Remarks at a Republican
Party Rally in
The President. Thank you, Governor,
and thank you, Dr. Reynolds, and Congressman Boulter.
And I thank all of you very much. And a special thanks for that great music to
the Baylor University Golden Wave Band. It is great to be back in the
You
know, now with this reception that you've given me, I have to say that once
upon a time being a Republican in this area of the country felt a little bit
like being Gary Cooper in ``High Noon'' -- [laughter] -- outnumbered in a big
way. Well, all that, as they say, is history -- or should I say ancient
history, which at my age is a subject that I'm regarded as an expert in.
[Laughter]
Today
And
let me take just a moment to talk about the positive achievements of the past 8
years. We have a robust, growing economy, with low inflation. Young people
starting out can look forward to jobs and opportunity -- a secure future to
start a family. And more people are at work today than ever before in the
history of the
Everybody
in the
We're
beginning to turn around the decades-long decline in education by returning to
basics and demanding nothing less than excellence. We're restoring our judicial
system by appointing serious-minded judges who respect the Constitution and
What
more can we say than that the parents of a child born today can look forward to
the 21st century with hope and optimism that their child will know the
brightest future the world has ever seen? And let me say something to each one
of you here today: That bright future is also yours. It is your birthright as
Americans, and what we've seen in the last 8 years is only the beginning.
Now,
if you want to remember how things really were just a few years back, think of
the year 1979. Now, I know you were quite young in '79. But in that one year,
Well,
that's how things were abroad. At home they were just as bad. Inflation and
economic stagnation gave our economy a one-two punch that had
Of
course, the liberals hope you'll forget why we were able to turn the economy
around. Their message is: You can take prosperity for granted; it's time for a
change, so take a chance on us. [Laughter] Well, that's sort of like someone
telling you that you've stored up all the ice cream you could want, so now it's
time to unplug the freezer. [Laughter] But whether it's a well-stocked freezer
or our progrowth economic policies, you can't unplug
what's working and expect things to stay the same, and that's what they're
trying to do.
I
don't think I have to tell you that these days some liberals are using our
words and phrases, terms like ``community,'' ``family,'' and ``values.'' But
while the words are the same, the meanings are different. For example, as part
of their so-called profamily agenda, they propose
Federal child-care assistance. Last week I told an audience in
Well,
after I spoke, a reporter called one of the liberal congressional staff members
behind that bill and asked if it was true that grandmothers would have to get
Federal licenses to take care of their own grandchildren. And the reply came:
Yes, of course it's true. After all -- and here's the quote -- ``How else can
you design a program that receives Federal funds?''
By
the way, our party has proposed an innovative plan to help families in need of
child-care assistance. For every child under 4, a working family's taxes would
go down by up to $1,000 -- plain and simple. This will allow parents to choose
among a variety of options if they need child-care assistance, including what
experts as well as common sense tells us is the best option of all: by making
it easier for the mother to stay home. And there's all the difference between
us and them. When the liberals say ``family,'' they mean ``Big Brother in
I
don't think I have to tell you that lowering taxes rather than raising spending is not something the liberals understand.
One thing they hate to do is to let tax dollars out on furlough. [Laughter]
When they get their paws on the budget, government guzzles tax money faster
than Zach drinks his Dr. Pepper. [Laughter]
You
know, I have an example of the difference between our two philosophies. I
remember when I was Governor of California. Now, I came into office -- and it
was the first fiscal year -- and found that in violation of the constitution,
the State was already carrying a great deficit. And just before the end of the
first fiscal year that I was there, my finance director came to me and said,
``We're going to have a surplus.'' And he thought and told me that he thought
that since I hadn't been able to do anything in the nature of spending money
because of that deficit that maybe now I had some pet program I was waiting to
put into place and that I should announce that before the legislature found
out. The legislature was dominated by the Democratic Party.
And
I said, ``I do have a plan: Let's give it back to the people.'' And he said,
``Well, that's never been done.'' [Laughter] And I said, ``Well, they never had
an actor up here before either.'' Well, I went public and made the announcement
that we had a plan by way of the State income tax to give this money -- all of
it -- back to the taxpayers.
