[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[October 3, 1992]
[Pages 1742-1745]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 1742]]


Remarks to the Community in Clearwater, Florida
October 3, 1992

    Thank you all very, very much. Please be seated. At long last he's 
made his intentions clear. I'm delighted that Sidney will not be a 
candidate for President of the United States. [Laughter] It's a 
confusing enough year with the way it is. But thank you, sir, to you and 
your family for this introduction. Sidney and I go back a while, and 
he's been a loyal and strong friend and supporter. He's certainly been a 
marvelous citizen of this community and of our great State of Florida. 
So thank you very much.
    Allow me quickly to single out a couple of others: Sandra, thank 
you, and best of luck to you; we have Bill Grant with us, another 
friend, and I want to see some real changes in the Congress, and he's 
running for the Senate; and Jeanie Austin, the vice chairman of the 
Republican National Committee, sitting over here, a Floridian; and 
Marian Keith, longtime GOP volunteer and a resident of On Top of the 
World, right back there. And a special welcome to Gerald McRaney. He's a 
great campaigner, a man of principle, and I'm very proud to have him at 
my side. Mac will be traveling with us all across Florida today, and we 
love having him along. Except every time I get going on a little too 
long, he makes me drop in the aisle of Air Force One and do 50 pushups. 
[Laughter]
    But in honor of the ``Major's'' presence, I'd like to start this 
morning with an announcement related to the area, regarding MacDill Air 
Force Base. As you know, MacDill played a big role in bringing an end to 
the cold war and certainly in Desert Storm. Now I'm pleased to announce 
that the Air Force and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, NOAA, will work together to make MacDill a major center 
for NOAA's fleet of research aircraft. This is a good decision. It 
represents a big victory for Senator Connie Mack and Congressman Bill 
Young, who are both back in Washington today. And also to give credit, I 
want to single out Al Austin, the chairman of the MacDill Response 
Group, a Floridian who played a big role in finding a use for MacDill 
that will serve the national interest and also provide a major boost to 
the area's economy. So it's good news, and I'm glad to be able to 
announce it here in Florida today.
    Now about this little matter of an election a month from today. This 
campaign, like every campaign, is about a simple question: What kind of 
America do we want for our kids and for our grandkids? My opponent says 
that America is over the hill. At the Democratic Convention, he said he 
saw the U.S. sliding down the list of nations, somewhere past Germany 
and heading for Sri Lanka.
    Well, maybe he ought to open his eyes. Maybe he ought to look at the 
respect with which we're held all around the world. Maybe the Governor 
needs to walk the streets of Europe and talk to the people of Asia, and 
they'd remind him of a few facts: Americans are still the most educated 
people in the world. In spite of our difficulties, the American economy 
is still the most dynamic in the world, American workers still the most 
productive. Any way you measure it, America is still on top of the 
world. That's the way it is.
    So how do we stay number one? That's the question. I've laid out an 
Agenda for American Renewal, a comprehensive, integrated agenda to 
create in America the world's very first $10 trillion economy. My agenda 
for renewal demands that we open new markets for American products 
because that is the way we are going to create the new jobs for American 
workers. My agenda prepares our young people to excel in science and 
math and English because that's the way they will outperform the 
Japanese and the Germans. My agenda helps strengthen the American family 
because we must never forget: Family is still the foundation of our 
Nation.
    I might just say, I'm a little prejudiced, but I think we have one 
of the great First Ladies of all time. I wish Barbara were here, because 
she feels as I do on strengthening family. When she sits there in the

[[Page 1743]]

