From: mguyott@eriador.prime.com (M. Guyott)
Subject: Clinton's economic plans.
Organization: Prime Computer R&D
Distribution: ne
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 14:33:46 GMT

Info follows .sig.

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Two of the worst things we teach our children are that a knowledge of science
is nice but not necessary, and a knowledge of sex is necessary but not nice.

Marc Guyott              Constellation Software, Inc.          (508) 620-2800
                         Framingham, Mass. 01701 USA                Ext. 3135
mguyott@primerd.prime.com       ...!{uunet, decwrl}!primerd.prime.com!mguyott
mguyott@eriador.prime.com       ...!{uunet, decwrl}!eriador.prime.com!mguyott
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CLINTON UNVEILS NATIONAL ECONOMIC STRATEGY TO PUT PEOPLE FIRST
June 21, 1992


    Governor Bill Clinton today unveiled a "National Economic
Strategy for America" that will create economic growth and put
Americans back to work while halving the federal deficit.
    Clinton will take his plan directly to the people by
introducing it to undecided voters during a televised town hall
meeting broadcast on WSB-TV Atlanta and several other stations.
    "My strategy puts people first by investing more than $50
billion dollars each year over the next four years to put America
back to work -- the most dramatic economic growth program since
World War II," Clinton said.
    "These investments will create millions of high-wage jobs
and provide tax relief to working families," he added. 
    Clinton's National Economic Strategy also outlines plans to
provide lifetime learning opportunities, ensure affordable health
care coverage for every American, increase the number of
community police, and help move people from welfare to work.
    To pay for these investments and reduce the national
deficit, the Clinton strategy outlines nearly $300 billion in savings over
the next four years. These savings would be generated by cutting
wasteful government spending, forcing the very wealthy to pay
their fair share of taxes, closing corporate tax loopholes, and
implementing rigorous health care cost controls.
    These savings will reduce the size of the federal deficit by
half over the next four years, reversing the trend of the last
four years in which the deficit has doubled.
    The strategy also presents a plan for government and
political reform that includes: eliminating 100,000 unnecessary positions
in the Federal bureaucracy, closing the revolving door through which
senior government officials become lobbyists, and sweeping
campaign finance reform.
    "Millions of hard-working Americans struggle to make ends
meet while their government no longer fights for their values or their
interests," Clinton said. "This betrayal of democracy must stop."

    Highlights of Clinton's National Economic Strategy include:

       -- Putting America to work by rebuilding our
          country, converting from a defense to a
          peacetime economy, revitalizing our cities,
          encouraging private investment and opening up 
          world markets.

       -- Rewarding work and families by providing
          tax fairness to working families, ending
          welfare as we know it, providing family leave
          and cracking down on deadbeat parents.

      -- Supporting lifetime learning by bringing
          parents and children together, improving
          schools, training high school graduates,
          retraining workers, and offering every
          American the chance to borrow money for
          college and serve our nation in return.

       -- Providing quality affordable health care by
          radically controlling costs, reducing
          paperwork, phasing in universal access to
          basic medical coverage and cracking down on
          drug manufacturers and insurance companies.

       -- Revolutionizing government by cutting
          100,000 unnecessary Federal positions,
          eliminating wasteful spending, stopping the
          revolving door from public office to private
          lobbying, limiting special interests and
          reforming campaign financing and practices.

    "No American will agree with all the details of my plan,"
Clinton said, "But you have a right to know what I'll do and
where I stand."
    Clinton plans to elaborate on his strategy in major speeches
to the annual U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting Monday, June
22nd, in Houston, Texas, and the National Association of Manufacturers
in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, June 24th.



