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National Coal Association Convention, June 20, 1966
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The original documents are located in Box D20, folder "National Coal Association
Convention, June 20, 1966" of the Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech
File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Digitized from Box D20 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
DEMOCRATIC FOLLIES AND FALLACIES"
REMARKS BEFORE NATIONAL COAL ASSN. CONVENTION--MON.JUNE 20
Steve tothe convention
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, CITIZENS OF THIS GREAT AND GLORIOUS
LAND OF OURS: - LBJ
IT maybove been and before but it seems appropes
LET ME ANNOUNCE AT THE OUTSET THAT IF THE DEMOCRATS
7 should
WILL PLEDGE NOT TO TELL ANY LIES ABOUT US, WE REPUBLICANS
PROMISE NOT TO TELL THE TRUTH ABOUT THEM.
I COME BEFORE YOU TODAY WITH A PLATFORM WHICH IS
CALCULATED TO WIN EVERY VOTE IN THE COUNTRY, A PLATFORM
WHICH IS MADE UP OF THOROUGHLY UNATTAINABLE OBJECTIVES
WITH PLANKS THAT ARE MADE TO GET IN ON, NOT TO STAND ON.
IF THE PLEDGES IN THAT PLATFORM ARE CARRIED OUT BY THE
CONGRESS, EVERY MAN IN AMERICA WILL LIVE IN A SPLIT LEVEL
GERALD
HOUSE ON A COUNTRY ESTATE, THERE WILL BE TWO CARS IN EVERY
GARAGE, T-BONE STEAKS SIZZLING ON THE PATIO EVERY NIGHT,
-2-
NATL. COAL ASSN.
ROCK-AND-ROLL MUSIC FOR EVERY TEENAGER IN THE COUNTRY FROM
DAWN TO MIDNIGHT AND FREE EAR PLUGS FOR EVERY ADULT. IN
SHORT, WE WILL HAVE ALL THE GOODIES MAO TSE-TUNG PROMISED
THE PEASANTS DURING THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD.
WE REPUBLICANS HAVE FINALLY SEEN THE WISDOM IN THE traditional
DEMOCRATS VICTORY FORMULA THAT SAYS THERE IS NO POLITICAL
SUBSTITUTE FOR SOMETHING FOR NOTHING, EVEN THOUGH THE
PEOPLE NEVER GET IT.
as Republican
SO WE HAVE PICKED UP SOME PLANKS FROM THE DEMOCRATS 1964
PLATFORM, WHICH THEY NATURALLY REJECTED RIGHT AFTER THEY
WERE ELECTED, AND HAVE PUT TOGETHER A SURE WINNER FOR 1968.
ThoseD emocrat works of 1964 if we can plaguarize Them secretty willmahe us
MANY OF THESE slagiaryed PLANKS NEED NO COMMENTARY, BUT WHERE IT condition
with almost
BETTER SERVES THE INTERESTS OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY TO DO
or
ate
compary
all
A BIT OF EMBELLISHING, YOU CAN BE CERTAIN I'LL DO JUST THAT
(GO INTO MAIN TEXT OF SPEECH)
MAIN TEXT--"DEMOCRATIC FOLLIES AND FALLACIES" SPEECH
-3-
THE FIRST PLANK IS, OF COURSE, DEDICATED TO THAT GREAT
MAN OF PEACE, LYNDON B. JOHNSON. IT READS, AND I QUOTE
FROM THE 1964 DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM:
"THE SEARCH FOR PEACE REQUIRES THE UTMOST INTELLIGENCE,
THE CLEAREST VISION, AND A STRONG SENSE OF REALITY. --AND
I MIGHT ADD THAT YOU JUST CAN'T BE A NERVOUS NELLIE AND
HAVE PEACE, EITHER.
Democrat
BUT TO CONTINUE WITH THE PLANK AS WRITTEN...
"BECAUSE FOR FOUR YEARS OUR NATION HAS PATIENTLY
DEMONSTRATED THESE QUALITIES AND PERSISTENTLY USED THEM,
THE WORLD IS CLOSER TO PEACE TODAY THAN IT WAS IN 1960."
That wasn't True then and for from accurate now,
FORD
I MIGHT MENTION AT THIS POINT, Too, THAT THIS PLATFORM AREARA
MAIN TEXT
so -called
-4-
WITH ITS PLANK ON PEACE IS OFFERED NOT ONLY TO YOU BUT TO
SENATORS FULBRIGHT AND MORSE, TOO, AS A "COVENANT OF UNITY.'
