[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)] [October 22, 1992] [Pages 1912-1915] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]Remarks at a Rally in Vineland, New Jersey October 22, 1992 The President. Thank you, Frank. First of all, let me just thank Vineland. I have never seen such a wonderful rally. And it's great for the morale. As Frank says, it's a great day for Vineland. I'll say it's a great day for George Bush. And this will go all across the country. You know, everyplace I go, I see signs, because people are sick and tired of the Congress, the way it's been for the last 38 years, controlled by the liberal Democrats. Everyplace I go, I see signs saying, ``Clean House!'' One way to clean it is to send Frank LoBiondo down to the United States Congress. I want to thank State Senator Bill Gormley, who came to meet us. I want to thank Governor Kean, my great leader here and a great Governor. If you had him, people would be a lot more happy in New Jersey. And of course, Mayor Joe Romano, who's standing here with me, give him great credit for all this, and Lou de Marco and so many others. I am so very pleased to be here. In 12 days, we get right down to the log. We get right down to the vote. In 12 days, the American people are going to have to decide: Who has the character, who do you trust to be President? And I ask for your vote on that basis. We are caught up in a global recession. The United States economy is doing better than most of the economies, but we're not doing well enough. The last thing we need is to put another liberal Democrat in there who wants to raise taxes and raise spending. We have a plan, the agenda for America's renewal, to get us out of this economic rut. And I see the ``Deep-six the Luxury Tax.'' We don't need a luxury tax. We need less tax. You know, I hate to ruin this beautiful rally, but we've got to put things in perspective, because Governor Clinton keeps talking about--in the debate, he said something scary. He said, ``I want to do for America what I've done for Arkansas.'' No way. No way. Audience members. Boo-o-o! The President. In his 10 years in Arkansas, jobs, wage, income growth have lagged the Nation, every single category. He talks about reforming health care; after 10 years with Bill Clinton, almost half of Arkansas' workers don't have employer-paid health insurance. They are 49th in the entire Nation. Don't let him do that to the United States. Arkansas ranks 50th in the Nation in the percentage of adults with high school diplomas, 50th. Three out of four Arkansas students after they graduate from high school, go to college, and then they need remedial education, relearning what they're supposed to learn in high school. They are good people down there. They deserve better leadership. The nonpartisan Corporation for Enterprise Development gave Arkansas failing grades for economic development, an ``F'' for employment, an ``F'' for high technology, an ``F'' for economic development. We cannot let him do that to the rest of the country. Now he's campaigning across the country saying he's the candidate for change. Yes, he wants to raise taxes by $150 billion. He wants to raise spending by $220 billion. You listen to that kind of change, and that's all you'll have left in your pocket, change. We don't need it. The guy's all over the field. Yesterday he was out there in the West someplace saying [[Page 1913]] it would be hypothetical to discuss what programs he would cut to pay for all these promises. Well, someone's going to have to pay the bill, and it won't be a hypothetical taxpayer. You cannot get all the money he wants to spend from the rich and from the middle class. He's going right after your wallet, man. If you hold a job on Main Street here, he's going after you. So button it up, and vote for me. Audience members. Bush! Bush! Bush! The President. You saw it. I'm not just making this up. You saw it when Governor Florio came in here, working with that legislature. Audience members. Boo-o-o! The President. You saw what happened. Don't do it to the country. Do not do it to the country. Governor Clinton is talking about, well, we really need change. He wants to put the White House in the same hands of the big spenders in Congress. The last time we had this, do you remember what the ``misery index'' was? They invented it--20 percent; it's now 10. Do you remember what the interest rates were? Twenty-one and a half percent, with Carter in the White House and the libs controlling the Congress. We cannot go back. We have got to go forward by getting Government spending down and our taxes down. I think New Jersey, because I think of you all as a great export State, you're broadminded. You look around and send a lot of New Jersey products all around the world. We must open more markets abroad so the productive workers in New Jersey can sell your products all around the world. Do not turn in, turn out. We are the leaders in the world. You know, there are 72,000 jobs in New Jersey tied to exports, 225,000 jobs to foreign investment of one kind or another. And Bill Clinton waffles on free trade, tax foreign investment, threatening 4.5 million U.S. jobs by socking it to them. You've got to open markets. You've got to encourage investments. And I want to open these new markets and encourage our workers. We can outcompete anyone, anywhere in the world. I have confidence in America. You look around this town, and you'll see that it is small business that employs people, not the big ones. They do their part, but it's the small ones that create new jobs and new opportunity. So what I propose for small business is to give them relief from excessive taxation, relief from regulation, and relief from these crazy lawsuits that get inflicted on the people. You know, it's a sad thing in this country when doctors are afraid to deliver babies in case some of these crazy lawsuits are going to come in and sue them; or somebody doesn't want to coach Little League, afraid they're going to get sued; or when somebody's riding along the highway and sees an accident, they don't want to stop and help the person that's hurt because they're afraid some crazy trial lawyer's going to come along and sue. We've got to sue each other less and care for each other more. I am very proud of Governor Tom Kean's record, when he was Governor, on education. He was forward-looking. Now he's