George H.W. Bush: “You know, let me tell you something. Let me tell you something good about this country. You hear plenty that's bad from…”

“You know, let me tell you something. Let me tell you something good about this country. You hear plenty that's bad from the Clinton-Gore ticket. Our economy is growing. It's growing too weakly, but we're going to lead the country through increasing jobs that sell the best-made products in the world. That's U.S.A.-made products. Expand our markets abroad through exports. We are leading the world in exports, and that means jobs for America. Our economy is doing better than Japan, than France, than Germany, than England. You hear them talk about it, Clinton and Gore. The only way they can win is to convince the American people that we're in a deep recession, and we're not. The good news yesterday--even the talking heads on those Sunday television shows are going to find a hard time making bad news out of good news. I'm tired of that. You know, we landed out here, came in a helicopter and landed next to a factory out here. There was a big sign. And on it, it said, ``Annoy the Media. Reelect Bush.'' Why is it? Why is it that everybody, Democrat, Republican, liberal or conservative, know what that sign means? Now, I ask your forbearance, and I'll tell you why. We've got some good people traveling with us in the press. And because they've felt that sign so strongly, some of them started hectoring the cameramen or the photographers. These are the good guys. Leave them alone. They're just doing their job. Take your frustrations out, as I do, on the guys back East in those Sunday talk shows who tell you everything that's wrong, whether they're Republicans or Democrats, because we're going to make them eat their words on November 3d. No, all I'm asking is that people make a comparison on the plans, and I've told you the fundamental differences. But we've got to keep going forward. I'll tell you a big difference we have. Governor Clinton talks about getting the Government to invest to create jobs. That's what Europe tried, and that's where Europe failed. It is not the Government that does it. It is small business that creates the jobs in this country. They create two-thirds of the jobs. How do we help them? We give them a little relief for taxation. Give them an investment tax allowance. Give them a capital gains so a new guy will get out there and start a new business. Give that first-time homebuyer a tax credit so he or she can buy a home and live the American dream. Then we lighten up on regulation. And one other thing where I have a big difference with the Governor from Arkansas, and that is on litigation. We are suing each other too much and caring for each other too little; $200 billion a year go to lawyers; $25 billion to $50 billion are added to your health bills every year because of these crazy malpractice suits. Little League coaches are scared to coach because somebody will come up and sue them. You good Samaritans are afraid to stop along the highway for--afraid if you move the person, then this-- ``Oh, you did that wrong,'' and they'll slap a lawsuit on you. We've got to end and cap these crazy lawsuits. Governor Clinton will not do that, because the trial lawyers are his biggest supporters. The lead trial lawyer in Arkansas sent around a letter: Elect our man, and then we won't have anything to worry about changing the lawsuits. We've got to help the American people, the doctors, the medical practitioners, by reducing the fear of nutty lawsuits. Speaking of health care, we've got an enormous difference on that. Governor Clinton, typical of the way the liberal Democrats work, he wants to set up a board to kind of set the controls and prices. You can't do that. The Bush plan is good. Provide insurance through vouchers to the poorest of the poor, pool the insurance, provide tax credit to the next people--the most overtaxed end of the tax scale on the working men and women in this country--pool the insurance, control malpractice, streamline the efficiency, and get the cost down through this pooling, but keep the Government from rationing health care. My daughter-in-law Margaret is a teacher. God bless the teachers, because they are out there trying to restore some values to these kids. And we have a good program in education. We have a good program. It bypasses the NEA that tells the teachers how to think and supports the bureaucracy. We have 1,700 communities participating in this program. We have a rather old-fashioned idea. We think that the parents should have the right to choose public, private, or religious schools. Give them a chance to do that. We have a positive record. One out of two college students has financial aid. We've increased the Pell grants. We've increased dramatically Head Start spending. We've got a good education program, but it puts our confidence with the teachers and with the local community, and not with that educational bureaucracy that's sopping up the money and not letting it get to the classroom. I have a big difference with the Governor on crime, because I have an old-fashioned idea. We ought to have a little more sympathy for the victims of crime and a little less for the criminal. Governor Clinton wants to put--Governor Clinton--quiet, you guys. [Laughter] Governor Clinton wants to put Mario Cuomo on the Supreme Court. How do you like that? Audience members. Boo-o-o!”