Hindsight

I keep seeing conservative Republicans praise Ronald Reagan's presidency.

For the record:

The Reagan gang were so corrupt, they would sometimes rack up more convictions and forced resignations in a single day than the Clinton Administration managed in its entire eight years.

Clinton had fewer convictions and forced resignations than any two-term adminstration since Teddy Roosevelt, making it the cleanest administration of the 20th century.

Reagan's administration was:

the first administration in American history to have a sitting cabinet member indicted.

the first administration in American history to have an Assistant Secretary of State indicted.

the first administration in American history to have an Assistant Secretary of Defense sent to prison.

the first administration in American history to have over 100 members of an administration charged with crimes.

the first administration in American history to have more members of his administration charged with crimes than the cumulative total of all other presidents in the twentieth century.

There is a growing realization that the starting point for many of the catastrophes confronting the United States today can be traced to Reagan's presidency.


Reagan slashed income taxes for the wealthiest Americans with his "supply side" economics, which held falsely that cutting rates for the rich would increase revenues and eliminate the federal deficit. Reagan's budget director David Stockman once blurted out the truth, that it would lead to red ink "as far as the eye could see."

Bush's Reagan-esque tax cuts for the rich blew another huge hole in the federal budget and the Reagan-esque anti-regulatory fervor led to a massive financial meltdown that threw the nation into economic chaos.

Lets not repeat these mistakes. Cutting taxes without first cutting government operations will result in even more red ink.

For an interesting read, check out Ronald Reagan's Legacy at http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Ronald_Reagan/Ronald_Reagan_Legacy.html
Also check out The Myth of Ronald Reagan by William Kleinknecht, summarized at the same site.

Also interesting is this chart showing debt as a percentage of GDP:

National debt by president

U.S. president Party Term Start End Increase ($T)Increase debt/GDP
(in percentage points)
Roosevelt/TrumanD 1945-1949 117.5% 93.1% 0.05 -24.4%
Harry Truman D 1949-1953 93.1% 71.4% 0.01 -21.5%
Dwight EisenhowerR 1953-1957 71.4% 60.4% 0.01 -11.0%
Dwight EisenhowerR 1957-1961 60.4% 55.2% 0.02 -5.2%
Kennedy/Johnson D 1961-1965 55.2% 46.9% 0.03 -8.3%
Lyndon Johnson D 1965-1969 46.9% 38.6% 0.05 -8.3%
Richard Nixon R 1969-1973 38.6% 35.6% 0.07 -3.0%
Nixon/Ford R 1973-1977 35.6% 35.8% 0.19 +0.2%
Jimmy Carter D 1977-1981 35.8% 32.5% 0.28 -3.3%
Ronald Reagan R 1981-1985 32.5% 43.8% 0.66 +10.8%
Ronald Reagan R 1985-1989 43.8% 53.1% 1.04 +9.3%
George W. Bush R 1989-1993 51.1% 66.1% 1.40 +13.0%
Bill Clinton D 1993-1997 66.1% 65.4% 1.18 -0.7%
Bill Clinton D 1997-2001 65.4% 56.4% 0.45 -9.0%
George W. Bush R 2001-2005 56.4% 63.5% 1.73 +7.1%
George W. Bush R 2005-2009 63.4% 83.4% 2.63 +20.0%
Barack Obama D 2009-2013 83.4%

(Source: Whitehouse FY 2011 Budget - Table 7.1 Federal Debt at the End of Year PDF, Excel)


Please note the large increases when Republican presidents were in office. Check out the website www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals/ The blogger word processor doesn't like charts.