Software Vault: The Gold Collection/Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO/cdr11/wh930508.zip/5-8C.TXT

Internet Message Format | 1993-06-23 | 8KB

From @lex-luthor.ai.mit.edu:[e-mail]  Sat May  8 22:24:32 1993
Date: Sat, 8 May 1993 15:42-0400
From: The White House <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail],
Subject: Transcript of Radio Address, May 8, 1993

                           THE WHITE HOUSE

                    Office of the Press Secretary

______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                May 8, 1993

                            RADIO ADDRESS
                           BY THE PRESIDENT
                            TO THE NATION


10:06 A.M. EDT

         THE PRESIDENT:  Good morning.  In the early days of our
administration we've moved quickly to deal with the problems that
concern you most.  Our endeavors are ambitious, and none will be
accomplished easily.  Some will require time and repeated struggle.
But all of them relate directly to improving our economy, to creating
more jobs and better incomes and opportunity for hard-pressed working
families.

         Many of the efforts we're making are opposed by
lobbyists, defenders of the status quo and special interests.  We're
fighting, after all, to do something that no generation of Americans
has had to do before:  to make dramatic reductions in the federal
deficit, even as we ask for new, very targeted investments in the
education and training of our people, in incentives for our
industries, in new technologies for new jobs in the 21st century.

         Many special interests are trying to stop our every
move.  They don't believe in a program which cuts spending in areas
they don't want to have spending cuts, or which raises most of the
tax burden from wealthy people whose incomes went up and taxes went
down in the '80s, while the middle class paid more in taxes while
their incomes went down.  We want to reverse that; but most working
people don't have lobbyists here to help them.

         We're fighting hard to reform our health care system.
And soon we'll put forward a plan to provide real security and health
care for every American family.  And, already, special interests are
trying to carve the plan to bits.

         We're trying to make it possible for every young person
to go to college, to borrow the money that he or she needs and then
to pay it back as a small portion of their incomes after they go to
work.  And already, banks and their allies are out in force, since
they make enormous profits from the current student loan system, even
though it imposes great burdens on many students.

         Well, this is what always happens in Washington.  Narrow
interests exercise powerful influence.  They try to stop reform,
delay change, deny progress -- simply because they profit from the
status quo.  Because big money and the special access it buys are the
problem, we have to reform the political system even as we try to
improve the economy and open opportunities to all our people.

         Unless we change fundamentally the way campaigns are
financed, everything else we seek to do to improve the lives of our
people will be much harder to achieve.  Economic reform and reform of
the political system go hand-in-hand.  It's time to curb the role of
special interest and to empower our citizens in the way our country
is governed.

         Yesterday I announced a comprehensive campaign finance
reform proposal, a proposal to reform the political process, restore
faith in our democracy, and insure once again that the voice of the
people is heard over the voices of special interests.  The plan will
change the way Washington works, the way campaigns are financed and
the way the game of politics is played.

         Here's how it will work:  First, it will impose strict
spending limits on congressional campaigns.  Spending has gone up too
far and too fast.  When spending is out of control, candidates who
lack access to big money simply can't compete.  In the last two-year
election cycle, spending on congressional campaigns increased by 50
percent over the previous two years.  Second, this plan will rein in
the special interests by restricting the role of lobbyists and PACs,
political action committees.

         For the very first time, our plan will ban contributions
from lobbyists to the lawmakers they lobby.  It will bar lobbyists
from raising money for the lawmakers that they lobby.  If adopted --
believe me -- this proposal will change the culture of Washington.
And it will curb the role of political action committees.  We want to
cap the amount of money any candidate can receive from PACs.  And
we'll limit PAC contributions to $1,000 for presidential candidates
and $2,500 for Senate candidates.

         Third, our political reform plan will open the airwaves
and level the playing field between incumbents and challengers by
providing access to the broad airwaves for candidates who agree to
the spending limits.

         Let me make this clear:  This broadcast time will not be
paid for by middle-class taxpayers, it will be funded by repealing a
major tax loophole that allows many businesses to deduct the cost of
their lobbyists.  Corporate lobbying has only been deductible since
1962.  We can close that loophole and use that money to open the
airwaves to all candidates.

         This proposal will change the status quo.  And, believe
me, the special interests will mobilize against it.  They don't want
to see their ability to give or to raise campaign contributions
curbed.  They don't want to see the influence of PAC curbed.  They
don't want to see limits on election spending.

         But government will work only for middle-class America
if Washington works in the national interest and not just for narrow
interests.  And that won't happen unless we change the way we finance
campaigns in this country.

         This political reform bill is for real.  It goes hand-
in-hand with another bill we're supporting which has already passed
the United States Senate.  That bill requires all lobbyists to
register, and now requires them to report all the money they spend on
particular members of Congress to try to influence or support their
causes.

         And even if the special interests object to these
efforts, even if they try to filibuster this campaign finance reform
legislation or delay, I believe we will pass it.  And I'll sign it
because I think you will support it.

         When all is said and done, this issue is really about
our liberty.  It's a matter of preserving our personal freedoms and
expanding our opportunity by revitalizing the political freedoms on
which they rest.  To create jobs, as we must, to increased incomes,
to make our health care system better, to open more educational
opportunities, we need a democracy where more -- not fewer --
Americans play a role and have a real say in the decisions that
powerfully affect their lives.

         Last November, we had a huge increase in turnout,
especially among our young people.  Since then, I have received more
letters in the first three and a half months of my first year than my
predecessor did in the entire year on 1992.  The American people want
to be heard in their political system.  If you want to do it, we've
got to pass the lobbying bill and we've got to pass this campaign
finance reform bill which will pay for equal access through lobbying
contributions, control the influence of lobbyists, limit PACs, and
limit campaign spending.

         These are changes I'm fighting for.  But they won't
happen unless you'll fight for them, too.  If you'll help we can win
this battle and we can keep turning America around.

         Thanks for listening.



                                 END10:11 A.M. EDT