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CANDIDATE DOLE IN TOLEDO
JUNE 12, 1996
TRANSCRIPT
The former Senate Majority Leader took his first campaign trip this morning as citizen Dole. He flew to Toledo, where he spoke at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
SEN. BOB DOLE, Republican Presidential Candidate: We are at a crucial turning point in our history. And so it's time for me to give my fullest major devotion to the great struggle before us. And so I have put my career on the line because I believe America's future is on the line. And this election is a contest between the great liberal pretender and the party of principle, between the rear guard of the welfare state and a vision for America's future. But I want to take you back to 1992. That's the year that Bill Clinton and his party took over the entire government, and he talked about change. He was going to do all these great things for America and for business and for everybody else. He was going to give you a middle class tax cut. But, instead, he gave you the biggest tax increase in history. And you saw that. The American people saw that, and they didn't like it. So in 1994, they gave party control, Republicans in the House and the Republicans in the Senate, for the first time in 40 years--40 years, not since Eisenhower was President had we controlled both the House and the Senate. And some may find fault with what we did. Some say we're too business-oriented, that we want you to make a profit, we want to remove some of the regulations, and we want to reduce your capital gains rate and some of the tax impediments. So they gave us this Republican Congress and what happened? We passed welfare reform. We passed a balanced budget. We passed a tax cut for American families with children. And what happened to all those reforms when they landed on Clinton's desk? Welfare reform vetoed--twice. A balanced budget vetoed--twice. Tax cuts for families with children--vetoed. Well, with a record like that, on November 5, I have a hunch the American people are going to say to Bill Clinton, vetoed, vetoed--(applause)--on November 5.
(applause)
We don't need more campaign promises. We just need somebody who will deliver because the American family is being squeezed to death by high taxes, excessive interest rates at one end and the sluggish economy on the other. So I think it's time to stop playing games with the American family's pocketbook. Americans need and deserve real tax cuts that let them keep more of what they earn. And I've always our problem is not that we're taxed too little, it's that our government is too big and we spend too much of your money. And in my administration, this will stop.
(applause)
And I do want to return to integrity in government. I want to restore the vigor in our economy, the growth and opportunity that creates jobs, jobs. I remember Governor Rhodes. I used to come out when he was here. He'd get up and he'd mention jobs 45 times in his speech and probably create 45 jobs doing it. And I'm worried about children. President Clinton talks about children every day, and I think it's good, but he never talks about their future. He never tells you what's going to happen if we don't get a balanced budget. He never tells you the debt they're going to be saddled with--just to pay interest on the debt about $180,000 for a newborn. If we're concerned about our children, your children and your grandchildren, then you'd better hope we have people in Congress and someone in the White House who's willing to make tough decisions, stop playing politics with Medicare, for example. Let's, let's preserve it, let's strengthen it, and the last thing I did yesterday before leaving the Senate was to introduce a bill that would establish a bipartisan commission on Medicare. Let's stop frightening our parents and mothers and our grandmothers about Medicare, Mr. President. Let's start leveling. If we don't fix it, it's going to be broke in five year, Mr. President. We'll do it the right way. If America doesn't profit, it means your business has not profited. And I believe there are many things we can do in the tax code to make it flatter and fairer and simpler and downsize the IRS. (applause) I don't think anybody would miss it.
(applause)
My view is with a Republican President and a Republican Congress, you're going to see business boom. You're going to see a balanced budget, and the experts tell us, that means a 2 percent drop in interest rates right off the bat, 2 percent. That means more activity, more jobs, more growth, more expansion, more opportunity. And I don't know other groups in the chamber group and others who are here that understand that better than we do. So it's up to all of us. Thank you very much, and God bless America. (applause)
MR. LEHRER: Bob Dole speaking in Toledo, Ohio. We'll have another pair of speeches next week.
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