We must have teachers of competence.  To obtain and hold them we need standards.  We need a National Goal.  Once established I am certain that public opinion would compel steady progress toward its accomplishment.

Such studies would be helpful, I believe, to government at all levels and to all individuals.  The goals so established could help us see our current needs in perspective.  They will spur progress.

We do not forget, of course, that our nation’s progress and fiscal integrity are interdependent and inseparable.  We can afford everything we clearly need, but we cannot afford one cent of waste.  We must examine every item of governmental expense critically.  To do otherwise would betray our nation’s future.  Thrift is one of the characteristics that has made this nation great.  Why should we ignore it now?

We must avoid any contribution to inflationary processes, which could disrupt sound growth in our economy.

Prices have displayed a welcome stability in recent months and, if we are wise and resolute, we will not tolerate inflation in the years to come.  But history makes clear the risks inherent in any failure to deal firmly with the .basic causes of inflation.  Two of the most important of these causes are the wage-price spiral and continued deficit financing.

Inflation would reduce job opportunities, price us out of world markets, shrink the value of savings and penalize the thrift so essential to finance a growing economy.

Inflation is not a Robin Hood, taking from the rich to give to the poor.  Rather, it deals most cruelly with those who can least protect themselves.  It strikes hardest those millions of our citizens whose incomes do not quickly rise with the cost of living.  When prices soar, the pensioner and the widow see their security undermined, the man of thrift sees his savings melt away; the white collar worker, the minister, and the teacher see their standards of living dragged down.

Inflation can be prevented.  But this demands statesmanship on the part of business and labor leaders and of government at all levels.

We must encourage the self-discipline, the restraint necessary to curb the wage-price spiral and we must meet current costs from current revenue.

To minimize the danger of future soaring prices and to keep our economy sound and expanding, I shall present to the Congress certain proposals.

First, I shall submit a balanced budget for the next year, a year expected to be the most prosperous in our history.  It is a realistic budget with wholly attainable objectives.

If we cannot live within our means during such a time of rising prosperity, the hope for fiscal integrity will fade.  If we persist in living beyond our means, we make it difficult for every family in our land to balance its own household budget.  But to live within our means would be a tangible demonstration of the self-discipline needed to assure a stable dollar.