What to The orecord-
AND TO ALL THE YOUNG MEN IN THE NATION, WE WANT TO SAY
THIS, JUST AS THE DEMOCRATS SAID IT IN 1964:
"WE MUST AND WE WILL PURSUE OUR EXAMINATION OF THE
SELECTIVE SERVICE PROGRAM TO MAKE CERTAIN THAT IT IS
CONTINUED ONLY AS LONG AS IT IS NECESSARY AND THAT WE METE
OUT MILITARY MANPOWER NEEDS WITHOUT SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC
INJUSTICE."
WE REPUBLICANS WILL BUILD THE PEACE, AS THE DEMOCRATS
PROMISED TO DO IN 1964. WHAT NOBLER STATEMENT CAN BE MADE
THAN THAT OF THE DEMOCRATS TWO YEARS AGO WHEN THEY SAID:
"WE ARE SLOWLY BUT SURELY APPROACHING THE POINT WHERE
FORD VIBRARY
MAIN TEXT
-5-
EFFECTIVE INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS PROVIDING FOR INSPECTION
AND CONTROL CAN BEGIN TO LIFT THE CRUSHING BURDEN OF
ARMAMENTS OFF THE BACKS OF THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD.
IT'S TRUE THAT THE RED CHINESE NOW HAVE THE A-BOMB AND
PROBABLY WILL HAVE INTERMEDIATE RANGE MISSILES IN TWO OR
THREE YEARS AND INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILES INSIDE
Under The Johnson administration
OF 10 YEARS. BUT WHY WORRY ABOUT THAT? WE RE GOING TO
about 60 billion each 12 months
GET RID OF THE ARMAMENTS LOAD EVEN IF WE HAVE TO FIGHT A
WAR TO DO IT.
WE CONTINUE TO OPPOSE THE ADMISSION OF RED CHINA TO
unless of until Puphre stops subversion aggression +
THE UNITED NATIONS, WE REPUBLICANS HAVE SAID THAT BEFORE
AND WE SAY IT NOW. THE DEMOCRATS SAID IT IN 1964, BUT
THEY HAD NO IDEA THAT ARTHUR GOLDBERG WAS GOING TO HAVE
FORD
TO MAKE A SPEECH BEFORE THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB IN 1966
LIBRARY
MAIN TEXT
-6-
AND MIGHT WANT TO TALK ABOUT LETTING RED CHINA INTO THE U.N.
PEACE IN A POLITICAL PLATFORM IS NOT ENOUGH, OF COURSE.
WE MUST ALSO HAVE PROSPERITY. WE REPUBLICANS PLEDGE TO
PROMOTE A PROSPERITY BUILT NOT ON THE SANDS OF INFLATION
BUT ON A SOUND DOLLAR, A PROSPERITY BASED NOT ON TAKING
FROM ONE MAN TO GIVE TO ANOTHER BUT ON MAKING EVERY MAN
A PROUD AND PRODUCTIVE CITIZEN ABLE TO MAKE HIS OWN WAY.
THE DEMOCRATS PLEDGED PROSPERITY IN 1964 AND IN DOING
SO STRESSED "THE IMPORTANCE OF LOW INTEREST RATES. THAT
WAS BEFORE LYNDON JOHNSON HIT ON THE IDEA OF POOLING N.S.
GOVERNMENT LOANS AND SELLING $5,000-SHARES IN THEM TO
almost 6%
BIG-WHEEL INVESTORS WHO WILL GET JUICY RETURNS FROM THE
GOVERNMENT FOR THE USE OF THEIR MONEY. THAT WAS BEFORE
IT OCCURRED TO MR. JOHNSON THAT IF YOU SELL A PIECE OF
MAIN TEXT
-7-
your assets
THE ACTION TO THE BIG BOYS, YOU CAN USE THEIR CASH TO HOLD
Truth in Lending Truth in Fabeling Truth in budgetting
DOWN THE FEDERAL DEFICIT., ТИАТ WAS BEFORE MR. JOHNSON
DECIDED IT WAS SMARTER TO DRIVE UP INTEREST RATES FOR THE
non insential domestic
LITTLE GUY THAN TO CUT BACK GOVERNMENT SPENDING. THAT
WAS BEFORE MR. JOHNSON FIGURED IT WAS BETTER TO CHARGE
THE TAXPAYERS MORE MONEY TO PICK UP THIS OUTSIDE CAPITAL
THAN IT WAS TO POST A $6 BILLION DEFICIT.
ostenarly
IN 1964 THE DEMOCRATS WERE, INTERESTED IN ECONOMY AND
IN USING WISELY EVERY DOLLAR OF THE TAXPAYER'S MONEY--OR
SO THEY SAID.
