, ideas matter. When
Americans choose their leadership, they are choosing a direction,
a set of beliefs.
For two decades now, the tide has gone our way for a simple
reason: because the American people agree with us.
I suppose that we conservatives should be flattered. For
years, we have been holding the line on government spending.
Resisting the Pavlovian impulse of the other side to raise taxes
2
at every turn. Creating choice in education and child care.
Keeping America strong enough to be the guarantor of peace.
The other side has given up debating these core principles.
In words, if not in deeds, they now concede that they can't win
by trumpeting their true desire for higher taxes and more
spending. They concede, at least on paper, that more choice is
better than more bureaucracy. Their speeches even go so far as
to give oral endorsement to the need for a strong defense.
So in one sense, we gather today at a moment of triumph. We
have not only won the Cold War; we have won the war of ideas.
And we have won it with conservative principles.
of course, actions speak louder than words. So it's
important to look behind the speeches, to peel off the makeover
that the other side has undergone -- to see what lives and
promises
breathes beneath the new face of supposedly reformed liberalism.
1.6'1,m
It's important, then, to go beyond the new labels and look
move
at the record. On close examination, the "New Covenant" may be
this
down...
too
the New Cover Up.
toosarly.
destarts
side
First, let's take government spending. One candidate has
proposed to attack all three parts of the problem. He's proposed
a freeze on domestic discretionary spending. A cap on mandatory
real
spending, with specific proposals for savings. And an orderly
reduction in defense spending, consistent with America's mission
as the leader of the world.
That candidate is standing right in front of you.
3
stoch
Another candidate says in his speeches that government takes
too much of your money and gives you too little in return. But
if you look at the details of his economic plan, you see
something else: over $200 billion in new spending, and at least
$150 billion in new taxes.
That's the candidate of change all right: if he wins,
change is all you'll have left in your pocket.
One candidate supports the balanced budget amendment to the
Constitution, has proposed it in every budget and fought for its
passage. That candidate is standing right in front of you.
The other candidate says in his speeches that he's for
balanced budgets, but at the moment of truth -- when the balanced
budget amendment was on the floor of the House, he worked against
it. The amendment fell short by nine votes, after the henchmen
of the Democratic leadership convinced twelve co-sponsors to
change their position and vote no.
One candidate has proposed a line-item veto in every budget.
He's proposed to eliminate 246 government programs this year
alone, and kill over 4,000 wasteful projects. Once again, he's
standing right in front of you.
The other candidate says he favors a line-item veto. But
his co-conspirators in Congress have kept it from becoming law.
And when he released his economic plan, he searched and searched
through the millions of government projects? programs, and found only one
that he would eliminate: subsidies for honey bee growers!
4
With his legendary caution, he's still probably afraid he'll
get stung by that one.
One candidate has recognized a central problem with our
budget -- mandatory spending is out of control. He has proposed
to cap it -- and has submitted specific savings: $70 billion in
this year's budget; $47 billion in last year's; $119 billion
in
1990's.
The candidate who would bring spending under control is
standing right in front of you.
The other candidate says in his speeches that "we need a
government that offers more empowerment and less entitlement.' "
Yet in his economic plan, he completely ignored the need to cut
entitlement spending. He offered only one small idea --
borrowed from my own budget, that would cut a mere one-tenth of
on
one percent from mandatory spending next year.
empowerment
One candidate has led the world in a campaign against
aggression. He has offered an orderly phase down of defense
spending -- saving $18 billion in outlays over the next four
years -- with a plan to maintain America's security in a
dangerous world.
That candidate is standing right in front of you.
The other candidate talks about an "America with the world's
strongest defense." Yet, he plans to cut $60 billion in outlays
beyond what the experts say is responsible. That means a cut
four times as deep as mine. That plan would throw a million
Take the suintly and
portactant
)
5
people out of work. But one industry would prosper -- the
mothball industry.
Take the most important issue of all. Economic growth. One
candidate has proposed a growth plan -- with incentives for
investment to create jobs, help for first-time homebuyers, and
tax reductions for families trying to save. That candidate is
standing right in front of you.
The other candidate says that an expanding economy is the
best policy of all. Yet when his allies in Congress had the
chance to send me a growth package, they saddled it with a $100
billion tax increase. That one I stopped with my veto pen.
still
But I suppose we shouldn't be surprised.
When
he
was
(Durs time as
Governor, the new spiritual leader of the taxers in Congress
raised 123 separate taxes. His speeches once promised a middle
class tax cut, but when his economic plan came out, it was
nowhere to be found. Even the New York Times called it: "(You
know who's) Retreat."
And that brings me to my third concept: Trust.
It's a political year, and the other side is saying some
pretty appealing words these days. They promise that they've
reformed, and become "moderate." They've signed a pact with
their own special interests -- a VOW of silence on their real
intentions, at least until after the election.
It reminds me of a cartoon I saw the other day, of two
donkeys driving down the road. The sign read: "Left lane
closed, next four months. Election ahead."
6
But before you get taken in by the new labels being marketed
by the other side, read the Surgeon General's warning. It says:
"A $150 billion dollar tax increase will be hazardous to your
health."
And that raises the central question: whom do you trust to
control the size of government, to cut taxes, and to get this
economy moving again? A President who vetoed the Democrats' tax
increase, and sustained that veto?
Or a team that, given the chance to start with a clean sheet
of paper on how to fix our economy, proposed in their economic
plan the largest tax increase in American history -- larger than
those proposed by Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale combined.
( G10
Now there is no denying that the other side has become more Trifecta?
clever. Witness their recent convention in New York. Finding
the Democratic leadership of the Congress on that podium was
harder than playing "Where's Waldo?" on a board the size of a
football field.
But that is a symptom of the bottomless cynicism of a
campaign and a Congress that talk of change but block it, that
That speak of growth but smother it, that feign interest in a
different future but remain S wedded to the policies of the past.
Make no mistake: the Democratic leadership in Congress is
happily in collusion with the would-be new leadership of the
other party. They are rubbing their hands with glee at the
prospect of a President who, when it comes to new spending, will
replace the veto pen with the printing press.
