Nixon, Colson & Haldeman on Economic Policy and Property Tax

1:07:32So, what I'm asking you to do, if you will talk to the boat, and change the order to what's necessary, will you do that, please?
1:07:37And you might, if you might do this, I don't want to say anything.
1:07:43And you might, if you do feel this way, you might need to call Tom and I and call you that you're working on it.
1:07:49Because I've told you that that's about this 530.
1:07:51I'm going to lawyer you right now.
1:07:53You know, I'm just trying to buy time.
1:07:56So if you could do that, please.
1:07:57All right.
1:07:58Thank you.
1:08:05He doesn't pay for it.
1:08:05He wasn't in for operation today.
1:08:06He's not ready to drop the rope?
1:08:07No, no, no.
1:08:07As a matter of fact, there's a problem.
1:08:08They're not all in.
1:08:09They have to be in favor.
1:08:09That's right, sir.
1:08:10I didn't know we were talking tonight.
1:08:11That word is not allowed now, sir.
1:08:26He's playing games on that.
1:08:27He doesn't want to be late for this.
1:08:29He wants to be late for everything.
1:08:31Well, I've heard of Charles Schultz.
1:08:33I don't know whether that's true or not, except for Charles Schultz.
1:08:37I've heard of him, and Charles Schultz is one of us.
1:08:43Well, he's made this argument right from the beginning.
1:08:47Right.
1:09:08It's all being corrected.
1:09:10It's been something.
1:09:12He didn't call Rumsfeld.
1:09:14He didn't call Hobbes.
1:09:17You know, this is a game he's playing.
1:09:19He's going to deal with the oppressive.
1:09:21Well, I'll deal with anybody.
1:09:22I'll deal with the devil until hell.
1:09:25But, you know what I mean.
1:09:26That's the way it works sometimes.
1:09:29That was a very interesting discussion, wasn't it?
1:09:31That's a very interesting discussion.
1:09:36It is.
1:09:38I was interested in him, particularly in him.
1:09:40I wanted to get Connolly's political direction.
1:09:43Connolly interested in him.
1:09:44I was concerned about the taxes increase.
1:09:47I thought, you know, he would be.
1:09:50Pat Wagner was very concerned about it, many are.
1:09:55I can always talk to the balance, but I can kind of just balls out to the balance, but it isn't any cost in any way.
1:10:01Well, I can talk to that.
1:10:03You've got a balance.
1:10:05Well...
1:10:06I mean, Constance says you just, you've got to balance.
1:10:09Well, how do you do it?
1:10:11Well, if you're talking about a full point of balance, that we will do.
1:10:15But that is not a balanced question.
1:10:18What do you really want?
1:10:18Is it real balance?
1:10:20I'd like to have a real balance, too, but if you do that, you've got to raise patches and do it.
1:10:24And I, I don't know.
1:10:26Do you think that's worth it?
1:10:28No, I think that's a healthy comment.
1:10:30I'm not sure.
1:10:30We all talk about what's been on the slide for as long as 90 years.
1:10:33Confidence for the business community.
1:10:34I don't know.
1:10:34This wasn't a business community.
1:10:36Nothing gives them confidence that I can see something that's going to move at the proper time or hold that.
1:10:42Number two.
1:10:45I must say though, that I was glad to see Collins working on the parochial school.
1:10:50I think all of our actors seem to be interested in that problem.
1:10:56The Domestic Council is just dedicated against the parochial school.
1:11:00Why?
1:11:00I don't know.
1:11:02But they, you know, all those, that guy, who's that guy that writes their papers about?
1:11:06Morey.
1:11:07Morey and Hector.
1:11:08Yeah.
1:11:09I said the guy at the end of the story.
1:11:11That is...
1:11:14Because I believe in private education.
1:11:18Right, I also like it.
1:11:20I think it has a hell of a bad appeal to a lot of people.
1:11:23You can send the thing over to the folks.
1:11:26I sent the folks to pull it out the way they do.
1:11:28They're not pulling it accurate.
1:11:30They're not pulling it right the way they're asking them.
1:11:33Let me say this.
1:11:34They're not pulling it directly.
1:11:36Why not?
1:11:38They say that everybody wants education.
1:11:41We're going to sign that.
1:11:42How do we start to deal with that?
1:11:44Because people are pissed off at education.
1:11:46They want better education.
1:11:49They want better run education.
1:11:50They don't want more money for these parks that are running the education system than what you should ask that I sat around on the table with you.
1:11:59All they're asking for more money to run this thing all the way.
1:12:02That's all.
1:12:02Yeah, the eventual concern of the school building is not valid from here on out.
1:12:07Because at least in the short term, they're sure the school building is going to go way down and not up.
1:12:11Well, one good thing in person came out of this.
