Interview with Rep. Tip O'Neill

Paul Duke (o/s) asks U.S. Speaker of the House, Rep. Tip O’Neill (D-MA) if forming U.S. foreign policy with 535 members of Congress trying to get in their opinion is too difficult a task to accomplish. Speaker O'Neill acknowledges the difficulty, but simply does not care for the attitude U.S. President Ronald Reagan portrays. Speaker O'Neill: "I think he played in too many movies, to be perfectly truthful. This is serious business." Speaker O'Neill doesn't see the need to flex military might down in Central America, where those countries are well aware of the power in the U.S. military. He references Reagan's saying that "America is a great tree, but when one of the roots goes bad, it needs to be cut". However, before cutting out the bad root, Speaker O'Neill advocates for treating it first.