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Reagan, Ronald (Former Governor of California)
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1529020
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Reagan, Ronald (Former Governor of California)
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L. William Seidman Files (Ford Administration)
William Seidman's Name Files
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Presidential campaign, 1976
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1976
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The original documents are located in Box 201, folder "Reagan, Ronald (Former Governor
of California)" of the L. William Seidman Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Gerald R. Ford donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
CITIZENS FOR REAGAN
1835 K Street N.W. Washington. D.C. 20006 202/452-7676
March 31, 1976
EMBARGO--RELEASE UPON DELIVERY 10:30 PM EST WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 1976
CONTACT: Lyn Nofziger
Jan McCoy
(202) 452-7606
TEXT OF GOVERNOR RONALD REAGAN'S NATIONWIDE TELEVISION ADDRESS
NBC NETWORK
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31, 1976
Good evening to all of you from California. Tonight, I'd
like to talk to you about issues. Issues which I think are
involved or should be involved in this primary election season.
I'm a candidate for the Republican nomination for President.
But I hope that you who are Independents and Democrats will let
me talk to you also tonight because the problems facing our
country are problems that just don't bear any party label.
In this election season the White House is telling us a
solid economic recovery is taking place. It claims a slight
drop in unemployment. It says that prices aren't going up as
fast, but they are still going up, and that the stock market
has shown some gains. But, in fact, things seem just about as
they were back in the 1972 election year. Remember, we were
also coming out of a recession then. Inflation has been running
FORD & LIBRARY GERALD
Citizens for Reagan . Senator Paul Laxall Chairman Henry M Buchanan Treasurer
A copy of our report is filed with and available for purchase from the Federal Election Commission Washington DC 20463
May 18, 1976
MEMORANDUM FROM:
FRED SLIGHT
SUBJECT:
Reagan's Detroit Economic Speech
Attached for your information is a transcript of Ronald
Reagan's speech before the Detroit Economic Club along
with a transcript of the question and answer session that
followed his formal remarks.
Attachments
Peter Kaye
FORD & LIBRARY GERALD
STATES
POSTA
MGMWSHT HSB
2-041196E015 01/15/75
western union
Mailgram
UNITED
DERVICE
U.S.MAIL
ICS IPMRNCZ CSP
4x
9164451639 MGM TDRN SACRAMENTO CA 498 01-15 0912P EST
ZIP
RECEIVED
(
L WILLIAM SEIDMAN, ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT
WHITE HOUSE
1975
WASHINGTON DC 20500
FORD
GERALD
ABRARY
BACKGROUND INFORMATION SUPPORTING A REQUESTED PHONE CONVERSATION
BETWEEN PRESIDENT FORD AND CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY SPEAKER LEO MCCARTHY
RELATING TO THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE US ATTORNEY GENERAL'S PETITION
DELAYING PAYMENT OF 86.8 MILLION DOLLARS IN BACK WAGES TO CALIFORNIA
STATE EMPLOYEES
THE 1973-74 GOVERNORS BUDGET FOR THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, SUBMITTED
BY GOVERNOR REAGAN AND ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE, PROVIDED FOR
AN OVERALL SALARY INCREASE FOR STATE EMPLOYEES OF 12.5 PERCENT.
THIS INCREASE WAS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE STATE PERSONNEL BOARD
RECOMMENDATION TO INCREASE SALARIES BY THIS AMMOUNT IN ORDER TO
BRING STATE WORKERS' SALARIES IN LINE WITH COMPARABLE SALARY IN
THE PRIVATE SECTOR.
ON JULY 5 1973, THE COST OF LIVING COUNCIL (CLC) FROZE THIS INCREASE
PENDING A REVIEW. FOLLOWING IS REVIEW, THE CLC ROLLED BACK THE
INCREASE TO 7.0 PERCENT ON AUGUST 29 1973. THE LEGISLATURE SUBSEQUENTL
ENACTED LEGISLATION PROVIDING THAT THE FUNDS APPROPRIATED FOR
THE SALARY INCREASE BUT WHICH WERE NOT EXPENDED WOULD BE RETAINED
UNTIL APPROPRIATED BY THE LEGISLATURE.