7
But that leadership has a problem. The visions of
sugarplums and pork barrels now dancing in their heads will be
gone unless they can convince Americans that our country is a
mess. So for some time now, Congress has been engaged in a
conscious strategy: block measures to strengthen the economy,
and then complain loudly when growth stalls and progress slows.
Well I have a challenge for my opponents and their partners
in crime in the U.S. Congress. If you really believe in growth,
Sea
pass my growth package now. If you believe in the line-item
GM
veto, put that bill on my desk right now, this month, and I'll
pulled
show you how to cut spending with this year's appropriations
out
parliament
bills. If you believe in a balanced budget, give me a balanced
Stops
budget amendment and let's send it to the states this fall.
to,
NJ.
My opponents' clever campaign and the corrupt Congress are
the Bonnie and Clyde of America's economic recovery. They look
8 Moilater
thousan
like such nice people -- but their actions will shoot our economy
slipped
into
full of holes.
In the end, this campaign is about more than appearances.
recession.
It's about ideas. And actions. And trust.
Teddy Roosevelt once told a friend: "I want to see you
shoot the way you shout. "
This year, when the shouting stops, Americans will face
fundamental choice. They can aim forward, with policies that
promote growth, and choice, and opportunity -- or they can aim
backwards, toward a new target with an oddly familiar ring to it.
X2577.
8
One that gives off the sounds of higher inflation, higher
interest rates, and the misery index.
The choice is clear: we cannot turn back now.
Thank you, and God bless the United States of America.
#####
Do what's vight for Omerica.
(8/3/92)
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
AMERICAN LEGISLATIVE EXCHANGE COUNCIL
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 1992
Thank you, Fred Noye and Sam Brunelli, for that
introduction. For almost 20 years, the American Legislative
Exchange Council has helped bring conservative principles to bear
in our state legislatures.
Coming out here, I saw a chart that showed that ALEC's
success ratio in getting legislation passed is about seven times
that of the average Congressman. Then again, that's like saying
that Charles Barkley can dunk a basketball better than Charlie
Brown.
I want to talk to you today about three simple concepts:
Ideas. Actions. And Trust.
Yogi Berra once said that sometimes you can observe a lot
just by watching.
A close examination of these three concepts reveals a lot
about the choice America faces today.
Ideas. When all is said and done, ideas matter. When
Americans choose their leadership, they are choosing a direction,
a set of beliefs.
For two decades now, the tide has gone our way for a simple
reason: because the American people agree with us.
I suppose that we conservatives should be flattered. For
years, we have been holding the line on government spending.
Resisting the Pavlovian impulse of the other side to raise taxes
2
at every turn. Creating choice in education and child care.
Keeping America strong enough to be the guarantor of peace.
The other side has given up debating these core principles.
In words, if not in deeds, they now concede that they can't win
by trumpeting their true desire for higher taxes and more
spending. They concede, at least on paper, that more choice is
better than more bureaucracy. Their speeches even go so far as
to give oral endorsement to the need for a strong defense.
So in one sense, we gather today at a moment of triumph. We
have not only won the Cold War; we have won the war of ideas.
And we have won it with conservative principles.
of course, actions speak louder than words. So it's
important to look behind the speeches, to peel off the makeover
that the other side has undergone -- to see what lives and
breathes beneath the new face of supposedly reformed liberalism.
It's important, then, to go beyond the new labels and look
at the record. On close examination, the "New Covenant" may be
the New Cover Up.
First, let's take government spending. One candidate has
proposed to attack all three parts of the problem. He's proposed
a freeze on domestic discretionary spending. A cap on mandatory
spending, with specific proposals for savings. And an orderly
reduction in defense spending, consistent with America's mission
as the leader of the world.
That candidate is standing right in front of you.
3
Another candidate says in his speeches that government takes
too much of your money and gives you too little in return. But
if you look at the details of his economic plan, you see
something else: over $200 billion in new spending, and at least
$150 billion in new taxes.
That's the candidate of change all right: if he wins,
change is all you'll have left in your pocket.
One candidate supports the balanced budget amendment to the
Constitution, has proposed it in every budget and fought for its
passage. That candidate is standing right in front of you.
The other candidate says in his speeches that he's for
balanced budgets, but at the moment of truth -- when the balanced
budget amendment was on the floor of the House, he worked against
it. The amendment fell short by nine votes, after the henchmen
of the Democratic leadership convinced twelve co-sponsors to
change their position and vote no.
One candidate has proposed a line-item veto in every budget.
He's proposed to eliminate 246 government programs this year
alone, and kill over 4,000 wasteful projects. Once again, he's
standing right in front of you.
The other candidate says he favors a line-item veto. But
his co-conspirators in Congress have kept it from becoming law.
And when he released his economic plan, he searched and searched
through the millions of government programs, and found only one
that he would eliminate: subsidies for honey bee growers!
4
With his legendary caution, he's still probably afraid he'll
get stung by that one.
One candidate has recognized a central problem with our
budget -- mandatory spending is out of control. He has proposed
to cap it -- and has submitted specific savings: $70 billion in
this year's budget; $47 billion in last year's; $119 billion in
1990's.
The candidate who would bring spending under control is
standing right in front of you.
The other candidate says in his speeches that "we need a
government that offers more empowerment and less entitlement."
Yet in his economic plan, he completely ignored the need to cut
entitlement spending. He offered only one small idea --
borrowed from my own budget, that would cut a mere one-tenth of
one percent from mandatory spending next year.
One candidate has led the world in a campaign against
aggression. He has offered an orderly phase down of defense
spending -- saving $18 billion in outlays over the next four
years -- with a plan to maintain America's security in a
dangerous world.
That candidate is standing right in front of you.
The other candidate talks about an "America with the world's
strongest defense." Yet, he plans to cut $60 billion in outlays
beyond what the experts say is responsible. That means a cut
four times as deep as mine. That plan would throw a million
5
people out of work. But one industry would prosper -- the
mothball industry.
Take the most important issue of all. Economic growth.
One
candidate has proposed a growth plan -- with incentives for
investment to create jobs, help for first-time homebuyers, and
tax reductions for families trying to save. That candidate is
standing right in front of you.
The other candidate says that an expanding economy is the
best policy of all. Yet when his allies in Congress had the
chance to send me a growth package, they saddled it with a $100
billion tax increase. That one I stopped with my veto pen.
