Governor George W. Bush - Acceptance Speech
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Thursday, August 3, 2000
Mr. Chairman, delegates, and my fellow citizens ... I accept your nomination. Thank you for this honor. Together, we will renew America's purpose.
Our founders first defined that purpose here in Philadelphia ... Ben Franklin was here. Thomas Jefferson. And, of course, George Washington -- or, as his friends called him, "George W."
I am proud to have Dick Cheney at my side. He is a man of integrity and sound judgment, who has proven that public service can be noble service. America will be proud to have a leader of such character to succeed Al Gore as Vice President of the United States.
I am grateful for John McCain and the other candidates who sought this nomination. Their convictions strengthen our party.
I am especially grateful tonight to my family.
No matter what else I do in life, asking Laura to marry me was the best decision I ever made.
To our daughters, Barbara and Jenna, we love you, we're proud of you, and as you head off to college this fall ... ... Don't stay out too late, and e-mail your old dad once in a while, will you?
And mother, everyone loves you and so do I.
Growing up, she gave me love and lots of advice. I gave her white hair. And I want to thank my father -- the most decent man I have ever known. All my life I have been amazed that a gentle soul could be so strong. And Dad, I want you to know how proud I am to be your son.
My father was the last president of a great generation. A generation of Americans who stormed beaches, liberated concentration camps and delivered us from evil.
Some never came home.
Those who did put their medals in drawers, went to work, and built on a heroic scale ... highways and universities, suburbs and factories, great cities and grand alliances -- the strong foundations of an American Century.
Now the question comes to the sons and daughters of this achievement...
What is asked of us?
This is a remarkable moment in the life of our nation. Never has the promise of prosperity been so vivid. But times of plenty, like times of crisis, are tests of American character.
Prosperity can be a tool in our hands -- used to build and better our country. Or it can be a drug in our system -- dulling our sense of urgency, of empathy, of duty.
Our opportunities are too great, our lives too short, to waste this moment.
So tonight we vow to our nation ...
We will seize this moment of American promise.
We will use these good times for great goals.
We will confront the hard issues -- threats to our national security, threats to our health and retirement security -- before the challenges of our time become crises for our children.
And we will extend the promise of prosperity to every forgotten corner of this country.
To every man and woman, a chance to succeed. To every child, a chance to learn. To every family, a chance to live with dignity and hope.
For eight years, the Clinton/Gore administration has coasted through prosperity.
And the path of least resistance is always downhill.
But America's way is the rising road.
This nation is daring and decent and ready for change.
Our current president embodied the potential of a generation. So many talents. So much charm. Such great skill. But, in the end, to what end? So much promise, to no great purpose.
Little more than a decade ago, the Cold War thawed and, with the leadership of Presidents Reagan and Bush, that wall came down.
But instead of seizing this moment, the Clinton/Gore administration has squandered it. We have seen a steady erosion of American power and an unsteady exercise of American influence.
Our military is low on parts, pay and morale.
If called on by the commander-in-chief today, two entire divisions of the Army would have to report ... Not ready for duty, sir.
This administration had its moment.
They had their chance. They have not led. We will.
This generation was given the gift of the best education in American history. Yet we do not share that gift with everyone. Seven of ten fourth-graders in our highest poverty schools cannot read a simple children's book.
And still this administration continues on the same old path with the same old programs -- while millions are trapped in schools where violence is common and learning is rare.
This administration had its chance. They have not led. We will.
America has a strong economy and a surplus. We have the public resources and the public will -- even the bipartisan opportunities -- to strengthen Social Security and repair Medicare.
But this administration -- during eight years of increasing need -- did nothing.
They had their moment. They have not led. We will.
Our generation has a chance to reclaim some essential values -- to show we have grown up before we grow old.
But when the moment for leadership came, this administration did not teach our children, it disillusioned them.
They had their chance. They have not led. We will.
And now they come asking for another chance, another shot.
Our answer?
Not this time.
Not this year.
This is not a time for third chances, it is a time for new beginnings. The rising generations of this country have our own appointment with greatness.
It does not rise or fall with the stock market. It cannot be bought with our wealth.
Greatness is found when American character and American courage overcome American challenges.
When Lewis Morris of New York was about to sign the Declaration of Independence, his brother advised against it, warning he would lose all his property.
Morris, a plain-spoken Founder, responded ... "Damn the consequences, give me the pen." That is the eloquence of American action.
We heard it during World War II, when General Eisenhower told paratroopers on D-Day morning not to worry -- and one replied, "We're not worried, General ... It's Hitler's turn to worry now."
We heard it in the civil rights movement, when brave men and women did not say ... "We shall cope," or "We shall see." They said ... "We shall overcome."
An American president must call upon that character.
Tonight, in this hall, we resolve to be, not the party of repose, but the party of reform.
We will write, not footnotes, but chapters in the American story.
We will add the work of our hands to the inheritance of our fathers and mothers -- and leave this nation greater than we found it.
We know the tests of leadership. The issues are joined.
We will strengthen Social Security and Medicare for the greatest generation, and for generations to come.
Medicare does more than meet the needs of our elderly, it reflects the values of our society.
We will set it on firm financial ground, and make prescription drugs available and affordable for every senior who needs them.
Social Security has been called the "third rail of American politics" -- the one you're not supposed to touch because it shocks you.
But, if you don't touch it, you can't fix it. And I intend to fix it.
To seniors in this country ... You earned your benefits, you made your plans, and President George W. Bush will keep the promise of Social Security ... no changes, no reductions, no way.
Our opponents will say otherwise. This is their last, parting ploy, and don't believe a word of it.
Now is the time for Republicans and Democrats to end the politics of fear and save Social Security, together.
For younger workers, we will give you the option -- your choice -- to put a part of your payroll taxes into sound, responsible investments.
This will mean a higher return on your money, and, over 30 or 40 years, a nest egg to help your retirement, or pass along to your children.
When this money is in your name, in your account, it's not just a program, it's your property.
Now is the time to give American workers security and independence that no politician can ever take away.
On education ... Too many American children are segregated into schools without standards, shuffled from grade-to-grade because of their age, regardless of their knowledge.
This is discrimination, pure and simple -- the soft bigotry of low expectations.
And our nation should treat it like other forms of discrimination ... We should end it.
One size does not fit all when it comes to educating our children, so local people should control local schools.
And those who spend your tax dollars must be held accountable.
When a school district receives federal funds to teach poor children, we expect them to learn. And if they don't, parents should get the money to make a different choice.
Now is the time to make Head Start an early learning program, teach all our children to read, and renew the promise of America's public schools. Another test of leadership is tax relief.
The last time taxes were this high as a percentage of our economy, there was a good reason ... We were fighting World War II.
Today, our high taxes fund a surplus. Some say that growing federal surplus means Washington has more money to spend.
But they've got it backwards.
The surplus is not the government's money. The surplus is the people's money.
I will use this moment of opportunity to bring common sense and fairness to the tax code.
And I will act on principle.
On principle ... every family, every farmer and small businessperson, should be free to pass on their life's work to those they love.
So we will abolish the death tax.
On principle ... no one in America should have to pay more than a third of their income to the federal government.
So we will reduce tax rates for everyone, in every bracket.
On principle ... those in the greatest need should receive the greatest help.
So we will lower the bottom rate from 15 percent to 10 percent and double the child tax credit.
Now is the time to reform the tax code and share some of the surplus with the people who pay the bills.
The world needs America's strength and leadership, and America's armed forces need better equipment, better training, and better pay.
We will give our military the means to keep the peace, and we will give it one thing more ... a commander-in-chief who respects our men and women in uniform, and a commander-in-chief who earns their respect.
A generation shaped by Vietnam must remember the lessons of Vietnam.
When America uses force in the world, the cause must be just, the goal must be clear, and the victory must be overwhelming.
I will work to reduce nuclear weapons and nuclear tension in the world -- to turn these years of influence into decades of peace.
And, at the earliest possible date, my administration will deploy missile defenses to guard against attack and blackmail.
Now is the time, not to defend outdated treaties, but to defend the American people.
A time of prosperity is a test of vision. And our nation today needs vision. That is a fact ... or as my opponent might call it, a "risky truth scheme." Every one of the proposals I've talked about tonight, he has called a "risky scheme," over and over again.
It is the sum of his message -- the politics of the roadblock, the philosophy of the stop sign.
If my opponent had been there at the moon launch, it would have been a "risky rocket scheme."
If he'd been there when Edison was testing the light bulb, it would have been a "risky anti-candle scheme."
And if he'd been there when the Internet was invented well ... I understand he actually was there for that.
He now leads the party of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. But the only thing he has to offer is fear itself.
That outlook is typical of many in Washington -- always seeing the tunnel at the end of the light.
But I come from a different place, and it has made me a different leader. In Midland, Texas, where I grew up, the town motto was "the sky is the limit" ... and we believed it.
There was a restless energy, a basic conviction that, with hard work, anybody could succeed, and everybody deserved a chance.
Our sense of community was just as strong as that sense of promise.
Neighbors helped each other. There were dry wells and sandstorms to keep you humble, and lifelong friends to take your side, and churches to remind us that every soul is equal in value and equal in need.
This background leaves more than an accent, it leaves an outlook.
Optimistic. Impatient with pretense. Confident that people can chart their own course.
That background may lack the polish of Washington. Then again, I don't have a lot of things that come with Washington.
I don't have enemies to fight. And I have no stake in the bitter arguments of the last few years. I want to change the tone of Washington to one of civility and respect.
The largest lesson I learned in Midland still guides me as governor ... Everyone, from immigrant to entrepreneur, has an equal claim on this country's promise.
So we improved our schools, dramatically, for children of every accent, of every background.
We moved people from welfare to work.
We strengthened our juvenile justice laws.
Our budgets have been balanced, with surpluses, and we cut taxes not only once, but twice.
We accomplished a lot.
I don't deserve all the credit, and don't attempt to take it. I worked with Republicans and Democrats to get things done.
A bittersweet part of tonight is that someone is missing, the late Lt. Governor of Texas Bob Bullock.
Bob was a Democrat, a crusty veteran of Texas politics, and my great friend.
He worked by my side, endorsed my re-election, and I know he is with me in spirit in saying to those who would malign our state for political gain... Don't mess with Texas.
As governor, I've made difficult decisions, and stood by them under pressure. I've been where the buck stops -- in business and in government. I've been a chief executive who sets an agenda, sets big goals, and rallies people to believe and achieve them.
I am proud of this record, and I'm prepared for the work ahead.
If you give me your trust, I will honor it ... Grant me a mandate, and I will use it... Give me the opportunity to lead this nation, and I will lead ...
And we need a leader to seize the opportunities of this new century -- the new cures of medicine, the amazing technologies that will drive our economy and keep the peace.
But our new economy must never forget the old, unfinished struggle for human dignity.
And here we face a challenge to the very heart and founding premise of our nation.
A couple of years ago, I visited a juvenile jail in Marlin, Texas, and talked with a group of young inmates. They were angry, wary kids. All had committed grownup crimes.
Yet when I looked in their eyes, I realized some of them were still little boys.
Toward the end of conversation, one young man, about 15, raised his hand and asked a haunting question... "What do you think of me?"
He seemed to be asking, like many Americans who struggle ... "Is there hope for me? Do I have a chance?" And, frankly ... "Do you, a white man in a suit, really care what happens to me?"
A small voice, but it speaks for so many. Single moms struggling to feed the kids and pay the rent. Immigrants starting a hard life in a new world. Children without fathers in neighborhoods where gangs seem like friendship, where drugs promise peace, and where sex, sadly, seems like the closest thing to belonging. We are their country, too.
And each of us must share in its promise, or that promise is diminished for all.
If that boy in Marlin believes he is trapped and worthless and hopeless -- if he believes his life has no value, then other lives have no value to him -- and we are ALL diminished.
When these problems aren't confronted, it builds a wall within our nation. On one side are wealth and technology, education and ambition.
On the other side of the wall are poverty and prison, addiction and despair.
And, my fellow Americans, we must tear down that wall.
Big government is not the answer. But the alternative to bureaucracy is not indifference.
It is to put conservative values and conservative ideas into the thick of the fight for justice and opportunity.
This is what I mean by compassionate conservatism. And on this ground we will govern our nation.
We will give low-income Americans tax credits to buy the private health insurance they need and deserve.
We will transform today's housing rental program to help hundreds of thousands of low-income families find stability and dignity in a home of their own.
And, in the next bold step of welfare reform, we will support the heroic work of homeless shelters and hospices, food pantries and crisis pregnancy centers -- people reclaiming their communities block-by-block and heart-by-heart.
I think of Mary Jo Copeland, whose ministry called "Sharing and Caring Hands" serves 1,000 meals a week in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Each day, Mary Jo washes the feet of the homeless, then sends them off with new socks and shoes.
"Look after your feet," she tells them ...... "They must carry you a long way in this world, and then all the way to God."
Government cannot do this work. It can feed the body, but it cannot reach the soul. Yet government can take the side of these groups, helping the helper, encouraging the inspired.
My administration will give taxpayers new incentives to donate to charity, encourage after-school programs that build character, and support mentoring groups that shape and save young lives.
We must give our children a spirit of moral courage, because their character is our destiny.
We must tell them, with clarity and confidence, that drugs and alcohol can destroy you, and bigotry disfigures the heart.
Our schools must support the ideals of parents, elevating character and abstinence from afterthoughts to urgent goals.
We must help protect our children, in our schools and streets, by finally and strictly enforcing our nation's gun laws.
Most of all, we must teach our children the values that defeat violence. I will lead our nation toward a culture that values life -- the life of the elderly and the sick, the life of the young, and the life of the unborn. I know good people disagree on this issue, but surely we can agree on ways to value life by promoting adoption and parental notification, and when Congress sends me a bill against partial-birth abortion, I will sign it into law.
Behind every goal I have talked about tonight is a great hope for our country.
A hundred years from now, this must not be remembered as an age rich in possessions and poor in ideals.
Instead, we must usher in an era of responsibility.
My generation tested limits -- and our country, in some ways, is better for it.
Women are now treated more equally. Racial progress has been steady, if still too slow. We are learning to protect the natural world around us. We will continue this progress, and we will not turn back.
At times, we lost our way. But we are coming home.
So many of us held our first child, and saw a better self reflected in her eyes.
And in that family love, many have found the sign and symbol of an even greater love, and have been touched by faith.
We have discovered that who we are is more important than what we have. And we know we must renew our values to restore our country.
This is the vision of America's founders.
They never saw our nation's greatness in rising wealth or advancing armies, but in small, unnumbered acts of caring and courage and self-denial.
Their highest hope, as Robert Frost described it, was "to occupy the land with character."
And that, 13 generations later, is still our goal ... to occupy the land with character.
In a responsibility era, each of us has important tasks -- work that only we can do.
Each of us is responsible ... to love and guide our children, and help a neighbor in need.
Synagogues, churches and mosques are responsible ... not only to worship but to serve.
Corporations are responsible ... to treat their workers fairly, and leave the air and waters clean.
Our nation's leaders are responsible ... to confront problems, not pass them on to others.
And to lead this nation to a responsibility era, a president himself must be responsible.
And so, when I put my hand on the Bible, I will swear to not only uphold the laws of our land, I will swear to uphold the honor and dignity of the office to which I have been elected, so help me God.
I believe the presidency -- the final point of decision in the American government -- was made for great purposes.
It is the office of Lincoln's conscience and Teddy Roosevelt's energy and Harry Truman's integrity and Ronald Reagan's optimism.
For me, gaining this office is not the ambition of a lifetime, but it IS the opportunity of a lifetime.
And I will make the most of it. I believe great decisions are made with care, made with conviction, not made with polls.
I do not need to take your pulse before I know my own mind. I do not reinvent myself at every turn. I am not running in borrowed clothes. When I act, you will know my reasons ...When I speak, you will know my heart.
I believe in tolerance, not in spite of my faith, but because of it.
I believe in a God who calls us, not to judge our neighbors, but to love them.
I believe in grace, because I have seen it ... In peace, because I have felt it ... In forgiveness, because I have needed it.
I believe true leadership is a process of addition, not an act of division. I will not attack a part of this country, because I want to lead the whole of it.
And I believe this will be a tough race, down to the wire.
Their war room is up and running ... but we are ready. Their attacks will be relentless ... but they will be answered. We are facing something familiar, but they are facing something new.
We are now the party of ideas and innovation ... The party of idealism and inclusion.
The party of a simple and powerful hope ...
My fellow citizens, we can begin again. After all of the shouting, and all of the scandal. After all of the bitterness and broken faith. We can begin again.
The wait has been long, but it won't be long now.
A prosperous nation is ready to renew its purpose and unite behind great goals ... and it won't be long now.
Our nation must renew the hopes of that boy I talked with in jail, and so many like him... and it won't be long now.
Our country is ready for high standards and new leaders ... and it won't be long now.
An era of tarnished ideals is giving way to a responsibility era ... and it won't be long now.
I know how serious the task is before me.
I know the presidency is an office that turns pride into prayer.
But I am eager to start on the work ahead.
And I believe America is ready for a new beginning.
My friend, the artist Tom Lea of El Paso, captured the way I feel about our great land.
He and his wife, he said, "live on the east side of the mountain ...
It is the sunrise side, not the sunset side.
It is the side to see the day that is coming ... not the side to see the day that is gone."
Americans live on the sunrise side of mountain.
The night is passing.
And we are ready for the day to come.
Thank you. And God bless you.
Dick Cheney
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Wednesday, August 2, 2000
Mr. Chairman, delegates, and fellow citizens:
I am honored by your nomination, and I accept it.
I thank you for giving such a warm welcome to Lynne and me and our family.
And, my friends in the Wyoming delegation, I especially want to thank you for your support.
The first campaign stop that Lynne and I were privileged to make with Governor and Laura Bush was in Casper, Wyoming ... our home town, where Lynne and I graduated from high school 41 years ago.
The love and support and enthusiasm of the people of our home state, have buoyed our spirits and strengthened our resolve.
We are going to win this election.
We will prevail.
I have to tell you that I never expected to be in this position.
Eight years ago, when I completed my years as secretary of defense, I loaded a U Haul truck and drove home to Wyoming.
I didn't plan on a return to public office.
Lynne and I settled into a new private life.
There was time for fishing and grandchildren, and we were content.
But now I am glad to be back in the arena, and let me tell you why.
I have been given an opportunity to serve beside a man who has the courage, and the vision, and the goodness, to be a great president:
Governor George W. Bush.
I have been in the company of leaders.
I was there on August 9, 1974, when Gerald Ford assumed the presidency during our gravest constitutional crisis since the Civil War.
I saw how character and decency can dignify a great office and unite a great nation.
I was a congressman when another man of integrity lived in the White House.
I saw a president restore America's confidence, and prepare the foundation for victory in the cold war.
I saw how one man's will can set the nation on a new course.
I learned the meaning of leadership from President Ronald Reagan.
I left Congress to join the cabinet of President Reagan's successor.
And I'm proud to say that I'm not the only man on this ticket who has learned from the example of President George Bush.
I saw resolve in times of crisis...the steady hand that shaped an alliance and threw back a tyrant.
He earned the respect and confidence of the men and women of America's armed forces.
I have been in the company of leaders. I know what it takes.
And I see in our nominee the qualities of mind and spirit our nation needs, and our history demands.
Big changes are coming to Washington.
To serve with this man, in this cause, is a chance I would not miss.
This country has given me so much opportunity.
When Lynne and I were growing up, we had so many blessings.
We went to good public schools, where we had fine, dedicated teachers.
Our mothers, like our fathers, worked outside the home so that we could go to college.
We lived in a caring community, where parents were confident that their children's lives could be even better than their own.
And that is as it should be, and as it can be again.
We can make our public schools better.
We can reform the tax code, so that families can keep more of what they earn ...more dollars that they can spend on what they value, rather than on what the government thinks is important.
We can restore the ideals of honesty and honor that must be a part of our national life, if our children are to thrive.
When I look at the administration now in Washington, I am dismayed by opportunities squandered.
Saddened by what might have been, but never was.
These have been years of prosperity in our land, but little purpose in the White House.
Bill Clinton vowed not long ago to hold onto power "until the last hour of the last day."
That is his right.
But, my friends, that last hour is coming.
That last day is near.
The wheel has turned ... and it is time...it is time for them to go.
George W. Bush will repair what has been damaged.
He is a man without pretense and without cynicism. A man of principle, a man of honor.
On the first hour of the first day...he will restore decency and integrity to the oval office.
He will show us that national leaders can be true to their word...and that they can get things done by reaching across the partisan aisle, and working with political opponents in good faith and common purpose.
I know he'll do these things, because for the last five years I've watched him do them in Texas.
George W. Bush came to the Governor's office with a clear view of what he wanted to achieve.
He said he would bring higher standards to public schools, and he has.
Walk into those schools today, and you will see children with better scores ... classrooms with better discipline...and teachers with better pay.
He pledged to reduce taxes, and he has. He did it twice, with the biggest tax reduction in state history.
And not only is the budget in balance, it's running a surplus of more than a billion dollars.
He promised to reform the legal system...to get rid of junk lawsuits...and he has.
Today the legal system serves all the people, not just the trial lawyers.
None of these reforms came easily.
When he took office, both houses of the Legislature were controlled by Democrats, and the House of Representatives still is.
But Governor Bush doesn't accept old lines of argument and division.
He brings people together...reaching across party lines to do the people's business.
He leads by conviction, not calculation.
You will never see him pointing the finger of blame for failure...you will only see him sharing the credit for success. That is exactly the spirit that is missing from Washington. In the last eight years, that city has often become a scene of bitterness, and ill will, and partisan strife. American politics has always been a tough business...even in 1787 here in Philadelphia, when George Washington himself wondered if delegates could ever agree on a constitution. They did agree, as Americans always have when it mattered most...guided by the public interest and a decent regard for one another. But in Washington today, politics has become war by other means...an endless onslaught of accusation...a constant setting of groups one against the other.
This is what Bill Bradley was up against, and others before him.
The Gore campaign, Senator Bradley said, is "a thousand promises, a thousand attacks."
We are all a little weary of the Clinton-Gore routine.
But the wheel has turned.
And it is time...it is time for them to go.
In this election, they will speak endlessly of risk.. we will speak of progress.
They will make accusations...we will make proposals.
They will feed fear...we will appeal to hope.
They will offer more lectures, and legalisms, and carefully worded denials.
We offer another way...a better way... and a stiff dose of truth.
For eight years, the achievement gap in our schools has grown worse...poor and disadvantaged children falling further and further behind.
For all of their sentimental talk about children, Clinton and Gore have done nothing to help children oppressed by bureaucracy, monopoly, and mediocrity.
But those days are ending.
When George W. Bush is President and I am Vice President, tests will be taken, results will be measured, and schools will answer to parents...and no child will be left behind.
For eight years, Clinton and Gore have talked about Social Security reform...never acting, never once offering a serious plan to save the system.
In the time left to them, I have every confidence they'll go right on talking about it.
Those days are passing too.
There will be no more spreading of fear and panic...no more dividing of generations against one another...no more delaying and excuse making and shirking of our duties to the elderly.
George W. Bush and I, with the united Congress, will save Social Security.
For eight years, Clinton and Gore have extended our military commitments while depleting our military power.
Rarely has so much been demanded of our armed forces, and so little given to them in return.
George W. Bush and I are going to change that, too.
I have seen our military at its finest...with the best equipment, the best training, and the best leadership.
I'm proud of them.
I have had the responsibility for their wellbeing.
And I can promise them now...help is on the way.
Soon, our men and women in uniform will once again have a commander- in-chief they can respect.. one who understands their mission and restores their morale.
And now, as the man from Hope goes home to New York...Mr. Gore tries to separate himself from his leader's shadow.
But somehow we will never see one without thinking of the other. Does anyone
... Republican or Democrat
... seriously believe that under Mr. Gore, the next four years would be any different from the last eight?
If the goal is to unite our country ... to make a fresh start in Washington
... to change the tone of our politics
... can anyone say with conviction that the man for the job is Al Gore?
They came in together.
Now let us see them off together.
Ladies and gentlemen, the wheel has turned, and it is time
... it is time for them to go.
This campaign will not be easy.
Governor Bush and I face a real fight.
We're ready for it.
We know the territory, we know the opposition, and we know what's at stake.
We will give all we have to this cause.
And in the end, with your help, George W. Bush will defeat this vice president, and I will replace him.
Ladies and gentlemen, we are so privileged to be citizens of this great republic.
I was reminded of that time and again when I was in my former job, as Secretary of Defense.
I traveled a lot...and when I came home, my plane would land at Andrews Air Force Base, and I'd return to the Pentagon by helicopter.
When you make that trip from Andrews to the Pentagon, and you look down on the city of Washington, one of the first things you see is the Capitol, where all the great debates that have shaped 200 years of American history have taken place.
You fly down along the Mall and see the monument to George Washington, a structure as grand as the man himself.
To the north is the White House, where John Adams once prayed "that none but honest and wise men [may] ever rule under this roof."
Next you see the memorial to Thomas Jefferson, the third president and the author of our Declaration of Independence.
And then you fly over the memorial to Abraham Lincoln...this greatest of presidents, the man who saved the union.
Then you cross the Potomac, on approach to the Pentagon.
But just before you settle down on the landing pad, you look upon Arlington National Cemetery...its gentle slopes and crosses row on row.
I never once made that trip without being reminded how enormously fortunate we all are to be Americans, and what a terrible price thousands have paid so that all of us ...and millions more around the world...might live in freedom.
This is a great country, ladies and gentlemen, and it deserves great leadership.
Let us go forth from this hall in confidence and courage, committed to restoring decency and honor to our republic.
Let us go forth, knowing that our cause is just, and elect George W. Bush the forty third president of the United States.
Thank you.
Source: George W. Bush 2000 Campaign Web Site
Remarks As Prepared For Delivery By Al Gore
Democratic National Conversation
Thursday, August 17, 2000
I speak tonight of gratitude, achievement, and high hopes for our country.
Tonight, I think first of those who helped get me here - starting with the people of Tennessee. Then, those who braved the first snows of Iowa and New Hampshire -- and all of you here, from all over this country, who have come with me into the warm sunlight of this great city.
While I can't thank each of you individually in words, I do so in my heart.
And I know you won't mind if I single out someone who has just spoken so eloquently, someone I've loved with my whole heart since the night of my high school senior prom -- my wife, Tipper. We've been lucky enough to find each other all over again at each new stage of our lives - and we just celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary.
I want to acknowledge with great pride our four children: Kristin, Sarah, and Albert;
Our oldest daughter Karenna and her husband Drew;
And the youngest member of our family, who a little over a year ago was born on the Fourth of July -- our grandson Wyatt.
I'm honored tonight by the support of a leader of high ideals and fundamental decency, who will be an important part of our country's future -- Senator Bill Bradley.
There's someone else who will shape that future -- a leader of character and courage. A defender of the environment, and working families --
The next Vice President of the United States, Joe Lieberman.
I picked him for one simple reason: he's the best person for the job.
For almost eight years now, I've been the partner of a leader who moved us out of the valley of recession and into the longest period of prosperity in American history. I say to you tonight: millions of Americans will live better lives for a long time to come because of the job that's been done by President Bill Clinton.
Instead of the biggest deficits in history, we now have the biggest surpluses. The highest home ownership ever. The lowest inflation in a generation.
Instead of losing jobs, we have 22 million new jobs.
Above all, our success comes from you, the people who have worked hard for your families.
Let's not forget that a few years ago, you were also working hard. But your hard work was undone by a government that didn't work, didn't put people first, and wasn't on your side.
Together, we changed things, to help unleash your potential, and innovation and investment in the private sector, the engine that drives our economic growth.
And our progress on the economy is a good chapter in our history.
But now we turn the page and write a new chapter. And that's what I want to speak about tonight.
This election is not an award for past performance.
I'm not asking you to vote for me on the basis of the economy we have.
Tonight, I ask for your support on the basis of the better, fairer, more prosperous America we can build together.
Together, let's make sure that our prosperity enriches not just the few, but all working families. Let's invest in health care, education, a secure retirement, and middle class tax cuts.
I'm happy that the stock market has boomed and so many businesses and new enterprises have done well. This country is richer and stronger.
But my focus is on working families - people trying to make house payments and car payments, working overtime to save for college and do right by their kids… Whether you're in a suburb, or an inner-city… Whether you raise crops or drive hogs and cattle on a farm, drive a big rig on the Interstate, or drive e-commerce on the Internet… Whether you're starting out to raise your own family, or getting ready to retire after a lifetime of hard work.
So often, powerful forces and powerful interests stand in your way, and the odds seemed stacked against you -- even as you do what's right for you and your family.
How and what we do for all of you - the people who pay the taxes, bear the burdens, and live the American dream -- that is the standard by which we should be judged.
And for all of our good times, I am not satisfied.
To all the families in America who have to struggle to afford the right education and the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs -
I want you to know this: I've taken on the powerful forces. And as President, I'll stand up to them, and I'll stand up for you.
To all the families who are struggling with things that money can't measure - like trying to find a little more time to spend with your children, or protecting your children from entertainment that you think glorifies violence and indecency -
I want you to know: I believe we must challenge a culture with too much meanness, and not enough meaning. And as President, I will stand with you for a goal that we share: to give more power back to the parents, to choose what your own children are exposed to, so you can pass on your family's basic lessons of responsibility and decency.
The power should be in your hands. The future should belong to everyone in this land.
We could squander this moment - but our country would be the poorer for it. Instead, let's lift our eyes, and see how wide the American horizon has become.
We're entering a new time -
We're electing a new President -
And I stand here tonight as my own man, and I want you to know me for who I truly am.
I grew up in a wonderful family. I have a lot to be thankful for. And the greatest gift my parents gave me was love. When I was a child, it never once occurred to me that the foundation upon which my security depended would ever shake.
And of all the lessons my parents taught me, the most powerful one was unspoken -- the way they loved one another.
My father respected my mother as an equal, if not more. She was his best friend, and in many ways, his conscience. And I learned from them the value of a true, loving partnership that lasts for life.
They simply couldn't imagine being without each other. And for 61 years, they were by each other's side.
My parents taught me that the real values in life aren't material but spiritual. They include faith and family, duty and honor, and trying to make the world a better place.
I finished college at a time when all that seemed to be in doubt, and our nation's spirit was being depleted. We saw the assassination of our best leaders. Appeals to racial backlash. And the first warning signs of Watergate.
I remember the conversations I had with Tipper back then - and the doubts we had about the Vietnam War.
But I enlisted in the Army because I knew if I didn't go, someone else in the small town of Carthage, Tennessee would have to go in my place.
I was an Army reporter in Vietnam. When I was there, I didn't do the most, or run the gravest danger. But I was proud to wear my country's uniform.
When I came home, running for office was the very last thing I ever thought I would do. I studied religion at Vanderbilt, and worked nights as a police reporter at the Nashville Tennessean. And I saw more of what could go wrong in America - not only on the police beat, but as an investigative reporter covering local government.
I also saw so much of what could go right - citizens lifting up local communities, family by family, block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, in churches and charities, on school boards and City Councils.
And then, Tipper and I started our own family. And when our first daughter Karenna was born, I began to see the future through a fresh set of eyes. I know a lot of you have had that feeling, too.
And I decided that I could not turn away from service at home - any more than I could have turned away from service in Vietnam.
That's why I ran for Congress. In my first term, a family in Hardeman County, Tennessee wrote a letter and told how worried they were about toxic waste that had been dumped near their home. I held some of the first hearings on the issue. And ever since, I've been there in the fight against the big polluters.
Our children should not have to draw the breath of life in cities awash in pollution. When they come in from playing on a hot summer afternoon, every child in America, anywhere in America, ought to be able to turn on the faucet and get a glass of safe, clean drinking water.
On the issue of the environment, I've never given up, I've never backed down, and I never will.
And I say it again tonight: we must reverse the silent, rising tide of global warming.
In the Senate and as Vice President, I fought for welfare reform. Over and over again, I talked to folks who told me how they were trapped in the old welfare system. I saw what it did to families. So I fought to end welfare as we then knew it - to help those in trouble, but to insist on work and responsibility.
Others talked about welfare reform. We actually reformed welfare and set time limits. Instead of hand-outs, we gave people training to go from welfare to work. And we have cut the welfare rolls in half and moved millions into good jobs.
For almost 25 years now, I've been fighting for people. And for all that time, I've been listening to people - holding open meetings, in the places where they live and work.
And you know what? I've learned a lot. And if I'm your President, I'm going to keep on having open meetings all over this country. I'm going to go out to you, the people, because I want to stay in touch with your hopes; with the quiet, every-day heroism of hard-working Americans.
And because I've learned that the issues before us, the problems and the policies, all have names. And I don't mean the big fancy names that we put on programs and legislation. I'm talking about family names like Nystel, Johnson, Gutierrez, and Malone - people and families I've met in the last year, all across this country. And here's what they've told me:
I met Mildred Nystel in Waterloo, Iowa. Because of our welfare reform, she's left welfare and found a good job training electricians - and she's become a proud member of IBEW Local 288. Now she dreams of sending her daughter Irene to college.
Mildred Nystel is here with us tonight. And I say to her: I will fight for a targeted, affordable tax cut to help working families save and pay for college.
I met Jacqueline Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri. She worked for 35 years as a medical assistant, caring for others. Now she's 72 years old and needs prescription medicines to care for herself. She spends over half of her Social Security check - her only source of income - on her pills. So she either skips meals, or shops for bargains at a wholesale food store and buys macaroni and cheese dinners in bulk - and then has them at every meal.
I invited her here tonight. And Mrs. Johnson, I promise you once again: I will fight for a prescription drug benefit for all seniors under Medicare.
It's just wrong for seniors to have to choose between food and medicine while the big drug companies run up record profits.
I met George and Juanita Gutierrez in San Antonio, Texas. Their daughter Caterina has just started the 4th grade at Davy Crockett Elementary School. The school building is crumbling and overcrowded, with cracked walls and peeling plaster. Trailers cover the playground where the kids used to spend recess.
The Gutierrez family is here tonight. And I tell them again: I will fight to rebuild and modernize our crumbling schools, and reduce class size. We need to put safety, discipline, and character first in every classroom.
You know, education may be a local responsibility. But I believe it also has to be our number-one national priority. We can't stop until every school in America is a good place to get a good education.
And I will never forget a little boy named Ian Malone - who suffered from a medical mistake during childbirth, and needs full-time nursing care for several years. I met him and his parents in Seattle, near their home in Everett, Washington. Their HMO had told the Malones it would no longer pay for the nurse they needed, and then, told them they should consider giving Ian up for adoption.
That's when his mom and dad got really mad. They told their story in public, and the HMO was embarrassed. Because they fought for their baby , today Ian has the care he needs to stay alive. But no family in America should have to go on national television to save their child's life.
