FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Posted by Clinton/Gore Email October 31, 1992 PEROT TAKES THE "INFO" OUT OF "INFOMMERCIAL" [Statement of George Stephanopoulos, Communications Director] "There's just one problem [with Perot's television commercials]: A number of the startling assertions he makes in those half-hour and one-hour commercials aren't true. In case after case, Mr. Perot exaggerates the facts to make his point, usually making the country's situation look far worse than it is." Wall Street Journal, October 28, 1992 Ross Perot has claimed for months that he's tired of politics as usual, but his latest "infommercial" is exactly that -- politics as usual. His eleventh hour attack on Bill Clinton and the people of Arkansas is nothing but a multimillion dollar smokescreen designed to distort the record of the only candidate who can bring real change. With his latest "infommercial," Ross Perot demonstrates that George Bush is not the only candidate in this race who can lie about Bill Clinton's record. But Perot's political ad takes this to new lows: we counted at least 22 lies in 15 minutes. What's most disturbing about Perot's commercial is that during the entire program, he never once mentions how he would rebuild America. He only attacks the other candidates. He offers no solutions, because he doesn't have any. Perot not only shows that he has no understanding of how to bring about change in a democracy but also demonstrates his total ignorance of Arkansas's strong, steady progress under Bill Clinton. Arkansans elected Clinton an extraordinary five times, and his peers voted him the most effective governor in the country. ARKANSAS IS A MODEL OF PROGRESS ECONOMY: Arkansas leads the nation in job growth, and ranks among the top in income growth as well. It has outperformed the country as a whole over the past year, during the Bush administration, and during entire span of the Clinton administrations. Arkansas' economic performance over the past year ranks third strongest in the nation. [U.S. News & World Report, 9/14/92.] EDUCATION: Arkansas is recognized as a leader in school reform. The state now has the highest graduation rate in the South, smaller class sizes, higher test scores, more students going on to college, and higher teacher salaries. ENVIRONMENT: Arkansas' air and water is among the purest in the nation. Under Clinton, the state passed tough, award-winning legislation designed to keep it that way. ATTACK: MOST JOBS IN ARKANSAS ARE "CHICKEN FEATHER" JOBS * Poultry processing jobs account for only 3% of Arkansas' jobs. [Ark. Employment Security Department] * Over the last year, poultry industry jobs accounted for only an estimated 2.7% of the jobs created in Arkansas. From 1979 to 1991, the poultry industry accounted for only 8.44% of the jobs created in Arkansas. [Ark. Employment Security Department] ATTACK: THERE'S NOT MUCH MANUFACTURING WORK IN ARKANSAS * "The percentage of (Arkansas) workers in manufacturing now is 25 percent, compared to a national average of 17 percent." [The Washington Post, 10/18/92] * "Clinton's 1985 (economic development) package is credited with helping stabilize and strengthen the Arkansas economy and transforming its base from agriculture to manufacturing. [The Washington Post, 10/18/92] * Over the past year, Arkansas ranked third highest among all states in the creation of manufacturing jobs. During that period, Arkansas created 2,800 manufacturing jobs; the U.S. as a whole lost 288,000. Over the past decade, manufacturing jobs in Arkansas increased 12%, while decreasing 9% nationally. [Bureau of Labor Statistics] ATTACK: ARKANSAS IS NOT MAKING ANY PROGRESS IN INCOME GROWTH * "After avoiding the recession, Arkansas has decided to lead the recovery." ["Southeast State Indicators," Economic Forecasting Center, 9/92] * During the 1980s...Arkansas' income has grown faster than the national average. [LAT, 10/11/92] * Per capita income in Arkansas grew at twice the national rate from 1990 to 1991. Arkansas' 4.4% income growth rate made it one of only six states that kept pace with inflation. [Bureau of Economic Analysis, 9/3/92] ATTACK: ARKANSAS RANKS LOW IN POVERTY * Under Clinton policies, Arkansas had the largest drop among all states in poverty rates over the last decade. [U.S. Department of Commerce] ATTACK: ARKANSAS RANKS LOW IN TAX FAIRNESS * "[T]he Arkansas tax system is less regressive than most...Furthermore, in the last few years, the tax system's regressivity has remained