 Slow down from my sports announcing days I first got to hollywood the sound memory yelling cut They tell me that the class I was clocked on something like our gas at 200 But you mean it isn't that hard I Fellow Americans, I'd like to take a few minutes of your time to talk about some of the problems we face in this blessed land Seems to me My fellow Americans I'd like to take a few minutes of your time to talk about some of the problems We face in this blessed land of ours and what I feel we should do about them I can't cover all that territory in five minutes, so I'll be back every Saturday at the same time same station live I hope you'll tune in These aren't easy times for a great many of you Yesterday we were told that unemployment has gone up another two tenths of one percent equal to the unemployment rate We had in 1975 as we began to come out of that recession We can however take some comfort from the fact that 99 and a half million of our people are employed Now I know that's no comfort to those who want to work and can't find a job And it's no comfort to farmers independent business people auto dealers realtors and building contractors who see themselves going out of business These people want answers and so do you about what we can do to get our economy back on track The last recession before this one came in 1980 and by the time our administration took office Unemployment had almost reached 8 million the prime rate had reached 21 and a half percent The highest in more than a century and inflation was at 12.4 percent According to the polls Inflation was the number one problem in everyone's mind All of us associated it with the high interest rates and rightly so a lender must charge an interest rate high enough to cover Inflation as well as give a return on his or her money We proposed a program of economic recovery Based on the belief that high taxes had deprived people and business of incentive to the point that we'd lost much of our ability to produce Those high taxes had fueled a rate of increase in government spending that reached 17 percent in 1980 alone Even high taxes couldn't keep up with that in the few years between 1976 and 1981 federal tax revenues increased by $300 billion, but we had 318 billion in deficits So our program also aimed at reducing the rate of increase in government spending Unfortunately, the interest rates stayed up even though we began to reduce inflation People couldn't afford to buy automobiles on time Few could or would take a mortgage to buy or build a home at those rates layoffs in the automobile and construction industries increased and Farmers who borrowed a plant and repay at harvest lost money even on bumper crops By mid-July we were back in if we were ever out of a recession But for the first time in the many recessions that have taken place over the recent years We had a plan ready to go The Congress had agreed to a budget that cut the rate of increase in spending nearly in half and had passed a tax cut program which increased appreciation allowances for business and Began a 25 percent cut in income tax rates for individuals to be phased in over three years All of this only began last October 1st Even so interest rates have been reduced by 20 percent, but that's not nearly enough They have to come down more and they should because our greatest success has been in conquering inflation It's no longer double-digit for the last five months. It's been running at four and a half percent By all the rules of the game Interest rates should be down around nine or ten percent Unfortunately the increase in unemployment increased government costs and reduced revenues More money had to be spent on unemployment insurance and other benefits Fewer people working meant fewer people paying taxes up went the projected deficit for 1983 And up went the concern in the money market that this would lead to an increase in inflation as it has in all those past recessions The answer to the recession lies in bringing interest rates down To do that a signal must be sent that while the political process always requires some compromise government this time intends to stay the course that we're going to make further reductions in spending and Hold to a steady consistent growth in the money supply In short that we're going to come out of this recession not with a temporary quick fix that leads to another recession down the road But with a solid economic recovery based on increased productivity and jobs for our people Now I know you've been told by some that we should do away with the tax cuts in order to reduce the deficit That's like trying to pull a game out in the fourth quarter by punting on third down You've also been told our program hasn't worked. Well, of course, it hasn't it hasn't really started yet Our 5% cut in October was almost wiped out by the January increase in the Social Security tax called for in the 1977 tax bill The reduced budget spending and the 10% tax cut in July will be the real beginning of our program There's no instant cure, but there is a cure With your help and your prayers, we'll find it I'll be back next Saturday Thank you and God bless you My fellow Americans I'd like to take a few minutes of your time to talk about some of the problems We face in this blessed land of ours and what I feel we should do about them I can't cover all that territory in five minutes So I'll be back every Saturday at this same time same station live. I hope you'll tune in The answer to the recession lies in bringing interest rates down to do that a Signal must be sent that while the political process always requires some compromise Government this time intends to stay the course that we're going to make further reductions in spending and hold with steady consistent growth in the money supply in Short that we're going to come out of this recession not with a temporary quick fix that leads to another recession down the road But with a solid economic recovery based on increased productivity and jobs for our people Now I know you've been told by some that we should do away with the tax cuts in order to reduce the deficit Well, that's like trying to pull a game out in the fourth quarter by punting on third down You've also been told our program hasn't worked. Well, of course, it hasn't it hasn't really started yet Our 5% cut in October was almost wiped out by the January increase in the Social Security tax called for in the 1977 tax bill The reduced budget spending and the 10% tax cut in July will really be the beginning of our program There is no instant cure, but there is a cure With your help and your prayers will find it I'll be back next Saturday. Thank you and God bless you. I couldn't answer that until we have to by law go up Shortly in the next couple of weeks. I can't remember the exact date and present an updated project As I've said so many times I we do this we comply with the law I don't have the greatest faith in those projects because I think there are too many imponderables both ways that To make them really something that we should Be dependent. Well, the increase that as the recession goes on and unemployment increases Of course the deficit increases because it's that's more people who stop paying taxes and is more people who then Have to receive benefits and unemployment insurance and so forth So we've known that this recession has brought this about and the answer is We've got to Bring the recession to an end and I think our program will do that Yes, we we can get out of it and the way out of it Is not the way that's been tried on most of the recessions that have taken place in these last few decades Hyping the money supply artificially stimulating the money supply Stimulating government spending as if that somehow will be an aid to the economy and Up, of course goes inflation when you do that now inflation does have a temporary Stimulative effect just by its very nature And it's kind of like a warm bath. It feels good for a minute, but then the water gets too hot What we're trying and the difference between our plan and what's always been tried before is the wrong range plan To get the economy back on track to get America back to where we're The industrial powerhouse that we always were and to do that that requires the tax cuts Both for business and for individuals to stimulate the economy Reduce the percentage of the gross national product that the government is taking in In taxes and that the government is spending And All of these things I think our plan will do And it is the only way It isn't an instant fix But it also is a way out that simply Solves the problem by broadening the base of our economy providing the jobs that our people must have Being able to compete once again with the other industrial nations, which we haven't been able to do very well for quite some time now Thank you Well, I think that it isn't for me. I think it's time with all the confusion and all the conflicting things that seem to come out of washington Between leaks and statements by individuals and pressure groups pressing for their particular program that It's an opportunity to Try each week to based on what has taken place in that week to bring the facts to the people as succinctly as I can and as many as I can cram in five minutes And uh, I just thought I'd start with this one because this one I think happens to be the one that's the most on people's minds This thing of how are we going to get the interest rates down? How are we going to resolve the present problem? So That was the reason for it and Huh, you look pretty comfortable Yeah, it was almost like old times there. I was waiting for somebody to try and steal second Okay, thank all of you. What are you doing down here on a saturday? Don't you work up? Okay