WE REPUBLICANS HEREWITH RENEW OUR CONTINUING PLEDGE
TO TREAT EVERY DOLLAR OF TAX MONEY AS THOUGH IT WERE OUR
OWN. IF WE WERE PRESENTLY IN POWER, WE COULD BORROW THE
FORD
WORDS OF THE DEMOCRATS WHO PROMISED IN 1964 TO "CONTINUE
LIBRARY
MAIN TEXT
-8-
A FRUGAL GOVERNMENT, GETTING A DOLLAR'S VALUE FOR A DOLLAR
SPENT.
OF COURSE, THE WAR ON POVERTY AS CONCEIVED BY LBJ,
SARGENT SHRIVER, AND ADAM CLAYTON POWELL HAD NOT BEEN
LAUNCHED AT THAT TIME, AND THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM WRITERS
OF TWO YEARS AGO HAD NO IDEA THAT $1.75 BILLION WOULD BE
SPENT SO ECONOMICALLY IN THE WAR ON POVERTY THAT THERE
WOULD BE VERY LITTLE TO SHOW FOR IT.
SENATE DEMOCRATIC LEADER MIKE MANSFIELD HAD NO INKLING
TWO YEARS AGO THAT IN 1966 HE WOULD BE SAYING ABOUT THE
JOB CORPS: "IT WAS NOT MY INTENTION TO SUPPORT THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF THREE REFORMATORIES IN MY STATE.
SEN. VANCE HARTKE, DEMOCRAT OF INDIANA, COULD NOT
DERALO, FORD LIBRARY
HAVE IMAGINED HE WOULD BE STATING: "I QUESTION THE
MAIN TEXT
-9-
CONTINUATION OF POVERTY PROGRAMS SUCH AS THE YOUTH CAMPS."
REP. AUGUSTUS HAWKINS, DEMOCRAT OF CALIFORNIA, COULD
NOT HAVE SUPPOSED THAT HE WOULD DECLARE: "THE COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM AS ADOPTED BY CONGRESS IS NOT FUNCTIONING
AS IT WAS SET UP. WHAT IS BEING DONE TO THIS PROGRAM IS
A CRIME."
REP. ROBERT SWEENEY, DEMOCRAT OF OHIO, COULD NOT HAVE
DREAMED THAT HE WOULD DESCRIBE THE JOB CORPS AS A
"FANTASTICALLY EXPENSIVE FAILURE
COSTING TAXPAYERS
$11,252 A YEAR PER ENROLLEE." HE COULD NOT KNOW HE WOULD
VENTURE THE OPINION THAT THIS MONEY CAN BE BETTER USED
BY THE OFFICE OF EDUCATION, THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND
THE MILITARY EDUCATION CHANNELS."
GERALD FORD LIBRARY
MAIN TEXT
-10-
SEN. ALBERT GORE, DEMOCRAT OF TENNESSEE, COULD NOT
HAVE GUESSED THAT HE WOULD BE CALLING THE OFFICE OF
ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY "A GROSSLY DISORGANIZED AFFAIR" AND
ADDING THAT "WHILE I HOPE SOME ORDER WILL BE BROUGHT OUT
OF CURRENT CHAOS, I BECOME MORE DOUBTFUL DAILY.
WE REPUBLICANS WOULD LIKE TO TAKE ON THE JOB OF FIGHTING
POVERTY, SINCE THE DEMOCRATIC WARRIORS OBVIOUSLY ARE
BOBBLING IT AND FALLING FAR SHORT OF THEIR PLEDGE TO USE
THE TAXPAYERS DOLLARS
Dr should WISELY. say inter dectil
WE PROMISE, IF ELECTED, TO LAUNCH AN OPPORTUNITY CRUSADE
THAT WILL COST THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS
OF DOLLARS LESS BUT ACCOMPLISH FAR MORE. WE PROMISE, IF
FORD
ELECTED, TO ENTER INTO AN ANTI-POVERTY ALLIANCE WITH THE
LIBRARY
STATES AND PRIVATE ENTERPRISE THAT WILL MUSTER MORE THAN
MAIN TEXT
-11-
AN ADDITIONAL HALF BILLION DOLLARS ANNUALLY FOR THE ASSAULT
ON POVERTY WHILE COSTING THE TAXPAYERS FAR LESS.
