    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book I)]
    [February 25, 1995]
    [Pages 267-269]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    February 25, 1995

        Since I became President, I have worked hard to fulfill our
    responsibility, in this time of dramatic change, to preserve the
    American dream for all of our citizens and to make sure this country
    enters the next century still the strongest nation on Earth.
        Much of what we have to do, creating jobs, raising incomes,
    educating all of our citizens, promoting work over welfare, much of this
    work is harder because in the 12 years before I became President,
    Government made the problem worse, promoting inequality by overtaxing
    the middle class and not asking the wealthiest of our citizens to pay
    their fair share; reducing investments in our future, things that would
    grow jobs and incomes; and unbelievably, quadrupling the national debt.
        We have to be responsible with our tax dollars. If we don't have a
    responsible budget, nothing else can get done. That's why with each
    budget I've submitted to Congress, we've cut Government, cut the
    deficit, and still invested more in the American people so that they can
    make the most of their own lives.
        Two years ago when I submitted my first budget, some argued that it
    was impossible to dramatically reduce the deficit, increase investment
    in education and training and jobs, and create economic opportunities.
    Well, 2 years later, the facts have silenced the naysayers. We cut the
    deficit by over $600 billion; our new budget cuts it another $80
    billion. Our 1993 economic plan cut over 300 domestic programs; this new
    budget eliminates or consolidates 400 more. And still we invested more
    in education, training, and jobs. Since I took office, the economy has
    created almost 6 million new jobs.
        I remain committed to cutting the deficit further and to moving
    toward a balanced budget. The question is, what's the best way to do it?
    The United States Senate is about to vote n the so-called balanced
    budget amendment. The amendment doesn't really balance the budget, it
    simply requires Congress to come up with a drastic combination of cuts
    and tax hikes and to cram them in by a date certain, no matter what the
    other economic impacts might be, unless 60 percent of both Houses vote
    to continue to deficit spend. Now, there are some serious problems with
    this approach, and I'd like to mention three of them.
        First, we're fortunate that today our economy is strong. But it
    won't always be, and when the economy is weak, many people need a little
    extra help to get back on their feet. Now, when more people are out of
    work, Government spending on things like job training goes up, and tax
    revenues go down because there aren't as many taxpayers. At a time like
    this, the last thing the American people need is a tax hike or a cut in
    job training or an arbitrary cut in our national defense. But the
    balanced budget amendment will force us to make just those decisions
    every time the economy is weak. That kind of extreme fiscal policy makes
    a small recession worse. In its most exaggerated form, it's what helped
    to turn the economic slowdown of the 1920's into the Great Depression of
    the 1930's. According to the Treasury Department, if a balanced budget
    amendment had been in effect in 1992 during the height of the last
    recession, another one and a half million Americans would have been out
    of work.
        The second problem is this: The Constitution clearly establishes
    that budgetary choices should be made by elected representatives. But
    under this balanced budget amendment, budget decisions could end up
    being made by Federal judges, who certainly aren't elected. That's why
    an army of constitutional scholars from every part of the political
    spectrum, from conservative Robert Bork to liberal Laurence Tribe, have
    advised the United States Senate to defeat this amendment. We do not
    want budget decisions affecting tens of millions of Americans being made
    by unelected Federal judges.

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        The third problem is this: Interest payments on our debt, run up
    between 1981 and 1993 before I took office, are so big now that paying
    our interest will soon be a bigger part of the budget than the defense
    budget. What that means is that every time the Federal Reserve raises
    interest rates to hold down inflation, that increases the deficit. Since
    this economic recovery got going, there have been seven interest rate
    increases; the last few have added more than $100 billion to our
    deficit. Now, this balanced budget amendment, therefore, could give the
    unelected Federal Reserve the power not only to raise your interest
    rates but also to cut spending on things like Head Start, childhood
    immunization, and educational opportunities for all of our children. I
    don't think that's a very good idea.
        We do need to keep reducing the deficit. We need to bring the budget
    into balance on a regular basis. What does this require? It requires
    tough decisions. Our administration has made those decisions. Except for
    the interest payments we're making on the debt, our administration is
    running a surplus for the first time in over 25 years. We are going to
    have a balanced budget for the first time in over 25 years next year,
    except for the interest payments on the debt run up just between 1993
    and 1981, in the 12 years before I came here. That's because we've made
    tough decisions. Do we need to make some more? You bet we do.
        This new Congress has been here over 50 days, but there is still no
    serious explanation of how the budget is going to be balanced by 2002
    coming out of the new leadership, even though they support balancing the
    budget by then. Why is that? That's because these decisions are tough.
    It's not easy to make the cuts we've already made. It's not going to be
    easy to make the cuts we've proposed. It's not going to be easy to go
    beyond that. But we have to do it.
        The Federal budget is a statement about our priorities as a nation.
    The American people have a right to know what's going to be cut, how
    it's going to affect them. They have a right to know that before a
    balanced budget amendment is adopted. They have a right to know it if we
    don't adopt a balanced budget amendment and we keep doing the
    responsible thing to reduce the deficit. Only recently has the new
    Republican Congress started to make its priorities clear. I want to work
    with them on this, but I believe some of their intentions run counter to
    the best traditions and the best interests of our people.
        Many of these Republican leaders seem to be saying that we ought to
    cut programs for children to pay for a capital gains cut for upper
    income people. I don't believe we should reduce the School Lunch
    Program, but some Republicans have proposed to do exactly that. Just to
    take that program for an example, it's done a world of good for millions
    of kids from all backgrounds, all across America, since Harry Truman was
    President. ``If it ain't broke, don't fix it.'' That used to be the
    conservative credo; it ought to be again.
        We shouldn't dramatically increase the cost of college tuition for
    millions of students either. But Republicans have proposed to eliminate
    the student loan subsidy and start charging interest on loans to low-
    income students while they're still in college. That could increase the
    cost of their college education by more than 20 percent. We need more
    people going to college at lower cost, not fewer people going to college
    at higher cost.
        And finally, we must uphold our responsibility to care for elderly
    Americans. It's important to me and most people in our country to do
    this. But Republicans are suggesting dramatic cuts in Medicare and other
    services to our elderly citizens.
        These are some of the targets for cuts if a balanced budget
    amendment is adopted. I don't think they're the right choices for
    America. I came here to stand up for our children, for people who work
    hard to make the most of their lives, for people who've worked hard and
    played by the rules all of their lives. I don't intend to let them down.
        We must continue to reduce the deficit and to strengthen our
    economic security. We must continue to cut Government and make it work
    better. But we must be careful, not careless; lean, not mean. The only
    way to preserve the American dream for our children is to make tough
    choices and hard decisions. We can't avoid our responsibility by
    legislating those choices away and giving them to people who were not
    elected to make these decisions.
        Thanks for listening.

    Note: The President spoke at 10:06 a.m. from the Oval Office at the
    White House.

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