Good morning. Welcome back for day two of coolidge and the american project Coolidge Foundations centennial conference in honor of president Calvin Coolidge, were pleased to be cohosted with the library of congress and grateful to all of you who are here. Were going to get underway with our panels here in just one moment. But weve been how many other more than 100 students. Weve often been saying there are coolidge senators. And, of course, many of are coolidge senators. But were joined by a number of other student groups. I wanted to be sure that we recognize the first of our 1890 Society Members are part of the Honor Society of the coolidge program. We have maybe a dozen or more joining. So welcome to the 1890 society. From Ashland University, the Ashford Center is here with our ashford scholars. Were so pleased to have you here from ohio. Thank you. Weve had students from bases, d. C. High School Students here at our conference. Welcome to basis. And weve some archer fellows from the university of texas system joining us as well so welcome to our archer fellows. We have a terrific day with the number of sessions and a wonderful celebration this evening, which will be in that gorgeous, majestic, great hall, the library of congress tonight. But plenty of of of material to cover today. Important related to coolidges presidency. Yesterday, we covered his upbringing his influences. And today well talk about his achievements as president. So to introduce our moderator for the first session, please welcome skyler hornback. So good morning, everyone. Welcome to data of coolidge, the american project. My name is skyler hornback. I am a coolidge senator from the class of 2017 and a current graduate student at Vanderbilt University studying chemical engineering. We will kick things off morning with session for the conference and the title of this session is holding the line. Harding coolidge budgeting and regulation. Moderating panel will be the honorable art pope. Mr. Pope is chairman of the john Polk Foundation and chairman of variety wholesalers, a private held business that employs more than 7000 people across its more than 270 retail store locations. Mr. Pope served four terms in the North Carolina house representatives and was appointed state budget director by North Carolina governor pat mccrory in 2013. Please me in welcoming mr. Pope and our panelists to the stage. Good morning. I am mark cote and its my great pleasure to be here and ive just really enjoyed yesterdays session and meeting all the students as well as some quarters and scholars of president Calvin Coolidge. And i want to thank our cspan artist for being here as well for the centennial. When Calvin Coolidge became president. Executor how coolidges policies and values may guide us today. So what we can learn about the 1920s applies directly. The 2020s. Im pleased to have joining us to guest dr. Warren harding a third and as you may guest from the nine there is a relationship there. Dr. Harding. Is the grandnephew of president. He is a successful orthopedic surgeon. Has served our country both of being the third physician for the growing usa rowing team usa Swimming Team but also about being a lieutenant commander, the medical corps for the United States during the 1970s. So thank you always for your service. And dr. Harding is, not just a relative, a descendant. He is a scholar of president harding. One of his books is our common country in practical idealism. The important speeches of president warren g. Harding so we will get wonderful insights from dr. Harding. We also have with us dr. William beach bill beech. Hes not a medical doctor. He an economist. Bill is the current 13th commissioner of the bureau of labor statistics. He is a past chief economist for the republican staff of the United StatesSenate Budget committee. He has served in policy as the Vice President policy for the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He was a founder of the center for data as a data analysis, including on Economic Policy at the heritage foundation. Now, ive had the pleasure knowing bill personally since he served the president of the institute for maine studies, George Mason University. So we really appreciate your taking the time to be with us today and your insight over years since the bureau of labor statistics. Now our topic today is budgeting. We all know budgeting we budget ourselves intuitively and with planning. You know how much money you have to spend this trip to washington, d. C. . You know how much you have have to pay your bills at the end of the month. And if youre a student and you have student, you made a careful decision. A very careful decision on what was the value of, your investment in your education thats going to give you a return, wont pay you enough, earn you enough money in the future as well, fulfillment in life to back that debt. But what about many peoples money . Thats easy and if youre government you have the power spend other peoples money both through taxation and debt. Calvin coolidge third one. Nothing is than spending the public money. It does not appear to belong to anybody. The temptation is to bestow it on and need president coolidge and his philosophy to anticipate it. What later became doles public Choice Theory. Dr. Buchanan at the university of virginia. And later, George Mason University won the nobel prize in economics 1986 for a theory of public choice and it is an important dynamic that explains why budgets tend to grow, taxation tends to grow, and debt tend to grow. And the core of it is that when you have a concentrated benefit that the government can give you through direct appropriations subsidies, favorable