Text of the plan follows:



PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST

A NATIONAL ECONOMIC STRATEGY FOR AMERICA

Governor Bill Clinton

June 21, 1992


SUMMARY

	
    During the 1980s, our government betrayed the values that make America
great: providing opportunity, taking responsibility, rewarding work. While the
rich got richer, the forgotten middle class - the people who work hard and
play by the rules - took it on the chin. They paid higher taxes to a
government that gave them little in return. Washington failed to put people
first.
    No wonder our nation has compiled its worst economic record in fifty
years.  Our political system isn't working either. Washington is dominated by
powerful interests and an entrenched bureaucracy. Americans are tired of
blame.  They are ready for a leader willing to take responsibility.
    My national economic strategy puts people first by investing more than $50
billion each year for the next four years while cutting the deficit in half.
These investments will create millions of high-wage jobs and help America
compete in the global economy. They include:

    * Putting America to work by rebuilding our country, converting from
      a defense to a peacetime economy, revitalizing our cities,
      encouraging private investment, and opening up world markets.

    * Rewarding work by providing tax fairness to working families,
      ending welfare as we know it, providing family leave and cracking
      down on deadbeat parents.

    * Supporting lifetime learning by bringing parents and children
      together, improving schools, training high school graduates,
      offering every American the chance to borrow money to go to college
      and serve our nation, and retraining workers.

    * Providing quality, affordable health care by radically controlling
      costs, reducing paperwork, phasing in universal access to basic
      medical coverage, and cracking down on drug manufacturers and
      insurance companies.

    * Revolutionizing government by cutting 100,000 federal jobs,
      eliminating wasteful spending, limiting special interests, stopping
      the revolving door from public office to private lobbying, and
      reforming campaign finance and practices.

    To pay for these investments and reduce our national deficit, I will save
nearly $300 billion by cutting spending, closing corporate tax loopholes,
forcing the very wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes, and implementing
rigorous health care cost control.  My plan will cut the deficit in half
within four years, and assure that the deficit continues to fall each year
after that.


PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST


    It's time to put people first.
    That is the core of my national economic strategy for America. And that
will be the fundamental idea that guides my Presidency.
    America is the greatest nation on earth. But for more than a decade this
country has been rigged in favor of the rich and special interests. While the
very wealthiest Americans get richer, middle-class Americans pay more to their
government and get less in return. Our government has betrayed the values that
make us great - providing opportunity, taking responsibility and rewarding
hard work. 
    For twelve years, the driving idea behind American economic policy has
been cutting taxes on the richest individuals and corporations, and hoping
that their new wealth would "trickle down" to the rest of us.
    This policy has failed.
    The Republicans in Washington have compiled the worst economic record in
fifty years: the slowest economic growth, slowest job growth, and slowest
income growth since the Great Depression. During the 1980s the wealthiest one
percent of Americans got 70 percent of the gains. By the end of the decade,
American CEOs were paying themselves 100 times more than their workers.
Washington stood by while quick-buck artists brought down the Savings and Loan
industry, leaving the rest of us with a $500 billion bill.
    While the rich cashed in, the forgotten middle class - the people who work
hard and play by the rules - took it on the chin. They worked harder for lower
incomes and paid higher taxes to a government that failed to produce what we
need: good jobs in a growing economy, world-class education, affordable health
care, and safe streets and neighborhoods. The working poor had the door of
opportunity slammed in their face.
    Ten years ago, Americans earned higher wages than anyone else in the
world. Now we're tenth, and falling. In Europe and Japan our competitors'
economies grew three and four times faster than ours - because their leaders
decided to invest in their people and our government did not.
    In the emerging global economy, everything is mobile: capital, factories,
even entire industries. The only resource that's really rooted in a
nation - and the ultimate source of all its wealth - is its people. The only
way America can compete and win in the 21st Century is to have the best
educated, best trained workforce in the world, linked together by
transportation and communication networks second to none.
    I believe in free enterprise and the power of market forces. I know
economic growth will be the best jobs program we'll ever have. But economic
growth does not come without a national economic strategy to invest in people
and meet the competition. Today we have no economic vision, no economic
leadership and no economic strategy.
    Our political system has failed us, too. Washington is dominated by
powerful interests and an entrenched bureaucracy. Too many public officials
enter the revolving door and emerge as high-priced influence peddlers. Too
often those we elect to lead seem to respond more quickly to special interests
than to the real problems of real people.
    No wonder all of us have had enough. Our government doesn't work. People
who pay the bills but get little value for their dollar have no voice in
Washington.  They are tired of hearing politicians blame each other. They are
eager for someone to take responsibility and ready for a leader who will
challenge all of us to be Americans again.
    The strategy outlined in the pages that follow is not all-inclusive. There
are many other crucial challenges that await the next President: healing the
divisions that threaten our society, restoring law and order to our streets
and communities, protecting a woman's right to choose, launching a war on
AIDS, leading the world in protecting our environment, and securing our
interests and human rights around the globe. 
    But we will reach our goals only if we focus on our country's greatest
resource. That is why putting people first is the heart and soul of my
national economic strategy - and the key to the American future.
    My strategy puts people first by investing more than $50 billion each year
over the next four years to put America back to work - the most dramatic 
economic growth program since World War II. My strategy recognizes that the
only way to lay the foundation for renewed American prosperity is to spur both
public and private investment. To reclaim the future, we must strive to close
both the budget deficit and the investment gap.
    These investments will create millions of high-wage jobs and provide tax
relief to working families. They will also help move people from welfare to
work, provide lifetime learning, and ensure affordable health care coverage
for every citizen.
    To pay for these investments and reduce our national deficit, I will save
nearly $300 billion by cutting spending, closing corporate tax loopholes,
requiring the very wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes, and implementing
rigorous health care cost controls.  My plan will cut the deficit in half
within four years, and assure that the deficit continues to fall each year
after that.
    No American will agree with all the details of my plan. But you have a
right to know what I'll do and where I stand.