Diplomatic Entrance of the White House and reads to those kids, it's 
sending a signal to parents to help your children. When she holds an 
AIDS baby in her arms, it sends the compassion that we all ought to 
feel, one for another. She feels as strongly as I do that we've got to 
find ways to strengthen the fabric of society by strengthening the 
American family.
    This agenda for America's renewal promotes savings and investment, 
because in America the future is our children's birthright. So here's 
what I'm fighting for: To reinvent, literally reinvent American 
education and give every American the fundamental right to choose the 
best school for their children. Fighting to reform our crazy legal 
system, because as a nation we must sue each other less and care for 
each other more. These suits are out of hand.
    Then to use market and competition to cut the cost of health care 
and make it available to all your neighbors. And it seems to me if you 
see a doctor once, you shouldn't have to go back a month later when you 
get the bill to be treated for aftershock. [Laughter] So we have a good 
new health reform program, and I think it's time to bring some sanity to 
our health care system.
    I want to bring real change to Washington by limiting the terms of 
the Members of Congress and give the power back to real people. The 
President's terms are limited; why not limit the terms of some of those 
old geezers up there that have been for about 50 years?
    Finally, I'm fighting for economic security for every man and woman 
in America. And I know that Social Security and Medicare are important 
to all of you, to all of us. And I'm sure some of you have heard my 
opponent's ads on the subject. Understand, Governor Clinton's a very 
ambitious politician. That's fine. But in his first try on the national 
scene he's using the oldest trick in the world, trying to scare 
America's seniors.
    Here are the facts: I have proposed a comprehensive program to 
reform our health care system, to improve health care for all Americans. 
The only proposal I've made to--will affect Medicare benefits is to give 
people with highest incomes a smaller Government subsidy. But I believe 
we can get big savings by cutting the fat out of an inefficient system, 
by going after things like the $25 billion in potential savings in 
malpractice insurance. But we can reform health care without cutting 
your health benefits. I have protected them as President, and I'm going 
to continue to protect them.
    Bill Clinton's got a different idea. He wants the Government to get 
involved in setting prices, setting health care prices. But the experts 
said it could force people to wait in lines for treatment they want and 
need. Governor Clinton's plan would require $218 billion in cuts in 
Medicaid and Medicare over the next 5 years. So at the same time he's 
scaring you, he will not tell the seniors across this State and across 
the country where he's going to get the over $200 billion in savings 
that he wants. I think you deserve an answer to this.
    These are the facts. They are pure and simple facts. It's the same 
with Social Security. In 1983, most people will probably remember this, 
in 1983, we took steps to make sure Social Security would stay 
financially sound, and we have kept it that way. No matter what Governor 
Clinton says, as long as I am President, Social Security will remain 
safe and sound. As I said in the State of the Union Message, and I 
repeat it here, I will not mess with Social Security, and I will not let 
Congress mess with Social Security. I will not let anyone take a knife 
to your Medicare benefits.
    Now, ultimately none of us will be secure without a strong economy. 
And that's a fundamental issue of the campaign. And the differences in 
approach couldn't be more dramatic. I know America's endured some very 
tough economic times. But understand, we are being affected, and most 
people know this, by a global economic slowdown. Our competitors in 
Europe would trade places with us in a minute. Yet Governor Clinton 
offers America the European social welfare state policies: more 
Government, more special interest spending, more taxes on the middle 
class.
    As Governor, Bill Clinton raised and extended the sales tax, 
including a tax on vegetables and other groceries. He raised the gas 
tax. He taxed mobile homes. He

[[Page 1744]]

