Carson1975: Difference between revisions

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''(Applause)''<BR />
''(Applause)''<BR />


Carson: you're talking about whether you're talking about the gross income of the country and how much they can appropriate for us that's right for federal policy.
Carson: You're talking about... You're talking about the gross income of the country and how much they can appropriate for us...


03:38
Reagan: That's right.
 
Carson: ... for federal projects.
 
Reagan: See... when, um, when you and I were boys back in the Midwest...
 
Carson: Right....
 
Reagan: Governments, federal state and local were only taking about 15 cents out of every dollar earned. Today, they're
taking almost half of every dollar earned in the United States and most people don't realize it because the taxes are hidden in the so-called business taxes, you know, the politician that stands up and yells, "Oh let's save the little man, let's tax business" and everybody yells "hurray". They haven't figured out that every tax on business is just a part of the cost of production and the customer winds up paying it when he buys the product. It's a hidden sales tax. There's 116 of them in a... the suit of clothes that each one of us is wearing.
 
Carson: Uh-huh. So a lot of economists have suggested, and I don't know they'll ever come to be in this country, that they're if they closed all of the loopholes and corporations and maybe tax loopholes and even on the rich certain loopholes and and made a percentage income and made a flat fee without all of the deductions that the government might raise as much money as they do now.
 
Reagan: Oh sure and really the loopholes, this has been overdone by the politicians too. The bulk of the money that is taken by what are called loopholes are the legitimate deductions with which if the people didn't have them they couldn't
pay their income tax; interest on their mortgage, interest on the installments on their... on their car, their property taxes on their home, if they have one and so forth. These are, in politicians eyes, loopholes. But we ought to have tax reform and we ought to start by making it so simple that you don't have to hire a lawyer to find out how much you owe every year.
 
Carson: That's for sure it used to be uh it used to be a little simplified but not anymore.
 
Reagan: We... Johnny, we live in the only country in a world where it takes more brains to figure out your income tax than it does to earn the income.
 
Carson: [Laughs] You might be right.<BR />
Why do you think people are so they seem to be so disheartened now?<BR />
I know... Let's not get into the Watergate thing but that certainly had something to do with the, uh, the antipathy, I think, of a lot of people toward government, now we we see these revelations, of whether their revelations, or at least accusations that possibly the C.I.A. has been involved in some operations that they shouldn't have been involved in, certainly domestically, and people regularly get turned off. How do you... How do you turn people around and say "All right now, we're not going to do this anymore," and every day you see more of these things and I think people withdraw further and further and that's too bad.
 
Reagan: I know and I think part of it is because we're being bludgeoned every day... it's news... bad things are news we just every day we pick up and they read and record another tenth of a percent unemployment and so forth.<BR />
We keep hearing the the bad things... we hear the accusations and we're kind of used to accepting the accusation as proof of guilt. Now I'm on the C.I.A. Commission, so I'm rather limited... I cannot talk at this stage...
 
Carson: True.
 
Reagan: But I think one of the sad things is that the American people cannot know instead, frankly, we have to have a counter intelligence organization for our own safety. If the American people knew the extent to which were being spied on by the Russians, they'd throw détente out the window and Brezhnev aand few fellows with it.


Reagan: when um when you and I were boys back in
the midwest
right governments federal state and
local were only taking about 15 cents
out of every dollar earned today they're
taking almost half of every dollar
earned in the united states
and most people don't realize it because
the taxes are hidden in the
so-called business taxes you know the
politician that stands up and yells oh
let's save the little man let's tax
business and everybody else hurray
they haven't figured out that every tax
on business
is just a part of the cost of production
and the customer winds up
paying it when he buys the product it's
a hidden sales tax
there's 116 of them in a the suit of
clothes that each one of us has
right so a lot of economists have
suggested and
i don't know they'll ever come to be in
this country that they're if they closed
all of the
loopholes and corporations and maybe tax
loopholes and even on the rich certain
loopholes and
and made a percentage income and made a
flat fee without all of the deductions
that the government might raise as much
money as they do now oh
sure and really the loopholes this has
been overdone by the politicians too
the bulk of the money that is taken by
what are called loopholes are the
legitimate deductions with which if the
people didn't have them they couldn't
pay their income tax
interest on their mortgage interest on
the installments on their
on their car their property taxes on
their home if they have one and so forth
these are in politicians eyes loopholes
but we ought to have tax reform and we
ought to start by making it so simple
that you don't have to hire a lawyer to
find out how much you owe every year
that's for sure it used to be uh it used
to be a little simplified but not
anymore
we johnny we live in the only country in
a world where it takes more brains to
figure out your income tax than it does
to earn the income
you might be right why do you think
people are so they seem to be so
disheartened now I i know
let's not get into the watergate thing
but that certainly had something to do
with the
uh the antipathy I think of a lot of
people toward government no we we
see these revelations of whether their
revelations or at least accusations that
possibly the cia has been involved in
some operations that they shouldn't have
been involved in certainly domestically
and people regularly get turned off how
do you how do you turn people around and
say all right now
we're not going to do this anymore and
every day you see more of these things
and I think people withdraw further and
further and that's too bad
i know and I think part of it is because
we're being bludgeoned every day it's
news
bad things are news we just every day we
pick up and they read and record another
tenth of a percent unemployment and so
forth
we keep hearing the the bad things we
hear the accusations and we're kind of
used to accepting the accusation as
proof of guilt
now I'm on the cia commission so I'm
rather limited I cannot talk
at this stage true but I think
one of the sad things is that the
american people
cannot know instead frankly we have to
have
a counter intelligence organization for
our own safety if the american people
knew
the extent to which were being spied on
by the russians
they'd throw data out the window and
regenerate a few fellows with it
well obviously I agree that that has to
well obviously I agree that that has to
go on internationally to protect your
go on internationally to protect your

Revision as of 20:38, 22 March 2026

Ronald Reagan's Interview on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

On December 24, 2024, Elon Musk posted on X (formerly Twitter) a short video of Ronald Reagan talking to Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show, adding only "Very Wise Words." The 7:43 clip went viral.
(The portions of the full video that are included in the clip will be emphasized in the transcript below.)

This clip was a portion of a 20+ minute Interview on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Reagan had just recently ended his terms as governor of California and would have just started recording his short-form radio show, as well as writing a syndicated newspaper column.

There seems to be some confusion in the Youtube video as to when this occurred. The video from the Reagan Foundation claims it was January 3, 1975, but sources such as Wikipedia, IMDB and the Johnny Carson Youtube channel, indicate the video is from March 13, 1975. This fits the early discussion, in which Reagan jokes about having been "unemployed" for a couple months.

Transcript

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