 
PUTTING AMERICA TO WORK


    Putting people first demands, above all, that we put America back to work.
    For the last twelve years Washington has penalized hard work and sold out
American families. As the recession sends working families into poverty, the
Republicans throw up their hands instead of rolling up their sleeves.
    The results have been devastating. Record numbers of Americans are
unemployed and millions more must settle for insecure, low-wage, no-benefit
jobs.  Small businesses - which create most of the new jobs in this
country - are starved for capital and credit. Washington continues to grant
tax deductions for outrageous executive pay and reward American corporations
who move their plants and jobs overseas.
    The corrupt do-nothing values of the 1980s must never mislead us again.
Never again should the government reward those who speculate in paper, instead
of those who put people first. Never again should we sit idly by while the
plight of hard-working Americans is ignored. Never again should we pass on our
debts to our children while their futures slide silently through our fingers.
    My national economic strategy will reward the people who work hard:
creating new jobs, starting new businesses and investing in our people and our
plants here at home. To restore economic growth, we need to help free
enterprise flourish, put our people back to work and learn again how to
compete. My plan would:
	
    * Shut the door on the "something for nothing" decade by:

        - Making the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share in taxes;

        - Ending tax breaks for American companies that shut down their
          plants here and ship American jobs overseas;

        - Eliminating deductions for outrageous executive pay; and

        - Cracking down on foreign companies that prosper here and
          manipulate tax laws to their advantage.
	
    * Rebuild America. The 1980s saw the concrete foundations of the
      United States crumble as the investment gap widened between America
      and our global competitors. By the decade's end, Japan and Germany
      were investing more than 12 times what we spend on roads, bridges,
      sewers and the information networks and technologies of the future.
      No wonder they threaten to surpass America in manufacturing by 1996.
      No wonder we are slipping behind.

      To create millions of high-wage jobs and smooth our transition from
      a defense- to a commercial-based economy, we will rebuild America
      and develop the world's best communication, transportation and
      environmental systems. As a prominent part of our commitment to put
      people first, we will create a Rebuild America Fund, with a $20
      billion Federal investment in each year for four years, leveraged
      with state, local, private sector and pension fund contributions.
      User fees such as road tolls and solid waste disposal charges will
      help guarantee these investments.

