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05/13/1981 (case file 043413)
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118566102
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05/13/1981 (case file 043413)
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Records of the Office of the President (Reagan Administration)
Presidential Briefing Papers
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Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Digital Library Collections
This is a PDF of a folder from our textual
collections.
Collection: President, Office of the: Presidential
Briefing Papers: Records, 1981-1989
Folder Title: 05/13/1981 (Case File:043413)
Box: 3
To see more digitized collections visit:
https://reaganlibrary.gov/archives/digital-library
To see all Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
inventories visit:
https://reaganlibrary.gov/document-collection
Contact a reference archivist at:
[email protected]
Citation Guidelines: https://reaganlibrary.gov/citing
st
AT
ID #. 043413
WHITE HOUSE
OFFICE OF RECORDS MANAGEMENT
WORKSHEET
X MEDIA
H - INTERNAL
Subject Codes:
Name of Document:
BRIEFING PAPERS FOR
PR007.01
PRESIDENT'S SCHEDULED
APPOINTMENTS FOR
MAY 1381
Subject: Meetingwith as coalition
FG035.
of Democratic Senators to
PL 005.02
discuss the economic recovery
Fl F1010. 010.
legis Cation and the budget
BE 0 04.
LE
-
F1004
-
ROUTE TO:
ACTION
DISPOSITION
Tracking
Type
Completion
Action
Date
of
Date
Office/Agency
(Staff Name)
Code
YY/MM/DD
Response
Code
YY/MM/DD
RMMATT
RSZ
/ /
/ /
Referral Note:
DCF
UNPUBLISHED
THE WHITE HOUSE
May 12, 1981
5:00 pm
WASHINGTO
THE PRESIDENT'S SCHEDULE
Wednesday, May 13, 1981
9:00 am Staff Time
Oval Office
(30 min)
(Baker, Meese, Deaver)
9:30 9:35 am
BUSH, MURDHY
National Security Briefing HAVE, Auro, EM, th, Mky
Oval Office
(30 min)
(Richard V. Allen)
10:00 am Meeting with Secretary Block JAMES, A EM, Block Oval Office
10:
(15 min)
(Pendleton James)
NORZIGAR,
10: 15 am with Select Group of
10:23 Meting
Cabinet Room
(30
min) Democratic Senators
(TAB A)
(Max Friedersdorf)
Press Photo Opportunity at Beginning
10:45 am Personal Staff Time
Oval Office
(15 min)
11:08
11:00
(30 min)
am Meeting with Pendleton James Em, MKD
Oval Office
Noon
Meeting with Attorney General
Oval Office
(15 min)
William French Smith
(Michael Deaver)
12:15-12:20
/
12:30 pm Return to Residence
CAN: SEN- Dominicni , BAKER
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
May 11, 1981
MEETING WITH A COALITION OF MODERATE TO CONSERVATIVE
SENATE DEMOCRATS
DATE:
Wednesday, May 13, 1981
LOCATION:
The Cabinet Room
TIME:
10:15 a.m. (30 minutes)
THRU:
Max L. Friedersdorf m.g.
FROM:
Powell A. Moore
I.
PURPOSE
To encourage support of moderate to conservative Democrats
in the Senate for the Administration's program and to
comply with a request from this group to meet with the
President.
II.
BACKGROUND
A group of twelve Senate Democrats, mostly Southerners,
have recently informally organized with the intent of
working as a coalition to develop positions and alternative
directions for the Democrats in the Senate. Their organi-
zation is an outgrowth of some dissatisfaction with the
direction of the Democratic Party and the Democratic
leadership in the Senate. This group is the Senate counter-
part to the Stenholm Group in the House.
The Senators in this group have been supportive of the
Administration's position on budget reductions and have
supplied the Administration with key support at crucial
times during the course of consideration of the Reconciliation
Resolution and the 1982 Concurrent Budget Resolution. However,
they have been more difficult to convince in terms of our
tax program and have recently proposed their own tax cut that
they believe will provide greater encouragement to capital
formation. Elements of their proposal are as follows:
1.
Expand tax exemptions for income derived from savings
and investment.
2.
Reduce taxes on capital gain.
3.
Senator Long's proposal on stock ownership by employees.
4.
Reduce maximum tax on investment income from 70 percent
to 50 percent.
-2-
5.
Reduce tax rates on inheritance.
6.
Eliminate marriage penalty.
7.
Reduce corporate tax rates particularly on small
businesses.
More recently, they have been developing a position to deal
with crime in the United States and they would like to share
their views on this subject.
The informal leaders of this group are Senator David Boren
of Oklahoma and Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia. Boren is on
the Finance Committee and his primary interest is tax policy.
