Dave Page #16

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CLOSEUP - BOB

BOB:

(leaping suddenly to

his feet)

Mr. President!

ANGLE - DAVE

He turns slowly around in his chair.

DAVE:

(daring him)

Yes?

BOB'S POV

He looks at Dave, then out into the room. Twelve Cabinet

Secretaries, the White House staff and three network TV crews

are focused right at him.

WIDER ANGLE:

He stands there, frozen in the glare of the TV lights. Bob

looks at them for a moment then sinks slowly into his seat.

BOB:

(tightly)

.. Nothing.

DAVE:

(smiling quietly)

Great.

He turns back to the table clutching the card in his hand.

DAVE:

Like I was saying, if we took that

cash and stuck it in even an ordinary

savings account, we'd be making twelve

million a month in interest.

A murmur goes around the table. The SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY

shifts a little in his chair.

SECRETARY OF TREASURY

Well, technically that's true...

He thinks about it for a moment...

SECRETARY OF TREASURY

Yes. Yes, I suppose that's true.

ANGLE - BOB

He has taken a handful of curtain and twisted it uncon-

sciously into a rope. Reed stares straight ahead, stunned.

ANGLE-DAVE

DAVE:

But unfortunately, money management

only gets us halfway to our goal. To

find the rest of the money, we're going

to have to start making some choices - -

some pretty tough choices...

SHOT - BOB

He seizes Reed's tie, pulling him over.

BOB:

(loud whisper)

Choices???

ANGLE - DAVE

DAVE:

(hearing him)

Yes, Bob. Choices... Now the

Commerce Department..,

SECRETARY OF COMMERCE

(sitting erect)

Yes, Mr. President?

DAVE:

(from a card)

You're spending forty-three million

dollars on an ad campaign to...

(reading)

'Boost consumer confidence in the

American auto industry.'

SECRETARY OF COMMERCE

And it's proving quite effective...

DAVE:

Does it make the cars any better?

SECRETARY OF COMMERCE

No, sir. It's more of a perceptual

issue.

DAVE:

(beat)

Perceptual?

SECRETARY OF COMMERCE

Yes, it's designed to bolster individual

confidence in a previous domestic

automotive purchase.

DAVE:

(beat)

Why?

SECRETARY OF COMMERCE

Well... to shore up product

identification and preserve market

share.

DAVE:

So we're spending forty-seven million

dollars to make people feel better

about a car they've already bought?

SECRETARY OF COMMERCE

Yes, but I wouldn't...

DAVE:

(indignant)

Well I'm sure that's really important,

but I don't want to tell some eight-

year-old kid he has to sleep in the

street because we want people to feel

better about their cars.

(beat)

Do you want to tell him that?

He gestures toward the TV cameras in the room.

SECRETARY OF COMMERCE

Me? Uh, no sir... I sure don't.

ANGLE - BOB AND REED

Bob fumes at this but a slight smile actually starts to creep

up the side of Reed's face.

ANGLE - DAVE

He pulls out a pen and jots down a

figure...

DAVE:

Good. That gives us another forty-

seven million. Now the Postal

Service...

POSTMASTER GENERAL

(sitting up)

Yes, Mr. President!

DISSOLVE TO:

SAME SCENE - LATER

Dave's tie is loosened at his throat and there are notes spread

out around him. The Cabinet leans forward in their seats.

DAVE:

Okay, so that makes...

(whispering)

... Two, eighty-four, carry the three...

(pause)

... Three hundred and fifty-six million.

(looking up with a smile)

... And that means we can keep the

program.

WIDE ANGLE - CABINET ROOM

The entire room bursts into applause. Bob fumes silently from

his spot along the wall as the ovation continues around him.

CUT TO:

INT. HALLWAY

The door to the cabinet room bursts open as the mob pours

into the hall.

VARIOUS CABINET MEMBERS

Wonderful job, sir... Fantastic, Mr.

President.

Dave moves down the corridor followed by the throng.

INT. CABINET ROOM

Bob stands very still in the center of the empty room. Reed

blocks the door a few feet away.

REED:

What are you gonna do?

BOB:

(quietly)

I'm going to kill him.

REED:

You can't kill a President.

Bob looks at him for a moment, then suddenly explodes.

BOB:

He's not a President! He's an ordinary

person. I can kill an ordinary person.

REED:

Bob...

BOB:

I can kill a HUNDRED ordinary people.

REED:

He's only doing what you told him to.

BOB:

(stunned)

What I told him to?

REED:

I heard you. You said 'cut three

hundred million dollars from the federal

budget, and you can keep your homeless

shelter.'

BOB:

Well, I didn't mean it, Alan. Why the

f*** would I want to save a homeless

shelter?

REED:

He was only doing his job.

Bob looks at him for a moment then erupts all over again.

BOB:

His job? His job!!!

He lunges for the door while Reed grabs him around the waist.

DAVE - Rev. 6/9/92 78.

BOB:

It's not his job -- It's my job!

REED:

Bob...

BOB:

(thrashing around)

Was he a senator? Is he on the

Trilateral Commission? Was he in Who's

Who In Washington NINE YEARS Reed

wrestles him away from the door, as

Bob struggles to get free. I'll destroy

him, Alan. I'll shred the bastard!!!

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