      Just as construction of interstate highways in the 1950s ushered in
      two decades of unparalleled growth, creating the concrete
      foundations of the 21st century will help put Americans back to work
      and spur economic growth. States and localities will be responsible
      for project development and management. The creation of large
      predictable markets will stimulate private industry to invest in
      these new markets and create new high-wage, value-added jobs.

      We will focus on four critical areas:

        - Transportation, including renovation of our country's roads,
          bridges and railroads; creation of a high-speed rail network
          linking our major cities and commercial hubs; development of
          "smart" highway technology to expand the capacity, speed and
          efficiency of our major roadways; and development of high-tech
          short-haul aircraft.

        - A national information network to link every home, business,
          lab, classroom and library by the year 2015. To expand access to
          information, we will put public records, databases, libraries
          and educational materials on line for public use.

        - Environmental technology to create the world's most advanced
          systems to recycle, treat toxic waste and clean our air and
          water.  Funds will also be directed to the development of new,
          clean, efficient energy sources.

        - Defense conversion to ensure that the communities and millions
          of talented workers that won the Cold War don't get left out in
          the cold. Many of the skills and technologies required to
          rebuild America are similar to those now used in our defense
          industries. We will encourage companies that bid on projects to
          rebuild America to contract work to, or purchase, existing
          defense facilities; order the Pentagon to conduct a national
          defense jobs inventory to assist displaced workers; and provide
          special conversion loans and grants to small business defense
          contractors.

    * Investing in communities. While America's greatest cities fall into
      disrepair,  the Republicans in Washington continue to ignore their
      fate. Private enterprise has abandoned our cities, leaving our young
      people with few job prospects and declining hopes. To restore urban
      economic vitality and bring back high-paying jobs to our cities, I
      will:

        - Target funding and Community Development Block Grants  to
          rebuild America's urban roads, bridges, water and sewage
          treatment plants and low-income housing stock, stressing "ready
          to go" projects. Require companies that bid on these projects to
          set up a portion of their operations in low-income neighborhoods
          and employ local residents.

        - Create a nationwide network of community development banks to
          provide small loans to low-income entrepreneurs and homeowners
          in the inner cities. These banks will also provide advice and
          assistance to entrepreneurs, invest in affordable housing, and
          help mobilize private lenders.

        - Fight crime by putting 100,000 new police officers on the
          streets.  We will create a National Police Corps and offer
          unemployed veterans and active military personnel a chance to
          become law enforcement officers here at home. We will also
          expand community policing, fund more drug treatment, and
          establish community boot camps to discipline first-time
          non-violent offenders.

        - Create urban enterprise zones in stagnant inner cities, but only
          for companies willing to take responsibility. Business taxes and
          federal regulations will be minimized to provide incentives to
          set up shop.  In return, companies will have to make jobs for
          local residents a top priority.

        - Ease the credit crunch in our inner cities by passing a more
          progressive Community Reinvestment Act to prevent "redlining"
          and require financial institutions to invest in their
          communities.
		  
    * Encouraging private investment in America.  Ten years ago, the
      United States spent about $400 more per person than Japan in capital
      investment. Today the Japanese invest more than twice as much in
      their nation as we do. We must either change directions or continue
      to slide.

      To help American business create new jobs and compete in the global
      economy, we must dramatically increase private investment. My plan
      would:

        - Provide a targetted investment tax credit to encourage
          investment in the new plants and productive equipment here at
          home that we need to compete in the global economy.

        - Help small businesses and entrepreneurs by offering a 50 percent
          tax exclusion to those who take risks by making longterm
          investments in new businesses.

        - Make permanent the research and development tax credit to reward
          companies that invest in groundbreaking technologies.

        - Create a civilian research and development agency to bring
          together businesses and universities to develop cutting-edge
          products and technologies. This agency will increase our
          commercial research and development spending, and focus its
          effort in crucial new industries such as biotechnology,
          robotics, high-speed computing, and environmental technology.