largely unchanged...Arkansas's taxes are by far the least regressive in its region of the country." [Wall Street Journal, 10/1/92] * Arkansas has the 10th most progressive tax structure in the country. [1992 States in Profile] * Arkansas state and local taxes per person are the second lowest in the country (63% of the national average), and state and local taxes as a percent of personal income rank fifth lowest. [Bureau of the Census] * In 1991, Clinton cut taxes for 374,000 Arkansans, more than 40% of all state taxpayers. ATTACK: ARKANSAS MADE NO PROGRESS IN CHILDREN'S WELL-BEING * Clinton's efforts in behalf of children have won him awards from the National Women's Political Caucus, the National Council of Jewish Women and Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. * Arkansas' child death rate is less than one-fourth that reported in the Perot-cited study, and has dramatically decreased. [Ark. Dept. of Health] * Clinton has cut infant mortality nearly in half and the homicide rate among Arkansas' teenagers is much lower than the high national average. [Ark. Dept. of Health] * Teen pregnancy in Arkansas decreased during the 1980s compared to a national increase of 12.3%. [Ark. Dept. of Health; U.S. Dept. of HHS] * Thanks to school-based health clinics and numerous other programs initiated by Governor Clinton, thousands of Arkansas children finally have access to basic health care. [Arkansas Dept. of Health] ATTACK: ARKANSAS RANKS LOW IN THE ENVIRONMENT * Perot relies for these attacks on the "Green Index," which used outdated and incomplete information to arrive at questionable conclusions. The "Green Index" authors recently labeled the use of this report to blast Clinton as "devious and dishonest." [Institute for Southern Studies, 10/30/92] * In 1991, George Bush's EPA conferred 14 regional and two national environmental excellence awards in Arkansas. [EPA] * Arkansas is one of only eight states meeting all federal standards under the Clean Air Act, and Arkansas has "one of the country's best ratings" on the cleanliness of its rivers. Over 92% of Arkansas rivers and streams and 100% of Arkansas lakes are safe for swimming and fishing. [EPA, Los Angeles Times, 10/11/92, Arkansas PC&E] * "Governor Clinton pushed through 19 strong environmental bills dealing largely with solid waste, and land protection. And we applaud his efforts, and that's why we endorse today for only the second time in our 100 year history." [Sierra Club President H. Anthony Ruckle, 9/4/92] ATTACK: ARKANSAS HAS THE WORST EDUCATION SYSTEM IN THE COUNTRY * "Of the three candidates, Governor Clinton has the deepest and most sustained involvement in education, both in Arkansas, where he has worked to improve schools, and on a national level, where he led the National Governors' Association's education efforts in the late 1980s." [NYT, 10/23/92] * Arkansas has been recognized as a national leader in education reform. [TIME Magazine, 8/14/89] * Arkansas' high school graduation rate jumped from 24th in 1981 to 17th -- the highest rank in the region. The high school dropout rate decreased (in part because dropouts without good cause lose their driver's license), the college going rate of high-school seniors is up from 38.2% in 1982 to 51.3% in 1991, and Arkansas ACT scores are up as well. * Arkansas now spends more of its budget on education than all but two other states. [New York Times, 10/23/92] * Arkansas teachers received the highest percentage salary increase in America last year, and has jumped seven notches in comparative state rankings. [American Federation of Teachers, 1992] ATTACK: LOOK AT NON-ENDORSEMENT BY "CLINTON'S OWN NEWSPAPER" * There couldn't be a clearer sign of Ross Perot's detachment from reality than his attempt to present a feverishly Republican and hysterically anti-Clinton newspaper as Bill Clinton's "hometown paper." * Perot presents Clinton's "hometown newspaper" as a source his viewers should pay attention to. But he must have forgotten to read to them what the same editorial has to say about H. Ross Perot: "Ross Perot? Strange man. Strange on-again, off-again campaign. His appetite for squirrelly conspiracy theories amounts to a craving. How would you like to have a president whose eyes narrow whenever he serves up some yarn from Fantastic Spy Stories? [Arkansas Democrat, 10/28/92] AND WHAT ABOUT MR. PEROT'S OWN "HOMETOWN" PAPER? "Mr. Perot has said himself that he doesn't have the temperament to be president." [Dallas Morning News, 10/11/92] --30--