But I suppose we shouldn't be surprised. When he was
Governor, the new spiritual leader of the taxers in Congress
raised 123 separate taxes. His speeches once promised a middle
class tax cut, but when his economic plan came out, it was
nowhere to be found. Even the New York Times called it: H (You
know who's) Retreat. "
And that brings me to my third concept: Trust.
It's a political year, and the other side is saying some
pretty appealing words these days. They promise that they've
reformed, and become "moderate." They've signed a pact with
their own special interests -- a VOW of silence on their real
intentions, at least until after the election.
It reminds me of a cartoon I saw the other day, of two
donkeys driving down the road. The sign read: "Left lane
closed, next four months. Election ahead. "
6
But before you get taken in by the new labels being marketed
by the other side, read the Surgeon General's warning. It says:
"A $150 billion dollar tax increase will be hazardous to your
health."
And that raises the central question: whom do you trust to
control the size of government, to cut taxes, and to get this
economy moving again? A President who vetoed the Democrats' tax
increase, and sustained that veto?
or a team that, given the chance to start with a clean sheet
of paper on how to fix our economy, proposed in their economic
plan the largest tax increase in American history -- larger than
those proposed by Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale combined.
Now there is no denying that the other side has become more
clever. Witness their recent convention in New York. Finding
the Democratic leadership of the Congress on that podium was
harder than playing "Where's Waldo?" on a board the size of a
football field.
But that is a symptom of the bottomless cynicism of a
campaign and a Congress that talk of change but block it, that
speak of growth but smother it, that feign interest in a
different future but remain wedded to the policies of the past.
Make no mistake: the Democratic leadership in Congress is
happily in collusion with the would-be new leadership of the
other party. They are rubbing their hands with glee at the
prospect of a President who, when it comes to new spending, will
replace the veto pen with the printing press.
7
But that leadership has a problem. The visions of
sugarplums and pork barrels now dancing in their heads will be
gone unless they can convince Americans that our country is a
mess. So for some time now, Congress has been engaged in a
conscious strategy: block measures to strengthen the economy,
and then complain loudly when growth stalls and progress slows.
Well I have a challenge for my opponents and their partners
in crime in the U.S. Congress. If you really believe in growth,
pass my growth package now. If you believe in the line-item
veto, put that bill on my desk right now, this month, and I'll
show you how to cut spending with this year's appropriations
bills. If you believe in a balanced budget, give me a balanced
budget amendment and let's send it to the states this fall.
My opponents' clever campaign and the corrupt Congress are
the Bonnie and Clyde of America's economic recovery. They look
like such nice people -- but their actions will shoot our economy
full of holes.
In the end, this campaign is about more than appearances.
It's about ideas. And actions. And trust.
Teddy Roosevelt once told a friend: "I want to see you
shoot the way you shout. "
This year, when the shouting stops, Americans will face
fundamental choice. They can aim forward, with policies that
promote growth, and choice, and opportunity -- or they can aim
backwards, toward a new target with an oddly familiar ring to it.
8
One that gives off the sounds of higher inflation, higher
interest rates, and the misery index.
The choice is clear: we cannot turn back now.
Thank you, and God bless the United States of America.
#####
(8/3/92)
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
AMERICAN LEGISLATIVE EXCHANGE COUNCIL
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 1992
Thank you, Fred Noye and Sam Brunelli, for that
introduction. For almost 20 years, the American Legislative
Exchange Council has helped bring conservative principles to bear
in our state legislatures.
Coming out here, I saw a chart that showed that ALEC's
success ratio in getting legislation passed is about seven times
that of the average Congressman. Then again, that's like saying
that Charles Barkley can dunk a basketball better than Charlie
Brown.
I want to talk to you today about three simple concepts:
Ideas. Actions. And Trust.
Yogi Berra once said that sometimes you can observe a lot
just by watching.
A close examination of these three concepts reveals a lot
about the choice America faces today.
Ideas. When all is said and done, ideas matter. When
Americans choose their leadership, they are choosing a direction,
a set of beliefs.
For two decades now, the tide has gone our way for a simple
reason: because the American people agree with us.
I suppose that we conservatives should be flattered. For
years, we have been holding the line on government spending.
Resisting the Pavlovian impulse of the other side to raise taxes
2
at every turn. Creating choice in education and child care.
Keeping America strong enough to be the guarantor of peace.
The other side has given up debating these core principles.
In words, if not in deeds, they now concede that they can't win
by trumpeting their true desire for higher taxes and more
spending. They concede, at least on paper, that more choice is
better than more bureaucracy. Their speeches even go so far as
to give oral endorsement to the need for a strong defense.
So in one sense, we gather today at a moment of triumph. We
have not only won the Cold War; we have won the war of ideas.
And we have won it with conservative principles.
of course, actions speak louder than words. So it's
important to look behind the speeches, to peel off the makeover
that the other side has undergone -- to see what lives and
breathes beneath the new face of supposedly reformed liberalism.
It's important, then, to go beyond the new labels and look
at the record. On close examination, the "New Covenant" may be
the New Cover Up.
First, let's take government spending. One candidate has
proposed to attack all three parts of the problem. He's proposed
a freeze on domestic discretionary spending. A cap on mandatory
spending, with specific proposals for savings. And an orderly
reduction in defense spending, consistent with America's mission
as the leader of the world.
That candidate is standing right in front of you.
3
Another candidate says in his speeches that government takes
too much of your money and gives you too little in return. But
if you look at the details of his economic plan, you see
something else: over $200 billion in new spending, and at least
$150 billion in new taxes.
That's the candidate of change all right: if he wins,
change is all you'll have left in your pocket.
One candidate supports the balanced budget amendment to the
Constitution, has proposed it in every budget and fought for its
passage. That candidate is standing right in front of you.
The other candidate says in his speeches that he's for
balanced budgets, but at the moment of truth -- when the balanced
budget amendment was on the floor of the House, he worked against
it. The amendment fell short by nine votes, after the henchmen
of the Democratic leadership convinced twelve co-sponsors to
change their position and vote no.
One candidate has proposed a line-item veto in every budget.
He's proposed to eliminate 246 government programs this year
alone, and kill over 4,000 wasteful projects. Once again, he's
standing right in front of you.
