rio cuomo : A Tale of two cities On behalf of the Empire State and the family of New York i thank you for the great privilege of being able to address this convention please allow me to skip the stories and the poetry and the temptation to deal in nice but vague rhetoric. Let me instead this valuable opportunity to deal immediately with questions that should ermine this election and that we all know are vital to the American people Ten days ago, President Reagan adm itted that although some peop le in this country seemed to be doing well nowadays, others were unhappy even worried, about themselves, their families and their futures. The president said that he didn't understand that fear. He said why, this country is a shining city on a hill. " And the president is right. In many ways we are a shining city on a hill But the hard truth is that not everyone is shar ing in this city,'s splendor and glory. A shining city is perhaps all the president sees from the portico of the white House and the veranda of his ranch, where everyone seems to be doing well. But there's another city there's another part to the shining the city the part where some people can't pay their mortgages, and most young people cant afford one where students can't afford the education they need and midd le-class parents watch the dreams they hold for their children evaporate In this part of the city there are more poor than ever, more families in trouble, more and more people who need help but cant find it. Even worse: There are elderly people who tremble in the basements of the houses there. and there are people who sleep in the city streets, in the gutter, where the glitter doesnt show. There are ghettos w here thousands of young people, without a job or an education, give their lives away to drug dealers every day. There is despair, Mr. President, in the faces that you don' t see, in the places that you don't visit in your shining city. In fact, Mr. President, this is a nation --.Mr. President you ought to know that this nation is more a Tale of Two Cities than it is just a Shining city on a Hill Maybe, maybe, Mr President, if you visited some more places. Maybe if you went to Appalachia where some people still live in sheds, maybe if you went to Lackawanna where thousands of unemployed steel workers wonder why we subsidized foreign steel May be, maybe, Mr. President, if you stopped in at a shelter in Chicago and spoke to the homeless there maybe Mr. President if you asked a woman who had been denied the help she needed to feed her children because you sa id you needed the money for a tax break for a millionaire or for a missile we couldnt afford to use Maybe, maybe, Mr. President But I'm afraid not
Mario Cuomo: "A Tale of Two Cities" On behalf of the Empire State and the family of New York, I thank you for the great privilege of being able to address this convention. Please allow me to skip the stories and the poetry and the temptation to deal in nice but vague rhetoric. Let me instead use this valuable opportunity to deal immediately with questions that should determine this election and that we all know are vital to the American people. Ten days ago, President Reagan admitted that although some people in this country seemed to be doing well nowadays, others were unhappy, even worried, about themselves, their families and their futures. The president said that he didn't understand that fear. He said, "Why, this country is a shining city on a hill." And the president is right. In many ways we are a shining city on a hill. But the hard truth is that not everyone is sharing in this city's splendor and glory. A shining city is perhaps all the president sees f rom the portico of the White House and the veranda of his ranch, where everyone seems to be doing well. But there's another city; there's another part to the shining the city; the part where some people can't pay their mortgages, and most young people can't af ford one, where students can't afford the education they need, and middle-class parents watch the dreams they hold for their children evaporate. In this part of the city there are more poor than ever, more families in trouble, more and more people who need help but can't find it. Even worse: There are elderly people who tremble in the basements of the houses there. And there are people who sleep in the city streets, in the gutter, where the glitter doesn't show. There are ghettos where thousands of young people, without a job or an education, give their lives away to drug dealers every day. There is despair, Mr. President, in the faces that you don't see, in the places that you don't visit in your shining city. In fact, Mr. President, this is a nation --. Mr. President you ought to know that this nation is more a "Tale of Two Cities" than it is just a "Shining City on a Hill." Maybe, maybe, Mr. President, if you visited some more places. Maybe if you went to Appalachia where some people still live in sheds, maybe if you went to Lackawanna where thousands of unemployed steel workers wonder why we subsidized foreign steel. Maybe, maybe, Mr. President, if you stopped in at a shelter in Chicago and spoke to the homeless there; maybe, Mr. President, if you asked a woman who had been denied the help she needed to feed her children because you said you needed the money for a tax break for a millionaire or for a missile we couldn't afford to use. Maybe, maybe, Mr. President. But I'm af raid not