NOTWITHSTANDING THE FACT THAT POVERTY CZAR SARGENT
SHRIVER HAS THE POWER TO OVERRIDE GOVERNORS OF THE STATES,
WE REPUBLICANS STILL FEEL CONSTRAINED TO BORROW THESE
WORDS FROM THE 1964 DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM:
"THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT EXISTS NOT TO SUBORDINATE THE
STATES, BUT TO SUPPORT THEM."
WHY SHOULDN'T THE DEMOCRATS SAY THIS ABOUT THE STATES?
THEY'RE USED TO SUPPORTING EVERYONE ELSE!
PRICES WE HAVE TO SAY SOMETHING IN THE REPUBLICAN
FORD & LIBRARY 9ERALD
PROGRAM ABOUT KEEPING PRICES IN LINE. LET'S SEE NOW
HOW DID THE DEMOCRATS PHRASE THEIR PLATFORM PROMISE IN 1964?
MAIN TEXT
-12-
HERE IT IS: "OUR ENVIABLE RECORD OF PRICE STABILITY MUST
BE MAINTAINED. STABILITY IS ESSENTIAL TO PROTECT OUR
CITIZENS--PARTICULARLY THE RETIRED AND HANDICAPPED--FROM
THE RAVAGES OF INFLATION.
under The Johnson Humphy adm
WHAT A SHAME THAT THE 1957-59 DOLLAR, NOW IS WORTH ONLY
86 CENTS!^ THE DEMOCRATS SURE ARE GOING TO HAVE A HARD
TIME CONVINCING THE OLD FOLKS THAT THEY' RE BEING PROTECTED
FROM THE RAVAGES OF INFLATION. I GUESS THEY LL JUST HAVE
TO PROMISE THEM ANOTHER SOCIAL SECURITY INCREASE. OH YES,
LYNDON'S ALREADY DONE THAT, HASN'T HE? and, of course that
mians additional payroll Rapro
(GO INTO SUPPLEMENTAL TEXT
GERALD LIBRARY GERALD R. FORD
-13-
NATL. COAL ASSN.
AND ALL THE REPUBLICANS HAVE TO OFFER IS A SOUND DOLLAR!
WHAT ABOUT THE FARMER? WE REPUBLICANS ARE DEDICATED
TO "THE GOALS OF HIGHER INCOMES TO THE FARM AND RANCH,
PARTICULARLY THE FAMILY-SIZED FARM, LOWER PRICES FOR THE
CONSUMER, AND LOWER COSTS TO THE GOVERNMENT."
THE DEMOCRATS USED THOSE WORDS IN 1964, BUT THAT'S
ALL RIGHT. OF COURSE, IT SO HAPPENS THAT, ON THE FARM,
FARM PRICES ARE SIX PER CENT LOWER NOW THAN THEY WERE IN
1951. AT THE SAME TIME THE IRATE HOUSEWIFE PAYS 16 PER CENT
MORE AT THE SUPERMARKET. SO TO APPEASE HOUSEWIVES ANGERED
BY HIGH FOOD PRICES, THE DEMOCRATS BEAT DOWN PRICES RECEIVED
BY THE FARMER. AND TO LOWER COSTS TO THE GOVERNMENT, THE
DEMOCRATS SUBSTITUTED MARGARINE FOR BUTTER IN ALL THE
GERALD FORD VIBRARY
-14-
NATL. COAL. ASSN.
FOOD WELFARE PROGRAMS AND THE MENUS OF THE ARMY, MARINES
AND AIR FORCE.
AFTER DUMPING COMMODITY CREDIT CORPORATION GRAIN ON
THE MARKET TO FORCE DOWN GRAIN PRICES, THE GOVERNMENT NOW
IS BUTTERING UP THE WHEAT FARMER BY ANNOUNCING A 15 PER CENT
INCREASE IN WHEAT ACREAGE ALLOTMENTS. BUT IF THE FARMER
IS CONFUSED, ALL HE HAS TO DO IS GO BACK AND READ THE 1964
DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM AND THAT WILL STRAIGHTEN HIM OUT.
Congress
NOW WHAT ABOUT THE COALMEN? THE DEMOCRATS NEGLECTED
THEM IN 1964 AND BEFORE AND HAVE BEEN will IGNORING THEM EVER
SINCE. THAT'S WHY WE REPUBLICANS ARE GOING TO COME UP
WITH A WINNER IN '68.
WE REPUBLICANS NOT ONLY KNOW HOW TO BANK THE FIRES
OF INFLATION AT HOME, WE ALSO KNOW THAT IN EUROPE INFLATION
-15-
NATL. COAL. ASSN.