And
shortly thereafter, a liberal senator from the other party stormed into my
office, pounded my desk, and he said, ``I consider giving that money back to
the people an unnecessary expenditure of public funds.'' [Laughter] Well, there
again is the difference, as I say, between our two philosophies. To them, everything
belongs to the Government; to us, everything belongs to the people.
But,
as I said, in area after area this year, the liberals have tried to hide their
philosophy behind our words. When they say ``opportunity,'' they mean
subsidies. When they say ``closing the deficit,'' they mean raising taxes. When
they say ``strong defense,'' they mean cut defense spending -- no wonder their
favorite machine is the snowblower.
Now
long ago, I vetoed a defense authorization bill that Congress sent to me and that
embodied much of what the liberals want to do to our nation's defenses. But
lately, some liberal leaders have seen what was happening to them in the polls
and have had a deathbed conversion. They'd have you believe that they're
born-again General George Pattons. [Laughter] But if
we go the way they want to go, our defenses will run out of gas in no time.
For
example, the liberals are proclaiming loudly that they're for the new Trident
missile and the Stealth bomber. But then they whisper that they're also for
delaying deployment of both systems pending the outcome of arms talks -- which
could drag on for years -- while the Soviets could be deploying new systems of
their own.
They
shout loudly that they're for maintaining the effectiveness of the land-based
leg of our strategic triad. But they're against the only modern missile systems
that will be available for years to come, and would like to see an end to the
flight testing needed to develop new systems. And they're against the B - 1
bomber; they're against our strategic defense against ballistic missiles; and
they would wipe out two carrier battle groups. In fact, what they plan for the
Navy is so bad that by the time they get through, Michael may have to row the
boat ashore. [Laughter]
But
at this time, when nightly television pictures of the destruction of
Audience. No!
The President. You didn't surprise me
a bit. [Laughter] Well, the sad truth is that when the liberals refuse even to
whisper the ``L'' word and insist that this election is not about ideology;
it's about competence -- they're just acknowledging that where they want to
take
Now,
you know, I have to tell you I'm a former Democrat. But I think you know what I
mean when I raise questions about the distinction between the rank-and-file
Democrats -- many of whom I hope are here -- and the liberal leadership of that
party in Washington, a liberal leadership that has turned a once-proud party of
hope and affirmation into one dominated by strident liberalism and negativism.
They
have made the party of ``yes'' the party of ``no'' -- ``no'' to the school
prayer amendment, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the right to life; ``no'' to
the death penalty and to judges who care not just about criminals but about the
victims of crime; ``no'' to our raid on Qadhafi's
Libya and our rescue mission in Grenada; and ``no'' to the foreign policy of
strength and purpose that has told the truth about communism and helped bring
the first signs of change to the Soviet Union in decades. And to my way of
thinking, that's too many ``no's,'' too many ``no's'' to you and me and the
American people and what we want done in
What
1988 is about is
Now,
it's very good, but it still isn't good enough for us. We want more -- more
growth, more opportunity, more jobs. And we intend to
ensure this kind of economic prosperity right through the nineties and into the
next century by guaranteeing the Federal Government can never again spend and
tax the American people into another economic nightmare.
Let
me give you an example of what I mean: Some of you may remember that last
January I went up to Capitol Hill for the State of the Union Address. I talked about
some of the problems caused by the liberal leadership in the Congress, who were
all there to hear it. I mentioned that in 7 years of 91 appropriations bills
scheduled to arrive on my desk by the beginning of the fiscal year, only 9 made
it on time.
Last
year, of the 13 appropriations bills due by October 1st, none of them made it.
Instead, we had 4 continuing resolutions lasting 41 days the first time, then
36 more days, then 2 days, and 3 days, respectively.
And
then along came that behemoth, the continuing resolution containing all the
appropriations. You have to sign it or close down the Government. It was 1,057
pages long. It weighed 14 pounds and was 2 months late. Even Congress didn't
know what was in it. [Laughter] They passed it and sent it to me so late that I
had just a few hours -- yes, a few hours, not days, hours -- to sign or shut
down the Government. Well, this time, I did sign. But then as I said in my
State of the Union Address, next time they do that, I won't.
