Nixon, Haldeman & Ehrlichman on White House Conference on Aging and H.R. 1

1:45:42I checked with the U.S. about the pharmaceutical thing.
1:45:45He said the reason it is in the end is that you can't do it.
1:45:48It's A, too expensive, even on a sharing basis.
1:45:51There's no way that it's possible.
1:45:54And B, it's impossible to administer.
1:45:58So they have a huge amount of...
1:46:46Well, it just can't be done.
1:46:50I've had the OMB guys really dig into this.
1:46:55I can't recommend it at all.
1:46:58It's very expensive.
1:46:59Almost impossible to administer without tremendous abuse.
1:47:06The sharing thing has been studied out by R1B very carefully.
1:47:13And it's still very expensive.
1:47:15I figured I'd do this.
1:47:20Right.
1:47:46Well, of course, this reflects Lennox's point of view.
1:47:53They'd all like a big ticket out of it.
1:48:01I can't find it.
1:48:02Well, I can't find it, and I'd recommend it.
1:48:08But we go through here, and maybe...
1:48:30No.
1:48:31No.
1:48:32They don't know it.
1:48:33And what they've been subjected to is Russell Long coming up there and speaking to them, saying why we'd have had this social security legislation out a long time ago if the president hadn't insisted on having all that welfare stuff on there.
1:48:49And he just says that's terrible stuff.
1:48:51Now, we've all been up speaking yesterday, and we've been pounding away at the various benefits for older Americans in H.R.
1:49:001, aside from the Social Security stuff.
1:49:03And we're beginning to penetrate a little bit.
1:49:06Now, none of us use these numbers, except I did use a tax number that's in your speech, but I think that there is repeating that they can earn money.
1:49:15The older people can earn money and keep it.
1:49:18And they don't understand it.
1:49:22We've flooded the place with fact sheets on everything we're doing, including H.R.
1:49:281, so that they're getting all this literature, and they're going to take this all back to their communities as their delegates.
1:49:36But I don't think it hurts to go through that.
1:49:39We've got very high visibility.
1:49:42I tell you, I read this very carefully last night, and I think you can get away with this.
1:49:53It's my feeling.
1:49:54It's a very friendly audience.
1:50:02Well,
1:50:22You can do that, you're putting your chin out.
1:50:27I saw that as being covered by your willingness to entertain all of their suggestions, and that most surely will be one of them coming out of this.
1:50:36Maybe I'm unduly insensitive to the thing that Garment's talking about here, but I'm not so sure he's the best judge of this.
1:50:47I just don't...
1:50:49We always come up, you know, all these conferences, Jonathan.
1:50:52I mean, that's why the folks come to the White House.
1:51:31I doubt it.
1:51:34I doubt it.
1:51:35But we'll keep an open mind now.
1:51:47We'll take a look at it another time.
1:51:54I just don't think that's one that we can.
1:51:57I'll tell you what I did over here yesterday, and I got a huge ovation and a lot of people coming up afterwards.
1:52:03I said, we'll carefully examine everything you recommend.
1:52:09And I told them about the machinery to do that and how you get option papers and how you work and so on.
1:52:16I said, the president's going to review carefully, but you're in a typhoon of competition.
1:52:25with other competing claims, libraries and schools and the military and all across the board.
1:52:33It isn't enough for you just to come to Washington and say, we want this money.
1:52:37You've got to make your case, and you're not going to win them all.
1:52:42And so it behooves you all not only to try and get the administration to espouse your stuff, but you've got to work on the Congress, and you've got to make your case.
1:52:54And that the political pressure isn't going to do it.
1:52:56And I got big hurrahs at the end of the thing, and a lot of people coming up saying, gee, we're glad that somebody is doing something besides just promising this thing.
1:54:12Well, yes, the real property tax thing is going to be the headline in this, I think.
1:54:26Budget?
1:54:30Well, you know, we did a work-up on that.
1:54:32There is a draft that John Andrews did.
1:54:36And I don't think it's the proper approach.
1:54:40But I don't think it hurts to talk to them more in terms of inflation.
