I was going to excerpt parts of this speech to try and disguise its source, but its too good for that.
The 1964 RRR made what has been called " The Speech".
You can find it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt1fYSAChxs, or the text, here:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1964reagan1.html
In this short address RRR defines America, and the threat to it by liberalism, or progressivism. He identifies the Marxist foundations of the modern democrat party back into the 1930s. He identifies the problem of allowing a few people in Washington decide on solutions to personal problems--the cost of allowing government to "take care of us".
This is probably a "divisive" speech; I expect some emotional, hot rhetoric in response to this post. Nevertheless, there is great truth in what he said in 1964. The numbers he quotes have not improved. If government were truly the way to eradicate poverty, it would have been done decades ago.
Even if you disagree with every fiber in your being, you still need to listen to this speech.