 was nice. Do you want to strike in on there? Let's get that on page two. White out. I was going to say love both, but the Argentinians just sunk it. Delete that. My course in international crisis. Boy, this is a quick change of mood. I have just had lunch with eight Soviet dissidents who have escaped and who are here in our country. Okay, we are ready anytime they are. Are you ready? They're ready. Yeah. Okay, we're ready. Stand by, please. Okay. State your name, your hometown, and our guest is going to have a few remarks that he'd like to make first. Then we'll take any questions that any of you would like. The President of the United States. Thank you, Roon. You know, I asked CBS for time to reply to that Bill Moyer show, and I guess this is what they gave me. But I really am happy to be able to speak with all of you attending the ABC affiliates meeting in Los Angeles. I understand the heavy hitters are out there. My friends Leonard Goldison, Elton Rule, Fred Pierce, Shadow, and I want you to know the mere mention of your names, George Magic. I told Sam Donaldson I'd be talking to you, and he got a case of instant laryngitis. You know, living and working here in Washington, I sometimes have the feeling I'm still doing a TV show, Fantasy Island. But it's always nice to get away even by satellite and find out what's on people's minds. I was going to do a 60-minute lecture on our nuclear reduction plan and the budget compromise, but they tell me you want to ask some questions. I think I'm going to like Q&A by satellite. If I don't like the question, I can just say we're having technical difficulties. So back to you, Roon, and the questions. Okay. Well, it's the first question. Mr. President, from the beginning of the Republic, the press media has enjoyed the privilege of free press in the protection of the First Amendment. My question is, do you believe in First Amendment rights for broadcasters? And if so, would you support legislation? In other words, would you support repeal of the Fairness Doctrine in Section 350 of this Unification Act? I have spoken myself on that and I'm on record favoring more freedom for broadcasting and the less regulation by government. And we are going to continue doing what we can administratively, and I would support legislation to further that. President, my name is Bob Rice from Dioria. I apologize. I wasn't there for your college homecoming last weekend. My question is, your policy on restricting strategic sales to Russia, how effective has that policy been today? Well, I think it has had an impact and it certainly has with regard to Poland. What we're more interested in, however, is enlisting our allies aid in shutting off credit to the Soviet Union and the satellites. This has brought them to a real, whether between a rock and a hard place, they are having great trouble. As you know, they've had to use some of their gold supply now, but we don't believe that we should be extending credit to them so they can continue with their massive military buildup. At the same time, they deny their people even the simplest of consumer items for the comfort and the health of their people. So we're going to continue on that path. And I believe that credit, far more than trade sanctions, is the important thing right now. McGraw Hill Broadcasting in San Diego, California. As president, most of us are deeply concerned about high interest costs. That's certainly true in San Diego where new housing is simply unattainable and the growth rate is slow dramatically. Can you tell us when you think those interest rates will drop to a more realistic level? Well, let me answer it this way. I think we're going to see them drop. I can't give you an exact date as to when that's going to be. But the reason for the high interest rates, the principal reason, no longer exists. We have brought inflation down much faster than we had ever anticipated or believed we could. And last month, as you all know, the inflation rate was not just lowered. It actually went below zero and we had a cut in prices. Now, the basic reason for high interest rates is that a lender must get back the loss of value of the money that takes place through inflation and then get on top of that whatever premium he believes is a fair return on his money for lending it. Well, now with inflation for the last six months down to a 3.2% average and as I say last month below zero, there is only one reason for the continued high interest rates. That is pessimism on the part of the money market and a lack of confidence that will stay the course. A lack of confidence that Congress won't return to its old ways and begin flooding the market with government programs and huge deficits and so forth and that we'll have what we've had in the previous seven or eight recessions since World War II, a temporary stimulant, a quick fix if you will, and then followed by a worse recession with higher inflation. I believe the answer to getting the interest rates down and down quickly and getting our people back to work is for the Congress to do, as I said the other day, get off the dime and pass this budget proposal of ours which will reduce over the next three years the deficits by 416 billion dollars and which will put us very close to and on the way to a balanced budget. In the meantime, I still believe that the money markets could show more confidence than they have but I think that that adoption of our budget with its continued reduction of the increase in government spending will send a signal to the markets that will bring the interest rates down and that's what must take place in order for us to have recovery. Next question, come on, here's your chance