Here's an NBC News Special Report which features the first prime-time address of President Ronald Reagan, pertaining to the state of the U.S. economy, as aired over WMAQ Channel 5. Roger Mudd opens and closes this broadcast, with observations by NBC News economic correspondent Irving R. Levine towards the end.
Includes:
Tail end of station ID / promo for NewsCenter5 with "glowing" Jim Ruddle
NBC News Special Report slide (voiceover by Mac McGarry)
Roger makes introductory remarks about what's to come in this speech, and its significance
Topics and points touched on by the President include:
"You won't like" his report that "we're in the worst economic mess since the Great Depression".
- The "out of control" Federal budgets, with deficits up to $80 billion - "larger than the entire Federal budget of 1957"
- The massive increase in the Federal payroll since 1960, out of proportion to our population growth, and other contrasts between then and now
- Federal Budget up 528% since 1960
- The worth of a 1960 dollar today, and its implications for saving and investment
- How Federal regulations increased auto costs and costs of every other aspect of life
- The growth of government since World War II, the raising of the debt ceiling since 1971 which he sees going to $1 trillion, and the connection between deficit spending and inflation
- "Inflation is not just high prices - it's a reduction in the value of our money."
- How increase in taxes since World War II decreased personal income and caused business to pass higher costs to consumers, and how our position in world economy has dwindled
- U.S. productivity vs. Japanese productivity, and the contraction of the U.S. steel and auto industries
- The progressive tax system and how it lowers our standard of living
- What he plans to do to reduce government spending and solve these problems, including hiring and regulation freezes
- Preview of his February 18th speech to Congress on the state of the economy
- Graph showing government spending (in red) vs. government revenues (in blue), current vs. future
- His plans to work with the Federal Reserve viz monetary policy
- His promise spending cuts won't come at expense of truly needy, but meant for those who don't qualify for such programs (bringing to mind his "Welfare Queen" example, perhaps?)
- His olive branch to Congress, Federal workers and business to work with him to solve these problems
- His final comments, leaving them which direction we as a nation could go
"Together, we can forge a new beginning, for America."
Roger considers the speech "smooth" and "professionally delivered," and recapitulates Reagan's points, before he and Irving R. Levine dissect the finer points of what the President brought up; Irving brings up that Fed chief Paul Volcker can't see any precedent in history for the amounts of money Reagan envisions people saving, then he predicts (correctly, as history would show) a massive fight among different groups over the various cuts in the budget to come
Roger gives his final analysis of what's to come before closing the program
NBC News Special Report slide (voiceover by Mac McGarry)
NBC 'Peacock' Network ID slide (voiceover by Mac McGarry)
Commercial: Claussen Pickles - "The Original Chill Pickle" (with animated 'pickleologist' Dr. Q. Cumbus Claussen)
Commercial: The Dark Continent at Busch Gardens in Tampa (voiceover by Paul Frees)
Station ID / NewsCenter5 promo with "glowing" Chuck Henry
Animated 'An NBC Special' sequence
First seconds of the "A Love Letter to Jack Benny" special, before recording cuts out
This aired on local Chicago TV on Thursday, February 5th 1981 during the 7:30pm to 8:00pm timeframe.
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