Dylan and Christine Malone are here with us tonight. Ian's here, too. And I say to them, and to all the families of America: I will fight for a real, enforceable Patients' Bill of Rights.
It's just wrong to have life and death medical decisions made by bean-counters at HMO's who don't have a license to practice medicine, and don't have a right to play God. It's time to take the medical decisions away from the HMO's and insurance companies - and give them back to the doctors, the nurses, and the health care professionals.
So this is not just an election between my opponent and me. It's about our people, our families, and our future - and whether forces standing in your way will keep you from having a better life.
To me, this election is about Mildred Nystel, Jacqueline Johnson, Caterina Gutierrez, Ian Malone.
It's about millions of Americans whose names we may never know - but whose needs and dreams must always be our calling.
And so here tonight, in the name of all the working families who are the strength and soul of America -- I accept your nomination for President of the United States.
I'm here to talk seriously about the issues. I believe people deserve to know specifically what a candidate proposes to do. I intend to tell you tonight. You ought to be able to know, and then judge for yourself.
If you entrust me with the Presidency, I will put our democracy back in your hands, and get all the special-interest money - all of it - out of our democracy, by enacting campaign finance reform. I feel so strongly about this, I promise you that campaign finance reform will be the very first bill that Joe Lieberman and I send to Congress.
Let others try to restore the old guard. We come to this convention as the change we wish to see in America.
And what are those changes?
At a time when most Americans will live to know even their great-grandchildren, we will save and strengthen Social Security and Medicare - not only for this generation, but for generations to come.
At a time of almost unimaginable medical breakthroughs, we will fight for affordable health care for all - so patients and ordinary people are not left powerless and broke. We will move toward universal health coverage, step by step, starting with all children. Let's get all children covered by the year 2004.
And let's move to the day when we end the stigma of mental illness, and treat it like every other illness, everywhere in this nation.
Within the next few years, scientists will identify the genes that cause every type of cancer. We need a national commitment equal to the promise of this unequalled moment. So we will double the federal investment in medical research. We will find new medicines and new cures - not just for cancer, but for everything from diabetes to HIV/AIDS.
At a time when there is more computer power in a Palm Pilot than in the spaceship that took Neil Armstrong to the moon, we will offer all our people lifelong learning and new skills for the higher-paying jobs of the future.
At a time when the amount of human knowledge is doubling every five years, we will do bold things to make our schools the best in the world. I will fight for the single greatest commitment to education since the G.I. Bill -
For revolutionary improvements in our schools. For higher standards and more accountability. To put a fully-qualified teacher in every classroom, test all new teachers, and give teachers the training and professional development they deserve. It's time to treat and reward teachers like the professionals they are.
It's not just about more money. It's about higher standards, accountability -- new ideas. But we can't do it without new resources. And that's why I will invest far more in our schools - in the long-run, a second-class education always costs more than a first-class education.
And I will not go along with any plan that would drain taxpayer money away from our public schools and give it to private schools in the form of vouchers.
This nation was a pioneer of universal public education. Now let's set a specific new goal for the first decade of the 21st Century: high-quality universal pre-school - available to every child, in every family, all across this country.
We also have to give middle-class families help in paying for college with tax-free college savings, and by making most college tuition tax-deductible. Open the doors of learning to all.
And all of this - all of this -- is the change we wish to see in America.
Not so long ago, a balanced budget seemed impossible. Now our budget surpluses make it possible to give a full range of targeted tax cuts to working families. Not just to help you save for college, but to pay for health insurance or child care. To reform the estate tax, so people can pass on a small business or a family farm. And to end the marriage penalty - the right way, the fair way -- because we shouldn't force couples to pay more in income taxes just because they're married.
But let me say it plainly: I will not go along with a huge tax cut for the wealthy at the expense of everyone else and wreck our good economy in the process.
Under the tax plan the other side has proposed, for every ten dollars that goes to the wealthiest one percent, middle class families would get one dime. And lower-income families would get one penny.
In fact, if you add it up, the average family would get about enough money to buy one extra Diet Coke a day.
About 62 cents in change. Let me tell you: that's not the kind of change I'm working for.
I'll fight for tax cuts that go to the right people - to the working families who have the toughest time paying taxes and saving for the future.
I'll fight for a new, tax-free way to help you save and build a bigger nest egg for your retirement. I'm talking about something extra that you can save and invest for yourself. Something that will supplement Social Security, not be subtracted from it.
But I will not go along with any proposal to strip one out of every six dollars from the Social Security trust fund and privatize the Social Security that you're counting on. That's Social Security minus. Our plan is Social Security plus.
We will balance the budget every year, and dedicate the budget surplus first to saving Social Security.
In the next four years, we will pay off all the national debt this nation accumulated in our first 200 years. This will put us on the path to completely eliminating the debt by 2012, keeping America prosperous far into the future.
But there's something at stake in this election that's even more important than economic progress. Simply put, it's our values; it's our responsibility to our loved ones, to our families.
And to me, family values means honoring our fathers and mothers, teaching our children well, caring for the sick, respecting one another -- giving people the power to achieve what they want for their families.
Putting both Social Security and Medicare in an iron-clad lock box where the politicians can't touch them -- to me, that kind of common sense is a family value.
Getting cigarettes out of the hands of kids before they get hooked is a family value. I will crack down on the marketing of tobacco to our children, no matter how hard the tobacco companies lobby, no matter how much they spend.
A new prescription drug benefit under Medicare for all our seniors - that's a family value. And let me tell you: I will fight for it, and the other side will not. They give in to the big drug companies. Their plan tells seniors to beg the HMO's and insurance companies for prescription drug coverage.
And that's the difference in this election. They're for the powerful, and we're for the people.
Big tobacco, big oil, the big polluters, the pharmaceutical companies, the HMO's. Sometimes you have to be willing to stand up and say no - so families can have a better life.
I know one thing about the job of the President. It is the only job in the Constitution that is charged with the responsibility of fighting for all the people. Not just the people of one state, or one district; not just the wealthy or the powerful -- all the people. Especially those who need a voice; those who need a champion; those who need to be lifted up, so they are never left behind.
So I say to you tonight: if you entrust me with the Presidency, I will fight for you.
There's one other word we've heard a lot of in this campaign, and that word is honor.
To me, honor is not just a word, but an obligation.
And you have my word: we will honor hard work by raising the minimum wage so that work always pays more than welfare.
We will honor families by expanding child care, and after-school care, and family and medical leave - so working parents have the help they need to care for their children -- because one of the most important jobs of all is raising our children.
And we'll support the right of parents to decide that one of them will stay home longer with their babies if that's what they believe is best for their families.
We will honor the ideal of equality by standing up for civil rights and defending affirmative action.
We will honor equal rights and fight for an equal day's pay for an equal day's work.
And let there be no doubt: I will protect and defend a woman's right to choose. The last thing this country needs is a Supreme Court that overturns Roe v. Wade.
We will remove all the old barriers -- so that those who are called disabled can develop all their abilities.
And we will also widen the circle of opportunity for all Americans, and enforce all our civil rights laws.
We will pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
And we will honor the memory of Matthew Shepard, Joseph Ileto, and James Byrd, whose families all joined us this week -- by passing a law against hate crimes.
We will honor the hard work of raising a family - by doing all we can to help parents protect their children. Parents deserve the simple security of knowing that their children are safe whether they're walking down the street, surfing the World Wide Web, or sitting behind a desk in school.
To make families safer, we passed the toughest crime bill in history, and we're putting 100,000 new community police on our streets. Crime has fallen in every major category for seven years in a row. But there's still too much danger and there's still too much fear.
So tonight I want to set another new, specific goal: to cut the crime rate year after year -- every single year throughout this decade.
That's why I'll fight to add another 50,000 new police - community police who help prevent crime by establishing real relationships between law enforcement and neighborhood residents - which, incidentally, is the opposite of racial profiling, which must be brought to an end.
I will fight for a crime victims' bill of rights, including a Constitutional amendment to make sure that victims, and not just criminals, are guaranteed rights in our justice system.
I'll fight to toughen penalties on those who misuse the Internet to prey on our children and violate our privacy. And I'll fight to make every school in this nation drug-free and gun-free.
I believe in the right of sportsmen and hunters and law-abiding citizens to own firearms. But I want mandatory background checks to keep guns away from criminals, and mandatory child safety locks to protect our children.
Tipper and I went out to Columbine High School after the tragedy there, and we embraced the families of the children who were lost. And I will never forget the words of the father who whispered into my ear, "Promise me that these children will not have died in vain."
All of us must join together to make that promise come true. Laws and programs by themselves will never be enough. All of us, and especially all parents need to take more responsibility. We need to change our hearts -- and make a commitment to our children and to one another.
I'm excited about America's prospects and full of hope for America's future. Our country has come a long way, and I've come a long way since that long ago time when I went to Vietnam.
I've never forgotten what I saw there -- and the bravery of so many young Americans.
The price of freedom is sometimes high, but I never believed that America should turn inward.
As a Senator, I broke with many in our party and voted to support the Gulf War when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait -- because I believed America's vital interests were at stake.
Early in my public service, I took up the issue of nuclear arms control and nuclear weapons -- because nothing is more fundamental than protecting our national security.
Now I want to lead America because I love America. I will keep America's defenses strong. I will make sure our armed forces continue to be the best-equipped, best-trained, and best-led in the entire world.
In the last century, this nation more than any other freed the world from fascism and communism. But a newly free world still has dangers and challenges, both old and new. We must always have the will to defend our enduring interests -- from Europe, to the Middle East, to Japan and Korea. We must strengthen our partnerships with Africa, Latin America, and the rest of the developing world.
We must welcome and promote truly free trade. But I say to you: it must be fair trade. We must set standards to end child labor, to prevent the exploitation of workers and the poisoning of the environment. Free trade can and must be -- and if I'm President, will be -- a way to lift everyone up, not bring anyone down to the lowest common denominator.
So those are the issues, and that's where I stand. But I also want to tell you just a little more about two of my greatest heroes, my father and my mother.
They did give me a good life. But like so many in America, they started out with almost nothing.
My father grew up in a small community named Possum Hollow in Middle Tennessee. When he was just eighteen, he went to work as a teacher in a one-room school.
Then the Great Depression came along and taught him a lesson that couldn't be found in any classroom. He told me and my sister often how he watched grown men, with wives and children they could neither feed nor clothe, on farms they could no longer pay for.
My father didn't know whether he could help those families -- but he believed he had to try. And never in the years to come - in Congress, and in the United States Senate -- did he lose sight of the reason he entered public service: to fight for the people, not the powerful.
My mother grew up in a poor farming community in northwest Tennessee. Her family ran a small country store in Cold Corner. A store that went bust during the Great Depression.
She worked her way through college, then got a room in Nashville at the YWCA and waited tables at an all-night coffee shop for 25-cent tips. She then went on to become one of the first women in history to graduate from Vanderbilt Law School.
As Tipper told you tonight, we lost my dad a year and a half ago. But we're so lucky that my mother Pauline continues to be part of our lives, every single day. She's here tonight.
Sometimes in this campaign, when I visit a school and see a hard-working teacher trying to change the world one child at a time -- I see the face of my father.
And I know that teaching our children well is not just the teacher's job; it's everyone's job. And it has to be our national mission.
I've shaken hands in diners and coffee shops all across this country. And sometimes, when I see a waitress working hard and thanking someone for a tip, I see the face of my mother. And I know: for that waitress carrying trays, or a construction worker in the winter cold, I will never agree to raise the retirement age to 70, or threaten the promise of Social Security.
I say to you tonight: we've got to win this election - because every hard-working American family deserves to open the door to their dream.
In our democracy, the future is not something that just happens to us; it is something we make for ourselves -- together.
So to the young people watching tonight, I say: this is your time to make new the life of our world. We need your help to rekindle the spirit of America.
And I ask all of you, my fellow citizens: from this city that marked both the end of America's journey westward and the beginning of the New Frontier, let us set out on a new journey to the best America.
A new journey on which we advance not by the turning of wheels, but by the turning of our minds; the reach of our vision; the daring grace of the human spirit.
Yes, we have our problems. But the United States of America is the best country ever created -- and still, as ever, the hope of humankind.
Yes, we're all imperfect. But as Americans we all share in the privilege and challenge of building a more perfect union.
I know my own imperfections. I know that sometimes people say I'm too serious, that I talk too much substance and policy. Maybe I've done that tonight.
But the Presidency is more than a popularity contest. It's a day-by-day fight for people. Sometimes, you have to choose to do what's difficult or unpopular. Sometimes, you have to be willing to spend your popularity in order to pick the hard right over the easy wrong.
There are big choices ahead, and our whole future is at stake. And I do have strong beliefs about it.
If you entrust me with the Presidency, I know I won't always be the most exciting politician.
But I pledge to you tonight: I will work for you every day and I will never let you down.
If we allow ourselves to believe, without reservation, that we can do what's right and be the better for it -- then the best America will become our America.
In this City of Angels, we can summon the better angels of our nature.
Do not rest where we are, or retreat. Do all we can to make America all it can become.
Thank you - God bless you - and God bless America
Source: Al Gore for President 2000 Web Site
Reform Party Nomination Acceptance
August 12, 2000
Thank you: And I accept your nomination for President of the United States, and pledge you a fight you can be proud of the rest of your lives. For years, my friends, we have all heard that familiar taunt: "Don't worry about them; they have nowhere else to go." Well, guess what? We have somewhere else to go. At long last, we have a home of our own. As for those homeless conservatives, who were locked up in the basement at the big Bush Family Reunion in Philadelphia, all I can say is: "Folks, come on over; there is plenty of room in Reform."
Say, did any of you watch that convention? How did you stand the excitement? One Republican Governor defended it this way: "We used to have red-meat conventions, but they frightened people away. So, we're all vegetarians now." Well, welcome to the last red-meat convention in America.
First, I don't disagree with the Republicans who say we have much to be thankful for here in America. In science, technology and medicine, we excel as no other people in history. I know that. I was at Cape Canaveral when Apollo 11 lifted off on its way to the moon. I am alive today because of a heart valve that did not exist when I was in high school. I was at Ronald Reagan's side in Reykjavik in that critical summit of the Cold War when that great and good man refused to give up a missile defense for his country. Because of Ronald Reagan, our world is safer and freer than the world we grew up in, and America today is as dominant as Rome in her day.
But beneath our surface prosperity, there is deep anxiety, a foreboding within our people that was ignored at the festival in Philadelphia. It revolves around these questions: Where are we going? How are we Americans using all this wealth, power, and freedom? Are we still God's country? What about the forgotten Americans of Philadelphia? I mean America's unborn children, another million of whom will die this year without ever seeing the light of day. For these lost innocents, there was barely a word of compassion from the party of compassionate conservatism. Well, Republicans may be running away from life, but as long as there is life left in me, I will never run away -- because their cause is my cause, and their cause is God's cause.
Now, let us speak of some of other forgotten Americans at Philadelphia. I began my campaign, 18 months ago, in a tiny steel town in West Virginia called Weirton. Even though the U.S. economy was booming and U.S. companies were crying out for steel, Weirton steel was laying off workers, and Weirton was dying. Why? Because cheap steel was being dumped into the United States from Russia, Korea, Brazil, and Indonesia so those bankrupt regimes could raise the cash to pay off the international banks. The workers of Weirton and their families were being betrayed by Bill Clinton and sacrificed to the gods of the Global Economy. I told those steel workers we would stand with them; and in one of the prouder moments of my life that union endorsed me, and joined our cause. Just the other day, working together, the Buchanan Brigades, the Reform Party, and the union folks of Weirton, achieved ballot access in the Mountaineer State of West Virginia.
Let me tonight lay out the great issues where our New Reform Party stands apart from both Beltway Parties.
Last year, at the close of Clinton's War, I was given a small party by Serb-Americans who wanted to thank me for opposing the war. They told me of a woman who had desperately wanted to be there, but was not, because she had to go back to Serbia to bury her parents, who had been killed in the American bombing. Mr. Bush said his only complaint about that war on Serbia was that we did not fight it "ferociously enough." Mr. Bush, tell that to that Serb-American woman who lost her mother and father.
Why did we do this? Why did we bomb this little country for 78 days when it never threatened or attacked the United States?
Yes, there was a nasty guerrilla war going on in Kosovo, with terrorist attacks on Serb soldiers by the KLA, and ugly reprisals. But in one year, there had been 2000 casualties on all sides. Yet, look at the disaster we wrought, after Clinton launched his war. Thousands dead, a million Albanians driven out of their homes; now, a quarter million Serbs ethnically cleansed in KLA counter-terror. Serbia is smashed. Kosovo is destroyed. Russia has been driven into the arms of China; and American troops are tied down in a Balkan peninsula that has nothing to do with the vital interests of the United States.
My friends, I count myself a patriot. I love this country. But what in God's name are we doing? Milosevic is a thug and a tyrant. But that is not his country we destroyed. That is their country; and the Serb people have always been friends of the United States.
Saddam Hussein is another wicked tyrant who has launched aggressive war and murdered his own people. But who has killed more innocent Iraqis? Saddam Hussein, or U.S. sanctions? When Madeline Albright was told on a television show that a UN study had found that 500,000 Iraqi children may have died because of our ten years of sanctions, Albright said: "We believe it was worth it." Worth it? When did the greatest nation on earth start waging war on children?
After Mr. Clinton launched one of his drive-by shootings with cruise missiles, Ms. Albright was asked to justify it. "If we have to use force," she said, "it is because we are America. We are the indispensable nation. We stand tall. We see farther into the future."
Talk about the arrogance of power. George III could not have said it better. Friends, I am ashamed to say it, but we have begun to behave like the haughty British empire our fathers rose up against and threw out of this country. That, then, is what our party, our campaign, and our cause are all about. We are Americans who say with our fathers: To hell with empire; we want our country back.
Yet, both Beltway parties today conspire to kill our beloved republic. Both colluded to create the WTO. Both voted $18 billion more for the IMF to make the world safe for Goldman Sachs. Last year, a new UN international war crimes tribunal was established with the power to arrest and prosecute our soldiers. This year, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan thundered that we Americans do not pay our fair share of foreign aid. Last fall, the most trusted man in America, Walter Cronkite, said Americans must have the courage to surrender their national sovereignty to a world government. Let me tell you where the Reform Party stands.
We believe "independence forever." We will reclaim every lost ounce of American sovereignty. We will lead this country out of the WTO, out of the IMF, and I will personally tell Kofi Annan: Your UN lease has run out; you will be moving out of the United States, and if you are not gone by year's end, I will send you ten thousand Marines to help you pack your bags.
Friends, I am called many names. Isolationist is one of the sweeter ones. But the truth is: We are not isolationists. We do not want to isolate America from the world. We Americans come from all countries and continents, and want to trade with and travel with all countries, and have commercial, cultural, and diplomatic contact with every nation on earth. But we will no longer squander the blood of our soldiers fighting other countries' wars or the wealth of our people paying other countries' bills. The Cold War is over; it is time to bring America's troops home to the United States where they belong -- and end foreign aid. And when I step out on that inaugural stand to take the oath -- when my hand goes up, their New World Order comes crashing down.
Bill Clinton understands this issue of sovereignty. Al Gore, he understands it. George W, he doesn't understand it; but, don't worry, he is still being home-schooled by Condoleeza Rice. We are the one party with a chance to win that is sworn to fight World Government abroad -- and Big Government at home.
Yet, look at the record of this Congress that has the nerve to call itself conservative. In two years, not one federal agency has been abolished, not one program ended. Federal spending is rising at the fastest rate since "Tip" O'Neill was Speaker of the House. Both parties are so steeped in pork they have to be checked every six months for trichinosis.
Here are a couple of items from our $2 trillion federal budget: $500,000 for a study of swine waste management, $1.75 million to study the handling and distribution of manure. Do these guys have enough sense to cross the street? Apparently not, because this year Congress voted $1 million for a study in Utah on -- you guessed it -- how to cross the street. My friends, it is time to pick up the pitchforks and go down and clean out the pigpen. If you want real reform, vote Reform.
Back in 1991, I challenged a president named Bush because he broke a pledge not to raise taxes. He said he had to do it to balance the budget. Bill Clinton raised taxes again, he said, to balance the budget. Well, the budget is balanced; and it is time to repeal both the Clinton tax hike and the Bush tax hike and give the surpluses back to the people -- because that money does not belong to the politicians; it belongs to the people; and I will give it all back. Here is how:
We will eliminate all death taxes and end the government's role as federal grave robber of the American family. We will end the marriage penalty and cut income taxes for all Americans. And we will impose a 10% tariff on imports, and use the money to end all taxes on small businesses. And we will chop down the IRS until it is so small all the IRS agents will fit into the building that is being vacated by the National Endowment for the Arts.
As for Communist China, we will no longer accept one-sided trade deals, where we buy 40% of their exports and they buy 1% of ours. And I will tell them: Fellas either you stop this persecution of Christians, and these threats to our friends on Taiwan, and ratting missiles at the United States, or you fellows have sold your last pair of chopsticks in any mall in the United States of America.
Let me speak now about the great issue of civil rights. I knew the old leaders of that movement, and while I did not always agree with their tactics, I respected them. But today's agenda has nothing to do with civil rights, and everything to do with special privileges. No discrimination means to me: no discrimination; not against anyone because of color or creed; not in favor of anyone because of color or creed. And when we get to the White House, all discrimination ends: No more racial profiling and no more racial preferences. Men and women will be advanced by the standards we use for to choose our American Olympic team: merit, character, ability, and excellence alone.
Up at Philadelphia, did you hear Mr. McCain denounce those who want to reform our immigration laws by saying that walls are for cowards? Well, let me tell the Senator a story about a woman who lives in his own home state. Her name Is Teresa Murray. She is 82, has arthritis, and lives in Douglas, on the border. When I visited her ranch last winter, she was confined to her home. Around her small house is a chain-link fence. On top of that fence sits rolled razor wire. Every door and window of her home had bars on it, and Ms. Murray's two guard dogs are dead, killed by thugs who threw meat over the fence with cut glass in it. She sleeps with a gun on her bed table because she has been burglarized thirty times. Senator McCain, go down to Douglas and tell Teresa Murray that fences are for cowards.
Teresa Murray is an American woman living out her life in a maximum security prison in her own home in her own country -- because of the real cowardice, the cowardice of politicians who refuse to do their duty and defend the borders of the United States. I am tired of reading about U.S. troops defending the borders of Kosovo, Kuwait, and Korea. I don't live in Kosovo, Kuwait or Korea; I live in the United States of America. And when I become President, all U.S. troops will come home from Kosovo, Kuwait and Korea; and I will put them on the borders of Arizona, Texas and California; and we will start putting America first.
But we will never restore a republic unless we replace the "commissars" of the U. S. Supreme Court, those unelected judges, appointed for life, who answer to no one, and who have begun to erect a judicial dictatorship in America.
In New Hampshire judges created chaos in the public schools by overthrowing a financing system that worked for generations. In Arizona, a federal judge told the people they cannot make English the language for state business. In California, Proposition 187, to cut off welfare to illegal aliens, supported in a landslide, was thrown out by one judge. Last year, the State of Ohio was told to sandblast its motto, "With God, all things are possible," off state buildings -- because those are words of Jesus Christ; and His words do not belong on state buildings in Bill Clinton's America.
Mr. Bush holds up his hands and he has no litmus test for the Supreme Court. Well, I do. When Supreme Court vacancies open up, only constitutionalists who respect the inalienable right of life of all Americans, and our religious heritage will be nominated -- and no liberal judicial activists need apply.
Let me turn now to the signature issue of the Bush campaign: education. Mr. Bush is so enthusiastic about it, he gets carried away. He told a baffled audience in Florence, South Carolina, and I quote directly: "Rarely has the question asked: Is our children learning?" Is our children learning?
Well, our children is certainly not learning in Texas, Governor. Like Mr. Gore, Mr. Bush believes the solution to the education crisis lies in expanding the power of the Department of Education. We believe differently: We believe the Department of Education is the problem; and the solution to the education crisis is to get God and the Ten Commandments, and discipline back into the public schools, and the federal bureaucrats and federal judges out, and to shut down the Department of Education, and let the building sit there as a monument to the failure and folly of Big Government. If you want reform, vote Reform.
The Democratic Party will never reform education because it is held hostage by the teachers' unions. Republicans will never shut down the IMF, because if they did, the corporate lobbyists would cut off their room, board, tuition, beer and gas money. Neither Beltway party will drain this political swamp, because to them it is not a swamp; it is a protected wetland, their natural habitat. They swim in it, feed in it, spawn in it, and are as happy there as B'rer Rabbit was in his briar patch.
The Reform Party can reform American politics, because no one has a hook in us. And I give you my word: We will outlaw the glorified bribery they call "soft money" and put term limits on every member of Congress and federal judge. If eight years was enough for George Washington and Ronald Reagan, it is long enough for Teddy Kennedy and Barney Frank.
Friends, let me tell you about the man who stands before you tonight. Forty years ago, when I was trying to figure out what to do with my life, I read a line by Justice Holmes. A man, he said, must share the action and passion of his time, at peril of being judged not to have lived. So I have, and it has been a wonderful life.
I was a few feet away from Martin Luther King when he gave his "I have a dream" address at the Lincoln Memorial. I was in Philadelphia, Mississippi before they pulled the bodies of those civil rights workers out of that earthen dam. I was in the Conrad Hilton Hotel in 1968 when the Democratic Party came apart in the streets of Chicago. I was with Nixon in China, and Reagan at Reykjavik. I have served in three White Houses and seen presidents in their finest hours, and their darkest hours -- Nixon in Watergate, Reagan in Iran-Contra. I have something to give to my country, and that brings me to recall a moment in my life.
It was 1964, and I had gone up to see my oldest brother, Bill, at the Maryknoll seminary in Ossining, New York. In the prime of his youth, he had joined this mission order. I asked him why he did it. He told me: God has been good to our family and we have to give something back. My brother Bill is gone now; but his words haunt me still: God has been good to our family, and we have to give something back. That is why we are here: To create something new and good and alive, and give something back to this country, that has been so good to all of us.
The road to Long Beach has been long and hard, harder at times than we thought it would be. In this room are men and women who have worked from dawn to dark, and beyond, in malls, gas stations, and country stores, in Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Oklahoma, West Virginia, to get a million signatures to get us on the ballot. It is a tribute to your dedication and loyalty that we have not missed a single state. This fall, we shall go into battle in all fifty states.
"But why are you doing this?" people ask me. I will tell you. Because there has to be one party that has not sold its soul for soft money. There has to be one party that will stand up for our sovereignty and stand by our workers who are being sacrificed on the altar of the Global Economy. There has to be one party that will defend America's history, heritage and heroes against the Visigoths and Vandals of multiculturalism. There has to be one party willing to drive the money-changers out of the temples of our civilization.
What are we fighting for? To save our country from being sold down the river into some godless New World Order, and to hand down to our children a nation as good and as great as the one our parents gave to us -- forever independent, forever free. That's what this Gideon's Army is fighting for; and we will fight on and on and on and on -- until God Himself calls us home.
ACCEPTANCE STATEMENT OF RALPH NADER
For the Green Party Nomination for President of the United States
Denver, Colorado, June 25, 2000
On behalf of all Americans who seek a new direction, who yearn for a new birth of freedom to build the just society, who see justice as the great work of human beings on Earth, who understand that community and human fulfillment are mutually reinforcing, who respect the urgent necessity to wage peace, to protect the environment, to end poverty and to preserve values of the spirit for future generations, who wish to build a deep democracy by working hard for a regenerative progressive politics, as if people mattered — to all these citizens and the Green vanguard, I welcome and am honored to accept the Green Party nomination for President of the United States.
The Green Party stands for a nation and a world that consciously advances the practice of deep democracy. A deep democracy facilitates people’s best efforts to achieve social justice, a sustainable and bountiful environment and an end to systemic bigotry and discrimination against law-abiding people merely because they are different. Green goals place community and self- reliance over dependency on ever larger absentee corporations and their media, their technology, their capital, and their politicians. Green goals aim at preserving the commonwealth of assets that the people of the United States already own so that the people, not big business, control what they own, and using these vast resources of the public lands, the public airwaves and trillions of worker pension dollars to achieve healthier environments, healthier communities and healthier people.
These goals are also conservative goals. Don’t conservatives, in contrast to corporatists, want movement toward a safe environment, toward ending corporate welfare and the commercialization of childhood? Don’t they too want a voice in shaping a clean environment rooted in the interests of the people? Don’t they too want a fair and responsive marketplace, for their health needs and savings? Let us not in this campaign prejudge any voters, for Green values are majoritarian values, respecting all peoples and striving to give greater voice to all voters, workers, individual taxpayers and consumers. As with the right of free speech, we may not agree with others, but we will defend their right to free speech as strongly as we do for ourselves.
Earlier this year, I decided to seek your nomination because obstacles blocking solutions to our society’s injustices and problems had to be overcome. Feelings of powerlessness and the withdrawal of massive numbers of Americans from both civic and political arenas are deeply troubling. This situation had to be addressed by fresh political movement arising from the citizenry’s labors and resources and dreams about what America could become at long last. The worsening concentration of global corporate power over our government has turned that government frequently against its own people, denying its people their sovereignty to shape their future. Again and again, the will of the people has been thwarted and the voice of the people to protest has been muted.
In the past, citizens who led and participated in this country’s social justice movements faced steep concentrations of power and overcame them. A brief look at American history is instructive today. Common themes occur from the Revolution of 1776 against King George III’s empire to the anti-slavery drives and women’s suffrage movements of the 19th century, to the farmers’ revolt against the large banks and railroads that began in 1887, and on to the trade union, civil rights, environmental and consumer protection initiatives of the 20th century, culminating in the demands for equity by Americans who are discriminated against due to their race, gender, tribal status, class, disability or sexual preference.
All these movements took on excessive power, pressed for relinquishment or sharing of that power despite vigorous opposition by elements of the dominant business community. Many years were lost to the resolutions of these injustices before justice began to prevail and corporate power receded. However, when citizens won, and Tory merchants, cotton slave holders and corporations were compelled to share that power with the people they oppressed or excluded, America was a better place for it. America became more beautiful. Moreover, the companies behaved better and prospered more.
Over the past twenty years we have seen the unfortunate resurgence of big business influence, generating its unique brand of wreckage, propaganda and ultimatums on American labor, consumers, taxpayers and most generically, American voters. Big business has been colliding with American democracy and democracy has been losing. The results of this democracy gap are everywhere to be observed by those who suffer these results and by those who employ people’s yardsticks to measure the quality of the economy, not corporate yardsticks and their frameworks. What we must collectively understand about the prevalent inequalities is important because so many of these conditions have been normalized in our country.
Over the next four and one half months, this campaign must challenge the campaigns of the Bush and Gore duopoly in every locality by running with the people. When Americans go to work, wondering who will take care of their elderly parents or their children, irritated by the endless traffic jams, stifled by their lack of rights in the corporate workplace, ripped off by unscrupulous sellers and large companies, put on telephone hold for the longest times before you get an answer to a simple question–so much for this modern telecommunications age, beset by having to pay for health care you cannot afford or drug prices you shouldn’t have to suffer, aghast at how little time your frenzied life leaves you for children, family, friends and community, overcome by the sheer ugliness of commercial strips and sprawls and incessantly saturating advertisements, repelled by the voyeurism of the mass media and the commercialization of childhood, upset at the rejection of the wisdoms of our elders and forebears, anxious over the ways your tax dollars are being misused, feeling that there needs to be more to life than the desperate rat race to make ends meet, then think about becoming a part of a progressive movement of Greens, of this citizens’ campaign, to change the political economy so that healthy environments, healthy communities, and healthy people become its overwhelming reason for being.
Look at Europe. During the Fifties and Sixties, several European countries provided all their citizens with health care coverage, day care and other services for children, labor laws which facilitate the organization of trade unions, a statutory "social wage" for all workers, union and non-union, providing one month paid vacations, retention of pay while caring for sick family members, pensions and other services. In the year 2000 A.D., most workers in our country do not have these basic rights. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, the United States was ranked 37th among nations in the world regarding the quality of health care a country provides its people. This is not only embarrassing but also unacceptable. Western European countries provided for their people thirty to fifty years ago. Why can’t we do it now in a period of economic boom? It’s possible. We can make a difference. Together we can chart a new course.
However, what we must first do, as I mentioned already, is to collectively understand the inequalities afflicting so many of our citizens to translate this understanding into a demand for solutions. What is so normalized now must now be defined as intolerable and unworthy of this great country of ours.
A collective understanding must distinguish peoples’ yardsticks to measure the quality of the economy from corporate yardsticks. Consider business money in politics which overpowers labor money by eleven to one. Corruption reaches new peaks every two years and further nullifies what the voting franchise is supposed to mean. What about the bragging about the economy’s nearly ten straight years of spectacular performance? Try applying people’s yardsticks instead of the measures of record GDP, corporate profits and stock exchange prices. A very different picture emerges. Because the benefits of this boom have accrued to the wealthier and especially wealthiest classes, the majority of Americans are left behind. There is over 20 percent child poverty, 25 percent for pre-school children. This is by far the highest percentage among comparable countries in the western world. There are about 47 millions workers, over one-third of the workforce, making less than $10 per hour, many at $5.25, $6.00, $7.00, with no or few benefits. The majority of workers still, after ten years of overall economic growth, make less today, in inflation adjusted dollars, and work 160 hours longer per year than workers did in 1973!
Moreover, today’s workers have to spend more to get to work and commute longer distances. They pay more for what were family functions that were once free or inexpensive. A record number of people are without health insurance. $6.2 trillion in consumer indebtedness to supplement living wages, and inadequate crumbling public works that serve the mass populace, from schools, health clinics, mass transits, drinking water systems and other services. The lower unemployment rate is masked by low wages and millions of part-time laborers who are registered as employed if they work 21 hours a week and cannot get a full-time job.
The need for more than one job to pay one’s bills, the fear and reality of medical expenses for the uninsured , the growing distance between home and job, home and shopping, the lack of affordable day care all combine to form a daily, exhausting frenzy with less time for children and community. Who designed this economy anyway? Was it topsy or was it economic forces beyond the control of regular people? An economy that grows with more ways to leave people behind raises the question of what will happen when a recession or worse occurs?
Then, there is the people’s yardstick for individuals who pay most of the taxes to their
governments. Given proliferating corporate tax shelters, trillions of dollars in corporate and individual tax havens overseas, corporate income tax contributions to the federal treasury are well under ten percent, notwithstanding awesomely record profits. Between 1981-83, a worker in a General Electric plant or office paid Uncle Sam more in actual total dollars than did giant GE which paid no federal income taxes on over $6 billion in profits and received a refund to boot.