IS FEEDING ON AMERICA'S INABILITY TO SELL THEM THE ONE
COMMODITY IT IS IN EUROPE'S INTEREST TO BUY FROM US--COAL.
santoitthat
more fully understood America's best
barpins IF COAL-aud
WE TOLD THE EUROPEANS TO STOP GIVING US A BUNCH OF
STUFF AND INSIST THAT THEY BUY MORE But GOAL FROM US, WE'D
GET ) A BETTER HEAD OF STEAM ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC.
AND NOW I'M GOING Guitting TO QUIT BEFORE THE FIREMEN OUT FRONT
DO A LITTLE STOKING UP AND MAKE THINGS HOT FOR ME.
I LEAVE YOU WITH THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM FOR 1968--A
PLATFORM WHICH MAY NOT HAVE BEEN MADE IN HEAVEN BUT WHICH
WILL LEAD YOU TO THE PROMISED LAND. IF YOU SPURN MY
ADVICE AND FOLLOW MY OPPONENT, THIS COUNTRY IS LIABLE TO
CATCH THE DEVIL.
----THANK YOU
--END--
for Cough. Compaign FOR REEEASE--MONDAY Committee NOON, JUNE 20, 1966 -40secs.-
REMARKS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH., BEFORE NATIONAL COAL ASSN. CONVENTION.
Ladies and gentlemen, citizens of this great and glorious land of ours:
Let me announce at the outset that if the Democrats will pledge not to tell any
lies about us, we Republicans promise not to tell the truth about them.
I come before you today with a platform which is calculated to win every vote in
the country, a platform which is made up of thoroughly unattainable objectives with
planks that are made to get in on, not to stand on.
If the pledges in that platform are carried out by the Congress, every man in
America will live in a split level house on a country estate; there will be two cars
in every garage, T-bone steaks sizzling on the patio every night, rock-and-roll music
for every teenager in the country from dawn to midnight and free ear plugs for every
adult. In short, we will have all the goodies Mao Tse-tung promised the peasants
during the Great Leap Forward.
We Republicans have finally seen the wisdom in the Democrats' victory formula
that says there is no political substitute for something for nothing, even though the
people never get it.
So we have picked up some planks from the Democrats' 1964 platform, which they
naturally rejected right after they were elected, and have put together a sure
winner for 1968.
Many of these planks need no commentary; but where it better serves the interests
of the Republican Party to do a bit of embellishing, you can be certain I'll do just
that.
The first plank is, of course, dedicated to that great man of peace, Lyndon B.
Johnson. It reads, and I quote from the 1964 Democratic platform:
"The search for peace requires the utmost intelligence, the clearest vision, and
a strong sense of reality." --And I might add that you just can't be a Nervous
Nellie and have peace, either.
But to continue with the plank as written
"Because for four years our Nation has patiently demonstrated these qualities
and persistently used them, the world is closer to peace today than it was in 1960."
I might mention at this point, too, that this platform with its plank on peace
is offered not only to you but to Senators Fulbright and Morse, too, as a "covenant
of unity."
And to all the young men in the Nation, we want to say this, just as the
Democrats said it in 1964:
"We must and we will pursue our examination of the selective service program
to make certain that it is continued only as long as it is necessary and that we mete
out military manpower needs without social and economic injustice."
We Republicans will build the peace, as the Democrats promised to do in 1964.
What nobler statement can be made than that of the Democrats two years ago when they
said: "We are slowly but surely approaching the point where effective international
(MORE)
-2-
agreements providing for inspection and control can begin to lift the crushing burden
of armaments off the backs of the people of the world."
It's true that the Red Chinese now have the A-bomb and probably will have
intermediate range missiles in two or three years and intercontinental ballistic
missiles inside of 10 years. But why worry about that? We're going to get rid of
the armaments load even if we have to fight a war to do it.
We continue to oppose the admission of Red China to the United Nations. We
Republicans have said that before and we say it now. The Democrats said it in 1964,
but they had no idea that Arthur Goldberg was going to have to make a speech before
the National Press Club in 1966 and might want to talk about letting Red China into
the U.N.
Peace in a political platform is not enough, of course. We must also have
prosperity. We Republicans pledge to promote a prosperity built not on the sands of
inflation but on a sound dollar, a prosperity based not on taking from one man to
give to another but on making every man a proud and productive citizen able to make
his own way.