tax policies and regulations and then at the cost of widely spread among taxpayers and the consumer. The public use individuals, then the parties that we see that contract benefit will pursue it and spend the time on lobbyist lawyers political campaigns. Nor do we see benefits. And how do you prevent government always growing by that pressure to always spend more. And to be perfectly direct, i serve in the legislature. Its very true of congress. One cant say i will support you on that appropriation for your military base. If you will support me in getting that bridge bill, i need a modest. You never say hey in the good of the country. Im not fond of bridge. If you dont find your military. So when hasnt coolidge came into office . It was asked, succeeding course as Vice President from that . From president harding and. President harding and president coolidge. They counter that dynamics of public choice pressure to always spend more from congress and the public is of course spread out far behind the leadership and determination and decisive win in the before 1921, there was no central process in the United States. It was almost shocking. So one of the major acts that president wilson had vetoed before harding, once the budget in, the county act of 1921 that established the first time the central budget bureau, which we now know is the office of management and budget, it required all the departments and agencies to submit their budget, god forbid, to the president first and the president about, the true needs of the people and then submit the budget to the congress. It also set up two independent general accounting office, the gao, that started in 1921 as well. So the departments werent just responsible for their own budgeting and accounting, but they had an independent arm looking at them, reporting back to the press and reporting back to the congress. It was through this centralized budgeting process that we had discipline and looked at the competing of all agencies and looking at the broad impact, not just the concentrated benefits. And they were very this process was very successful from 1921, starting with president. Harding through 1929, the end of present coolidges term, they had a Budget Surplus every single year. They reduced by 53 and reduced the debt by one third. Well have more from bill beach, but obviously, its temporary in the news. A debt ceiling challenge, the continuing growth of the National Debt with annual deficits and asked, can we do anything about it . You can. Through the leadership discipline, you can do that. And thats what president coolidge and harding were able to do and indeed, when he dr. President coolidge said, perhaps one of the greatest aspirations of my Administration Lies in the very marked reduction of the National Debt since i have been president. That is a legacy of president coolidge that we need today. Now with control spending actually reducing spending, generating surpluses. You can then address the taxation side and as in taxation is directly related to budgeting sometimes that people want to keep it separate. But as president said, a government which lays taxes on the people not urgent public necessity in sound Public Policy is, not a protector of liberty, but an instrument of tyranny. It condemned to citizens. To servitude. Again, the starting point taxes. People not required for urgent public necessity. And that is what was the guiding budgeting was for president harding and president coolidge. And indeed they started a massive tax reduction when they came into office. The maximum tax rate in 1920 was 73 of income. Thats for the wealthiest. But 73 of income, president harding signed into law 1921, along with the budget act when the first tax reduction 73 to 50 , they then intact revenue tax. In 1924, 1926, 1928, they reduced it down to 24 . So you would think rate significant reduction, taxes, more prosperity for the country. But how do get a Budget Surplus and reduce the debt when we reduce taxes . Well, in 1921, when the top rate was, 73 , the Revenue Department revenue 700 million. This 19 21, 700 billion. And the income tax of that amount, 30 , 210 billion came from the wealthiest. And those over 100,000. Again, thats 19 20. By 1929, the rate was down to that 24 . And the department of treasury collected more revenue. One dollars billion on the income tax and higher percentage and more dollars from the wealthiest were those earning over 100,000. 65 of income taxes paid by them for 650 million. So they reduced taxes from 73 to 24 . Yet revenue went up 210 million, 650 million. And one of the key drivers of this tax policy, again, goes back to leadership was president. First, president harding president. Course, having a secretary. Andrew male treasury secretary Andrew Mellon and he observed it may sound contradictory but more revenue be obtained by lowering rates. And this was in the 1920s which is anticipated 6070 years was became the also laffer curve. Now dr. Laffer himself says this was not original idea. But put a succinctly, if you tax at 0 income, at 0 , zero, you tax it 100 . No one has incentive to work to earn money, or at least not report it. And you earn zero. So were on the laffer curve to maximize revenue by a reasonable tax rate. That still gives people the incentive to in four days and in the longer term on supply side economics is that when you have lower taxation that lays more hard earned money in your pockets, in your familys pockets, expand and grow the economy and for the employers to invest and grow the business that will grow the economy. So theres a bigger base upon which to levy the tax at a lower rate and gain more revenue. You get on