Because, the truth is, ladies and gentlemen, that this is how we were warned it ould be. President Reagan told us from very the beginning that he believed in a we were told. "so it should settle for taking care of the strong and hope that 9, kind of social darwinism Survival of the fittest Government can't do evel economic ambition and charity will do the rest. Make the rich richer--and what falls from their table will be enough for the middle class and those who are trying desperately to work their way into the middle class You know, the republicans called it trickle-down when Hoover tried it Now they call it supply side. But it 's the same shining city for those relative few who are lucky enough to live in its good neighborhoods. But for the people who are excluded--for the people who are locked out - all they can do is to stare from a distance at that city's glimmering towers. It's an old story. It's as old as our history. The dif ference between Democrats and Republicans has always been measured in courage and conf idence. The republicans believe that the wagon train will not make it to the frontier unless some of the old some of the young some of the weak are left behind by the side of the trail. the strong the strong they tell us will inherit the land We Democrats believe in something else. We democrats believe that we can make it all the way with the whole family intact. and, we have more than once. Ever since Franklin roosevelt lifted himse lf from his wheelcha ir to lift this nation from its knees wagon train after wagon train--to new frontiers of education, housing peace lif ting them up into the wagon on the way blacks and Hispanics, and people of the who le f amily aboard constantly reaching out to extend and enlarge that family; every ethnic group, and native Americans --all those struggling to build their families and claim some small share of america For nearly 50 years we carried them all to new levels of comfort and security and dignity even aff luence. And remember this, some of us in this room today are here only because this nation had that kind of conf idence. And it would be wrong to forget that So, here we are at th is conventio n to rem ind ourselves w here we come from and to claim the future for ourselves and for our children Today our great Democratic Party, which has saved this nation from depression from fascism from racism, from corruption, is called upon to do it again - this time to save the nation from conf usion and division from the threat of eventual fiscal disaster and most of all from the fear of a nuclear holocaust That' s not going to be easy Mo Udall is exactly right, it's not going to be easy. In order to succeed, we must answer our opponent's polished and appealing rhetoric with a more telling reasonableness and rationality
Because, the truth is, ladies and gentlemen, that this is how we were warned it would be. President Reagan told us f rom very the beginning that he believed in a kind of social Darwinism. Survival of the fittest. "Government can't do everything," we were told. "So it should settle for taking care of the strong and hope that economic ambition and charity will do the rest. Make the rich richer -- and what falls f rom their table will be enough for the middle class and those who are trying desperately to work their way into the middle class." You know, the Republicans called it trickle-down when Hoover tried it. Now they call it supply side. But it's the same shining city for those relative few who are lucky enough to live in its good neighborhoods. But for the people who are excluded -- for the people who are locked out -- all they can do is to stare f rom a distance at that city's glimmering towers. It's an old story. It's as old as our history. The dif ference between Democrats and Republicans has always been measured in courage and confidence. The Republicans believe that the wagon train will not make it to the f rontier unless some of the old, some of the young, some of the weak are lef t behind by the side of the trail. The strong, the strong they tell us will inherit the land. We Democrats believe in something else. We democrats believe that we can make it all the way with the whole family intact. And, we have more than once. Ever since Franklin Roosevelt lif ted himself f rom his wheelchair to lif t this nation f rom its knees -- wagon train af ter wagon train -- to new f rontiers of education, housing, peace; the whole family aboard, constantly reaching out to extend and enlarge that family; lif ting them up into the wagon on the way; blacks and Hispanics, and people of every ethnic group, and native Americans -- all those struggling to build their families and claim some small share of America. For nearly 50 years we carried them all to new levels of comfort, and security, and dignity, even affluence. And remember this, some of us in this room today are here only because this nation had that kind of confidence. And it would be wrong to forget that. So, here we are at this convention to remind ourselves where we come f rom and to claim the future for ourselves and for our children. Today our great Democratic Party, which has saved this nation f rom depression, f rom fascism, f rom racism, f rom corruption, is called upon to do it again -- this time to save the nation f rom confusion and division, f rom the threat of eventual fiscal disaster, and most of all f rom the fear of a nuclear holocaust. That's not going to be easy. Mo Udall is exactly right, it's not going to be easy. In order to succeed, we must answer our opponent's polished and appealing rhetoric with a more telling reasonableness and rationality
