Jimmy Carter for President 1976 Campaign Brochure

‘LEADERS FOR A CHANGE’

There's nothing wrong with our country that strong, competent and compassionate leadership can't change.

America is at the brink of a new opportunity. Even after the sobering events of recent years we have reason for inspiration and hope. For throughout our history, our nation has been sustained by two factors: the inherent greatness of the American people, and a system of government that has now endured for 200 years.

We can look forward to a government that's open and responsive once again. A government that's concerned with the needs of all, not just a few. A government that operates efficiently and effectively. We have the desire and the knowledge to achieve these goals. All we lack is executive leadership with vision and compassion and ability to direct us. That leadership will come from Democrats Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale.

There's no reason why our government can't be open and responsive.

We Americans have been separated from our government by a wall of secrecy. We've seen a government designed to serve the majority become the tool of a powerful few. We cannot allow the situation to continue. We must restore truth and accountability in our government. We must establish a sunshine law to open the deliberations of all branches of government to the public. We must end the unmerited political appointments of ambassadors and judges. We must take the office of Attorney General out of politics. We must stop the revolving door policy between regulatory agencies and those being regulated. We need to have a voice in foreign policy decisions. With Jimmy Carter as our President, we will have a government of, by and for the people once again.

There's no reason why our government can't be concerned with our needs.

For the past eight years our government has turned its back on the American people. A political and economic elite have shaped decisions and never had to account for mistakes nor suffer from injustice. The test of any government is not how popular it is with the powerful, but how honestly and fairly it deals with the many who must depend on it. We must have a government that recognizes and alleviates our needs in health care, education, housing, unemployment, aid to the elderly, environmental protection, and others.

With Jimmy Carter as our President, those needs will be met with compassion and respect.

There's no reason why our government can't work efficiently and effectively.

We can no longer drift along with a complicated, confused, overlapping and wasteful federal bureaucracy.

As President, Jimmy Carter will establish efficient, economical, purposeful and manageable methods of operation. He will see that business, labor, agriculture, education, science and government do not struggle in isolation from one another, but strive toward mutual goals and shared opportunities. With aggressive new Democratic leadership, we can bring order out of chaos.

Jimmy Carter and a Democratic Administration are pledged to bring about the changes we need:

THE ECONOMY: To get the economy moving again by providing a job for every American who wants to work and by bringing inflation under control.

ENERGY: To establish a coherent energy policy, and to increase emphasis on coal production and increased research on renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind and geothermal. To lead in directing a voluntary conservation program.

WELFARE REFORM: To establish a streamlined, simplified welfare system with strong work incentives that promote family stability. To take those able to work out of the system and provide them job training and a job. To give those who cannot work because of age or disability nationwide, fairly uniform benefits varying only according to the cost of living from area to area.

ENVIRONMENT: To maintain strong environmental protection laws. To protect against relaxation of our current standards for air quality, water quality or automotive emissions. To preserve the natural heritage of America, and to turn over to future generations a country that is environmentally sound.

EDUCATION: To increase the federal share of the total cost of education. To assure that the average American family can afford to send their children to college.

AGRICULTURE: To develop an agriculture policy which insures farmers a predictable and fair return for their labor, yet is fair to the American consumer. To avoid the Republican policy of embargoes on farm products, and aggressively develop our export markets abroad.

TAX REFORM: To move toward a truly progressive and simplified tax system, with reduced tax rates for the average American.

ELDERLY: To recognize that elderly constitute one of our most precious resources. To insure adequate income for retirement; to increase housing for the elderly. To relax mandatory retirement laws. To work or subsidies for reduced fare on public transportation for the elderly.

HEALTH CARE: To establish a comprehensive national health program which will make adequate health care a right for all people, be uniform in scope, and preserve the private relationship between doctor and patient.

DEFENSE: To guarantee the security of our nation -- a guarantee of freedom from the threat of successful attack or blackmail and the ability with our allies to maintain peace.

FOREIGN POLICY: To stop treating our allies as if they were our adversaries. To make it clear that detente is a two-way street. To promote human rights abroad and to deal affirmatively with the social and economic problems of the developing world. To make our total commitment to the security of Israel as a Jewish state absolutely clear.

REORGANIZATION: To reorganize completely the executive branch of government, making it fair, efficient, effective and responsive to out people's needs.

"We can have an American President who does not govern with negativism and fear of the future, but with the vigor and aggressive leadership -- a President who is not isolated from our people, but who feels your pains and shares your dreams, and takes his strength and wisdom and courage from you."

In the words of Jimmy Carter it is time for us to take a new took at our own government, to strip away the secrecy, to expose the pressure of lobbyists, to eliminate waste, to release our civil servants from bureaucratic chaos, to provide tough management. As President, he can accomplish those goals. He proved himself equal to the task as Governor of Georgia, when he pushed through a hard-nosed reorganization of the state's bureaucracy. He vastly increased state services to the poor deprived and afflicted. He relentlessly fought special interests, and launched reforms in areas of mental health, education, racial discrimination, criminal justice, consumerism and environmental protection.

Jimmy Carter saw that people had access to government that once isolated them. He gave order and management to a system once tangled in red tape and confusion. He led with strength against opposition to progress. He proved that government can serve effectively when managed effectively. We've never needed a president with his competence and experience more than we need it now.

"All our people ask for is honesty and decency from their government."

During his 12 years as U.S. Senator from Minnesota, Walter Mondale has worked for equality and justice for all Americans. His concern for the education of children, the plight of the elderly, the health and well-being of working people has been coupled with a practical approach to government spending. He serves on the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Budget Committee, of which he is chairman of the Tax Expenditures Task Force. He is a member of the Labor and Public Welfare Committee, and chairman of the Subcommittee on Children and Youth. In addition, Senator Mondale serves on special or select committees on Aging, Nutrition and Human Needs, and Small Business. He was a member of the Intelligence Activities Committee and was chairman of its Domestic Task Force. As Vice President, he will work closely with the President, Cabinet and Congress for welfare reform, tax reform and alleviating the agricultural problems facing our nation.