Ronald Reagan:A Time for Choosing"(akaThe Speech) Proaram Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, we take pride in presenting a thoughtful address by Ronald Reagan. Mr. Reagan Reagan: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you and good evening. The sponsor has been identif ied, but unlike most television programs, the performer hasn't been provided with a script. As a matter of fact, I have been permitted to my own words and discuss my own ideas regarding the choice that we face next few weeks I have spent most of my life as a democrat i recently have seen fit to follow another course. I believe that the issues conf ronting us cross party lines. Now, one side in this campaign has been telling us that the issues of this election are the nainte nance of peace and prosperity. the line has been used, We've never had it so good. But i have an uncomfortable feeling that this prosperity isn't something on which we can base our hopes for the future. No nation in history has ever survived a tax burden that reached a third of its national income Today 37 cents out of every dollar earned in this country is the tax collector's share and yet our government continues to spend 17 million dollars a day more than the government takes in. We havent bala nced our budget 28 out of the last 34 years. We've raised our debt lim it three times in the last twelve months and now our national debt is one and a half times bigger than all the combined debts of all the nations of the world. We have 15 billion dollars in gold in our treasury we don t own an ounce. Foreign dollar claims are 27.3 billion dollars. And we' ve just had announced that the dollar of 1939 will now purchase 45 cents in its total value As for the peace that we would preserve, i wonder who among us would like to approach the wife or mother whose husband or son has died in South Vietnam and ask them if they think this is a peace that should be ma inta ined indef inite ly. Do they lean peace, or do they mean we just want to be left in peace? There can be no real peace while one american is dying some place in the world for the rest of us. Were at war with the most dangerous enemy that has ever faced mankind in his long climb from the swamp to the stars, and it's been said if we lose that war, and in so doing lose this way of freedom of ours history will record with the greatest astonishment that those who had the most to lose did the least to prevent its happening Well i think it 's time we ask ourselves if we still know the freedoms that were intended for us by the Founding Fathers Not too long ago, two friends of mine were talking to a Cuban refugee, a businessman w ho had escaped from Castro, and in the midst of his story one of my friends turned to the other and said We don't know how lucky we are. And theRonald Reagan: "A Time for Choosing" (aka "The Speech") Program Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, we take pride in presenting a thoughtful address by Ronald Reagan. Mr. Reagan: Reagan: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you and good evening. The sponsor has been identified, but unlike most television programs, the performer hasn't been provided with a script. As a matter of fact, I have been permitted to choose my own words and discuss my own ideas regarding the choice that we face in the next few weeks. I have spent most of my life as a Democrat. I recently have seen fit to follow another course. I believe that the issues conf ronting us cross party lines. Now, one side in this campaign has been telling us that the issues of this election are the maintenance of peace and prosperity. The line has been used, "We've never had it so good." But I have an uncomfortable feeling that this prosperity isn't something on which we can base our hopes for the future. No nation in history has ever survived a tax burden that reached a third of its national income. Today, 37 cents out of every dollar earned in this country is the tax collector's share, and yet our government continues to spend 17 million dollars a day more than the government takes in. We haven't balanced our budget 28 out of the last 34 years. We've raised our debt limit three times in the last twelve months, and now our national debt is one and a half times bigger than all the combined debts of all the nations of the world. We have 15 billion dollars in gold in our treasury; we don't own an ounce. Foreign dollar claims are 27.3 billion dollars. And we've just had announced that the dollar of 1939 will now purchase 45 cents in its total value. As for the peace that we would preserve, I wonder who among us would like to approach the wife or mother whose husband or son has died in South Vietnam and ask them if they think this is a peace that should be maintained indefinitely. Do they mean peace, or do they mean we just want to be lef t in peace? There can be no real peace while one American is dying some place in the world for the rest of us. We're at war with the most dangerous enemy that has ever faced mankind in his long climb from the swamp to the stars, and it's been said if we lose that war, and in so doing lose this way of f reedom of ours, history will record with the greatest astonishment that those who had the most to lose did the least to prevent its happening. Well I think it's time we ask ourselves if we still know the f reedoms that were intended for us by the Founding Fathers. Not too long ago, two f riends of mine were talking to a Cuban refugee, a businessman who had escaped f rom Castro, and in the midst of his story one of my f riends turned to the other and said, "We don't know how lucky we are." And the