We must w in this case on the mer its. We must get the American public to look past the glitter, beyond the showmanship -to reality to the hard substance of things And we will do that not so much with speeches that sound good as with speeches that are good and sound. Not so much with speeches that will bring people to their feet as w ith speeches that bring people to their senses. We must make the American people hear ourTa le of Two Cities. We must conv ince them that we dont have to settle for two cities, that we can have one city indiv isible, shining for all of its people Now we will have no chance to do that if what comes out of this convention is a babel of arguing voices. If that' s what's heard throughout the campa ign - ident voices from all sides- we will have no chance to tell our message. To succeed we will have to surrender small parts of our individual interests to build a platform we can all stand on, at once, comfortably -proudly sing ing out the truth for the nation to hear, in chorus, its logic so clear and command ing that no slick commercial, no amount of geniality no martial music will be able to muf fle the sound of the truth. We Democrats must unite We democrats must unite so that the entire nation can unite because surely the Republicans wont bring this country together. The ir po licies div ide the nation-into the lucky and the left-out into the royalty and the rabble. The republicans are willing to treat that division as victory. They would cut this nation in half, into those temporarily better off and those worse off than before, and they would call that division recovery We should not we should not be embarrassed or dismayed or chagrined if the process of unif ying is dif ficult, even wrenching at times. Remember that unlike any other party we embrace men and women of every color, every creed, every orientation, every economic class. In our family are gathered everyone from the abject poor of Essex County in New York, to the enlightened af f luent of the gold coasts at both ends of the nation And in betwee n is the heart of our constituency The middle class - the people not rich enough to be worry-free, but not poor enough to be on welfare. The middle class, those people who work for a living because they have to not because some psychia trist told them it was a convenient ay to fill the interval between birth and eternity White collar and blue collar. Young prof essionals. Men and women in small business desperate for the capital and contracts that they need to prove their worth We speak for the minorities who have not yet entered the mainstream We speak for ethnics who want to add the ir culture to the magn if icent mosaic that is America. we speak, we speak for women who are indig nant that this nation ref uses to etch into its governmental commandments the simple rule thou shalt not sin against equality,"a rule so simple-- I was going to say, and i perhaps dare not but I will, it's a commandment so simple it can be spelled in three letters--ER A
We must win this case on the merits. We must get the American public to look past the glitter, beyond the showmanship - to reality, to the hard substance of things. And we will do that not so much with speeches that sound good as with speeches that are good and sound. Not so much with speeches that will bring people to their feet as with speeches that bring people to their senses. We must make the American people hear our "Tale of Two Cities." We must convince them that we don't have to settle for two cities, that we can have one city, indivisible, shining for all of its people. Now we will have no chance to do that if what comes out of this convention is a babel of arguing voices. If that's what's heard throughout the campaign - dissident voices from all sides - we will have no chance to tell our message. To succeed we will have to surrender small parts of our individual interests, to build a platform we can all stand on, at once, comfortably - proudly singing out the truth for the nation to hear, in chorus, its logic so clear and commanding that no slick commercial, no amount of geniality, no martial music will be able to muf fle the sound of the truth. We Democrats must unite. We Democrats must unite so that the entire nation can unite because surely the Republicans won't bring this country together. Their policies divide the nation - into the lucky and the lef t-out, into the royalty and the rabble. The Republicans are willing to treat that division as victory. They would cut this nation in half , into those temporarily better of f and those worse of f than before, and they would call that division recovery. We should not, we should not be embarrassed or dismayed or chagrined if the process of unifying is dif ficult, even wrenching at times. Remember that, unlike any other party, we embrace men and women of every color, every creed, every orientation, every economic class. In our family are gathered everyone f rom the abject poor of Essex County in New York, to the enlightened af fluent of the gold coasts at both ends of the nation. And in between is the heart of our constituency. The middle class -- the people not rich enough to be worry-f ree, but not poor enough to be on welfare. The middle class, those people who work for a living because they have to, not because some psychiatrist told them it was a convenient way to fill the interval between birth and eternity. White collar and blue collar. Young professionals. Men and women in small business desperate for the capital and contracts that they need to prove their worth. We speak for the minorities who have not yet entered the mainstream. We speak for ethnics who want to add their culture to the magnificent mosaic that is America. We speak, we speak for women who are indignant that this nation refuses to etch into its governmental commandments the simple rule "thou shalt not sin against equality," a rule so simple -- I was going to say, and I perhaps dare not but I will, it's a commandment so simple it can be spelled in three letters -- E.R.A.!
