This first appearance of Ronald Reagan on Firing Line took place six months after he had been sworn in as governor. "There is much speculation," WFB begins, "on the subject of his future, speculation which I intend to avoid, because the purpose of this program is to ask whether it is possible to be a good governor. By that I mean this: Are we now so dependent on the Federal Government that the individual state is left without the scope to make its own crucial decisions?" A meaty discussion ranging from the way the states in turn squeeze the local communities, to comparative welfare payments in different states, to a favorite subject of WFB's: as Mr. Reagan puts it, "I know I'm accused of oversimplifying, but it doesn't make sense to me for the Federal Government to ... insist that the only solution to our local problems is for them to take the money and then dispense it back to you in grants in which they tell you how to spend it from Washington, D.C. And of course, like an agent for a Hollywood actor, there's a certain carrying charge that's deducted in Washington before you get it back again."