It's great to be with friends.
Working Americans need real tax relief now.
America's wealth is in our people-not in our possessions, not in our things, but in our people...
Never in history has this been as obvious, in my view, as it is now. We live in a time of amazon.com, of e-bay, Microsoft, cyber entrepreneurs, million dollar athletes. The value of our people has never been more readily apparent. Our wealth consists of all those talents, abilities, ambitions, hopes, dreams, and qualities of inventiveness and ingenuity that give life to our economy. Every marriage creates a new home economy in which people make significant investments. Unfortunately, these investments go largely unnoticed by conventional economists, but they are vitally important: as important as the investments that corporations make in new equipment or in land.
I think if our nation is going to remain happy and prosperous, if our children are going to enjoy a better future, then we have to promote sound and healthy families. It's a vital part of our culture. The family is the original department of health and human resources. When it's working the way it should work, our children are raised by helping hands and good neighbors, they experience nighttime prayers and lovingly packed lunch boxes. But when the family is not working, America has a disaster on its hands. I think if we're going to advance American values, then we've got to advance the American family.
Americans work hard. They try to put a little away for the future, but Washington turns around and clobbers them with taxes.
What is the wealth of nations? Is it stocks, bonds, derivatives - the pieces of paper traded on Wall Street that can be gone with the wind? I think not. The true wealth of a nation lies in its factories, farms, fisheries, and mines, in the genius and capacities of its people.
The free market has made possible the greatest burst of human intellectual creativity since Gutenberg invented moveable type. And because technology is driven by human imagination along with market demands, it can add more to our lives than government can fathom. We must not stifle this economic engine. The New Digital Economy seems to have arrived only yesterday but it is creating economic and social progress across the nation. We can sustain this growth and share it with the world only by ensuring freedom for innovation.
WORKING AMERICANS NEED REAL TAX RELIEF NOW!
While America's families are fighting to meet their financial obligations, Washington politicians are bickering amongst themselves. Washington is again abuzz with words like showdown and shutdown. What Washington needs is the lowdown - I wish the politicians could witness the stories I hear each day.
How can we keep our economy strong - and lead the world in the new global economy of the 21st Century? For all our history, America has looked forward to the next horizon.
Near the beginning of this century, when my mother was a child - a poor girl when poor girls were not supposed to dream - she looked out on a world where women could not even vote, and saw in her heart something better: a horizon of equality, where women, as well as men, could be and do their best.
Today, just visible within a generation's journey, is a new horizon: a 21st Century America with stronger families, stronger communities, and a more vital democracy - one in which we live and govern according to our highest American ideals.
I love this country with all my heart. I believe in its future. And I know that with our history as our rudder and our ideals as our compass, we can reach a new horizon. And so I ask you to join with me, to keep our economy growing and to bring a new wave of fundamental change to this nation. I ask you to join with me, to build safe and livable communities, where we protect our environment, and restore the quality of life we deserve.
I ask for your help to strengthen family life in America. And I make you this pledge: if you entrust me with the Presidency, I will marshal its authority, its resources, and its moral leadership to fight for America's families.
I want to keep our prosperity going - and I know how to do it. I want to do it the right way: not by letting people fend for themselves, or hoping for crumbs of compassion, but by giving people the skills and knowledge to succeed in their own right in the next century.
I want to lay the foundation for groundbreaking economic innovation,so that America is the world capitol of prosperity in the new century just beginning.
I will be talking throughout this campaign about my economic ideas for the 21st Century. In New Hampshire, the state with the highest concentration of high-tech jobs in America, the right investments for our future become obvious. Just look at the successes of companies like PC Connection in Merrimack, and Teradyne in Nashua -successes I saw with my own eyes in the past year.
We are just beginning to reap the gains of the Information Age. America cannot move into the new and global economy with the old and broken policies of the past. I want to move America forward, toward a horizon of boundless growth, high technology, and unleashed creativity.
I tell you: campaigning for President is hard work. Has anyone else noticed that Jackie Strike is the only candidate who's been on a consistent upward drive since she entered the campaign? I started my campaign late and I haven't gotten much publicity, but apparently things are looking up. Just this morning, my husband, Geoffrey, said, "I hear you're running for President."
Americans are paying too much in taxes. We can never have real tax reform by simply rearranging the rules within the existing structure.
Do you believe that a candidate who promises bold reform, but who has never fought a single battle with Congress, can deliver on the promise? No?
Does this mean that we throw up our hands and give up? Absolutely not. Throughout my entire career I have demonstrated that I believe in tackling the difficult and tough assignments. Does anyone doubt that? I mean, look at this campaign!
But tough problems often take a little longer to solve. The best teams often win football games by grinding out yards and first downs on the ground. The long pass may be more exciting, but it has a higher failure rate.
I will not merely sit back and wait. As you all know, even today, we pay too much in taxes. There's no doubt about it. We need major tax reform. That is why on the second day of a Strike presidency, I will send to Congress legislation outlined above and will announce the formation of the commission to develop a consensus reform package that will provide the structural changes to how we collect revenues in the United States.
You will be electing someone who knows that wishing and thinking need to be coupled with knowledge and experience if you're going to turn campaign promises into law. Above all, you will be electing a woman who feels the need for cutting taxes in her heart, in her head, and in her gut.
Throughout this campaign, I've shared with you why I want to lead our nation, why I want to continue serving our country. I've talked about what I believe is our nation's next patriotic challenge-to defeat the growing cynicism that threatens our democracy. I've learned that many of you share my concern that young people no longer believe in the virtue of public service, and that we who are privileged to serve have only ourselves to blame.
My friends, I want to be president not to be somebody, but to do something. I want to restore the people's sovereignty over government, renew their confidence in our public institutions, and reform government to meet the demands of a new day. Above all, I want to inspire the next generation of Americans to serve causes greater than their own self-interest. That must be our mission if we are to fulfill our destiny and serve the cause our founding fathers called glorious.
I believe it is necessary for us to look closely and seriously at our current economic policies so that we can face coming economic uncertainties from a position of strength. We must, in my view, address a number of problems in current policy, lest they undermine continued economic growth and prosperity.
We should not look solely to the Fed, however, in seeking to ensure prosperity for the future. In addition to excessively tight monetary policy, the American economy and the American people are being put at risk by an over-tightened fiscal policy.
We have to improve our children's education so that they can qualify for well-paying jobs in our technological, information age economy.
I plan to work for pro-growth reforms whenever and wherever possible. I believe it is my duty to the people of America, to safeguard their economic security by unleashing the entrepreneurial spirit that built this nation, and that can build a bright future of growth and opportunity.
Thank you very much. May God bless each and every one of you!
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