 Thanks. Thank you very much. Thank you. Well, please you got me at a disadvantage. I can't clap for you Well, thank you all very much, you know, actually I could tell this was a very Supportive group when I walked into the room someone in the back room began to chant two more weeks two more weeks But it's not over yet and there's still work to be done And I figure if I'm going to do some it's now or never Today I submit to Congress my final budget and I want to thank all of you for your support both on this budget as members and friends of coalition for fiscal restraint and So many of you for your help over the years By taking the pledge against any tax hike and Fight into control spending you put the national interest first and you put the iron triangle in its place The country needs more people like you in, Washington Now I also want to commend the way Well, they commend the many members of the administration who've worked on this final budget We've prepared an excellent document that fulfills the original objectives that I set forth for the fiscal year 1990 budget Not only does this budget meet the Graham Rudman Hollings deficit target of a hundred billion dollars We even do better than that and we do this without touching social security weakening our national defense or reducing benefits to the needy and My friends we prove it can be done without raising taxes As I've said before the reason no new taxes are needed is because our strong and growing economy Will in the next fiscal year Produce an additional eighty four billion dollars in tax revenues without any increase in tax rates Thanks to our record expansion the money is literally rolling in Those who want to tax away even more hard-earned dollars from working people ought to be ashamed of themselves By 1994 the total revenue gained without any new taxes will be 370 billion dollars Now that's plenty of additional revenue to do the business of government and still bring down the deficit All that's necessary is to make the choices that governing is all about But here in the nation's capital the usual crowd is calling for higher taxes Never mind that federal revenues are higher than ever before Never mind that they're growing at a healthy clip never mind that Raising taxes would be the surest way to kill the economic goose that lays the golden eggs Never mind the sorry record of new revenues Being used not for deficit reduction, but for even higher spending Never mind the facts the big government crowd wants more taxes and they also want more spending and more federal regulation Basically what they really want is to repeal the last eight years and repudiate last November's presidential election They want to deny the economic triumph the American people have achieved ignore the will of the people clearly expressed at the polls and Tax away even more of the people's money and their plan for doing this Is to give the American people a fiscal sob story that revenue is scarce here in Washington And there isn't enough money to go around Well if people buy that story, that'll be the greatest flim flam job I've seen since the movie the sting The tax and spin crowd will not like our budget Without even reading it they've already gone on the air to say that They'll complain loudly about one thing or another But their biggest objection really will be that our budget proves that no new taxes are necessary That the additional eighty four billion dollars that the American people will be sending to Washington is enough new revenue to both reduce the deficit and increase spending in priority areas as I'm sure you've already heard not only do we reduce the deficit by nearly seventy billion dollars We also provide nearly fifty billion dollars in increased spending This is made possible by combining new revenues with previously scheduled reductions and savings in other areas and Let me stress that these savings Do not involve reducing benefits to those who need them In our budget there are more funds for improving air safety Fighting crime and providing housing for the poor There's another six hundred million dollars for the war on drugs Funding for AIDS research and prevention has increased by 24% and Money to clean up toxic waste goes up by a fifth We also increase funds for the science and space programs and for basic biomedical research We Well student aid funds are increased again Bringing them to a level 83 percent higher than where they stood in 1980 Spending on Medicare and Medicaid will increase by 10 billion in the next fiscal year But if the past is any guide The headlines will claim that we've actually cut funding Well, it ain't so But I think most of you've been in Washington long enough to know that when spending goes up But by less than had been projected They call that a cut even though more of your tax dollars are being spent than before I've learned that experts have a name for that kind of upside-down accounting They call it hogwash The fact is that the increase in Medicare spending is being limited to at 9% Not by any cut in benefits to recipients But simply by controlling the increase in payments to health care providers Similarly the increase in Medicaid spending will be limited to 5% By renewing the cost containment incentives that were so effective in the early 1980s But again benefits will not be reduced You know some have questioned the accuracy of my description last month of an iron triangle Composed of some members of Congress the media and special interest groups Which work against our efforts for fiscal responsibility in order to increase the size of government? I Think that the reaction to our budget will be very telling It'll be interesting to see Whether the media coverage makes it clear for example that Medicare and Medicaid are in fact increasing Or that without any tax increase Congress will be getting an additional eighty four billion dollars in new revenues to appropriate and As for the revenue projection, I wonder if they'll treat it as a rosy scenario Or whether they'll report that the Congressional Budget Office Using a less favorable economic forecast Actually predicts revenues even higher than we do Well the bottom line is that our budget projects the or protects the working families of America Provides adequate support for those who depend on government Maintains our national defense Reduces the deficit by nearly seventy billion dollars and does not raise taxes Moreover it places America on track to a balanced budget and even a modest surplus by fiscal year 1993 With America now in its seventy-fourth month of economic growth. I am proud to say this budget Will help assure our nation's prosperity in the years to come It's been a long and hard fight, but it sure has been a rewarding one Until you read what others say about it And then you don't know where they've been Well, I do thank you all for your support and God bless you all President thank you very much for your Herculean efforts over these past eight years to hold the line on The growth and government spending there many in this audience who are part of the cofire group the coalition for fiscal restraint Made up of some 50 organizations committed to the proposition that we need no new taxes We feel fully supported to that premise that you once again this past weekend Inunciated in your radio address that continued growth of the economy and reduced government spending will lead to a balanced budget in the early 1990s You know you set the tone early back in the 1980s. You stuck with it all these eight years And we therefore considered a real privilege that to present to you this white Stetson hat You know you came out of the West with guns blazing To take on those fatal policies of the past You know you are truly a man Who when we look at it, you know you bring a phenomenal great leadership for this country? And you certainly stood for a strong America with that We want to present this to you and with peace and prosperity you and Mrs. Reagan and may God also continue to bless you Well, thank you very much. You know in the business I used to be in That's how you found out who was the hero and who was the villain in the first reel the good guys wore the white hats Thank you very much