The other candidate says he favors a line-item veto. But
his co-conspirators in Congress have kept it from becoming law.
And when he released his economic plan, he searched and searched
through the millions of government programs, and found only one
that he would eliminate: subsidies for honey bee growers!
4
With his legendary caution, he's still probably afraid he'll
get stung by that one.
One candidate has recognized a central problem with our
budget -- mandatory spending is out of control. He has proposed
to cap it -- and has submitted specific savings: $70 billion in
this year's budget; $47 billion in last year's; $119 billion in
1990's.
The candidate who would bring spending under control is
standing right in front of you.
The other candidate says in his speeches that "we need a
government that offers more empowerment and less entitlement."
Yet in his economic plan, he completely ignored the need to cut
entitlement spending. He offered only one small idea --
borrowed from my own budget, that would cut a mere one-tenth of
one percent from mandatory spending next year.
One candidate has led the world in a campaign against
aggression. He has offered an orderly phase down of defense
spending -- saving $18 billion in outlays over the next four
years -- with a plan to maintain America's security in a
dangerous world.
That candidate is standing right in front of you.
The other candidate talks about an "America with the world's
strongest defense." Yet, he plans to cut $60 billion in outlays
beyond what the experts say is responsible. That means a cut
four times as deep as mine. That plan would throw a million
5
people out of work. But one industry would prosper -- the
mothball industry.
Take the most important issue of all. Economic growth. One
candidate has proposed a growth plan -- with incentives for
investment to create jobs, help for first-time homebuyers, and
tax reductions for families trying to save. That candidate is
standing right in front of you.
The other candidate says that an expanding economy is the
best policy of all. Yet when his allies in Congress had the
chance to send me a growth package, they saddled it with a $100
billion tax increase. That one I stopped with my veto pen.
But I suppose we shouldn't be surprised. When he was
Governor, the new spiritual leader of the taxers in Congress
raised 123 separate taxes. His speeches once promised a middle
class tax cut, but when his economic plan came out, it was
nowhere to be found. Even the New York Times called it: "(You
know who's) Retreat."
And that brings me to my third concept: Trust.
It's a political year, and the other side is saying some
pretty appealing words these days. They promise that they've
reformed, and become "moderate." They've signed a pact with
their own special interests -- a VOW of silence on their real
intentions, at least until after the election.
It reminds me of a cartoon I saw the other day, of two
donkeys driving down the road. The sign read: "Left lane
closed, next four months. Election ahead."
6
But before you get taken in by the new labels being marketed
by the other side, read the Surgeon General's warning. It says:
"A $150 billion dollar tax increase will be hazardous to your
health."
And that raises the central question: whom do you trust to
control the size of government, to cut taxes, and to get this
economy moving again? A President who vetoed the Democrats' tax
increase, and sustained that veto?
or a team that, given the chance to start with a clean sheet
of paper on how to fix our economy, proposed in their economic
plan the largest tax increase in American history -- larger than
those proposed by Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale combined.
Now there is no denying that the other side has become more
clever. Witness their recent convention in New York. Finding
the Democratic leadership of the Congress on that podium was
harder than playing "Where's Waldo?" on a board the size of a
football field.
But that is a symptom of the bottomless cynicism of a
campaign and a Congress that talk of change but block it, that
speak of growth but smother it, that feign interest in a
different future but remain wedded to the policies of the past.
Make no mistake: the Democratic leadership in Congress is
happily in collusion with the would-be new leadership of the
other party. They are rubbing their hands with glee at the
prospect of a President who, when it comes to new spending, will
replace the veto pen with the printing press.
7
But that leadership has a problem. The visions of
sugarplums and pork barrels now dancing in their heads will be
gone unless they can convince Americans that our country is a
mess. So for some time now, Congress has been engaged in a
conscious strategy: block measures to strengthen the economy,
and then complain loudly when growth stalls and progress slows.
Well I have a challenge for my opponents and their partners
in crime in the U.S. Congress. If you really believe in growth,
pass my growth package now. If you believe in the line-item
veto, put that bill on my desk right now, this month, and I'll
show you how to cut spending with this year's appropriations
bills. If you believe in a balanced budget, give me a balanced
budget amendment and let's send it to the states this fall.
My opponents' clever campaign and the corrupt Congress are
the Bonnie and Clyde of America's economic recovery. They look
like such nice people -- but their actions will shoot our economy
full of holes.
In the end, this campaign is about more than appearances.
It's about ideas. And actions. And trust.
Teddy Roosevelt once told a friend: "I want to see you
shoot the way you shout."
This year, when the shouting stops, Americans will face
fundamental choice. They can aim forward, with policies that
promote growth, and choice, and opportunity -- or they can aim
backwards, toward a new target with an oddly familiar ring to it.
8
One that gives off the sounds of higher inflation, higher
interest rates, and the misery index.
The choice is clear: we cannot turn back now.
Thank you, and God bless the United States of America.
#
#
#
#
#
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
92 August AUG 5, 19920 7
MEMORANDUM FOR STEVEN PROVOST
FROM:
ROGER B. PORTER
SUBJECT:
A.L.E.C. Speech
This speech might be strengthened through mentioning the
President's principal reform initiatives: parental choice of
schools, term limits for Congress, welfare reform, health care
reform. This is one audience that supports these reforms,
understands their significance, and can actually speed their
enactment.
In addition, it may be powerful and timely to mention the
educational choice initiative which is on the ballot in Colorado
for November 3 (see attached article.)
A suggested insert which might be placed after the
paragraph that begins at page one, paragraph eight (we've changed
the phrase "Pavlovian response" to a "knee-jerk reflex") is
attached. Changes are in boldface.
Attachments
Suggested insert
We conservatives should be flattered. For years, we have held
the line on government spending. Resisting the knee-jerk reflex
of the other side to raise taxes at every turn. But we've also
pushed for an agenda of reform that returns authority to states,
to local government and to individual people -- like returning
the power to choose a child's school to parents.
The unions go crazy every time I push for school choice. They
know that allowing parents to choose the best schools for their
children -- public, private, or religious -- will break up their
monopolistic control over the education system and improve all
schools for all children.