to speak to the president. My name is DeWine Triplett, I'm with the Alaska television network. We know you're there. I hope you know we're there too. Thank you, yes. Send a little oil once in a while. My question is very simple. Are you going to run for re-election in 1984? I think your question may be simple but it's a little premature. I have always believed that the people tell you whether you should run for re-election or not so I'll wait till closer to the time and listen to the people. The Social Security program will be bankrupt. Do you see that this system can be preserved? Yes I do. As a matter of fact we tried and made a proposal last year and it became a political football. We had known and we had stated that Social Security is actuarially out of imbalance has been for a number of years and that would not Social Security be able to get through the coming year the next year if we did not do something to put it on that sound basis. As I say it became a political football so we withdrew our plan and I asked our opponents to join with us and create a bipartisan commission to study and come back to us by the end of this year by December 31st with a plan for restoring the fiscal integrity of Social Security. That commission has been appointed that commission is at work and in spite of the demagoguery of the last few days trying to pretend that we're again attacking Social Security we're sticking with that and I am convinced that the problem is not so great but that it cannot be corrected and correct it without and this is important without taking away from the benefits now received by people dependent on Social Security those must be preserved but the organization must take place so that those young people just entering the workforce know that they too are going to get when the time comes the pension that they have paid for it very good next question maybe I'll ask the president I'm Bill McAllister from Lovett Texas I have the agency station Lovett but also served as mayor of Lovett and I want to personally thank you for the impact you have had on the federal government and streamlining and making it more efficient and effective in working with local government my question is are you pleased with the way we are accepting and adopting the new federalism program and what can we do as cities to be more qualified? Mr. Mayor thank you I am most pleased we've held meetings as you know with your fellow mayors with state legislators with city council county officials and with state governors and we've asked for input we didn't just come up with a plan that we wanted to force on local and state government but very simply as we all know the tenth amendment of the Bill of Rights has been ignored by the federal government it has usurped functions that properly belong at the local and state levels it has usurped the tax sources to pay for it and it is our intention to get those functions back to levels of government closer to the people and at the same time get back the sources of revenue required to pay for it we're not trying to balance our budget by dumping responsibilities and costs on local government but we have been very encouraged by the support that has been given us from every branch of local and state government and the help they've given us in input and suggestions as to how we can better make this new federalism work to be on the television station at the same time it's got to be a politician's dream isn't it? There's a man who has no trouble getting on the evening news. The President has time for just one more question. Mr. President, I'm Oliver Gillespie with WQAD, Pauline Illinois. When is the turnaround in the recovery going to come? I believe that this recession is in what they call the trough bottoming out and I believe that in the latter half of this year we are going to see the recovery. I think it will be hastened, as I said before, if we quit wasting time here in Washington and get that budget adopted so that people know and particularly the money market knows that we are not confronted with the gigantic deficits that will exist if we don't do something. But there are some signs, the very fact of inflation being down to where it is, interest rates are down about 20% from where they were at the beginning of last year, but that's not nearly enough. They've got to come back or come down more. We're working toward that end. I have been meeting just today with business leaders representing small business, representing corporate business and representing the trade and business associations and all of them told me they are united in support of our budget proposals and this I think is going to bring the turnaround. There are other signs that could indicate this bottoming out, but I think it'll take too much time and they'd be too technical to try and say here, but I am encouraged that we're going to see a very definite change in the latter half of this year. Mr. President, on behalf of all of the ABC-Asilius family, we thank you very much for taking time out of very busy day and speaking to us. Thank you very much. Well, thank you for giving me the opportunity and God bless you. Have a have a good meeting. The technical problem turned out to be that the President hasn't finished his lunch yet. Thank you for your support and kill the others. Thank you. Thank you very much. Look at there. He's given me by a reverend who was persecuted for his religion today at this luncheon, and this was made in prison secretly. The prisoners made these little scriptures that they could pass around so they could still believe and have some simple of their belief. Gulag. Well, thank you very much. Thank you very much.