Remarks to Farm and Business Groups in Grand Rapids, Michigan

Thank you very much. Well, thank you all. And let me just thank everybody, thank Jim and Tom, Noelle and Brian. Pay respects to our Governor, who is rapidly crossing out the fact that his wife, Michelle, is not with us today, which is our loss. She's doing a first class job as first lady of this State, and I'm very proud to have these endorsements from the leading farm and business groups in Michigan.

You know, the global economy -- and we're in a global economy -- is in transition. And still, compared to the other countries of the world, the American economy is in relatively good shape. Industrial manufacturing -- up, versus Japan. In the Bush years, farm income and family income averaged highest under any President. And inflation is way down, as we've heard. Low interest rates mean good news for farmers, homebuyers, small-business men and women.

The real question then in this election is: Where do we go from here? And Governor Clinton offers a billion dollars a day in new promises, at least $150 billion which he's already proposed in new taxes to be paid by, of course, small businesses, farmers, and middle class. He says soak the rich, but the whole country knows better.

I want to make Government smaller, make opportunity larger. And I propose controlling the growth of mandatory spending, eliminating wasteful Government spending, while still making the necessary investments in job training, education, and in high-wage industries of the future.

Last month, the National Association of Business Economists compared our two directions, Governor Clinton's and mine. And the vast majority said that under the Bush agenda, inflation would be lower, interest rates would be lower, and the budget deficit smaller. Michigan voters ought to look at our plans in detail and ask which will make their jobs, their families more secure. The Michigan farm and business community has done that, and I am very proud to accept their support in our crusade to renew America for the next 4 years.

Thank you all very, very much.