> Portsmouth Herald
> GRAMM TOUTS WHAT BALANCED BUDGET WOULD SAVE
> HOLDS TOWN MEETING AT EXETER LIBRARY   
> By Shirley Jacques, Herald Staff,12/17/95

>    EXETER - Ten years ago, Congress passed a bill to reduce the deficit and
> balance the budget.
>    Yesterday, Sen. Phil Gramm - who co-sponsored that bill with former Sen.
> Warren Rudman of New Hampshire - was still talking about the need for a
> balanced budget during a campaign stop at the Exeter library.
>    ``It's been so long since we've balanced the budget, people forget what
> you get when you balance the budget,'' the Texas senator and Republican
> presidential candidate said.
>    Bringing his figures close to home, Gramm said the average New Hampshire
> mortgage is $106,216. He said a family could save $1,760 per year with the
> lower interest rates that would result from balancing the budget.
>    A New Hampshire student would save $1,369 on a 10-year loan if balancing
> the budget caused interest rates to drop by 2 percent.
>    Gramm was elected to Congress in 1978 as a conservative Democrat before he
> became a foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution. ``I wrote the Reagan budget
> in 1981, and as president I want to finish the Reagan Revolution,'' he said.
>    ``How much of the Contract with America should we give away in order to
> get a balanced budget?'' he was asked.
>    ``The amount we can spend and still balance the budget is $7.2 trillion,''
> he said. ``I'm willing to be flexible on how we spend the money, but not on
> what we spend. I'm not going to sign on a deal that lets the government spend
> more than $7.2 trillion. I'm not going to give the president a new credit
> card without a budget. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
>    ``If we can't balance the budget, in 20 years we won't be living in the
> same country. This election is all about what change we want for working
> families. I never said there would be no costs, but I believe the benefits
> far outweigh the costs.''
>    Despite the weather, he was almost on time for the hardy group that filled
> the library meeting room.
>    Gramm introduced himself as a fighter for the Contract with America and
> shook hands all around before he spoke and took questions. ``It's a cold day,
> but I've found a warm welcome,'' he said.
>    Gramm launched into his talk by saying he believes America works as he
> introduced his wife Wendy. ``Her grandfather came to America as an indentured
> worker in the sugar cane fields of Hawaii. He spoke no English and had not a
> penny in his pocket,'' Gramm said.
>    ``Her father became the first Asian-American president of a sugar company.
> This is not an extraordinary family. It is an ordinary family in an
> extraordinary county,'' Gramm said.
>    Questioned about his support for a reduction in fuel assistance, Gramm
> said he supported taking the program back to its origins during the fuel
> crisis when fuel oil was twice the price it is today. ``Our Senate bill calls
> for a 40 percent reduction reflecting the drop in the cost of oil. The House
> would eliminate the program entirely.''
>    Asked about Medicare and Medicaid, Gramm said it's necessary to look
> beyond the next election.
>    The trustees of Medicare have said the fund will be bankrupt in seven
> years. Gramm claimed the administration says that seven years is two
> elections from now, and thus won't worry about it.
>    ``After the election, the Democrats plan to raise payroll taxes by 30
> percent,'' Gramm said. ``The current cost of growth is bankrupting the
> system. Private health insurance did not go up. We can keep Medicare in the
> black by slowing growth from 10 percent to 7.3 percent.''
>    Gramm criticized President Clinton's policy in Bosnia. ``Putting our men
> and women between warring factions that in 500 years never lived up to a
> treaty is a bad mistake,'' he said. ``I have to ask three questions.
>    ``One - Is there a vital national security interest? We can't fix
> everything everywhere in the world.
>    ``Two - Will our intervention be decisive?
>    ``Three - Would I send one of my own college-age sons?
>    ``It doesn't have anything to do with Bill Clinton or Bob Dole. My
> opposition has to do with my conscience,'' he said.
>    If he's the Republican nominee, Gramm said he will define his vision for
> America to balance the budget, cut taxes, lift the regulatory burden to
> create jobs, define values, and reform welfare.
>    ``I'm the Republican who can beat Bill Clinton,'' Gramm predicted. ``You
> can't beat him by taking three sides of a two-sided issue. Nobody does that
> better than Clinton. You can't beat him by being moderate.''
>    Gramm has said he would not run for re-election if he could not succeed in
> balancing the budget.
>    ``I will be back in New Hampshire in four years,'' he predicted, ``and I
> will be running for re-election.''