1:12:14There are 66 million homeowners in the United States.
1:12:20Every one of them has to pay property taxes.
1:12:39Two-thirds are unoccupied, the other third are rented.
1:12:43But you've got somewhere around 45 million people that pay rent.
1:12:48And the simple fact is, Mr. President, that this approach today gets at two gut political problems, gut political issues that affect what I think is our constituency now, or a changed constituency.
1:13:02One is the tax issue, which is a burning one, and the other one with maybe two to three million people
1:13:09But, which is why it doesn't show in a poll.
1:13:11It's a small group, but it's a group that can be one, is the 8th and Prokiel School.
1:13:17That is just a...
1:13:20When you ask a Catholic or look at a poll, what do you think the issue is?
1:13:24Naturally, Catholics are going to come up with the same issues.
1:13:27They don't think we need, when you have Harper, when Harper came up with that, they're always going to say the same things that people do because they're people.
1:13:37People.
1:13:37But you still, you get at the Catholic, if you are kind of sophisticated, I'll let you know.
1:13:43I'll let you know.
1:13:44By the point that I was making for the benefit, and I was very kind to Connelly and John, both of them, and all the rest.
1:13:54But I was telling the God damn truth.
1:13:57There ain't a vote in Revolutionary or government reorganization, or for that matter, welfare reform.
1:14:04Welfare reform is a vote not for bandit assistance, such as I am, just the audience knows, and earlier than all thought was a hell of a vote at the time, just the audience, but it's, they, it's welfare reform only because they're against welfare, against welfare reform.
1:14:20And so we don't have anything that is a gut issue now.
1:14:23At least this broken school is a straight-out gut issue.
1:14:27Somebody's going to get some money.
1:14:28The property tax, that's a gut issue.
1:14:31Enough votes in Pennsylvania to win the election.
1:14:35Enough votes in Illinois to make sure we hold it.
1:14:38Enough votes in New Jersey to make sure we hold it.
1:14:43The other thing, Mr. President, when we filed that brief in the Supreme Court on the Pennsylvania case,
1:15:13We expected all kinds of hell from the Bible Belt.
1:15:16We didn't hear from a, we didn't hear a peep out of it.
1:15:19Now, that was an overt action the first time the federal government has gone in.
1:15:23Well, actually, I made my comment there the other night.
1:15:26I've got a few letters, but not many.
1:15:29No, very few.
1:15:30Not too much, God damn it.
1:15:32I believe, but let's forget it.
1:15:33I believe, and I've got to do some things in it, I believe, and not go for these God damn idiots.
1:15:38We have a very valid case for that that has nothing to do with helping Catholics or parochial schools, which is to save the goddamn public schools.
1:15:41That's right.
1:15:41What's what?
1:15:42Four million dollars for the Catholics.
1:15:42We can get some more cases out of it.
1:15:43Some of the barishes where they closed the parochial school and then here in some of the public school systems because they had to close the parochial school right now.
1:16:04The other thing, Mr. President, when the issue was debated in Pennsylvania, there are areas of Pennsylvania, as you know, that are as tough as the Bible Belt.
1:16:20They went overwhelmingly to aid the parochial schools because of the issue, that it would absolutely cripple them.
1:16:27in terms of the public and it keeps the Catholic kids in the Catholic schools and they voted in Pennsylvania right across the board for it so I don't it helps us
1:16:43in the states where we desperately need help.
1:16:45And it won't hurt us that much in the states, because they'll vote for it for other reasons.
1:16:50It'll hurt you in Oklahoma, so you'll get only 63%, 68%.
1:16:52Not in Oklahoma, too.
1:16:53We've got to remember, we'll get ahead of Billy Graham before this thing goes in.
1:16:59Now, Billy, we've got to do this, because it's going to break the positive schools and the rest.
1:17:04And Billy will abuse a lot of it.
1:17:05And have Billy acknowledge, when I get out of his term, look,
1:17:08that place in the middle, a lot of Catholics won't likely agree with me, sir.
1:17:12Or an armistice of people, sir.
1:17:14Yeah, I'm good enough for the Catholics, for the Protestants.
1:17:16And I am one.
1:17:17I know I should do so for the Catholics, but I can't imagine that you're going to lose enough votes to matter anywhere.
1:17:25You can, and I have worked up a little thesis.
1:17:29You're being a Protestant, and your opponent being likely a Catholic.
1:17:33Yeah.
1:17:34You can have the best of both ways if you are a Protestant.
1:17:37But you can do things for the Catholic schools and for the professional Catholics that a Catholic candidate cannot try.
1:17:43Muskie has already waffled on this issue.
1:17:45Kennedy is against aid to parochial schools.
1:17:47Jack Kennedy wouldn't touch the issue.
