    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
    [August 17, 1996]
    [Pages 1300-1302]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    August 17, 1996

        Good morning. This year the American people are being offered a
    clear choice of economic plans, two very different visions of how to
    help our economy grow. This morning I want to talk with you about my
    plan for our Nation's economy, about the differences between my plan and
    the plan offered by our opponents, and how we can keep the American
    dream alive as we move toward the 21st century.
        This is a very hopeful time for our country. Our Nation's enduring
    mission is to give every American opportunity, to demand responsibility
    from all of our citizens, and to come together as a community. We must
    go forward into this new century together.
        One of the things that helps us is a growing economy. A growing
    economy helps make all those values--opportunity, responsibility, and
    community--real for our families, our children, for all Americans.
        As America prepares itself for the possibilities of the new century,
    they seem unlimited. But 4 years ago that wasn't so clear. Our economy
    was drifting then. New jobs were scarce; unemployment was 7.7 percent.
    Our budget deficit was at a record high and growing.
        I took office determined to set our country on a new course, and
    that is what we did, cutting the deficit by 60 percent, investing in our
    people, expanding exports to record levels. And today we see the
    results. America is making more cars than Japan for the first time in a
    decade. We have 900,000 new construction jobs. There are hundreds of
    thousands of businesses owned by women. In fact, now one in three
    businesses are owned by a woman.
        Four point four million Americans have become homeowners. Another 10
    million have refinanced their mortgages at lower rates. The combined
    rates of inflation, unemployment, and mortgages is at a 28-year low. The
    budget deficit is now the smallest it's been since 1981, and our economy
    has created over 10 million new jobs.
        Finally, real hourly wages--the paycheck of the American worker--
    these wages are starting to rise again for the first time in a decade.
    As even our opponents have acknowledged, our economy is the soundest
    it's been in a generation.
        This opportunity strategy is working. But now we have to build on it
    to produce faster growth, more high-paying jobs, more successful
    businesses, to bring the benefits of economic growth to those who have
    not yet experienced them. First, we have to finish the job of balancing
    the budget so that we can keep interest rates down and remove the debt
    burden from future generations. Then we have to give our people
    education and training, access to health care, and retirement security,
    so all working people can reap the rewards of this new economy.
        This week I will sign into law an increase in the minimum wage. For
    those who work hard to stay off welfare but can't live on $4.25 an hour,
    this is a very important act. It will truly honor work and family. The
    same bill also provides help to small businesses to help them in-

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    crease investment in job creation and to increase their ability to save
    for retirement.
        Next, we should give Americans a tax cut. We've already cut taxes
    for 15 million American working families through our dramatic expansion
    of the earned-income tax credit. This year that tax deduction will be
    worth about $1,000 to a family of four with an income of $28,000 a year
    or less. Now, we can, and we should, do more.
        In going forward I have proposed a program of tax cuts for working
    families that focus on education and childrearing and are clearly within
    our ability to balance the budget so we can continue to keep those
    interest rates down and the economy growing. That's very important if we
    want our families to be strong and successful.
        On the tax cut front I think, first, we should give tax cuts to pay
    for a college education. I have proposed giving individuals a $1,500 tax
    credit each year to pay for 2 years of college tuition, a HOPE
    scholarship that will entirely pay for tuition at a typical community
    college. We have to make 2 years of education after high school as
    universal as a high school education is now. And going beyond that, I
    proposed giving families a tax deduction for up to $10,000 a year for
    the tuition of all college costs, going beyond just the first 2 years.
    Over and above that, I have proposed collapsing all the Federal training
    programs into a ``GI bill'' for America's workers, so that those who are
    unemployed or underemployed can get a skills grant worth up to $2,600 a
    year to pursue their education. This is a good, good foundation on
    building a network of lifetime learning that all American families will
    need to succeed in the global economy.
        The second thing we need to do is to give parents of children under
    the age of 13 a $500-per-child tax credit to help them to pay for child
    care. This also is very important.
        Thirdly, we ought to give people a tax cut through expanded IRA's
    that people can use to withdraw from without penalty in a way that helps
    them save not only for their retirement but also for a first-time home,
    for medical care, or for a college education.
        That's our program: targeted tax cuts; continuing to invest in
    education and research and new technologies; continuing to cut the
    deficit and balance the budget; expanding exports to record levels. This
    is the plan that will work. We know this growth strategy works. It's
    already produced over 10 million new jobs, a very different situation
    than existed under the previous policy.
        Now, as you know, our opponents are offering a very different
    strategy, but it's the same one they've offered before. And our plans
    are very different. My tax cut is limited in size; it's worth $110
    billion. Theirs is five times as much, $550 billion. We can afford ours.
    We can't afford theirs. My tax cut is targeted. Theirs is
    indiscriminate. Mine will be there when the middle class families need
    it to help them give their children an education, buy a home, pay for
    child care. Our opponents' plan gives indiscriminate tax cuts,
    regardless of the cost. In fact, millions of middle class families with
    children in college or with adults in educational programs would
    actually get a bigger tax cut under my plan than under our opponents'
    plan. And my tax cut is paid for with specific, tough budget cuts
    consistent with the balanced budget plan. Our opponents haven't said how
    they'll pay for their tax cut yet.
        Now, if they don't pay for it, their plan would balloon the deficit.
    That would increase interest rates, and that would slow down the economy
    and cost us jobs. Our plan, by contrast, would clearly help the economy.
    Higher interest rates under their plan would cancel out the tax benefits
    for most families. Under our plan, interest rates would come down
    because the budget will be balanced just as people are getting their tax
    cuts.
        On the other hand, if our opponents do pay for this massive tax cut,
    that would mean even bigger cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, education, and
    the environment than they have already proposed. My plan pays for tax
    cuts without undermining our values. Their plan would deeply cut
    Medicare. My plan would not require new out-of-pocket costs for
    beneficiaries to pay for tax cuts. Their plan would undermine Medicaid's
    guarantee of quality health care to pregnant women, poor children, to
    families with people with disabilities, and to the elderly. My plan
    would preserve Medicaid's guarantee for these groups of Americans. Their
    plan would cut education. My plan would cut taxes while increasing
    investments in education. Their plan would endanger the environment. My
    plan would cut taxes while continuing to clean up pollution and make our
    environment cleaner.
        So the American people have a clear choice in this election. We
    agree on one thing: Ameri-

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    cans do deserve a tax cut. But we must choose between a tax cut that
    responsibly balances the budget and one that puts our economy at risk;
    between one that is targeted to help working families pay for education,
    health care, and other pressing needs and one that is indiscriminate;
    between one that is paid for by prudently cutting Government and one
    that is paid for by undercutting Medicare, Medicaid, education, and the
    environment or not paid for at all, bringing back those bad old days of
    out of control deficits, high interest rates, slow growth, or recession.
        I look forward to discussing these plans before the American people
    in the coming months. This election will give our Nation the chance to
    decide whether we want to continue forward on a path of opportunity,
    responsibility, work, and growth. That kind of debate can only be good
    for our country.
        Thanks for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 5:40 p.m. on August 16 at the Bar B
    Bar Ranch in Jackson Hole, WY, for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on August 17.