    * Opening up world markets.  Because every $1 billion in expanded
      American exports will create 20,000 to 30,000 new jobs, we will move
      aggressively to open foreign markets to quality American goods and
      services. We will urge our trading partners in Europe and the
      Pacific Rim to abandon unfair trade subsidies in key sectors like
      ship building and aerospace - and act swiftly if they fail to
      respond. We will:

        - Pass a stronger, sharper "Super 301" trade bill. If other
          nations refuse to play by our trade rules, we'll play by theirs.

        - Seek more open markets for American products by negotiating a
          free trade agreement with Mexico that ensures a more level
          playing field and protects basic worker rights and environmental
          standards.

        - Create an Economic Security Council, similar in status to the
          National Security Council, with responsibility for coordinating
          America's international economic policy.

        - Reform the office of the U.S. Trade Representative by issuing an
          executive order banning trade negotiators from cashing in on
          their positions by serving as representatives of foreign
          corporations or governments. We must transform this office into
          a corps of trade experts whose primary aim is to serve their
          country, not sell out for lucrative lobbying paychecks from
          foreign competitors.
		

REWARDING WORK AND FAMILIES


    Putting our people first means honoring and rewarding those who work hard
and play by the rules. It means recognizing that government doesn't raise
children - people do. It means that we must reward work, demand responsibility
and end welfare as we know it.
    The Republicans who run the federal government have abandoned working
families. Millions of Americans are running harder and harder just to stay in
place.  While taxes fall and incomes rise for those at the top of the totem
pole, middle-class families pay more and earn less. Wages are flat, good jobs
have become scarce and poverty has exploded.  Health care costs have
skyrocketed, and millions have seen their health benefits disappear.
    Today almost one of every five people who works full time doesn't earn
enough to support his or her family above the poverty line. Deadbeat parents
owe $25 billion in unpaid child support, and have left  millions of
single-parent families in poverty.
    In the 1980s the Republicans once again used welfare as a wedge to divide
Americans against each other. They silently hacked away at the programs that
keep disadvantaged children healthy and prepare them for school. They talked
about "family values," but increased the burden on American families.
    My national economic strategy will strengthen families and empower all
Americans to work. It will break the cycle of dependency and end welfare as we
know it. It includes:

    * Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit. To ensure that no one with a
      family who works full-time has to raise their children in poverty, we
      will expand the Earned Income Tax Credit to make up the difference
      between a family's earnings and the poverty level. The credit would also
      be expanded for part-time workers, giving them a greater incentive to
      work. 

    * Middle class tax fairness. Virtually ever industrialized nation
      recognizes the importance of strong families in its tax code; we should,
      too. We will lower the tax burden on middle class Americans by forcing
      the rich to pay their fare share.  Middle class taxpayers will have a
      choice between a children's tax credit or a significant reduction in
      their income tax rate. 

    * Welfare-to-work. We will scrap the current welfare system and make
      welfare a second chance, not a way of life. We will empower people on
      welfare with the education, training and child care they need for up to
      two years so they can break the cycle of dependency. After that, those
      who can work will have to go to work, either by taking a job in the
      private sector or through community service.

    * Family and medical leave. Parents should not have to choose between the
      job they need and the family they love. I will immediately sign into law
      the Family and Medical Leave Act. This bill will give American workers
      the right to take 12 weeks of unpaid leave in order to care for a
      newborn child or sick family members - a right enjoyed by workers in
      every other advanced industrial nation.

    * Child support enforcement. We will crack down on deadbeat parents by
      reporting them to credit agencies, so they can't borrow money for
      themselves when they're not taking care of their children. We'll use the
      Internal Revenue Service to collect child support, start a national
      deadbeat databank, and make it a felony to cross state lines to avoid
      paying support. 


