Political Quotes

“I will; just a minute here. [Laughter] You know, today we've been to all six States surrounding Arkansas, and I want to see that we can move beyond Governor Clinton's rhetoric and see what he's really done for the people next door, for the people of Arkansas or, put it this way, what he's done to the good people in the State of Arkansas. I support the people over there. I've been there many, many times. They are good, hard-working, decent people. They deserve better treatment than they have had from that Governor of theirs for 10 years. You know, you hear a lot about debates. Governor Clinton is talking up there in Michigan, waving his arms around, talking about my being afraid to stand up with him. Who is he to call me afraid, for heaven sakes? The other side says they're eager to debate. Well, I've got an idea. On the one side you can have candidate Clinton, standing over here. And then over here you can have Governor Clinton, and let them debate: the rhetoric versus the record. Let him talk about a series of broken promises. Let's just look at one issue, and that's the need to give the middle class, you who pay the bills and do the work, a big, fat chunk of the American pie. Candidate Clinton, standing here, is playing the same old game that the liberals always play, class warfare. You've heard it over and over again. Candidate Clinton is good at it, using the same tired, twisted, partisan statistics to explain how the poor only get richer if the rich get poorer. Let me tell you this: According to candidate Clinton, the one over here, the last 10 years have been a nightmare. Well, if you look at the facts, it simply is not true. Inflation is down. Interest rates are down, and the American worker is still the most productive in the entire world. You know, back in Washington they have this thing called the Urban Institute, not usually one of my most ardent admirers. But listen to what they have to say about the 1980's, and I quote, ``The rich got a little richer, and the poor got much richer.'' That is the truth. Our conservative policies of cutting taxes have meant more money in the pockets of all Americans. Candidate Clinton doesn't think it is fair, but maybe it is because Governor Clinton doesn't have much experience with tax fairness right across the border in Arkansas. He talks about my record. Let me talk about his, factually. He's more than doubled Arkansas's spending since '83. He's paid for it by raising taxes that hurt working families the most. He's raised and extended his sales tax repeatedly. He's more than doubled Arkansas's gas tax. He's even taxed food stamps until the Federal Government forced him to stop. He started taxing mobile homes, and then he raised taxes on beer, and then he tried to tax child care. I guess it doesn't matter whether the burp is from the beer or the baby bottle, he's going to slap a tax on it. I don't think we need that. I don't think we need that for the United States of America. Listen to what the Arkansas paper--I'm going right to his homefront for this one--said about his tax policies. ``If Congress followed the example Bill Clinton has set as Governor, it would pass a tax program that would hit the middle class the hardest.'' Well, I don't want to favor the rich at the expense of the middle class. I want to cut taxes for all working Americans so that everyone can get rich because that's what America is all about. Candidate Clinton wants to do for the American economy what Governor Clinton has done to Arkansas. I've got one question: Why in the world should we let him do that to us? As a candidate now he's come out of the box, and he has already proposed the largest tax increase in American history. That's not even counting the payroll taxes that he wants to slap on for training and health care. Now, you tell me, is that fair to the middle class? The answer is no. He's been talking the talk of economic fairness, sounding like Robin Hood: Rob from the rich and give some crumbs to the poor. But Governor Clinton has been more like Captain Hook, scaring the wits out of the middle class. And I believe in something entirely different. I believe that Government is too big and spends too much of your money. I want to change that. That's why I want that line-item veto and the balanced budget amendment and that tax cut-off to let people check their box on their income taxes. If the Congress can't do it, let the American people do it. Let me follow through to get these taxes down and get this deficit down. Audience members. Clean the House! Clean the House! Clean the House!”