Remarks at a Republican
Campaign Rally in
The President. Thank you all very
much. All right. And I thank you, George. Thank you
for that very wonderful introduction. And a thank you to that
great music of the
Audience members. T-K-E! T-K-E! T-K-E!
The President. And you know, when I
was a pledge, I was told that Tau Kappa Epsilon was a
fraternity for life. And let me also say hello to another group I take a kind
of a personal interest in. And you know, I've heard
all the way to
Well,
it's great to be back in Ohio and here at the home of what, over the years, has
always been a football team with the heart to keep fighting -- the way a
certain friend of mine has done since August when he, too, was a few games down
and came up with a winning season -- one of the great football teams in
America, the Buckeyes. And speaking of great athletes, there's someone here who
brought home both the silver and the gold,
You
know, I watched a certain debate the other night. I don't often feel sorry for
liberals, but I came close. I couldn't help thinking the problem with those
fellows on the other side is not camera angles or lighting. It's not whether
their candidate is likable or not.
No,
it's the very thing that they've spent this campaign trying desperately to
hide. When our liberal friends 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
But
the American people always have a way of figuring out the facts. You know, it
reminds me of a little story. At my age, everything reminds you of a story.
[Laughter] This has to do with our intelligence community. It seems that they
called in an agent, and they told him that he was to go to a little town in
So,
he goes to
Well,
you know the facts and so do the American people. Our liberal friends have
spent the last 3 months trying to dress up their agenda in our clothes, but
somehow nothing fits. When they say ``opportunity,'' they mean subsidies. When
they say ``reducing the deficit,'' they mean raising taxes. And when they say
``strong defense,'' they mean cut defense spending. No wonder their favorite
machine is the snowblower. [Laughter] They talk about
it being time for a change. Where have they been the last 8 years? We are the
change. We began the change 8 years ago. And the choice this year is to go
forward with the change or to go back to the stagnant status quo of the past.
When
George Bush and I took office,
Today
we're in the longest peacetime economic expansion ever recorded. We're
exporting more than ever before in our history. And a greater proportion of
Americans and a greater number of Americans are at work today than ever before
in the history of the
Would
you let me just qualify that statement here and tell you what that means and
what I mean? It seems that the statisticians have determined that everyone,
male and female, from the age 16 and up, are considered the potential
employment pool. That means that all of you, in spite of the fact that you're
going to be here getting an education and perhaps going on to a post-education
-- this doesn't discount or leave out the people that have retired and are out
there on the golf course or someplace else -- but everybody in the United
States 16 of age and up, is considered the employment pool. Well, now, listen
to this: 62.7 percent of that population I've just described is employed in
this country today.
Now,
you may have heard the liberals talk about a smaller middle class, and it's
true: The middle class is getting proportionately smaller, but not because a
greater proportion of our people are poor. That just isn't so. No, it's because
more people in the middle class group are moving up and becoming so well off.
You know, it's so much easier for me to speak than it is for our opponents,
because we have the facts on our side.
Audience members. Reagan! Reagan! Reagan!
The President. All
right. Between 1977 and 1981 -- I don't know why I pick those years --
[laughter] -- the real income of the typical American family dropped 7 percent.
Since then, it has soared more than 10 percent.
Now,
think of what reducing the prime interest rate by over half means to young
families seeking to purchase a new home. Think of what reducing inflation to a
third of what it was means to families seeking to protect their life savings.
And think of what our tax reduction program has meant to families, most of whom
today now pay a top rate of 15 percent. And think of what this means to you.
When you leave school, there'll be jobs and opportunities waiting for you. And
that even applies to that noisy few that are in here.
It's
a good time to begin a career and maybe get married to that special someone and
start a family. And perhaps now, or in a few years, you'll want to start your
own business. It's a great time for that, too. Think of how lucky you are not
to have graduated in the classes of '79 or '80 when things were different. But
also think of how lucky you are to be graduating in our country and not some
other one.
Audience members.
The President. Yes, what you heard in
a recent debate I've heard echoed in my talks with the leaders of many other
nations: Today the
We've
achieved arms agreements with the Soviets and a new
warmth in relations not through weakness but through our policy of peace
through strength. Well, you'd think out liberal friends would have learned from
that. But not long ago, former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger wrote that
their ticket this year seems to be -- in Secretary Schlesinger's words:
``viscerally antimilitary.'' They'd cut the B - 1 bomber, the MX missile, our
strategic defense against ballistic missiles. And their plans that they have
proposed would actually eliminate two carrier battle groups from our Navy.
Audience members. Booo!
The President. 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]
Yes,
it's the same old liberal agenda they're pushing: less defense and more big
government. For example, as part of their so-called profamily
agenda, they propose Federal child-care assistance. A little while ago, I told
an audience that under this proposal, if parents want assistance and they also
want to leave their child with his or her grandmother the grandmother will have
to be licensed by the Federal Government.
Audience members. Booo!
The President. Now, after I spoke, a
reporter called one of the congressional staffers behind the 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. And
after all -- here's the quote -- he said, ``How else can you design a program
that receives Federal funds?''
