 The following is a pre-recorded paid political broadcast sponsored by the Democratic National Committee on behalf of President Johnson's candidacy for the office of President. Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States. My fellow Americans, we have had many hard-fought presidential campaigns, but there has almost always been a broad area of agreement about the basic principles of American government and about the basic goals of the American nation. That is not so this year. This year it is a decision whether we will move ahead, building on the solid structure that we have created over a generation, or whether we will tear down this structure and move in a radically different and, I believe, a deeply dangerous direction. I would like to discuss this choice as it affects older Americans and all those who have relatives approaching retirement. Over 30 years we have shaped a simple philosophy. Those who have given a lifetime of labor to their country, who have fought its wars and built its strength, are entitled to live out their years in happiness and dignity. Our basic instrument has been the Social Security System. This system was born under President Roosevelt. It was preserved and strengthened by President Truman and President Eisenhower and President Kennedy. Sometimes they had different views on different proposals, but neither they nor their opponents ever wanted to abandon the system. Neither they nor their opponents challenged America's duty to strengthen it and improve it. This year you have such a choice. Our opponent has called for an end to Social Security as we know it. He has advocated a voluntary program. He has said and I quote him, people can better by protection privately than the Social Security law provides for them. A Republican governor, himself a candidate for president, described what this meant when he said a few months ago it would, and I quote him, be a personal disaster for millions of senior citizens and their families. Now, why is this so? There are many reasons. The curious is that you can only pay out benefits to older Americans if you receive a steady flow of premiums from working Americans. A voluntary program would drastically reduce this flow. I'm afraid the system would soon be bankrupt. Now, this is not just a single careless statement made by someone in the heat of a campaign. It is a conviction repeated many times. It is backed by a steady record of votes in opposition to almost every measure to help older Americans. Now is it a matter of party policy? Our opponent was the only Republican in the entire United States Senate to vote against President Eisenhower's plan for medical care. I offer you a different choice. I intend to preserve and strengthen our Social Security system. I intend to make it stronger by keeping benefits up with rising living costs. I intend to add to it by program of medical care insurance against illness in old age by program of loan guarantees so that older Americans can have a decent home. I do not believe that older Americans should be forced to live out their lives in poverty. Their tiny savings destroyed by illness dependent upon their relatives feeling unwanted by their country. The choice is yours.