In 1941, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis made a prescient observation when he wrote: "We can have a democratic society or we can have the concentration of great wealth in the hands of the few. We cannot have both." Today, that concentration of wealth and its political power has reached stunning intensities. In large companies, people who work in the same enterprise are now earning $1 for every $416 that the CEO takes away. In 1940, it was $1 for every $12. Today the financial wealth of the top 1 percent of households exceeds the combined wealth of the bottom 95 percent of American households. Earlier this year Bill Gates’ wealth was equal to the combined wealth of the poorest 120 million Americans. Whatever this enormous imbalance says about the Great software imitator from Redmond, Washington, it means that about tens of millions of Americans, who work year after year, decade after decade, are nearly broke. What democracy worth its salt would have led to this profound inequity? Globally, the combined annual income of the world’s poorest 3.5 billion people equals the world’s two hundred richest people who more than doubled their net worth between 1996 and 1999.
The net would be much smaller were other forms of corporate welfare such as subsidies, erased corporate debts to Uncle Sam, giveaways and bailouts to be subtracted. Of course, small businesses don’t have such complex shelters to avoid taxes. When small businesses get into trouble, they are free to go bankrupt, unlike speculating, mismanaged or corrupt big businesses that can go to Washington for a complex bailout.
What about measures of environmental devastation? These don’t appear on the balance sheets of Exxon, DuPont, General Motors, or Peabody Coal. Degrading the air, water and soil that we use does not register with any reports of such companies. Global warming, ozone depletion, oceanic deterioration and forest clear-cutting do not have company logos on them. GE still has not been held responsible for the PCB poisoning of the Hudson River and got away with a trivial charge for what it did to my home area’s Housatonic River.
A low level flight across the USA would reveal the enormous wounds and scars, toxic hotspots, runoffs and dumps exacted by the timber, mining, paper, chemical and metals industries, taking out the livability of entire communities and their legions of worker-victims. More coal miners have lost their lives from black lung disease and mine collapses in the past 110 years than all the American lives lost in WWII. And that is just one industry’s casualty toll. The epidemic of silent environmental violence continues. Whether it is the 65,000 Americans who die every year from air pollution, or the 80,000 estimated annual fatalities from hospital malpractice, or the 100,000 Americans whose demise comes from occupational toxic exposures or the environmental racism where the poor and their often asthmatic children live in pollution sinks, to cite a few preventable conditions. The mortality and morbidity toll is far in excess of the appalling street- level homicide numbers that amount to about 20,000 annually. The corporate youth addictors, tobacco and alcohol, the deliberate over-medicators, bear some responsibility for yet more fatalities and sicknesses.
The economic indicators preferred by Chairman Alan Greenspan and most politicians from the two parties exclude much more that matters to people: consumers who are defrauded, injured and killed by hazardous or mis-sold products and services such as drugs, medical devices, vehicles, pesticides, flammables, medical malpractices, insurance and bank reports, credit, low income repair and loan scams. These tragedies are ignored, although they do sometimes come before the courts and are covered in excellent major media investigative features. Then, to the chagrin of the dutiful reporters, too often nothing happens.
The percentage of union members in the private economy has just dropped below 10 percent, the lowest in 60 years and the lowest percentage in the western world. This indicator of people’s plight explains much more about why many workers do not earn enough to support their families, why they have to bear more of the health insurance premiums, if they receive any from their employer, and why they go without or endure shrinking retirement benefits.
What we must achieve is a stronger democracy to turn all these deplorable conditions around. Because we know from our own inner strength and knowledge as a nation and from the experiences of our courageous forebears who surmounted their injustices, we can and we must. Just as with past resistance, the dominant business lobbies are saying no to advanced consumer protection, no to environmental law enforcement, no to an end to corporate welfare on the backs of taxpayers, no to worker’s rights to decent living standards and safer workplaces. Simply read the mainstream press, along with stalwart smaller publications such as the Nation, Washington Monthly, Harpers, Atlantic Monthly, The Progressive magazine and the Progressive Populist, to name a few, and you will have your evidence, your heart-wrenching reports, your manifest injustices.
All this signifies the gradual closing down of civil society symbolizing an underdeveloped democracy and an overdeveloped plutocracy or corporate state, in short, business acquisition of government to serve its insatiable short-term interest.
This country has more problems than it deserves and more solutions than it uses. Because our democracy is underdeveloped, there is little accountability. The corporate commercialization of our country, our government, our universities, our schools, our youngsters, our very expectation levels continues unabated. Health, safety, justice, education, respect for the environment and future generations are subordinated to boundless greed and commercialism. Much of our foreign policy is driven by unsatiable corporate pressures to sell military hardware to both the Defense Department and directly to foreign dictators. This happens even if it goes against the interests of our country, taxpayers and the principle of prudently allocated public budgets. Weapons manufactures foist weapons systems onto the Pentagon, working through a PAC-greased, supine Congress. Lower level Pentagon analysts are left to fume in private, powerless to stop the waste and distortions of our policies.
There is more to collectively understand. Corporatization is fast going global with autocratic support structures such as the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO undermines our legitimate local state and national sovereignties which enable America to lead the way in worker, consumer, environmental standards. Global corporations command the capital, technology, labor and many governments. How have they used this unprecedented supremacy to alleviate the world’s problems? The big drug companies avoid research into global infectious diseases, such as malaria and TB, that claim millions of lives a year and are heading to our shores in drug resistant form. Despite adverse publicity over their duplicitous behavior, the tobacco companies are straining to hook every possible youngster in the Third World with portents of massive cancer and other tobacco-related deaths yearly. The munitions makers are busy expanding their lethal export trade, using your tax dollars in the form of subsidies.
The food processing giants and the fast food chains are busy displacing indigenous foods with fat and sugar pumps a la McDonalds fast food. At the same time, the biotechnology companies drive to change the nature of nature without answering basic scientific or need questions. The banking giants and their IMF and World Bank cohorts are continuing their structural adjustment polices in Third World countries that cut public budgets, end critical consumer subsidies and replace real food acreage with cash crops for exports, while imposing environmentally damaging megaprojects that enrich the local oligarchy. The timber companies, working directly or through local firms are rapidly destroying the rich biological diversity of the equatorial forests. The large energy companies want these countries to buy more nuclear and coal-burning plants, develop the same fossil fuel-nuclear alliances that undermine local renewable solar technologies and energy efficiencies. By cutting such deals and supporting dictatorial regimes and the domestic oligarchies, democratic developments that would help the people, for example, land reform, agrarian credit, cooperatives, trade union rights, and political reforms are stymied and destroyed.
These conditions come back to plague us one way or another, as in the billions of wasted taxpayer dollars Congress has appropriated for the International Monetary Fund. When we overspend on munitions, the arms companies make money. Should we wage peace through preventative diplomacy and defense, they would make very little. One would think with the demise of the Soviet Union ten years ago, we would have had that Peace Dividend allocated to improve peoples lives.
Fifty years after World War II, tens of thousands of our troops are still in Europe and East Asia, defending prosperous nation allies who are fully capable of defending themselves against non-existent enemies. Yet, useless massive weapons systems remain on the drawing boards to further mortgage our fiscal future and drain money and talent from long overdue civilian projects.
At home our criminal justice system, being increasingly driven by the corporate prison industry that wants ever more customers, grossly discriminates against minorities and is greatly distorted by the extremely expensive and failed war on drugs. These prisons often become finishing schools for criminal recidivists. At the same time, the criminal justice system excludes criminally behaving corporations and their well defended executives.
A most insidious influence of corporations is their way of making us feel powerless, as did the auto industry for so many years. They did this by withholding information on better ways to build cars that they know how to design. We grow up corporate, thinking that this is the way things are and that will always be and reducing our expectation levels in the process. It was Ford Company Vice President William Gossett who wrote in 1959 candidly, that the modern corporation is the dominant institution in our society.
* * *
I grew up corporate at a time of the ascendancy of the motor vehicle highway expansion and the deliberate tearing up of the electrified trolley system (by GM and company) and blocking new systems of public transit. Research information about unsafe cars, sponsored by the Department of Defense, because soldiers were dying in highway crashes here at home in large numbers, liberated my civic perspectives. Good things happened. As a nation, in 1960 we started to raise our expectations about what levels of safety, emission controls, fuel efficiency should come with motor vehicles. As a result of federal regulation, motor vehicles became much safer than they were and millions of casualties have been prevented since then. The options were much wider than we had been led to believe.
We can remind ourselves that through our state governments, we give business corporations the charter that brings them into existence. We can, therefore, as was done in the 19th century, condition this charter on good behavior and withdraw the charter for recidivist companies which then become subject to trusteeships for rehabilitating the companies with new leadership. Bad trade unions had to undergo such rehabilitation. Ultimately, it is always the people who bear the fundamental responsibilities to correct the course of their societies and their wayward institutions.
One of those critical responsibilities is to ensure that our children are well cared for. This is an enormous undertaking because our children are now exposed to the most intense marketing onslaught in history. From the age of 9 months to 19, years precise corporate selling is beamed directly to children separating them from their parents, an unheard of practice formerly, and teaching them how to nag their beleaguered parents as unpaid salesman for companies. There is a bombardment of their impressionable minds.
Through television, the Internet stores, samples and mailings, these companies convey their message to the little ones. They teach them how to crave junk food, thrill to violent and pornographic programming, interact with the virtual reality mayhem. The marketeers are keenly aware of the stages of child psychologies, age by age, and know how to turn many into Pavlovian specimens powered by spasmodically shortened attention spans as they become ever more remote from their own family.
Conditioned to become gazers and spectators for an average of 30 hours a week, youngsters now register as more obese and out of shape than any previous generation since 1900 when such records began to be collected. Their teachers see the results of this addictive commercial exploitation, the rat pack product conformity, the intrusion of commerce into the schools themselves. This does not prepare the next generation to become literate, self-renewing, effective citizens for a deliberative democracy. Instead, this commercial traffic makes them even more vulnerable to the streets.
So offensive are these intrusions to the basic norms of nurturing a wholesome childhood that people, conservative and liberals alike are joining together to protest, demand restraints and encourage a wider association of adults, including retired adults, with children. There are good reasons why every major religion long ago warned about giving too much power to the merchant mind. Why? Because its singular focus and its self-driven impulses run roughshod over the more non-commercial values that define a worthy society.
How badly do we want a just and decent society, a society that raises our expectation levels about ourselves and our community, a society that foresees and forestalls future risks, a society that has the people planning the future of their country, not global corporations as is the case now? A just and decent society is the dream of all those good citizens across our land who fight the good fight daily, it is the dream of the Green Party, it is the dream of a growing number of people seeking to involve themselves more actively in reclaiming this democracy of ours.
This campaign is about strengthening our Republic with "liberty and justice for all" so that freedom is defined as participation in power: power to solve our problems and diminish our injustices that cause such pain and stultify so many Americans and their children. It is good to have such dreams, my mother would tell us, but she added a challenge. She taught us that determination puts your dream on wheels. Together we reviewed the problems and have understood that inequalities are getting worse. Together we can change the course of events as our forebears did. With commitment, dedication and determination we can put our dreams on wheels in this campaign.
The people of this country have options. There are more citizen organizations and individuals knocking on the doors of their governments than a government responding. This means we must persist until we prevail. There are hopeful signs across the country as this campaign is demonstrating. We are campaigning all over the country with citizen groups on the ground who are working to lift standards of living and quality of life. The tide is starting to turn.
Last year our campaign promised to journey to all fifty states. I am the only Presidential candidate to have completed campaigning in every state of our country since the first of March. In Boise, Idaho, recently, a reporter asked me: "Since Bush is expected to win Idaho and Gore has essentially conceded Idaho, neither of them are coming here, why did you? "Because," I replied, "if you’re going to run for President of the United States, you should campaign in every one of our states."
Campaigning with the people in all the places we visited is illuminating and heartwarming. The impulse for changes as if people mattered are visible everywhere. Let me share some examples.
In Toledo, Ohio, we joined with members of a community of some 80 householders and 16 small businesses taken by the City, under threat of eminent domain, to provide Daimler/Chrysler with a landscaping area. Already, the cowed city had given Chrysler ample acreage for its Jeep Plant. The city of Toledo cleared the land for the giant company, absorbed any environmental liabilities, gave Daimler/Chrysler a long tax holiday as part of a nearly $300 million package in federal, state and local subsidies. The auto company got the additional land it wanted for its shrubbery and a long-time cohesive neighborhood was utterly demolished just like Detroit’s Poletown in the 1980s. A World War II veteran told us that when he was fighting the fascists, he never dreamed his long-time home would be taken for corporate shrubbery. In stark contrast, Daimler/Chrysler, recording record profits, had $20 billion cash in the bank. ~
In Madison, Wisconsin, we marched with workers picketing for a livable wage. They were working for an independent contractor who provided services for the University of Wisconsin.
In Atlanta, we stood in solidarity with a large homeless shelter in the downtown Business District where homeless people are not supposed to be seen. The city has not given the Shelter a kitchen permit for two years.
In Nashville, Tennessee, I met Tom Burrell, now running for the U.S. Senate on the Green Party line. Mr. Burrell returned from Vietnam to work in the auto industry and then came home to Tennessee to farm a large tract of land. There he learned about the shocking state of Black farmers in America, dispossed of most of their land and forced to give up their farms over the last seventy years, in no small part due to blatantly discriminatory behavior by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Department is only now offering to make inadequate amends. Mr. Burrell has been a transforming leader of these farmers seeking recompense and land. We had reported on this situation nearly 30 years ago.
In Boston, right next to Fenway Park, we gathered with members of the neighborhood at a news conference. The issue was a forthcoming demand by the Boston Red Sox organization that some $300 million in tax monies be used to help build a new ballpark nearby. The neighborhood groups, disturbed by diversion of tax dollars from neglected needs of the city, wondered why renovation of this historic park was not wiser than demolition. Did not the Red Sox learn from the experience of the New England Patriots football team who were sent fleeing back to Boston after their $500 million bonanza for a stadium in Hartford was successfully blocked? There, an aroused citizen coalition spearheaded by the Connecticut Green Party effectively routed the power of a determined executive-legislative alliance by the Republicans and Democratic parties.~
In Montana and Idaho, we heard unassailable arguments that stopping the logging in national forests made superior environmental, economic and job sense. Enjoy these forests now and for future generations rather than destroy them for 3 percent of the nation’s annual timber harvest and $1.2 billion of annual taxpayer subsidies to the timber barons. "Let the Forests breath for us," America’s great environmentalist, David Brower told us.
In Hartford, Connecticut’s grim inner city amidst the office buildings of the affluent insurance companies, we met with clergy from the Churches and social activists and discussed what this so called booming economy has left behind in misery, deprivation and neighborhood heroics.
In Nebraska and Iowa we learned about the shocking crisis of much rural farm country where small farmers and ranchers, despite working from dawn to dusk, cannot make a living. They are being mercilessly squeezed by giant suppliers and giant buyers, who are relentlessly driving toward an industrialized corporate-contract agriculture mutated by genetic engineering.
In Hawaii, we visited one of the only two plots in the United States (the other is on the Pine Ridge Reservation) legally permitted to grow industrial hemp, that 5000 year old, versatile plant with thousands of uses, including textiles, fuel, food and paper. A fraction of an acre was surrounded by barbed wire fence, saturation night lights inside a larger fenced area. This medieval experience brought home once again that for the sake of farmers, the environment, consumers and energy independence, it is necessary to free industrial hemp from the proscribed list of U.S. Drug and Enforcement Agency.
In West Virginia, the misbehavior of King Coal is painfully visible. Some coal companies think nothing of blowing the tops off of mountains and producing a polluting rubble and consequent jamming of streams for many miles. Imagine! Against prevailing public opinion, King Coal is dynamiting mountains, whose lore and beauty formed the natural space for the mountain people. There was no objection from the Clinton-Gore Administration. Similarly, the company that operates the giant incinerator, an extremely hazardous polluter in southwestern Ohio benefitted from the broken promises of the Clinton-Gore team made in 1992, to the citizen groups that fought and continue to fight to shutdown the incinerator.
From Minnesota, my vice-presidential running mate, Winona LaDuke and called a conference of tribal leaders about the need to respect Treaties, and end the budgetary and other discriminations against the impoverished reservations. This is long over due.
Around the country from Delaware to Kentucky to Oregon to Minnesota, we joined with students deeply involved with the anti-sweatshop movement and with workers who have lost their jobs to these sweatshops abroad. We surveyed and confirmed the need for modern public transit and the wonderful new technologies that community groups were demanding to enable low- income people to get to work and to relieve the enormous time wasted in chocking bumper to bumper traffic. We spoke with nurses from coast to coast about furthering their leading role in advancing patients’ rights, the quality of health care and universal health care for all. And, a tip of the hat to the California Nurses Association, the standard-setter for unions everywhere, for being the first union to support this Green Party Presidential campaign.
How uplifting were our conversations with peace and nuclear arms reduction groups whose members, most of them sagacious, experienced and determined elderly women and men whose concern is first and foremost for the "Seven Generations" ahead. They set a new standard for grandparenting. We should recall that the nuclear freeze movement began in town meetings in New England.
We saw struggling small businesses, the Main Street core of their community, slipping before the onslaught of the Walmarts and other giant chains that have privileges not available to these merchants. We met with volunteers and donors at receptions filled with civic activists excited over the premises and promise of an expanding Green Party. It would take about one million Americans, pledging 100 volunteer hours a year and raising $100 a year, advancing a broad and deep agenda for the just society congenial to millions of other Americans, to establish a majority political Party in a few years.
The citizens of this country are not a backdrop for political maneuvering by big business. They are central to a democratic politics. They are central for reality testing, to help the politicians stay close to growing inequalities because politicians can insulate themselves by design. Did we really need a World Health Organization report to tell us how badly we stand on health care issues? Big money in electoral politics produces a kind of institutional insanity. This campaign will set an example of what can be accomplished with the honest dollars of individuals, by refusing to take PAC money or use soft money. This is a sane choice, now and in the future. It offers the citizens of this country an authentic role in defining and solving problems.
A progressive political party is most authentic when it connects with or arises from citizen movements and does not forget where it is coming from or the reason for its being. Major changes for the betterment of human beings start with major changes of direction. Such changes start with small steps taken by each individual and their community together with other individuals and these small steps evolve into ever larger steps which are thereby more tested and surefooted.
The question we have to ask of ourselves is how badly, how urgently do we want these changes? Do we want public financing of public elections, which will remove any roadblocks to progress? Do we want universal, accessible and quality health care, with an emphasis on prevention, for all children, women and men in America, at long, long last? Do we want the repeal of restrictive labor laws such as Taft-Hartley which fuel the obstruction of trade union organizing for tens of millions of American workers who do not earn a livable wage? Do we want adequate budgets and do we have the willpower for enforcing and strengthening the environmental, consumer protection and job safety laws against corporate crime, fraud and abuse so often and well reported in the mainstream media but, alas, to so little effect? Do we want to end hundreds of billions of dollars of corporate welfare, the so familiar subsidies, giveaways and bailouts? Do we wish to discover the small and medium-size businesses in the Social Venture Network, and other places that believe in sustainable economies, like the Interface Corporation in Atlanta, Georgia, so as to refute the chronic nay saying of Big Business? Can we not move our rich country to become a society that abolishes poverty? Do we want an expansive transformation of our energy sources to the many kinds of solar energy, some of which have been around for centuries? Do we wish to advance the appropriate technologies that define efficiency and productivity as if consumers, environment and workers mattered?
Do we want to elevate the many civil servants in our federal government above the demeaning stereotypes that politicians have pasted on them and liberated their knowledge, insights and imagination to make government our servant?
Can we assure that these civil servants — physicians, engineers, scientists, lawyers, cost analysts, procurement managers and others — have a place where they can bring their conscience and ethics to work everyday?
Do we want our own media, our own television, radio and cable networks as a functioning and deliberative democracy desires and needs? Do we want to reserve part of the public airwaves which the people own in the first place for programming that reflects our solutions, our cultures, our sense of the heroic and the many models of little known success that need to be publicized and emulated?
Do we wish to so lift the horizons of the pursuit of happiness in our society through the pursuits of justice so that bigotry, discrimination and virulent intolerance recedes toward oblivion?
Do we wish to expand the definition of national security and national purpose to show how, with reasonable amounts of knowledge, resources and goodwill, we can rapidly begin to defeat the global scourges of poverty, contagious disease, illiteracy, lack of shelter, environmental devastation, and to recognize the genius of Third World peoples to help it flower?
Isn’t it about time that the United States government stop supporting dictatorships and avaricious oligarchies with our tax monies, munitions and diplomacy? Isn’t it time that our government takes a cue from numerous studies and model projects, and advances foreign policies that support the peasants and the workers for a change.
Do we want to say to the 70 million non-voters, the Greens want to help you build a new beginning? Here is your chance to come forth and support what you have long wished for, a progressive movement that is for the people because it is of the people.
To the contented classes in America, the top five percent on the income ladder, I ask, is your choice only to exit or is it also to voice? Your income enables you to exit and buy bottled water when you are concerned about the quality of your communities’ drinking water, to send your children to private schools, and to move to some more pleasant community. But you are the people who can get your calls returned. You are the citizens who can give voice to the powerless and the beleaguered to improve their conditions.
My classmates at Princeton University and Harvard Law Schools have chosen to voice. Over ten years ago our Princeton class of 1955 established a Center for Civic Leadership to place undergraduates in dozens of civic organizations dedicated to systemic change. The Center is also pursuing a major effort to reorder our public health budget so that a major assault on global tuberculosis can be mounted. In 1993, members of my Law School class of 1958 established the Appleseed Foundation that organized state-based Centers for Law and Justice. Over a dozen of these centers are underway, for the purpose of furthering systemic approaches to systemic injustices. How many other older alumni classes, undergraduate and graduate, can develop their systemic initiatives for building democracy and justice?
A progressive political movement highlights civic energies which are dedicated to the proposition that a society which has more justice is a society that needs less charity. Too many good people are walking around with invisible chains which restrict their contributions to the good life for themselves and their fellow citizens. A progressive political movement liberates their wisdom, judgment, experience, creativity and idealism.
To the millions of retired Americans with such capacities, a progressive political movement offers endless opportunities for this community-based patriotism to blossom. We need you in this fresh campaign. Small numbers of large corporations are playing roulette with the planet.
To the youth of America, I say, beware of being trivialized by the commercial culture that tempts you daily. I hear you saying often that you’re not turned on to politics. The lessons of history are clear and portentous. If you do not turn on to politics, politics will turn on you. The fact that we have so many inequalities demonstrates this point. Democracy responds to hands-on participation. And to energized imagination. That’s its essence. We need the young people of America to move into leadership positions to shape their future as part of this campaign for a just society. Let’s prepare to take the politicians and the lobbyists on a tour of the People’s America.
Two premises are basic to this political campaign. First, that a basic function of leadership is to generate more leaders, not more followers. Secondly, this political movement is first and foremost movement of thought, not of belief. There is nothing wrong with beliefs but it would be better to have them preceded by thought and followed by action.
By debating, phoning, e-mailing, and marching during the next four months, we the people will grow a new political start, a green plant pushing up between the two fossil parties.
With a new progressive movement, we the people have the ability to vastly improve our lives and to help shape the world’s course to one of justice and peace for years to come.
February 21, 2000
Washington, D.C.
Statement of Ralph Nader, Announcing His Candidacy for the Green Party's Nomination for President
Today I wish to explain why, after working for years as a citizen advocate for consumers, workers, taxpayers and the environment, I am seeking the Green Party's nomination for President. A crisis of democracy in our country convinces me to take this action. Over the past twenty years, big business has increasingly dominated our political economy. This control by the corporate government over our political government is creating a widening "democracy gap." Active citizens are left shouting their concerns over a deep chasm between them and their government. This state of affairs is a world away from the legislative milestones in civil rights, the environment, and health and safety of workers and consumers seen in the sixties and seventies. At that time, informed and dedicated citizens powered their concerns through the channels of government to produce laws that bettered the lives of millions of Americans.
Nader Announces His Candidacy, Feb. 21, 2000 - Washington, D.C.
Today we face grave and growing societal problems in health care, education, labor, energy and the environment. These are problems for which active citizens have solutions, yet their voices are not carrying across the democracy gap. Citizen groups and individual thinkers have generated a tremendous capital of ideas, information, and solutions to the point of surplus, while our government has been drawn away from us by a corporate government. Our political leadership has been hijacked.
Citizen advocates have no other choice but to close the democracy gap by direct political means. Only effective national political leadership will restore the responsiveness of government to its citizenry. Truly progressive political movements do not just produce more good results; they enable a flowering of progressive citizen movements to effectively advance the quality of our neighborhoods and communities outside of politics.
I have a personal distaste for the trappings of modern politics, in which incumbents and candidates daily extol their own inflated virtues, paint complex issues with trivial brush strokes, and propose plans quickly generated by campaign consultants. But I can no longer stomach the systemic political decay that has weakened our democracy. I can no longer watch people dedicate themselves to improving their country while their government leaders turn their backs, or worse, actively block fair treatment for citizens. It is necessary to launch a sustained effort to wrest control of our democracy from the corporate government and restore it to the political government under the control of citizens.
This campaign will challenge all Americans who are concerned with systemic imbalances of power and the undermining of our democracy, whether they consider themselves progressives, liberals, conservatives, or others. Presidential elections should be a time for deep discussions among the citizenry regarding the down-to-earth problems and injustices that are not addressed because of the gross power mismatch between the narrow vested interests and the public or common good.
The unconstrained behavior of big business is subordinating our democracy to the control of a corporate plutocracy that knows few self-imposed limits to the spread of its power to all sectors of our society. Moving on all fronts to advance narrow profit motives at the expense of civic values, large corporate lobbies and their law firms have produced a commanding, multi-faceted and powerful juggernaut. They flood public elections with cash, and they use their media conglomerates to exclude, divert, or propagandize. They brandish their willingness to close factories here and open them abroad if workers do not bend to their demands. By their control in Congress, they keep the federal cops off the corporate crime, fraud, and abuse beats. They imperiously demand and get a wide array of privileges and immunities: tax escapes, enormous corporate welfare subsidies, federal giveaways, and bailouts. They weaken the common law of torts in order to avoid their responsibility for injurious wrongdoing to innocent children, women and men.
Abuses of economic power are nothing new. Every major religion in the world has warned about societies allowing excessive influences of mercantile or commercial values. The profiteering motive is driven and single-minded. When unconstrained, it can override or erode community, health, safety, parental nurturing, due process, clean politics, and many other basic social values that hold together a society. Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Supreme Court Justices Louis Brandeis and William Douglas, among others, eloquently warned about what Thomas Jefferson called " the excesses of the monied interests" dominating people and their governments. The struggle between the forces of democracy and plutocracy has ebbed and flowed throughout our history. Each time the cycle of power has favored more democracy, our country has prospered ("a rising tide lifts all boats"). Each time the cycle of corporate plutocracy has lengthened, injustices and shortcomings proliferate.
In the sixties and seventies, for example, when the civil rights, consumer, environmental, and women's rights movements were in their ascendancy, there finally was a constructive responsiveness by government. Corporations, such as auto manufacturers, had to share more decision making with affected constituencies, both directly and through their public representatives and civil servants. Overall, our country has come out better, more tolerant, safer, and with greater opportunities. The earlier nineteenth century democratic struggles by abolitionists against slavery, by farmers against large oppressive railroads and banks, and later by new trade unionists against the brutal workplace conditions of the early industrial and mining era helped mightily to make America and its middle class what it is today. They demanded that economic power subside or be shared.
Democracy works, and a stronger democracy works better for reputable, competitive markets, equal opportunity and higher standards of living and justice. Generally, it brings out the best performances from people and from businesses.
A plutocracy-rule by the rich and powerful-on the other hand, obscures our historical quests for justice. Harnessing political power to corporate greed leaves us with a country that has far more problems than it deserves, while blocking ready solutions or improvements from being applied.
It is truly remarkable that for almost every widespread need or injustice in our country, there are citizens, civic groups, small and medium-sized businesses and farms that have shown how to meet these needs or end these injustices. However, all the innovative solutions in the world will accomplish little if the injustices they address or the problems they solve have been shoved aside because plutocracy reigns and democracy wanes. For all optimistic Americans, when their issues are thus swept from the table, it becomes civic mobilization time.
Consider the economy, which business commentators say could scarcely be better. If, instead of corporate yardsticks, we use human yardsticks to measure the performance of the economy and go beyond the quantitative indices of annual economic growth, structural deficiencies become readily evident. The complete dominion of traditional yardsticks for measuring economic prosperity masks not only these failures but also the inability of a weakened democracy to address how and why a majority of Americans are not benefitting from this prosperity in their daily lives. Despite record economic growth, corporate profits, and stock market highs year after year, a stunning array of deplorable conditions still prevails year after year. For example:
A majority of workers are making less now, inflation adjusted, than in 1979
Over 20% of children were growing up in poverty during the past decade, by far the highest among comparable western countries
The minimum wage is lower today, inflation-adjusted, than in 1979
American workers are working longer and longer hours-on average an additional 163 hours per year, compared to 20 years ago-with less time for family and community
Many full-time family farms cannot make a living in a market of giant buyer concentration and industrial agriculture
The public works (infrastructure) are crumbling, with decrepit schools and clinics, library closings, antiquated mass transit and more
Corporate welfare programs, paid for largely by middle-class taxpayers and amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars per year, continue to rise along with government giveaways of taxpayer assets such as public forests, minerals and new medicines
Affordable housing needs are at record levels while secondary mortgage market companies show record profits
The number of Americans without health insurance grows every year
There have been twenty-five straight years of growing foreign trade deficits ($270 billion in 1999)
Consumer debt is at an all time high, totaling over $ 6 trillion
Personal bankruptcies are at a record level
Personal savings are dropping to record lows and personal assets are so low that Bill Gates' net worth is equal to that of the net assets of the poorest 120 million Americans combined
The tiny federal budgets for the public's health and safety continue to be grossly inadequate
Motor vehicle fuel efficiency averages are actually declining and, overall, energy conservation efforts have slowed, while renewable energy takes a back seat to fossil fuel and atomic power subsidies
Wealth inequality is greater than at any time since WWII. The top one percent of the wealthiest people have more financial wealth than the bottom 90% of Americans combined, the worst inequality among large western nation
Despite annual declines in total business liability costs, business lobbyists drive for more privileges and immunities for their wrongdoing.
It is permissible to ask, in the light of these astonishing shortcomings during a period of touted prosperity, what the state of our country would be should a recession or depression occur? One import of these contrasts is clear: economic growth has been decoupled from economic progress for many Americans. In the early 1970s, our economy split into two tiers. Whereas once economic growth broadly benefited the majority, now the economy has become one wherein "a rising tide lifts all yachts," in the words of Jeff Gates, author of The Ownership Solution. Returns on capital outpaced returns on labor, and job insecurity increased for millions of seasoned workers. In the seventies, the top 300 CEOs paid themselves 40 times the entry-level wage in their companies. Now the average is over 400 times. This in an economy where impoverished assembly line workers suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome frantically process chickens which pass them in a continuous flow, where downsized white and blue collar employees are hired at lesser compensation, if they are lucky, where the focus of top business executives is no longer to provide a service that attracts customers, but rather to aquire customers through mergers and acquisitions. How long can the paper economy of speculation ignore its effects on the real economy of working families? Pluralistic democracy has enlarged markets and created the middle class. Yet the short-term monetized minds of the corporatists are bent on weakening, defeating, diluting, diminishing, circumventing, coopting, or corrupting all traditional countervailing forces that have saved American corporate capitalism from itself.
Regulation of food, automobiles, banks and securities, for example, strengthened these markets along with protecting consumers and investors. Antitrust enforcement helped protect our country from monopoly capitalism and stimulated competition. Trade unions enfranchised workers and helped mightily to build the middle class for themselves, benefiting also non-union laborers. Producer and consumer cooperatives helped save the family farm, electrified rural areas, and offered another model of economic activity. Civil litigation-the right to have your day in court-helped deter producers of harmful products and brought them to some measure of justice. At the same time, the public learned about these hazards.
Public investment-from naval shipyards to Pentagon drug discoveries against infectious disease to public power authorities-provided yardsticks to measure the unwillingness of big business to change and respond to needs. Even under a rigged system, shareholder pressures on management sometimes have shaken complacency, wrongdoing, and mismanagement. Direct consumer remedies, including class actions, have given pause to crooked businesses and have stopped much of this unfair competition against honest businesses. Big business lobbies opposed all of this progress strenuously, but they lost and America gained. Ultimately, so did a chastened but myopic business community.
Now, these checkpoints face a relentless barrage from rampaging corporate titans assuming more control over elected officials, the workplace, the marketplace, technology, capital pools (including workers' pension trusts) and educational institutions. One clear sign of the reign of corporations over our government is that the key laws passed in the 60s and 70s that we use to curb corporate misbehavior would not even pass through Congressional committees today. Planning ahead, multinational corporations shaped the World Trade Organization's autocratic and secretive governing procedures so as to undermine non-trade health, safety, and other living standard laws and proposals in member countries.
Up against the corporate government, voters find themselves asked to choose between look-a-like candidates from two parties vying to see who takes the marching orders from their campaign paymasters and their future employers. The money of vested interests nullifies genuine voter choice and trust. Our elections have been put out for auction to the highest bidder. Public elections must be publicly financed and it can be done with well-promoted voluntary checkoffs and free TV and Radio time for ballot-qualified candidates.
Workers are disenfranchised more than any time since the 1920s. Many unions stagger under stagnant leadership and discouraged rank and file. Furthermore, weak labor laws actually obstruct new trade union organization and leave the economy with the lowest percentage of workers unionized in more than 60 years. Giant multinationals are pitting countries against one another and escaping national jurisdictions more and more. Under these circumstances, workers are entitled to stronger labor organizing laws and rights for their own protection in order to deal with highly organized corporations.
At a very low cost, government can help democratic solution building for a host of problems that citizens face, from consumer abuses, to environmental degradation. Government research and development generated whole new industries and company startups and created the Internet. At the least, our government can facilitate the voluntary banding together of interested citizens into democratic civic institutions. Such civic organizations can create more level playing fields in the banking, insurance, real estate, transportation, energy, health care, cable TV, educational, public services, and other sectors. Let's call this the flowering of a deep-rooted democratic society. A government that funnels your tax dollars to corporate welfare kings in the form of subsidies, bailouts, guarantees, and giveaways of valuable public assets can at least invest in promoting healthy democracy.
Taxpayers have very little legal standing in the federal courts and little indirect voice in the assembling and disposition of taxpayer revenues. Closer scrutiny of these matters between elections is necessary. Facilities can be established to accomplish a closer oversight of taxpayer assets and how tax dollars (apart from social insurance) are allocated. This is an arena which is, at present, shaped heavily by corporations that, despite record profits, pay far less in taxes as a percent of the federal budget than in the 1950s and 60s.