The Democrats pledged prosperity in 1964 and in doing so stressed"the importance
of low interest rates." That was before Lyndon Johnson hit on the idea of pooling
government loans and selling $5,000 shares in them to big-wheel investors who will
get juicy returns from the government for the use of their money. That was before it
occurred to Mr. Johnson that if you sell a piece of the action to the big boys, you
can use their cash to hold down the federal defisit. That was before Mr. Johnson
decided it was smarter to drive up interest rates for the little guy than to cut back
government spending. That was before Mr. Johnson figured it was better to charge the
taxpayers more money to pick up this outside capital than it was to post a $6 billion
deficit.
In 1964 the Democrats were interested in economy and in using wisely every
dollar of the taxpayer's money--or so they said.
We Republicans herewith renew our continuing pledge to treat every dollar of tax
money as though it were our own. If we were presently in power, we could borrow the
words of the Democrats who promised in 1964 to "continue a frugal government, getting
a dollar's value for a dollar spent."
Of course, the war on poverty as conceived by LBJ, Sargent Shriver, and Adam
Clayton Powell had not been launched at that time, and the Democratic Platform
writers of two years ago had no idea that $1.75 billion would be spent so economically
in the war on poverty that there would be very little to show for it.
Senate Democratic Leader Mike Mansfield had no inkling two years ago that in
1966 he would be saying about the Job Corps: "It was not my intention to support the
establishment of three reformatories in my state."
(MORE)
-3-
Sen. Vance Hartke, Democrat of Indiana, could not have imagined he would be
stating: "I question the continuation of poverty programs such as the youth camps."
Rep. Augustus Hawkins, Democrat of California, could not have supposed that he
would declare: "The community development program as adopted by Congress is not
functioning as it was set up. What is being done to this program is a crime."
Rep. Robert Sweeney, Democrat of Ohio, could not have dreamed that he would
describe the Job Corps as a "fantastically expensive failure
costing taxpayers
$11,252 a year per enrollee." He could not know he would venture the opinion that
"this money can be better used by the Office of Education, the Department of Labor
and the military education channels."
Sen. Albert Gore, Democrat of Tennessee, could not have guessed that he would be
calling the Office of Economic Opportunity "a grossly disorganized affair" and adding
that "while I hope some order will be brought out of current chaos, I become more
doubtful daily."
We Republicans would like to take on the job of fighting poverty, since the
Democratic warriors obviously are bobbling it and falling far short of their pledge
to use the taxpayers' dollars wisely.
We promise, if elected, to launch an Opportunity Crusade that will cost the
federal government hundreds of millions of dollars less but accomplish far more. We
promise, if elected, to enter into an anti-poverty alliance with the states and
private enterprise that will muster more than an additional half billion dollars
annually for the assault on poverty while costing the taxpayers far less.
Notwithstanding the fact that Poverty Czar Sargent Shriver has the power to
override governors of the states, we Republicans still feel constrained to borrow
these words from the 1964 Democratic Platform:
"The Federal Government exists not to subordinate the states, but to support
them."
Why shouldn't the Democrats say this about the states? They're used to
supporting everyone else.
Prices we have to say something in the Republican program about keeping prices
in line. Let's see now how did the Democrats phrase their platform promise in 1964?
Here it is: "Our enviable record of price stability must be maintained. Stability
is essential to protect our citizens--particularly the retired and handicapped--from
the ravages of inflation."
What a shame that the 1957-59 dollar now is worth only 86 cents! The Democrats
sure are going to have a hard time convincing the old folks that they're being pro-
tected from the ravages of inflation. I guess they'll just have to promise them
another Social Security increase. Oh yes, Lyndon's already done that, hasn't he?
(MORE)
-4-
And all the Republicans have to offer is a sound dollar!
What about the farmer? We Republicans are dedicated to "the goals of higher
incomes to the farm and ranch, particularly the family-sized farm, lower prices for
the consumer, and lower costs to the Government."
The Democrate used those words in 1964, but that's all right. Of course, it so
happens that, on the farm, farm prices are six per cent lower now than they were in
1951. At the same time the irate housewife pays 16 per cent more at the supermarket.
So to appease housewives angered by high food prices, the Democrats beat down prices
received by the farmer. And to lower costs to the Government, the Democrats
substituted margarine for butter in all the food welfare programs and the menus of
the Army, Marines and Air Force.
After dumping Commodity Credit Corporation grain on the market to force down
grain prices, the Government now is buttering up the wheat farmer by announcing a
15 per cent increase in wheat acreage allotments. But if the farmer is confused,
all he has to do is go back and read the 1964 Democratic Platform and that will
straighten him out.
Now what about the coalmen? The Democrats neglected them in 1964 and before
and have been ignoring them ever since. That's why we Republicans are going to come
up with a winner in '68.