There's a presidential candidate who claims to be for education
reform, but he opposes the real school choice I stand for. I
would like for him to explain to the child who is stuck in an
inadequate inner city school why he would deny him or her a good
education and the opportunity for a better life. He stands with
the unions and for the special interests. I stand with America's
families who want opportunity and a better life for their kids.
I'm for giving low- and middle-income families the same choices
of schools that only wealthier families now have. I'm for the
parental choice initiative that will be on the Colorado ballot
this November. And I need your help to get Congress to pass my
G.I. Bill for Children so that all families in America will have
the opportunity to choose the best possible education for their
children. Thank you to all the ALEC members who are working hard
in your states for this important reform.
Unlike the other candidate, I'm also for:
--
giving states waivers so they can pursue welfare reforms.
enacting term limits on a Congress which has used the
privileges of incumbency to insulate itself from the
people.
--
a heath care reform plan that holds down costs without
producing socialized medicine. My proposals depend on
action by the states to reform the health insurance market.
The states have historically been the regulators of
insurance, and I want to keep it that way. The faster
solutions happen in the states, the sooner we'll be helping
the American people.
getting condoms out of schools and putting voluntary prayer
back into our schools.
And back in Washington, the same fiscal reforms, a balanced
budget amendment and the line-item veto, that you in state
government have had for years.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, July 31, 1992
p.
6
School vouchers
head for ballot
Backers turn in a surplus of signatures, setting up Colorado as
national battleground for Bush's educational reform plan.
parents to select schools within
Colorado expected to be
order to fund schools and tighten
their home districts and even
academic standards.
national battleground
across district lines. But the group
Asked what happens next, for-
objects to public funds going to
over hotly debated plan
mer state Sen. Hugh Fowler. a
private or religious schools.
to give funds to parents
longtime advocate of school vouch-
The Colorado Catholic Confer-
ers, said, "War."
ence, which includes the archdio-
By Berny Morson
Supporters say school vouchers
ceses of Colorado Springs, Denver
Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer
will force public schools to im-
and Pueblo, supports vouchers but
prove by encouraging competition.
has not decided what role it will
A school voucher proposal is
Opponents say vouchers could de-
beaded for the Nov. 3 election
take in a campaign, a spokesman
stroy the public school system.
for the Denver Archdiocese said.
ballot, turning Colorado into a na-
Both sides say they will seck
Aaron Danielson, the treasurer
tional battleground for the debated
out-of-state funds that had been
school reform plan.
intended for California, where the
of the pro-voucber Coloradans for
Backers of the proposal, the
measure was thrown off the ballot
School Choice, said real reform
heart of President Bush's educa-
on a technicality. The money had
won't occur until schools are
tion reform plan, delivered 91,060
been expected to pour into Califor-
forced to compete for voucher
signatures Thursday to the secre-
nia from backers on both sides of
funds. He called Romer's proposal
tary of state for verification. Only
the issue nationwide.
"more of the same."
49,279 valid signatures are need-
The Colorado Education Associ-
Vonchers give-poor people the
ed to put the measure to a vote.
ation, the state's largest teachers'
same choices as the wealthy, who
Colorado conservatives have
union, has vowed to oppose the
can send their children to private
been pushing for school vouchers
voucher plan and has access to
schools, Danielson said. "The only
for at least 20 years. Assuming the
national union funds.
option (for the poor now) is to cope
signatures are valid, this is the
CEA president Dan Morris said
with an inferior education of a
first time Colorado voters will de-
his group believes a voucher pro-
second rate establishment."
cide whether parents should be
posal could be "detrimental to the
given vouchers worth about
survival of public schools" by
$2,500 to send their children to
draining money away. More than
the school of their choice, includ-
30,000 students now in private
ing private schools.
school would be entitled to vouch-
The voucher proposal comes
ers, with the money coming from
one day after Gov. Roy Romer
the public school budget, he said.
turned in 147,000 signatures on a
Morris said the education asso-
plan to raise the sales tax by 1% in
ciation doesn't oppose the right of
1388
Aug. 5 / Administration of George Bush, 1992
effects of the terror he felt 50 years ago with
A tape was not available for verification of
this young kid sitting in the back seat.
the content of these remarks.
[Laughter] And very frank and honest guy
that he is.
But more seriously, I did learn something
from him and from my other soul mates and
Remarks to the American Legislative
comrades in arms in the Navy. I learned
Exchange Council in Colorado
about teamwork, and I learned about the im-
Springs, Colorado
portance of sticking together from Mr.
August 6, 1992
Crume and all the other guys in the Navy.
I learned to depend on my wingman for
Thank you for that wonderfully warm
friendship, for support, and even for survival.
ALEC welcome. And Fred Noye, thank you
As you may know, some of you may know
for that generous introduction. I want to
this history, but after I left basic training,
thank the official host, the Mayor, Mayor
J.C.'s great instruction, I was assigned to the
Isaac, for his hospitality; recognize Sam
Pacific. One day, my plane was shot down,
Brunelli, of course, an old friend with us here
TBF flying over the island of Chi Chi Jima,
who feels very comfortable here; Holly
just off the island, and parachuted into the
Coors, so well-known; and ALEC; my dear
water. When I was swimming in the middle
friend and respected leader of faith, Jim
of the Pacific, one of my wingmen pointed
Dobson here. Let me just say, Fred, you have
me to a liferaft that had fallen from the plane,
done a wonderful job as chairman. I'm not
while another wingman then helped keep the
pronouncing you dead yet; you have a few
more months. But you've done a great chair-
enemy at bay. They put boats out from this
man job. And I know that your shoes will
island of Chi Chi Jima.
be ably filled by Bill Raggio, over here, from
After the Navy, I didn't wear my uniform
the State of Nevada.
every day, but believe me, friends have been
Bill flew in with us last night from Reno
part of every good fortune in my life, every
on Air Force One. And all the White House
good fortune. Now I'm about to embark on
stationery and matchboxes from the plane
another political battle, and I know this is
are missing. [Laughter] But he swears there's
a nonpolitical convention, but I would be re-
no correlation whatsoever. [Laughter] But I
miss if I did not express my thanks to those
was so honored that he came all the way up
who have helped here and to those, regard-
from the convention, took the puddle-jump-
less of party, who have done so much to
ers all the way, to just represent ALEC on
strengthen, whatever our politics, strengthen
the ride down, fill me in on what a fantastic
support for the American veteran.
convention is underway right here in Colo-
And I am saying, some things transcend
rado Springs.
politics. And I'm just saying to all of you,
Twenty years ago, when ALEC started, I
let's stay together. Let's stay together. Let's
see it that you were a lone voice in the con-
not the wingman peel off as we fight for the
servative wilderness. Now you gather in these
proper recognition of and support for the
marvelous Colorado mountains at a time
American veteran.
when the endangered species list is topped
Thank you all very, very much. And may
by that creature rarely spotted outside of the
God bless the United States of America.
