[speaker001:] and
[speaker002:] all right well
[speaker001:] I mean short term I don't think anything's gonna be done about it
[speaker002:] well I
[speaker001:] or probably should be done about it
[speaker002:] uh are you saying you didn't think anything should be done in the short term
[speaker001:] uh the short term the recession is getting getting top attention
[speaker002:] yeah well I I think that you're absolutely right there the other thing is is that we've got these um these all these bank defaults going on and and savings and loan defaults and and uh uh
[speaker001:] and that effectively adds to it whether it's officially on the books or not
[speaker002:] right exactly um
[speaker001:] and that's got to be paid
[speaker002:] exactly and and uh so this creates a pretty serious problem that's going to continue to be with us for a while to come um I'm not really uh sure that I even understand why the administration is proposing for instance tax reductions because it seems to me that if if if they're talking about reducing uh the tax that needs to be paid or the taxes taxes currently being paid then that can't it seems to me it can't possibly you know help with the the deficit picture
[speaker001:] it can only hurt the deficit picture
[speaker002:] yeah exactly
[speaker001:] um and the the severity of the deficit picture already limits the options available or limits the degree of tax cutting you can do without uh bringing on on serious problems for the longer term
[speaker002:] yeah exactly
[speaker001:] so that that that's the current predicament
[speaker002:] yeah it seems seems like it's it's a kind of a catch twenty two I mean it's it's the um my understanding is what they're trying to what what supposedly they're trying to do by reducing taxes is to kind of jump start the economy the idea being that if people have to pay less money in taxes they'll have more money to spend uh and if they have more money to spend then that will be a a spur to productivity particularly commercial productivity uh which in turn will generate revenue but it it seems like like uh it's sort of a uh a spiral an unending spiral and it it uh I'm I'm not sure that there's any real genuine truth to the uh the idea that that uh that decreasing taxes particularly the kinds that are are being recommended by by the Bush administration and things like capital gains taxes and so forth is going to uh result in substantial amounts of money you know for consumers to spend
[speaker001:] and uh yeah I'm not sure how I feel about tagging them to share the cost of yeah the the long term quests that tax cuts are worth at this point it's partly a judgment of how bad the recession is
[speaker002:] yeah it uh it would seem to me that that there are other things that the administration could do
[speaker001:] well look first of all you look to the fed to fight the recession as indeed it has with interest rates
[speaker002:] um-hum um-hum I think that's been a positive development I think what that's done is it's it's it's helped keep inflation from
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] um uh
[speaker001:] well at the moment we're doing very well on inflation
[speaker002:] yeah exactly and it's a sort of a piece of luck
[speaker001:] that's the sort of upside to the deficit that's that's the upside to the recession
[speaker002:] yeah um I don't know what kind of things do you think can be done in in uh in the long term
[speaker001:] and the longer well can be done or will be done are two different things um at various places to look for for cutting the budget first of all I consider more defense cuts than are already planned
[speaker002:] sure
[speaker001:] depending on the world situation but there are various other areas such as as farm subsidies that ought to be slashed ah a lot of entitlement programs like education aid I think ah they should've put a in the Reagan administrations took took took layoff such entitlements to the to the poor but left them for the middle class
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] ah in the longer term ah we we we'd do well I think to make to make uh reductions there also somewhat related is to collect money that's owed to the government from various loan programs that people have borrowed
[speaker002:] right I think that I I think that that I agree with you certainly in the second situation and I think certain entitlements I I'm inclined to agree with you too education happens to be one place where I think that we would foolish to um uh
[speaker001:] a lot of the education aid has gone to so called trade schools
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] which are so there not colleges but schools that teach you trades you know beauticians whatever at more and often exists only because of the federal programs that they can take people and tell them they can get loans for their full tuition
[speaker002:] oh I see what you're I see what you're saying
[speaker001:] ah and the school gets paid off immediately ah they don't provide very much education and uh
[speaker002:] and then the and then the people default on the loans
[speaker001:] yes
[speaker002:] well I I would have to agree with you if there are circumstances like that uh around uh and I I I can't confess to having any substantial knowledge of that sort of thing but but but taking what you're saying at face value then I would have to agree with completely
[speaker001:] yeah