Clinton Has a Little Fun With His Radio Address : President: In remarks heard by reporters only, he teases them about possibly naming James Carville or Jay Leno to the Supreme Court.

President Clinton touted his economic plan Saturday in his weekly radio address to the nation--but only after inadvertently entertaining reporters over an open microphone by joking about nominating former campaign strategist James Carville to the U.S. Supreme Court.

If fellow Southerner Carville were named to the country’s highest court, Clinton was heard telling his aides, then “all the things that he and I say to each other, like ‘squeal like a pig under a gate,’ would be in a Supreme Court opinion.”

Clinton’s remarks were not broadcast over the radio but could be heard by reporters listening over loudspeakers in a nearby room.

The President made the comments about Carville after he was heard recalling how President Ronald Reagan once accidentally made statements that were broadcast nationally.

“Is this microphone live?” Clinton asked on Saturday. “I’ve got to be careful--Reagan made that joke about the bomb . . . I started to make some crack about putting Jay Leno on the Supreme Court,” he said, referring to the popular comedian who hosts NBC’s “Tonight Show.”

Moments later, he assumed his radio voice and said: “Good morning. Today I have decided to appoint James Carville to the United States Supreme Court. He has a plan to get our country moving again.”

In August, 1984, Reagan was preparing for his live radio address when in a moment of levity he said: “My fellow Americans, I am pleased to announce I just signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.”

The remarks strained U.S.-Soviet relations.

In Clinton’s formal address, delivered on the first day of spring, he said that the nation has begun to turn its back “on the long winter of trickle-down economics.” Even in Washington, “the snow is melting, trees are budding and outside the window of the Oval Office, birds are announcing their return.”

Clinton said that the House’s passage Friday of his budget bill and stimulus package was “an important victory.” The $16.3-billion stimulus package would be “like a booster rocket” for the economy, he said.

The House-approved version of Clinton’s jobs bill includes money for summer youth jobs, highway projects and other programs designed to stimulate employment and growth.

Clinton encouraged Americans to turn their lobbying efforts to the Senate. “We need to enlist the senators now in our cause to break gridlock and get the economy moving,” he said.

Delivering the Republican response to the address, Ohio Rep. John R. Kasich, the ranking GOP member of the House Budget Committee, said that while Clinton campaigned on a platform of change, “the only change he has delivered is the largest tax increase in history.”

The government, not taxpayers, should shoulder the brunt of deficit reduction, Kasich said. “The American people have already sacrificed enough in terms of high taxes and poor government services,” he said.