 thank you very much thank you please thank you thank you all very much thank you for a very kind introduction mr chairman the gentleman and lady who are here at the head table she was a surprise guest to me she had other appointments she heard about the telephone calls to washington too so i'm delighted that she's here i also am meeting you with mixed emotions only about my own situation normally you stand up here with well prepared in your mind as to what you're going to say but i think that any more i will only accept speaking engagements when the congress is in recess first i was late and caused the whole luncheon to be late and therefore i'm late in getting started here and uh i'm not quite sure now as to well i know that the speech i intended to make is hardly appropriate because i was really going to go all out on a real stern message about the games that were being played in washington and how i needed your help because of those games you might have heard a rumor to the effect that we've been suggesting a few changes back there and the rumor is correct but now as a result of all those telephone calls you know that you helped with your support in getting adopted something called the gram latter bipartisan budget reduction resolution and it was a great victory to get congress to vote the greatest reduction in government spending that has ever been attempted but learning the ways of washington i discovered that was just a resolution and meant that the total figure was supposed to be the budget but then it was all going to be broken up and delivered to all the various congressional committees for them to look at each part program and see whether they came back with the proper figure and uh what they wanted to do with it and so it became a bill of four thousand pages and the committees reported in and most of the committees in the house of course are dominated by uh literally those of another philosophy but the bulk of the committee reports back were very acceptable and went with the spirit of gram latter gram phil gram is the democrat congressman who helped co-author that measure and there were a few committees that in a very important part of the program made changes which literally would have broken the budget before the year was out and i came here intending to speak about the fact that through a parliamentary procedure they were going to present or prevent a vote on gram latter two that was the amendment that would remedy what that little handful of committees had done but which would amount to more than 20 billion dollars of increased deficit and prevent us from balancing the budget by 1984 i'm extremely pleased and gratified to report to you that just a day in fact within the last hour or two the american people have won two great victories in the congress of the united states first of all on the house floor republican congressman joined by 31 courageous members of the democrat party have joined together to defeat the gag rule that would have seriously damaged our plans for reducing 24 hours ago our defeat seemed almost certain indeed it was being openly predicted by the other side but we have since that first vote won the second one now also which means that the next order of business for the congress is the voting on the gram latter amendment the son of gram the simple truth is the congress heard the voice of the people and they acted to carry out the will of the people and even as we're gathering here now i've been informed of the most recent call that the house leadership is engaged in an internal debate on what next step they should take well it's my hope that the house will move quickly now to put our package of spending cuts to a vote certainly there's no reason to delay or postpone beyond their july 4th recess but let me just re-emphasize you today just how important this vote earlier this afternoon is it means that in the crunch of heavy pressure from all sides the congress of the united states seems ready and eager to join in the fight to curb runaway spending it means that in both houses of the congress and indeed on both sides of the aisle there are enough members who have the wisdom and courage to cast their vote in favor of america's overall economic interest not just our special interests it means that for the first time in many years we have the opportunity to forge a new coalition in this country a coalition built upon people from all parties and from every background who will work together for the good of the nation means in fact that we can have a new beginning in america a new beginning toward economic progress for all of our people there's good news on the second front today too and that is with regard to the subject near and dear to all of you here the struggle to reduce taxes just a little while ago the senate finance committee by a margin of 19 to 1 voted resoundingly for the package of tax changes that are virtually identical to those that i embraced earlier this year that was another victory for the nation and i salute chairman bob dole and the other republican and democrat members of his committee for their very swift and judicious action and let me just say from the bottom of my heart that we would never come as far as we have today without the support of you the american people i know from the many phone calls and personal visits that i've had with the members of congress over the past few months and even over the past few hours just how important grassroots support is to the passage of our economic recovery program it's your support it's your help that has been crucial from the day that i arrived in washington and when it comes let me just say victory will belong to you the people all we're really trying to do is return to some basic principles which have never failed us when we've lived up to them for example only by making government live within its means and restricting its role in our personal lives can we unleash the spirit of individual enterprise so essential to prosperity and