DEMS, GOP LIVE IN 2 DIFFERENT LANGUAGE WORLDS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00561R000100050050-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 9, 2012
• Sequence Number: 50
• Publication Date: June 8, 1981
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100050050-1
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PAGE c - \Z '
THE _ EW YORK DAILY NIE'ti4S
8 June 1981
By LABS ERI1lrNEL3ON
-;
_ie
HALLENGEla-yesterdayto * point -to anl'
acquaintance among Ameiica's`great-mass of
"The President. himself is~..thecbest-example'of a=
working - man, ;Meese: said.zi "H6_-eame from-: poor".
circumstanceeand., worked his-waltup,"Meese hin
self said he; had done-hard. physicals labor as an ;
The- question- -was. provoked by . - charge from
Speaker. of. ther:House,-Thomas P..O~NeiIF that th
.Presidenthaesurroundect himself with w group of
rich and selfish advisers and that he and they have no~..
contact with the-working.people-of'America and nog.
understanding.of=their_problemsr Meese, naturallyti=
looked hurt and- saict the accusation-was untrue...,
But it_was-eclear.-from:the, appearances on-tvvo~
television =interview `programs-O'Neill on-"Issues.---
and Answers.'_--and Meese on:"Meet.,the_Press"=that:
there is-a-vast gulf between Democratand Republl
can in- thi3, country,, At-times-yesterday O'Neill and
Meese spoke- different languages^and were talking
about two different worlds. Z~a
O'Neill -charged -that working class .-Amer1cans..
"those earning less-than $20,000?a year-would receive
-no benefit at. all. from Reagan's. proposed tax cut of
25% over 33 mouths,"Wsggared for. the wealthy of
the nation and it's.goingto send inflation through the-::
Meese respondedbp,pointing- out that two thirds.-
of the tax- cut- would go=to.the working and middle
Class;- x d thatclasa as thoseearniag between
$10,000 and $60,000 a year. Those at the $80,000 end of
.the scale will getbigger refunds., Themore tax you,
Pay, the more?yourtax bi1L;i~r reduced. It's simprre
'arithmetic; And- presumabij 'one third -of 'the : tact:
break wilt go to businesses andthose.earrning over
$80,000 a year xy r~n
'
,NE LL
S>ACCUSATIONabout the.President_
and his. friends was,also: nade 25 years ago _
by Harry. Truman againstDwight Eisenhow
er. Ex -President_Truman:_said. that' Eisenhower; a~:
lower-middle'class kid from Kansas .had surrounded
himself with golf playing bankers' and-Isolated hlnr
self from ? the _ working -.men. fa] lerg' and small
temptation. Unpleasant realities become only a menr~-
Tlia gentle way to define the differences between'
Meese and - O'Neill is to-- say: that they- operate in.;
around for a long-time and therefore may pa familiar:;
strange duck. '
He-was. known as *a tough prosecutor in California;:',
a law-and-order man who looks a bit like John Wayne
Law-and-order-man Meese . denounced leaks of'.
government secrets to the press - as' akin. to. theft and
said -reporters who printleaks are like receivers. ofa
`7 stolen property. Fair enough. Leaks can damage the
3`.national security. But if leaks are morally repugnant
to the- Reagan administration, why did it hire as a top.
arms=control official Daniel Sullivan,_who-*as fired
by -the :Central Intelligence Agency for' leaking
-secrets. to, opponents of the SALT -2 treaty on-Capitol
Hill?'. Why 'did it hire, Richard-Perle"`as. an assistant
secretary of defense- when Perie=was a universal
source of leaked-anti-SALT-information? Why did it
reporter. Richard: -Burt,,who'made a brilliant four'
year career on: a- local newspaper- as a receiver.of
leaked documents? Itmustbe that different frame. of
reference. :.
would be grateful tliis week to Sen: Charles Percy of.
0llinois, who urged them two weeks ago to withdraw.
:the name of Dr. Ernest Lefever as-assistant secret
ary-designate for- human?rights.-Percywas trying to-_
spare the President the embarrassment of an:over:
..whelniing. defeat.in.;the.-Senate,Fo- eign Relations
James.;:Baker said -yesterday _the Reagancirowd is
'^Lefever-backer Jesse: Helms; a North Caroliiis..con
4 servative who hoisted the Reagan banner.over. Lefev-
er. andwas urging a charge into the Valley of Death,
when Lefever saved the: President's: neck. by 'with-
drawing. Helms- is -the. friend o the !White House;
Percy's. loyalty- Is suspect;. It's?* just that _ different=
frame of.reference:i; =
ory, and the'.needy days of childhood the:painful.
"recollections of dad coming home from the milrwith
a grimy'face: and empty funds= bucketbecome=a
handy weapon -to fend off the clamoring dema _ #,of
today's working poor. LeoniuBrez Yt nev by-the;way
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP91-00561 R000100050050-1