LIFETIME LEARNING


    Putting people first demands a revolution in lifetime learning, a
concerted effort to invest in the collective talents of our people. Education
today is more than the key to climbing the ladder of opportunity. It is an
imperative for our nation.  Our economic life is on the line.
    Government fails when our schools fail. For four years we have heard much
talk about "the Education President" but seen no action by government to close
the gaps between what our people can achieve and what we ask of them.
Washington shows little concern as people pay more and get less for what
matters most to them: educating their children.
    Millions of our children go to school unprepared to learn. The Republicans
in Washington have promised - but never delivered - full funding of Head
Start, a proven success that gives disadvantaged children a chance to get
ahead. And while the states move forward with innovative ways to bring parents
and children together, Washington fails to insist on responsibility from
parents, teachers, students - and itself.
    The 1980s witnessed the emergence of immense education gaps between
America and the world, and among our own people. Test scores went down while
violence in the schools went up. Too many children did bullet drills instead
of fire drills, and too many teachers were assaulted. High school graduates
who chose not to go to college saw their incomes drop by 20 percent. While
college tuition and living costs skyrocketed, the Republicans tried to slash
assistance for middle class families.  By the decade's end, nearly one of
every two college students was dropping out, most because they simply could no
longer afford it.  
    In an era when what you earn depends on what you learn, education too
often stops at the schoolhouse door. While our global competitors invest in
their people, American companies spend seven of every ten dollars set aside
for employee training on those at the top of the corporate ladder. Top
executives float on golden parachutes to a cushy life while hard-working
Americans are grounded without the skills they need.
    My national economic strategy for America will invest in our people at
every stage of their lives. It will put children first by dramatically
improving the way parents prepare their children for school, giving students
the chance to train for jobs or pay for college, and providing workers with
the training and retraining they need to compete in tomorrow's economy.
    The main elements include:
 	
    * Parents and Children Together.   We will inspire parents to take 
      responsibility, and empower them with the knowledge they need to help
      their children enter school ready to learn. As we do in my state, we
      will help disadvantaged parents work with their children to build an
      ethic of learning at home that benefits both parent and child.  We will
      fully fund programs that save us several dollars for every one we spend
      - Head Start, the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, and other
      critical initiatives recommended by the National Commission on Children.

    * Dramatically improve K-12 education.  We will overhaul America's public
      schools to insure that every child has a chance for a world-class
      education.  We will establish tough standards and a national examination
      system in core subjects like math and science, level the playing field
      for disadvantaged students, and reduce class sizes. We will give every
      parent the right to choose the public school his or her child attends,
      as we have done in Arkansas. In return, we will demand that parents work
      with their children to keep them in school, off drugs and headed toward
      graduation. 

    * Safe Schools Initiative. We will provide funds for violence-ridden
      schools to hire security personnel and purchase metal detectors. We will
      help cities and states use community policing to put more police
      officers on the streets in high-crime areas where schools are located.

    * Youth Opportunity Corps. To help teenagers who drop out of school, we
      will help communities open centers that give dropouts a second chance.
      Teenagers will be matched with adults who care about them, and given a
      chance to develop self-discipline and skills.

    * National Apprenticeship Program. As President, I will bring business
      and education leaders together to develop a national apprenticeship
      system that offers non-college bound students training in a valuable
      skill, with the promise of a good job when they graduate.

    * National Service Trust Fund. To give every American the right to borrow
      money for college, we will scrap the existing student loan program and
      establish a National Service Trust Fund. Those who borrow from the fund
      will be able to choose how to repay the balance: either as a small
      percentage of their earnings over time, or by serving their communities
      for one or two years doing work their country needs as teachers, law
      enforcement officers,  health care workers, or peer counselors helping
      kids stay off drugs and in school.

    * Worker retraining. We will require every employer to spend 1.5 percent
      of payroll for continuing education and training, and make them provide
      the training to all workers, not just executives.  Workers will be able
      to choose advanced skills training, the chance to earn a high school
      diploma, or the opportunity to learn to read. And we will streamline
      existing programs by combining the confusing array of publicly-funded
      training schemes.	