Audience members. Booo!
The President. Licensing grandmothers
-- can you believe it? But doesn't that tell all the difference between our
philosophies? When they say ``family,'' they mean Big Brother in
Audience members. No! Booo!
The President. And they say their era
will be just beginning. Let me ask you something, and could you give me an
answer loud enough so they can hear it all the way to
Audience members. No!
The President. Do you want our foreign
policy in the hands of those who criticized our rescue mission in
Audience members. No! Four more years!
Four more years! Four more years!
The President. I can't do that. I
can't. Now, you just made my day when you said ``no.'' But about that, if
you'll quit saying ``Four more years'' to me, and recognize that it's an
amendment in the Constitution that makes that impossible -- now, wait a minute!
Hear me out. I just want to tell you that once I am a civilian again I intend
to get out on the mashed-potato circuit, talking about some of the things we've
been trying to do. And one of the things that I'm going to suggest to the American
people is that they demand the erasing of that amendment because it is an
infringement on the peoples' rights to vote for who they want to vote, for as
long as they want to vote.
Now,
let me tell you, there's another way to shout the answer you just gave me on
that ``no,'' a way that really will be heard not just in
Think
about the deficit -- something our liberal friends like to talk about. What
they aren't as eager to tell you is that the President can't spend one dime of
the Government's money. Only Congress can decide how much the Government
spends, and only Congress can pass spending bills. In fact, it's against the
law for the President to spend a penny more or a penny less than Congress
directs him to spend. The President can't add to the deficit, nor can he
subtract from it. Do you realize that they're so tight on that, that even if
one of our bureaus and agencies which we've been reducing in size and cost,
increasing in efficiency -- if they come in at the end of the year with less
money spent than the original appropriation, they can't use that to pay on the
deficit. The Congress says they have to go out and spend that money on
something.
Audience members. Booo!
The President. You'd be surprised how
many times desperately they just have to buy new office furniture. We've got a
lot of used office furniture in warehouses. Well, how many of us have stopped
to think that our liberal friends have had a majority in the House of
Representatives -- --
Audience members. Booo!
The President. -- -- for 52 of the last 56 years -- --
Audience members. Booo!
The President. -- -- and the majority in both Houses of
Congress for 46 of those 56 years?
Audience members. Booo!
The President. And with their concern
about deficits, in all that time, 56 years, there were only 8 scattered years
in which the budget was balanced. You know, it makes me think that they have a
point about one thing, although maybe they didn't intend it this way: Yes, in
one part of the Government, it's time for a change. Still won't put that sign
down, will he? [The President referred to someone in the audience with a
placard.]
Here
in
Audience members. Booo!
The President. -- -- I'm quoting now. This is what it
says: ``His record on issues is one of the most liberal in the Senate.'' For
example, he's against the line-item veto and the balanced budget amendment.
Audience members. Booo!
The President. He's fought
Gramm-Rudman-Hollings, the deficit reduction law. And when it comes to big
spending, the National Taxpayers Union has given him their ``Big Spenders''
award. But I don't want to be too harsh on him. He's worked hard over the
years. Don't you think he deserves a long, relaxing rest? [Applause]
Now,
yes, fixing Congress can only be done one Senator and one Representative at a
time. And only we the people can do it. It's up to us.
You
may have guessed, I feel strongly about giving George
Bush a Congress in which he has more friends than he had on that
So,
let me ask you one more question. And again, I hope you'll shout it so they can
hear you all the way to
Audience members. Yes!
The President. Do you want a new
Congress where the liberals are no longer running the show?
Audience members. Yes!
The President. And will you send
George Bush's friend and my friend, George Voinovich, to the United States
Senate?
Audience members. Yes! Voinovich!
Voinovich! Voinovich!
The President. Will you vote for a
House of Representatives that will also support President Bush?
Audience members. Yes!
The President. You just made my day
again. I mentioned voting a few moments ago. And earlier this year I had the
privilege of doing something I never thought an American President would be
able to do. I stood in the Lenin Hills and spoke to the students in
So,
in closing, I'd just like you to take history in your hands and win one for the
Gipper! Thank you. You know, I've enjoyed your
applause so very much. And for one reason -- is because every time you do it,
it drowns out that echo in here. [The President referred to hecklers in the
audience.]
I'm
just going to tell you a little story. I've gotten in the habit lately -- some
of the fellows with the cameras back there know this -- I have started
collecting jokes which I can absolutely prove are jokes made up in
This
particular joke they tell among themselves is that an American and a Russian
are arguing about their two governments. And the American said, ``Look, in my
country, I can walk into the Oval Office, I can pound the President's desk, and
I can say, `Mr. President, I don't like the way you're running our country.'''
And the Russian said, ``I can do that.'' And the American said, ``You can?'' He said, ``Yes, I can walk into the Kremlin, into
the General Secretary's office, pound on the General Secretary's desk, and say,
`Mr. General Secretary, I don't like the way President Reagan is running his
country.'''
But
believe me, you send me on my way, standing about 3 or 4 inches taller than
when I came in. Thank you, and God bless you.
Note: The President
spoke at