“...they say that the United States has had its day in the sun; that our nation has passed its zenith.  They expect you to tell your children that the American people no longer have the will to cope with their problems; that the future will be one of sacrifice and few opportunities.

My fellow citizens, I utterly reject that view.  The American people, the most generous on earth, who created the highest standard of living, are not going to accept the notion that we can only make a better world for others by moving backwards ourselves.  Those who believe we can have no business leading the nation.

"Trust me" government asks that we concentrate our hopes and dreams on one man; that we trust him to do what's best for us.  My view of government places trust not in one person or one party, but in those values that transcend persons and parties.  The trust is where it belongs--in the people.  The responsibility to live up to that trust is where it belongs, in their elected leaders.  That kind of relationship, between the people and their elected leaders, is a special kind of compact.

Three hundred and sixty years ago, in 1620, a group of families dared to cross a mighty ocean to build a future for themselves in a new world.  When they arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts, they formed what they called a "compact"; an agreement among themselves to build a community and abide by its laws.

The single act--the voluntary binding together of free people to live under the law--set the pattern for what was to come.

Isn't it once again time to renew our compact of freedom; to pledge to each other all that is best in our lives; all that gives meaning to them--for the sake of this, our beloved and blessed land?

Together, let us make this a new beginning.  Let us make a commitment to care for the needy; to teach our children the values and the virtues handed down to us by our families; to have the courage to defend those values and the willingness to sacrifice for them.

Let us pledge to restore, in our time, the American spirit of voluntary service, of cooperation, of private and community initiative; a spirit that flows like a deep and mighty river through the history of our nation.

High taxes, we are told, are somehow good for us, as if, when government spends our money it isn't inflationary, but when we spend it, it is.

I believe it is clear our federal government is overgrown and overweight. Indeed, it is time for our government to go on a diet.

…Government programs exist at the sufferance of the American taxpayer and are paid for with money earned by working men and women.  Any program that represents a waste of their money--a theft from their pocketbooks--must have that waste eliminated or the program must go--by executive order where possible; by congressional action where necessary.  Everything that can be run more effectively by state and local government we shall turn over to state and local government, along with the funding sources to pay for it.  We are going to put an end to the money merry-go-round where our money becomes Washington's money, to be spent by the states and cities exactly the way the federal bureaucrats tell them to.

There are concepts that stem from an economic system that for more than 200 years has helped us master a continent, create a previously undreamed of prosperity for our people and has fed millions of others around the globe.  That system will continue to serve us in the future if our government will stop ignoring the basic values on which it was built and stop betraying the trust and good will of the American workers who keep it going.

Tonight, let us dedicate ourselves to renewing the American compact.  I ask you not simply to "Trust me," but to trust your values--our values--and to hold me responsible for living up to them.  I ask you to trust that American spirit which knows no ethnic, religious, social, political, regional, or economic boundaries; the spirit that burned with zeal in the hearts of millions of immigrants from every corner of the Earth who came here in search of freedom.

Some say that spirit no longer exists.  But I have seen it--I have felt it--all across the land; in the big cities, the small towns and in rural America.  The American spirit is still there, ready to blaze into life if you and I are willing to do what has to be done; the practical, down-to-earth things that will stimulate our economy, increase productivity and put America back to work.  The time is now to resolve that the basis of a firm and principled foreign policy is one that takes the world as it is and seeks to change it by leadership and example; not by harangue, harassment or wishful thinking.

The time is now, my fellow Americans, to recapture our destiny, to take it into our own hands.  But, to do this will take many of us, working together.  I ask you tonight to volunteer your help in this cause so we can carry our message throughout the land.

I'll confess that I've been a little afraid to suggest what I'm going to suggest--I'm more afraid not to--that we begin our crusade joined together in a moment of silent prayer.  God bless America.”


...more columns by Todd A. Carges