The "democracy gap" in our politics and elections spells a deep sense of powerlessness by people who drop out, do not vote or listlessly vote for the "least-worst" every four years and then wonder why after another cycle the "least-worst" gets worse. It is time to redress fundamentally these imbalances of power. We need a deep initiatory democracy in the embrace of its citizens, a usable brace of democratic tools that brings the best out of people, highlights the humane ideas and practical ways to raise and meet our expectations and resolve our society's deficiencies and injustices.
A few illustrative questions can begin to raise our expectations and suggest what can be lost when the few and powerful hijack our democracy:
Why can't the wealthiest nation in the world abolish the chronic poverty of millions of working and non-working Americans, including our children?
Are we reversing the disinvestment in our distressed inner cities and rural areas and using creatively some of the huge capital pools in the economy to make these areas more livable, productive and safe?
Are we able to end homelessness and wretched housing conditions with modern materials, designs, and financing mechanisms, without bank and insurance company redlining, to meet the affordable housing needs of millions of Americans?
Are we getting the best out of known ways to spread renewable, efficient energy throughout the land to save consumers money and to head off global warming and other land-based environmental damage from fossil fuels and atomic energy?
Are we getting the best out of the many bright and public-spirited civil servants who know how to improve governments but are rarely asked by their politically-appointed superiors or members of Congress?
Are we able to provide wide access to justice for all aggrieved people so that we apply rigorously the admonition of Judge Learned Hand, "If we are to keep our democracy, there must be one commandment: Thou Shall Not Ration Justice"?
Can we extend overseas the best examples of our country's democratic processes and achievements instead of annually using billions in tax dollars to subsidize corporate munitions exports, as Republican Senator Mark Hatfield always used to decry?
Can we stop the giveaways of our vast commonwealth assets and become better stewards of the public lands, better investors of trillions of dollars in worker pension monies, and allow broader access to the public airwaves and other assets now owned by the people but controlled by corporations?
Can we counter the coarse and brazen commercial culture, including television which daily highlights depravity and ignores the quiet civic heroisms in its communities, a commercialism that insidiously exploits childhood and plasters its logos everywhere?
Can we plan ahead as a society so we know our priorities and where we wish to go? Or do we continue to let global corporations remain astride the planet, corporatizing everything, from genes to education to the Internet to public institutions, in short planning our futures in their image? If a robust civic culture does not shape the future, corporatism surely will.
To address these and other compelling challenges, we must build a powerful, self-renewing civil society that focuses on ample justice so we do not have to desperately bestow limited charity. Such a culture strengthens existing civic associations and facilitates the creation of others to watch the complexities and technologies of a new century. Building the future also means providing the youngest of citizens with citizen skills that they can use to improve their communities. This is the foundation of our campaign, to focus on active citizenship, to create fresh political movements that will displace the control of the Democratic and Republican Parties, two apparently distinct political entities that feed at the same corporate trough. They are in fact simply the two heads of one political duopoly, the DemRep Party. This duopoly does everything it can to obstruct the beginnings of new parties including raising ballot access barriers, entrenching winner-take-all voting systems, and thwarting participation in debates at election times
As befits its name, the Green Party, whose nomination I seek, stands for the regeneration of American politics. The new populism which the Green Party represents, involves motivated, informed voters who comprehend that "freedom is participation in power," to quote the ancient Roman orator, Cicero. When citizen participation flourishes, as this campaign will encourage it to do, human values can tame runaway commercial imperatives. The myopia of the short-term bottom line so often debases our democratic processes and our public and private domains. Putting human values first helps to make business responsible and to put government on the right track.
It is easy and true to say that this deep democracy campaign will be an uphill one. However, it is also true that widespread reform will not flourish without a fairer distribution of power for the key roles of voter, citizen, worker, taxpayer, and consumer. Comprehensive reform proposals from the corporate suites to the nation's streets, from the schools to the hospitals, from the preservation of small farm economies to the protection of privacies, from livable wages to sustainable environments, from more time for children to less time for commercialism, from waging peace and health to averting war and violence, from foreseeing and forestalling future troubles to journeying toward brighter horizons, will wither while power inequalities loom over us.
Why are campaigns just for candidates? I would like the American people to hear from individuals such as Edgar Cahn (Time Dollars for neighborhoods), Nicholas Johnson (television and telecommunications), Paul Hawken, Amory and Hunter Lovins (energy and resource conservation), Dee Hock (on chaordic organizations), James MacGregor Burns and John Gardner (on leadership), Richard Grossman (on the American history of corporate charters and personhood), Jeff Gates (on capital sharing), Robert Monks (on corporate accountability), Ray Anderson (on his company's pollution and recycling conversions), Johnnetta Cole, Troy Duster and Yolanda Moses (on race relations), Richard Duran (minority education), Lois Gibbs (on community mobilization against toxics), Robert McIntyre (on tax justice), Hazel Henderson (on redefining economic development), Barry Commoner and David Brower (on fundamental environmental regeneration), Wendell Berry (on the quality of living), Tony Mazzocchi (on a new agenda for labor), and Law Professor Richard Parker (on a constitutional popular manifesto). These individuals are a small sampling of many who have so much to say, but seldom get through the evermore entertainment-focused media. (Note: mention of these persons does not imply their support for this campaign.)
Our political campaign will highlight active and productive citizens who practice democracy often in the most difficult of situations. I intend to do this in the District of Columbia whose citizens have no full-voting representation in Congress or other rights accorded to states. The scope of this campaign is also to engage as many volunteers as possible to help overcome ballot barriers and to get the vote out. In addition it is designed to leave a momentum after election day for the various causes that committed people have worked so hard to further. For the Greens know that political parties need also to work between elections to make elections meaningful. The focus on fundamentals of broader distribution of power is the touchstone of this campaign. As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis declared for the ages, "We can have a democratic society or we can have great concentrated wealth in the hands of a few. We cannot have both."
Thank you.
The New Patriotism
Patrick J. Buchanan
Good morning. Today, I am ending my lifelong membership in the Republican Party, and my campaign for its nomination; and I am declaring my intention to seek the nomination of the Reform Party for the presidency of the United States.
This decision was not made without anguish and regret. I will forever cherish the memory of having been perhaps the only Goldwaterite in the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University in 1961. Nor will I ever regret my nine years of service to Richard Nixon, from his comeback campaigns of 1966 and '68, to our 49-state triumph of '72, through the final days of Watergate. I was with Nixon in China. And I also had the high honor of being Ronald Reagan's second in the Panama Canal debates, and at his side when that great president refused to give up missile defense and walked out of the summit at Reykjavik in Ronald Reagan's finest hour of the Cold War. From the thunderous reception we got at Houston in 1992, when I told the Buchanan Brigades we had to come home and stand beside George Bush, to the ovations at Ames, Iowa, last summer, when I faced off with his son, the Governor, the Republican party has been good to me. And I have tried to be loyal to it. But, as John F. Kennedy said, Sometimes party loyalty asks too much. And today it asks too much of us.
Today, candor compels us to admit that our vaunted two-party system is a snare and a delusion, a fraud upon the nation. Our two parties have become nothing but two wings of the same bird of prey. On foreign and trade policy, open borders and centralized power, our Beltway parties have become identical twins. Both supported NAFTA and GATT and the surrender of our national sovereignty to the WTO. Both supported the extension of nuclear war guarantees to the borders of Russia. Both supported the illegal war on Serbia. Both support IMF bailouts of corrupt regimes. Both vote for MFN trade privileges for a Communist Chinese regime that today targets missiles on American cities. The appeasement of Beijing is a bipartisan disgrace, and we will not be a part of it.
Neither party speaks for the forgotten Americans whose jobs were sent overseas to finance the boom market of the 1990s that the rest of us enjoy. Both parties are addicted to soft money. Both write laws with lobbyists looking over their shoulders. Both embrace the unprincipled politics of triangulation.
And neither fights today with conviction and courage to rescue God's country from the cultural and moral pit into which she has fallen. The day of the outsider is over in the Beltway parties; the money men have seen to that. Never again will our political establishment permit a dissident to come as close to capturing a nomination as we did in 1996. They have rearranged the primary schedule and rigged the game to protect the party favorites.
Candidates of ideas need not apply, as both parties seek out the hollow men, the malleable men, willing to read from teleprompters speeches scripted by consultants and pollsters for whom the latest print-out from the Focus Group is sacred text.
We choose not to play our assigned role in their sham election. My friends, this year is our last chance to save our republic, before she disappears into the godless New World Order that our elites are constructing in a betrayal of everything for which our Founding Fathers lived, fought, and died.
Only the Reform Party offers the hope of a real debate and a true choice of destinies for our country. "If we don't go now, Pat," I have been told by loyalists all across America, "every cause for which we fought for seven years will die." Well, we can't let those causes die, because they are America's cause. So let me say to the money boys and the Beltway elites who think that, at long last, they have pulled up their drawbridge and locked us out forever: You don't know this peasant army. We have not yet begun to fight.
So, let me lay out our Patriots' Road for America. With the Cold War over, we shall craft a foreign policy for a new century rooted in the great tradition of Washington, Jefferson and John Quincy Adams who wrote:
Wherever the standard of freedom and independence...shall be unfurled, there will [America's] heart, her benedictions and her prayers be....But she goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy.
I pledge to you: I will never send an American army to fight in a foreign war, unless our country is attacked or our vital interests are imperiled. They call us "isolationists." Well, if they mean I intend to isolate America from the bloody territorial and ethnic wars of the new century, I plead guilty. It is the first duty of a statesman: to keep his country out of wars that are not his country's quarrel. And the junk yards of history are strewn with the wreckage of republics and empires that failed to learn that lesson.
We intend to dust off an ancient document and restore it to its rightful place as the altar piece of American government. You may have heard of it. It's called the Constitution of the United States. Under the Constitution, before America goes to war, the Congress must declare war. By my reading of the Constitution, the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who take an oath of loyalty to the United States, are never to be used as the imperial troops of anybody's New World Order. We will bring our soldiers home where they belong; and rebuild our military might and morale so no nation will dare attack us.
And the first step to restore that morale is to evict from the Bully Pulpit of the Oval Office, our own Elmer Gantry, Mr. Clinton, whose desecration of that temple of our civilization, and squalid behavior, render him unfit to serve as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States.
We Americans are a good and generous people. Our tradition of being first at the scene of natural disasters, providing food and shelter for the victims, is rooted in deep our hearts. That tradition we shall maintain. But IMF bailouts of deadbeat dictators must end; and we must phase out foreign aid and start looking out for the forgotten Americans right here in the U.S.A.
It is time for a New Patriotism, where America's sovereignty is wholly and fully restored. And if, as Secretary General Kofi Annan has threatened, we will lose our vote in the United Nations, if we don't give him the billion dollars he says we owe him, I would give Mr. Kofi this word of advice: Sir, don't go there. Because if our vote in the UN is in jeopardy, your lease on Turtle Bay is in jeopardy.
As for America's immense trade deficits, even Mr. Greenspan is now alarmed, as they approach four percent of our entire economy. Because of NAFTA and GATT, America's industrial base has been hollowed out, our manufacturing workers, who support families on a single wage, have been forced to compete with sweatshop labor abroad; and our country has been left dependent on imports for the vital necessities of national life.
We must cut out these cancerous trade deficits and make America a self-reliant nation again. And to those who prattle on about out duties to the Global Economy, let me say it again: I'm not running for president of the world; I'm running for President of the United States.
But of all the needs of this nation, none is greater for our peace and happiness than racial reconciliation. The backsliding toward hyphenated-Americanism must end. Let us abolish quotas and set-asides, these un-American devices that reward individuals based on what color they are, or what continent their kinfolk came from. Let us abandon a sterile and futile politics of victims-and-villains, and rediscover what brings us all together as one nation and one people. All of us must learn our English language. All of us must come to know our common history, heritage, and American heroes, so we can get our great Melting Pot working its magic again. Any man or woman from any continent or any country can be a good American. We know that. But it takes time to assimilate the thirty million who have come in the last thirty years. And we need time. Indeed, we need a time-out on legal immigration, to ease the downward pressure on workers' wages and to defeat the forces of separatism that threaten us and nations all over the world.
This land is our land; it belongs to all of us, immigrant and native-born alike; and it would be unpardonable ingratitude if we, the children of pioneers and patriots of every color, continent, and creed, lost this last best hope of earth, because we could not learn to live with one another, and could not learn to love one another.
If America stands for anything in this world, it is freedom. Yet today America is among the most over-taxed, over-regulated, and over-governed societies in history. Our Federal Government collects a fifth of all the wealth we produce and controls perhaps half of it. Can anyone name a single regulation that has been repealed in ten years, or a single agency that has been abolished? Even the National Endowment for the Arts soldiers defiantly on.
We need to restore the old constitutional division of labor in government. Defense and foreign policy are the province of the federal government, but welfare and education are the business of state and local governments. And in children's education, parents come first, teachers second, and federal judges not at all.
Mr. Bush says his Department of Education will write tests for fourth grade children in Idaho. But if I am elected president, the bureaucrats at the Department of Education are not going to be testing kids; they're going to be testing the magic of the market place. And all federal money for the school children of America will be sent back to the school districts of America, where accountability begins and authority belongs.
We need a new Supreme Court where only constitutionalists need apply, a court that will respect both states rights and human rights, that will begin to undo the damage done this nation by judicial aggressions, beginning with that abomination they call Roe v. Wade.
We need a President and a Congress that will pick up the whip the Founding Fathers left in Article III of the Constitution-to herd the justices back into the narrow stalls to which they were first consigned by Hamilton and Madison.
What is a self-governing people doing, waiting meekly each week for nine jurists to tell us how we may govern ourselves? As our fathers threw off a tyranny of kings, let us throw off this tyranny of judges-and let America be America again!
As for our IRS tax code, it is an insult to a free people, the product of an endless series of corrupt bargains between lobbyists and legislators. Let us rip this weed out by its roots, cut taxes to the lowest level in modern history, eliminate taxes on savers and small business, and shift the burden where it belongs, on a transnational elite that has no loyalty to any country.
For every tax on manufactured goods that are made in the U.S.A, let us put an equal tax on foreign goods dumped in the U.S.A. For every tariff China puts on us, let us put an equal tariff on them. That way, Mr. Clinton's campaign contributors down at the Chinese embassy can start contributing to the upkeep of the Seventh Fleet.
Friends, ours is truly the best of times and the worst of times. With our miraculous advances in medicine, science, and technology, none of us would want to go back to yesterday. But something good has been lost from those years as well: The old patriotism, a popular culture that undergirded the values of faith, family, and country, the idea that we Americans are a people who sacrifice and suffer together, and go forward together, the mutual respect, the sense of limits, the good manners; all are gone. My life has been spent in the great and good vocations of politics, journalism, and government. None commands the respect it once did; all today are in disrepute.
I cannot think of a time since Watergate, so poisoned with rancor and hostility, and I don't know if any president can change that, the way Ronald Reagan infused his time with his spirit and unabashed love of country. But I do know this: I will try.
America needs a Government of National Unity and Reconciliation that draws from the best of all parties, and I promise you: I will create that kind of government. And if we build it, they will come.
My friends, all the great empires of Europe that began our century so full of swagger and bombast came crashing down to ruin. All are now surrendering their identities and their independence to a super state that pays homage to the god of Mammon. America alone still endures, independent and free. The great questions before us are these: Shall we, too, yield to their temptation, follow their path, and suffer their fate? Is the call to empire irresistible? Is a world government inevitable? Or can America remain forever a light unto the nations, an example to mankind of how a free people should govern themselves, a republic above whose sovereignty stands the sovereignty of God alone.
That is our cause. And so it is that in the name of the Founding Fathers, we go forth to rescue America, and we will not quit this fight as long as there is breath within us.
God save the Republic, and God bless America.
Source: Pat Buchanan for President Official 2000 Web Site
Following is the text of Republican presidential candidate U.S. Senator John McCain's announcement speech.
I have the privilege of beginning my campaign with you here in New Hampshire, but I began this day as I began my career of service to our nation...in the company of United States Naval Academy midshipmen.
Whenever I see those young men and women, and think of their dedication and the purposeful careers on which they will soon embark, I am reminded of how lucky I was to have been one of them. So there is no more appropriate place
for me to have begun this mission than Annapolis.
I do not announce my candidacy to satisfy my personal ambitions. My life has already been blessed more than I deserve.
I don't begin this mission with any sense of entitlement. America doesn't owe me anything. I am the son and grandson of Navy admirals, and I was born into America's service. It wasn't until I was deprived of her company that I fell in love with America. And it has been my honor to serve her and her great cause - freedom. I have never lived a day since that I wasn't thankful for the privilege.
It is because I owe America more than she has ever owed me that I am a candidate for President of the United States.
I run for President because I want to return our government back to whom it belongs—the people. So that Americans can believe once again that public service is a summons to duty and not a lifetime of privilege.
I run because I believe deeply in the greatness of America's destiny and in the goodness of our cause. We are a lantern of freedom and opportunity to the world, the bright beacon of hope that our fathers died to bequeath us,
and our children will be asked to defend.
Unless we restore the people's sovereignty over government, renew their pride in public service, reform our public institutions to meet the demands of a new day, and reinvigorate our sense of national purpose we will deny
our destiny, we will abandon the cause our founding fathers called glorious.
The first responsibility of the next president will be keep our country safe so that we might secure for ourselves and humanity a future worthy of our highest aspirations. That obligation requires a commander-in-chief who has the experience to understand and lead a volatile and changing world.
Although the next century will hold many dangers for America and our cause, it will, more than ever, be an age of untold possibilities for good. It is our destiny to seize this opportunity to build a safer, freer and more
prosperous nation and a world free of the tyranny that has made the passing century such a violent age.
This is a great and worthy cause that beckons us all. It is bigger than any one of us. It is larger than personal ambition. It is more important than self-seeking.
At a young age I discovered how liberating it is to sacrifice with others for a cause greater than self-interest. I run for President because I want the next generation of Americans to know the sense of pride and purpose of serving a cause greater than themselves.
I entered politics with the same expectations I had when I was commissioned an ensign in the Navy. First among them was my belief that serving my country is an honor, indeed, the most honorable life an American can lead.
As a candidate, I will campaign with respect for the dignity of the office I seek and the people I seek to serve. On my honor, I swear to you that from my first day in office to the last breath I draw, I will do everything
in my power to make you proud of your government.
Something has gone terribly wrong when parents no longer want their children to grow up to be President. That shames me, that shames me. And I want to do something about it.
When our government has been taken from us by the special interests, the big-dollar donors, pride is lost to shame. When our politics are corrupted by money and lies, trust is lost to cynicism.
We have a choice. We can continue to watch as the American people grow ever more alienated from the practice and institutions of democracy. We can continue to tolerate a government that has become little more than a spectacle of selfish ambition, a government auctioned to the highest bidder.
Or, we can take a stand.
We can stand together to take up our country's cause. We can fight together to reclaim our government from those who corrupt it; to rescue our political system from those who debase it; to defend the proposition that democracy is
not only the most effective form of government, but the only moral government.
This is our New Patriotic Challenge. It is a challenge to each of us to join in the fight against the pervasive cynicism that is debilitating our democracy, that cheapens our public debates, that threatens our public institutions, our culture and, ultimately, our private happiness. It is a
fight to take our government back from the power-brokers and special interests, and return it to the people, and the noble cause of freedom it was created to serve.
If we are to meet the challenges of our time, we must take the corrupting influence of special interest money out of politics. Restoring honesty to our political system is the gateway through which all other policy reforms must pass.
To make our schools better, we must reduce the influence of the teachers unions and their lobbyists.
To improve our health care system, we must rein in the power of trial lawyers and the influence of insurance companies.
To relieve the tax burden imposed on working families we must eliminate the special interest loopholes and pork barrel spending that are the result of a campaign financing system that is nothing more than a sophisticated
influence peddling scheme.
And once we win our government back, there is no limit to what we can accomplish.
If elected President, I will not allow your Social Security money to be used for any purpose except Social Security -- no ifs, ands, or excuses.
Social Security money will be taken completely off budget - every single dollar. So politicians can't get their hands on your retirement money to finance another big government scheme.
I will keep the promise that Bill Clinton broke. I'll reserve more than sixty percent of the surplus to save Social Security. And I'll do it in the first year of my presidency. It won't be easy, but being President isn't
supposed to be easy.
My commitment to save Social Security will not prevent me from providing vital tax relief to the millions of Americans who have been overcharged by government for years. I will cut taxes, not for the special interests and
the big-dollar donors, but for the working men and women of this country.
I will repeal the indefensible tax penalty that punishes couples who want to get married.
I will slash the inheritance tax that penalizes those who wish to leave the fruits of their labor to their children.
I will end the earnings test penalty for seniors that taxes their income twice and denies them the self-respect that comes from working.
And I will dramatically increase the number of Americans who qualify for the lowest tax rate of fifteen percent by raising the eligible income to $70,000 per couple.
I'll pay for middle class tax relief by using the surplus funds not needed to save Social Security, and with the money saved by eliminating tax loopholes and corporate welfare that serve powerful special interests at
your expense.
Day after day, I have fought to stop Congress from treating your money like lottery winnings. I want you to know, what every member of Congress knows, that if I am President, I will refuse to sign any pork barrel bill that crosses my desk. And if Congress overrides my veto and tries to force me to waste your money, I'll make sure you know who they are - every single one of them.
Fixing a broken political system is the key to necessary reform in almost every area where the government touches your life. But nowhere are the stakes greater than in the education of our children.
First and most importantly let's return control of education back to parents and teachers. We can do this by sending ninety percent of all federal education dollars back to community classrooms rather than wasting it on
Washington bureaucrats. Let's put your child's education back in the hands of someone who knows your child's name.
It's time that we encourage and reward excellence, for students and teachers alike.
There's no reason on earth that a good teacher should be paid less than a bad Senator. But all pay should be based on merit, and teachers should be periodically tested for competence. Parents demand it; now they will finally
have the control to require it.
Every child in every classroom deserves a teacher who is qualified and enthusiastic about teaching. Some people just aren't meant to be teachers, and we should help them find another line of work. Because if teachers can't teach, our kids can't learn.
Our children deserve the best education we can provide to them, whether that learning takes place in a public, private or parochial school. It's time to give middle and lower income parents the same right wealthier families
have -- to send their child to the school that best meets their needs. It's time to conduct a nationwide test of school vouchers. It's time to democratize education.
I have fought to make sure that every American child has access to the technological wonders that are remaking our world. Some day very soon every school in America will be wired to the Internet. Children on the Navajo reservation in Northern Arizona and children from the wealthiest
neighborhoods will have access to the same information.
The blessings of technology give us the means to breach the walls of ignorance and isolation. At the dawn of a new American century we face the prospect of reaching the full promise of our founding ideal that all men are created equal by giving all Americans access to information and knowledge, and an equal opportunity not only to pursue, but to attain happiness.
Education is the great equalizer and used wisely, the information revolution will hasten the end of a two-tiered society of haves and have nots, and advance human freedom into the even the darkest corners of tyranny.
Our ideals have made much progress in the world. But if they are to advance further we will need the service of all our children, not just the sons and daughters of a privileged elite. We need capable, committed leaders from
every part of American society to continue the American experiment and promote the American cause in a still dangerous world.
There is no safe alternative to American leadership. The history of this violent century has surely taught us that. We cannot hide behind empty threats, false promises, meaningless rhetoric, and photo op diplomacy. We must confidently defend our interests and values wherever they are threatened. And the first priority of our world leadership is to protect our own security.
As President, I won't ask how much security we can afford. I'll ask how much security do we need, and I will find the resources to pay for it. But I won't tolerate one dime of our defense budget being wasted to re-elect shortsighted politicians who put their own ambitions before the national
interest.
I believe that President Clinton has failed his first responsibility to the nation by weakening our defenses. But he's not the only one to blame. Both parties in Congress have wasted scarce defense dollars on unneeded weapons
systems and other pork projects while 12,000 enlisted personnel, proud young men and women, subsist on food stamps.
And we shortchange those priorities most vital to our security, including training, missile defense, weapons modernization, and counter-terrorism.
My friends, our nation has a unique place in the world. We are the greatest force for good on earth. We chart history's course. Yes, we must be involved in the destiny of other nations. But that does not mean we have
relinquished our sovereignty. It means we have persuaded much of the world to share our ideals. And that's not a cause for concern. It's a cause for hope.
We Americans are a strong confident people. We know that in open competition our ideals, our ingenuity, and our courage ensure our success. Isolationism and protectionism are a fool's errand. We should build no walls in a futile attempt to keep the world at bay. Walls are for cowards, not for us.
We are the world's only superpower. We must accept the responsibilities along with the blessings that come with that distinction. And if America is to lead, then America's leader must be prepared for that challenge. The most
solemn responsibility given the President is the role of Commander-in-Chief.
When it comes time to make the decision to send our young men and women into harm's way, that decision should be made by a leader who knows that such decisions have profound consequences. There comes a time when our nation's
leader can no longer rely on briefing books and talking points, when the experts and the advisors have all weighed in, when the sum total of one's life becomes the foundation from which he or she makes the decisions that determine the future of our democracy.
When a President makes life-and-death decisions he should draw strength and wisdom from broad and deep experience with the reasons for and the risks of committing our children to our defense. For no matter how many others are
involved in the decision, the President is a lonely man in a dark room when the casualty reports come in.
I am not afraid of the burden. I know both the blessing and the price of freedom.
I am not afraid. I have faith in my country and the good men and women of every American generation who know the honor of defending our cause.
I am not afraid. I learned long ago how powerful America is when she has the courage of her convictions.
I am not afraid. My life has taught me that the strength and courage of others will always help sustain me in an hour of need.
I am not afraid, because I know that, as we prepare to take on the challenges of the next century, enough Americans will serve together a glorious cause greater than our narrow self-interests.
There are have always been those who question the moral imperative of American government and diplomacy. They are profoundly wrong. We embrace the virtues of inclusion in our party and in politics but we hold firm to our core national values.
We are all part of a great experiment: that people who are free to act in their own interests will perceive their interests in an enlightened way, and will gratefully accept the obligation of freedom to make of our wealth and power a civilization for the ages, a civilization in which all people share in the promise of freedom.
I have passed from a young man to an old one in the service of my country. When my time is over, I want only the satisfaction of knowing I was true to the faith of our fathers; true to the faith of a young Czech student who ten
years ago stood before a million of his countrymen, while a hundred thousand Soviet troops occupied his country, and read a manifesto that declared a new day for the people of Czechoslovakia. But he began that new day with borrowed words, when, trembling with emotion, he proclaimed:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
I want to be President to protect, until my life's end, our magnificent dream of freedom - God's great blessing to the world. And with your help I will.
Thank you.
Paid for by McCain 2000, Inc.
Source: John McCain for President Web Site
A Message from Alan
Transcript of Announcement Speech in Iowa on September 20, 1999
Dr. Keyes: Thank you, please have a seat. Thank you all for coming. I want first to make it very clear that the purpose of bringing you all together tonight is to clarify, if there had been any doubt in anybody's mind, that I am seeking and do intend to pursue the Republican nomination for President of the United States. (applause, cheering) I gather that there have been some efforts on the part of some folks around the state to try to muddy the waters of that, and I do want to spend a minute or two explaining exactly why I think that it is critical that the effort that we have been involved with continue, and why I believe that in spite of all the hype to the contrary, it is vitally important that it be successful. Cause after all is said and done, in the media right now, the folks who are bidding to usurp the role of the voters of this country, this election has already been declared over. We know who is going to represent the Republican Party according to these folks, and that in spite of the fact that a lot of the indications that they have out there, including these polls they take, I remember I appeared just recently on one of these news programs, Bernie Shaw or whoever it is, and at one point he asked me about standing in the polls. And I allowed as how a lot of these polls aren't even bothering to put my name forward, and so forth. And we got into a little back and forth about which ones they were. I thought it was ironic that within two or three days there was a little article in the newspaper about a poll that had been taken in New Hampshire. And they listed all these candidates and what they supposedly got in this poll, and sort of two-thirds of the way down the article they had an apology from the pollster cause they had inadvertently left out Alan Keyes. That was not inadvertence at all, it is the sad truth about the danger that we are facing right now, as a country and the danger I believe we face politically speaking within the ranks of the Republican Party. I think that this election, among other things, is about deciding as I have often said to audiences around this state, whether or not this republic, this system of self-government, is going to survive. Right now one of the dangers to that system of self-government is that the actual system of elections is being replaced by a system in which money and media will dominate instead of the votes of the people. (applause) If we stand back and allow that system to determine the outcome, then the republic is already dead, and we are already disenfranchised. And the whole aim of this system is so to demoralize people at the grass roots that they no longer care, try, or in any way to endeavor to make sure that their real views and interests are represented in our government and our political system. I do not believe that we can afford to surrender to that mentality, and I will not surrender to it. (applause) Whatever anybody cares to say, not a single vote has been cast in a single primary or caucus anywhere in these United States and until the people have had their say, there is no election result. (applause)
And I also, I want to make it clear though that I don't believe that from the point of view of those of us who share a heart for the renewal of America's moral foundations and characters, I don't want you to feel that this is going to be an easy road. I have never in any of my talks or speeches around the State of Iowa promised that to anybody. We are engaged in a life or death struggle for the soul of the United States . Those who have been over the course of many decades, attempting to subvert the moral foundations of this Republic's life are not in any mood to retreat from the field. And instead we see seeds of confusion and backtracking, even amongst the leadership of those who ought to be speaking for the heart of moral conservative America. I see the confusion everywhere. Folks whom I had at one point felt we could trust implicitly, particularly on issues that had to do with our moral principles, and now I don't know where they are. One of the individuals I never thought would enter into that category and now has done so is Pat Buchanan. And I say that not because he's changed his stand on any important issue of any kind, not explicitly. But I do have to wonder how anyone who is committed to the moral conservative agenda could consider for one moment moving from a party where we are battling to maintain the pro-life stance into a party where moral indifference has been the hallmark since they were founded. This makes no sense whatsoever. (applause)
I want to make it clear that I will not abandon the grass roots people of the Republican Party. I will not abandon their views, I will not abandon their heart, and I will not abandon the field and leave them with no choice whatsoever. (applause) We need, we need in the months ahead, leadership that will not equivocate with the major issues that confront us as a people, and especially with the issue of whether or not we will restore and rebuild the moral foundations of this nation's life. If we've learned anything in the course of the last several years, we have learned that that moral crisis is already having consequences that have devastated the integrity of our national institutions. Our presidency now lies under a cloud of humiliation and shame that is the direct result of the loss of our moral compass and our moral principles. We will not restore the integrity of these institutions by running away from the issues that are poisoning our moral conscience. We will not restore the integrity of our institutions by following leaders who when asked whether or not the pro-life position will be a litmus test for the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court, begin their answer by telling the American people they want to be vague about that. We cannot be vague about this nation's commitment to its moral principles. We cannot be vague about our insistence that those moral principles will be applied and respected in the interpretation of the most fundamental document of our life. We cannot afford candidates who will equivocate and who will vacillate and who will temporize with those things which are needed to influence and shape the conscience and heart of our people. Right now if we are to restore this nation's integrity, we will need to have leaders with the courage to look the American people in the eye and challenge them to return their own hearts to their proper allegiance to those principles which see our rights coming not from the Constitution and not from the Bill of Rights, and not from the courts and not from the legislatures, but from the Hand of Almighty God. (applause) And I believe, as I have believed since I first stood up in the presidential context several years ago, that it's not just a matter of making it clear that you take positions that are consonant with the views of moral conservatives on this issue or that. What we are fighting for in the Republican Party right now, we are fighting for the priority that must be given to these moral concerns. If they are put behind the issues of economics, put behind the issues of national sovereignty, put behind the issues of education, it's because the folks who are addressing those issues don't really understand what is at their heart. For in every area where we are faced with challenges, where we deal with crises, where we have to confront consequences that are bad and tragic, we can trace the roots of those challenges and crises to the loss of our moral integrity, our moral character, our moral judgment. We will not as a people have the confidence we need to reclaim our proper role as the self-governing and sovereign people of these United States until we have restored the moral sovereignty of our people. And I believe that there is no voice being raised in this primary season, right now, that has the integrity to stand without exception for that priority, unequivocally, everywhere, always, so that there will be a clear choice in favor of that priority that this country so desperately needs.
I have thought about this for a long time. And as some of you know, even to the I think dismay of some of my supporters here and elsewhere, I did not feel that I could simply step forward in disregard of some of the other folks who were standing forward and might very well, I hoped, have been people who could raise this standard. I have been disappointed to see that in many instances, we have some obviously who came forward for whatever reason and then decided that they would abandon the Republican fold. I will not follow them. I believe that the Republican Party's heritage is the heritage of moral principle, and we must fight to restore the party's allegiance to that heritage, not just in its grass roots heart, but in its leadership. And I will not abandon that fight. (applause)
But I am also not willing, I am also not willing, whatever the advice of some, to act as if it is possible to play games of expediency with this election challenge. I believe that the message that I must deliver and that must in good conscience be delivered everywhere, to every group, whatever their concerns, is the clear and unequivocal understanding that at the top of this nation's agenda comes the need to address the moral crisis that is destroying our people. Nothing is more important than that, and I will not pretend that it is. (applause) And I have listened carefully. I have watched the speeches. I have heard as people go from place to place, and one of the things that dismays me is that there is not a single candidate in this race who has not chosen from time to time to step back from that clear platform of priority, as if it is possible to go before a group that has economic or agricultural or other concerns, and leave at the door one's understanding of the real challenge that faces us all as Americans. I will not leave that challenge behind, not for the sake of expediency, not for the sake of calculation, because I believe that for the sake of this nation's survival we must have those with the courage to stand without exception for the need for this nation to face up to the moral corruption that is destroying our freedom. (applause) I will.
