Eliminate the electoral college. There’s no reason to filter the people’s vote. Whoever gets the most votes of the entire country should be the President.
Source: United We Stand, by Ross Perot, p. 24-25
Jul 2, 1992
On Government Reform:
Election reform: shorten elections, free air time
Change the way we hold elections. - First, shorten the campaign season. Five months is long enough.
- Hold elections on both Saturday and Sunday so working people can go to the polls.
- Release no information until all polls are closed.
-
Since the airwaves belong to the public, require equal free time for candidates for federal office.
- Joined with easier voter registration, these measures will improve our elections and stimulate more voters to go to the polls.
Source: United We Stand, by Ross Perot, p. 25
Jul 2, 1992
On Tax Reform:
Disallow mortgage & health deductions for the rich
Why should we subsidize interest on huge, expensive homes? The average mortgage in the US is $104,000. I propose that we limit deductions on interest to mortgages of $250,000 and that we eliminate this special deduction for vacation homes.
Another subsidy for the rich is the exemption from taxes on expensive employer-paid health insurance. These plans support the rich and encourage excessive health costs. They should be taxed as additional income.
Source: United We Stand, by Ross Perot, p. 42-43
Jul 2, 1992
On Tax Reform:
Raise marginal tax rates on the wealthy
We should raise the marginal tax rate on the wealthy from 31% to 33%. In 1993, this change would affect individuals who make over $55,550 and joint filers who make over a total of $89,250. Therefore, less than 4% of the taxpayers in America will be
affected, but we will raise $33 billion in five years. If other reductions I propose do not provide sufficient revenue, we should be prepared to raise the marginal rate to 35%.
Source: United We Stand, by Ross Perot, p. 43
Jul 2, 1992
On Budget & Economy:
Change rules to foster small business investment & growth
Most new jobs won’t come from our biggest employers. They will come from our smallest. We’ve got to do everything we can to make entrepreneurial dreams a reality:- Free up credit. The deregulation of our savings & loans was poorly thought
through and poorly executed. Now we have to repair the damage. Our small businesses are starved for credit.
- Stimulate investment. We can establish incentives through the tax code and in other ways to stimulate the creation of capital pools for
small business where the risk is spread out and thereby reduced. Most new businesses are founded on less than a $100,000 investment.
- No capital gains tax for small business investment. This is the quickest and surest way to convince investors
to take the risk of backing entrepreneurial ventures.
- Establish mentor programs. Small businesses fail for two reasons: lack of money and lack of experience. We have a huge resource in our talented retired people. Let’s put them to work.
Source: United We Stand, by Ross Perot, p. 58-60
Jul 2, 1992
On Tax Reform:
Decrease capital gains tax to foster long-term thinking
The policies have already been proposed that can reverse our slide and get the economy moving for the long term:- Investment tax credits. We can stimulate growth by providing tax credits to companies that buy productive
equipment and machinery.
- Research and development tax credits. We need to encourage our companies to put their money into new improvements, new products, and new lines of products.
- Tax breaks for long-term capital gains.
If shareholders aren’t squawking for a short-term gain, the company can concentrate on improving its product so it can survive, compete, and grow. We need a stair-stepped capital gains tax, decreasing each year over five years,
on shares purchased from public companies with the money going into the treasury to build the company. This would provide the proper incentives to industry and to the market.
Source: United We Stand, by Ross Perot, p. 66-68
Jul 2, 1992
On Environment:
This planet is our home; protect it for the future
This planet is our home. If we destroy the planet, we’ve destroyed our home. When we think about how to use our natural resources, we have to think ahead 100 years, not just two, five, or ten years. The principles that should guide us will accomplish
protection for our environment while stimulating the growth of our economy: - Conservation makes basic economic sense. Pollution equals waste. Preventing pollution before it happens is cheaper than cleaning it up afterwards.
- We should support
business strategies for sustainable economic development and assist local communities in making the transition away from dying industries.
- Stop subsidizing inefficient, environmentally destructive activities in the mining and timber industries.
- Overregulation only fouls things up. We should support incentives over regulations to achieve environmental goals.
- We should be at the forefront of emerging global markets for environmental technology.
Source: United We Stand, by Ross Perot, p. 68-69
Jul 2, 1992
On Education:
More money into same system produces more of same failures
I’ve been personally involved in education for years. I know the territory. In 1983, I headed a committee to overhaul the Texas public school system to improve results. Against fierce opposition from entrenched interests, we were able to make
considerable headway. I know it can be done. From the perspective of those years spent on the front lines, I see the major causes of our educational failure to be these: - We don’t have good preschool training.
- Parents aren’t thought of as
consumers.
- Schools are bogged down in bureaucracy.
- We don’t have national standards. We don’t hold schools accountable for their product.
- We don’t reward students and teachers for success.
- We haven’t made learning the first priority.
- Our schools aren’t organized to meet society’s needs.
Don’t tell me that money is at the root of the problem because it isn’t. We spend billions a year on education. More money poured into the same system will only produce the same results.
Source: United We Stand, by Ross Perot, p. 76-77
Jul 2, 1992
On Education:
More pre-school, more standards, more teacher respect
Today there are programs that have proven successful in regions all over the country. Washington’s role should be to establish the means of measuring results and to encourage the spread of successful programs throughout the country. Here are the
specifics I recommend: - Establish comprehensive preschool programs. $1 spent on preschool will save at least $5 down the line.