an upward spiral rather than downward spiral we are in right now with all comes back again to leadership and philosophy and values in order to counter the inherent dynamic to spend more of other money, especially have the power to tax and borrow. So with that, id like to turn it over to dr. Harding. You can provide his insights starting his namesake president harding, and then president coolidge. Dr. Harding thank you. Heart. First, id like to just say its an honor and a privilege to be here at this wonderful event. But id like to open saying that i know this is a meeting to reconsider president coolidge but to complement the story, it is important to reconsider his predecessor, president harding, as well. I would like to thank the foundation for that opportunity. Senator warren and governor Calvin Coolidge camp for the presidency in the summer and of 1920, a time of Global Economic downturn, government instability and, social unrest following the great war. Id also add the spanish flu and other made it even worse situation in that era. Hardings Campaign Slogans a return to normalcy and bank of America First. The word normalcy sound a little odd to our modern, but what normalcy meant was a return to common sense where citizens and businesses could thrive. In short, in 1920, harding and coolidge were seeking a course to help the country find its old course and to recover peace, prosperity and, opportunity for all americans. Harding and coolidge asked the voters for a mandate to pursue this course through several changes, including giving the the authority to propose and manage the budget cutting back the size government in general, reducing taxes which has been previously, he said in 1920, had soared to a top rate of 73 and to implement course of military nonintrusive. Also, it was important to harding that serve as an example to the world. The senator from ohio, a modest man, a newspaper publisher and editor. A man who knew the people. Some of his rhetoric was more than rhetoric. It was an appeal to american soul. Most of us remember president kennedys words. Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country. 45 years before her and his keynotes, both speech at the 1916 Republican National then senator offered a similar call for civic action when he said america should be a place under which the citizenship seeks what it may do for the government and the country rather than what the country may do for individuals. Ive always like to think that maybe that was a little bit of an inspiration for president kennedys words. But what it really means is it explains hardings use of the term. Think of America First, which has been used by many different president s in many ways. But this was think of America First in 1920. Harding and coolidge won in a landslide with over 60 of the vote once elected. Harding did something he immediately started to implement campaign. He steered through congress the budget and accounting of 1921. That new law gave the President Authority over the budget enabled him to decrease excessive spending. Second, harding appointed good men. Examples in this of the budget. Our Andrew Mellon is secretary of the treasury and somebody whose frequently forgotten that charles gates dawes as director of the budget. The quality of these harding was confirmed by their subsequent tenures. Director dawes was to serve as Vice President under president coolidge and was to serve as treasury secretary through the coolidge administra nation and beyond. Was president hoover. I should also add that harding had good foresight to, for the first time in history make the Vice President a member of the cabinet with with the death of president. That proved to be a very special thing. Third, harding and secretary of state Charles Evans hughes called for and shepherded through the senate the treaties of the washington disarmament conference of 1922. The treaties resulted in a significant reduction of that eras weapons of mass destruction. The battleship. For this, he was nominated for the nobel peace prize. This move also spared the significant expense of an arms race. Coolidge would directly credit the achievements of this conference to harding and say when that treaty was signed marked an epic in history. Fourth the Harding Administration commence paying down the National Debt which had ballooned during the four year the war years. And fifth harding led congress in reducing the tax burden. The revenue act of 1921 cut taxes and. It also settled a lot of uncertainty in the Business Community with how taxes were going to affect them. All of this was accomplished in less than two and a half years. Harding didnt get the finishes voyage, but he set a course so that when president coolidge assumed the office, he could continue the course and he it a complete process much better. A couple of other points. Harding, a man who set out to accomplish his agenda not by fiat and decree, but by and enabling his fellow americans. All human annals. Harding once said, are curable by legislation and quantity of statutory enactments in excess government offer no substitute for quality of citizenship. Like many of his predecessors and successors, harding was not perfect. However, we can see why president spoke of his predecessor the following way. President harding was fit to serve the country in the disturbed and distraught following the war. It would be difficult to find peacetime period of a little over two years when so much that was beneficial was accomplished as during his administration. Well we are gathered here to celebrate president. Let us also remember president harding. Thank you. Bill, as an economist, you studied the prewar