Republican presidential candidate Morry Taylor swung into Hanover last night to tell members of the Dartmouth community about his plan to stimulate the economy by significantly cutting the size of the federal work force, and to celebrate former President Ronald Reagan's birthday at the Conservative Union at Dartmouth's fifth annual bash.
Taylor spoke in the Hinman Forum of the Rockefeller Center for the Social Sciences after about 35 students had enjoyed cake and hors d'oeuvres in honor of the Gipper's birthday.
Taylor called Reagan the "best thing that could have happened for America," at the time he was president.
Taylor is the Chief Executive Officer of Titan Wheel International -- the nation's largest manufacturer of tires for farming vehicles. In the last WMUR-Dartmouth College poll released on Dec. 16, less than one percent of New Hampshire voters said they would vote for Taylor. But the latest WMUR-Dartmouth poll, released yesterday, showed Taylor's support had risen to one percent. A Boston Globe poll published last week rated Taylor's New Hampshire support even higher -- at six percent.
Taylor explained how, if elected, he would approach funding for education.
The fiscal problems of America's educational system can be solved, Taylor said, by making teachers teach more.
"I'd make professors teach three hours a day, five days a week," he told The Dartmouth. "The cost of schools would go right down."
In his distinctly candid and congenial style, Taylor said he would balance the federal budget by eliminating one-third of the government's employees.
He said the federal government was as guilty of misusing common people's money as are the notorious televangelists Jim and Tammy Baker.
During his speech, Taylor made little mention of President Bill Clinton or any of his Republican contenders with the exception of Forbes. Taylor repeatedly said that Forbes' flat tax placed too much of a burden on the poor and gave the rich a free ride.
Speaking about capital gains, he said "you've got to tax it. That's only fair." Taylor's graduated tax plan would have three brackets -- two percent, 10 percent and 20 percent. He said the reduced tax burden would stimulate private investment in business and would make up for lost revenue.
Unlike many of his Republican contenders who have visited the College, Taylor could not be accused of ignoring issues and delivering a canned speech. Taylor spelled out his plan to lay off one-third of the federal work force on a chalkboard behind him and used no notes during the course of the evening.
According to Taylor's math, cutting 1 million of the government's middle-level civilian managers would eliminate the budget deficit. He said he would pay the fired managers a severance pay of $25,000 a year until they could find new jobs. These jobs would be available in an economy suddenly augmented by the lower interest rates and higher production his tax cuts and balanced budget would create.
Like candidates Forbes and former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander, Taylor says that fact that he is a Washington D.C. outsider makes him all the more qualified to serve in elected office.
He said Clinton was "perhaps the finest pure politician of his time," but Taylor was not complimenting the President, who he later called "Slick Willie."
"We can solve problems but we're going to have quit talking all the time," Taylor said, "and politicians don't have the foggiest idea about how to do so."
After speaking for half an hour Taylor answered student questions. For another hour he addressed various other issues, ranging from Reagan's birthday to choosing a major in college.
At one point, Taylor asked how many in the audience were studying economics. Four hands went up and he promptly advised these students to drop their intended majors.
"It has merit as a study," he said, "but economists don't make much money."
In many of his comments, Taylor revealed a frame of reference in which business was clearly the central pursuit.
"You'll go out, get a job, make some money, and then have the capital to start your business," he said.
Mike Tierney '99, Taylor's Hanover campaign coordinator, attributed Taylor's recent rise in the polls to a $25,000 sweepstakes Taylor is running in New Hampshire. State residents can mail Taylor their opinion of him and his platform and be automatically registered to win one of five $5,000 dollar prizes.
"Taylor has people telling him what they think of him," Tierney said. New Hampshire residents have been calling into radio talk shows and asking hosts for information about Taylor's platform, according to Tierney .
He said Taylor would rather publicize himself by giving a few lucky voters a small prize than by paying actors to make expensive advertising.
Before Taylor's speech, CUAD celebrated Reagan's by watching video tapes of Reagan's speeches at George Bush's Republican national conventions in both 1988 and 1992. Reagan will turn 85 years old today.
In the video, the tremendous roar from the crowd recalled how popular a president Reagan had been.
His jokes and patriotic exhortations provoked cheers and laughter even amongst the students sitting in the Rockefeller Center.
Also preceding Taylor's address, Matthew Berry '94, the third president of CUAD, spoke briefly and attributed the fall of communism and the prosperity of the 1980's to Reagan's leadership.
