www.reagan.utexas.edu/resource/speeches/1986/21086d.htm
Interview With Lou Cannon and David Hoffman of the Washington Post Interview With Lou Cannon and David Hoffman of the Washington Post February 10, 1986 Soviet-US Relations Q. Gorbachev said to Senator Kennedy, as its been reported, what do you think the prospects are this year for an agreement with the Soviets on an intermediate-range missile agreement? This idea of separating out the intermediate-range weapons is, we think, a hopeful sign. And now he has not made the SDI any condition with regard to that. There are some other things in that that are, well, that are going to cause us to negotiate that we hope can be eliminated. One, hes kind of made the French and the English an element, and we dont think that were in a position to negotiate for somebody else. And also, the problem of the same kind of intermediate-range weapons being stationed east of the Urals, targeted on Asian targets. And these are the points that have to be worked out, but Im just optimistic that since weve opened that subject and have made some progress on it that we can achieve that.
Were you surprised that the Soviets - theyve sort of been holding SDI ransom for this kind of agreement - that he seems to have dropped that idea on intermediate-range missiles? Well, whether he dropped it or whether he never intended it to be there - because youll remember the language that they agreed to in the agreement was something about seeking an interim agreement while we go forward with the other interim agreement on the intermediate range. So, maybe hes just now confirming that he meant this all the time. On the subject of Central America, can the democratic resistance in Nicaragua survive without military aid, in your view? I dont see how they could go on permanently without having some aid, particularly in the face of the extensive aid that theyre getting from the Soviet Union and Cuba with regard to advanced weapons systems and so forth.
Well, do you think that its possible within your term in the White House to get some kind of a negotiated settlement between the Sandinistas and the people fighting them? President, on Haiti - your spokesman - theres been some talk about whats happened down there. Do you have any ideas about how to better bring across a democratic transformation, and do you plan to resume aid to Haiti that was withheld because of human rights violations? Well, this group that now - this council that has stepped in has made it plain that they - what they want to do is make it possible now to have a government. Theyre an interim force, and they want to now establish democracy and a government that represents the will of the people. And were perfectly willing and ready to help in any way we can to bring that about. And, as I say, were ready to work with them and do what we can to be of help.
Were in the process of reviewing that now, and then well see what the new government does. On the question of the Philippines, officials in your government have called for both sides in the Philippine Government to work together now after the election. And you just said a few minutes ago in your response to a question that this validates the two-party system there. We have a strong two-party system here, and the people make their decision at the ballot box on which of the - which party or members of the party get elected or not. And I would foresee that, now that there really is a two-party system - obviously proven with millions of people going to the polls and voting on both sides, that this is the beginning of what could be the answer to their form of government.
How does the United States respond to these reports of fraud from our observers, and can Marcos ever again make a claim to legitimacy after this? Well, Im going to wait until I have a chance to talk to our observers who are over there. Whether there is enough evidence that you can really keep on pointing the finger or not, I dont know. Im sure, you know, even elections in our own country - there are some evidences of fraud in places and areas. And I dont know the extent of this over there - but also do we have any evidence that its all been one-sided, or has this been sort of the election tactics that have been followed there? But what we want is - once the Filipino people have made their decision and a government has been chosen, then we would like to have the same relationship, the historic relationship weve had with the people of the Philippines and with their government. Your former Budget Director, David Stockman, said recently that the deficit wasnt only caused by big-spending liberal Democrats but by Republicans as well, including yourself. Now, youve been President for 5 years, and under you the deficit has doubled.
If we had gotten what we asked for in 1981 with regard to the domestic budget, the deficit would be $50 billion less than it is right now. So, all this talk that we did this - and all those years back over the last half-century when I was making speeches about deficit spending and all - the truth of the matter is, deficit spending was a deliberate practice of the party in power. And the party in power, which has been there for all of those years, was - only here and there, one and two terms out - was the Democratic Party. And beginning with the War on Poverty in the middle sixties and on, this was where the runaway that wed always talked about - Ive always said that it couldnt - that and inflation. You couldnt let them go on without having them break the bounds and start running away. Now, if the escalation started in this 15 years between 1965 and 1980, and the escalation went to the budget going up to roughly 5 times what it was in 1965 - but the deficit was 38 times what it was in 1965. And 1981, our first year here, we were on their budget, not ours - you come in several months into the fiscal year and youll find there, again, the increase, and its gone on that way. And the only answer is finally - what were trying to do is to have a plan - and this one is a 5-year plan to eliminate once and for all the deficit.
With all due respect, sir, every year youve been in office, youve proposed a plan - 5-year plans. I recall the first one in your speech in Chicago in 1980, in September, saying wed get to zero, and we havent. Why should people be any more confident were going to get there now after 5 years in office when the situation has gotten worse? I know you gentlemen have delighted in writing in that ever since, frequently. The truth of the matter is, long before the election, I had made public the fact that the plan would not work at the time that I said it would because of the rapid change here, in the economic situation, in Washington - the runaway inflation, the runaway interest rates, all of those things starting. And suddenly the economists, who had helped me and given me this plan, said, No, it cant do it now, its got to take longer than that. But we stuck to the same plan, and now for 38 months we have had the greatest recovery that weve ever had in the last 50 years.
President, during this period Congress has repeatedly not done what youve asked on domestic spending, and we - as a result, we have this very big deficit. Why is there any reason to think that Congress is going to do something differently this time when for 5 years, when youve been a popular President, they havent? Because they realize now that the explosion has occurred, that the deficit has been institutionalized. It is a part of the whole system of the way the Government was set up, as is explained by those figures of a 5-times increase in the budget but 38-times increase in the deficit. And every time you raise the taxes, you threaten another recession and the end of our recovery. And this is the only - main arguments they are giving us against our proposal for the budget. If I can take up on that, your own polls show on defense that a majority of Americans think Pentagon spending is about where it should be. How do you plan to overcome public skepticism and some on Capitol Hill to win approval of this defense budget request at the same time you say that defense spending has brought the Soviets to the bargain...
|
http://csua.com/feed/