202 area code; I'm talking, of course, about
the unabashed, unreconstructed liberal.
Note: The President spoke at 5:02 p.m. in
[Laughter]
the Goldwyn Ballroom at the Reno Hilton
But your energy and your ideas and your
Hotel. In his remarks, he referred to Cleve-
enthusiasm helped lead the ideological trans
land Jordan, national commander, DAV; Jo-
formation of America. So it's an honor to be
seph C. Zengerle, national senior vice com-
standing here as your guest, invited to speak
mander, DAV; and Maj. Robin Higgins,
to you today. I understand that, I think the
whose husband, Col. William R. Higgins, was
figure is no fewer than six members of my
killed while held hostage in Beirut, Lebanon.
Cabinet will speak here. I'm especially de-
of George Bush, 1992
Administration of George Bush, 1992 / Aug. 6
1389
le for verification of
lighted that you've chosen to give the Thom-
centurions went out, went to Carthage and
irks.
is Jefferson Freedom Award, that coveted
found the meanest lion in the world. They'd
award, to the idea man of the conservative
buried the gladiator in the arena there in
movement, Jack Kemp.
Rome, right up so just his head was sticking
As you know, so far this election has been
out, fill him with sand. The lion was released,
erican Legislative
a little one-sided. For 9 months-and I'm
charged him, making a deadly pass at the
n Colorado
not complaining; my day is coming-for 9
gladiator's head. And as he did, the gladiator
months, five other candidates, maybe it was
reached up and took a very ferocious bite
six way back then, various sundry surrogates
in a very sensitive place in the lion's anatomy.
have aimed a firehose of criticism at me. I
[Laughter] The lion howled in pain and ran
t wonderfully warm
have been blamed for everything except that
for the exit, fled from the arena. And the
Fred Noye, thank you
crazy scoring system that was used in the
lead centurion ran out, attacked the gladiator
oduction. I want to
Olympic boxing competition. I shouldn't
screaming, "Fight fair, damn it, fight fair."
the Mayor, Mayor
really go out on a limb like that because I
[Laughter]
ality; recognize Sam
haven't checked the AP wire and see how
Now, every time I tiptoe into the water
old friend with us here
it went. [Laughter]
with this guy, they start yelling, "Negative
fortable here; Holly
But I admit I've been a little slow to fight
campaigning." I am going to fight back. And
and ALEC; my dear
back. My opponent has mentioned my name
I will define his record as he's ill-defined
leader of faith, Jim
about once every 5 seconds, not always in
mine. I will fight on the only battleground
ust say, Fred, you have
the most flattering light. I still haven't even
that really counts, and that is the battle-
as chairman. I'm not
said his name in full. I've referred occasion-
ground of ideas. And ideas matter.
I yet; you have a few
ally to my opponent, "the other guy," and
If ever there was an organization that un-
ve done a great chair-
even "the Governor of a certain State with
derstood it, ideas matter, and ALEC knows.
that your shoes will
a profitable chicken industry on the Mis-
They know that. When Americans choose
aggio, over here, from
issippi River, located somewhere between
their leadership, they're choosing a direction.
Texas and Oklahoma." [Laughter]
They're choosing a set of beliefs.
last night from Reno
And let me tell you why I have waited.
For the past quarter century, the tide has
d all the White House
As I listen to the American people, I get a
flowed our way for a very simple reason: The
boxes from the plane
sense of something you might pick up from
American people agree with our philosophy
I But he swears there's
your own constituents. People are sick of pol-
and with our ideas. If imitation is the
ever. [Laughter] But I
itics. I think they think this election year has
sincerest form of flattery, the whole world
e came all the way up
gone on a little too long. You used to start
is wearing those red ALEC blankets that I
took the puddle-jump-
on Labor Day. Labor Day isn't even at hand
saw last night. For years your members,
st represent ALEC on
yet. They're tired of the charges and the
working in both political parties, have been
in on what a fantastic
countercharges. They want ideas, and they
holding the line on Government spending.
ay right here in Colo-
want action. They want to trust their leaders
You've been resisting the Pavlovian impulse
to turn the first into the second.
to raise taxes at every turn. And you're fight-
vhen ALEC started, I
That's what I want to talk about this morn-
ing to give parents the chance to choose their
lone voice in the con-
ing: ideas, action, and trust. Well, I don't
kids' schools and choose their day care. I am
fow you gather in these
want to get too partisan. I'm going to draw
for this, and I hope you'll all support it.
mountains at a time
a few comparisons. Grant me a favor, though,
This is the wave of the future. It will make
species list is topped
and I'll save the "C" word for my convention
the public schools better, the private schools
spotted outside of the
in Houston. And then I'll just stick with the
better, and the religious schools better.
king, of course, about
all-purpose title for today of "my opponent."
When I got out of the service nobody said
reconstructed liberal.