We Republicans not only know how to bank the fires of inflation at home, we
also know that in Europe inflation is feeding on America's inability to sell them
the one commodity it is in Europe's interest to buy from us--coal.
If we told the Europeans to stop giving us a bunch of stuff and insist that they
buy more coal from us, we'd get up a better head of steam on both sides of the
Atlantic.
And now I'm going to quit before the firemen out front do a little stoking up
and make things hot for me.
I leave you with the Republican Platform for 1968--a platform which may not have
been made in heaven but which will lead you to the Promised Land. If you spurn my
advice and follow my opponent, this country is liable to catch the devil.
Thank you
# # #
FOR RELEASE--MONDAY NOON, JUNE 20, 1966
REMARKS BY REP. GERALD R. FORD, R-MICH., BEFORE NATIONAL COAL ASSN. CONVENTION.
Ladies and gentlemen, citizens of this great and glorious land of ours:
Let me announce at the outset that if the Democrats will pledge not to tell any
lies about us, we Republicans promise not to tell the truth about them.
I come before you today with a platform which is calculated to win every vote in
the country, a platform which is made up of thoroughly unattainable objectives with
planks that are made to get in on, not to stand on.
If the pledges in that platform are carried out by the Congress, every man in
America will live in a split level house on a country estate; there will be two cars
in every garage, T-bone steaks sizzling on the patio every night, rock-and-roll music
for every teenager in the country from dawn to midnight and free ear plugs for every
adult. In short, we will have all the goodies Mao Tse-tung promised the peasants
during the Great Leap Forward.
We Republicans have finally seen the wisdom in the Democrats' victory formula
that says there is no political substitute for something for nothing, even though the
people never get it.
So we have picked up some planks from the Democrats' 1964 platform, which they
naturally rejected right after they were elected, and have put together a sure
winner for 1968.
Many of these planks need no commentary; but where it better serves the interests
of the Republican Party to do a bit of embellishing, you can be certain I'll do just
that.
The first plank is, of course, dedicated to that great man of peace, Lyndon B.
Johnson. It reads, and I quote from the 1964 Democratic platform:
"The search for peace requires the utmost intelligence, the clearest vision, and
a strong sense of reality." --And I might add that you just can't be a Nervous
Nellie and have peace, either.
But to continue with the plank as written
"Because for four years our Nation has patiently demonstrated these qualities
and persistently used them, the world is closer to peace today than it was in 1960."
I might mention at this point, too, that this platform with its plank on peace
is offered not only to you but to Senators Fulbright and Morse, too, as a "covenant
of unity."
And to all the young men in the Nation, we want to say this, just as the
Democrats said it in 1964:
"We must and we will pursue our examination of the selective service program
to make certain that it is continued only as long as it is necessary and that we mete
out military manpower needs without social and economic injustice."
We Republicans will build the peace, as the Democrats promised to do in 1964.
What nobler statement can be made than that of the Democrats two years ago when they
said: "We are slowly but surely approaching the point where effective international
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agreements providing for inspection and control can begin to lift the crushing burden
of armaments off the backs of the people of the world."
It's true that the Red Chinese now have the A-bomb and probably will have
intermediate range missiles in two or three years and intercontinental ballistic
missiles inside of 10 years. But why worry about that? We're going to get rid of
the armaments load even if we have to fight a war to do it.
We continue to oppose the admission of Red China to the United Nations. We
Republicans have said that before and we say it now. The Democrats said it is 1964,
but they had no idea that Arthur Goldberg was going to have to make a speech before
the National Press Club in 1966 and might want to talk about letting Red China into
the U.N.
Peace in a political platform is not enough, of course. We must also have
prosperity. We Republicans pledge to promote a prosperity built not on the sands of
inflation but on a sound dollar, a prosperity based not on taking from one man to
give to another but on making every man a proud and productive citizen able to make
his own way.
The Democrats pledged prosperity in 1964 and in doing so stressed"t importance
of low interest rates." That was before Lyndon Johnson hit on the idea of pooling
government loans and selling $5,000 shares in them to big-wheel investors who will
get juicy returns from the government for the use of their money. That was before it
occurred to Mr. Johnson that if you sell a piece of the action to the big boys, you
can use their cash to hold down the federal deficit. That was before Mr. Johnson
decided it was smarter to drive up interest rates for the little guy than to cut back
government spending. That was before Mr. Johnson figured it was better to charge the
taxpayers more money to pick up this outside capital than it was to post a $6 billion
deficit.
In 1964 the Democrats were interested in economy and in using wisely every
dollar of the taxpayer's money--or so they said.