1:17:50And a hell of a case could be made in those areas with the help of Crook and Crowell.
1:17:56I get any questions.
1:17:57I say, all right, this is what we're going to do.
1:18:00Let's work on this.
1:18:02They're already doing it.
1:18:07The one thing about this approach that we have to be careful is to not let it be a revenue-sharing approach.
1:18:12It can't be federal money passed out.
1:18:15It's got to come directly so that that was the worry I see in it.
1:18:21It can't be revenue-sharing.
1:18:22It's got to be direct tax relief somehow to the individual homeowner.
1:18:26And if it's that, you could have a winning issue.
1:18:30Well, that's why it has to be required to get people free.
1:18:34One of their farms, of course, it's amazing how the domestic council comes up always in this way.
1:18:39They said, well, these cities and so forth so desperately need that help that we ought to just pass the money back to the education and then they'll have more money in their budget for purposes of indirect revenue sharing.
1:18:52I said, John, forget it.
1:18:54There's no votes in revenue sharing for us.
1:18:57None.
1:18:58Don't you agree?
1:18:59But they can't see what's in it for them.
1:19:02So we just go around and say we're for it.
1:19:04We'll have an issue on it.
1:19:07We'll let people gamble, gamble, gamble about it.
1:19:10I think we're going to have an issue.
1:19:22You realize there's a lot of nice Columbus chapters.
1:19:25There may be a million and a half of them, aren't there?
1:19:28You go into every nice Columbus chapter, you'll notice that audience has let out an animal-like roar because they're going to help their schools.
1:19:37Well, God, they're going to be more so.
1:19:39It's an emotional experience, isn't it?
1:19:43I don't think I ever sent it in to you, but after your Knights of Columbus speech, the front page of every Catholic Archdiocese, my God, they just, they've been calling you every week.
1:19:54You've got the other gut issues locked, as far as they're concerned.
1:19:58The Catholics, basically, are not a... No, but they're not permissive.
1:20:04They are... Well, they may not like it, but they're going to do what they do.
1:20:10And the point is, there's nobody that can be opposing them.
1:20:19That's the other side of the coin, do you realize that?
1:20:21And they know, they know someone's gonna go to China someday, and they know that no longer that you knew that you were hungry, or it must have also frankly affected the hero thing, but it's just, we haven't done anything on it, but just saying something on a show that we care about the goddamn thing.
1:20:39George Bush called, he's going on backups, he had a speech tonight up there, and they're not having any plundering sessions, so his absence would not accomplish anything anyway.
1:20:49He wanted you to know that he could be of substantial help in turning this thing politically.
1:20:59as far as your problems with the right wing and all, and he still has some pretty good right wing credentials himself.
1:21:04Sure.
1:21:05That he plans to use them.
1:21:06Well, good.
1:21:07You're going to hand it back, aren't you?
1:21:09He'll do some background.
1:21:10He'll do some foreground.
1:21:11He's going on issues, isn't he?
1:21:12Yes, and with Buckley.
1:21:14You told him about this firing line.
1:21:15You told him what I had said, though, that I had criticized the goal.
1:21:20The confidence of those people was so terrible.
1:21:23He saw what you said today, and he said he thought you were absolutely right.
1:21:26Was he there?
1:21:27What did he mean of himself?
1:21:29He was very distressed by that.
1:21:32He said, you were absolutely right to hit him.
1:21:36He said, that was, he said, he was trying to hit him hard publicly so that he, because he can't do anything, you know, on a therapy.
1:21:47But he says, I hope to God he puts the screw to those people that shafted us.
1:21:52He said, that's, and I said, you know what he said?
1:21:54You know what, we can't talk about that.
1:21:56Let's just do it.
1:21:57I called Mr. Durant.
1:21:57I said, all right, you know how much of your sole meticulousness you've done here?
1:22:02And I said, you have to get there.
1:22:04You voted for us, and we're going to reward you where we can.
1:22:09And everyone who voted against us, we're going to punish where we can.
1:22:15Here it is.
1:22:16We can do it.
1:22:16I'll get the bill here.
1:22:19The judge said,
1:22:20Good, I'm glad you said that.
1:22:23I said, propose a reward and punishment to U.N. vote.
1:22:27There, that's an historical note.
1:22:31By God, we're going to do it.
1:22:33We're going to do it.
1:22:39that one of those black bastards voted against his ass and I didn't see me.
1:22:43Never will they cross the threshold with this room again, one of those movie countries.
1:22:47Botswana and some of those others.
1:22:48Screw them.
1:22:50Never.
1:22:50I'll see Don because they voted with us.
1:22:52But I'm going to see Botswana.
1:22:54Now, of course, you've got to see him.
1:22:55He lives in France and the rest of that has something else to do.
1:22:57But I'll be gone then.
