Editing 78-13-B7 (section)

=== Transcript ===
I'm usually near the head of the line in pointing out the miracle
of the market place. I never cease to be amazed at how new products
come into being or what new service is provided for our convenience
by someone just getting an idea and having a go at it.

Right now, however, I have a direct mail advertisement offering a
new service, and I'm filled with mixed emotions--admiration for the
fellow who thought of it, but anger that the opportunity he seized
exists at all.

The ad opens with a colorful picture of a hand holding money and
a blazing caption which reads--"Are you getting your share of the
$5,276 per family--tax free--that the government will give out this
year alone?" In smaller print, underneath the picture, it goes on to
say--"If the answer is 'no' and you'd like to start getting, right now,
your fair share of the $5,276 per year--tax free--perhaps for life--
then simply read the startling information inside!" Well, of course
I looked inside where a letter started out--"For example--Dear Friend",
which puts things on a cozy basis right away.

But then you learn that our government has set aside a "mind
boggling" (their words, not mine) "$286 billion to be paid out to
people just like you and families just like yours." That's $1,319
per person.

The letter goes on to explain that while the money is put aside,
it is not necessarily being paid out, because we're not asking for it.
Then follow about five pages of black type, alternating with red
describing the funds available; giving examples of individuals who
are receiving checks and explaining that we who aren't don't realize
that the way to get the money is buried in over 100 different government
documents where the ordinary person can't find it.

In a box under a red headline you are urged to think about "these
startling facts": "In one program 31 million of your fellow Americans
are getting a U.S. government check every month." Then it tells you
there are 19 million more in another program, 11 million in another
and five million in a fourth and these are only four of 137 programs.
The ad is leading up to a service for a fee. Send in $8.98 for a
confidential report which will come in a plain paper wrapper. Read it
from cover to cover, the ad says, and see how much money is waiting for
yo u without gambling a penny. If you don't think any of that money is
for you, return the report and get your $8.98 back. Then there is an
ongoing newsletter called "New Government Cash For You". You subscribe
to that but somehow, except for the first three issues on a dollar
trial basis, they don't tell you the price.

Now, I'm not going to name this advertiser or give an address
because the whole thing points up the extent to which our government
has departed from reality. Obviously, if every family could collect
$5,276 then every family would have to pay the government $5,276. The
only money government has is the money it takes from us. Right now it
is true, 124 million Americans--more than half our population--are
receiving all or most of their income from tax dollars. Right now the
total unfunded obligations of our government pro-rate out to more than
$30,000 for every man, woman, and child in the nation. We all get
splattered when the bubble bursts. 

This is Ronald Reagan.

Thanks for listening.
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