the preservation of freedom itself and the way we're doing this is by changing just one little two-letter word control by government to control of government now this doesn't mean it's clear sailing there are some advocates of a different philosophy that are manning the barricades there in those puzzle palaces on the potomac but let's be clear about where the real credit goes for our progress to date it goes to a group with a much greater force than our own a group comprising tens of millions of people from every profession every background every region in this land they don't consider themselves democrats or republicans so much as just deeply patriotic americans concerned about their country and determined to save its future while there's still time we've summed it up in many of our most sacred document documents it is simply we the people it isn't easy to thank you for all you've done but i'll try it's like thomas Edison said genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration when we announced our economic plan millions of americans sent a loud clear message to washington that enough is enough and i think the congress heard you which just proves that washington is still the only city where sound travels faster than light but now that you've tasted victory and are beginning to feel good i'd better warn you i have a little favor to ask that's strictly in the national interest i simply want to ask you not to sit back and retire from action because the battle still is not definitely one i think you want spending reductions that you approved in that bipartisan budget resolution last month i think you want a three year across the board tax rate reduction for every american taxpayer and nothing less now you know i've been criticized for saying that federal spending is out of control but what else describes it consider for example those programs which have spending increases built into them directly by law in 1967 the automatic spending programs those are the things called entitlement programs the redistribution of income they amounted to 57 billion dollars next year they will amount to a staggering 428 billion and our elected representatives don't have control over them if we do nothing to change the laws this uncontrollable spending will grow to the unbelievable level by 1984 of more than a half a trillion dollars the food stamp program just back a decade ago in 1978 1970 cost 577 million dollars today again because of the automatic built-in growth that program cost us 11 and a half billion that's 20 times as much in 10 years federal housing subsidies were 500 million dollars just 11 years ago today the cost is 6 and a half billion and without even adding one single new subsidy the sum will jump over 10 and a half billion by 1985 that's 21 times as much as it was 11 years ago these programs have truly turned out to be good good intentions run amok budgetary time bombs set to explode in the years ahead and the effect is to pile enormous debts on the backs of our children heavily mortgaging their future for some sake of temporary social cure the american economic solution which ignores reforms these automatic spending programs is really no solution at all now one of those critically important actions on which the congress can now take action that was in that little package that they were trying to block is to cut the federal red tape and wasteful spending by consolidating 83 confusing and duplicative federal programs into block grants it's not fair to ask the taxpayers to spend their send their earnings to washington and then charge them billions of dollars more to have their same money turned around and sent right back with strings attached we can do better than that and we can do it by cutting out the middleman and putting those funds in the hands of state and local governments where the citizens of america can have greater control of it now i mentioned phil graham one of those courageous democrats i was saddened to learn the other day that the chairman of the democratic national party has said that he would like to kick congressman phil graham co-author of that gram latter bill out of the party as you know phil's been a tireless supporter as i've as i've told you and it's not a democrat or republican issue it's an american issue and i don't think it's our way to threaten to kick people out of any party for doing what they believe is right i can't advise mr. graham what to do but i want to assure him this there are millions of democrats republicans and independents who support what he does they don't like the idea of partisan threats and if i do advise him having been a democrat once myself i'll tell him to come on over the water's fine but you know cutting the increase in spending that's only one part of the program and this is where i get down to that further request the government is taking two greater percentage of the gross national product in taxes this percentage must be reduced if we're going to have the incentive we need to increase productivity and we're not going to have recovery till we increase productivity which requires capital investment of american business and industry now before i go on with that tax thing let me just tell you something that's happened in the last few days 15 the major steel producing companies in the united states have sent me a report voluntarily that they're going forward all of them together well not together but i mean individually but together in collection of what they're doing for the steel industry with improvement and modernization of existing plant to the extent of three billion two hundred million dollars and they have already done that and they said they are going forward with it simply on the expectation of our recovery program people who doubt whether the program will work it's working before it's even been voted into effect and i'm most grateful to them for what they're doing and it's i know that it's going to mean a great deal and it must be a reflection of what's