part of the leadership on a program called America 2000. It puts the power in the hands of the teachers and the local communities. It bypasses the powerful union that thinks it's speaking for the teachers. It puts the power in the hands of the people. We are literally going to revolutionize education. And one way we're going to do it is this: We're going to do it like the GI bill worked. I have a ``GI bill'' for kids. And we're going to say to parents: The power should be in your hands. We are going to help you financially to choose the school of your choice, public, private, or religious. We've got a good program on health care. Give me a couple of more Congressmen like Frank here, and we'll get that job done. What it says is, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Keep insurance going for everybody. Help the poorest of the poor; tax breaks for the middle class; create insurance pools; and leave the Government out of the insurance business. Get the private citizens involved so everyone has insurance for health care. I've got a real big difference, I've got a tremendous difference with Governor Clinton on law enforcement. I see these police officers out here, and I think we ought to support them more, and a little less concern for the criminals. The other day--one of the [[Page 1914]] great visits I've had as President when people come to the Oval Office-- this one was about six or eight guys came up to see me. They were all members of the Fraternal Order of Police. They endorsed me, and they were from Little Rock, Arkansas. Eighty-five percent of the criminals that are sentenced under Federal law fulfill their full term, and in Arkansas, 20 percent do. The rest of them get going out of there, and they shouldn't do that. We've got to be tougher on the criminal. Don't listen to the liberals who want to tell it the other way around. Governor Clinton talks about taxing more and spending more. Let me tell you what I want to do. Here's a four-point program for you: Give me a balanced budget amendment, and make us get that deficit down. Give the taxpayers that are concerned about the deficit a 10 percent--check on a box--10 percent of your income. If you want to apply that to the deficit, then that law will compel the Congress to cut spending by that amount. We can get the deficit down by letting the people do the job Congress has been unwilling to do. And one of the others is to give us a line-item veto. Let the President cut through this pork. The fourth point, and I like this one, is, you know, Presidents serve limited terms. One way to give the Congress back to the people is to have term limits for this Congress. But I think the reason I'll win this election is going to boil down in the last 2 weeks, as all elections do, to character and to trust. You know, Justice Hugo Black--I mentioned this--did any of you see that debate out there in--all right. I mentioned this: I believe that great nations, like great men, should keep their word. And my argument with Governor Clinton is he tries to be all things to all people. In the Oval Office you cannot do that. But you have to make the tough decision. If you make a mistake, you say, ``Listen, I made a mistake. Let's go forward.'' But you cannot lie, and you can't be all things to all people. Over and over again, Governor Clinton is trying to be all things to all people. On free trade, first he was for it; then he hadn't made up his mind; now he's for it, maybe. On the Persian Gulf, here's what he said, he said,``I agree with the arguments of the minority but then again, I guess I would have voted for the majority.'' If we'd have listened to that kind of waffle, Saddam Hussein would control the world's oil and have a nuclear bomb. We kicked him out. These decisions are not easy, but we cannot let him make the White House into the waffle house. I went down there and had a little breakfast there at the Waffle House in North Carolina to get the point across. You cannot be all things to all people. He said in the debate you've got to separate the character of the-- he says it this way, he says it's not the character of the President, it is ``the character of the Presidency.'' That is not true. They're interlocked. Countries look to us to see whether the President will keep his word and make the tough decisions. On the basis of character and trust, I ask for your support as President of the United States. Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years! The President. You know, if I'd have stood here in Vineland 4 years ago and said that Soviet communism would be dead, and said that Eastern Europe would be democratic, and said that ancient enemies were talking peace around the world, and said to these kids 4 years ago, we are going to reduce if not all but eliminate the threat of nuclear war, you would have said not only is he smoking, but he's inhaling. All that has happened. All that has happened. The Soviet bear may be gone, and yes, we've changed the world dramatically and made it better, but there are still some threats out there. So I want to keep this country strong. And now I want to use that leadership that has literally changed the world: lift up the American worker, guarantee these kids that they are going to have a better future. It can't be done by waffling. It's got to be done through leadership. I'm very sorry that Barbara Bush isn't here because I think we've got a great First Lady, and I want to see her stay there. But she and I have tried very hard to keep the public trust, to take the trust you placed in us and live with dignity and honor in that White House. And now some say to me, [[Page 1915]] ``Well, why do you want to be President?'' It's not a question of wanting to be President. It's a question of finishing the job for the young people here today. I am going to win this election. Don't listen to these nutty pollsters trying to tell you how to think. I wonder how many people out here have ever been called by a pollster. Well, not very many show a hand, one guy. We got about 10,000, 15,000 people here. I don't know who they talk to, but they're inhaling, and we're going to win this election. Thank you. Thank you, and may God bless the United States of America. Note: The President spoke at 12:16 p.m. at Seventh Street and Landis Avenue. In his remarks, he referred to Louis de Marco, longtime New Jersey Republican Party member.