State of the Union | Page 3

a people, we had too many visions-and too little vision.
Now, as we enter the seventies, we should enter also a great age of
reform of the institutions of American government.
Our purpose in this period should not be simply better management of

the programs of the past. The time has come for a new quest--a quest
not for a greater quantity of what we have, but for a new quality of life
in America.
A major part of the substance for an unprecedented advance in this
Nation's approach to its problems and opportunities is contained in
more than two score legislative proposals which I sent to the Congress
last year and which still await enactment.
I will offer at least a dozen more major programs in the course of this
session.
At this point I do not intend to through a detailed listing of what I have
proposed or will propose, but I would like to mention three areas in
which urgent priorities demand that we move and move now:
First, we cannot delay longer in accomplishing a total reform of our
welfare system. When a system penalizes work, breaks up homes, robs
recipients of dignity, there is no alternative to abolishing that system
and adopting in its place the program of income support, job training,
and work incentives which I recommended to the Congress last year.
Second, the time has come to assess and reform all of our institutions of
government at the Federal, State, and local level. It is time for a New
Federalism, in which, after 190 years of power flowing from the people
and local and State governments to Washington, D.C., it will begin to
flow from Washington back to the States and to the people of the
United States.
Third, we must adopt reforms which will expand the range of
opportunities for all Americans. We can fulfill the American dream
only when each person has a fair chance to fulfill his own dreams. This
means equal voting rights, equal employment opportunity, and new
opportunities for expanded ownership. Because in order to be secure in
their human rights, people need access to property rights.
I could give similar examples of the need for reform in our programs
for health, education, housing, transportation, as well as other critical
areas which directly affect the well-being of millions of Americans.
The people of the United States should wait no longer for these reforms
that would so deeply enhance the quality of their life.
When I speak of actions which would be beneficial to the American
people, I can think of none more important than for the Congress to
join this administration in the battle to stop the rise in the cost of living.

Now, I realize it is tempting to blame someone else for inflation. Some
blame business for raising prices. Some blame unions for asking for
more wages.
But a review of the stark fiscal facts of the 1960's clearly demonstrates
where the primary blame for rising prices must be placed.
In the decade of the sixties the Federal Government spent $57 billion
more than it took in in taxes.
In that same decade the American people paid the bill for that deficit in
price increases which raised the cost of living for the average family of
four by $200 per month in America.
Now millions of Americans are forced to go into debt today because
the Federal Government decided to go into debt yesterday. We must
balance our Federal budget so that American families will have a better
chance to balance their family budgets.
Only with the cooperation of the Congress can we meet this highest
priority objective of responsible government. We are on the right track.
We had a balanced budget in 1969. This administration cut more than
$7 billion out of spending plans in order to produce a surplus in 1970,
and in spite of the fact that Congress reduced revenues by $3 billion, I
shall recommend a balanced budget for 1971.
But I can assure you that not only to present, but to stay within, a
balanced budget requires some very hard decisions. It means rejecting
spending programs which would benefit some of the people when their
net effect would result in price increases for all the people.
It is time to quit putting good money into bad programs. Otherwise, we
will end up with bad money and bad programs.
I recognize the political popularity of spending programs, and
particularly in an election year. But unless we stop the rise in prices,
the cost of living for millions of American families will become
unbearable and government's ability to plan programs for progress for
the future will become impossible.
In referring to budget cuts, there is one area where I have ordered an
increase rather than