Remarks at a White House
Briefing for the Coalition for Fiscal Restraint
You
know, actually, I could tell this was a very supportive group when I walked
into the room. Someone in the back of the room began to chant, ``Two more
weeks! Two more weeks!'' [Laughter] But it's not over
yet, and there's still work to be done. And I figure if I'm going to do some,
it's now or never. [Laughter]
Today
I submit to Congress my final budget. And I want to thank all of you for your
support, both on this budget, as members and friends of Coalition for Fiscal
Restraint, and so many of you for your help over the years. By taking the
pledge against any tax hike and fighting to control spending, you put the
national interest first, and you put the ``iron triangle'' in its place. The
country needs more people like you in
Now,
I also want to commend the many members of the administration who've worked on
this final budget. We've prepared an excellent document that fulfills the
original objectives that I set forth for the fiscal year 1990 budget; not only
does this budget meet the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings deficit target of $100 billion,
we even do better than that. And we do this without touching Social Security,
weakening our national defense, or reducing benefits to the needy. And, my
friends, we prove it can be done without raising taxes.
As
I've said before, the reason no new taxes are needed is because our strong and
growing economy will in the next fiscal year produce an additional $84 billion
in tax revenues without any increase in tax rates. Thanks to our record
expansion, the money is literally rolling in. Those who want to tax away even
more hard-earned dollars from working people ought to be ashamed of themselves. By 1994 the total revenue gain, without any new
taxes, will be $370 billion. Now, that's plenty of additional revenue to do the
business of government and still bring down the deficit. All that's necessary
is to make the choices that governing is all about.
But
here in the Nation's Capital, the usual crowd is calling for higher taxes.
Never mind that Federal revenues are higher than ever before. Never mind that
they're growing at a healthy clip. Never mind that raising taxes would be the
surest way to kill the economic goose that lays the golden eggs. Never mind the
sorry record of new revenues being used not for deficit reduction but for even
higher spending. Never mind the facts: The big government crowd wants more
taxes.
And
they also want more spending and more Federal regulation. Basically what they
really want is to repeal the last 8 years and repudiate last November's
Presidential election. They want to deny the economic triumph the American
people have achieved, ignore the will of the people clearly expressed at the
polls, and tax away even more of the people's money. And their plan for doing
this is to give the American people a fiscal sob story: that revenue is scarce
here in
The
tax-and-spend crowd will not like our budget. Without even reading it, they've
already gone on the air to say that. They'll complain loudly about one thing or
another, but their biggest objection really will be that our budget proves that
no new taxes are necessary, that the additional $84 billion that the American
people will be sending to
As
I'm sure you've already heard, not only do we reduce the deficit by nearly $70
billion, we also provide nearly $50 billion in increased spending. This is made
possible by combining new revenues with previously scheduled reductions and
savings in other areas. And let me stress that these savings do not involve
reducing benefits to those who need them. In our budget there are more funds
for improving air safety, fighting crime, and providing housing for the poor.
There is another $600 million for the war on drugs. Funding for AIDS research
and prevention is increased by 24 percent. And money to clean up toxic waste
goes up by a fifth. We also increase funds for the science and space programs
and for basic biomedical research. And student-aid funds are increased again,
bringing them to a level 83 percent higher than where they stood in 1980.
Spending
on Medicare and Medicaid will increase by $10 billion in the next fiscal year.
But if the past is any guide, the headlines will claim that we've actually cut
funding. Well, 'tain't so. But I think most of you
have been in Washington long enough to know that when spending goes up, but by
less than had been projected, they call that a cut, even though more of your
tax dollars are being spent than before. I've learned that experts have a name
for that kind of upside-down accounting. They call it hogwash.
The
fact is that the increase in Medicare spending is being limited to 9 percent
not by any cut in benefits to recipients but simply by controlling the increase
in payments to health-care providers. Similarly, the increase in Medicaid
spending will be limited to 5 percent by renewing the cost containment
incentives that were so effective in the early 1980's. But again, benefits will
not be reduced.
You
know, some have questioned the accuracy of my description last month of an
``iron triangle'' composed of some members of Congress, the media, and special
interest groups, which work against our efforts for fiscal responsibility in
order to increase the size of government. I think that the reaction to our
budget will be very telling. It will be interesting to see whether the media
coverage makes it clear, for example, that Medicare and Medicaid are, in fact,
increasing or that without any tax increase Congress will be getting an
additional $84 billion in new revenues to appropriate. And as for the revenue
projection, I wonder if they'll treat it as a rosy scenario or whether they'll
report that the Congressional Budget Office, using a less favorable economic
forecast, actually predicts revenues even higher than we do.
Well,
the bottom line is that our budget protects the working families of
It's
been a long and hard fight, but it sure has been a rewarding one -- until you
read what others say about it. [Laughter]
Well,
I do thank you all for your support, and God bless you all.
Note: The President
spoke at