Speech Transcript:
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Remarks at a Reagan-Bush Rally in Hackensack, New Jersey
October 26, 1984
The President. Thank you all very much for a most heartwarming welcome, and it's wonderful to be back in New Jersey. I was close by this past summer. I went to a church festival in Hoboken. And today it's good to be in Hackensack, the capital of Bergen County.
There are many things that are special about New Jersey. One of them is the caliber of the people that you send to the Congress. All of the successes we've had these past 4 years we owe to people like Congresswoman Marge Roukema, Congressman Jim Courter, and we need more people like Marge and Jim in Washington. And that's why I'm asking you to make Neil Romano a Congressman, and to make Mary Mochary a Senator, New Jersey's first woman Senator. We need them all in Washington.
And now, my friend and your great Governor, Tom Kean, has told us about the good news about Hackensack -- that you're not only growing up; you're growing out. You're rebuilding the inner city. You're attracting new businesses and new homeowners. So, you're very much a part of the great renewal that we've been trying to lead in Washington, but which has really been made possible by you, the people of this community, and you, the people of this State and this country.
That renewal began 4 years ago when America changed course, and we were guided in what we set out to do by the advice of a very great President. Abraham Lincoln said we must disenthrall ourselves with the past -- and then we will save our country. Well, 4 years ago that's what we did. We made a great turn. We got out from under the thrall of a government which we had hoped would make our lives better, but which we found simply was trying to live our lives for us.
The power of the Federal Government, the power it had over the decades created great chaos -- economic, social, and international. Our leaders were adrift. They were rudderless, without a compass. Four years ago, we began to navigate by certain fixed principles. And our North Star was freedom, and common sense were our constellations.
We knew that economic freedom meant paying less of the America's families earnings to the government. And so, we cut personal income tax rates by 25 percent.
We knew that inflation, the quiet thief, was stealing our savings, and the highest interest rates since the Civil War were making it impossible for people to own a home or start an enterprise.
And let me inject a little news item here. If you haven't heard the news, as of this morning, led by Morgan Guaranty and three other very great banks in the United States, the prime rate came down to 12 even.
Audience. 4 more years! 4 more years! 4 more years!