Now don 't take my word for it-I'm a Democrat. Ask the Republican investment bankers on Wall Street w hat they think the chances of this recovery being permanent are. You see, if they ' re not too embarrassed to tell you the truth, they 'll say that they are appalled and frightened by the presidents def icit. Ask them what they think of our economy now that it has been driven by the distorted value of the dollar back to its colonial condition -now were exporting agricultural products and importing manuf actured ones. Ask those Republican investment bankers what they expect the rate of interest to be a year from now. And ask them if they dare tell you the truth you will hear from them what they predict for the inf lation rate a year from now, because of the def icit. rtant is this Think about it practica lly: What chance would the republican ca nd idate have had in 1980 if he had told the American people that he intended to pay for his so-called economic recovery with bankruptcies, unemployment, more homeless, more hungry and the largest government debt known to humankind? Would American voters have signed the loan certif icate for him on Election Day? Of course not! That was an election won under false pretenses. It was won w ith smoke and m irrors and illusions. And that's the kind of recovery we have now as wel And what about foreign policy They said that they would make us and the whe orld safer. They say they have. by creating the largest defense budget in history one that even they now admit is excessive. By escalating to a frenzy the nuclear arms race. By incend iary rhetoric. By ref using to discuss peace with our enemies. By the loss of 279 young America ns in Leba non in pursuit of a plan and a policy that no one can find or describe We give money to Latin American governments that murder nuns and then we lie about it. We have been less than zea lo us in support of our only real friend it seems to me, we have in the Middle East the one democracy there our f lesh and blood ally the state of Israel. Our foreign policy drif ts with no real direction, other than an hysterical commitment to an arms race that leads now -if we' re lucky. And if rere not it could lead us into bankruptcy or war Of course we must have a strong defense Of course Democrats are for a strong defense. Of course Democrats believe that there are times when we must stand and fight. And we have. Tho usands of us have paid for freedom with our lives. But always when this country has been at its best our purposes were clear. Now they 're not. Now our allies are as conf used as our enemies Now we have no real commitment to our friends or to our ideals - not to human rights not to the refuseniks, not to Sakharov, not to Bishop Tutu and the others struggling for freedom in South AfricaNow don't take my word for it - I'm a Democrat. Ask the Republican investment bankers on Wall Street what they think the chances of this recovery being permanent are. You see, if they're not too embarrassed to tell you the truth, they'll say that they are appalled and f rightened by the president's deficit. Ask them what they think of our economy, now that it has been driven by the distorted value of the dollar back to its colonial condition - now we're exporting agricultural products and importing manufactured ones. Ask those Republican investment bankers what they expect the rate of interest to be a year from now. And ask them, if they dare tell you the truth you will hear f rom them, what they predict for the inflation rate a year f rom now, because of the deficit. Now, how important is this question of the deficit. Think about it practically: What chance would the Republican candidate have had in 1980 if he had told the American people that he intended to pay for his so-called economic recovery with bankruptcies, unemployment, more homeless, more hungry and the largest government debt known to humankind? Would American voters have signed the loan certificate for him on Election Day? Of course not! That was an election won under false pretenses. It was won with smoke and mirrors and illusions. And that's the kind of recovery we have now as well. And what about foreign policy? They said that they would make us and the whole world safer. They say they have. By creating the largest defense budget in history, one that even they now admit is excessive. By escalating to a f renzy the nuclear arms race. By incendiary rhetoric. By refusing to discuss peace with our enemies. By the loss of 279 young Americans in Lebanon in pursuit of a plan and a policy that no one can find or describe. We give money to Latin American governments that murder nuns, and then we lie about it. We have been less than zealous in support of our only real f riend, it seems to me, we have in the Middle East, the one democracy there, our flesh and blood ally, the state of Israel. Our foreign policy drif ts with no real direction, other than an hysterical commitment to an arms race that leads nowhere - if we're lucky. And if we're not, it could lead us into bankruptcy or war. Of course we must have a strong defense! Of course Democrats are for a strong defense. Of course Democrats believe that there are times when we must stand and fight. And we have. Thousands of us have paid for f reedom with our lives. But always - when this country has been at its best - our purposes were clear. Now they're not. Now our allies are as confused as our enemies. Now we have no real commitment to our f riends or to our ideals - not to human rights, not to the refuseniks, not to Sakharov, not to Bishop Tutu and the others struggling for f reedom in South Af rica