1:54:48I pitched him on this checkoff yesterday.
1:54:52Got a big hand.
1:54:54I said that the president's going to veto this, there shouldn't be any misunderstanding about it, and why is he going to veto it?
1:55:00It destroys the political system, but more importantly, it involves between 50 and 100 million dollars of taxpayer money going to pay for somebody's political campaign.
1:55:09And the president feels that there's a much better use of 50 to 100 million dollars a year of treasury money that you all have sent in here in your taxes than to pay for somebody's political campaign.
1:55:23Yahoo!
1:55:23Big cheers!
1:55:29And then I worked around the inflation and the need for more jobs, and that Congress has to reenact this tax bill.
1:55:37And they stuck with it.
1:55:38I kept getting hands on it right on through that subject.
1:55:41It's pretty good in every interest group.
1:55:45It's good.
1:55:45A plot for diverting 50 to 100 million dollars in money could be used for... For your tax.
1:55:50To go into the slush funds for political candidates.
1:56:08Do you want me to rework the inflation part of this?
1:56:11See if we can strengthen that up some?
1:56:15Just a brush.
1:56:16Just a little brush.
1:56:23Yeah.
1:56:37This real estate tax thing comes none too soon.
1:56:54Haldeman's fellows have certainly got a source in the Muskie office.
1:57:01And I'm sending you down a copy of a memo they stole.
1:57:05He's on it.
1:57:05He's had an issue poll in California, and real estate taxes shows up very high.
1:57:11And so he's going out and had two days of hearings in California on real estate taxes around the 20th.
1:57:21So I think we have to...
1:57:32I thought I might give the vice president some material on this.
1:57:36The assumption that he'd be speaking around.
1:57:39He'd be whacking him.
1:57:43Yeah, I'll give him the whole book to read, and then we'll talk about the parts that he ought to be emphasizing.
1:57:56No, this is the last one.
1:57:59Spanish speaking.
1:58:01It's been indefinitely postponed as far as I know.
1:58:05That was one that had been discussed.
1:58:08I'll find out.
1:58:09Well, you need to find out.
1:58:11Well, I should know.
1:58:12Do your best to see that we don't have it.
1:58:15It would be a real good and bad in 1977.
1:58:18Actually, this one has been hacked.
1:58:20Fleming has done a very intelligent job on this.
1:58:23You look at this audience, and it looks like the Federation of Republican Women
1:58:29As a matter of fact, the chairman of the meeting I spoke to yesterday was the Colorado chairman of the Republican Women's Federation.
1:58:36And she mentioned the fact, and they are, by and large, a friendly audience.
1:58:41There are few, like, well, there are few professionals in the Trump Center.
1:58:45Yeah.
1:58:51Thank you.
1:58:57I think you'll find that it'll float all right.
1:58:59I really do.
1:59:00And your headline will be the real estate taxing, I suspect.
1:59:04Would you have a copy of that, so that I can have it with me?
1:59:27Okay, I'll do it.
1:59:29Okay, John.
1:59:30Even that's because she's in her bed.
1:59:40She's in her bed.
1:59:41It really ought to have been that.
1:59:44It's a great book that we can't end.
1:59:46It's a long way along.
1:59:47Good, because we're honest.
1:59:48As you said on the prescription thing, as soon as you came over to the sharing thing, they'd come over and pay the whole cost.
1:59:54You came out with the whole cost, they came out with paying the cab fare at the drugstore.
1:59:57I tried, I tried, I tried.
1:59:58It's a great service.
2:00:05It's unbelievable.
2:00:11On that Monday TV evening, McGregor and Timmons come up with, I think, probably a sound point, which is that the breakfast deal should not be with Mansfield and Scott.
2:00:21It should either be with the Big Five, and it's at 4,000, the speaker, or, if that's too many, which the TV guys think it is, then it should be with the speaker rather than with the senators.
2:00:36If you're going to put any focus on anybody, the speaker has to be at 4,000.
2:00:40Well, we got the other one.
2:00:42Probably got that box, but that one is a speaker.
2:00:46The House has cooperated with us, and the speaker has cooperated, generally.