We Republicans herewith renew our continuing pledge to treat every dollar of tax
money as though it were our own. If we were presently in power, we could borrow the
words of the Democrats who promised in 1964 to "continue a frugal government, getting
a dollar's value for a dollar spent."
Of course, the war on poverty as conceived by LBJ, Sargent Shriver, and Adam
Clayton Powell had not been launched at that time, and the Democratic Platform
writers of two years ago had no idea that $1.75 billion would be spent so economically
in the war on poverty that there would be very little to show for it.
Senate Democratic Leader Mike Mansfield had no inkling two years ago that in
1966 he would be saying about the Job Corps: "It was not my intention to support the
establishment of three reformatories in my state."
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Sen. Vance Hartke, Democrat of Indiana, could not have imagined he would be
stating: "I question the continuation of poverty programs such as the youth camps."
Rep. Augustus Hawkins, Democrat of California, could not have supposed that he
would declare: "The community development program as adopted by Congress is not
functioning as it was set up. What is being done to this program is a crime."
Rep. Robert Sweeney, Democrat of Ohio, could not have dreamed that he would
describe the Job Corps as a "fantastically expensive failure costing taxpayers
$11,252 a year per enrollee." He could not know he would venture the opinion that
"this money can be better used by the Office of Education, the Department of Labor
and the military education channels."
Sen. Albert Gore, Democrat of Tennessee, could not have guessed that he would be
calling the Office of Economic Opportunity "a grossly disorganized affair" and adding
that "while I hope some order will be brought out of current chaos, I become more
doubtful daily."
We Republicans would like to take on the job of fighting poverty, since the
Democratic warriors obviously are bobbling it and falling far short of their pledge
to use the taxpayers' dollars wisely.
We promise, if elected, to launch an Opportunity Crusade that will cost the
federal government hundreds of millions of dollars less but accomplish far more. We
promise, if elected, to enter into an anti-poverty alliance with the states and
private enterprise that will muster more than an additional half billion dollars
annually for the assault on poverty while costing the taxpayers far less.
Notwithstanding the fact that Poverty Czar Sargent Shriver has the power to
override governors of the states, we Republicans still feel constrained to borrow
these words from the 1964 Democratic Platform:
"The Federal Government exists not to subordinate the states, but to support
them."
Why shouldn't the Democrats say this about the states? They're used to
supporting everyone else.
Prices we have to say something in the Republican program about keeping prices
in line. Let's see now how did the Democrats phrase their platform promise in 1964?
Here it is: "Our enviable record of price stability must be maintained. Stability
is essential to protect our citizens--particularly the retired and handicapped--from
the ravages of inflation."
What a shame that the 1957-59 dollar now is worth only 86 cents! The Democrats
sure are going to have a hard time convincing the old folks that they're being pro-
tected from the ravages of inflation. I guess they'll just have to promise them
another Social Security increase. Oh yes, Lyndon's already done that, hasn't he?
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And all the Republicans have to offer is a sound dollar!
What about the farmer? We Republicans are dedicated to "the goals of higher
incomes to the farm and ranch, particularly the family-sized farm, lower prices for
the consumer, and lower costs to the Government."
The Democrats used those words in 1964, but that's all right. Of course, it so
happens that, on the farm, farm prices are six per cent lower now than they were in
1951. At the same time the irate housewife pays 16 per cent more at the supermarket.
So to appease housewives angered by high food prices, the Democrats beat down prices
received by the farmer. And to lower costs to the Government, the Democrats
substituted margarine for butter in all the food welfare programs and the menus of
the Army, Marines and Air Force.
After dumping Commodity Credit Corporation grain on the market to force down
grain prices, the Government now is buttering up the wheat farmer by announcing a
15 per cent increase in wheat acreage allotments. But if the farmer is confused,
all he has to do is go back and read the 1964 Democratic Platform and that will
straighten him out.
Now what about the coalmen? The Democrats neglected them in 1964 and before
and have been ignoring them ever since. That's why we Republicans are going to come
up with a winner in '68,
We Republicans not only know how to bank the fires of inflation at home, we
also know that in Europe inflation is feeding on America's inability to sell them
the one commodity it is in Europe's interest to buy from us--coal.
If we told the Europeans to stop giving us a bunch of stuff and insist that they
buy more coal from us, we'd get up a better head of steam on both sides of the
Atlantic.
And now I'm going to quit before the firemen out front do a little stoking up
and make things hot for me.
I leave you with the Republican Platform for 1968--a platform which may not have
been made in heaven but which will lead you to the Promised Land. If you spurn my
advice and follow my opponent, this country is liable to catch the devil.
Thank you
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