IN JANUARY 1974, THE CALIFORNIA STATE EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION (CSEA)
FILED SUIT WITH THE CALIFORNIA STATE SUPREME COURT TO OVERTURN
THE ACTION OF THE CLC ON THE BASIS THAT THE CLC DID NOT HAVE JURISDICTI
N, THE SUPREME COURT ISSUED AN ORDER IN APRIL 1974 THAT THE WITHHELD
SALARY INCREASE BE PAID. HOWEVER, THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL
OBTAINED AN INJUNCTION FROM THE FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT IN SACRAMENO
IN MAY 1974 BLOCKING PAYMENT OF THE INCREASE,
BECAUSE OF THE PROTRACTED LEGAL ACTIONS, THE LEGISLATURE ENACTED
AND THE GOVERNOR SIGNED LEGISLATION PROVIDING FOR A LUMP SUM PAYMENT
TO ACTIVE STATE EMPLOYEES EQUIVILENT TO THE WITHHELD SALARY INCREASE
IN SEPTEMBER 1974, THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OBTAINED AN INJUNCTION
PREVENTING PAYMENT AS A RESULT OF THIS LEGISLATION ALSO.
THE CSEA THEN TURNED TO THE TEMPORARY EMERGENCY COURT OF APPEALS
(TEC) AND IN SEPTEMBER 1974 THE TEC OVERTURNED THE INJUNCTIONS.
HOWEVER, THE ATTORNEY GENERAL THEN PETITIONED THE US SUPREME COURT
FOR A REVIEW. THEREFORE, THE TEC STAYED ITS ACTION PENDING SUPREME
COURT REVIEW.
STATES POSTA ®
PAGE 2
Ш
U
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Mailgram
UNITED *
U.S.MAIL
SERVICE *
*******
IT IS EXPECTED THAT THE COURT WILL DECIDE IN MID FEBRUARY WHETHER
OR NOT TO GRANT THE PETITION,
THE 1975-76 GOVERNORS BUDGET CONTAINS AN APPROPRIATION OF 86.8
MILLION DOLLARS FOR PAYMENT OF THE 1973-74 SALARY INCREASE DENIED
BY THE CLC. THIS MONEY HAS REMAINED IDYL IN THE STATE TREASURY
EVER SINCE THE CLC ACTION.
THE ACTIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL ARE ENTIRELY INCONSISTENT WITH
THE NEED TO STIMULATE THE ECONOMY DURING THIS TIME OF RISING UNEMPLOYMEN
T. IF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL DROPS THE PETITION TO THE SUPREME COURT,
STATE EMPLOYEES WOULD GET THEIR SALARY INCREASE WITHIN ONE MONTH.
THE WITHHELD 86.8 MILLION DOLLARS WOULD GIVE THE CALIFORNIA ECONOMY
A MUCH NEEDED BOOST, CURRENTLY, UNEMPLOYMENT EXCEEDS 9.0 PERCENT
AND IS EXPECTED TO SURPASS 10.0 PERCENT BY MID YEAR.
BILL, I HAVE DISCUSSED THIS REQUEST WITH VIRGIL WATKINS AND WARREN
RUSTAND. WE WOULD LIKE TO SCHEDULE THE PHONE CALL AT THE PRESIDENTS
EARLIEST AVAILABILITY
WARMEST REGARDS
JIM HURST
21:12 EST
MGMWSHT HSB
FORD : GERALD LIBRARY
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
April 1, 1976
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
FROM:
L. WILLIAM SEIDMAN
BURTON G. MALKIEL
SUBJECT:
Governor Reagan's March 31 Address
Governor Reagan's speech of March 31 is almost pure demagog-
ery. His facts are often wrong and his characterization of
present policies is grossly misleading. The major implica-
tion of the speech is that we are excessively stimulating
the economy for political purposes, just as was ostensibly
done in 1972, and the result will be more inflation and an
economic collapse. The analogy is completely unfair for the
following reasons:
(1) Just the opposite is true. Our policies are moderate,
balanced and geared to producing a solid and sustainable re-
covery and a reduction of inflation.
(a) The President's vetoes during 1975 and 1976
have saved the taxpayers $13 billion.
(b) Monetary expansion is now far more restrained
than in 1972. Over the last six months -- that
is, from September 1975 to March 1976 -- the
broadly defined money supply (M₂) has grown at
an 8.6 percent annual rate. In the comparable
September 1971 - March 1972 period, it grew at
a 14.6 percent rate. It should also be pointed
out that a 14.6 percent rate is well above the
10-1/2 percent upper limit of the Federal Reserve's
present target range for the growth rate of the
broadly defined money supply.