Now, on a practical level I also have the confidence that in the course of the last year and more, we have done our best in this effort to do our homework. I have gone from place to place, as some of you have surely witnessed. And you've noticed that at the end of all my talks anywhere I go in Iowa and elsewhere, I am not content to ask whether people are gonna vote for me and so forth and so on. I have asked that those who had the heart to do so come forward and take a pledge that they would commit themselves to vote for the agenda of moral priority at the caucuses and to find seven others who are willing to do so. And I believe that the hope that lies before us in this state and elsewhere is that unlike Bill Clinton and unlike a whole range of politicians who will not keep their word, I believe that the grass roots people of this state understand as our Lord says, that your yes is yes and your no is no. And that when they promise to work in this cause, they will keep their promises. We will challenge folks in Iowa and everywhere that they have come forward, to understand a simple truth. America will not keep its promise of liberty and justice and decency if we are not willing to keep our promise to sustain this agenda of moral priority. This was not a commitment made to this candidate or that candidate or the other candidate. It was a commitment made to support an agenda that unequivocally placed the moral crisis of this country at the top, without exception or equivocation, because we commonly believe in our hearts that this is the only way that we shall save this Republic's life. I time and again, at all of the gatherings I went to, promised people in this state and elsewhere that if I conscientiously reached the conclusion that no other candidate represented that agenda of priority, then I would make sure that it was represented in the caucus. We promised it faithfully. And I frankly don't care how good or ill it looks, I don't care how bleak some folks may think it becomes. Years ago when I first stood up in the process, in a speech in New Hampshire I talked about the kind of commitment that was going to be required from people of moral heart, if we were gonna turn this nation around. And I said then that whether we were few or many, or alone if need be, we had to stand with courage for that agenda of moral truth. And even if it turns out that Alan Keyes by his lonesome goes from place to place in this state and around the country, calling the conscience of America back to truth and right and the principles of the Declaration, I will stand there alone if I have to, because I know that God is with that truth. (applause) And just as that wonderful passage in the Bible where the circumstance are such that God keeps shaking out the army of the Israelites, He keeps shaking them out until He gets down to that gleaming core of integrity and dedication to His Truth that can in fact win the battle. And that I think is what the circumstances are doing for us in this election year. The calculators, the people of expedient mind, those who in the first place stood forward and started to raise the Name of God, not in His service, but in order to make use of His constituency, they are falling by the wayside. They are compromising, they are retreating, they are selling out, they are going to highest bidder in the hope of some success. But apart from the integrity of our principles there can be no success for this cause. And in the pursuit of that integrity, I will stand on the line that God has drawn for as long as it takes. And I would invite all people of heart, and commitment, and courage, and particularly those who have stood forward around this great state and taken the pledge of moral priority, to understand that the time has come to keep our promises. The time has come to become evangelists for this nation's moral renewal. The time has come to shake off the slough of despond, the time has come to turn away from the counsels of hesitation and despair and surrender, and to stand as we must stand before this nation, clear in this, that win or lose, if we have faith, then God has won the victory.
And I would, therefore, invite all of you and all of those many hundreds around this state who have stepped forward from time to time as I have gone from place to place, to look forward in the next few weeks to the work that must be done. For just as I stand before you here today and call to you to understand and keep that pledge to the agenda of moral priority, the success of this effort, as I often explain to folks, and I know that there may be some who, I don't know, maybe they forget or they think that I'm just saying words cause I feel like saying them, it's not true, this campaign, this effort was never, ever to be won by money or in the media or in any of those places that are dominated by the forces of mammon that seek to corrupt this country, there is only one place where the victory can be won, in the hearts and in the efforts of our people. If we have the heart and if we make the effort, then we alone can guarantee success. And in the course of the next several weeks, I'll be communicating with all the pledge takers, I'll be asking that they begin the work of fulfilling their word, as some have already done, as others need to do. Finding the recruits, sending in the names, building up the database that will, at the at the end of the day, be the only resource that can guarantee that on caucus night a clear and unequivocal word is spoken to this nation about the importance of renewing the nation's moral conscience and principles and spirit.
I know that there are those Republicans who listen to some of the things I say, I've been having fascinating experiences the last little while. I was just in Michigan addressing a breakfast there, and I will run down all of the things that I see going on for some of the Republican's right now who are signing on with some of the other candidates who are willing to put the important issues on the back burner, stand aside, equivocate, vacillate, do whatever they have to to win votes. And I will just point out that we need to stand with integrity for our principles, and we have to have leaders who won't equivocate, and do you realize that these folks, many of whom have already pledged their souls to those who are failing to pursue this agenda, they'll stand up and applaud and they'll act like they really care about this. The sad truth is that truth has its power. It moves the hearts even of those who do not have the heart to act according to its obligations. What we must try to do within the Republican Party today is bring the healing influence of the real grass roots to a cadre of leadership that has lost its way in the confusions of ambition and power. This is something that from time to time the people of this country are called to do if we are to preserve our heritage of self-government. It is hard work. It will require that in spite of all hesitation and embarrassment and this and that, we show a willingness to stand in our own circles, in our own families, amongst our own friends and our own workplaces, in our own churches, to issue the call for an unequivocal commitment to this agenda of principle. But I believe that if we are willing to do so, then that faithfulness will indeed be rewarded by our God, with a victory that will help to restore the hope that alone can come in this country from our dedication to the moral spirit of reverence for truth and for God that is in fact the basis of our claim to rights, and our hope for justice and liberty. Thank you very much. (applause)
Paid for and authorized by Keyes 2000
Source: Alan Keyes for President Web Site
REMARKS AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY BY AL GORE
ANNOUNCEMENT OF CANDIDACY
CARTHAGE, TN
JUNE 16, 1999
Wednesday, June 16, 1999
To my beloved family, to Tipper, to the people of Tennessee, and all of you: I see so many who have been my friends as far back as I can remember. You have always been there for me. And I begin this journey today to be there for you.
Two hundred years ago this summer, at the sunrise of America's first full century, veterans of the American Revolution came here and founded Smith County.
In their minds' eye, the very idea of what America could become was still then a barely discernible horizon. Yet they moved toward it, convinced of its fineness, certain the distance would yield a place better than they had ever known.
Each of us has our own sense of the next, finer horizon.
Near the beginning of this century, when my mother was a child in West Tennessee, a poor girl when poor girls were not supposed to dream, she looked out on a world where women could not even vote, and saw with her heart something better: a horizon of equality, where women, as well as men, could be and do their best.
I'm so glad she's here on this day.
Halfway through this century, when my father saw that thousands of his fellow Tennesseans were forced to obey Jim Crow laws, he knew America could do better. He saw a horizon in which his black and white constituents shared the same hopes in the same world. He fought against the Southern Manifesto and for voting rights. His last election was lost -- but his conscience won. He taught me all my life that that was what really counted.
I miss my dad; but I know he's here in spirit.
Early in this decade, we set out to put America back to work. And today, the gifts that surround us are great. We have built a strong and growing economy. For many of our families, it is a time of firsts: first child to go to college, first mortgage for a first home, first regular paycheck, first grandchild.
Under the policies President Clinton and I have proposed, instead of the biggest deficits in history, we now have the biggest surplus in history. Instead of quadrupling our national debt, we've seen the creation of almost 19 million new jobs. Instead of a deep recession and high unemployment, America now has our strongest economy in the history of the United States.
We remember what it was like seven years ago. And I never, ever want to go back. America always looks forward, to the next horizon.
I want to keep our prosperity going - and I know how to do it. I want to do it the right way - not by letting people fend for themselves, or hoping for crumbs of compassion, but by giving people the skills and knowledge to succeed in their own right in the next century.
And I want to extend our prosperity to the unskilled and underprivileged, to Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta, to our farms and inner cities, to our new immigrants, y tambien en las communidades.
But as important as prosperity is, there is more to long for: there is a hunger and thirst for goodness among us.
Just visible within a generation's journey is a new horizon: a 21st Century America with stronger families, stronger communities, and a more vital democracy -- in which we live and govern according to our highest American ideals.
I love this country with all my heart. I love free speech. I believe in its future. And I know that with our history as our rudder and our ideals as our compass, we can reach our new horizon.
And so today, I ask you to join with me, to keep our economy growing and to bring a new wave of fundamental change to this nation - starting with revolutionary improvements in our public schools.
I ask you to join with me, to build safe and livable communities, where we protect our environment, and restore the quality of life we deserve.
I ask for your help to strengthen family life in America. And I make you this pledge: if you entrust me with the Presidency, I will marshal its authority, its resources, and its moral leadership to fight for America's families.
With your help, I will take my own values of faith and family to the Presidency - to build an America that is not only better off, but better. And that is why today, I announce that I am a candidate for President of the United States.
Seven years ago, we needed to put America back to work -- and we did. Now we must build on that foundation. We must make family life work in America.
For the issue is not only our standard of living, but our standards in life. The measure is not merely the value of our possessions, but the values we possess.
We have closed our budget deficit. But today, we find a deficit of even greater danger, one that only seems to deepen the harder we work, and the better we do.
These are our deficits now: the time deficit in family life; the decency deficit in our common culture; the care deficit for our little ones and our elderly parents. Our families are loving but over-stretched.
These deficits cannot be measured in monthly economic tables, or even in the size of a family's paycheck.
To find them, you have to look harder - at the places our statistics do not describe:
The dinner tables that sit empty, when working parents do not have the time to share a meal with their children.
The entertainment that glorifies aggression and indecency, with lessons more vivid and overpowering than those in the classroom.
The schools where discipline is eroding - and the school hallways where guns and fear are becoming too common.
The communities where too many families hardly know their neighbors' names anymore - and find it too hard to honor an aging parent by keeping them and caring for them in the neighborhoods they love.
The crisis in the American family today knows no boundary of class or race. It is a challenge we share together, and it is one we must overcome together.
One of the best ways to help American families is by making America's public schools the finest in the world.
With your help, I will bring revolutionary improvement to our public schools. And I'll start by making high quality pre-school available to every child, in every community, all across the entire United States.
With your help, I will reduce class sizes, and establish high standards and accountability. I will make it easier for parents to save for college tuition - tax-free, and inflation-free. I will improve teacher quality, and treat teachers like professionals.
We have to have schools that instill the values and character we need in the next generation. And every school in America has to be drug-free and gun-free.
While some want to pass new protections for gun manufacturers, to shield them from lawsuits, I will work to get guns off the streets, out of the schools, and away from children and criminals.
We must also expand community policing, with more cops walking the beat. It's not enough to support the death penalty - which I do. We must also give police new crime-fighting tools to track every lead, catch every criminal, and protect every citizen.
And families deserve refuge from a culture of violence and mayhem. I will work to give parents the ability to protect their children from the marketing of cruelty and degradation.
Parents also deserve help balancing work and family. I want to bring after-school programs to every community in America. And no parent should have to risk losing a job to go to a parent-teacher conference at school, or to drive a child or an aging parent to the doctor. And I will expand the Family and Medical Leave Act, to make sure that we do just that.
Families deserve decent, affordable health care -- with good long-term care for their loved ones. Kids need their grandparents; grandparents need their grandkids. How many old people in America live in loneliness? I will make it easier for our elderly to get health care in their homes. And I will make sure that we pass the Patients' Bill of Rights.
And, I will never privatize Social Security or destroy it by diverting funds intended for Social Security. I will strengthen Social Security, not undermine Social Security.
While some want to raise the cost of Medicare and force seniors into HMO's, I will make sure that Medicare is never weakened, never looted, never taken away. I believe it is time also to help seniors pay for the prescription drugs they need. It's time we acted.
And Tipper and I want to see the day when mental illness is treated like any other illness, by every health plan in America.
And I see on the horizon an America where people with disabilities are fully respected for the abilities they have, everywhere in this land.
Responsible men and women must make their own most personal decisions based on their own consciences, not government interference. Some try to duck the issue of choice. Not me. American women must be able to make that decision for themselves. I will stand up for a woman's right to choose.
All these policy choices are important. But let's remember this: no executive action can mend a broken family. No legislation can reconnect a parent to a child, or a family to a grandparent. No proposal can change a culture that does not place family life at the top of our hierarchy of values, where it belongs.
So today, I say to every parent in America: it is our own lives we must master if we are to have the moral authority to guide our children. The ultimate outcome does not rest in the hands of any President, but with all our people - taking responsibility for themselves, and for each other. So my first promise is to ask you, each of you, to fulfill that American promise.
I want all of our communities to be working communities. We have moved more than six million people off our welfare rolls. Now we must make sure the jobs and opportunities are there, to restore self-sufficiency and self-esteem. And we must not only sustain the Earned Income Tax Credit, we must raise the minimum wage.
Families deserve work that pays. And I will fight for this simple principle: an equal day's pay for an equal day's work.
Families deserve real neighborhoods - where the word "neighbor" is not just a geographic term but a moral one. Let us become neighbors again.
We can create a true "politics of community" by working more closely with faith-based organizations to heal the afflicted, feed the hungry, and house the homeless in their own communities.
We can sustain such good, strong, livable communities - with green spaces where our children can thrive away from gangs and drugs. With smart growth, we can take back our neighborhoods from sprawl, and make the places our kids call home more than desolate stretches of structures and roads.
Some want to cut back on environmental protection and let polluters off the hook. I will never allow that to happen. The environment is our children's home too. We are in a crucial time when it comes to the health of our Earth; it is our children's most precious inheritance, without which everything else we leave them is meaningless.
We teach our kids respect by our own actions -- and also by showing respect ourselves for the God's green Earth. I will address the international challenge of global warming - with new technologies that create more jobs, and make our economy even stronger.
American families deserve a strong economy. I know what works. I will balance the budget or better -- every year. I will search out every last dime of waste and bureaucratic excess. I know how to do that. I will ask Congress for the power to reach new trade agreements, and open new markets to our goods and services -- but I will also ask for, and use, the authority to negotiate labor and environmental protections in those agreements, whenever necessary. My Administration will lay the foundation for groundbreaking economic innovation -- so that America leads the global new economy of the 21st Century.
We have an opportunity to shape a world of freedom and open markets, of rising living standards and human dignity all around the world.
But this world is still a dangerous place. We face new threats that know no borders: terrorism and rogue states, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and ancient ethnic hatreds that resurface to tear nations apart.
Make no mistake, America must lead the world. And we must always be strong enough to do so. I am proud that we refused to yield to the forces of barbarism in Kosovo. America refused to back down or look away from the face of ethnic slaughter. For an alliance of young democracies to rise up against a Medieval tyranny is the right way to end this millennium - having learned something. And let me say: President Clinton was right to stand for freedom.
I served my nation proudly in Vietnam. I have always, always been for a strong defense - above politics, above party, above partisanship.
And, I will always stand with America's veterans. And I am honored by the veterans who are standing with us here today.
They know foreign policy is no game, nor is it the proper arena for partisan politics, or easy soundbites. The world today is complex and volatile in the extreme -- more than it has ever been. You deserve a leader who has been tested in it -- who knows how to protect America, and secure peace and freedom.
Of course, as we defend democracy around the world, we must give democracy new strength and meaning here at home. We all know, inside of us, the way things are supposed to be in America. The way it is supposed to be, no one is hungry; no one is illiterate; no one faces prejudice. The way it is supposed to be, faith -- in ourselves and our mission on this Earth -- lights our steps.
But when all is said and counted, when we in our generation are finished adding up our deeds, our possessions, all our material and scientific advances, I believe we will ultimately be judged by whether we have strengthened or weakened the families that are the hope and soul of America.
I am not satisfied. Indeed, I am restless. I believe we can do better. I believe we must build on our success, not rest on it. I believe we have what it takes, not only to keep our economy strong, but also to make our values the strongest compass for our future, and the strongest force on Earth.
As we begin this new millennium, we will face many new questions. But the most important is as old as America itself. It's the one we faced at Concord and Lexington. The question at the heart of the Miracle at Philadelphia in 1776, and at every critical juncture since -- from the cliffs at Normandy to the bridge at Selma:
The question is: will we turn back now - or will we move forward?
That is the question I will put to you, the American people, in this campaign. History makes no promises to keep the good times going in the absence of our own wise choices. It is all too easy to slide backward if we are not vigilant, or if we allow ourselves to be seduced with eloquent words advancing harmful realities. No matter what language you speak:
Sin accion, las palabras no valen nada - aunque sean bonitas. Mis amigos, seguiremos, trabajando juntos, mano a mano, para el futuro de nuestras familias y nuestros ninos.
If you believe America must move forward - if you are ready for America to choose the good once more -- then let us lead this nation together. Come with me toward America's new horizon. Across that horizon stands the promise of our common values and prosperity - of strengthening every family, lifting every child, leveling every barrier, leaving no one behind.
Here, at the center of my home town, in the heart of America, in the midst of the people I love - that is the new horizon I see.
I need you for this journey. So together let us vow, in these first long days of summer, that we will work through the night, so that our children may make a clean start from the right place -- a higher place -- in a fresh century.
Thank you and may God bless you.
And God Bless America.
###
Source: Al Gore for President 2000 Web Site
Bush For President Announcement
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Saturday, June 12, 1999
What a pleasure it is to visit with you, to shake your hands. Laura and I are so grateful for your welcome, your enthusiasm, your confidence.
There will come a time for formal speeches and 10 point plans. But I know the question on your mind: Why are you thinking about running for president? So I’ll tell you what’s on my heart.
I’ll have a formal announcement sometime in the Fall. I have come here today to tell you this: I am running for President of the United States. There’s no turning back, and I intend to be the next President of the United States.
I’m running because our country must be prosperous. But prosperity must have a purpose. The purpose of prosperity is to make sure the American dream touches every willing heart. The purpose of prosperity is to leave no one out… to leave no one behind. I’m running because my party must match a conservative mind with a compassionate heart. And I’m running to win.
Prosperity is not a given. Some in this administration think they invented it. But they did not invent prosperity, any more than they invented the Internet. Governments don’t create wealth. Wealth is created by Americans -- by creativity and enterprise and risk-taking. But government can create an environment where businesses and entrepreneurs and families can dream and flourish.
We’ll be prosperous if we reduce taxes. I’ll have a plan that reduces marginal rates to create jobs, but a plan that also helps struggling families on the outskirts of poverty. I believe that after we meet priorities, all that remains must be passed back to Americans, so it will not be spent by Washington.
We’ll be prosperous if we reduce the regulations that strangle enterprise. And I will do what I did in Texas: fight for meaningful, real tort reform.
We’ll be prosperous if we embrace free trade. I’ll work to end tariffs and break down barriers everywhere, entirely, so the whole world trades in freedom. The fearful build walls. The confident demolish them. I am confident in American workers and farmers and producers. And I am confident that America’s best is the best in the world.
We must be prosperous to keep our commitments to the health and security and dignity of the elderly. And we should trust Americans by giving them the option of investing part of their Social Security contributions in private accounts.
And we must be prosperous to keep the peace. This is still a world of terror and missiles and madmen. And we are challenged by aging weapons and failing intelligence.
I will rebuild our military power – because a dangerous world still requires a sharpened sword.
I will move quickly to defend our people and our allies against missiles and blackmail.
And I will have a foreign policy with a touch of iron – driven by American values and American interests.
America must seize this moment. America must lead. Because America’s greatest export to the world is, and always will be, freedom.
America will be prosperous and strong if we do the right things. But prosperity alone is simple materialism. Prosperity must have a greater purpose. The success of America has never been proven by cities of gold, but by citizens of character. Men and women who work hard, dream big, love their family, serve their neighbor. Values that turn a piece of earth into a neighborhood, a community, a chosen nation.
That dream is so vivid – but still many are saying: The dream is not for me. Kids who turn schoolyards into battlefields. Children who corrupt their wills and souls with drugs, who limit their ambitions by having children themselves. Failed schools are creating two societies: one that reads and one that can’t; one that dreams and one that doesn’t.
These are burdens on the conscience of a successful nation. The next president must close this gap of hope. It is the great challenge to America’s good heart.
I want to be a president who sets a tone, a direction, an agenda. I will be an activist president, who sets goals worthy of a great nation. I won’t use my office as a mirror to reflect public opinion. And I’ll be guided by conservative principles. Government should do a few things, and do them well. Government should not try to be all things to all people.
My first goal is to usher in the responsibility era. An era that stands in stark contrast to the last few decades, when the culture has clearly said: If it feels good, do it. If you’ve got a problem, blame someone else. Each of us must understand we are responsible for the choices we make in life. We’re responsible for the children we bring into the world. We’re responsible to love our neighbor as we want to be loved ourselves.
And we must pass this message to our children -- teach them there are right choices in life and wrong choices in life. Drugs will destroy you. Alcohol will ruin your life. And having a child out of wedlock is a sure fire way to fall behind. We’ll love the babies. But the message must be clear: It is not the definition of a man to father a child out of wedlock and say, "They’re not my problem, they’re yours."
Some people think it’s inappropriate to draw a moral line. Not me. For our children to have the lives we want for them, they must learn to say yes to responsibility, yes to family, yes to honesty and work. I have seen our culture change once in my lifetime, so I know it can change again.
What can be done? Government can help. We can write laws to give schools and principals more authority to discipline children and protect the peace of classrooms. We must encourage states to reform their juvenile justice laws. We must say to our children, "We love you, but discipline and love go hand in hand, and there will be bad consequences for bad behavior."
But changing our culture requires more than laws. Cultures change one heart, one soul, one conscience at a time. Government can spend money, but it can’t put hope in our hearts or a sense of purpose in our lives. This is done by churches and synagogues and mosques and charities that warm the cold of life. A quiet river of goodness and kindness that cuts through stone.
So my second goal -- one of the biggest jobs for the next president -- is to rally these armies of compassion that exist in every community. To nurture. To mentor. To comfort. To perform their commonplace miracles of renewal.
As president, I will lift the regulations that hamper them. I will involve them in after-school programs, maternity group homes, drug treatment, prison ministries. I will lay out specific incentives to encourage an outpouring of giving in America. Supporting these men and women – the soldiers in the army of compassion -- is the next, bold step of welfare reform. Because changing hearts will change our entire society.
And my third goal. We should make a solemn commitment in this country: That every child will be educated. That no child will be left behind.
I believe in the power of high standards and high hopes. I have seen what works in my state. Raise the bar of expectations. Measure progress. Insist on results. Blow the whistle on failure. Don’t give up on anyone.
As president, I will give more flexibility and authority to states – but encourage local folks to measure results for every child. I will praise success – but shine a spotlight of shame on failure. If schools fail, we must be bold enough to challenge the status quo. And I am going to change Head Start – to teach our youngest children phonics so they can read, and the basics, so they can add.
Everyone must have a first rate education, because there are no second rate children, no second rate dreams.
You’ve heard me talk about compassionate conservatism. These goals are what I mean.
It is conservative to cut taxes. It is compassionate to help people save and give and build.
It is conservative to reform welfare by insisting on work. It is compassionate to take the side of charities and churches that confront the suffering which remains.
It is conservative to confront illegitimacy. It is compassionate to offer practical help to women and children in crisis.
It is conservative to insist on education standards, basics and local control. It is compassionate to make sure that not one single child gets left behind.
I know this approach has been criticized. But why? Is compassion beneath us? Is mercy below us? Should our party be led by someone who boasts of a hard heart? I know Republicans – across the country -- are generous of heart. I am confident the American people view compassion as a noble calling. The calling of a nation where the strong are just and the weak are valued.
I am proud to be a compassionate conservative. I welcome the label. And on this ground I’ll take my stand.
It is the ground I’ve stood as governor of Texas, a job I really love. I know it isn’t the same as being president. But if Texas were a country, it would be the 11th largest economy in the world. And I’ve had some successes. We passed the two biggest tax cuts in Texas history. We reformed our welfare and tort laws. We improved test scores for all the children in our schools, especially African-American and Hispanic kids.
I’ve learned to lead. I don’t run polls to tell me what to think. I make decisions based on a conservative philosophy that is engrained in my heart. Trust local people to make right choices about their schools and cities. Understand that private property is the backbone of capitalism. Fight for American interests and American workers in the world. Know the importance of family and the need for personal responsibility. These are principles from which I will not vary.
I’ve learned you can not lead by dividing people. This country is hungry for a new style of campaign. Positive. Hopeful. Inclusive. A campaign that attracts new faces and new voices. A campaign that unites all Americans toward a better tomorrow.
I say a better tomorrow because I’ve learned that people want to follow an optimist. They don’t respond to the message: "Follow me, things are going to get worse." They respond to someone who appeals to our better angels, not our darker impulses. They respond to someone who sees better times – and I see better times.
I want you to imagine a campaign that carries this message. We will defend the American dream with sound economic policies and tax cuts. But we will also tell every American, "The dream is for you." Tell forgotten children in failed schools, "The dream is for you." Tell families, from the barrios of LA to the Rio Grande Valley: "El sueno americano es para ti." Tell men and women in our decaying cities, "The dream is for you." Tell confused young people, starved of ideals, "The dream is for you." This is the kind of campaign we must run.
For my part, I’m running, and I’m running hard. I know that this race will be competitive. I know the other candidates are good and talented people. And I know I’m late. But now that the Texas legislative session is over, I’m taking my front porch campaign to every front porch in this state. I will tell people exactly what I told you here today. Face to face. Eye to eye. And I cannot wait.
It feels to me like an old era of American politics is ending -- like Americans are waiting for new hopes, new energy, new idealism. We will prove that someone who is conservative and compassionate can win without sacrificing principle. We will show that politics, after a time of tarnished ideals, can be higher and better. We will give our country a fresh start after a season of cynicism.
We have a long way to go, but we start today. And I hope you’ll join me.
Thank you
Source: George W. Bush for President 2000 Web Site
Speech by Bill Bradley in Crystal City
as prepared for delivery
September 8, 1999
Less than a mile from where I'm standing, near the banks of the Mississippi River, there once stood the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company. It was there for a hundred years. In its heyday, it employed 4,000 people and turned out thousands of tons of glass a year. It seemed that just about everybody in town worked for what we called PPG. We didn't grow corn or wheat here in Crystal City; we made glass.
Today, I want to be as clear as that glass about who I am and why I am running for President of the United States.
I have come back to my hometown because for me, this is where the world of possibility and hope all began, a world I want to open for all Americans.
I was raised here in Crystal City - I’m a small-town boy. I had a paper route, and every afternoon I delivered copies of the Daily News Democrat to the doorsteps of my neighbors. I could tell the time of day or night by the trains that passed near our home.
As a boy, I used to explore the bluffs to the south of town, looking for fossils and arrowheads. When I was a little older, my grandfather and I sometimes took a .22 and went down to the river and shot at logs floating by. We watched the great river ebb and flow. We felt its incredible force and marveled at its beauty. Later, when the river flooded the town's main intersection under six feet of muddy water, we also saw its destructive power.
Crystal City had only one stoplight then, but it had a rich array of ethnic families. Among others, I remember the Auddifreds, the La Prestas, the Trautweins, the Pouliezoses, the Fortneys, the Ryans, the Shapiros, the Cooks, the Salvos, the Evans - families drawn by the factory that used their special skills.
But no one ever asked where you were from - we were all just from Crystal City.
When it came to race, the town was a little ahead of its time. The little league was integrated before the schools. As a teenager, I remember our team walking out of restaurants in the boot heel of Missouri because they wouldn't serve our black catcher. Racism disturbed me then, and still angers me now. For me, the only thing deserving of hate is hate itself.
Many of you here knew my parents. They believed in America and its promise. And they gave me the confidence of my own convictions.
My father never went to college. At 16, he quit high-school and went to work for the railroad to support his widowed mother and two sisters, and later got a job here at the local bank, "shining pennies" as he called it. He worked his way up assistant cashier, cashier, manager, vice-president - until eventually he was the majority shareholder.
Now that's the American dream.
My father struggled in ways that few could know - today we would call him disabled - he suffered from calcified arthritis of the lower spine. I never saw him drive a car, or throw a ball, or walk farther than a few blocks. My mother dressed him every morning and I tied his shoes, attached his suspenders, picked up the paper from the doorstep.
I once asked him, as a son sometimes asks his father, what had been his proudest moment. He said that during the years of the Great Depression he had never foreclosed on a single home; he always managed to work something out. He also told me that the color of someone's skin could never predict whether he would repay his loan on time. He'd say, "Character is where you find it."
My mother was as exuberant as my father was reserved. She and my father married late in life, and I was their only child. I was also her greatest project.
She graduated from Central Methodist College, and then became a fourth grade teacher. Teaching for her was not only about transmitting knowledge, but also imparting values - every day she began her class with a lesson about some character trait such as honesty, courage, integrity or trust. Decades after she left teaching, men and women would knock on our front door to express their thanks and appreciation for the dedicated Miss Crowe, my mother.
Here in Crystal City, she taught Sunday school, led summer bible study and organized dances in our basement. As Ernestine can testify, I still can't get beyond the same awkward two-step she taught in our living room.
And it was just behind where I am standing now, on the hardwood gymnasium floor of Crystal City high, that I found my first great love. The feel of the leather ball in your hands, the squeak of your sneakers on the floor, the swish of the net - I loved everything about the game of basketball.
I wasn't the most talented player in the world, but I had three strengths: I had a sense of where I was on the court; I had quick, sure hands; and I could out-work anyone. I would practice for more hours than I care to remember in that gym. I would shoot set shots from five different areas on the floor and not quit until I had made 25 in a row from each spot. I loved the fact that on that gleaming wooden floor, hard work paid off and dreams became reality.
It was there that I also absorbed the idea that a team is not just about winning. It is not about applause, or endorsements, or even championship rings. It's about shared sacrifice; it's about giving up something small for yourself in order to gain something large for everyone.
It's the same for our country.
I got my education at Princeton and Oxford, and after leaving school, I played professional basketball for the New York Knicks. For 10 years I crisscrossed the country, learning about America from my travels and from my teammates, white and black. When I decided it was time to stop running around in short pants, I took up Thomas Jefferson's challenge of being a citizen- politician.
In 1978, I ran for the U.S. Senate in my adopted state New Jersey and won. For 18 years I was privileged to represent New Jersey. With its mixture of different races and ethnic groups, its combination of old cities and new townships, its glacial lakes and long Atlantic shore, New Jersey is a microcosm of America. As a Senator, I saw my role as both representing my state and the best interests of our country. I worked hard... followed my conscience... tried not to hog the spotlight... and reached across party lines to get things done. I attempted to do big things without ever losing sight of the little things. I sought to find a balance between public and private interest. I tried to help people where they lived their lives.
In 1996, I decided to leave the Senate and resume the private citizen side of Jefferson's equation. In the last three years, I have taught at Stanford, Maryland and Notre Dame. I lived in California for a year and worked in the private sector. I wrote and spoke. I thought and I traveled and I listened -always listened. I realized that I had a strong sense of where America is and where we need to go, and I had a passionate conviction that I could help us get there. So, I talked with Ernestine and our daughter, Theresa Anne, for they more than anyone else would be affected by my decision. And then I began what for me has been a joyous journey.
We are at a special moment in American history, not just because we are on the eve of a new millennium, but because our country and the world are changing at a dazzling rate. There are 2 billion more people in the world market today than only 10 years ago. More of our jobs are dependent on exports than ever. Interest rates in Crystal City are set by millions of individual investors worldwide who everyday render their verdict on the economic health of the United States.
The nature of work itself is changing. The new global economy values knowledge above all. Indeed, capital follows knowledge. In such a world, physical distance disappears, life expectancy increases, natural resources can be better preserved. The entrepreneurial spirit is once again pushing America forward.
But, the positive effects of globalization and technological change are falling on us unequally. The economy soars, but some of us are slipping behind. Median family income seems stuck; personal debt and bankruptcy are at all-time highs; one out of five children live in poverty; and while kings and dictators come to this country for the best health care treatment in the world, you and I both know that this care is not available for the 45 million citizens who have no health insurance at all.
Is this who we want to be?
Is this our best self as Americans?
The numbers tell us that we are living at a time of unprecedented prosperity. But what are we doing with that prosperity? After 10 years of a robust economy, are the important things truly better? Our healthcare system? Our schools? Our civic life? Our family life? Our children's future?
In so many ways we have failed to use our prosperity to improve the well-being of all our citizens. Shouldn't we be fixing our roof while the sun is shining? Shouldn't we be shoring up our foundation before the rain gets in? Now, above all, is not the time for complacency. I feel an urgency to seize this moment in history, to strengthen the weak and to challenge the strong to lead us into our full greatness as a nation.
We are at the end of what has been called, "The American Century." We started it as a minor power, we end it as the undisputed giant among nations. For the first time in human history, one nation can truly become a light into the future. We believe that the values of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are not just American values - but human values.
But first we must embody those values at home.
What we need in America is a deeper prosperity; deeper not only in the sense that it touches the people who have been left out - that it saves family farms caught in the whirlwind of change, that it brings a hot breakfast to children who go to school without it, that it brings security to worried seniors - but deeper in the sense that we have a prosperity that adds up to more than the sum of all our possessions; a prosperity that makes us feel rich inside as well as out.
The Dow Jones is at record heights, but as Robert Kennedy reminded us, such numbers are not the measure of all things. They do not measure what is in our heads and our hearts. They do not measure a young girl's smile or a little boy's first handshake or a grandmother's pride. They convey nothing about friendship or the self-fulfillment of helping a person in need. They tell us little about the magic of a good marriage or the satisfaction of a life led true to its own values. They can't comfort us when personal tragedy strikes or supersede the pleasure of a job well done. They say nothing whatsoever about us being "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
To me, the American Dream is not just for the lucky among us. It is not just an ideal to wish on. It should be a possibility available to all.
Isn't it just common sense that we make sure every child in America is covered by healthcare? Isn't it just common sense that we protect our natural world from destruction, and do what it takes to achieve racial unity? Isn't it common sense that all our schools should perform well, and that more Americans should do better economically?
What others may call idealism is a common sense reality I know we can achieve.
I'm more interested in leadership than polls and politics. And I believe we need a new kind of leadership in America, a leadership that puts the people front and center - not the president. A leadership that understands the people's fears as well as their hopes. A leadership that respects the people as well as challenges them.
We must unleash the potential of Americans as public citizens, for only then will America be the place that it can be. We must put every American on the train of that deeper, broader prosperity - for only then will justice ring.
Does this goal mean that I believe government can solve all our problems? No.
A growing private sector and caring community institutions are essential parts of the equation. Government cannot be all things to all people all the time. Nor should it do trifling things much of the time for some people. But it should do some large and essential things all of the time for the whole nation.
I believe in self-reliance and I think initiative deserves its reward, but I also know that disaster can strike any of us, and when it does, it's important to know that someone's there to help. Government cannot guarantee any of us happiness, but government can help give people the tools to pursue that happiness.
What do I mean by "government can?”
I mean we can.
We the people.
To see what we can do, you need look no further than a few feet over my shoulder. Around the corner from the principal's office there is a plaque which commemorates the building of Crystal City High School. It was constructed in 1939, and the top of the plaque reads WPA -- Works Project Administration. Government built this school at the end of the Great Depression, it put people to work and helped educate the children of this town. At the bottom of the plaque there is the name of the treasurer of the school board:
It is William Warren Bradley - my father.
He was a Republican, but he knew that problems come without party affiliation and must be solved by all Americans of good will. No one asked the men who laid the brick and mixed the cement whether they were Democrats or Republicans. They had a big job to do, and that was all they needed to know.
We can do big jobs again - together.
But today, so many Americans - young and old - are fed up with national politics. Our campaigns often end up doing the very opposite of what they intend. Instead of engendering hope and optimism, they breed mistrust and cynicism. Just last week in Iowa, after I spoke about political involvement, once again making our nation better, a woman came up to me and said, "It all sounds so wonderful, if only it could be true."
