Now some pretend we can have it both ways:  they call it play or pay.  But that expensive approach is unstable.  It will mean higher taxes, fewer jobs, and eventually, a system under complete government control.  Really, there are only two options.  And we can move toward a nationalized system, a system which will restrict patient choice in picking a doctor and force the government to ration services arbitrarily.  And what we’ll get is patients in long lines, indifferent service and a huge new tax burden.  Or we can reform our own private health-care system, which still gives us, for all its flaws, the best quality health care in the world.  Well, let’s build on our strengths.

My plan provides insurance security for all Americans while preserving and increasing the idea of choice.  We make basic health insurance affordable for all low-income people not now covered.  We do it by providing a health-insurance tax credit of up to $3750 for each low-income family.  The middle class gets help, too.  And by reforming the health insurance market, my plan assures that Americans will have access to basic health insurance even if they change jobs or develop serious health problem We must bring costs under control, preserve quality, preserve choice and reduce people’s nagging daily worry about health insurance.  My plan, the details of which I will announce shortly, does just that.

And seventh, we must get the federal deficit under control.  We now have in law, enforcable spending caps, and a requirement that we pay for the programs we create.  There are those in Congress who would ease that discipline now.  But I cannot let them do it.  And I won’t.  My plan would freeze all domestic discretionary budget authority which means “No more next year than this year”.  I will not tamper with Social Security but I would put real caps on the growth of uncontrolled spending.  And I would also freeze federal domestic government employment.  And with the help of Congress, my plan will get rid of 246 programs that don’t deserve federal funding.  Some of them have noble titles, but none of them is indispensible.  We can get rid of each and every one of them.

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.