happening in industry all over the country now we haven't proposed just a tax rate cut to relieve the overburden citizenry in fact in some ways we aren't proposing a tax cut at all we're proposing to reduce or eliminate the tax increase that's already built into our system the biggest single tax increase in our nation's history and it comes on top of the fact that federal taxes have already doubled just since 1976 if i could paraphrase will rogers line about never having met a man he didn't like it seems that some in government have never met a tax they didn't hike we're living with a social security payroll tax that is in was increased some short time ago which is scheduled to increase automatically several times in the next five years and those increases have a kind of double whammy at the same time that the percentage or that the rate increases the percentage of earnings that that rate is applied to also goes up so that like the income tax we have a bracket creep penalizing workers whose wages go up to keep pace with the cost of living that social security payroll tax now is thirteen point three percent of twenty nine thousand seven hundred dollars in nineteen thirty seven they said it would never be greater than three thousand dollars that would be taxed the law already adopted calls for it to go to fifteen point three percent of sixty six thousand nine hundred dollars of income like the budget reforms that we seek the tax package that will help stimulate the economy by providing capital investment to modernize and expand our industrial machine individuals even with husband and wife both working have no surplus to put in savings accounts for insurance investors with capital invest have been driven to tax shelters because of the low after tax return on investment there's less money for research and development a number of patents issued to american companies has been declining for the past decade while japanese patent activity here in america has increased in each of the fifty three united states patent fields now ironically some of those who helped pass the tax increases of which i've spoken are now the first and the loudest in charging that our proposal is designed to benefit the wealthy well that's not true those who will get the biggest percentage of reduction in their total tax burden will be the lower and the middle income families our program provides incentives so that more people can share in our prosperity the other charge is that is too risky to cut tax rates when we're running a giant budget deficit well i hope i'll be forgiven for pointing out that they are also the same people who helped create those deficits but i'm happy to say there are others as we've learned today on both sides of the aisle who can come together and support the bipartisan tax bill that's co-authored by republican barber conable and democrat kent hance and this bill is the result of negotiations between members of congress and our own administration the principle of across the board cuts and the marginal tax rates over a three-year period has been maintained in that bill now it's true that i slid back from a 30 cut to 25 percent in three years for personal income but this made possible the other tax cuts which i believe will be great stimulus to saving investment and increased productivity some of the other tax cuts i could have won an oscar for my appearance of reluctance in giving into them but i don't feel like an accept any further changes even though those who are unenthusiastic about the tax cuts have said they would settle for a 15 percent cut over two years well in the first place that built-in tax increase will amount to 22 percent over three years our proposal will eliminate that and give at least a small reduction in addition i believe the third year is important particularly for small and independent business which creates 80 of the new jobs in which pays the individual tax rather than the corporate tax individual entrepreneurs can look ahead and make plans better with the assurance of three years of stability in the tax picture now let me say just a word about those marginal tax rates that we propose to reduce in this land born of a desire to be free middle income americans are being pushed into punitive tax brackets once reserved for the wealthy not too many years ago only three percent of those who work and earn were in a 30 percent bracket today a full one fourth of the workforce is paying that marginal tax rate and when your social security and state income taxes are included in the total tax burden the average family finds they're facing a 40 to 44 percent marginal tax rate no wonder middle class families find they can't put money aside or have means to send their children to college the worker finds it isn't worthwhile to put in overtime or to try to upgrade him or herself productivity drops and we become less competitive in the world market we have to change what has been in existence since the great depression and that is the philosophy of tax and tax spend and spend elect and elect now it's economic nonsense to say that lowering the tax rates will add to our deficits we've been having tax increases the most recent the biggest in our history as i said but we're also running the biggest deficits because government doesn't tax to get the money it needs government will always find needs for the money it gets by contrast we find that every time government has had a broad reduction in tax rates the boost in prosperity is so immediate that while taxpayers pay less individually government revenues actually go up because of the increased prosperity and the latest example in the early 60s was John F Kennedy's program and the same voices were raised against that tax reduction that are raised today the conable hands tax bill will give almost three fourths of the income tax relief to those earning between ten and sixty thousand dollars a year they presently pay seventy two percent of the total income tax so it sounds like it's a