1:22:59Cool me over the next time they barge in on me.
1:23:00Because they should have voted with us.
1:23:01They didn't have the reason to vote with the other one.
1:23:06They decided that that's where their vision was wrong.
1:23:10All right.
1:23:13But he doesn't want me to say it, though.
1:23:15He knows I can't say it.
1:23:16No, he said no, but he agreed with what I said to these bastards.
1:23:20He said we've got to show these countries that they can't get away with pulling this double-crossing.
1:23:27Especially the ones that double-cross.
1:23:29We relied on people's words, and they looked me right in the eye and said what they did, and then they didn't do it.
1:23:35Would you enhance his credibility by...
1:23:38By carrying out an intervention, you make them that much more effective.
1:23:44Well, by punishing the innocent.
1:23:45Ask Henry to do this.
1:23:47I want Bush on a confidential basis to get it done.
1:23:52The list of the kinds he particularly wants to have shot, you know, just give us a list.
1:24:06And after we come to that, I want it on a piece of, I just want it on a piece of blank paper.
1:24:10Go ahead and send it to me.
1:24:11And the list of those that he really feels something, we ought to do something for.
1:24:17But he knew that he can't get to that stage and never go against them.
1:24:20Poor Lisa, that poor stuff.
1:24:22They were so soft in the head.
1:24:24But I guess particularly I haven't accomplished it for so many years that I don't know where I am.
1:24:31But for Christ's sake, do you know how many people Botswana's got?
1:24:33It turns out to be a country.
1:24:35They put it in there, the buffer to South Africa.
1:24:37As Henry said, it's a desert land.
1:24:40They have 300,000 people.
1:24:42And Botswana, Botswana, didn't destroy it.
1:24:45We created the goddamn place.
1:24:46How many people has quaint are in it?
1:24:50I didn't even know there was one.
1:24:52I saw two or three hundred.
1:24:53250,000.
1:24:53I had never heard of the country.
1:24:55There they were.
1:24:58Well, I'll tell you, I went well with getting some criticism for this thing.
1:25:02We'll get some.
1:25:03But the reason I do love it now, and then you're going to call it off and be a little too much.
1:25:09George said it was good.
1:25:10George said, he said, you'll get it.
1:25:12He said, the New York Times will take, you know, just blast the president on this thing.
1:25:17Sure.
1:25:17He said, that's what I'm supposed to do.
1:25:20It's just fine.
1:25:20It's what you want.
1:25:22You reckon that's just fine, doesn't it?
1:25:24Yep.
1:25:24Because he says it's true, and he said, well, but he also said you can't, you've got to, you need to do something like that, just to set that in once, and make the point with the conservatives, let them know you care.
1:25:39Well, all the, all the fellows that I've been talking to, particularly the BFW, they're all thrilled.
1:25:44Well, the president has said it for us now.
1:25:47One thing is, that's what they want.
1:25:49George, George did say that, which I,
1:25:52He stopped him and he said, if there's any question here, I'll say, you know, that I get the blame on this, not the president.
1:25:59I said, oh, George, don't ever take that position.
1:26:02The president's whole line has been that they must not blame Bush or Rogers for this, that they did a superb job of fighting for the U.N.
1:26:10They were shafted by the U.N. That's where fighting for the U.N.
1:26:13Blame the U.N. members, Tom.
1:26:15Don't take any blame.
1:26:18So he said, okay, fine.
1:26:21The President said it for us.
1:26:26I mean, that's exactly what we like to tell those bastards up there.
1:26:30And, you know, thank God, he said, he gave us an escape note rather than what a lot of the... Well, it's kind of like this, Kelly.
1:26:39Yeah.
1:26:42It's not a big issue, but it's kind of like everybody said, oh, Jesus Christ, what the hell, they're going to kick us around.
1:26:47They expect us to say something, you know what I mean?
1:26:49Yeah, you're saying it for them.
1:26:51Yeah, you can't just say that we regret the vote, and Rogers has got to say that.
1:26:56But I've got to say that I thought it was a damn shocking performance, and it was, for countries not just to vote against us.
1:27:04But to glee, to gloat, to gleeful...
1:27:07I mean, I later forgot your reaction when it went out and it started just as long ago.
1:27:15I guess you got into something yet.
1:27:16He's got some good ones.
1:27:17He's got glee.
1:27:19The clapping, undignified actions, the...
1:27:22I'm not worried about the United Nations.
1:27:27Undisguised glee and personal animosity on the personal level.
1:27:30Personal animosity.
1:27:32certain delegates towards the U.S. That's great.
1:27:34That's good stuff.
1:27:35He had it.
1:27:37He really had it.
1:27:39He's good this way.
1:27:40He got it very well.