But let me guarantee you one thing: When
to me, "Here's the GI bill; you can only go
our convention is over-I am tired of being
to School A. They said, "Go to the school
d your ideas and your
augged by these people, and I will fight back.
of your choice." That enhanced the great
d the ideological trans
am going to win this election. I will fight
State universities and the private universities
So it's an honor to be
tough, but I will fight fair.
and those based on religious faith.
guest, invited to speak
Which reminds me, remember the old
On many of the major issues of this cam-
stand that, I think the
story of the fierce gladiator? He'd killed
paign my opponent and I have entirely dif-
an six members of my
every lion that they could throw up against
ferent ideas. On education, on health care,
ere. I'm especially de-
him, every lion he'd faced. So one day the
on life, on defense, on prayer in school, for
1390
Aug. 6 / Administration of George Bush, 1992
example, we are separated by a gulf as wide
the only way to get the budget deficit under
as the Grand Canyon. But on some issues,
control, the major disciplinary tool is a bal
especially economic issues, I'm afraid we
anced budget amendment to the Constitu-
don't yet sound all that different.
tion. You at ALEC have done for the amend-
Of course, unlike my great predecessor, I
ment what Rush Limbaugh has done for the
will have to confess I am not known for
art of passionate communication.
threatening Daniel Webster's place in orator-
Let me just single out one person, prob-
ical history. I will confess, there have been
ably embarrass the daylights out of him, but
other greater speakers. But to me, real elo-
I know of what David Halbrook, a former
quence, real eloquence, lies in action. So
ALEC chairman had done. A most respected
when it comes to ideas for fixing our econ-
Democrat, he has taken the lead on the bal-
omy, I say, look not just at what we say; look
anced budget amendment. He has taken
at what we are trying to do and have done.
your message and mine all across this coun-
Let me give you some examples. I firmly
try, and we owe him a vote of gratitude.
believe we must get a-handle on this budget
Thank you very, very much. I knew he'd be
deficit before it strangles our future. My op-
embarrassed. There he is. Don't give him
ponent supposedly agrees with me. He says
equal time or he'll tell you how his town in
in his speeches that Government takes too
Mississippi is the center of the Universe. I
much of your money and gives you too little
don't have time for that. [Laughter]
in return. And what do we do about it?
No, but again, on this question of the bal-
Well, I have fought for a freeze on domes-
anced budget agreement, look at the rhetoric
tic discretionary spending. I have fought for
out there. My opponent agrees with me in
a cap, and this is the only way we're going
principle. But at the moment of truth, when
to get the deficit down, a cap on mandatory
we finally got that amendment to the floor
Federal spending, with specific proposals for
of the House this summer, he came ou
savings, and a responsible, I emphasize that
against it. The amendment fell short by
word, a responsible reduction in defense
votes, after that liberal congressional leader-
spending consistent with our mission as the
ship convinced 12 co-sponsors, 12 people
leader of the world and consistent with my
that had co-sponsored the amendment, to
oath to be responsible for the national secu-
change their position at the last minute and
rity. I am not going to cut into the muscle
to vote no.
of our defense and go back to a hollow army.
Okay. We're going to keep fighting. But
So let's be clear on that.
if we can't get a balanced budget amendment
I know everybody at ALEC likes light
right now, at least give me a line-item veto
reading. Now here is a midsession review,
like virtually every Governor in the United
and in it, it tells exactly and specifically how
States has. But again, he says he favors the
to get this budget deficit down. It's been sit-
idea, this opponent, nameless opponent. But
ting up and languishing in the Congress, who
look at our actual proposals. In my budget
do not want to make the tough decisions that
this year-and again, I don't want to lift that
I have recommended year after year. I urge
heavy book up-1 identified 246 Govern-
you all to go out to your nearest bookstore,
ment programs-will you mind holding it up
hopefully getting it at a discount, and read
at the appropriate time? [Laughter] This is
this program. You'll be impressed because it
an all-purpose book, I'll tell you-246 that
is ALEC philosophy.
I would end and another 4,000 wasteful
Now, my opponent has taken a very dif-
projects that I will also get rid of altogether.
ferent approach. He has proposed over $200
They're in there. They are defined.
billion of new spending and at least $150 bil-
Now, this list includes some big-ticke
lion in new taxes. And when it comes to any
items as well as some smaller things, like
concern about the Federal budget deficit, his
vitally important Federal research program
action sounds like John McLaughlin's sign-
into the mating habits of the mink. Again on
off every week, "Bye-bye."[ Laughter]
this issue, my opponent is singing the same
Look, ultimately-you know this; the men
tune, but the dance steps are different. When
and women of ALEC know this—I believe
he released his economic plan-look at it,
Administration of George Bush, 1992 / Aug. 6
1391
of George Bush, 1992
don't take my word for it-he searched and
families that are trying in these tough times
budget deficit unde
arched through thousands of Government
to save.
ciplinary tool is a bal
programs and found only one that he would
My opponent copies you and me when he
nent to the Constitu-
eliminate, Federal subsidies for honeybee
says that an expanding economy's the best
e done for the amend-
augh has done for the
farmers.
policy of all. But first, he proposes the largest
Now, I have gone head-to-head in this job
tax increase in American history, larger than
nunication.
day in and day out, regardless of the polls.
what Mike Dukakis and Walter Mondale pro-
out one person, prob-
And I'm going to continue to do what I think
posed together. Then he proposes at least
ylights out of him, but
is right with some very powerful special in-
a 7-percent payroll tax to finance a new Gov-
d Halbrook, a former
terests: the NEA, the powerful teachers
ernment-run health care scheme. Then his
lone. A most respected
en the lead on the bal-
union; the labor bosses; the ACLU; the
friends in the congressional leadership took
Iment. He has taken
Ralph Naders of beltway fame. But I doubt
my growth package and added a tax increase
to it, and I took care of that with the veto
e all across this coun-
anyone will get stung by taking on the honey-
n a vote of gratitude.
bee industry. They're just not that tough.
pen. And as your able chairman said, that's
much. I knew he'd be
[Laughter]
the first time a President has done that.
he is. Don't give him
What about mandatory spending? It's de-
And so you have every right to say, "What's
vouring more and more of our budget every
going on here? What's happening? What's
Il you how his town in
iter of the Universe. I
year. About two-thirds of the budget the
really happening?"
it. [Laughter]
President doesn't get a shot at, I think we
As I peel through the details of our eco-
his question of the bal-
all know that. I propose it's time to roll up
nomic plans, I can't help but think of the
our sleeves and go after it. No matter what
words of another George-I'm not used to
ent, look at the rhetoric
the political price, we owe it to the young
quoting him-George McGovern. George
ent agrees with me in
McGovern has never been what I would call
moment of truth, when
people here today. My opponent nods his
mendment to the floor
head in agreement saying, and here's a quote,
a big friend or fan of mine. But you may
summer, he came oil
Ve need a Government that offers more
recall during the New York convention, he
called the other ticket, and I quote here, "a
dment fell short by
impowerment and less entitlement." And all,
Trojan horse." He said, they are really, here's
al congressional leader-
again, I'm asking, and I'll be asking this all
the quote, exact quote, "They are really
co-sponsors, 12 people
fall, is do the words match the action?