He is likely to lead the group in matters relating to taxes
and spending. Senator Nunn's interests are defense and crime,
having established a three year record on criminal activities
in the United States as chairman of the Investigation Subcom-
mittee of the Senate Government Affairs Committee. He is
currently the ranking minority member of that subcommittee.
A meeting with this group was proposed by the Legislative
Affairs Office only a few weeks after the Inauguration.
Senator Boren made a specific request for this meeting
shortly before they unveiled their tax program. Senator
Nunn called last week requesting a meeting for this group
in order to share with the President their crime program
and this is the primary objective of this meeting.
III.
PARTICIPANTS
The President
The Vice President
Attorney General Smith
Senator Russell Long of Louisiana
Senator Ernest Hollings of South Carolina
Senator Lloyd Bentsen of Texas
Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia
Senator Dennis DeConcini of Arizona
Senator James Exon of Nebraska
Senator Howell Heflin of Alabama
Senator Bennett Johnston of Louisiana
Senator David Pryor of Arkansas
Senator David Boren of Oklahoma
Senator Lawton Chiles of Florida
Senator John Stennis of Mississippi
Senator Harry Byrd of Virginia
Staff
Edwin Meese
James Baker
Mike Deaver
Richard Allen
Martin Anderson
-3-
Max Friedersdorf
Powell Moore
Larry Speakes
Norman Ture of Treasury
Dennis Thomas of Treasury
Ed Harper of OMB
Jonna Lynn Cullen of OMB
Dave Swanson
Pam Turner
Sherrie Cooksey
KARNE SMALL
IV. PRESS PLAN
Photo opportunity at the beginning of the meeting. Press
availability on the driveway after the meeting.
V. SEQUENCE OF EVENTS
A. The Senators and Administration officials gather in
the Cabinet Room.
B. The President enters at 10:15 a.m.
C. Meeting adjourns at 10:45 a.m.
Attachment: Talking Points
Attachment
SUGGESTED TALKING POINTS FOR MEETING WITH
A COALITION OF MODERATE TO CONSERVATIVE
SENATE DEMOCRATS
-- Extend a welcome to the group and point out that as a
former Democrat, you feel at home in this company.
-- You may want to quip that when you were calling undecided
members of the House about the Gramm-Latta substitute, you
found many Democrats much more agreeable than many Republicans
with whom you talked.
-- Thank them for their support on crucial votes when the
reconciliation resolution and the budget resolution were
before the Senate.
-- Mention that you had hoped to have a meeting with this group
much earlier, but the unfortunate circumstances of March 30th
prevented it.
-- State that you look forward to receiving their crime proposals,
but would first like to comment on their tax proposal. You
have promised to propose a second tax bill and many of the elements
of their plan will undoubtedly be in your second proposal. Urge
them to support you on your simplified initial plan to relieve
the tax burden on individuals and you will work cooperatively
with them later on a second plan.
Point out that you are as concerned as they are about deficits,
but you agree with John Kennedy's statement that "an economy
stifled by restrictive tax rates will never produce enough
revenues to balance the budget. " A tax rate of almost a third
Attachment
Page 2
of the earnings of a middle income family is restrictive.
(If no tax reduction is enacted, median income tax levels
will reach 32 percent in 1984.)
-- Point out that since they want to talk about criminal justice
matters that you have asked the Attorney General to be present
to hear their comments. Since the discussion is likely to
turn to the main topic of the day, the budget and taxes, the
Secretary of Treasury and the Director of OMB were invited
to be present, but Regan is testifying on the tax package
before the Senate Finance Committee and Stockman is before
the Appropriations Committee. Other representatives of
Treasury and OMB are here to listen.
-- Open the meeting for discussion.
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
May 13, 1981
MEMORANDUM TO THE PRESIDENT
FROM:
MAX L. FRIEDERSDORF m.6.
SUBJECT:
MEETING WITH DEMOCRATIC SENATORS TODAY
Eleven of the thirteen Democratic senators meeting with you
this morning supported the budget resolution when it passed
the Senate last night by a vote of 78-20.
The following senators voted with you:
Russell Long (La.)
Lloyd Bentsen (Texas)
Sam Nunn (Ga.)
Dennis DeConcini (Ariz.)
Howell Heflin (Ala.)
Bennett Johnston (La.)
David Pryor (Ark.)
David Boren (Okla.)
Lawton Chiles (Fla.)
John Stennis (Miss.)
Harry Byrd (Va.)
The following senators voted in opposition:
Ernest Hollings (S.C.)
J.J. Exon (Neb.)
With regard to Hollings, he supports the President's budget
reduction fully, but has trouble with Kemp-Roth.