1:27:42Well, I've been doing a lot of thinking on this tax thing, and I've heard some sluggish things now.
1:27:49I have a point that we ought to go to.
1:27:52It's so, if we could get it all down to the...
1:27:56to a way to, or let's get to where it's frankly just a cold political issue.
1:28:00We only expect it to pass.
1:28:01So let's face it, we'll lay it out there and say that, I mean, call it a property tax relief act.
1:28:09I think that's better than homeowners relief act.
1:28:12I think, don't you think everybody knows what the property tax is?
1:28:15I think so.
1:28:16That's what it's called everywhere.
1:28:18Property tax is when you get the bill, it's known as your property tax.
1:28:21Property tax relief act.
1:28:23Property tax relief act.
1:28:25And that's for the parole schools.
1:28:27That's just another thing the property tax should be back.
1:28:33Well, the thing you have to bring up front is the property tax.
1:28:36And the education issue is...
1:28:38It really is a device.
1:28:39It's really going to be all the jackasses in education support, to the extent they will.
1:28:44I do not believe, I've talked to John about this earlier, that we can expect as much support as he expects.
1:28:49Because basically, they are so left-wing, socialistic,
1:28:54that they just aren't going to be forced.
1:28:57Remember, Bob, you remember getting some better, we always thought, let's face it, not let's face it, you're never a revolutionary, a welfare reform, a welfare reform.
1:29:04I said, you know, all liberals are going to support you because of this.
1:29:08Shouldn't they then be supporting us because of it?
1:29:12No, they, well, they supported revenue sharing.
1:29:14I know, but not for you.
1:29:16and existence.
1:29:18Do you agree?
1:29:19Absolutely.
1:29:19The only thing they support.
1:29:20These issues are only good as indicating that, well, maybe we're thinking progressively, but we've done enough progressive thinking.
1:29:28Now we're going to think politically.
1:29:31Well, they have had the value of having a positive thing of yours up there that they've had to argue.
1:29:36And I've fought out of it.
1:29:39I've fought out of it.
1:29:40Yes, sir.
1:29:41And you've preempted all the issues.
1:29:43All the issues they debate are your issues, which is, which has value.
1:29:48It's much better than us being on the defensive on why we aren't doing such and such.
1:29:56They'll say, now you've got to increase your taxes, raise your taxes, and raise your prices, and everything like that.
1:30:03And we say, property tax relief.
1:30:06Property tax relief.
1:30:09Be quiet for a minute.
1:30:10What about the act?
1:30:10The tax not only raises taxes.
1:30:14Well, it doesn't raise taxes, actually.
1:30:16It raises prices.
1:30:17It raises prices.
1:30:19It raises, you know, a hell of a lot of that is absorbed.
1:30:23It doesn't quite work that way.
1:30:25No, it has benefits in terms of international credit.
1:30:28Right.
1:30:28Every other country has.
1:30:31It appeals to the people who are concerned about foreign competition.
1:30:35I think Colin's right.
1:30:36People don't worry as much about hidden taxes.
1:30:40If they pay a little bit more for a washing machine or things they buy, that's not so bad.
1:30:44But that property tax, you're going to know it.
1:30:49And raising prices is, you know, people expect prices to go up.
1:30:52Prices go up anyway.
1:30:55They just go up.
1:30:57Well, if they can't... We're having a success argument in the crack today.
1:31:01I spent an hour at his prison, and we...
1:31:04He doesn't really love you.
1:31:05Yeah.
1:31:06He doesn't even think about you.
1:31:09No.
1:31:10Not much.
1:31:11He just sent you his reading indicators.
1:31:14He thinks things are flat, and he believes that they will go up next year, but not as much as we say.
1:31:21He thinks it's politically counterproductive for us to talk.
1:31:25the economy up.
1:31:26He thinks that's dangerous.
1:31:27He wants you to talk it down?
1:31:28Yep.
1:31:29He said, when good news comes out, we should say, well, it's only one month.
1:31:32And when bad news comes out, then we can say, well, that's only one month.
1:31:34Well, that's a school of thought that other people have.
1:31:38It's not great for the economists, but it's not great for the people.
1:31:40But you've got to say, when good news comes out, this is great.
1:31:43When bad news comes out, you've got to say, it doesn't mean anything.
1:31:45Well, I've got to...
1:31:47It's like the other... Take the cue from them.
1:31:49What do the people against us do?
1:31:50When bad news comes out, they leap all over.
1:31:52When good news comes out, they ignore it.
1:31:54Well, I then, I kind of got down to the nut cutting with Paul and told him exactly the problem.
1:32:00I said, I think, I really think, he asked whether his speeches outside had been negative.
1:32:07And I said, no, in fact, the last one I saw was good.
1:32:11But his attitude just has a very harmful effect on others.
