I think the American people resent being put in boxes and I have always avoided that myself.

When I am the host of a meeting where decisions are made I would favor the meetings being open.

I have always avoided trying to give simplistic answers just for political expediency.

I want the American people to understand my character, my weaknesses, the kind of person I am.

I believe that if we talk sense to the American people, we will find support for a realistic program to meet the urban crisis.

We simply can no longer afford the price of the red tape.

A nation that can send men to the moon can meet its urban needs.

We must get the money and services to the people who need them, and not just to the communities that happen to be most skilled in the art of grantsmanship.

I think the public at large does not yet realize that what we confront is not just New York City's fiscal crisis, but a national problem.

The time has come for us to work together toward a restoration of federalism, through the creation of a balanced national partnership that is based on mutual trust, mutual respect, and mutual commitment to the future of the American city.

Our present system is a failure deplored alike by those who pay for it, those who administer it, and those who supposedly benefit from it.

I can insure that consolidation will not be a cover to reduce needed federal assistance, or to change the distribution of benefits so as to discriminate against those individuals with the greatest need.

It is time for our government leaders to recognize that the people who inhabit even the poorest and most deteriorating of our central cities are our fellow Americans.

Our goal must be to develop a coherent national urban policy that is consistent, compassionate, realistic, and that reflects the decency and good sense of the American people.

I believe that, working together, we can turn the tide, stop the decay, and set in motion a process of growth that by the end of this century can give us cities worthy of the greatest nation on earth.

The only way to achieve the growth in the urban tax base required to meet rising expenditures is through a healthy local economy.

Today, America's No. 1 economic problem is our cities.

I pledge to you that if I become President, you, the mayors of America, will have a friend, an ally, and a partner in the White House.