This speech was given Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Read the complete transcript.
Well Missouri, it is just five days until election day, that time for choosing. Our nation we're gonna go one of two ways and our country right now of course we're facing tough times. Tough economic times especially now more than ever we need someone tough as president, we need a leader with experience and courage and good judgement and truthfulness.
We need someone with a bold and free and fair plan of action to take this country in a new direction and soon that time for choosing, it will be here, and the choice could not be clearer. Only John McCain has the wisdom and he has the experience to get our economy back on the right track, because he has a pro-growth, pro-private sector plan to put your government back on your side. It is of the people, by the people, for the people, it is your government.
As John McCain and I are protecting every one of your constitutional rights we will implement an economic plan that will also help our families keep their homes by cleaning up the corruption and the greed that bought us the housing crisis to start with.
We're gonna help our retirees keep their savings and their investments. These are our esteemed elders in this nation who have built up our families and our communities and then they trusted other people to manage their savings for them and because of that corruption and greed, they're forced now to worry about their investments, that's not right, thats not fair, it won't happen on our watch, that need to be scared for our elders.
We're gonna make sure that they're secure and our economic plan too. It will help all of us afford good health care and its gonna help our students afford to pay college, thats for our students and our plan includes confronting the $10 trillion debt that the federal government has run up, $10 trillion that we are in debt and we're expected to pass that on to our children and have them pay that off for us. Again that's not right, that's not fair, that won't happen on our watch.
John and I will impose a spending freeze to cover all but the most vital functions of government and we will balance the federal budget by the end of our first term.
Our plan is pretty simple. We're gonna lower your income taxes. And we'll double the child tax deduction for every family. We're gonna cut the capital gains tax. And did you know the U.S. business tax is the second highest is the entire world? It is no wonder that companies are moving overseas to do business because of taxes, it's cheaper for them to do business over there. No we will cut that tax, we'll keep American businesses in America.
And you can trust John McCain and me to keep our promises because we're the only candidates in this race with track records of reform. I've done it up in the state of Alaska by confronting the good ole boy network and cleaning up corruption and greed there, vetoing wasteful spending. John McCain. he's known in the U.S. Senate not just as the patriot but as the maverick — he's taken on the wasteful spending and the abuse.