1:32:14He said, well, maybe I shouldn't express my opinions except to the president.
1:32:22and he said i and he said maybe i should do it too he got the point he knew i was you know what i was saying and i doubt that you're going to find paul going out and leading a period section tomorrow it's going to come at the right time we're just comfortable in the right time i should have went
1:32:48I showed him this press release because I met him right after I was in with you, the one of the Chamber of Commerce, which shows that 78% of the businessmen now feel that the economy is turning up in the second quarter and 42% of the Chamber of Commerce folks.
1:33:04But you see, he takes your letter this week and he does it every week.
1:33:07There's no great friends.
1:33:10But he starts out and he says things are moving up steadily and slowly.
1:33:15There's no question that 72 is going to be a golden year.
1:33:23The council, according to that, the council is bearish.
1:33:26I said this to Paul and he said, well, you can't really put too much back in there.
1:33:36Well, let's see.
1:34:05The potential is all there, it can just let loose and rather just keep the money flowing.
1:34:11I think our current money supply is having a chilling effect.
1:34:16Terrible.
1:34:16The market was off again today and when I talk to people they say it's off again.
1:34:22It was off at 5 or 6 and I don't think I got the place.
1:34:29It was down 5 at midday.
1:34:35And it didn't go up like that.
1:34:39But that's liquidity.
1:34:40They're worried about a shrunken money supply.
1:34:44George Schultz has prepared some charts for you.
1:34:50Markets ain't worried about it.
1:34:51It's got 100 points to go up.
1:34:53That's the way to look at it.
1:34:55If you start moving at 10, it's worried.
1:34:59It's just one of those things.
1:35:02But you know, the thing is that we've done all the same things that people want.
1:35:07And you can't talk people talk.
1:35:10I don't say that in all sense.
1:35:12You can't talk people into comments.
1:35:14You've got this problem that your market people are constrained to read a cap, and the business people
1:35:23But that Chamber of Commerce thing, there are a lot of that sort of thing around.
1:35:28Do you agree about it or not?
1:35:29Yeah.
1:35:30Well, everybody knows people deal well.
1:35:31Are you there?
1:35:32Don't we hear?
1:35:32Yeah.
1:35:33So, let's... We hear it from everybody.
1:35:35You know how this describes everybody's feeling good?
1:35:37Okay, it takes time for that to be reflected.
1:35:39That doesn't... That's where it's coming from.
1:35:42It takes time for it to be reflected.
1:35:44He thinks December... Well, he thinks it's coming now.
1:35:46He thinks...
1:35:47He said it's sort of similar here.
1:35:49It was coming around similarly.
1:35:50It says it won't come until January, but...
1:35:53Harris says it is rising out of consumer confidence.
1:35:57And this kind of thing, these are the little shopkeepers, basically, who really test the public orders every day.
1:36:03I think the mood is dramatically different across the country in the last 90 days.
1:36:13I think we need the U.N. thing where it is now.
1:36:16That's all right to me.
1:36:18That question was a little background-y.
1:36:20But as far as I'm concerned, I'd slap the bastards and I'll catch some hell for it, which I do look like I fairly expect to, but I want to, right?
1:36:29Huh?
1:36:29I think in exactly the right way.
1:36:31I don't think they have, but they just didn't need to slap the United States that way.
1:36:36People hate to die, you know, obviously.
1:36:45I mean, except among our set, I mean, what I call the intellectual set.
1:36:49I mean, they came down and had a damn good event, but my God, they all were both bought two tables of even spices and got down.
1:36:56But, you know, because it's the thing to do.
1:36:59But don't ever bring that.
1:37:00Now, that's the proclamation.
1:37:02I stopped that one.
1:37:03I'm never going to sign another U.S. promulgation.
1:37:05No more.
1:37:06No more.
1:37:07I'm just not going to do it.
1:37:10It's the way to fix them.
1:37:11It fixed their way.
1:37:15After all, we cannot submit our faith to a bunch of goddamn cannibals.
1:37:20That's what this involves.
1:37:22Representing, when you come right down to it, a minority of the... Well, they don't even...
1:37:26But the main thing is, let's suppose they have three hundred million people in Africa.
1:37:30They only have about three brains in the goddamn universe.
1:37:34That's the truth, sir.
1:37:36That's the truth.
1:37:37Nice people, Jesus.
1:37:38They're like children.
1:37:55I guess the domestic council is not aware of that.
1:37:59I think we've made that point.
1:38:02Oh, yeah.
1:38:04I think we can get something out of that.
1:38:11This really doesn't need a hell of a lot of work.
1:38:23This is a
1:38:24Chuck?
1:38:25Yes, sir.
1:38:25I guess with the changes that have been in the modern reading indicators, reading remains above the average in the second quarter, unless the recent times are very bright in the first half.
