You know, it’s time we rediscovered a home truth the American people have never forgotten:  the government is too big and spends too much.  And I call on Congress to adopt a measure that will help put an end to the annual ritual of filling the budget with pork-barrel appropriations.  Every year, the press has a field day making fun of outrageous examples, a Lawrence Welk Museum, a research grant for Belgian Endive.  We all know how these things get into the budget, and maybe you need someone to help you say no.  I know how to say it.  And you know what I need to make it stick.  Give me the same thing 43 governors have—­the line-item veto—­and let me help you control spending.

We must put an end to unfinanced government mandates.  These are the requirements Congress puts on our cities, counties and states without supplying the money.  And if Congress passes a mandate, it should be forced to pay for it and balance the cost with savings elsewhere.  After all, a mandate just increases someone else’s tax burden, and that means higher taxes at the state and local level.

Step Eight:  Congress should enact the bold reform proposals that are still awaiting congressional action:  bank reform, civil justice reform, tort reform, and my national energy strategy.

And finally, we must strengthen the family, because it is the family that has the greatest bearing on our future.  When Barbara holds an aids baby in her arms and reads to children, she’s saying to every person in this country, “Family Matters”.

And I am announcing tonight a new commission on America’s urban families.  I’ve asked Missouri’s governor, John Ashcroft, to be chairman, former Dallas Mayor Annetter Strauss to be co-chair.  You know, I had Mayors, the leading mayors from the League of Cities, in the other day at the White House, and they told me something striking.  They said that every one of them, Republican and Democrat, agreed on one thing:  That the major cause of the problems of the cities is the dissolution of the family.  And they asked for this commission, and they were right to ask, because it’s time to determine what we can do to keep families together, strong and sound.

There’s one thing we can do right away:  Ease the burden of rearing a child.  I ask you tonight to raise the personal exemption by $500 per child for every family.  For a family with four kids, that’s an increase of $2000.  This is a good start in the right direction, and it’s what we can afford.  It’s time to allow families to deduct the interest they pay on student loans.  And I’m asking you to do just that.  And I’m asking you to allow people to use money from their IRAs to pay medical and educational expenses, all without penalties.  And I’m asking for more.  Ask American parents what they dislike about how things are going in our country, and chances are good that pretty soon they’ll get to welfare.