People feel their voices are not heard, that they're drowned out by the power of big money. And it hurts me to have to say that such a view is not all wrong. It represents a healthy skepticism about the process. Yes, the American people have a right to be skeptical. But I have a right to try to change that skepticism.
All of us know that in a democracy as in life, the smallest hope can make all the difference; the mightiest river begins with a single drop of water. That is how it all starts.
With its numberless streams and tributaries coming together, the Mississippi River is like democracy itself. We're small and individual when we go our own way, but we're mighty and unstoppable when we flow together. One of the reasons I am running for president is to restore trust in public service and confidence in our collective will - only then will the river of democracy flow as it should.
To that end, I am trying to run a different kind of presidential campaign. I'm calling us to renew our faith in each other. I am listening to America, not to the pundits. I am raising money from ordinary citizens, not from special interest PACs. I'm hoping that by Election Day, we will be choosing between two people whom we esteem, not the candidate we can still tolerate.
Today, I'm telling the American people that if they elect me, I'll define more clearly America's role in the world. I'll guard the economic fundamentals of our prosperity and invest in our common future. I'll use the growth of the new economy and do some of the big things that need to be done in this country:
We can reduce childhood poverty. We can increase the number of Americans with quality healthcare. We can mute the voice of big money in our elections. And we can enact long overdue gun control. If we do these things, we will be safer, healthier and more in control of our future.
Time and again, I will urge Americans to bridge the divide of prejudice so that the America of the new millennium sees deeper than skin color or eye shape to the individual.
Finally, together we can bolster the economic security of working families and thereby set the table for future economic growth. We will do fewer things, but they will be essential things, and we will do them more thoroughly.
In the end, when more of us have a world of possibilities, all of us will be stronger.
There are two kinds of politicians: those who talk and promise, and those who listen and do. I know which one I am.
As president, you must listen and consult, study and examine, pray and plan. But in the end, you must be guided by the compass of your own convictions, and do what's right as you are given to see the right, and then trust that the people will understand.
I believe America should be made whole, but I don't want to erase our differences. It's those differences that give us our uncommon energy and wonderful creativity. The beautiful paradox of America is this:
That we are many, that we are individual, that we are different, but that we are also one - one people, one family, one nation.
I still see an America of endless possibility. An America that is as generous as it is prosperous, that is as decent as it is strong. An America that is, as Abraham Lincoln said, "The last best hope of mankind."
We may be at the end of a millennium, at the end of two centuries of American history, but we still have it in our power, as Thomas Paine said, "To begin the world [all] over again."
The leadership that is called for at this moment goes beyond a presidency, and into every home and heart. The renewal of the American Dream has to shine so bright that we can dream dreams we never thought possible before.
I have confidence in this Dream because it is the theme of my life - because without a famous family name or great wealth, I was given the encouragement and love and the opportunity that enabled me to forge a path on my own.
I've never forgotten the people who were my support, many in this town to whom I will always be grateful. They were ordinary Americans who did extraordinary things for me.
Americans are like that - ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
They inspired me and gave me hope and confidence. And I want that hope, that encouragement, that sense of possibility to be a reality for everybody.
I want the American Dream for all of us - at last.
Ladies and gentlemen, it can happen.
Come with me.
Let us walk toward that dream together.
Source: Bill Bradley for President Official 2000 Web Site
Gary Bauer's National Report: April 21, 1999
BAUER ANNOUNCES CANDIDACY
(Speech Text)
NEWPORT, KENTUCKY - Gary Bauer, one of the most widely respected conservatives in America, today officially threw his hat into the ring for the 2000 Republican presidential nomination. Bauer made the announcement this morning in his hometown high school alma mater here in this blue-collar community one mile from Cincinnati.
The following is a transcript of Bauer's delivered remarks:
I want to thank everybody that worked together to make this morning possible. I think you can imagine what I was going through the last couple of weeks anticipating it, wondering if anyone back in Newport, Kentucky, my hometown, back in Newport High School - Go Wildcats! - whether anybody would really care that I was running for the Presidency of the United States.
I want to begin by thanking all the local officials that have helped make this morning possible - the mayor, the principal of this school have helped to the Nth degree. The good people on this platform today - former Governor Nunn, I am honored by all your involvement and grateful to each and every one of you. I assured the principal that because of his hard work, I will return the library book.
I don't know if you had a chance yet to meet my family formally, if they will please stand - my wife Carol, my daughter Sarah, my daughter Elyse, my son Zachary, and my mother Betty Bauer. And I believe we also have several other family members here, people I seldom see and wish that I saw more often. Cousins, second cousins, and I believe my Aunt Jewel is here - thank you. My aunt is recovering from a stroke and for her to be here is a very special thing. So I want to say to each and every one of you that I love you and the fact that you are all here means more to me than you'll ever know - God bless you all. I also want to thank Tete Turner, my old friend from Newport for that wonderful introduction.
I came here this morning with a fairly typical political speech. The kind of speech that many people will be giving in the weeks ahead as they decide whether to run for the Presidency of the United States or not. And that speech has been given to members of the press and there were a number of them that flew with us on the plane this morning and we have given each of them a copy of the speech. I want to make it clear that I stand behind every word of it.
In that speech I talk about the need to have lower taxes on the American family. About the need to downsize government and the need to get bureaucracy off the backs of the American people. I talk about us having an American foreign policy that we can be proud of again. A foreign policy that recognizes that China is in fact going to be the major challenge that we face in the next century. I talk about the need to rebuild America's defenses -- so that the young people here today can live in a secure country and have their families and bring their children into the world. I talk about all the issues that are going to be central to this campaign.
But last night, along with probably every American, I watched the news. I read the headlines this morning and I decided that given what happen yesterday in America, the speech I intended to give today would not have risen to the occasion.
We saw yesterday at another high school in another state in the union. American children dead. Not in Kosovo, but in Colorado. And it has been a site that we have seen too often in this country. A site that breaks our hearts. A site that has us asking ourselves "What happened to America, and what are we going to do about it?" And it is because of the things that happened in places like Littleton, Colorado, that I am here today, that I have been involved in politics, that I want to have something to say about our country and where it is going.
So I have thrown out the speech I intended to give. Instead, I want to talk to you about this country, just a few months away from a new century, and I want to ask you to join with me in asking ourselves whether or not America can still be a shining city on a hill or whether we are going to continue to sink into the despair, the violence and the death that all too often fills our television sets.
You know for the last 99 years in this country, this incredible century we've been in, America has been able to do unbelievable things. We were able to lead the free world twice to defeat the great isms of this century - Nazism in WWII. My father talked about that war, sometimes around the dinner table. He told me unbelievable things that he saw. He told me unbelievable things that he had to do in service to his country. And that war was over and men like my dad came home, perhaps some of you or your relatives, and they just wanted to begin their careers and their jobs and their families. But before they could do that we found ourselves challenged again.
This time in that great stare-down with the Soviet Union and communist China that came to be known as the Cold War. And once again, good and decent people, like those here today, rose to the occasion. We drew a line in the sand in Europe and in Asia and we said to the Communists "this far and no further. We will be the watchmen on the tower for liberty. We will make the sacrifices that need to be made."
We spent a lot of money to win the Cold War, but we did something else much more important than that. We sent young men from places like Newport and Bellevue and Dayton and Fort Thomas and from communities all across this country and we sent them to places like Pork Chop Hill and Denang and Kaysung. And there are many of them, blood of our blood, flesh of our flesh that paid the ultimate price for liberty. When the history books are written for this century, they will record that what our sons did was one of the most noble sacrifices that the world has ever seen. They didn't do it for money, or for power, or for prestige, they did it for someone else's liberty. It was a noble thing, it was an important thing, and it was what America has always done.
And it's not just that our military has prevailed in this century, our values have prevailed. American values are sweeping the globe. That's why ten years ago when students much like those of you here today stood up against their communist masters in China. That's why they waved copies of our Declaration of Independence. They had never been here before. They had not seen America, but they knew that it was our founding principles that were the only hope for them if they wanted to be free men and women. Many of those students died in that square waving the copy of our Declaration of Independence.
Our technology this century is second to none. Our space program is the wonder of the world. One accomplishment after another. The historians are calling this the American Century. It's not an exaggeration, it is the American century.
But you and I know that in spite of all those accomplishments. In spite of a Dow Jones Industrial average over 10,000, a growing economy, in spite of all those things to our credit, you and I know there is something wrong in America.
You open up the same newspapers I do every morning. Americans all over the country read the same stories. Maybe they see the story out of Jasper, Texas where a black man was dragged to his death by a couple of thugs only because he was black. All the human rights laws, the affirmative action laws, all the things we have tried to do and still in our country this hate that divides us from one anther.
You probably opened up the newspaper as I did a year ago and saw that story out of New Jersey. About a nice American suburban girl who went to her Junior prom, excused herself and went to the ladies room, where she gave birth and threw her baby into the trashcan, cleaned herself, went back into the dance, and had the last dance with her boyfriend. I saw that story and the first question that came to my mind "Where did a nice suburban girl, where did she get taught to treat her own flesh and blood like a styrofoam cup? What was the poisoned air she had to breathe to think that that was okay?"
Maybe you open up the newspaper and see names of little American cities you have never heard of before. Places like Paducha, Kentucky, Jonesboro, Arkansas, Pearl, Mississippi, and yesterday, Littleton, Colorado. Where American kids have killed American kids. I remember when the story broke out of Jonesboro, Arkansas; I was on the road someplace. I remember the immediate anger I felt towards those two boys. I imagined the hard look you expect to see on criminals. I saw their picture on the news that night. They looked just like my son Zachary or the kid he plays with down the street. I read the next morning how one of the boys could be heard in his jail cell all night long calling for his mother.
How do you explain that? How do you explain kids using other kids for target practice? Only a few hours later he is just another eleven year old calling for his mother. Why are these things happening in our country? What are we going to do about it? Why does the political leadership in Washington never talk about it? Why do they only give us platitudes? Why do they act like character doesn't matter? That reliable standards of right and wrong don't count. Why do they spend all of their time talking about money instead of about the heart and soul of our country?
Ladies and gentleman, you can measure a great nation in a lot of different ways. You can measure it by the strength of its military, the growth of its economy, the gleam of its cities. We are a great nation by those measurements and many, many others. But you can also measure a nation by how many of its families are broken, by how big its virtue deficit is, how many of its children cry themselves to sleep at night.
The fact of the matter is that tonight in Northern Kentucky and all over America too many of our children are crying themselves to sleep. Too many children without a father's arms to comfort them, too many children exploited by sex or drugs or pornography, too man children that have bought into the popular culture's song that if it feels good do it. By those measurements, this country is in danger of becoming something much less than a great, great nation.
If we continue on this path, the young men and women that you see in this room today will not be able to live in a country they can be proud of, they will not be able to bring children into the world and raise them well, will not be have a chance to live in a shining city on a hill. And I am here to tell you that I will devote every ounce of my energy to make sure that every child in America has the choice that every one of you and I have had. This country can be better than it is today and I intend to make it better.
What happened to our country and what are we together going to do about it?
I'd like to suggest to you that one of the things that has happened is that there are too many people in the elites of America, in Hollywood, on Wall Street, and in Washington D.C. Too many people that have forgotten that our liberty comes from God and not from any man.
Ladies and gentleman, that's why the founding fathers called us a shining city on a hill. A Biblical phrase that was meant to send a signal to the people of a new nation that this place will be different. That's why our money says "In God We Trust." That's why Lincoln called us the almost chosen people. And yet in spite of the fact that all the Founding Fathers knew that a miracle could only make it if it had God's blessings, in spite of that, there is an America today that's never been more secular.
When I grew up in Newport, Kentucky, with all of the problems that it had - the crime, the gambling, the open prostitution, the tough corners that were dangerous to walk down at night-in spite of all of those things in Newport High School, we could still pray every morning if we wanted to.
And now right here in Cameron County and in the back of Cincinnati, the American Civil Liberties Union files lawsuits fearful that some child in Northern Kentucky might accidentally see the Ten Commandments on display in their school. We've got drive-by shootings, babies in trash cans, out of wed-lock births, the American family under fire, and the ACLU is wondering if some child in America may be reminded where their liberty come from. I say to the ACLU - pack it up and go back to where you came from; we don't need you here.
My friends the second thing that has gone wrong with this country is that we have created a culture of death. It's in our movies, it's in our music. Our kids are exposed to it a hundred times a day and they may not even realize it. Our culture glorifies death in a thousand different ways. We've got Dr. Death in Michigan, that says that the best we can do for the aging, the sick, the handicapped is to put them out of their misery. We sum that up as some sort of hero. We have movies and television shows that show someone dying as if it were something that was as simple as the sun coming up in the morning.
Children enter kindergarten and by the time they graduate from high school they have been bombarded with thousands murders on their television sets. I think about all those people in Hollywood. They must be laughing all the way to the bank. Picking out movies and music that glorify killing - that glorify killing the innocent. In the America that I want, those Hollywood producers and directors would not be able to show their faces in public because you and every other American would go up to them and say "shame, shame, shame on you for what you have done to American culture."
I want to touch on an issue that perhaps not all of you will agree on, but I am not going to go away from this issue or ignore it because I believe it is a symbol of the culture of death we have here in America. Twenty-six years ago, the highest court in this land did an incredible thing. They issued a Supreme Court decision that really boils down to one simple and profoundly evil idea. They said that our unborn children have no rights that the rest of us were bound to respect.
And when they made that decision, they unleashed on America an unbelievable event that undermines who we are and what we believe. Every year in America, over one and a half million babies never have the opportunity to take their first breath of life.
Ladies and gentleman we are better than this. This is not some third world dictatorship or some backwater country where life is cheap. This is America - a shining city on a hill. We have always welcomed people here. We have always said that if you are a citizen, you matter. We have always had a place for those who are weak, for those who were defenseless. We must find a place for those children.
I just saw a headline here, an unbelievable article. Right here across the river in Cincinnati, an unbelievable thing happened just a little while ago. In the process of getting a partial-birth abortion, a 22-week old baby was born alive. The abortion failed. It didn't provide the outcome it was supposed to. It didn't bring a dead baby out into the world; it brought one out alive. One of the nurses held the baby in her arms for three hours before it died. They named it Baby Hope. And they watched that baby die in a nurse's arms. The doctors and nurses are in counseling now still overwhelmed from the horror they saw.
What type of operation in America would cause a doctor or a nurse to be in counseling? Ladies and gentleman, there has got to be room in America for Baby Hope. I don't care what the polls say. When I make my decision to do what I want to do politically, I will never sacrifice one American child born or unborn - you can count on it!
In 1861, Abraham Lincoln stood on the steps of Independence Hall to speak of this very principle that has kept America united through our darkest nights, and continues to inspire men and women everywhere. He said it was that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence giving life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness not alone to the people of this country, but hope to all the world, for all future time. The promise that in due time, the weights would be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance. This is the sentiment embodied in the Declaration…and he said, "I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it."
And Lincoln did give his life for his country. In fact, from the moment the first musket shot was fired in the Revolutionary War at Concord Bridge, Americans have fought, and if necessary died, for what we believe is right. Today, those of us not called onto the battlefield can still fight for America in our daily lives. And, we can send leaders to Washington who share the vision and virtues embodied by our Founding Fathers.
I believe it is time to end the betrayal of our first principles. I believe it is time to begin advancing American values again.
I am asking fellow citizens all across our land to join this great cause. Together, we can do so much. In the words of Thomas Paine, "We have it in our power to begin the world over again."
We can be an America that honors our families, reveres their values, and provides them room to grow and prosper, to build a future as big as their dreams.
We can be an America that no longer shuns its children and denies their humanity, but opens its heart and homes and welcomes them into the world.
And we can stand as a mighty force for good against evil because across this earth there is no greater force for good than America, as one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.
I still believe we can make America a special place: a city on a hill where children grow up understanding that right and wrong matter and character counts… a nation where virtue isn't seen as hopelessly old fashioned, but something to be treasured and passed on from generation to generation…a country where women who choose a career as wife and mother aren't looked down upon and seen as behind the times…and a place where criminals are behind bars again - and Americans no longer live behind barred windows.
These are the things I am about.
These are the values I think are important.
This is the good fight I am ready to wage with heart and soul.
And that is why I am proud to stand here today, in Newport, Kentucky, to ask for your strength and support, as I announce my candidacy for the Republican nomination to be President of the United States.
I will not hedge on any issue. I will not be guided by polls that show what would be best for me. I will be guided by the principle of what is best for America.
And I will run to win. I will compete in every state. And I will reach out to every citizen. Starting here. Starting now.
Thank you very much. God bless you and God bless America.
Source: Gary Bauer for President Official 2000 Campaign Web Site
Steve Forbes 2000
Remarks by Steve Forbes
Presidential Campaign Filing Announcement
Tuesday, March 16, 1999
On-line at Forbes2000.com
Hello, I’m Steve Forbes.
Today, I’m happy to announce the beginning of my campaign for President of the United States of America.
Today marks the beginning of a national crusade to restore Ronald Reagan’s vision of hope and prosperity for all Americans.
I don’t believe in business as usual — and I surely don’t believe in politics as usual.
This is going to be a new, Information-Age campaign about great ideas and enduring values.
I’m going to run the first full-scale presidential campaign in American history on the Internet — because I want you to be involved every step of the way.
First, I’d like to tell you all some things about myself.
I’m the grandson of an immigrant from Scotland.
When my grandfather came to this country at the turn of the century, he came only with a dream, because he had practically no money.
He worked very hard to create a magazine about people building the greatest economy on the face of the planet. My brothers and I learned the business from our father, just as he learned it from his father.
When I became CEO years later, my goal was to keep Americans on the cutting edge of the new, Information-Age economy.
To that end, we launched new magazines that tell the story of the people building America’s small businesses and high-tech industries, creating jobs and unleashing opportunity. And we started a cutting-edge new web-site, forbes.com (Forbes Digital Tool).
Today, you and I are heading into a new century and a new millennium.
We face different challenges than our grandparents faced — but they’re real...they’re serious... and if we don’t get them right our children are going to pay the price.
Take the global economic crisis that’s raging around the world. Wherever you look — Russia, Asia, Brazil — economies are in deep trouble and people are suffering. We can’t ignore that.
America cannot afford to be an island of prosperity in an ocean of poverty.
We live in a new economic era — we live in a world that’s linked together by travel, by trade — and, obviously, by the Internet.
When people around the world can’t afford to buy more corn, and wheat and other farm products, guess who suffers? Americans — especially American farmers.
When people in Asia can produce steel at rock bottom prices because their currencies are virtually worthless, guess who suffers? Americans.
What happens if Russia’s economy continues to collapse? What are the political implications of a nuclear-armed nation in economic and political chaos?
And what about the increasingly troublesome and dangerous behavior of China?
These are serious questions as we enter a new century.
Here at home, what about Social Security?
Do you trust the politicians to protect your money and your retirement in the next century?
Are you going to let the Clinton-Gore Administration keep raiding the Social Security Trust Fund to pay for more big government spending?
Do you know what astounds me — more young people believe in UFOs than believe that they’re going to collect Social Security when they retire.
And what about our tax system? It’s an abomination. It’s too complex, too corrupt — it’s a playground for special interest lawyers, lobbyists and lifetime politicians. Sure, the special interests, the politically well-connected, and the Washington political class get all kinds of tax breaks and loopholes.
But what about you?
Can you afford to hire all kinds of big shot lobbyists to carve out a tax break for yourself?
Of course not.
That’s why we need an honest, simple new tax code for a new century – one that will put real money back into the pockets of working families.
And what about other issues that you face every day?
Are your kids going to schools that are getting them ready to really compete and succeed in the Information-Age economy? Who should control our schools — government or parents? Do you have the freedom to choose doctors you trust and specialists you need?
No, and I don’t think that's right — and I want to change that.
You see, I believe that you and I are on the verge of the greatest era of economic freedom and spiritual renewal the world has ever seen.
It’s an age of opportunity — the likes of which our grandparents never even dreamed possible. And everyone is getting ready for it — except Washington.
You and I are entering the Information-Age — and the Washington politicians are stuck in the Stone Age.
The problem is: the Washington politicians don’t get it. They’re wholly owned subsidiaries of the status quo. They have no intention of giving you back your freedom, your money — or the unalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
And I think we can do better. I think it’s time to give every American the freedom to participate in this new era of prosperity.
Now, the central questions of the Year 2000 campaign clearly are these:
Do you trust the establishment politicians to protect your economic security and give you more freedom and more control over your own life?
Do you trust them to defend your values, and protect the first and most important freedom of every child — the freedom to be born?
Do you trust them to confront the atrocities in China, end Saddam Hussein’s reign of terror, and deploy a real missile defense system to protect our children?
Do you trust other politicians to clean out the corruption and sleaze of the Clinton-Gore Administration?
Do they have a plan and a passion to give you and your family a real stake in the American Dream — or are they just politicians seeking power?
You know, some people run for President to be something.
I’m running for President to do something — for you, the American people.
That’s why today — with the love and support of my wife and my best friend, Sabina, and our five wonderful daughters — I have filed papers that begin the process of running for President of the United States of America.
So stay tuned to our on-line campaign headquarters — Forbes2000.Com — for daily updates and news of our formal campaign announcement coming up in a few months.
Source: Steve Forbes for President 2000 Web Site
Remarks Announcing Candidacy
The Battle For Our Values Begins Today
Thank you very much. Thank you. I accept your nomination.
Thank you for that warm Huntington welcome. And thank you to Senator Dan Coats, my very dear friend. I only wish that he were still in the United States Senate. What a special day. What a fantastic welcome. This is the heart of America.
Huntington is where I brought my young bride, Marilyn, back here in 1974. I graduated from Huntington High School. I began my career here. I became a father here. I taught business law at Huntington College. We started the law firm of Quayle and Quayle, and I want to be clear about this. My best friend in life, the love of my life, my political confidante for all these years, my wife Marilyn was the senior partner of that law firm.
I first ran for Congress in 1976. I ran against a man who also was from Huntington, a fine gentleman. The experts at that time, they said I didn’t have a chance. And I said to the experts, “Watch me,” and we won.
In 1980 I ran for the United States Senate. And again the experts said, “You can’t win.” They said, “Birch Bayh, he beat Dick Lugar, Bill Ruckelshaus; you can’t win.” And again, I said to the experts, “Watch me,” and we won.
Eight years later, I came back to Huntington as George Bush’s running mate. At that time, some in the media have told me in recent days that they didn’t feel that welcome in Huntington. Well, today is a new day, a new campaign, and let’s turn around and give a rousing welcome to the national media.
And in 1988 at one time we were behind 17 points, and we won again.
Every campaign that begins in Huntington results in victory.
Today I announce that I will seek and I will win the presidency of the United States of America.
Here is why I am running.
This last century, we have seen a lot of wars, we have seen financial distress. This next century, with the right leadership, hopefully we can have peace and prosperity. And to have peace and prosperity, not just for Americans, but for all the world. That should be our goal. Today, America is the undisputed superpower. We have climbed a high mountain over these last 200 years to attain that responsibility of being the world’s only superpower.
There is no doubt about it that today America is number one militarily, economically, scientifically, technologically. But you know, even though we are number one, we know that something is missing. Something fundamentally isn’t quite there.
We are coming to the end of a dishonest decade of Bill Clinton and Al Gore. My friends, it is time that we work to reclaim the values that made America great in the first place. Values like respect, responsibility, courage, patriotism, integrity.
Respect. Parents should respect their children. And the children should respect their parents.
Responsibility. Shoulder the burden of being good citizens.
Courage. Have the courage of your convictions. Stand up for what you believe in.
Integrity. Always tell the truth.
Patriotism. Love your country. Believe in our God.
In your hearts, you know that prosperity without values is no prosperity at all. We must have the courage to lead, the courage to change, the courage to believe in ourselves. And I’m here to tell you that I will lead the fight for our values and for our families.
America today is divided over what is right and what is wrong. There is a cultural divide.
Some that are leading this country today, unfortunately, still adhere to the culture of the 1960s that said, “If it feels good, just do it.” Some of the self-anointed are saying that truth can be compromised. They will say that people of faith are fanatics, that people that believe in the sanctity of life are extremists, and that people who are patriotic are just old-fashioned.
This divide could not be more evident than on the day that Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives. My friends, on that day that Bill Clinton was impeached, his vice president, Al Gore, said this: That Bill Clinton will go down in history as one of America’s greatest presidents.
What arrogance. What disdain for the values that parents are trying to teach their children. What contempt for the rule of law. This shall not stand. Starting in this town, in this place, at this hour, we will fight back.
I know and you know that values matter most. Because God has written on our hearts the difference between what is right and what is wrong, between justice and injustice, between good and bad. Yet, the self-anointed, they will tell us, “Don’t talk about values.” Even some in my party say we shouldn’t address the issue of values and virtues because it might be risky or divisive.
I ask you, what is the greatest challenge facing America today? Is it jobs, or is it values? It is values; of course it is.
Leadership is not just a popularity contest. Leadership is doing what is right for the American people. Telling the truth may not be easy, but it’s always the right thing to do.
And I can tell you, when you tell the truth, you’ll be controversial sometimes. You may recall the speech that I made in May of 1992 titled “The Poverty of Values.” I made a speech in California on the poverty of values, and I lamented the fact that too many of our children are born into homes without fathers. And the point I made was that raising a child is not just a mother’s responsibility; it is a father’s responsibility too. And I did make a reference to a particular TV sitcom. And I made that reference because I want to work with popular culture to get them to help us. We shouldn’t celebrate the idea of fathers abandoning their children. That is wrong. It is wrong for fathers to not pay attention and to help raise their children.
And when you speak the truth, ultimately you will win. Remember, Murphy Brown is gone and I’m still here fighting for the American family.
It’s time to recognize and to appreciate the contribution and the importance of the great middle class of America. The middle class is the bedrock of our community. The middle class, you are the ones that work hard. You play by the rules. You pay your fair share of taxes. You’re involved in your communities, trying to make your community better. You are the ones that make America great.
But today, there is a middle-class tax squeeze. The middle class is working harder than ever before. And many feel that they aren’t getting ahead. We have an economy that works seven-days-a-week, 24-hours-a-day. You work hard. You miss dinners. You miss breakfasts. Sometimes you skip your child’s play at school. You come home in the evening and you’re exhausted.
Why? Why are you exhausted and stressed? The reason is you are paying too much taxes. You are being overtaxed. And wouldn’t it be nice if the politicians in Washington would just say that we have overtaxed you, and it’s time that you keep more of your hard-earned money.
Today it takes two incomes what it used to just take one. Two parents are working today, not just because of choice, that’s fine; but because of economic survival.
Look at the taxes you pay today, direct taxes and indirect taxes. You pay taxes throughout your whole life. You pay local taxes, state taxes, federal taxes, car taxes, utility taxes, sales taxes, gas taxes, excise taxes, phone taxes, water taxes. I could go on and on and on, and then, after you pay all these taxes when you are alive, you have the audacity to die, and you pay another 55 percent in death taxes.
My friends, it is time for a real tax cut. It is time to cut the tax rates 30 percent across the board. And let me be clear about this. It is time to get rid of the death taxes in America and the grim reapers of the IRS.
Every tax hike takes away your freedom. Every regulation takes away your freedom. When government gets bigger, it takes away your freedom. We are losing our freedoms and we don’t even know it. And I’m here to tell you I will fight for our freedom.
Freedom to keep more of your money. Freedom to choose your own doctor when you’re sick. Freedom from government discrimination. Freedom to study and respect your heritage. Freedom to start your own business. Freedom to send your child to a good school.
Excellence in education is absolutely critical to our future. We need to have the courage to challenge the education bureaucrats. We need to have the courage to put our children first. We need to have the courage to say that we should pay the good teachers more and weed out those teachers that don’t come up to our standards.
It’s time that we move forward to the basics — the three R’s, reading, writing, and arithmetic. I’ll throw two more R’s in there, respect and responsibility, too. No more fuzzy math, where four plus three feels like seven; it is seven. No more creative spelling, either. I’ve tried that; it doesn’t work.
Freedom begins with a 30 percent tax cut. The ruling class won’t like this. They will say that you don’t want it. They will say the people don’t want a tax cut. They’re wrong.
They will say that we have to save the surplus for 30 years. Hello — Washington is going to save a surplus for 30 years? They can’t save it for 30 seconds.
I will appoint a secretary of treasury, someone who comes from the growth wing of the Republican Party. Someone who understands that tax cuts will create more jobs, that when you give people incentives there will be more productivity. Because we can grow this economy more.
Why not harness the prosperity we have today and grow it even more? Because some people are being left behind. Many in the middle class are being left behind. The poor are being left behind. The underclass is being left behind. And if we have the courage to cut taxes we will grow this economy more and no one will be left behind.
When I left the White House, the United States was clearly the undisputed superpower. But we were more than that. The American president and the office of the American presidency had the moral authority to lead, to make decisions. Nobody ever questioned our credibility to lead. Nobody ever questioned our commitment to do what is right for America. No one ever suggested that we would sacrifice national security for campaign cash donations.
Today, the White House looks a lot different.
When I traveled the world as vice president, I was in 47 different countries. I met with all the heads of state and the people in those countries. And not one time, not one time did I ever hear any criticism because America was too strong. They always said, “We want America to be involved, we want America to lead.”
And I can tell you they had respect not just for who was the president at that time, but they had respect for the office of the American presidency. That’s the way it should be.
And look at the situation today, my friends. Look at the situation today where we have depleted our armed forces. We are asking our armed forces to do more with less. The ships in the Navy over this last decade have been reduced from 600 to 300. Air wings in the Air Force have been reduced from 36 to 18. Divisions in the Army have been reduced from 18 to 9.
America must lead. We must reject the idea of isolationism. I am an internationalist, and I will assume international responsibilities. But that doesn’t mean that we should get involved in every civil war around the world.
In my debate with Al Gore in Atlanta 1992, I raised this question for the American people to think about. I said at that time some day, someplace, there will be an international crisis. And the question was, who do you want to manage that crisis? I didn’t think of Kosovo at that time, but that’s where the situation is today. Because we do have a crisis in the Balkans. Today there are no good options because of mistake after mistake, miscalculation after miscalculation.
But once the commander in chief makes the decision, we will support our military. We will support the men and women who wear the uniform. And we will pray for them and we will support them and we hope they come home safely.
I’ve been there when these decisions have been made. And the way it works is that you work with a very small group. You have your vice president there, the secretary of state, the secretary of defense, the national security adviser, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It’s a very small group. And you talk about what you’re going to do. And the question we always ask: What is right for America, what is in our best interests?
And once the discussions are concluded, it comes down to the decision of one person, the president of the United States. It is an awesome responsibility, it is an awesome challenge. And foreign policy is serious business. You have to pay attention to it. You have to take time to know the world and to know what the issues are.
And let me be very clear about this. When we left the White House, we had a tremendous record of accomplishment in foreign policy. Communism was assigned to the ash heap of history. The Cold War was won. Germany was reunited. The Berlin Wall came down. Apartheid was eliminated in South Africa. Noriega was apprehended in Panama, and we saved democracy in the Philippines.
We handed this administration the most favorable foreign policy cards of any administration since World War II. And unfortunately, one by one by one, they have frittered them away. Today, I will tell you, if I’m your president, never will our armed forces report to the secretary general of the United Nations. Our armed forces will always report to the commander in chief of the United States of America.
I intend to make foreign policy an issue in this presidential campaign. We do not need another president who needs on-the-job training. We can ill afford to have another president who has inexperience when it comes to foreign policy.
You can only get so much from briefing books and crash courses. You need experience.
Today, I can look you in the eye and assure you on day one I will be prepared to lead this great nation of ours.
As we stand and are seated in this gymnasium, let us be mindful of the movie “Hoosiers,” a great movie. Remember that movie? Milan High School came from behind and won the state championship. They beat the big shots. They were the underdogs. They beat all the big names. If they had taken a poll in those days, they would have said, “Milan High School, you can’t win.” But they did.
Why did they win? Because they worked hard. They worked together. They were determined. They were focused. And they prevailed. And they won, and I’ll win.
In life, it’s not a question of whether you’re going to get knocked down or not. You will. The question is are you ready to get back up, and willing to get back up, and fight for what you believe in? And I am.
The presidency is not to be inherited. The presidency will not be bought. It must be earned, and I intend to earn it.
You’ve now heard what I have to say; I want to hear what you have to say. I will fight for your values. Will you stand with me?
I will fight for lower taxes. Will you stand with me?
I will fight for your freedom. Will you stand with me?
I will fight to return honor and respect to the Oval Office. Will you stand with me?
This campaign is for you. You’ve heard so many candidates come and say, “Believe in the candidates.” I’m here to say I believe in you. I believe in your dreams, in your hopes, and in your future.
The battle for our families and our future begins today. Working together we will prevail. We will make America a better place to live.
Thank you. God bless you, and God bless America.
Paid for by the Quayle 2000 Exploratory Committee, Inc.
Source: Dan Quayle for President Official 2000 Campaign Web Site
Lamar Alexander
Presidential Announcement Address
Nashville, Tennessee
March 9, 1999
(prepared remarks)
Two centuries ago, the founding fathers arrived in Philadelphia to create a Constitution that would give life to two radical ideas: that ordinary men and women had the capacity for self-governance, and that government derived its power from the people, not the other way around.
As choices were being debated vigorously, Benjamin Franklin noticed a painting of the sun on the back of George Washington's chair. He wondered: Did the painting represent a rising or a setting sun? When the debate was done and the last of the delegates had signed the Constitution of the United States of America, Franklin said to those sitting by him that he now knew what kind of sun it was that was painted on that chair: It was a rising sun.
That rising sun was hard to see when I became Governor of Tennessee. I was sworn in three days early in the Supreme Court chamber across the street because my predecessor had been selling pardons to convicted criminals, and I was going to put an immediate stop to it.
I can still see our son Drew, then only nine, peering straight ahead, his nose barely above the Bible on which my hand rested. Daughters Leslee and Kathryn were on tiptoe, trying to imitate me by trying to place their hands on the Bible, too. Honey was four months pregnant with Will.
Everyone was silent. They knew things weren't right. There were tough choices to be made. First, I secured the Capitol. Then we turned the previous governor's records over to the FBI, locked the prison gates, and I asked Fred Thompson, now one of our U.S. Senators, to review all the pardons that had been granted.
I wanted to bring out the best in our state. But we had a long way to go.
Our people were discouraged and mistrustful of government--and for good reasons. I was taking the reigns of state that was the third poorest in the nation. A third of our Eighth Graders couldn't read and write at their grade level. Our roads were poor. We were not making one automobile.
The Information Age was coming and we weren't ready.
