This Day In 1970's History: Thursday February 5, 1981
- President Reagan exhorted Americans to support sweeping spending and tax cuts to revive the economy. In a televised speech from the White House, Mr. Reagan said that the nation was "in the worst economic mess since the Great Depression" because "over the years, we have let economic forces run out of control." [New York Times]
- Budget cuts of $40 billion to $50 billion in the 1982 fiscal year are sought by the Reagan administration. The budget office has called for limits or reductions in virtually every major federal endeavor except the military. The cutbacks would affect not only domestic social programs, but also subsidies, loan programs and other forms of direct and indirect aid favored by labor and business groups. [New York Times]
- The first Reagan victory in Congress was marked as the House voted, 305 to 104, to increase the federal debt limit by $50 billion to $985 billion. Democrats withheld their votes until a majority of Republicans supported the politically sensitive but financially necessary measure. [New York Times]
- An American in Teheran was tricked by two revolutionary guards into taking part last year in a fictitious plot to free the 52 American hostages, according to an Iranian newspaper account of espionage charges made by a prosecutor. The American, Cynthia Dwyer, a freelance journalist, was said to have denied the charges Wednesday in a Teheran court.
A dispute among Iranians intensified as 23 members of Parliament sought an open debate on the "doubts and questions" that have arisen over the accords that led to the release of the American hostages. The request was published in two newspapers that back President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, who has questioned whether Iran achieved all it sought in the accords. [New York Times]
- The cost of the influx of refugees from the Caribbean was put at about $532 million by federal officials. Congress appropriated $734.4 million for processing and resettling the refugees through next Sept. 30. The officials said they should be able to keep within that budget if they are not faced with a new wave of arrivals beyond the 125,000 Cubans and 12,400 Haitians who came last year. [New York Times]
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