The worst thing to happen to America's poor is the welfare state. It may
have been begun out of compassion, but it's the most destructive
enterprise to inner-city families and rural families of anything this
country has ever done and Republican efforts to change that welfare state
are to be commended and the Contract With America, I think, is the right
way to do it. 
     --From WMUR Forum

The debt is five trillion dollars.  There are two basic components to it. 
One is the great socitey welfare state, which has cost about five trillion
dollars since Lyndon Johnson launced it.  Second is the Cold War, and the
hot wars we fought since...The Cold War for 50 years, and the hot war and
World War Two and in Korea and in Vietnam and in the Persian Gulf, the
defense of Western civilization.  Now, we're in a new era I believe.  The
Soviet Union has collapsed, the Soviet empire has collapsed, the United
States has got to downsize these Cold War commitments we've had.  And we
need to put and end to both the welfare and warfare state.  We cannot
afford them.  Our country has virtually bankrupted itself.  So I think
we've got to work on both sides.  We've got to downsize foriegn
commitments, foriegn aid, World Bank, all the rest of it, start looking
out for American first.  And we've got to downsize the great society which
has failed in a lot of ways and you've got to go after entitlements as
well.  Now let me, you mentioned Medicare, if I can speak briefly on that. 
Republican priorities there, I think, they should have gone after, they
should have gone after foriegn aid first, they should have gone after the
Mexican bailout, 50 billions dollars first. 

They should cut their own pensions first before they do Medicare.  But
there's no question, they have cut the rate of increase of Medicare, that
ought to be done.  But if you get into Medicare, I do not like the idea of
a reform which is going to force the elderly into the kind of managed care
and rationed care that quite frankly we opposed when Bill Clinton proposed
it for all of us.  So, I have a different set of priorities but you've
touched from the problem, you've got to downsize the welfare and warfare
state both. 
     [From NH Voter's Voice Citizens Forum]