MR. SMITH.. The next question to Vice President Nixon from Mr. Vanocur.
MR. VANOCUR. Mr. Vice President, since the question of executive leadership is a very important campaign issue, I would like to follow Mr. Novins' question.
Now, Republican campaign slogans--you'll see them on signs around the country as we did last week--say it's experience that counts (that's over a picture of yourself; sir), implying that you've had more governmental, executive decisionmaking experience than your opponent.
Now, in his news conference on August 24, President Eisenhower was asked to give one example of a major idea of yours that he adopted. His reply was, and I'm quoting:
"If you give me a week, I might think of one. I don't remember."
Now that was a month ago, sir, and the President hasn't brought it up since, and I am wondering, sir, if you can clarify which version is correct, the one put out by Republican campaign leaders or the one put out by President Eisenhower?
MR. NIXON. Well, I would suggest, Mr. Vanocur, that if you know the President, that that was probably a facetious remark. I would also suggest that insofar as his statement is concerned, that I think it would be improper for the President of the United States to disclose the instances in which members of his official family had made recommendations, as I have made them through the years to him, which he has accepted or rejected.
The President has always maintained, and very properly so, that he is entitled to get what advice he wants from his Cabinet and from his other advisers without disclosing that to anybody, including as a matter of fact, the Congress.
Now, I can only say this: Through the years I have sat in the National Security Council. I have been in the Cabinet. I have met with the legislative leaders. I have met with the President when he made the great decisions with regard to Lebanon, Quemoy, Matsu, other matters.
The President has asked for my advice, I have given it; sometimes my advice has been taken, sometimes it has not. I do not say that I have made the decisions, and I would say that no President should ever allow anybody else to make the major decisions. The President only makes the decisions. All that his advisers do is to give counsel when he asks for it. As far as what experience counts and whether that is experience that counts, that isn't for me to say.
I can only say that my experience is there for the people to consider, Senator Kennedy's is there for the people to consider.
As he pointed out, we came to the Congress in the same year; his experience has been different from mine, mine has been in the executive branch, his has been in the legislative branch.
I would say that the people now have the opportunity to evaluate his as against mine, and I think both he and I are going to abide by whatever the people decide.
MR. SMITH.. Senator Kennedy?
MR. KENNEDY. Well, I'll just say that the question is of experience and the question also is what our judgment is of the future and what our goals are for the United States and what ability we have to implement those goals.
Abraham Lincoln came to the Presidency in 1860 after a rather little known session in the House of Representatives and after being defeated for the Senate in '58, and was a distinguished President. There is no certain road to the Presidency. There are no guarantees that if you take one road or another that you will be a successful President.
I have been in the Congress for 14 years. I have voted in the last 8 years, and the Vice President was presiding over the Senate and meeting his other responsibilities; I have met decisions over 800 times on matters which affect not only the domestic security of the United States, but as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The question really is: which candidate and which party can meet the problems that the United States is going to face in the '60's?
MR. SMITH.. The next question to Senator Kennedy from Mr. Novins.
MR. NOVINS. Senator Kennedy, in connection with these problems of the future that you speak of and the program that you enunciated earlier in your direct talk, you call for expanding some of the welfare programs, for schools, for teacher salaries, medical care, and so forth, but you also call for reducing the Federal debt, and I'm wondering how you, if you are President in January, would go about paying the bill for all this. Does this mean--
MR. KENNEDY. I didn't advocate--I did not advocate reducing the Federal debt, because I don't believe that you're going to be able to reduce the Federal debt very much in 1961, 2, or 3.
I think you have heavy obligations which affect our security which we're going to have to meet, and, therefore, I've never suggested we should be able to retire the debt substantially, or even at all in 1961 or 2--
MR. NOVINS. Senator, I believe in one of your speeches--
MR. KENNEDY. No, never.
MR. NOVINS. (Continuing) . . . you suggested that reducing the interest rate would help toward a reduction of the Federal debt--
MR. KENNEDY. No, no. Not reducing the interest-- reducing the interest rate.
In my judgment, the hard money--tight money policy, fiscal policy of this administration has contributed to the slowdown in our economy, which helped bring the recession of '54 which made the recession of '58 rather intense, and which has slowed, somewhat, our economic activity in 1960.
What I have talked about, however, the kind of programs that I talk about, in my judgment, are fiscally sound. Medical care for the aged, I would put under social security. The Vice President and I disagree on this. The program, the Javits-Nixon or the Nixon-Javits program, would have cost, if fully used, $600 million by the Government per year, and $600 million by the States.
The program which I advocated, which failed by five votes in the United States' Senate, would have put medical care for the aged in social security and would have been paid for through the social security system and the social security tax.
Secondly, I support Federal aid to education and Federal aid for teachers' salaries. I think that's a good investment. I think we're going to have to do it. And I think to heap the burden further on the property tax, which is already strained in many of our communities, will provide--will make--insure, in my opinion, that many of our children will not be adequately educated and many of our teachers not adequately compensated.
There is no greater return to an economy or to a society than an educational system second to none.
On the question of the development of natural resources, I would pay-as-you-go in the sense that they would be balanced and the power revenues would bring back sufficient money to finance the projects, in the same way as the Tennessee Valley.
I believe in the balanced budget, and the only conditions under which I would unbalance the budget would be if there was a grave national emergency or a serious recession. Otherwise, with a steady rate of economic growth, and Mr. Nixon and Mr. Rockefeller, in their meeting, said a 5-percent economic growth would bring by 1962 $10 billion extra in tax revenues. Whatever is brought in I think that we can finance essential programs within a balanced budget if business remains orderly.
MR. SMITH.. Mr. Nixon, your comment?
MR. NIXON. Yes. I think what Mr. Novins was referring to was not one of Senator Kennedy's speeches, but the Democratic platform, which did mention cutting the national debt.
I think, too, that it should be pointed out that, of course, it is not possible, particularly under the proposals that Senator Kennedy has advocated either to cut the national debt or to reduce taxes. As a matter of fact, it will be necessary to raise taxes.
Senator Kennedy points out that as far as his one proposal is concerned, the one for medical care for the aged, that that would be financed out of social security. That, however, is raising taxes for those who pay social security.
He points out that he would make pay-as-you-go be the basis for our natural resources development, where our natural resources development, which I also support, incidentally, however, whenever you appropriate money for one of these projects, you have to pay now and appropriate the money and the--while they eventually do pay out, it doesn't mean that you--the Government doesn't have to put out the money this year.
And so I would say that in all of these proposals Senator Kennedy has made, they will result in one of two things: Either he has to raise taxes or he has to unbalance the budget. If he unbalances the budget, that means you have inflation, and that will be, of course, a very cruel blow to the very people--the older people--that we've been talking about.
As far as aid for school construction is concerned, I favor that, as Senator Kennedy did in January of this year when he said he favored that rather than aid to teachers' salaries. I favor that because I believe that's the best way to aid our schools without running any risk whatever of the Federal Government telling our teachers what to teach.