We speak for young people demanding an education and a future. We speak for senior citizens who are terrorized by the idea that their only security their Socia Security-is being threatened. We speak for millions of reasoning people fighting to preserve our environment from greed and from stupidity. And we speak for reasonable people who are fighting to preserve our very existence from a macho intransigence that ref uses to make intelligent attempts to discuss the possibility of nuclear holocaust with our enemy. They ref use. They ref use, because they believe we can pile miss iles so high that they will pierce the clouds and the sig ht of them will frighten our enemies into submission. Now were proud of this diversity as Democrats. We're grateful for it. We dont have to manuf acture it the way the republica ns will next month in Dallas by propping u mannequin delegates on the convention floor. But while were proud of this diversity as Democrats, we pay a price for it. The dif ferent people that we represent have dif ferent points of view. And sometimes they compete and even debate and even argue. That's what our primaries were all about. But now the primaries are over and it is time when we pick our candidates and our platform here to lock arms and move into this campaign together. If you need any more inspiration to put some small part of your own differences aside to create this consensus, all you need to do is to ref lect on what the Republican policy of divide and cajole has done to this land since 1980 Now the president has asked us to judge him on whether or not he's fulf illed the promise he made four years ago. i believe that as democrats we ought to accept that challenge. And, just for a moment let us consider what he has said and what he's done Inf lation is down since 1980. But not because of the sup ply-side miracle promised to us by the president. Inf lation was reduced the old-f ashioned way with a recession, the worst since 1932. We could have brought inf lation down that way How did he do it? Fif ty -five thousand bankruptcies. Two years of massive unemployment. Two hundred thousand farmers and ranchers forced off the land More homeless than at any time since the great Depression in 1932. More hungry in this nation of enormous aff luence, the United States of America, more hungry More poor -most of them women-and he paid one more thing a nearly $200 billion def icit threatening our future Now we must make the American people understand this def icit beca use they don't The president's def icit is a direct and dramatic repudiation of his promise to ba lance our budget by 1983. How large is it? The def icit is the largest in the history of this universe: President Carters last budget had a def icit of less than one-third of this def icit. It is a def icit that, according to the president s own fiscal adviser may grow as high as $300 billion a year for as far as the eye can see. And, ladies and gentlemen, it is a debt so large that as much as one-half of our revenue from the income tax goes just to pay the interest. It is a mortgage on our children's future that can be paid only in pain and that could bring this nation to its knees
We speak for young people demanding an education and a future. We speak for senior citizens who are terrorized by the idea that their only security - their Social Security - is being threatened. We speak for millions of reasoning people fighting to preserve our environment f rom greed and f rom stupidity. And we speak for reasonable people who are fighting to preserve our very existence f rom a macho intransigence that refuses to make intelligent attempts to discuss the possibility of nuclear holocaust with our enemy. They refuse. They refuse, because they believe we can pile missiles so high that they will pierce the clouds and the sight of them will f righten our enemies into submission. Now we're proud of this diversity as Democrats. We're grateful for it. We don't have to manufacture it the way the Republicans will next month in Dallas, by propping up mannequin delegates on the convention floor. But while we're proud of this diversity as Democrats, we pay a price for it. The dif ferent people that we represent have dif ferent points of view. And sometimes they compete and even debate, and even argue. That's what our primaries were all about. But now the primaries are over and it is time when we pick our candidates and our platform here to lock arms and move into this campaign together. If you need any more inspiration to put some small part of your own differences aside to create this consensus, all you need to do is to reflect on what the Republican policy of divide and cajole has done to this land since 1980. Now the president has asked us to judge him on whether or not he's fulfilled the promise he made four years ago. I believe that as Democrats, we ought to accept that challenge. And, just for a moment let us consider what he has said and what he's done. Inflation is down since 1980. But not because of the supply- side miracle promised to us by the president. Inflation was reduced the old-fashioned way, with a recession, the worst since 1932. We could have brought inflation down that way. How did he do it? Fif ty-five thousand bankruptcies. Two years of massive unemployment. Two hundred thousand farmers and ranchers forced of f the land. More homeless than at any time since the Great Depression in 1932. More hungry, in this nation of enormous af fluence, the United States of America, more hungry. More poor - most of them women - and he paid one more thing, a nearly $200 billion deficit threatening our future. Now we must make the American people understand this deficit because they don't. The president's deficit is a direct and dramatic repudiation of his promise to balance our budget by 1983. How large is it? The deficit is the largest in the history of this universe; President Carter's last budget had a deficit of less than one-third of this deficit. It is a deficit that, according to the president's own fiscal adviser, may grow as high as $300 billion a year for "as far as the eye can see." And, ladies and gentlemen, it is a debt so large that as much as one-half of our revenue from the income tax goes just to pay the interest. It is a mortgage on our children's future that can be paid only in pain and that could bring this nation to its knees