even taxed cable TV, taxes that hit the middle class and seniors the 
hardest. Now in this campaign, he says he's changed his ways. He's 
proposing at least $150 billion in new taxes plus at least $220 billion 
in new spending. But don't worry, he says, I'll get it all from the 
rich, the people who make over $200,000, that top 2 percent.
    Well, yesterday in the Washington Post, his economic spokesman was 
quoted admitting to a reporter that the top 2 percent is not people over 
$200,000. He said that was just shorthand. Well, he's right. It's 
shorthand. Governor Clinton's plan is shorthand for socking it to the 
nurses and the teachers and the cab drivers and the middle class people 
who always get the shaft. I am not going to let it happen. We're going 
to take this case to the American people.
    To get the money, to get the money that he needs for this plan, the 
$150 billion that he's promised in new taxes, he would have to get his 
money from every individual with taxable income over $36,600. That is a 
fact. These aren't the folks you see on ``Lifestyles of the Rich and 
Famous.'' They work hard, and they deserve a break.
    But that's just a start, because hardly a day goes by when candidate 
Clinton isn't signing on some plea for some new Government spending 
program. Before he's done, Bill Clinton is going to need hundreds of 
billions of dollars more to pay for all the programs he's promised. 
You've got every right to say, well, who will pay? The same people who 
always pay, the people who work hard and sweat it out at tax time. Bill 
Clinton wants you to sweat harder for the tax man, and I say his ideas 
deserve a cold shower.
    Just some examples: Let's say your daughter's a third grade teacher 
with about $22,000 a year in taxable income. She already pays about 
$1,300 in taxes. Governor Clinton could have her fork over another $430 
a year to the tax man; that is, if he's going to pay for all the social 
programs and pay for the additional spending that he's already proposed. 
I say that that woman ought to be able to use that money to pay for the 
grandkids' education or pay the mortgage on her house, not to send it 
back to the IRS.
    Bill Clinton can protest all he wants, but his numbers do not add 
up. I'm not going to let him take the difference out of your income.
    Now, whenever I say this, Governor Clinton says it's outrageous. 
He'd never consider taxing the middle class. He's, quote, here's what he 
says about himself, ``a different kind of Democrat.'' Well, there's 
nothing different about $150 billion in new taxes right out of the 
chute. There's nothing different about at least $220 billion in new 
Government spending, spending he's already proposed. There's nothing 
different in Bill Clinton's record in Arkansas where he's treated the 
middle class like a piggy bank to pay for all his programs.
    Remember Mike Dukakis, the tank driver? [Laughter] Well, Bill 
Clinton nominated him for President 4 years ago. This year, according to 
an article in the New York Times, 39 of Governor Clinton's economic 
proposals are virtually identical to the ideas Governor Dukakis was 
pushing: higher taxes, more spending, a bigger deficit. I say simply: 
These things are wrong for America. We've got fundamental differences 
here. I'm getting warmed up on you, because I think we're going to have 
three debates; so I'm practicing here today.
    Governor Clinton wants you to believe that the American economy will 
improve if you turn full control of your paycheck over to the crew that 
already runs the Congress. He wants the tax-and-spend Government 
planners to have total control over the executive branch, too. Last time 
they tried this, we ended up with double-digit inflation and rising 
interest rates and a ``misery index,'' inflation and unemployment, over 
20 percent.
    Think about what inflation does to people on fixed incomes. Bill 
Clinton and his friends in Congress would let the lion of inflation out 
of its cage. I say, let's lock it away; keep it from your bank account; 
keep your savings sacrosanct, not to be wiped out by inflation.
    So my case to the American people is this: At this time in our 
history, we simply cannot take the risk on a President with no national 
experience and a miserable Arkansas record to run on.
    Since I've been in the Oval Office I've

[[Page 1745]]

faced some very difficult decisions. That's what you pay me to do. And 
yes, I've made some mistakes. When I make a mistake, I'll admit it. But 
I believe I've been a good leader. I've tried to make the tough calls. 
I've tried to make the tough calls, willing to tell people not what they 
want to hear but what they need to hear. And I stand before you today 
asking for your support so that we can get to work with a new Congress 
to fix the problems that stand in the way of this country, and so that 
we reform our health care system, that we literally reinvent our 
schools, so that we can retrain workers from one generation and create 
jobs for the next, and so that we can cut Government spending and cut 
taxes to get this economy moving again, and so that we can limit terms 
of Members of the Congress and give Government back to the people.
    If you're looking for a leader of experience and ideas, a leader who 
shares your values, a leader who knows that America's heartbeat can be 
found not in Washington but in places like Clearwater and Largo and St. 
Pete and Tampa, then I hope I can count on your support on November 3d.
    Thank you all very, very much. And may God bless the United States 
of America. Thank you all. Thank you.

                    Note: The President spoke at 9:25 a.m. at the On Top 
                        of the World community. In his remarks, he 
                        referred to Sidney Colen, chairman of the 
                        community's board; Sandra Mortham, Florida State 
                        representative; actor Gerald McRaney; and Al 
                        Austin, chairman, Hillsborough County Victory 
                        '92.