It looked dark that day I was inaugurated, but I am an optimist. I know that sometimes night is darkest before the dawn. And I knew that, for Tennessee, it was time for the sun to rise, not set.
The choices we made then changed our lives. When I took office, there weren't many Tennesseans who thought we could attract the Nissan plant. Or the Saturn plant--and become the nation's fourth largest car-producing state. Or be the first to pay teachers more for teaching well. Or build 100 miles of Interstate highway with our own money so we could create new plant sites. Or become the fastest-growing state in family incomes. But, working together, we did all of that and we did it with one of the lowest state tax rates in the country.
Just as Benjamin Franklin saw a new nation in the light of that painted rising sun, and I saw my own state ready for the dawning of a new day, I now see a nation at the end of The American Century, illuminated by the early light of a new century.
This is another time of great choices; of decisions that will affect our lives for years to come.
I see a country that has done great things, but capable of striving to be even greater; a nation that is never finished, but is always beginning anew, limited only by the limits of our imagination.
Will we keep our prosperity? Will we live in safety from terrorists? Will our children be ready to lead? Will there be a second American Century?
Nearly Forty years ago, President Kennedy challenged America to achieve what seemed impossible at the time: to land men on the moon and return them to earth. He said, "We choose to do these things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard." Just seven years later, our nation had done the impossible.
I am here this morning to declare that I will be a candidate for President of the United States because I am ready to help our country face the challenges of a new century--and make the right choices.
This election will be about restoring respect for the presidency.
It will be about the character of the nation and its institutions.
Above all, this election will be about raising our standards and bringing out the best in America--because that is what it will take to have a new American Century.
In 1980, Ronald Reagan asked the American people, "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" Most people answered "no." Today, my question is, "Will our COUNTRY be better off four years FROM NOW than it is today?"
I want the answer to be "yes," but it won't be if we continue in the direction the "Wizard" Clinton and his faithful servant Gore are taking us. They have given us what their polls tell them--but that is not leadership....And, while it is true the peace and prosperity they inherited is still with us, what of the future?
Look behind the screen of their magic show and see what has happened in the years since they took over: Twelve more countries have jumped over us in high school graduation rates; taxes are higher; the federal regulation book is thicker; our national defense is weaker. It is harder than ever for parents raising children. Seven tons of illegal drugs come across our borders every day. Dictators thumb their noses at us; we are more divided than ever by race; and our standards of right and wrong have all but disappeared.
Those are not the building blocks of a new American Century.
That is not America at its best.
If we are going to bring out the best in America, we will need a president who talks straight--and who listens. A new American Century will require a moral foundation laid by a President who respects both the office and the people who put him there; a president who knows what it took to make this nation great and what it will take to keep it that way.
I believe that the cynicism and rancor that swirl about our public institutions today do not represent a permanent affliction. Rather, they are a temporary condition that can be washed away by a leader who is willing and able to unite our people rather than divide them. Presidents, after all, are in a unique position to appeal to our "better angels."
That is a responsibility I am prepared to accept and ready to use.
Some people say I've been working awfully hard to prepare for the job of President. I assure you, if I could find an easier way, I'd do it. But, among Republicans in modern times, only General Eisenhower made it the first time he tried.
This time the race is wide open. There is no one whose "turn" it is.
It will take strong and practical proposals to bring out the best in America.
My campaign will have three basic ideas at its core. They are:
To fix public education;
To improve family incomes by lowering taxes and securing Social Security;
To Strengthen our national defense.
By fixing public education, I mean this: Send the Washington bureaucrats home, and send their money to the states, the classrooms and especially to parents--in the form of HOPE scholarships for the children. Let parents decide which school is best for their children. College-age students with scholarships can choose their college or university. If a federal HOPE scholarship is good enough for an 18-year-old, it is good enough for a six-year-old.
Ninety percent of what a child needs to succeed in this world he or she learns best in a strong family and a good school. That is why I will be a President on the side of parents raising children.
I have visited schools in virtually every state in the nation. I know that teachers and principals are suffocating under court orders, union rules and government regulations. They need more freedom, not more regulation. And, it is time to give every public school the same freedom from regulations that charter schools have.
And, it is time schools reported to their communities and the parents, not to Washington, D.C.
As President, I would lead a movement state by state to transform our public schools. To pay good teachers more. To end teacher tenure so no child is made to be in a classroom with an incompetent teacher. Our schools can be the best in the world. What is missing is the political will to put practical reforms in place. As President, I would intend to supply that will.
* * *
By insuring economic opportunity for all Americans, I mean this: You keep more of what you earn and government gets less of it. It means that Social Security will be there for those who depend upon it and those who expect to. But it also means more options for younger workers to manage more of their own retirement savings. It does not mean letting the likes of Mr. Clinton and Mr. Gore and their cronies invest our retirement funds for us.
By improving family incomes I mean this: End death taxes, the capital gains tax and the marriage penalty. It means going back to the two Reagan tax rates of 28 and 15 percent. It means cutting federal regulations exactly in half. It means getting government on the side of parents raising children by tripling the tax deduction for each child, to $8000--making it worth what it used to be worth. And, it means making sure the tax code doesn't discriminate against parents who choose to stay home with their children.
* * *
When I think about strengthening our national defense, I think also about the young airman I met not long ago who said to me, "Governor, I am prepared to give my life for my country. How have you prepared yourself to give the order?"
My answer was this: I have learned to be as committed to you as you are committed to our nation.
There is no greater responsibility for an American president than his or her role as commander-in-chief of our armed forces.
The threats of the Cold War have been replaced by new threats from rogue states, terrorists and power-mad dictators.
The hardest decision a president will ever make is whether to send American fighting men and women into harm's way. If I am forced to make such a decision one day, our armed forces can be confident they will be the best-equipped, best-trained fighting force in the world. And, before I sent American troops abroad, I would make sure we had not only an "exit" strategy, but a "success" strategy."
By strengthening our national defense, I mean building a strategic missile defense system to defend the city where you live--and defending our troops in the field--from attacks by rogue states or terrorists.
By strengthening our defenses I also mean defending ourselves against the drugs that come across our borders. I would propose to Congress that we create a new branch of the armed services to stop the flow of those drugs.
* * *
The most important choice we make for the new century may well be this one: Will we be a nation of individuals or a collection of special interest groups, each shouting, "My turn"?
America is at its best when we pull together.
In the Sixties, not two miles from this Capitol, as a student editor, I helped desegregate Vanderbilt University.
In the Eighties, as Governor, I appointed the first African American supreme court justice and, as president of the University of Tennessee, appointed its first African American vice presidents.
In the Nineties, as U.S. Secretary of Education, I said "no" to scholarships based solely on race.
I made these decisions for this reason: Citizens of a nation who pull together should never label one another based on race. That means government's helping hand--affirmative action--is for everyone; always based on need, never on race.
This nation is like no other on earth. All of us--or our ancestors--came from somewhere else. The backgrounds we represent are bound together by a simple but powerful idea: our love of freedom. Yes, let us celebrate our heritage, whatever its origin, for we are proud to be a nation of immigrants. But for each of us the greatest source of pride should be these four words, "I am an American."
* * *
Today marks the beginning of a campaign that leads to the caucuses and primaries. The first will be in Iowa, 48 weeks from now. I am pleased and honored to have as my national campaign chairman Terry Branstad, who recently concluded 16 years as Governor of Iowa. And the support of Governor Don Sundquist of Tennessee and Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas. I thank them, and all of you, for being with me this morning, and I especially thank Honey and our family for their love and support.
This week I will take my message to Washington, D.C., New York, New Hampshire, Iowa and California. Over the following two weeks, I will outline in detail the policy goals I have outlined here briefly, as well as other issues. In Summer 1994, I drove across America. Approaching Mount Rushmore, in South Dakota's Black Hills, I thought of what my grandfather used to tell me: "Aim for the top. There's more room there."
First you see George Washington, 60 feet high, imagining--it seemed to me--that there could BE a country such as ours. Then Jefferson, imagining what that country could BECOME. Then Lincoln, imagining that it was worth SAVING. Then Teddy Roosevelt, imagining that we could DO anything we set our minds to.
That memorial was conceived on a truly grand scale, when America was confident and dreamt big dreams. Those four presidents brought out the best in this nation to make those dreams realities.
We must dream bigger and bolder dreams if ours is still to be a great nation in the 21st Century. I have seen what can happen when we set our standards high. I have seen it in Tennessee and I have seen it in all of America.
We have been led to the end of this century by the finest generation since our nation's founding. If we face our choices as they faced theirs, we can create a second great American Century.
If they could create the best universities, we can create the best schools;
If they could survive the soup lines of the Depression, we can be the best parents;
If they could take Omaha Beach, we can have the best-prepared military;
If they could reach the moon, we can reach into each other's hearts, put aside racial and ethnic labels, and pull together.
I believe in the United States of America and its political and spiritual heritage. I know that, working together, we can make sure that it is a bright sun that rises on America's new century. I invite you to join me in a campaign to expand American freedom, renew its pioneer spirit and bring out the best in America. Let us begin right here, right now.
###
Source: Lamar Alexander for President Official 2000 Campaign Web Site
March 10, 1999
Exploratory Committee Announcement Speech
"Hello. Thank you for tuning in.
I know your life is busy: so many things you need to do and not enough time for what you want to do, so, thanks for choosing to spend a few minutes with me. I promise to be brief. But I have some thoughts I'm eager to share with you about the future of our country. And I'd like to talk a little about my own sense of obligation as a citizen of the freest land on earth.
As you know, I have been thinking about running for President.
Since I left the American Red Cross, January 15th, I've been traveling around the country, and I've been humbled by the response. It's been inspiring to appear before overflow crowds in such places as New Hampshire, Iowa, Colorado, Florida, and Texas. It's been that way everywhere, but I don't think I'm the cause. I think the crowds and the enthusiasm are evidence of a great American yearning to make our nation a better place.
Yes, I've seen many Presidential campaigns up close. I know what they entail. And I know a run for the Presidency should be undertaken only if you believe in something so strongly that its accomplishment makes everything worthwhile.
And if I run, this will be why: I believe our people are looking for leaders who will call America to her better nature. Yes, we've been let down -- and by people we should have been able to look up to. But it's not just that. Politics and the politics of governing have become so negative, so paralyzed by special interests, that as a people we're beginning to lose faith in our own institutions. It's only a short step to losing faith in ourselves, and then we would be lost.
When I entered public service as a young woman, it was considered a noble thing to do. Today, too many of our young men and women can't see the wondrous possibilities of public life for the ugliness of politics. And they turn away from public service.
We must rekindle a spirit in our hearts -- something very American, something still alive but buried beneath a thickening layer of skepticism and doubt. We must renew faith in the goodness of our nation, and a sense in ourselves that each one of us can make a difference -- no matter how large the challenge. For both are true.
Restoring a national belief in the power of the individual and the need for acceptance of personal responsibility is, I believe, at the center of our challenge today as a nation.
Now, what would I as a woman offer our country? I'm not a politician, and frankly, I think that's a plus today. . But I have spent a lifetime in public service, and let me tell you a bit about that.
First of all, I have had the opportunity to serve five presidents, served as a federal trade commissioner, and of course I've just recently been serving as president of the American Red Cross, which is a $2.2 billion corporation.
Now at the Department of Transportation, my mission was really to oversee the management of material resources. At the Labor Department, it was human resources, and at the Red Cross, inner resources. So let me describe that for a moment.
First of all, at the Department of Transportation, we were responsible for highway construction, shipbuilding, air traffic control, and indeed we had the flagship of privatization and that was the sale of Conrail, our government freight railroad. Now in order to do that, you had to be an anti-trust lawyer, a rail expert and an investment banker. I learned a lot in selling that railroad. That's experience, that's experience and that's what counts, you know. You've got to have the experience in governing, and indeed I've had a lot of that.
So we sold the freight railroad; we got $2 billion to help reduce the deficit. We also sold the Alaska railroad. We also transferred two airports out of the federal government where they were on the dole, excuse me for the pun. they were on the federal dole and getting only a few million dollars, and they happened to be gateways to the nation's capital, Dulles and National, which should be first class facilities. And if you fly into National Airport, I hope you'll enjoy that new airport. There have been eight efforts to do this since 1949.
We were able to get it done. Why? Because I had a team of people, who were the best and the brightest, and I believe that's what you need in every job that you're in. You get the best people working with you. Volunteers, staff, people who really understand how to get the job done. You find those areas that really need to be fixed. I'm not a seat warmer, you know. I want to get in there and make a difference, a positive difference for people. So you find the areas where you can you really make a difference and you go for it. So we got those airports transferred out of the government and they were able to get the revenue bonds as a regional authority to build magnificent airports, and that's what you'll see when you fly into Washington..
We also took safety on as a major initiative, because what could be more important if you want to make a difference than the safety of the airways, the railways, the waterways, the highways. And we had to date at that time the safest in all those modes of transportation. We did things like overhauling the inspection system on the airlines. Why? Because we'd been through deregulation of the airlines, and they were still using the same inspector's handbook for 28 years. So it was time to refurbish the inspection system for the airlines. We also put those lights in, you know when you get on airplanes you see the low level lights, you recognize that, the smoke detectors in the lavatories, the less flammable seat covering, all of that to try and make cabin safety better.
And we were the first civilian department to undergo random drug testing, which was not exactly popular at the time. But you have to take the risks, you have to do those important things to make that difference. . Okay.
Now, Department of Labor. Okay, here we're dealing with human resources. What could be more important than trying to turn young lives around from the most negative behavior, gang leaders, et cetera, to help them to prepare for a good job, and many of them for college. That became our top priority. And that was a wonderful mission field again for me.
We also wanted to try to make a difference in a very, very bitter eleven-month coal strike. Families were torn apart; communities were torn apart. I went down to the coal fields; I couldn't believe what a really incredible situation for so many months existed. So I called in the president of the Pittston coal company and the president of the United Mine Workers, who I don't think were speaking to each other at the time. And we had some talks and we worked together to appoint a super-mediator who would help us to resolve this strike. It took a long time, right through the holiday season, but on New Year's Eve we were successful in settling that coal strike. Again, that's experience, that's hands on experience that I think makes the difference. And there were many other issues at the Department of Labor, but let me move quickly to the Red Cross.
Because here I was trying to inspire people to give of themselves as volunteers, to give of their financial resources and to give of their blood, because the Red Cross provides half of America's blood supply. So, inner resources, right? And I'll give you one example, maybe two, of many.
One would be that we laid out a new state-of-the-art system for delivering disaster relief. And I think you know how important, with the Midwest floods I was here many times back at that time. You have got to have material out in the field ready to be utilized. We trained 21,000 people for the catastrophic events, so that they'd be ready in a moment's notice to go out, and it never shuts down, it's going 24 hours a day, seven days a week, monitoring disasters, current threats, impending threats, and helping to move our people move our equipment wherever needed. You notice I still speak in the present tense about the Red Cross; I guess it'll always be a part of me and very much in my heart.
Then I want to share with you blood transformation. This was the most wrenching cultural change I have ever been involved with, but I think it was crucial for America, because it involved one half of America's blood supply. At the time that I arrived at the Red Cross, we had 53 testing labs for infectious disease that were non-standardized across the country. We had 28 computer systems trying to interface all of that and we needed a quality assurance program that would really tie our organization together and meet FDA standards.
So what we did was invest a great deal of money in this state-of-the-art system that's now the best in the world. We built eight brand-new, best-in-the-world testing labs, absolutely standardized. We have one computer system now that gives us the largest blood information database in the world for transfusion medicine research and a quality assurance program that is second to none. Training that's centralized instead of each region doing it a different way. Why is this so important? Because it does set the standard, the gold standard now, for our blood supply. And it gives us a humanitarian gift to share with other countries that have problems with their blood. And that's a wonderful result of this, because we do have others that need that help, and I hope that Red Cross will continue down that path of providing assistance.
So why do I say this? There is one overarching theme, to my 30 plus years in public service, and I believe there; it's that I placed service over politics, consensus over confrontation. And I think it's important that you know that. Now I was very pleased to be a lieutenant in Ronald Reagan's army. I served in his cabinet. I served as assistant to President Reagan at the White House and also as his secretary of transportation. And I'm sure many of you will remember that famous comment of his, are you better off than were you four years ago.
I would suggest that perhaps the relevant question now is, are you better? Are your families stronger? Are your children safe from drugs? Are our schools in America first in excellence? Are you proud of the decisions you're making and the choices that those decisions are producing in terms of our country and where our country is going?
I want to talk a bit about drugs and about education, but first let me say, for all us taxpayers in this room, can you believe that taxes are the highest percentage of the grows domestic product in this country in 50 years, the highest, so an average family is paying 40 percent of their income in taxes today. In other words, an average family has got to work five months for the government. Five months to pay the local, state and federal taxes. I think something is wrong, don't you? It's time for tax relief. Yes.
And at the same time, the amount that is being spent on defense, the percent of our gross domestic product on defense is the lowest in 50 years. We know there are problems with regards to the readiness of our military, spare parts are needed, equipment that needs to be to be replaced and talented people in the military are leaving and I think our defense budget is too low. Yes. Let's get it up. The president recommended in his budget $12 billion, but only $4 billion of that is new money. The rest, the 8 billion is moving money around the the Joint Chiefs, top military advisors recommended 17 billion. I say let's go with the Joint Chiefs, right? Need more money. And, you know, at a time when the Secretary of Defense is saying that north can Korea within a year may have nuclear bombs that could reach the United States and we know Iraq is manufacturing biological weapons, we need to do everything to develop and deploy a strategic missile defense system immediately. Immediately. This is important.
Now, let me talk about drugs. You have a real problem here in Iowa with methamphetamine. In fact you've been labeled as a high intensity drug area. This is a very serious problem, very toxic drug.
I'm told by pollsters that drugs is not very high on the priority list for Americans today. My passion does not come from polling. My passion comes from yes, leadership. We need leadership. Let's move it up on the priority list. Let's get every American concerned about this cancer on our society. This is a terrible problem not just here in Iowa but all across our country. And first of all, you must use the bully pulpit to preach constantly that drugs are not cool, they kill. They kill. .
And I think the federal government needs to provide more funding for anti-drug coalitions like Senator Grassley's project, F.I.T., which is Face It Together, and what is he trying to do, and I believe strongly in this, is to bring together parents, policemen, pastors, community leaders. Let's make this a crusade. Remember Nancy Reagan's Just Say No? She made a huge difference with that program. But drug use among our teenagers has gone up, a tripling in marijuana and cocaine use in recent years. And so if we join together in a crusade to get rid of this evil on our society. My vision is a drug-free America. Let's get after it, let's go for it.
Now education. I think that is at the top of most people's lists today. Certainly it is for me. We must return our public schools to greatness, return our public schools to greatness. And you do have a wonderful system here in Iowa; I wish every state had the quality of public school system that you have here. Also your community colleges are tremendous, and this can be a big help in providing skills for people who need to change and move into new jobs. The community colleges are so important. But I believe that, first of all, we really must get parents back into the classroom. Let's have a computer in every classroom, let's have parents in every classroom, right, and discipline. .
I think my interest in education--and I do have a masters degree, I've taught in this subject--but my interest became a passion at the Department of Labor. And the reason is that many of the businessmen and women I talked to said, you know the young people coming out of high school don't have the skills that we need for the jobs that we have available, it's like this, and we've got to do something about this. They are not prepared with the right skills. And so we initiated the number of ideas which we hoped could really help to get those young people trained for the jobs that are available today. And it became a real passion with me.
And I have great respect for our teachers. I think that most of our teachers are great servants of the public. But we know that some are not up to standard, that they're teaching a course that they really are not properly qualified to teach, like a foreign language when they don't know how to speak the language.
So, recently, I spoke to the university and college presidents, and I said, you know something, I said, you really have the lion's share of the responsibility here. You should make your schools of education a more central part of your university and your college. You need to have more rigorous training for your teachers, rigorous certification and then of course a more prestigious degree. So I think that's important.
I think that much more of our federal money, your tax money, should go to the local school districts, because yes one size doesn't fit all. In one school district it may be you need new classrooms or a building to be repaired that's falling down or the computers in the classroom or it may be more teachers, maybe smaller classes. Let's give the money to the school districts--let them decide what is important.
And as we raise regard for teachers, let's hope that we raise the regard for public servants. Because I think whether you're in the classroom or in government or whether you're working at the local Red Cross, public service brings out the best in ourselves ; it brings out the best.
And let me in closing just illustrate why I think Americans are calling for leaders who really will help to call America to her better nature. At the American Red Cross, I saw things that'll haunt me the rest of my life. Praying with parents at Oklahoma City, hoping their child would still be pulled alive from that rubble. Over in Rwanda, Zaire, which is now Congo, I was stepping over dead bodies after that rush of people, million people, left the country self years ago. And this was a terrible situation where little children were held by the Red Cross there, we were trying to find some extended family. They had nothing. Their parents had been hacked to death with machetes. They had no home, no parents, no food, no clothes, no hope, no future, nothing but the humanitarian organizations to help them.
And you realize as you look at that how often we take all these advantages in our country for granted, how blessed we are to be Americans, ladies and gentlemen, how blessed we are. . And we've been blessed to be a blessing, haven't we? We've received that we might give.
And as I saw these things that would haunt me the rest of my life, I also saw the power of the human heart. People who would travel halfway around the globe or maybe all the way around the globe to help people that they've never seen and will never see again. Wonderful volunteers like licensed mental health workers, psychiatrists, psychologists, who come and take Red Cross courses for disaster relief and help the victims of plane crashes and earthquakes in Oklahoma City.
So I would just say this is what we yearn for. These are the values, it is respect for our fellow man, isn't it, civility, personal responsibility, the fact that the individual can make a difference, every individual can. And certainly honesty and integrity, this is what I think people yearn for today. And we're a great country, yes. . Yes, that's neighbor helping neighbor, isn't it? That's what it is all about.
And so let me thank you again, this wonderful band and the great music you provided, all the people willing to come out and be with us today to really help me launch this exploratory committee. I hope this has given you an idea why I would run if I ultimately throw my hat in the ring, also what qualifications I can bring to this awesome position and some of the issues that I would be concerned about. And there are many more. But let me tell you when you just left the Red Cross five and a half weeks ago, you want to talk to a lot of people, get really good ideas. This is a people to people effort on my part. I want to hear from you, I want to listen. And then we're going to be laying out positions on all of these issues. But we want to do it in a thoughtful way, right?
So I look forward to being in touch with all of you. Don't forget now that website because I want to hear from you. And many, many thanks, heartfelt thanks, for being with me today. God bless you and God bless America. Thank you very much.
Source: Elizabeth Dole for President Official 2000 Web Site
Governor George W. Bush
Exploratory Committee Announcement
March 7, 1999
Tomorrow, I will file papers forming an exploratory committee so I can take the next step in considering a campaign for President of the United States. This will allow my friends, some of whom are on the stage here today, to begin assessing the level of support for my candidacy and to begin raising funds. I am honored that they have traveled far and wide to be here and I hope they will travel farther and wider in the months ahead.
I want to tell my friends outside of Texas, especially in the early primary states, I won’t be able to visit until this summer. I know I will be late -- much later than other candidates --but if I go forward with a campaign, I will work hard to overcome my late start. First, I have a job to do in Texas.
I’m a person who does in office what I say I will do. Last year, I told the people of Texas I did not know whether I would seek the presidency, and they should factor that in when they went to vote. I also told them I would be here this spring during our once-every-two-years legislative session, fighting for a bold agenda. Through the end of May, I must be here -- working with legislators to build consensus for major tax cuts and for education, welfare and criminal justice reforms.
After the legislative session, Laura and I intend to begin traveling to meet with people, to listen to people and to explore on our own the prospect of a campaign for President.
Many of you know I had doubts and concerns about what a campaign would mean for my family. Laura and the girls and I have talked about this a great deal, and they have concluded that if I run, they will probably vote for me. We have become comfortable that our love is strong enough, that we are close enough, that our family will thrive no matter what life brings.
I do have a compelling reason to consider running for President: I want the 21st century to be one of prosperity with a purpose. If America pursues limited government, low taxes, free and fair trade and free markets, our country will continue to be prosperous. But the purpose of prosperity is not merely material wealth. America must be prosperous and strong so the next century is peaceful. America must be prosperous so our citizens can find high quality, high paying jobs. And we must make the purpose of prosperity to help every single person have a shot at achieving the American dream, to strengthen our families where we find love and values, and to remove obstacles from faith-based groups and our local communities being involved in the compassionate delivery of help to those in need.
I believe in the promise of America -- the fundamentally American conviction that each of us can be what we want to be, can achieve what we want to achieve, so long as we are willing to work and earn it. The promise is meant for everyone, not just a few -- and as we move into the 21st century, I want the party of Lincoln to be the party that makes sure no one is left behind.
As friends begin to work on my behalf around the country, I hope the people of America will learn what the people of Texas know: that I base decisions on a set of core, conservative principles from which I will not waver. I believe government should be limited, that government should focus on a few priorities and do them well. I know the role of government is not to create wealth, but to foster an environment in which our small businesses and entrepreneurs can flourish.
I believe in local control of our counties, cities and schools. l know Texans can run Texas, and that states must be free to enact innovative and constructive reforms. I believe all public policy should encourage strong families and I believe in personal responsibility. I’ve worked in Texas to help usher in what I call the responsibility era, in which all individuals know they are responsible for their actions, responsible for the children they bring into this world, responsible for their families and communities and responsible for loving their neighbors as they would like to be loved themselves.
I’ve described myself as a compassionate conservative, because I am convinced a conservative philosophy is a compassionate philosophy that frees individuals to achieve their highest potential. It is conservative to cut taxes and compassionate to give people more money to spend. It is conservative to insist upon local control of schools and high standards and results; it is compassionate to make sure every child learns to read and no one is left behind. It is conservative to reform the welfare system by insisting on work; it’s compassionate to free people from dependency on government. It is conservative to reform the juvenile justice code to insist on consequences for bad behavior; it is compassionate to recognize that discipline and love go hand in hand.
As Governor of this great state, I have proven I know how to lead. I know that a leader must clearly see a better tomorrow. A leader must make decisions based on principles. And a leader must be a uniter, not a divider.
A leader sets a tone. Should I decide to run for President, I will set an optimistic and hopeful tone for America. I will campaign on my beliefs and principles and will not engage in the petty politics of personal destruction. America deserves better.
Finally, a good leader surrounds himself with smart, capable people. That’s been my hallmark in Texas and I am proud of the leaders who have come together to help me explore the prospects of a national campaign. The men and women on this stage represent the best of the Republican Party. I am grateful they will take time to help me make this decision and to recruit others to lead the campaign. From senior statesmen to current and future stars, they show that ours is a party that is open, that is diverse, that is principled -- that ours is the party with an optimistic vision for the future of America.
Source: George W. Bush for President Official 2000 Campaign Web Site
Republican Presidential Announcement Speech
by Patrick J. Buchanan
Friends, it is wonderful to come home to this state that holds so many cherished memories for Shelley and me. I have come here to make to the good people of New Hampshire a solemn promise:
God willing, from today to the nation's first primary, I will raise my voice on behalf of those Americans who are not being heard, and to offer my hand to those who were not allowed to march in the great parade of American prosperity.
With this campaign, I intend to redefine what it means to be a conservative, to reshape my party into the natural home of working men and women, and the middle class, and to reclaim the destiny of our republic from an administration that has squandered our inheritance and soiled its place in history.
With each year, America becomes ever more addicted to the narcotic of cheap imports. The price of that addiction is the dismantlement of the mightiest industrial empire the world has ever seen. Piece by piece, job by job, factory by factory, it is being carted off to foreign soil.
The yellow brick road that once took tens of millions of poor and working Americans into the middle class lies in ruin.
It is not an accident. It is a direct consequence of a deliberate effort to submerge our country in a Global Economy, whence we shall never be truly free again. This highway on which we travel ends in a dangerous trail, and the toll is the death of American independence.
NAFTA and GATT have bequeathed us a trillion-dollar merchandise trade deficit. Our deficit in manufactures, $200 billion last year alone, was 12 times our shrinking trade surplus in farm goods. Taxpayers have been forced to underwrite titanic bailouts of Mexico, Asia, Russia and Brazil. This administration ran to the rescue of an Indonesian dictator, who had on his hands the blood of a quarter million Catholics, and then turned a stone face to steelworkers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, as their dreams are buried under the devalued and dumped imports of Russia, Japan, and Brazil. Heartland industries are being sacrificed to enrich a global elite that looks on workers not as fellow human beings but as pawns in a game of global chess.
What happened to the country we grew up in, where we all cared about one another, and we all went forward together?
We need a new patriotism in America that puts country first, a new conservatism of the heart that puts people first, and a new set of priorities where our party stands for something greater than the bottom line on a balance sheet. American workers, our brothers and sisters, are not here to serve the financiers of some New World Order.
To those who call me a protectionist, I say without apology: I will use the trade laws of this country and my authority as President to protect the jobs of our workers, the standard of living of our American families, the independence of my country, and the sovereignty of the United States; and no global trade authority will keep me from doing my duty.
If I am elected, America's trade and foreign policies will no longer be up for bid at White House coffees; and foreign agents of influence will not be sleeping in the Lincoln Bedroom. They won't get past the Marine Guards at the White House gates.
A decade ago, when the Berlin Wall fell and freedom came to the Captive Nations, Ronald Reagan was being toasted in Moscow for having rid the world of an Evil Empire. A friendship blossomed between us. Now, on the brink of autocracy, Russia spits on the hand that tried to help it.
Meanwhile, China is the beneficiary of an administration policy of blind and craven appeasement. Though China persecutes its dissidents and Christians, threatens Taiwan, and steals our technology, it calls Beijing our "strategic partner."
China has been given our super computers and satellite technology, and allowed to run up $200 billion in trade surpluses, giving it the hard currency to build and buy the missiles now targeted at U.S. troops in South Korea and Okinawa. If, one day, American technology is used to harm the bravest of America's young, history will forever damn those who made it possible.
So let me tell you what we shall do. I will sit down with the Chinese Premier and tell him directly: If you continue to impose a 40% tax on our exports, if you continue to persecute Tibetans, Christians and dissidents, if you continue to target our sailors and Marines with your rockets, you can take your Made-in-China goods and go peddle them somewhere else.
As for a missile defense, it will be built - and we shall complete the final chapter of Ronald Reagan's legacy.
For six years this administration has been adding to America's global commitments as it slashed away at America's defense. Since 1992, we have stretched NATO to the borders of Russia, spread U.S. troops all over the Balkans, put CIA agents onto the West Bank, and proclaimed a policy of dual containment in the Persian Gulf. Not one Cold War commitment has been discarded.
Yet, as it piles commitment on commitment, and engages in noisy bombast, this administration has presided over the hollowing out of the mighty armed forces built up under Ronal Reagan and George Bush. Under Clinton and Gore, America has mothballed more warships, air wings, Army and Marine divisions than it took to fight Desert Storm.
It is time for the United States to reduce its commitments and rebuild its power. The armed forces are not some experimental laboratory for aging "60s radicals" who loathed the military then, and do not love her now.
My friends, for half a century we willfully and rightly defended Europe and Asia so that free nations could break bread at democracy's table. It is their turn, now, to start picking up the tab. Bosnia and Kosovo are in Europe's backyard, not ours; they, not we, should police that blood-soaked peninsula.
It has been said, "the greatest mistake in politics is to stick to the carcasses of dead policies." It is not natural, it is not normal, to have U.S. soldiers occupy foreign lands in times of peace. America's armed services must not become the Hessians of anyone's New World Order.
We are the leader of the free world and a light unto the nations, but America's role in the 21st century should be to become again the Arsenal of Democracy and Strategic Reserve of the West, not the policeman of the planet or the social worker of the world.
I stand here today in the foreign policy tradition of Washington, Jefferson, Monroe, Quincy Adams, Lincoln and Reagan. When U.S. vital interests are threatened, or citizens attacked, or honor impugned, we ask no nation's permission to respond. But we alone, not UN councils or European bureaucrats decide when and where Americans go into battle. And when they do, they will fight only under American command.
In acting, we act not for ourselves alone, but for all mankind. Having conquered Soviet Communism, our great struggle in the new era will be for the preservation of our independence against the encroaching claims of world government. Wherever other nations stand up for the right to be free, and to be themselves, we stand with them. They, as we, have a right to preserve their unique character and identity. America, as Theodore Roosevelt said, is not some polyglot boarding house for the world; this land is our land; this land is our home.
"One nation, indivisible," is what the Pledge of Allegiance declares, and the millions of immigrants who have come here in recent decades to become part of the American family shall be welcomed as our adopted sons, daughters, brothers and sisters. But, as they have a duty to learn, we have a duty to assimilate them into the American family - to teach them our heritage, our traditions, our customs, our history, our culture, and our language.
That is not happening. America is subdividing along racial and ethnic lines. The Melting Pot no longer works its magic. Hyphenated-Americanism has returned. School children are taught in the language of the country they came from, not the language of the country they came to. Public school principals in Los Angeles are being asked to leave, because they belong to the wrong race or ethnic group. College students are resegregating and demanding graduation in ceremonies only with their own. Our politics reek of epithets as ugly as those we expunged decades ago.
It is time for these divisions to end, for, unless we all go forward together, we're not going forward at all.
We need a moratorium on immigration, and a national campaign of assimilation. To become one nation and one people again, we must insist that our newly adopted learn the language that is our mother tongue, the English language. To do otherwise robs them of their fair chance at the American dream.
All students must be introduced to American history, and our unique culture to which all who have come here have contributed. All discrimination must be rooted out of government policy and the un-American practice of hiring and promoting individuals based on race or ethnic origin must be abolished. As long as statutes decree that some are more equal than others, we are neither free nor equal.
We know from history that it is a natural tendency of government to seek power, and never to relinquish it. In our lifetime, we have seen government grow to where it consumes 40% of family income. Not long ago, that was called Socialism. In the year 2000, there is promise of a Republican President and Congress for the first time since the early Eisenhower administration.
A historic opportunity is at hand to restore the constitutional balance of power established by our Founding Fathers. The Supreme Court and all federal courts need to get back to the business of interpreting the Constitution and the law, and out of the business of rewriting the Constitution and the law. That is not their role.
In a constitutional republic, how we govern ourselves should be decided by elected leaders, not anointed judges, whether in the nation, or right here in the state of New Hampshire.
The first days of a new administration should see a return to Constitutionalism, a rollback of federal power, fewer federal regulations and lower taxes. Like welfare, poverty, housing, primary and secondary education should be returned to the states. Our Internal Revenue Code should be ripped out by its roots and replaced with a simple, fair, tax system every American can understand.
One of the great achievements of the Republican Congress was balancing the books in Washington. American's greatest deficit is no longer found in the federal budget. It is a moral deficit, and it may be found in a polluted and poisoned culture that has become the great enemy within.