Now don 't take my word for it-I'm a Democrat. Ask the Republican investment bankers on Wall Street w hat they think the chances of this recovery being permanent are. You see, if they ' re not too embarrassed to tell you the truth, they 'll say that they are appalled and frightened by the presidents def icit. Ask them what they think of our economy now that it has been driven by the distorted value of the dollar back to its colonial condition -now were exporting agricultural products and importing manuf actured ones. Ask those Republican investment bankers what they expect the rate of interest to be a year from now. And ask them if they dare tell you the truth you will hear from them what they predict for the inf lation rate a year from now, because of the def icit. rtant is this Think about it practica lly: What chance would the republican ca nd idate have had in 1980 if he had told the American people that he intended to pay for his so-called economic recovery with bankruptcies, unemployment, more homeless, more hungry and the largest government debt known to humankind? Would American voters have signed the loan certif icate for him on Election Day? Of course not! That was an election won under false pretenses. It was won w ith smoke and m irrors and illusions. And that's the kind of recovery we have now as wel And what about foreign policy They said that they would make us and the whe orld safer. They say they have. by creating the largest defense budget in history one that even they now admit is excessive. By escalating to a frenzy the nuclear arms race. By incend iary rhetoric. By ref using to discuss peace with our enemies. By the loss of 279 young America ns in Leba non in pursuit of a plan and a policy that no one can find or describe We give money to Latin American governments that murder nuns and then we lie about it. We have been less than zea lo us in support of our only real friend it seems to me, we have in the Middle East the one democracy there our f lesh and blood ally the state of Israel. Our foreign policy drif ts with no real direction, other than an hysterical commitment to an arms race that leads now -if we' re lucky. And if rere not it could lead us into bankruptcy or war Of course we must have a strong defense Of course Democrats are for a strong defense. Of course Democrats believe that there are times when we must stand and fight. And we have. Tho usands of us have paid for freedom with our lives. But always when this country has been at its best our purposes were clear. Now they 're not. Now our allies are as conf used as our enemies Now we have no real commitment to our friends or to our ideals - not to human rights not to the refuseniks, not to Sakharov, not to Bishop Tutu and the others struggling for freedom in South Africa
Now don't take my word for it - I'm a Democrat. Ask the Republican investment bankers on Wall Street what they think the chances of this recovery being permanent are. You see, if they're not too embarrassed to tell you the truth, they'll say that they are appalled and f rightened by the president's deficit. Ask them what they think of our economy, now that it has been driven by the distorted value of the dollar back to its colonial condition - now we're exporting agricultural products and importing manufactured ones. Ask those Republican investment bankers what they expect the rate of interest to be a year from now. And ask them, if they dare tell you the truth you will hear f rom them, what they predict for the inflation rate a year f rom now, because of the deficit. Now, how important is this question of the deficit. Think about it practically: What chance would the Republican candidate have had in 1980 if he had told the American people that he intended to pay for his so-called economic recovery with bankruptcies, unemployment, more homeless, more hungry and the largest government debt known to humankind? Would American voters have signed the loan certificate for him on Election Day? Of course not! That was an election won under false pretenses. It was won with smoke and mirrors and illusions. And that's the kind of recovery we have now as well. And what about foreign policy? They said that they would make us and the whole world safer. They say they have. By creating the largest defense budget in history, one that even they now admit is excessive. By escalating to a f renzy the nuclear arms race. By incendiary rhetoric. By refusing to discuss peace with our enemies. By the loss of 279 young Americans in Lebanon in pursuit of a plan and a policy that no one can find or describe. We give money to Latin American governments that murder nuns, and then we lie about it. We have been less than zealous in support of our only real f riend, it seems to me, we have in the Middle East, the one democracy there, our flesh and blood ally, the state of Israel. Our foreign policy drif ts with no real direction, other than an hysterical commitment to an arms race that leads nowhere - if we're lucky. And if we're not, it could lead us into bankruptcy or war. Of course we must have a strong defense! Of course Democrats are for a strong defense. Of course Democrats believe that there are times when we must stand and fight. And we have. Thousands of us have paid for f reedom with our lives. But always - when this country has been at its best - our purposes were clear. Now they're not. Now our allies are as confused as our enemies. Now we have no real commitment to our f riends or to our ideals - not to human rights, not to the refuseniks, not to Sakharov, not to Bishop Tutu and the others struggling for f reedom in South Af rica