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JIM LEHRER: Now, two more campaign speeches by the leading presidential
candidates. First, Governor Bush speaking this afternoon in Albuquerque,
New Mexico.
GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH: Under my proposal, every senior, without exception,
will be entitled to the current set of Medicare benefits, but we will
give them more options, letting them choose the coverage that is best
for them. We will set Medicare on firm financial ground without raising
the payroll tax. The Vice President says he believes in health care
choices, and he's made yours for you. If you want prescription drug
coverage, his plan forces you to join a drug HMO chosen for you by the
government. You would be required to pay a $600 access fee each year.
He's got a plan, and I've got a plan. But one thing they can't escape
from is this: In 1992, they traveled our nation saying, "we'll
reform Medicare." 1996, they said the same thing. Here we are in
the year 2000, they're still saying the same thing. My opponent says,
"we ain't seen nothing yet." And he's right. We haven't seen
anything yet. We will build the military of tomorrow, investing in research
and technology to extend our influence far into the future. My opponent
favors outdated treaties over missile defense. My opponent says that
any criticism of his unwise policy is somehow running down the military,
but I have a message for the men and women who serve our country and
their parents and their families and their friends: "Help is on
the way."
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 income
tax rates for everyone. But my opponent, he wants your tax money for
a reason. He wants to spend it on a permanently bigger government. Listen
to this. He proposes the largest increase in federal spending in 35
years, three times more spending than Bill Clinton proposed. He proposes
over 280 new or expanded federal programs, but claims they won't involve
one more bureaucrat. You know what I think? I think he might be exaggerating.
The wait has been long, but it won't be long now. We will confront the
hard problems of our country with courage and honesty. And it won't
be long now. We will apply new creative ideas to the job of helping
all people, and it won't be long now. We will change the tone of Washington
to get things done, and it won't be long now.
JIM LEHRER: And now, Vice President Gore speaking in Muskegon, Michigan,
this morning.
VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE: One week from tomorrow, our country faces a
big choice about the future, one of the biggest choices that we have
faced in decades. One week from tomorrow, Americans will choose a new
direction for our country, a new path for our people. There's a lot
at stake in this election. We are truly at a fork in the road. We have
to decide. When I look to the future, I am filled with hope for our
country. We've got a lot of good things going for Americans right now.
There's never been a time of greater prosperity or greater opportunity
for our future. But the future is not something that just happens by
itself. It is something we have to make for ourselves together. We choose
the kind of future that we have, and one day every four years, the people
have an opportunity to make that choice, to speak more loudly and clearly,
with more power than all of the special interests put together. Eight
days from today, you have to decide between two very different visions
for the future. Eight days from today, your one vote may well make the
difference. Your one vote is more powerful on Tuesday, a week from tomorrow,
than the voice of any powerful interest, more decisive than any campaign
that can be waged.
This election, as I say, represents a fork in the road when it comes
to our economy. Let me be clear: Continuing our strong economy is my
overriding commitment. Everything else depends on it. So I make this
pledge: We will balance the budget and pay down the debt every year.
And I will set aside one out of every six dollars of the surplus unspent
to ensure that we can keep that commitment. Governor Bush has not made
this pledge. He wants to change the very best things about the economic
course that we are now on. He squanders the lion's share of the surplus,
all that money painstakingly built up by the hardworking American people,
in tax cuts aimed mostly at the wealthiest of the wealthy. As a result,
he puts off paying down the national debt. His plan endangers the strength
of our economy. And the resources are not there to invest in other urgent
needs for our families. Consider the difference. For every dollar that
I will invest in health care, he would spend three dollars on tax cuts
for people who earn an average of $1 million per year. Those are very
different priorities, and they'd have a very different impact on our
country. For every dollar that I will invest in education, he would
spend five dollars on tax cuts for the wealthiest 1%. In fact, he would
give more in tax cuts just to the wealthiest 90,000 multimillionaires
than all of the new investments he has proposed to make in all 90,000
public schools across the United States of America.
JIM LEHRER: Tomorrow the Vice President heads to the Northwest.
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