2:00:50Mansfield is screwing it every turn, and the Senate is screwing it every turn.
2:00:56I have one.
2:01:01Well, the idea of a breakfast with the congressional people is pretty good.
2:01:09And it's a logical thing to do, because you do do those experiments regularly.
2:01:12I don't know what the hell you're going to discuss on that.
2:01:25There's nothing going up there that they can have nothing to discuss that's to our interest.
2:01:31You can go the long way for that matter.
2:01:37If you have a more positive discussion with the houseguards, we can send that to you.
2:01:41Well, if it's a speaker at all, you can send it to me.
2:01:44Yeah.
2:01:48Or if it's all time.
2:01:52Or we can go with the speaker and Jerry and Bob, should I...
2:02:09The breakfast deal should not be with Mansfield and Scott.
2:02:13It should either be with the Big Five, and it's at 4,000, the speaker.
2:02:19Or, if that's too many, which the TV guys think it is, then it should be with the speaker rather than the senators.
2:02:27If you're going to put any focus on anybody, the speaker has to be at 4,000.
2:02:32Well, we got the other one.
2:02:35Probably had to have bombs, but everyone is a speaker.
2:02:38The House has cooperated with us, and the Speaker has cooperated, generally.
2:02:42Mansfield is screwing it every turn, and the Senate is screwing it every turn.
2:02:48And yet, I have one.
2:02:53Well, the idea of a breakfast with the congressional people is pretty good.
2:03:01And it's a logical thing to do, because you do do those experiments regularly.
2:03:04I don't know what the hell you're going to discuss on that.
2:03:17There's nothing going up there that they can have something to discuss that's to our interest, and you can go the long way for that matter.
2:03:29We can have a more positive discussion with the houseguards and the sound guys, too.
2:03:33Well, if it's a speaker at all times, we can hold it down.
2:03:36Yeah.
2:03:40Or if it's all time.
2:03:44Or we can go with the speaker and Jerry and Bob should have it.
2:04:05It seemed like a good idea to have some congressional contact, and that the breakfast thing was a better way to get into a congressional meeting in here.
2:04:24And it fits your pattern, because you do have a congressional breakfast.
2:04:35They don't listen to the whole practice.
2:04:42They don't have to do that.
2:04:46They don't have to.
2:04:48We can have them listen for any second that you want.
2:04:54We have a complete... We get the belt.
2:04:57We can deduct any end we want.
2:05:19You read these things, wouldn't you agree with me?
2:05:26Yeah.
2:05:26I don't know.
2:05:27I may be too grateful for the damn things, but...
2:05:31I'm just a child, I'm just going to read that one, just let it fly.
2:05:35I don't care how much you love it.
2:06:10Are you thinking in terms of how an audience can invest in it?
2:06:19That's part of it.
2:06:30Part of it may be that we're too bureaucratized to, you know, that a speech has got to satisfy too many people.
2:06:41Yeah.
2:06:42You run it by 18 different people.
2:06:43By the time you get a curve, it's done.
2:06:47It's like the speech would get out of hand or shot.
2:06:50They start slapping things in.
2:06:51They start slapping things out.
2:06:53Probably some of the worst speeches I've ever heard come from there.
2:06:57So I've redone all those.
2:06:58I had all the scenes at the domestic site where somebody could take those goddamn things.
2:07:05They'd be possessed.
2:07:45No, it should be able to, if he's done the speaking.
2:07:47He's got the emotional stuff.
2:07:49Well, it gives him time.
2:07:51And it may be that we need to work harder on getting more out of him.
2:07:59Well, he's got to spend some time on something.
2:08:00I know this, but it's no good to do it.
2:08:04It's not hard in Christ's name at all.
2:08:13So far I've imagined there are a bunch of them involved, but it's harder than you'd ever get it.
2:08:28I'm very sure.
2:08:31The main thing is you just don't have more of them.
2:08:45Agree?
2:08:46Ja, I think so.
2:09:50Hey, I also want to go before I go.
2:09:54One other thing, which is that Mitchell and the Chief Justice are very interested.
