January 5, 1983 – CBS World News Roundup + Hourly News – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
January 5, 1983 – The big news was coming from Capitol Hill on this day. President Reagan was preparing to give a news conference, his first since November. The subject was expected to be Deficit Financing. The President’s forthcoming Budget was expected to foresee some $200 billion in red ink. Members of the House and Senate were dubious, saying the numbers were a little terrifying and huge – but no decisions had been made as of yet as to how it was going to be addressed. Some thought there was no real reason to have a news conference later on this day, because the President had very little to say at this point regarding the budget. His advisers apparently believed it was time, since the last News Conference was held on November 11, 1982, but they also said Reagan wasn’t ready to cave and cut defense spending. There was also talk of cutting spending on additional social services over the coming year, but that the deficit was still going to remain high, which was a point of concern on Wall Street. Even with cutting Social Services to bare-bones, it still wouldn’t do much to lower the deficit, and so it was felt in all likelihood that Reagan would have to turn to the Pentagon, to the Military spending budget to get some cuts. But he would have to spend less in the end on the Military, and there was a strong chance he would have to raise taxes.
The other big news from Capitol Hill came in the form of Congressman Phil Gramm, who had announced his defection from the ranks of the Democrats to join the ranks of the Republicans. As the result of being drummed out of his committee seat by the Democratic leadership. Gramm was expected to give a press conference from his home in Bryan Texas later on in the day, and it was expected this most prominent of the “Boll Weevil Democrats” was looking for a new home in the GOP. The thought was that Phil Gramm would resign his seat in Congress and run as a Republican in a new election. Gramm’s constituents in Bryan were in favor of that move and, even though he didn’t loudly announce it, he had a letter in his pocket from President Reagan inviting him to join the Republican Party.
And Cosmos 1402, a Soviet Spy Satellite powered by radioactive fuel was expected to re-enter the atmosphere over the coming days, with the remote potential it was going crash somewhere on earth, just like the one before it, which crashed in Canada and spewed Radioactive waste over a wide area. Fingers crossed – watching the skies.
And that’s just a little of what was going on, this January 5, 1983 as presented by The CBS World News Roundup.
