Earlier this week, Edwin P. Meese III, Counselor to President Reagan, and James Wright (D-Tex). Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, participated in a panel discussion before an audience of over 800 at the Institute of Politics Forum. Following the Forum, Crimson reporter Mary S. Humes interviewed Meese and reporter John D. Solomon spoke with Wright about the Reagan Administration's latest budget proposals and the bill's prospects in the Congress.

The Administration's Proposal

Crimson: How do you think the administration's budget will fare in Congress and what compromises are you prepared to make?

Meese: It's too early to talk about compromises because we're just holding the hearings now. I think that no president ever gets exactly the same budget he sends to Congress, but I think this budget has been carefully worked out. The budget strategy is to accomplish our various objectives of maintaining the social safety net, of protecting the truly needy, maintaining our defense build up at the level that is required, of having essentially the freeze on other programs taken as a whole and developing the strategy of a declining deficit pattern for future years. I think all of these things are being accomplished in this budget and that's why I think it should clear very well.

Crimson: In defense specifically, many congressional leaders are up in arms, as it were about the increased defense requests. What areas do you think they are going to look for cuts in?

Meese: As I said tonight, I think that when they really look at the defense budget and see what's in there and the need for different programs, the needs for funds for military personnel, and funds for readiness and sustainability. I think they are going to be hard pressed to find places where they can cut the defense budget without injuring our defense capabilities.

Crimson: When do you expect the economic recovery to begin, now that it has been pushed back from its original target of the summer of 1982?

Meese: A lot of people feel it has already begun and the various economic indicators for the past several months have shown a trend towards recovery, and I think that particularly the last two months have shown favorable signs. While it's too early to say for sure, I think that yes, the economic recovery has begun.

Crimson: Would you judge interest rates the primary sign of such a recovery, or unemployment rates? Which are you giving priority to?

Meese: They are all priorities. We're working on all of them--you can't just work on one. By having a stable monetary policy we are keeping inflation under control. At the same time, by keeping interest rates down and having them come down further, as we hope they will continue to do, we can further stimulate economic recovery. That in turn solves the problem of unemployment.

Crimson: How does this budget seek to reduce the deficit?

Meese: Basically by the present strategies. The deficit will be lower than for fiscal year '83 and in the future years through a combination of the freeze for fiscal year '84 the overall freeze, the reform of some of the the open-ended spending programs the so-called entitlement programs--and by a stand-by tax to be used in the outyears '86, '87, '88, if it's necessary, in order to get the deficits down.

Crimson: Will the Administration stick by the third year of Reagan's 1981 tax bill?

Meese: Absolutely. That's really critical, particularly to the middle income families who need that money because of the social security taxes which have been going up.

Crimson: Do you think that the House Democrats might be trying to dismantle the third year of the tax bill?