	
QUALITY, AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE FOR ALL


    The American health care system costs too much and does not work. Instead
of putting people first, the government in Washington has favored the
insurance companies, drug manufacturers, and health care bureaucracies.  We
cannot build the economy of tomorrow until we guarantee every American the
right to quality, affordable health care.
    Washington has ignored the needs of middle-class families and let health
care costs soar out of control. American drug companies have raised their
prices three times faster than the rate of inflation, forcing American
consumers to pay up to six times more than Canadians or Europeans for the same
drugs. Insurance companies routinely deny coverage to consumers with
"pre-existing conditions" and waste billions on bureaucracy and
administration.  Twelve years ago Americans spent $249 billion on health care.
This year we'll spend more than $800 billion.
    Health care costs are now the number one cause of bankruptcy and labor
disputes. They threaten our ability to compete, adding $700 to the cost of
every car made in America. Our complex system chokes consumers and providers
with paper, requiring the average doctor to spend 80 hours a month on
paperwork.  It invites fraud and abuse. We spend more on health care than any
nation on earth and don't get our money's worth.
     Our people still live in fear. Today almost 60 million Americans have
inadequate health insurance - or none at all. Every year working men and women
are forced to pay more while their employers cover less. Small businesses are
caught between going broke and doing right by their employees.  Infants die at
rates that exceed countries blessed with far fewer resources. Across our
nation older Americans live in fear that they will fall ill - and lose
everything or bankrupt their children's dreams trying to pay for the care they
deserve.
    America has the potential to provide the world's best, most advanced and
cost-effective health care. What we need are leaders who are willing to take
on the insurance companies, the drug companies, and the health care
bureaucracies and bring health care costs down.
    My health care plan is simple in concept but revolutionary in scope.
First, we will move to radically control costs, by changing incentives,
reducing paperwork and cracking down on drug and insurance company practices.
As costs drop, we will phase in guaranteed universal access - through employer
or public programs - to basic medical coverage. Companies will be required to
insure their employees, with federal assistance in the early years to help
them meet their obligations.  Health care providers will finally have
incentives to reduce costs and improve quality for consumers. American health
care will make sense.
    My plan will put people first by guaranteeing quality, affordable health
care.  No American will go without health care but, in return, everyone who
can must share the cost of their care. The main elements include:

    * National spending caps.  The cost of health care must not be allowed to
      rise faster than the average American's income. I will scrap the Health
      Care Financing Administration and replace it with a health standards
      board - made up of consumers, providers, business, labor and government
      - that will establish annual health budget targets and outline a core
      benefits package.

    * Universal coverage. Affordable, quality health care will be a right, not
      a privilege. Under my plan, employers and employees will either purchase
      private insurance or opt to buy into a high-quality public program.
      Every American not covered by an employer will receive the core benefits
      package set by the health standards board.

    * Managed care networks. Consumers will be able to select from among a
      variety of local health networks, made up of insurers, hospitals,
      clinics and doctors. The networks will receive a fixed amount of money
      for each consumer, giving them the necessary incentive to control costs.

    * Eliminate drug price gouging. To protect American consumers and bring
      down prescription drug prices, I will eliminate tax breaks for drug
      companies that raise their prices faster than Americans' incomes rise.

    * Take on the insurance industry. To stand up to the powerful insurance
      lobby and stop consumers from paying billions in administrative waste,
      we need to streamline the industry. My health plan will institute a
      single claim form and ban underwriting practices that waste billions to
      discover which patients are bad risks.  Any insurance company that wants
      to do business will have to take all comers and charge every business in
      a community the same rate. No company will be able to deny coverage to
      individuals with pre-existing conditions.

    * Fight bureaucracy and billing fraud. To control costs and trim the
      "paper hospital," my plan will replace expensive billing, coding and
      utilization review functions with a simplified, streamlined billing
      system. Everyone will carry "smart cards" coded with his or her personal
      medical information. I will also crack down on billing fraud and remove
      incentives that invite abuse.
	
    * Core benefits package. Every American will be guaranteed a basic health
      benefits package that includes ambulatory physician care, inpatient
      hospital care, prescription drugs, and basic mental health. The package
      will allow consumers to choose where to receive care and include
      expanded preventive treatments such as pre-natal care, mammograms and
      routine health screenings. We'll provide more services to the elderly
      and the disabled by expanding Medicare to include more long-term care.

    * Equal costs. All businesses, regardless of size, will pay a set amount
      per person they employ. This system, known as "community rating," will
      protect small businesses and spread the risk evenly among all companies.


A REVOLUTION IN GOVERNMENT


    We cannot put people first and create jobs and economic growth without a
revolution in government. We must take away power from the entrenched 
bureaucracies and special interests that dominate Washington.
    We can no longer afford to pay more - and get less - from our
government.  The answer for every problem cannot always be another program or
more money. It is time to radically change the way government operates - to
shift from top-down bureaucracy to entrepreneurial government that empowers
citizens and communities to change our country from the bottom up. We must
reward the people and ideas that work and get rid of those that don't.
    It's long past time to clean up Washington. The last twelve years were
nothing less than an extended hunting season for high-priced lobbyists and
Washington influence peddlers. On streets where statesmen once strolled, a
never-ending stream of money now changes hands - tying the hands of those
elected to lead.
    Millions of hard-working Americans struggle to make ends meet while their
government no longer fights for their values or their interests. Washington
deregulated the Savings and Loan industry and then tried to hide when it
collapsed, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill. Political action committees and
other special interests funnel more than $2.5 million every week to Congress,
giving incumbents a 12-1 financial advantage over challengers.
    During the 1980s the White House staff routinely took taxpayers for a ride
to play golf or bid on rare stamps. High-level executive branch employees
traded in their government jobs for the chance to make millions lobbying their
former bosses.  Experts estimate that nearly one of every two senior American
trade officials has signed on to work for nations they once faced across the
negotiating table.
    This betrayal of democracy must stop.
    To break the stalemate in Washington, we have to attack the problem at its
source: entrenched power and money. We must cut the bureaucracy, limit special
interests, stop the revolving door, and cut off the unrestricted flow of
campaign funds. The privilege of public service ought to be enough of a perk
for the people in government.
    I will take the following steps:

    * Staff reductions. I will reduce the White House staff by 25 percent and
      challenge Congress to do the same.
 
    * Eliminate 100,000 unnecessary positions in the bureaucracy. I will
      eliminate 100,000 federal government positions through attrition. 
	
    * Cuts in administrative waste. I will require federal managers and
      workers to achieve 3 percent across-the-board administrative savings in
      every federal agency.

    * Cut wasteful government spending programs. To get rid of spending
      programs that no longer serve their purpose, I will eliminate taxpayer
      subsidies for narrow special interests, reform defense procurement and
      foreign aid, and slash boondoggle projects.

    * Line item veto. To eliminate pork-barrel projects and cut government
      waste, I will ask Congress to give me the line item veto.

    * Special interest tax. To help put government back in the hands of the
      people, I will ask Congress to eliminate the tax deductions for lobbying
      expenses by special interests. I will also urge Congress to close the
      "lawyers' loophole," which allows lawyer-lobbyists to disguise lobbying
      activities on behalf of foreign government and powerful corporations.

    * Stop the revolving door. I will require all my top appointees to sign a
      pledge that, if they work in my Administration, they will refrain for
      five years after leaving office from lobbying government agencies within
      their responsibilities. I will require senior officials to pledge never
      to become registered agents on behalf of any foreign government. I will
      then challenge members of Congress to do the same.

    * Lobbyists. I will push for and sign legislation to toughen and
      streamline lobbying disclosure. The new law will require all individuals
      and groups to register with the Office of Government Ethics within 30
      days after contacting a federal official, lawmaker or lawmaker's aide.
      Lobbyists will be required to report twice a year on their contacts and
      expenses. I will instruct the Justice Department to strictly enforce
      disclosure laws and collect fines. 

    * Campaign finance reform. I will push for and sign strong campaign
      finance legislation to cap spending on House and Senate campaigns; cut
      political action committee (PAC) contributions in any race to the legal
      limit for individuals of $1,000; lower the cost of air time so that TV
      becomes an instrument of education, not a weapon of political
      assassination; and require lobbyists who appear before a Congressional
      committee to disclose the campaign contributions they've made to members
      of that committee.