1:38:49No, well, it's true that they needed to run.
1:38:52One of those was a stock market commercial.
1:38:56Three out of the eight were up, five were down.
1:39:00And our house, home building was one of the keys to get it down, but just because it came off of an ad, it was probably not enough.
1:39:05And I wrote to him, and I wrote to him, and I told him, I said, well, it really isn't dead.
1:39:12He said, well, you hung it up, the ad's not working.
1:39:15I'm not concerned about taxing it.
1:39:17The main thing is we do something.
1:39:17If we're forced on it, we'll do it.
1:39:18And we'll go over to those Catholics and we're up on those.
1:39:28But that one I didn't find the softest word.
1:39:30I know that property tax rate for the old folks.
1:39:32I began my life in working as a mathematician.
1:39:36And I can tell you where those votes are, what moves are being made.
1:39:42You can turn on the New York Times.
1:39:44Who's going to be with us tonight, right?
1:39:47He says he does.
1:39:47He's got 500,000 members, and they're tough.
1:39:51And that's a tough group.
1:39:53Peter took your nice Columbus speech, and they were recording it.
1:39:56From me, he didn't even ask for my help.
1:39:59And Senator Kerry, one of his moments, has been quite inventive.
1:40:03He's got 80% capital.
1:40:04But that issue, no one should be mistaken, that issue has a real good appeal to captains because it all brings back memories of their uncle.
1:40:16Although they were, the captains have been put on by the states that I'm on.
1:42:23Well, we'll keep this one under curfew.
1:42:26This citizen, well, I guess he'll get by.
1:42:29Well, thanks a lot.
1:42:31And he would just say that Bush was,
1:42:35Bush approved my statement one night and said exactly what he did.
1:42:39He said you can catch all the New York Times, but he said that's what everybody deals with.
1:42:43He said it was a horrible spectacle.
1:42:44Is that right?
1:42:45Yes, exactly.
1:42:46The same thing he said in the statement he's going to go.
1:42:49And the other day he said, I just hope, he said, I can't say this in the State Department.
1:42:54He said, I just hope that you will, that the president will.
1:42:59do something with regard to punishing our enemies and rewarding our friends.
1:43:03And I said, I'm way ahead of them.
1:43:05I've got to talk with them.
1:43:08And I asked them to send me down on a blank sheet of paper the countries that really ought to be punished and lied to that we can't, and the ones that ought to be rewarded.
1:43:16I'll give it to you, but Henry, this is one thing we're gonna... No, we're gonna apply a punishment, Diane.
1:43:21We have got to do something to make respect for the United States.
1:43:25Now, that's Botswana's thing.
1:43:27As I said, I just told them what you told me.
1:43:29The goddamn country, 300,000 people, and not one letter in the place.
1:43:35It's awful.
1:43:35George Bush, we're in an area where there's several people who have to screw everything.
1:43:42Yeah.
1:43:43But, Father Kuyana...
1:43:47Because the whole strategy was nuts.
1:43:50Forget it.
1:43:51Well, how'd you get along with your... Oh, I tell you, they are laughing this stuff up.
1:43:56They just...
1:43:57I'm glad you did it on the record.
1:43:59As a matter of fact, I was talking to Bob, and I told Sabre, too, that I'm going to have now you and I'm going to be the same mother of Johnson.
1:44:07I'm going to have you do virtually everything on the record.
1:44:13These sons of bitches, they had a meeting...
1:44:16Washington bureau chiefs in 19 out of the 25 criticized White House backgrounders on the ground and much of the leadership in the background and so forth.
1:44:28Well, like I said, it's true that we won't get into the background of this.
1:44:30We'll put it on the record.
1:44:32We won't sell it by this much.
1:44:33If I golly, that's good.
1:44:34I just don't do it.
1:44:36I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, these press people, I'll just, if you have it on the record, you'll let it approach you.
1:44:43And frankly, a state doesn't like to let a state go blue, purdy hell.
1:44:47I'm, we've got, I mean, we've got to fight everything, but they can laugh it up, you know.
1:44:52This was... Did they go after you on the UN vote?
1:44:57No.
1:44:57Yes, they said, how can you explain away the UN vote?
1:45:00I said, well, first of all, I object to the question.
1:45:03There's nothing to explain away.
1:45:06Second, let's get it straight.
1:45:10The visit was set early in September.
1:45:13We set it specifically at that time because then we thought the vote would be when it was every other year, which is the middle of November.
1:45:20So it could not have
1:45:22Thirdly, it was, I have gone over the list of every country that voted against me, and I defy anybody to produce one single country that changed its vote as a result of that.
1:45:35Fourthly, it was just as tough for the communist Chinese to talk to us when we were trying to keep them out of
1:45:41But we were trying to solve the problem on a basis different from what they wanted than for us to talk to them.
