Political Quotes

“I'll tell you, I'm getting to that. I'm getting to that one. I'll tell you something else we need that I'm for and that he's against: legal reform. We are suing each other too much and caring for each other too little in this country. We're spending $200 billion on lawyers and we ought to spend more on helping each other. And so my proposal is to put a cap on these outrageous liability suits that keep people from coaching Little League, keep friends from helping neighbors, keep doctors from practicing medicine. It is time to stand up to the trial lawyers and do something for the people. Another big area, we've got the best plan for health care. Governor Clinton started off by saying, well, he has a ``pay or play'' plan. We pointed out to him that would throw a tax on small business of 7 percent. So once again, why, he backs away, the Waffle Man, moving away from it all. But here's our plan: Make insurance available to all; make vouchers for the poorest of the poor so they can be insured and that insurance can go with them when they get a job, to another job; pool the insurance so you bring to small business, the guys along Main Street here, the same kind of price for insurance that the big companies can buy; go against malpractice suits. But do not do what Governor Clinton wants and then set up a price-fixing board by the Government. Government can't even run a post office, and the Congress can't run a two-bit bank. We don't need to get Government further involved. Education: Clinton wants to do it the same old way. And we've got a program, America 2000, that gives the power to the communities, to the teachers, and to the parents, and gives school choice to every parent for private, public, or religious schools. It's worked in Milwaukee; it can work all across this country. Let's let Wisconsin lead the way to literally revolutionizing and improving our education. A big difference on welfare. I salute Tommy Thompson, I salute all of you who have led the way for the Nation in saying this: We've got to break the cycle of dependency. We've got to give people a chance on welfare, some Learnfare, Workfare. It is not fair to the taxpayer unless people work their way off of welfare. And that's what we're doing. A big difference on crime. We need more Senators there, like Bob Kasten, who stand up and favor the police officer and not the criminal element. Be tough on the criminal and have more compassion for the victims of crime. You know, I had a visit from about eight guys the other day. They came to see me; they were from Arkansas. They were the Fraternal Order of Police of Little Rock, Arkansas, and they endorsed me for President of the United States. Now, I heard somebody ask about how we get this deficit down. First place, you do it by controlling the growth of mandatory spending. Second, you don't tax and spend. Third, how about this one, give us a balanced budget amendment and make that Congress live within its means. Give us a taxpayer check-off so everybody here that pays taxes, if he wants to or if she decides to, can check off on that tax return 10 percent of the tax to be used for one thing only: reducing the Federal deficit. And Congress must find the spending cuts to go with it. Then give me what 43 Governors have--every day I get legislation down there, every day legislation comes down loaded up with pork--give me the line- item veto. And if they can't do it, give me a shot at it. And now let's talk about what's going to decide the election in addition to these good programs compared to the old tax-and-spend programs. Let's talk about character and trust. Governor Clinton, over the last 24 hours, has been frantically flopping around like a bass on the side of the Arkansas River, and panicked, afraid that these pollsters may indeed prove to be wrong, those that had us dead and buried 2 weeks ago and now see us moving. So he's begun a new bunch of assaults on my character. And if Bill Clinton wants to play on the character field, let's go to work right now. These crazy charges you heard out of him last night are not new. We've responded to them over and over again, you taxpayers have spent about $40 million on this Democratic witch hunt, and I'm sick and tired of it. The only way he can win is some last-minute smoking gun. The guy is not telling the truth about what happened. I am. I have. And I'll continue to. Here is a guy, as I mentioned, whose hometown newspaper says he is a politician utterly devoid of principle; a guy whose supporters gave him the word ``slick.'' I haven't used that, he has. I say ``slippery when wet.'' I think that's a little better. [Laughter] Here's a guy who has waffled and weaseled about the draft. I can understand somebody not serving, but I cannot understand somebody trying to have it both ways, convincing the draft board one thing and then saying something else. He ought to level with the American people. Here's a guy who actually went out--he doesn't like name-calling. I made a mistake; I won't repeat it today. But the difference is, if I make a mistake I admit it. But here's a guy that called me a liar the other day--I have the clipping here--and very frankly, being attacked by Governor Clinton on character is like being called ugly by a frog. It doesn't matter. He has no credibility in that field. But here's why character counts. You cannot be on all sides of every issue if you want to serve as President of the United States. You see, Truman was right; the buck stops in the Oval Office. And my view is, if you make a mistake, look the American people in the eye and tell them you made a mistake, and then get on about the business of leading the American people. But all through this campaign and all through his political career he's trying to be one thing to one group and another thing to another. Somewhere in Arkansas, oh, yes, he's for right to work. He goes to the unions and says he's not. On the North American free trade agreement-- you heard it on the debate--first he was, well, he wasn't sure. Then he was for it. Then in the debate he says, ``Well, I'm for it, but I'll make some more changes.'' You can't have a lot of ``buts'' in the White House. You've got to make up your mind and call them as you see them. One time he was for the term limits, and then it didn't seem so good. There is this pattern of deception. There is this pattern of deception that is troubling the American people. And you can't lead the American people by misleading them. Let me remind you of what he said at a critical moment in our history on the war. I had to make a tough call. And here's what Governor Clinton said. He said, ``I agree with the arguments of the minority, but I guess I would have voted with the majority.'' What kind of character, what kind of leadership is that? It is none at all. Audience members. Boo-o-o!”