much more liberal than they appear. And
ed the amendment, to
In my past three budgets, I have proposed
they'll show it after they are elected." Well,
1 at the last minute and
the caps on mandatory spending, and I have
I don't know if I ever have told you this be-
submitted specific ideas for savings. The
fore, but George McGovern is a very smart
g to keep fighting. But
amounts aren't poultry: $72 billion in this
man. He is very intelligent. [Laughter]
ced budget amendment
year's budget, $47 billion last year, $119 bil-
But this is what worries me. As I compare
ive me a line-item veto
lion in 1990. And what does the opposition
the details of what we have to offer, the de-
Governor in the United
offer? You can search the entire economic
tails, and I begin to wonder. Is all this talk
n, he says he favors the
program and find one very tiny idea: reduc-
of what they call a new covenant simply a
nameless opponent. But
ing Medicare subsidies for the wealthy. That
coverup for some very old and tired ideas?
proposals. In my budget
isn't a bad idea. In fact, I put it in my own
The other side talks about changing the econ-
I don't want to lift that
budget. But keep in mind, it would reduce
omy with new spending and taxes. But when
identified 246 Govern-
mandatory spending by one-tenth of one per-
they talk about change, that's all you're going
1 you mind holding it up
cent next year. This hardly qualifies as a pro-
to have left in your pockets when these guys
lime? [Laughter] This is
file in budget-cutting courage.
get through with you. [Laughter] So please
I'll tell you-246 that
Do you see a pattern? Do you see a pattern
get the ALEC message around this country.
another 4,000 wasteful
here? Look at our most pressing economic
There's one other thing-and I say this
also get rid of altogether.
challenge: how to create more jobs now. I
with respect for the conservatives on both
ey are defined.
have proposed a package that includes incen-
parties that are here-my opponent talks
ncludes some big-ticke
es for investment to create jobs, many in-
about change, but he refuses to even mention
ne smaller things, like
entives that ALEC has been so forcefully
the one thing that hasn't changed in 36 years.
ederal research program
advocating. That help, that credit, for the
I'm talking about the liberal leadership in the
its of the mink. Again on
first-time homebuyer so that that homebuyer
United States Congress. It's about time we
nent is singing the same
can participate in the Amèrican dream, tax
changed that if we want to move this leader-
steps are different. When
savings through juggling around the IRA's for
ship forward.
onomic plan-look at it,
1392
Aug. 6 / Administration of George Bush, 1992
So if you really want to clean out the dead-
back them with action. I think there's a Tro
lock in Washington, why not clean out that
jan horse lurking in the weeds, ready to pu
same liberal deadwood on that leadership
a fast one on the American people, and
that has fought me every inch of the way,
simply am not going to let that happen.
scared to death that the American economy
In the next 4 months and for the next 4
might just get a little bit better if they pass
years, I will accelerate our fight for these tax
those incentives that I know would have
incentives and lowering the taxes, for budg-
helped this economy grow.
etary discipline, for making the tough calls
Now I'm hoping, and I really do, this may
on runaway spending. I will put my case in
be George McGovern's Trojan horse will be
words, but I will back my words with action.
a tiger when it comes to holding the line on
I will show the American people, we must
taxes and spending. But I doubt it. I believe
not return to a failed philosophy for America,
the voters need more proof than mere words.
no matter how neatly packaged it is today.
So today, I have an idea to propose to the
It is time to continue moving forward, for-
American people, a way to move away even
ward on a positive, conservative vision for our
in this fiercely partisan election year, a way
great Nation.
to move away from partisanship, a way to get
May I thank each and every member of
some of the ideas you fought for off the draw-
ALEC. And may God bless the greatest,
ing board and into action, a way to get our
freest, fairest country on the face of the
economy moving today and keep it growing
Earth, the United States of America. Thank
tomorrow, and most important, a way to do
you all very, very much.
what is right for our country.
And today I issue a challenge to my oppo-
Note: The President spoke at 9:12 a.m.
at
nent and to his close allies there in the con-
the Broadmoor Hotel International Center.
gressional leadership: If you really agree with
In his remarks, he referred to ALEC officer
us that these ideas are important, why hold
Fred C. Noye, national chairman, Sal
them hostage to a political campaign? If you
Brunelli, executive director, and William
really believe that tax cuts can create jobs,
Raggio, incoming national chairman; Bob
pass my growth package now. If you want
Isaac, Mayor of Colorado Springs; Holland
to get a handle on Government spending, put
H. Coors, who gave opening remarks to the
a line-item veto on my desk right now and
meeting; and James Dobson, president, Focus
give me a chance to get this deficit under
on the Family.
control. I'll start cutting right away.
If you want to control mandatory spend-
ing, convince the Congress to adopt this pro-
posed savings plan just next week. They don't
Remarks and an Exchange With
have to wait. If you really want to reform
Reporters on Departure From
health care, bring it up. Our plan is up there.
Colorado Springs
It's a good one. Bring it up, and vote on it.
If you really believe in a balanced budget
August 6, 1992
amendment, let's call it up and vote for it
again. And leave the pressure off of these
Bosnia
Members, and let them vote their con-
The President. A few remarks on the situ-
sciences, and let them do what's right for the
ation in Bosnia and the former Yugoslavia
American people. Send it to your States right
and what the United States, working with the
now for ratification.
international community, is doing to contain
Now, the plan I've outlined today, a plan
and defuse this escalating crisis.
based on so many ideas that you've fit into
Like all Americans, I am outraged and ho
the system, ALEC ideas, ALEC initiatives,
rified at the terrible violence shattering th
is the strong, compelling action that our
lives of innocent men, women, and children
economy desperately needs. Quite frankly, I
in Bosnia. The aggressors and extremists pur-
don't expect the other side to come forward
sue a policy, a vile policy, of ethnic cleansing,
and back their ideas, these pronouncements,
deliberately murdering innocent civilians,