(2) It is true that we are running a larger deficit now
than in 1972. However, the following points should be made:
(a) The unemployment rate is considerably higher now
and therefore so are the payments under automatic
stabilizing programs such as unemployment compen-
sation. Does Governor Reagan suggest we should
reduce or eliminate these programs?
FORD & GERALD LIBRARY
-2-
(b) Capacity utilization was 70.8 percent in the
4th quarter of 1975 versus 78.6 percent during
1972. There is far more room for expansionary
policies to increase real output without simply
generating inflation.
(c) The inflation of 1973 and 1974 was not wholly the
result of government deficits. It was also in-
fluenced by monetary policy and by unusual shocks
such as the quintupling of international oil
prices and a world wide food shortage.
The Reagan speech does not acknoweldge the considerable progress
made by the Administration in reducing inflation. Wholesale
prices increased 12.5 percent from March 1974 to March 1975.
In the twelve months through March 1976 the wholesale price
index increased only 5-1/2 percent. Inflation in the CPI was
also at double digit rates during the 12 months ending March
1975. Over the last 12 months the CPI has increased at an
annual rate of just over 6 percent.
The President's program of matching expenditure cuts with tax
relief is ridiculed by Reagan. "If there was $28 billion in
the new budget that could be cut, what was it doing there in
the first place?" The whole point is that the President did
not put the $28 billion in his budget. The $28 billion was
measured from a projected current service budget, i.e. a budget
assuming the continuance of programs Congress already legisla-
ted.
Indeed the President's program is based upon the very premises
which Governor Reagan would cite for himself. The President
has stated repeatedly that an enduring solution to the unemploy-
ment program must go hand in hand with a reduction in inflation.
To argue otherwise is dishonest. The President has proposed a
radical reordering of budget priorities so as to improve the
operation of many federal programs and to slow the rapid rise
in federal outlays for the transfer and grant programs. These
proposals, if adopted, would enable the budget to swing back
into surplus as the recovery carries the economy back toward
full employment.
These proposals will also enable a reversal in the long decline
in real military outlays, and some modest further reductions
in taxes. The President's proposals will leave the incomes
of the American people for individuals themselves to spend,
FORD & GERALD LIBRARY
-3-
rather than transferring it to the Federal Government. These
proposals, if adopted, will enable the transition in the
Federal budget which was not made in 1972-73. The President
has exercised his veto power 46 times in the past year to
insure that the transition is made.
To advocate an immediate balanced budget would be both irre-
sponsible and dishonest. Part of the deficit is due to the
recession and the reduced level of Federal revenues. Part
of the deficit is due to the explosion of Federal outlays for
transfers and grants. It took a decade and more to create
these problems. They cannot be solved overnight without im-
posing intolerable costs upon the American people. They can-
not be solved without a solid sustainable recovery, an endur-
ing reduction in inflation and the reordering of budget prior-
ities which the President has proposed.
An immediate balance in the federal deficit would require
either a large tax increase or a large expenditure reduction.
Such measures would shock the recovery and probably bring it
to a halt. The only way to achieve our goals is to follow a
prudent and disciplined budget policy, or reorder our budget
priorities, to curb the rapid rise in Federal outlays. Other-
wise, instead of overshooting the mark as we did in 1972-1973,
we will undershoot it -- and the American people will again
pay the dual price of recession and inflation.
There were also a number of factual errors in Governor Rea-
gan's speech. Among them are:
(1) Governor Reagan stated the unemployment rate was over
10 percent at some point during the recession. In
fact, it peaked at 8.9 percent in May 1975.
(2) Governor Reagan stated the FY 1976 budget deficit will
be over $80 billion. I n fact, our best estimate is
$76 billion.
(3) Governor Reagan stated that the maximum social secur-
ity benefit "today buys 80 fewer loaves of bread than
it did when the maximum payment was only $85 a month."
This would imply the average benefit in terms of dol-
lars of constant purchasing power has declined sub-
stantially. In fact, the average benefit in terms of
constant purchasing power has almost triplied since
1940 when the maximum benefit was $85.
(4) Governor Reagan indicated that since the energy bill
was enacted "almost instantly, drilling rigs all over
our land started shutting down." In fact, there were
FORD & EERAL LIBRA
- -4-
1660 drilling rigs operating in 1975, the highest
number in a decade. Through mid-March 1976 there were
as many rigs operating as were operating in the com-
parable period during 1975.
LISEARY GERALD R. FORD