Well,
today Congress and our administration are working to keep that from happening
again. I want to receive by the beginning of the next fiscal year, October 1st,
all the Government's appropriation bills for the coming year -- ones that I can
sign. Our administration will pull out all the stops on our end to see to it
that this happens. And I happen to think there's a good chance it will happen. And if so, it'll be the first time that the Nation's business has
been finished on time since 1948.
Well,
the next President deserves better than this. The American people deserve
better. The liberals have been in control of both Houses of Congress for 46 of
the last 56 years. And this is what it's come to: My friends, it's time for a
change. It's time to have a Congress that stands up and pays attention to the
American people and their agenda, not to the agenda of the liberal special
interests in
And
there's one last issue, yes, more important than even all the other crucial
matters we've already discussed. Ladies and gentlemen, just a few years ago, I
wonder how many of us could really have believed then that so many of our
fondest hopes and dreams for
And
of all those things that have happened, how many of us could have imagined 8 or
even 4 years ago that one day a President of the United States would have an
opportunity to stand, as I did a few months ago, there in the Lenin Hills at a
podium at Moscow State University and tell the young people of the Soviet Union
about the wonder and glory of human freedom? I was well-received. But I was
amazed later to discover not all the student body could fit into their
auditorium, so they had seen that all who did were members of the Young
Communist League. And yet they seem to respond pretty good to talking about
individual freedom.
But
with the beginnings of change we've seen in the Eastern bloc and with the development
of concepts like the SDI that destroys weapons, not people, it's just possible
that we have a chance now to end the two great nightmares of this century and
give our children a future free of both totalitarianism and nuclear terror.
Now, we found out what works in foreign policy. We've demonstrated time and
again that candid rhetoric, a strong defense, and tough diplomacy bring peace.
What a great moment we have before us, and, oh, how future generations will
dishonor us if now, in a moment of sudden folly, we throw it all away. And this
is what is now at stake. We must hold to this moment of hope, and we must be
allowed to complete that which we have begun.
And
when I say ``we,'' I mean you. You can determine the future of our nation and
the world. That is what
I
just want to point out to you one thing: All of you between the ages of 18 and
24 now constitute the biggest voting bloc in the country. But surprisingly, you
have the lowest voting percentage of any age group in the country. So, what I'm
asking you today is not only pledge yourselves that you're going to register if
you haven't -- it isn't all that difficult -- and then you're going to vote,
but also be missionaries. Buttonhole others that may not have thought the same
as you and tell them that you in that youthful age group can determine the
future of the United States by how you cast your votes and the fact that you do
cast votes. The late Will Rogers many years ago said: ``The
people in public office are no better and no worse than the people who send
them there. But they're all better than those who don't vote at all.'' So, get
out there and register and vote.
So,
yes, some say that it is time for a change. Well, let me just remind you: We
are the change. We started it 8 years ago, and we're going to continue it if
you do the right thing at the polls on November 8th. And I think George Bush
explained it correctly at the convention when he said, people that tell you you should change horses in the middle of the stream --
well, don't change to one that's going the opposite direction.
Now,
I'm supposed to say a thank you and get off of here right now, but I am -- my
people just -- they're in terror of me because I have a new hobby. I collect
stories that I can prove are told by the Russian people among themselves and
that kind of show the attitudes to their government. And I've been collecting
them, and I'm going to leave you with one that I told to General Secretary
Gorbachev.
This
story, they have it, is that an American and a Russian were arguing about their
two countries. And the American said, ``Look, I can go into the Oval Office. I
can pound the President's desk and say, `Mr. President, I don't like the way
you're running our country.''' And the Russian said, ``I can do that.'' The
American said, ``You can?'' He said, ``Yes, I can go
into the Kremlin to the General Secretary's office. I can pound his desk and
say, `Mr. General Secretary, I don't like the way President Reagan's running
his country.''' [Laughter]
Thank
you all. God bless you all.
Note: The President
spoke at