Second, we ought to cut taxes $ 500 for families with children under 13.

Third, we ought to foster more savings and personal responsibility by permitting people to establish an individual retirement account and withdraw from it tax free for the cost of education, health care, first-time home buying or the care of a parent.

And fourth, we should pass a G.I. bill for America’s workers.  We propose to collapse nearly 70 Federal programs and not give the money to the states but give the money directly to the American people, offer vouchers to them so that they—­if they’re laid off or if they’re working for a very low wage—­can get a voucher worth $ 2,600 a year for up to two years to go to their local community colleges or wherever else they want to get the skills they need to improve their lives.  Let’s empower people in this way.  Move it from the Government directly to the workers of America.

Cutting The Deficit Now

Any one of us can call for a tax cut, but I won’t accept one that explodes the deficit or puts our recovery at risk.  We ought to pay for our tax cuts fully and honestly.  Just two years ago it was an open question whether we would find the strength to cut the deficit.

Thanks to the courage of the people who were here then, many of whom didn’t return, we did cut the deficit.  We began to do what others said would not be done:  We cut the deficit by over $ 600 billion, about $ 10,000 for every family in this country.  It’s coming down three years in a row for the first time since Mr. Truman was President and I don’t think anybody in America wants us to let it explode again.

In the budget I will send you, the middle-class bill of rights is fully paid for by budget cuts in bureaucracy, cuts in programs, cuts in special interest subsidies.  And the spending cuts will more than double the tax cuts.  My budget pays for the middle-class bill of rights without any cuts in Medicare, and I will oppose any attempts to pay for tax cuts with Medicare cuts.  That’s not the right thing to do.

I know that a lot of you have your own ideas about tax relief.  And some of them, I find quite interesting.  I really want to work with all of you.

My tests for our proposals will be:  Will it create jobs and raise incomes?  Will it strengthen our families and support our children?  Is it paid for?  Will it build the middle class and shrink the underclass?

If it does, I’ll support it.  But if it doesn’t, I won’t.

Minimum Wage

The goal of building the middle class and shrinking the underclass is also why I believe that you should raise the minimum wage.

It rewards work—­two and a half million Americans, often women with children, are working out there today for four-and-a-quarter an hour.  In terms of real buying power, by next year, that minimum wage will be at a 40-year low.  That’s not my idea of how the new economy ought to work.