2:10:02You tape a greeting to that corrections conference that they're having in Williamsburg next week.
2:10:10No, I told them just to do it right.
2:10:12I've got a draft here.
2:10:14If you want to do it before you go today, just get it out of the way before you go to do this game.
2:10:23What they'd like to do is use it at the opening of the conference on Monday where you can come out and see mileage, which is probably the right thing to do.
2:10:35Accidentally, this kind of thing for a conference like that, in my view, is better than going to the conference.
2:10:41You'll get darn near as much news, probably, because they'll pick up that you called for.
2:10:49In this kind of gazelle.
2:10:50I think it's a cheap shot.
2:10:58No problem.
2:11:04We'll have to try and see.
2:11:07Something actually comes out.
2:11:12We have to do the revolving.
2:11:15We have to do it.
2:11:17By the 20th.
2:11:20But before you get it, I'm not going to bring it on right now.
2:11:33In case you think you're getting something, I'm going to bring it on.
2:11:37It doesn't look like this.
2:11:39Because I haven't figured how much I'll be doing it on.
2:11:44It'll probably be 18.
2:11:47That's Park Street.
2:11:49They'll be in the lead somewhere near the 18th, but they will not actually call back.
2:12:43Congressman James Harvey of Michigan, please.
2:13:55Yes, I just wanted you to know that I've been following that legislation on lunch reform.
2:13:59All the counties that bring in commerce strength out there on the lower track, we have some lovely counties.
2:14:20I'm glad they listen to you.
2:14:23What are your projections?
2:14:55It did.
2:14:56It did.
2:14:57We're here trying desperately to get something out of there.
2:15:45If you do, if you win it now, what about the next decision?
2:16:24Yeah.
2:16:26Sure.
2:16:27Sure.
2:16:28Yeah.
2:16:30Well.
2:16:36Well, there's certain people who appreciate it, and I have.
2:16:40You have what I have, and we have confidence in you.
2:16:43Okay.
2:16:44Whatever you want to do is the most important thing, sir.
2:16:46Okay.
2:16:50All right.
2:16:52Check.
2:16:52Twelve.
2:16:53Okay, gentlemen.
2:16:55Thank you.
2:16:57Still there?
2:17:26I have a question on what you do on the TV.
2:17:28We ought to set that up today.
2:17:30The congressional guys would prefer to have a bond.
2:17:42The TV guys would prefer to have a smaller group just because you get more conversation.
2:17:46Another way, though, is that you show more power.
2:17:52I don't think maybe you come out looking...
2:17:56Looking stronger.
2:17:58You get the whole, you know, it's an impressive total leadership there.
2:18:07Ford and Arons.
2:18:09Ford and Arons.
2:18:11No, not Arons.
2:18:12Ford, Boggs and Albert.
2:18:15And that's what it's about.
2:18:26Or you could go to the dream of the house, if you prefer that.
2:18:30Go to Albert, Ford, and Bob.
2:18:44I do not have our legislation.
2:18:49I mean, I don't have it.
2:18:51I don't have it.
2:19:11Let's have a look.
2:19:39You've got some stuff on both the Farm Bureau and the Agriculture Editors, if you want it.
2:19:48They're being set up on the basis that you're not saying anything to them.
2:19:51Are they being told?
2:19:54Yes.
2:19:55They're being told that you are going to drop by to shake hands and reach a chance to meet them individually after your 4-H address.
2:20:08You go right into a
2:20:11One room for reception of the 50 state presidents, CUFAs, the Department of Your Own, and the introductions as they go through the line, and you move right out of there down to the other room with just 100 of the editors.
2:20:24The rest of the editors will introduce that.
2:20:35We can, if you want to, just save time and...
2:21:03If you do a photo with the editor, he'll run it in his paper, I suppose.
2:21:07How's that?
2:21:07Okay, we're going to have photos with the editors.
2:21:23In some ways, maybe that's easier, too.
2:21:25That gives you more to do with them, which gives you a reason not to have to talk to them.
2:21:33Ja.
2:21:33Ja.

Nixon, Haldeman & Ehrlichman on White House Conference on Aging and H.R. 1

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