The White House, where I spent eight years as an assistant to three Presidents, this temple of our civilization, has been desecrated, used to shake down corporate executives, to lie with abandon to the American people, a place to exploit women. The personal destruction of political rivals has been perfected to a high art. It is time to call the curtain on the soap opera in the White House, time to restore a measure of dignity to our national stage.
When speaking of those left out, or left behind, let us never forget the unborn, the handicapped, the sick, the elderly, these most vulnerable and dependent among us, to whom some offer only the abortionist knife, or death through the lethal poisons of euthanasia and assisted suicide. We are a better people than this. And we owe the Great Generation that brought us through World War II a more honored end to their good lives than this.
For the sake of our dignity as a nation and people, let us shut the door to this Culture of Death. As long as I have breathe in me, there will be at least one major political party in America that dares, without apology, to stand up for the rights of the unborn.
My friends, we are the heirs of a Great Generation, the generation of our mothers and fathers who brought this country safely through the Depression and World War II. I can yet recall, as a boy, seeing my father go off to work three jobs, to provide for a family that was growing to nine children - every one of whom he would send to college to get the kind of education he had been denied. I can yet recall my mothers' four younger brothers stopping by the house on Chestnut Street to say goodbye, as they went off to fight Hitler's evil empire in Europe.
They made their contributions to America's greatness and glory. And we, too, have contributed. It was our generation, all of us, who stayed the course, persevered, and prevailed in the long twilight struggle against one of the most monstrous tyrannies the world has ever known.
But we are not done yet. We have one more contribution to make. Our duty, our challenge is to fulfill America's promise - to make her one nation, under God, and one people again, where all, regardless of color, creed, gender or national origin, have a fair shot at the American Dream.
It is our calling to recapture the lost independence and sovereignty of our republic, to clean up all that pollutes our culture, and to heal the soul of America. And, to that end, I declare my candidacy for President of the United States.
Source: Pat Buchanan for President Official 2000 Web Site
Announcement Speech
Thank you Kevin Miller the Emcee for the day, who came all the way from Alabama to be here.
Andrea Tufts and Kelly Thomson for inviting me to come here for the announcement and that wonderful introduction. I made a promise to Kelly and Andrea and all the students last year that if I ran ran for President, I would announce here at Kingswood. Well, let this be the first of many campaign promises that I will keep.
Thank you, Heidi Harris for that beautiful rendition of the National Anthem, and thanks to the Kingswood band for the music.
Student Body, because I know they'd much rather be in class studying.
Principal Paul McMillan for all his cooperation, Phil Decelle a teaching colleague, and Father Ed, for your moving invocation, and for being a spiritual advisor and friend to my family.
To my fellow Legionnaires, particularly Bill Diamond, Post 21, and the Legion State headquarters in Concord -- and also Bob Jones, of the Northeast POW/MIA Network. Thank you for organizing today's color guard.
Captain McDaniel, who was a POW for 6 years, tortured by the North Vietnamese, found out what it was like first-hand to lose his freedom. Red, I can't tell you how proud I am to have you here and how much I appreciate what you've said. Let me just say to the youth of America, if you want a role model, they just don't come any better than Captain McDaniel.
And, of course, the people who are the most special to me, My family, Jason, Bobby, Jenny and Eric, and my wife Mary Jo.
This is very emotional for me. I taught here, I coached here. I'll always cherish the happy memories here at Kingswood.
I remember standing right here in this building 19 years ago, standing next to another Republican Presidential candidate as he asked for the support of the people of Wolfeboro and New Hampshire. And he got it. His name was Ronald Reagan.
You picked one President. Let's make it two for two.
What kind of a President will I be? In order to know that, you have to know what kind of person I am.
I don't have a big name or a huge family trust fund. I was raised on a small farm by a single mom and two loving grandparents. My beliefs came not through political calculation or polling or focus groups or consultants or the talking heads on the Sunday Morning talk shows. They were ingrained in my spirit through my life's experiences. Today, I want to share with you how those experiences in life have molded my conservative philosophy, and how I would like to use those experiences and that philosophy to lead this nation into the 21st century as President of the United States.
The great conservative New Hampshire Governor Meldrim Thomson (Kelly's granddad) told me once "You either stand for something, or you stand for nothing." That is why I have never wavered. I am in politics to make a difference for you, not to make a career for me.
I am not a leap year conservative, showing up every four years telling you what you want to hear. I have been fighting the fight, day after day for 15 years in the House and Senate. I might be a new face, but I'm an old warrior.
Before we can find out where we want to go as a nation, we need to know where we came from.
The Pilgrims came here on the Mayflower on a Divine Mission. They had a rough voyage, but they knew where they wanted to go, and they followed their compass.
And they founded a new nation.
Three centuries later, there was another ship, the Titanic. The unsinkable ship. They cruised in luxury, and ignored their navigational charts and their compass, and they went off course, hit an iceberg and went to the bottom of the icy cold Atlantic.
I want the American Ship of State to be the Mayflower and not the Titanic. So, I am asking all of you to join me today, to chart the right course for America and sail safely into the 21st Century with a commitment to keep America strong and free for millions yet unborn.
We HAVE the charts -- The Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Holy Bible.
We need a Captain and a crew who will read those charts, and steer us past the sea of icebergs that threaten our God-given rights. Jefferson wrote about those rights in the Declaration of Independence. The right to Life, the right to Liberty, and the right to the Pursuit of Happiness.
Like Jefferson, I want to start with the right to life. I lost my father two days before my fourth birthday. I lost a lifetime of experiences that I would have had with him. No dad there to watch me play baseball. No dad there for graduation. No dad to seek advice and counsel like only a father could give.
This experience has taught me two things. First, it has inspired me to be a good father to my own children, because I know the pain of not having a father myself. Second, it has taught me that life is the most precious gift that God gives to each of us.
You cannot have liberty or pursue happiness if you are denied your right to be born. Since 1973, over 35 million babies have lost their lives by abortion. That is immoral, it's unconscionable. It is below the dignity of a great nation. Did you ever stop to think how many doctors, teachers, moms, dads, pastors... perhaps even a President could be in that 35 million? Maybe even a scientist who came up with a cure for cancer or heart disease.
They never had a chance to live their dreams.
My life's goal is to protect ALL unborn children. As President, I will nominate only pro-life justices to the Supreme Court. Within the first few days of my administration, I will send Congress a bill defining life as beginning at fertilization.
In the 1860s, Lincoln ended the moral outrage of slavery because he knew it was wrong. Abortion is the moral outrage of the 20th Century, and I will end it because it too is wrong.
I don't want to get in your face on abortion, I want to get in your heart. Another issue dear to my heart is the U.S. military. When you go home tonight you will sleep soundly with the knowledge that the United States is free and secure. That is one of our richest blessings. But that freedom and that security is not without cost.
Mary Jo and I went to visit Normandy in 1994 on the 50th anniversary of the invasion. As we were walking down the rows and rows of crosses, Mary Jo happened to look closely at one of the crosses. On it was the name of a young man who had died on her birthday, May 29, 1944. That soldier died so that she could be born free. We should thank our veterans every day for their sacrifice and always strive to remain worthy of their sacrifice.
Heroes, role models, America's best. My comrades here today, and soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and veterans across America and around the world, I salute you.
As a little boy, I remember a handsome naval officer hugging a beautiful young woman as he walked out the door. That handsome officer was my dad, and that beautiful woman was my mother. My dad never came back. He was a naval aviator who flew combat missions in the Second World War and lost his life in a military aircraft accident at the end of the war. He was my hero. It is through my mother and my father's example that I gained my respect and admiration for the sacrifice that military families make. They both are buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
That is why my brother and I were both proud to serve our country in the Vietnam war.
Many of you upon graduation will join the service. You will then become a link in a long chain of patriots who have kept America free and secure. Today, our military is ready. But I want to issue a warning. Danger is on the horizon.
Our nation is completely vulnerable to a nuclear, biological, or chemical missile attack from rogue nations such as North Korea, Iran, and Libya. Terrorists are poised to strike our embassies around the world and America herself might be on the target list.
The suffocating cloak of the cold war has been lifted, but the embers of old passions have drawn a fresh breath. Ethnic, cultural, and religious hatred fuel civil war in places like Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Middle East. This Administration has placed our soldiers right in the middle of this chaos with no exit strategy in sight. They serve magnificently, but the President has asked them to do more with less, and the foundation of our military readiness is crumbling.
By 2002, the airforce will be 2000 pilots short of their requirement. The Army and Navy combined are below enlistment levels Our Marine Corps is flying aircraft that saw action in Vietnam and should have been replaced years ago.
Throughout the armed forces, there is a shortage of spare parts for our military equipment. We need a strong, forceful, Commander in Chief with the background, the credibility, the knowledge, and the passion to lead and inspire our troops. And someone who cares about them and appreciates their sacrifices.
Here is what I would do as President.
I will ask the Joint Chiefs an immediate assessment of the operational needs of each of the services, and send a bill to Congress with the funding necessary to correct those shortages.
I will develop and deploy as soon as technologically possible a National Missile Defense system and theater defense systems to protect our troops in the field.
I will never send your sons and daughters into military action unless it is in national interest of the United States, and they will only be led into battle under U.S. Command.
I will immediately raise military pay, and restore military retirement and health care benefits which have been cut so drastically over the years. Commitments to our veterans will be honored and there will be no military personnel on food stamps.
Our nation's POWs and MIAs sacrificed their own freedom to protect our freedom and were never heard from again. Their ultimate fate is still unknown. I have traveled to every corner of the world on behalf of the POW/MIA families searching for answers -- trying to end their uncertainty. I have had to bang on the doors of our own Government to open up intelligence files. Never again will these families have to beg our government and foreign governments for answers about their loved ones. Never again, Captain McDaniel.
There will be no trade rewards to oppressive regimes like Communist China that continue to violate basic human rights and target US Cities with their missiles.
There would never be any agreements that give away our sovereignty to international tribunals. The veterans in this room didn't fight for the IMF or the World Bank or the Dow Jones average. They fought to keep us free.
To be certain that those sacrifices were not in vain, you must participate in the Democratic process. You must be good citizens, good parents, good community leaders.
When I was a teacher, I used to tell my students that they had no more important civic responsibility than to pass America on to future generations -- strong and free. It's a debt that we owe our founders. Christa McAuliffe, one of New Hampshire's finest teachers, once said "I touch the future, I teach." And let me say to the young people of America. You are the future. So, learn. Accept personal responsibility. Be a good citizen. You are America's posterity.
There is no public policy where my personal life experiences have had a more profound impact on my political views than on the issue of education. As a teacher, school board member, and parent, I learned first-hand that it's not the bureaucrats and the Washington elitists in the Department of Education that teach our students. It is the local school boards, teachers, and Administrators, parents.
Mark Twain said "I never let my schoolin' interfere with my education." I say we shouldn't let the Department of Education interfere with our schoolin'.
Parents, not the Department of Education, should have total control over their children's education, whether in the public schools, private, parochial, charter schools, or home schooling.
Washington is a city of takers. They take away your decision making power over your children's education. They are able to do it because they take so much of your money. Lets take our money back from Washington.
There's a funny story about my son Bobby when he came home one night after receiving his first pay check. He had an unhappy look on his face. He came up to me and said "Dad, what's FICA?" I said, "Son, we need to have a talk."
Americans pay too much in taxes. They spend countless hours every year agonizing over complicated tax forms. I would throw out the exisiting tax code and start over. I would eliminate the marriage penalty and the inherritance tax. I would offer an across the board ten percent tax cut for every American, cut the capital gains tax, and double the personal exemption, and I would fire any IRS agent that harasses an American taxpayer.
I will present no budget to the Congress that is not in balanced, and will use all budget surpluses to pay down the debt, strengthen our military, and to implement reforms in Social Security to begin the process of allowing individuals to set up their own personal savings accounts. Washington, DC. the City of Takers.
They are obsessed with taking away the right to keep and bear arms from innocent gun owners. We must stop them. Two friends of ours, Carlos and Maria Fiol, escaped from Castro's Cuba. They told me that one of the first things Castro did was take the guns away from the citizens so they were defenseless against his tyranny.
I have always marveled at the brilliance and foresight of the Founding Fathers. It seems as if the Constitution prepared us for every challenge, and they were certainly right when they wrote the Second Amendment, which guarantees us the right to bear arms. I have been proud for the past fifteen years to lead in battle after battle on behalf of the rights of the gun owners of America. As President, I will repeal these infringments on our Second Amendment liberties.
We have talked about a number of icebergs that threaten to sink the American Ship of State. But the largest and the most dangerous of them all is the attack on our moral fiber and character as a nation.
George Washington said "the foundation of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principle of private morality."
It has been said that character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking.
I want to make a comment at this point about the impeachment trial of President Clinton. I took an oath as an impartial juror, to judge the President based on the evidence and the facts. I kept that oath. I did not go on national television, I turned down countless invitations to do interviews, and I declined them all because I did not feel that it was proper for me to comment at that time. But, now, I must speak. I voted to remove President Clinton from office because I believe that the evidence showed that he committed perjury and obstructed justice. In spite of my guilty vote, the President was not removed from office. The President's acquittal is a sad commentary on the prevailing values in America today.
This is not about whether I forgive President Clinton for his actions. This is about criminal behavior and personal acccountability. Any teacher, school board member, military officer, or CEO would lose their job and be prosecuted for these offenses. So, the message to the American public is that the mighty can commit crimes against the weak and use the power of their office to escape justice.
I taught history and civics, and this is not what I taught my kids that America was all about. What is happening to America?
In the movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Senator Jefferson Smith, played by Jimmy Stewart, came to Washington as a good, decent man. He believed that America was a great country, that its people were of good character, and that they have the right to expect good character in their leaders. As Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee, I agree.
Yes, my fellow Americans, character does matter. We can restore America to the "the Shining City on the Hill" as President Reagan called it. A nation with respect for the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Bible.
Respect for freedom. Respect for life.
Respect for the sacrifices of our military.
Respect for our families.
Respect for each other.
Respect for the truth.
But, it's not going to be easy.
Ferdinand Magellan (1520) "The sea is dangerous and its storms terrible. But these obstacles have never been sufficient reason to remain ashore... Unlike the mediocre. Intrepid spirits seek victory over those things that seem impossible...it is with an iron will that they embark on the most daring of all adventures... To meet the shadowy future without fear, and conquer the unknown. Don't be the mediocre. Be the intrepid spirit, and don't be discouraged by the nay sayers.
The pollsters and the pundits and the experts said that a vote for Jesse Ventura was a wasted vote. He's now the Governor of Minnesota. If you vote for the candidate you believe in, your vote is never wasted.
When you get down, and you think you've got it tough, think about our political heroes and learn from them.
George Washington at Valley Forge. Had he lost, 56 signers of the Declaration would have been hanged as traitors instead of being revered as heroes.
Or Caesar Rodney, from Delaware. The deciding vote to pass the Declaration of Independence. He had cancer of the face, and he was scheduled to go to Britain to have surgery. Instead, he walked into that room, bandages on his face, and signed the Declaration, and sacrificed his life.
Today we make heroes out of the dealmakers, and vilify the principled, the courageous.
It wasn't the dealmakers and the pollsters who won our independence. They were men and women of courage and character, and they were not indecisive.
In Alice in Wonderland, Alice comes to a fork in the road and encounters the Cheshire cat sitting in the tree.
"Which way should I go?" said Alice.
"That depends on where you want to get to?" Said the cat.
"Well, I'm not sure. I just want to get some place. Said Alice.
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go, because you're bound to get some place if you only walk long enough."
Today, the politicians take polls to find out what where they should go. Can you imagine Patrick Henry, preparing for his "Give Me Liberty, or Give me Death" speech, turning to his pollster, and saying "this sounds a little harsh. Lets do a poll to see whether they want liberty, or do they want death?"
You've heard of the "Country Club" Republicans. Well, I'm a "Country MUSIC" Republican.
One of my favorite singers, Merle Haggard said "Are we rollin' down a hill like a snowball headed for Hell with no kind of chance for the flag and the liberty bell."
I don't think so. But, I have come to the conclusion that we're not going to save our country from ruin with dealmaking, compromise, and support of the status quo.
It will take a passionate, principled, grass roots crusade to restore American values and freedoms. This campaign will be conducted on Main Street, not Wall Street. I am going to fund this campaign with small contributions, and lots of them. So right now I am asking every American who is watching today who cares about the future of this country to join my campaign. Let's take stock in America.
It's not going to be a campaign for the faint of heart.
The Senate Chaplain Lloyd Oglive, a role model, once told me: "Our time in history -- is God's gift to us. What we do with it is our gift to Him." We need to climb up on the deck. Take a deep breath, get some wind in our sails, get a firm hand on the ship's wheel, and navigate this ship of state past these icebergs into the 21st century -- a century of freedom, morality, respect for the Constitution, and respect for the sacrifices the founders made for us.
Political leadership is NOT about who gives the best speech,
it's NOT about who has the most money,
It's NOT about who the media thinks is the front runner.
It's NOT about political resumes.
It IS about CHARACTER.
It's about INTEGRITY.
It's about a commitment to principle.
And it is about bold, courageous, passionate, committed leadership.
Finally, it's about each one of us joining together to rediscover our compass and our navigational charts. There's nothing wrong with the charts.
It's our leaders who have gone in the wrong direction.
Each of us can make a difference in his own way.
We can't be frustrated by how BIG the problem is.
In Canfield and Hanson's book, Chicken Soup for the Soul, he tells a story about two friends walking on a deserted beach. This man was picking up starfish that had been washed up on the beach, and one at a time, he was throwing them back in the water. The action, of course, prevented the starfish from dying on the beach. Although his friend understood the spirit of the act, he was puzzled.
"There must be thousands of starfish on this beach, he told his friend, don't you realize that this is probably happening on hundreds of beaches up and down this coast. Don't you see that you can't possibly make a difference."
The man smiled, and bent down to pick up yet another starfish. As he threw it back in to the sea, he replied, "Made a difference to that one."
If we are to change this great country one star fish at a time, we need a leader who will make a difference. It is without hesitation, and with a deep respect for the promise of America, that I declare my candidacy for the Presidency of the United States.
Thank you.
Source: Bob Smith for President Official 2000 Web Site
Remarks and Announcement
Congressman John R. Kasich
Hyatt Regency
Monday, February 15, 1999
8:00 A.M.
Wow? Isn't this something? Beyond my wildest dreams and expectations.
I want to first of all thank all of my friends from Central Ohio. You know, you allowed a kid to come from McKees Rocks, a mailman's son, to go to this great University, Ohio State, and it is a great University.
And then you gave me the honor and the privilege of being able to represent you at the State Capitol. Can you imagine what that was like? My mother and father never quite understood it.
And then you gave me the greatest honor, which was to send me to the Nation's Capitol at the age of 30, and I had so many great memories of what happened in that Capitol. One of the great moments was when Ronald Reagan came back from Reykjavik. When he said to the Russians that we're going to stand up and we're going to make it America's way, that we're going to be for freedom for people all over the world. I showed up early to sit on the aisle, and I wish all of you had been there, too. But maybe in a sense you all were. When Reagan walked down that aisle and I shook his hand and thanked him for all of us.
You see, I always carry our Central Ohio values with me wherever I go. I try to carry Central Ohio hopes, and dreams, and the values that flow from the most important institution right here in Columbus, and that is our families.
You have to understand that I got into politics because my mom and dad taught me, "Johnny, you can change the world. Nothing can stop anyone in this country if you want to work hard, and if you can believe in yourself and the people who are around you."
So I went into government to change the world, and I've been working on a little piece of it every single day for the 20 years that you've honored me in being able to represent you. You know, when I think back to so many of the fights that I have involved myself in; many times even against my own party and always against the skeptics who said it couldn't be done. I just think back to the lonely road that I was on, along with my great friend, Mike DeWine, to not just balance the federal budget, but to put our arms around every piece, every crack and crevice of the way this federal government works.
I believed that it was the start to take power, money and influence from government and put it in the hands of people. They said it couldn't be done. They said it was impossible. And you know something? Now that this budget is balanced and we've run a surplus and the interest rates have come down, I've come to realize that the efforts that we made in '89 and '90 and '91 and '92 and '93 (and then when we finally passed it in 1997) have changed the world. It's made people's lives better. It's given us more prosperity and better jobs and it has allowed us to be an engine for people all over the world.
So when they say sometimes that a mailman's kid can't grow up and change the world, they've got it wrong. A mailman's kid can grow up and change the world. And now we have to embark together on a new mission. The mission is to continue to pursue the economic destiny of the United States of America and to pursue the economic destiny of every single American citizen while at the same time rejuvenating the American spirit.
We're hungry for the renewal of our American spirit, about giving us confidence again. In order to do that I believe we've got to begin to run America from the bottom up, from our families, from our communities, to the top.
You know, power in America flows from the people to the leaders. It's time to take the power back from the elite and put it back into the hands of the American people, into our hands, into every family and every community and every individual.
You know, it's power from the people and power to the people. And let's start with one of the most precious opportunities that we have in America: The opportunity for every boy and girl to be able to get an education so they can pursue their dreams. Because you know, if you're black or red or yellow or white, yes, sometimes if you're black in America, they'll try to hold you back. But you know what? With skills and persistence, you can overcome.
So we have to march every day to make sure that our children have the best education. And, folks, I have to tell you, the best education doesn't come from a bunch of elite who try to tell us how to educate our children. It comes from mothers and fathers who love their children, who want to place their children in the best educational setting, a place where they will be safe and they will learn.
I believe in the power of mothers and fathers and the power of the family to have the power and the choice to send their kids where they will learn. What does the educational elite say? The educational elite says give the power to mom and dad, and they'll screw it up. They're not capable. They're not competent.
The greatest thing we have to fear in education today is a commitment to the status quo; and the greatest opportunity we have is to give mothers and fathers, again, the power to hungry for it because they know the way in which we can save the public school is to give them power in the classroom, to reward them for innovation and creativity. And the education of our children is based on one simple element: Competition in our system. It works, and it works well, and builds for a better child.
In the area of retirement, mom and dad, you're going to get your Social Security. I see so many baby-boomers here today, so many people that it's incumbent upon to pull us into the next generation. Mom and dad are going to get their Social Security. You know who I'm worried about? I'm worried about the baby-boomers and their children.
You see, we don't have the children out there to support the baby-boomers and their retirement. But we can get out of it without having to chain our children to machines to work 20 hours a day. The answer is to let the baby-boomers have a piece of their own tax dollars that they currently send to the government to be able to invest in the American economy.
Now, the President says we need a board of political types who will take our money and invest it. Because the elite believe that we're too stupid to be able to figure out how to plan for our own retirement. Well, I've got to tell you, there is nobody who cares more about our retirement and about our days to have the same prosperity that our parents have than we do. No thank you to the political types in Washington. Let us have our power.
In the area of welfare, we've come a long way. You know, I was the chairman of the conference committee that wrote the new welfare bill. But we can't stop. It's just a way station. Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing in America, if in Westerville, Ohio, I could take $500 that would normally go to the Housing and Urban Development bureaucracy and I could give that money directly to the Habitat for Humanity in Westerville.
Or what if I wanted to take $500, and instead of sending it to the bureaucracy in Washington at the Health and Human Services, I could give it directly to the Salvation Army or to the Red Cross to help people who were in need?
You see, we will solve the problems of people in our society (in my opinion) who are poor, who are disabled, who are disadvantaged, who live in the shadows of life. We will do it by all of us designing the solutions right where we live to give every single American an opportunity to live their dreams.
And you know what they say, the poverty elite says? We are too mean and we are too stupid to get it right. Shame on them. Give us our power back. We will care for the people who need to be cared for in our communities. We ought to be empowered to do it.
Of course, we have this bureaucracy. You know, Ross Perot had it right. The bureaucrats, God bless them, they're out there, and they're doing their best. But somehow they get caught in the system that gives them the attitude that we work for them, but they don't work for us. They come into our businesses, and they threaten to shut us down, to fine us, to sue us or all of the above.
Hard-working people like Cheryl Krueger, all she's trying to do is to have a business where she can promote from within, give the flexibility to the single women who work in her business, who have children in school to be able to support their kids. All she ever asks is for her business to be involved in the community, and what does she get? She gets more plague visited on her than Moses put on the Egyptians with regulators and lawsuits and taxes.
The fact is, folks, the bureaucrats have a view that we're mean and that we'll get it wrong and that they've got to stop us from doing the wrong thing. I've got news for them. If John Kasich becomes president, they're going to have an attitude adjustment, and they're going to realize that they work for us; we do not work for them. We ought to march together on this.
You know, on foreign policy, I believe that the most important decision of the future is to decide exactly what is in the direct national interests of the United States. But the foreign policy elite, they just don't get it. They don't believe anymore that the people have to be consulted, but they made one little mistake, didn't they? They came to Central Ohio and went to Ohio State and they began to realize how much we care about where we commit our sons and daughters to far-away places. We want it to be in our direct national interest, and will stand for nothing less.
Also, you know, they tell me nobody wants a tax cut. Well, I never quite seem to meet them. I have a 10 percent across-the-board tax cut. Do you know why I have that? Because I don't believe that America's about redistribution of the wealth.
You see, I come from this little town called McKees Rocks where if the wind blew the wrong way, you find yourself out of work. But you know, there's one thing I found out there. The only people who hate rich people are guilty rich people. You see, the people who are struggling every day in America, they realize that if a rich guy takes his money, invests it, creates a job, that I get the job. Then I go to college and I get smart, then I buy him out, and he works for me. That's the way we see it in middle America.
And a 10 percent across-the-board tax cut is the linchpin. It's the movement towards a simpler, less complicated tax system. And I want to tell you, we balanced the budget. Because if a politician went to a meeting and wasn't for balancing the budget, they'd hang you from the nearest tree.
Well, you know, I understand that if a politician doesn't stand for eliminating all of this junk and firing all of those bureaucrats that designed these mousetraps, if we don't get out there for the reform to greatly simplify this system, you'll hang me from the closest tree. We're going to march every day to simplify this tax code.
I believe what Dick Armey says. We ought to throw the whole darn thing out and get started again so that we can win.
But look, ladies and gentlemen, when we run America from the bottom up, with providing for programs for the poor and educating our children and controlling our retirement and planning our own health care, cutting taxes are it.
My dad used to stand in the basement of our home. He would wear a pair of boxer shorts. Remember Uncle George? And we ha this little typewriter, a little handwritten typewriter, not an electric one, (my dad thought anything electric was too complicated, would just break down). My dad would type on that typewriter, and I'd go down in that basement, and every once in a while he would hold his money up with a little rubberband around it, and he say, "Johnny, I'm rich."
He didn't mean he was rich. What my dad was saying is the bigger that was, the more he could do for Rick and Donna and Johnny and my mom. The road right down the street from our house was McCoy Road. And every once in a while my dad would drive the car down and he would stop it, and he would say, "Johnny, roll down the window," and there would be a man standing on the sidewalk. I knew him because he came every week and picked up our trash; and my dad would give him a few bucks.
See, my mom and dad taught me that we have to give of what we have. That's the American way. That's the God-fearing way. And, ladies and gentlemen, tax cuts are not just about economic theory, they're about the fact that we can be empowered to do what we need to do in our own community.
Let me just suggest to you that there is no substitute for this, and we must march each and every day to get our power back. Because the more we have, the more we can do and the more we can control our destiny. Please join me in the never-ending fight to cut government and cut taxes in America, every single day.
You know, a lot of people say that they don't know if we are smart enough to be able to handle our retirement, and they don't know if we can spend our money in the right way. Shouldn't somebody else do it? And how will we ever figure out all these complicated health care plans? And we bemoan this and we don't have the confidence.
Your grandmother and your grandfather were living somewhere over in Europe a couple generations ago, and your grandpa told your grandma "We're going to America." Your grandma said, "We're going where? I don't want to go."
Maybe grandpa had a doubt in his mind, and grandma said "We're going to America." But together they made the decision to get in a small boat, it probably leaked, imagine the food, very little water, I would imagine; and they floated across the ocean to a place they didn't know.
And when they landed, they didn't know where they were. When they started traveling across America, they had no clue where they were going to end up, unless they had a relative that made the journey before them.
And you know what they were pursuing? They were pursuing freedom, personal responsibility. They were pursuing rugged individualism and at all times they were compassionate. Because they were the first ones to turn to the person next to them that didn't have anything and said, "How can I help?" That's when we got the phrase "the shirt off our backs," from these immigrants that came across that ocean in search of the American dream.
Ladies and gentlemen, the ability for us to pursue our hopes and dreams, the ability to fail and then try again and fail again and try again and succeed, that is the very essence of America. And we honor our grandmothers and we honor our grandfathers when we are willing to stand up and take the responsibility for making America better.
Have no doubt, that the essence of America is an America that is run from where we live to the top. It is not run by a handful of smart alecks from the top to the bottom. We can do it, and you have the confidence to work and fight with me, ladies and gentlemen.
I just want to make two other points. Because that's about pursuing the economic destiny of America, but you know, we've got to renew the spirit of America as well. That's where faith in God comes in. You see, faith in God is not a wedge issue. No one should be nervous. Faith in God is not about taking the values that flow from faith and God that lead to virtue so that we can begin to self-govern again.
I've spent 20 years of my life watching politicians pass a blizzard of laws to try to change us from the outside in, and every single American knows that the change we need in America is not from the outside in, but from the inside out. We need to renew our hearts and our souls and our consciousness again in America, and it can only come through faith in God.
But those politicians and those religious leaders that want to use faith in God as a wedge issue should be dismissed; because faith in God is about our ability to get it right.
But I must tell you that the elites in the media, the elites in the entertainment industry, the elites in higher education, the elites in government who have spent an entire lifetime degrading God and degrading people with faith need a wake-up call; we need to give it to them.
And let me just suggest to you that a lot of people say, "John, in a deregulated society are we going to have to go it alone?" We're going at it alone today. We send our kids to schools, we don't know if they're safe. We don't know if they're learning. We try to call our doctor, we can't get through to our doctor. We talk to voicemail. We're on hold for 20 minutes. We're not even talking to the doctor. We're talking to the insurance company, and then somebody comes on and says, "I'm sorry; can I help."
"Yes, I'm waiting to talk to the person to get the approval to talk to my doctor," and they disconnect you.
Or you work in a business, and all of a sudden you find out one day that some bigshots (out on Fisher Island or somewhere) met over the weekend, and they arranged a leveraged buy-out where everybody has a golden parachute whose salary is a million dollars a year, and we get nothing. We are going it alone today.
See, what we need to do to stop going it alone today is to increase the size of our heart, breadth of our consciences and our spines. You see, we need to be connected in America again. We need to know that wherever we go, that we've got somebody who will stand up and fight for us.
You know how good that feels when you go somewhere and you meet someone you don't really know, and they say, "Can I help you?" "Can I go the extramile for you?" Like my friend Stu Boehmig did for me when my mother and father were killed in that car accident. He went the extra mile. I never forgot it.
And that's what faith in God can give us in America, so we can begin to change ourselves from the inside out.
And finally, ladies and gentlemen, we're all in search of heroes again. We spend our time talking about the big-time heroes, don't we? We talk about the baseball player that spits in the umpire's face. Why does he play the next day? We look at the politicians, and they harp on one another, and they hate one another, and they engage in partisan attacks, and we say we're empty. We look at our religious leaders, our rabbis. They preach on Saturday, and they preach on Sunday, and they run off the next week with the church secretary and our money, or maybe both, and we feel empty.
Media folks who ought to know better put this stuff on; all they want to do is talk about scandal, and we say, "Why can't they give us something else just for a second? How about just for a second forget the ratings and tell us something good?"
Or we look at business leaders, and this is not an insult to the people who serve on the their spirituality, they tell you they serve on a museum board.
Well, what about the fight for the great business leaders of our country standing up and fighting for our children to have a great education? Our education union leaders who live in Washington, D.C. where they know that kids are not learning, and yet they continue to trap kids in those schools. It's an abomination. We need our big-time leaders to be more selfless, to realize that if they're going to enter the space of importance, that they need to do better. They need to be willing to sacrifice more of who they are for all of us, and we do have some great examples.
Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, every night we watched them, and we said it's too good to be true. And when Mark McGwire went up into the stands and hugged the Maris family, it brought tears to my eyes, because it showed the man's heart, and he's not let us down.
Or Ted Forstmann, who decided to make a crusade against children who are trapped in bad schools, or how about a 20-million dollar gift to the Arthur James Cancer Hospital from our great friend Dick Solove. How is that for leadership?
And, of course, Ronald Reagan can serve as a shining example to the politicians; and how about just another big large dose of Billy Graham to teach us what spirituality is all about.
But ladies and gentlemen, like the video says, our kids are not looking to the big shots. You know who their heroes are? It's their mom, their dad, their Grandpa Jack, their grandma. It's the coach, and Neil Walter's is with us today. It's the coach that just grinds that last little bit of effort out of us. It's the teacher, Uncle George, who told us what we could be when we had some doubts about our own ability.
You see, those are the heroes in America. The heroes in America are everyday people. They are the essence, the bedrock and the foundation of our precious country.
You know, the everyday people are the ones that were in the covered wagons, the hero of Lewis and Clark, Sacagawea, a simple Indian woman who led them from one part of this continent to the other and back again. Sacagawea was special. She was an everyday woman.
Or how about the everyday people who took us through the great depression? Think of how tough every one of those days must have been to not lose hope, to keep hope alive. It was the everyday people who did it.
And Normandy, it's wasn't about four stars, was it? It was about the guy that could have lived right next door to us and for some reason got off that boat when he knew he was walking straight into the path of a machine gun. But he did it for his country. He did it for his God, and he did it for his neighbor. He was an everyday person.
We talk about the astronauts. How about the technicians that work the countless hours to put man on the moon? Or the everyday people who today are driving the Internet, the most exciting liberation of the individual in modern time?
And you know what, ladies and gentlemen? It's going to be the everyday people who are going to take us into the next century. So we have a mission. We have a mission to pursue the economic destiny of the United States by running America from the bottom up, by giving us our power back. But we must also work every single day in whatever way we can to renew the very spirit and rejuvenate the United States of America, our spirit, and we will do it by capturing faith in God and honoring what faith in God means to all of us.
And finally, each and every day in every big and little way we as everyday Americans are going to fight to remember that at the end of our lives, we'll answer to a higher power. And if we will all march together, keeping that in mind, we will expand our hearts, we will expand our consciences, and we'll have the firmness to make for a better country, to make for a better society, to make for a better culture, and to make for the precious American family.
Join me, won't you, ladies and gentlemen, in this fight. We will not be denied. God bless you.
# # #
Source: John Kasich for President Official 2000 Campaign Web Site