1:45:47What about the positive side?
1:45:50Oh, the positive side.
1:45:51First of all, they laughed up.
1:45:54I played it in this sort of disingenuous way.
1:45:57You know, what did you discuss?
1:46:00I gave them some of the technical garbage.
1:46:03What a presidential trip involves.
1:46:06And I said how I presented it to them, to them.
1:46:10and how we had the technical discussions and all of that, and they just couldn't hear enough of it.
1:46:14Well, how about the press?
1:46:16I said, well, I don't mind telling you that they couldn't understand some of our press requirements.
1:46:24For example, why do we need three of everything on television?
1:46:28And so I said, now, we have...
1:46:33and they were going to have a very huge order?
1:46:36Oh, no, no, no.
1:46:36I said, I'm keeping them timely.
1:46:38I said, well, now, the Chinese very generously said that they would accept as many presses as their physical facilities permit, but the number hasn't been set yet, and I have to tell you their physical facilities are very limited.
1:46:52I want them to think that 80 is going to be a tremendous figure.
1:46:55And they, of course...
1:46:58And their physical facilities are very limited.
1:47:01They were very candid in showing them to us.
1:47:05And the death number will be set on another trip, which we'll take later.
1:47:09I didn't want to give out any numbers.
1:47:15And they said... You told them you'd make the announcement the latter day.
1:47:20I said the announcement would be made the 3rd of December.
1:47:22And they said, I'll be limply ruled.
1:47:23I want you to know the trip will be...
1:47:26not before January 1st.
1:47:28And the reason I tell you this is so that you don't think this is a previous administration that arrives here every day with your bags packed.
1:47:40And then they said, well, what about substance?
1:47:50They, well, they said,
1:47:55I said, now, first let me make one thing clear.
1:47:58The President has said repeatedly, last time on Sunday, that he's going there with his eyes open.
1:48:06Neither the People's Republic nor we are going to change our fundamental philosophies.
1:48:12We know they're opposed to us in fundamental philosophy.
1:48:15We know we're just at the very beginning of the trip.
1:48:18The President has never pretended
1:48:21that we will do anything else there except to make the beginning of a long journey to bring our two great peoples together.
1:48:29But we are conscious of our differences and those differences will remain.
1:48:33I'm just trying to position the communication.
1:48:38Oh, they laughed that up.
1:48:41It was almost the best spirit that I've had.
1:48:46Oh, they, everyone who heard it said,
1:48:51This was really... Then they asked, well, you're going... Did you discuss Taiwan?
1:49:06I said, listen, look, gentlemen, you wouldn't believe me if I told you that they embraced Taiwan.
1:49:11But they stated their position, and they know ours.
1:49:16And then they said, what other topics did you discuss in here?
1:49:22I said, I will not discuss any other substantive topic that they ask me about the Soviet Union.
1:49:28I said, the same thing goes, but let me make a general statement.
1:49:33The President has announced that on his first press conference he would go to the Soviet Union, and we had some substantive things.
1:49:41Well, I was going to tell you that I'm going over to... Oh, that road's going on.
1:49:47Sorry.
1:49:47I'm going to go over there now, and...
1:49:52Be ready at 6.30 if you'd like to hop over to the museum.
1:50:00Okay.
1:50:01It'll be like 0625.
1:50:02Yeah.
1:50:02All right, fine.
1:50:03It seems wrong to speak like that.
1:50:05Yeah, yeah.
1:50:05I think you should be pleased with the fact that I let Sigrid say that I thought the conduct of the U.S. people was disgusting.
1:50:14It really was.
1:50:14You know, and... All your people called for you then.
1:50:18Yeah, it was like the antics of college.
1:50:22I said this for the benefit of...
1:50:45Well, now, for the benefit of the brief, I said we have a long agenda of issues to discuss with them, a long agenda of issues to discuss with the People's Republic.
1:50:56We have enough in our bilateral relations.
1:50:59Nothing we do is directed against, you know, the usual stuff against the countries.
1:51:07And they said, well, are you trying to tell us that you won't discuss Vietnam?
1:51:12I said, gentlemen, I told you we won't discuss some of the issues.
1:51:15But we expect to settle the war with Hanoi, not with Peking.
1:51:21And they have their love in Peking, and their love in Hanoi, and it doesn't cost us anything because that's what we expected to say.
1:51:31I think it's a matter of fact, George.
1:51:33I think this is the end as far as Hanoi is concerned.
1:51:40They're either going to come down or
1:51:43I may be smoking pot, but I think they're coming.
1:51:47They're coming.

Nixon, Colson & Haldeman on Economic Policy and Property Tax

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Also recorded on October 27, 1971

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