fairly even thing across the board in addition the unjust penalty imposed on married couples where husband and wife are both working will be relieved individuals will be allowed to deduct a thousand dollars a year for personal retirement programs even if they are already involved in another pension program and of special interest to farmers and family owned businesses the estate tax exemption will be raised to six hundred thousand dollars and have even greater help there will be no estate tax at all for a surviving spouse now these are just a hasty sketch of the tax changes for individuals the plan will provide incentives because people don't work so they can pay taxes they work to earn more after tax income to the doubters i address one question i've asked over and over again and i never have gotten an answer once in washington why is it inflationary for you to keep and spend more of your own money and it isn't inflationary if government takes it and spends it the way it wants to the conable hands bill calls for lowering the seventy percent ceiling on so-called unearned income to the fifty percent ceiling capital gains will be lowered and business will get the biggest tax reduction in our nation's history some sixty billion dollars in depreciation allowances etc to those who say we can't cut spending lower taxes and yes rebuild the defenses we need in this dangerous world i have a six word answer yes we can and yes we must it was with some sadness the other night that i've watched an individual on the tv news suggests that our program was going to destroy america now when someone makes that kind of charge i have another question to ask where's he been for the last few years and the answer to that in this particular case is right in washington dc in a responsible leader position in the congress inflation rates didn't rise eighteen percent because of our program nearly eight million people didn't get thrown out of work because any of anything that happened in these past five months twenty percent interest in fifteen percent mortgage rates didn't begin on the morning of january twenty at nineteen eighty one those who make such charges want to return to some of the old discredited policies that set off america's high economic fever in the first place if you're better off with a repeat of red ink every year continued high taxes and higher taxes and the monster government of the past then oppose our program but if you're ready to try something new come with us send a powerful message to those people who live in the past and tell them no more business as usual and no more repeat performances because we're going to make america great again you know for those doomcriers to try and scare us i know i've said this before but we survived we the living americans a great depression that toppled governments we came back from pearl harbour to win the greatest military victory in world history today's living americans have fought harder paid a higher price for freedom and done more to advance the dignity of man than any people who ever lived we have in my lifetime gone from the horse and buggy to putting a man on the moon and bringing them safely home now don't tell us that we can't be trusted with an increased share of our own earnings all over america people are yearning for the opportunity to produce once again to save their money and have their savings mean something to live without the constant pressures of higher and higher prices they don't ask for much just a chance to make a better life for themselves and their children some have accused me of fighting too hard for these reforms and for not wanting to compromise on key principles well to some of those charges i plead guilty but for too long government has stood in the way of taking more of what our people earn no matter how hard they try to get ahead who can blame our people for fearing their trapped inside an economy with no bright tomorrows an economy that has lost its soul and that's why we have to revive the spirit of america the american revolution the spirit of another revolution right here a few years ago proposition 13 we're not demanding the impossible you're just demanding i think some of the same opportunities the founding fathers risked their lives property and sacred honor for more than 200 years ago a commitment that if you work and save more tomorrow than you did today your reward will be higher than it was today more of every dollar's earnings will be yours to keep more of your added wages your added interest and those are what we mean by incentives those are what will unlock the spirit and the energy of our people to drive americans to dream and dare to take greater risks for greater good unlock the spirit of a fullton and afford and the right brothers and linberg and all of our astronauts we did it before and we can do it again we can solve the energy crisis and pioneer technological breakthroughs and rebuild our cities and in the process strengthen our families and create new jobs and a real hope for young americans everywhere yes we can do all that and save the american dream but only on one condition that we always remember we owe our progress to the unique form of government that allows us the freedom to choose our own destiny a government that answers to we the people and with your help i think that we're going to do that in washington and i've never felt better in these last five months than i feel in this particular moment today and for that thank you and god bless you mr president we thank you sincerely from the bottom of our hearts for coming today to give us your message and we are particularly grateful that we had the opportunity to share with you the great victory that you had in washington today i would like also to thank mrs reagan our first lady for lending elegance and charm to our head table it was a marvelous surprise i would ask you now to please remain in your seats until the presidential party leaves and we thank you very much for your attendance