- Spend federal dollars to spread programs that work.
- Empower parents. Our system is upside down. The producers have
all the power. The customers-the parents-have very little power.
- Restore local autonomy with accountability. Our local schools are hamstrung with bureaucratic orders from on high.
- Establish national standards and measure results.
- Make learning
the first priority.
- Treat teachers as respected professionals.
- Make better use of school buildings. School districts should be encouraged to stretch their school year, and we should draw adults into the learning center of the community.
Source: United We Stand, by Ross Perot, p. 77-81
Jul 2, 1992
On Drugs:
Make drug treatment available to all addicts
As the message against drugs is repeated programs must be put in place to help drug addicts escape from the pit they’ve dug for themselves. Specifically, treatment must be available so that when an addict is ready to confront his or her affliction,
help is ready at that moment. Right now more than five million Americans are awaiting drug treatment, including 400,000 teenagers and 100,000 pregnant women. We can only handle 32% of the load. The rest are left to fall even deeper into the pit.
Source: United We Stand, by Ross Perot, p. 84
Jul 2, 1992
On Health Care:
Attack AIDS at every level: more education, more research
We’ve been talking about health-care reform since Truman was President. The need to act has been given a new and terrible urgency by the deadly AIDS epidemic that has already taken such a tragic toll.
This plague must be attacked at every level: education, prevention, and accelerated research.
Source: United We Stand, by Ross Perot, p. 87-89
Jul 2, 1992
On Health Care:
Short term: cost containment & focus on prevention
The problem with our health care system is structural. Health care needs to be reformed. The political arena is the last place to expect a rational system to be developed. The political system, after all, is ingeniously constructed to allow different
groups to push their own interests in the hope that the compromises that result will benefit the whole nation. That has worked fine in some areas. It hasn’t worked in reforming a public/private relationship as loaded with pitfalls and potential profit as
our health-care system. I suggest that we should adopt both short-term and long-term strategies. In the short term, a cost containment and prevention program should be developed immediately. Various health-care experts and representatives of affected
groups should have a series of work sessions with government officials. A plan should be put into effect as quickly as possible. In the longer term, [we should have] comprehensive national health-care reform based on a public-private partnership.
Source: United We Stand, by Ross Perot, p. 89
Jul 2, 1992
On Health Care:
Long term: comprehensive national health policy
In the longer term, comprehensive national health-care reform based on a public-private partnership should involve the following: - Establishing a national health board as an independent federal agency to oversee cost containment and comprehensive
health-care reform efforts
- Setting a national health policy
- Encouraging problem solving by everyone involved
- Reaching a consensus on a set of principles for reform
- Determining a basic benefit package for universal coverage and appropriate tax
treatment of health benefits
- Asking states to submit comprehensive health-care reform proposals that meet agreed-upon principles and cost-containment targets
- Changing federal rules to allow states the necessary flexibility to conduct pilot programs
It is only a failure of leadership that has kept us from solving this problem. As the problems mount, we begin to give in to the notion that nothing can be done. That’s baloney. Our health care and medical professionals are the best in the world.
Source: United We Stand, by Ross Perot, p. 89-90
Jul 2, 1992
On Abortion:
It’s a woman’s choice, including federal funding
My personal position on abortion is well-known, but I will restate it just to make sure there’s no confusion: - I support a woman’s right to have an abortion. It is the woman’s choice.
- I support encouragement of adoption as an alternative to
abortion.
- I support federal funding of reproductive counseling and education that can help prevent unwanted pregnancies so that fewer women will have to face this difficult decision.
- I support federal funding of abortions for poor women. Since
these women have already made the decision, for public health reasons, we should ensure that the procedure is done safely.
I believe it is time for Congress to codify these positions into law. Each human life is a precious gift. We should not create
a human life unless we’re willing to take responsibility for it. It is irresponsible for two people to create a human life they don’t want. For democracy to work, every single one of us has to take responsibility for his or her actions.
Source: United We Stand, by Ross Perot, p. 93-94
Jul 2, 1992
On Foreign Policy:
Russia: reduce nukes; contain imperialism; send aid
The breakup of the Soviet empire is fraught with risks: nationalism and ethnic strife; potential for nuclear mischief; and a real danger that reform will fail My policy would be to work both unilaterally and closely with the Europeans, the Japanese,
and collective agencies like the US to: - Put nuclear warheads out of commission wherever they are.
- Contain any imperialistic tendencies harbored by any of the former Soviet territories. Our negotiators continue to concentrate on missile delivery
systems, a vestige of Cold War arms control. The warheads are the primary threat. We cannot rest until all warheads in the former Soviet Union are accounted for and under control.
- Send appropriate aid, technology, support personnel, and other items to
build a bulwark for liberty. Make sure the channels are established to administer our help effectively, instead of allowing it to be wasted by state enterprises or poorly conceived projects.
Source: United We Stand, by Ross Perot, p.104
Jul 2, 1992
On Principles & Values:
Perot campaign 1992: the people are the owner of the country
The Perot phenomenon that swept the country through the spring and summer of 1992 had little to do with me. It was a spontaneous grassroots movement that has transformed a deep-seated concern with our political system into a positive citizen movement for
reform. Volunteers did it, and they did it without the support of any established party, or any special interest group. There are five principles which animated this movement: