US Presidency
1981

Now, much has been said and written not all of it flattering, about the savings I've proposed in the budget which were adopted by the House last Friday. I can assure you that the budget savings we've advocated are much more equitable than the tremendous cuts in social programs, made by inflation and the declining economy, which can't find jobs for almost 8 million men and women who are unemployed. Those cuts are exacted without regard to need or age. Let me give some examples. In the prosperity of the 1960 's, an era of only a few Federal programs costing very little, the number of people living in poverty was reduced by nearly 50 percent. During the stagflation of the 1970 's with many Federal programs with huge budgets, the number living in poverty was reduced by only 6 percent. In the 1960 's black unemployment fell from 10.7 percent to 6.4 percent. In the 1970 's it increased from 6.4 percent to 11.3 percent.