Here's one of the best mainstream takes on Donald Trump/Ronald Reagan from Paul Rosenberg at the left-leaning Salon:
Trump is notorious for his lack of conservative orthodoxy, but people forget how badly Reagan himself would have failed any such test, had more recent powerful gatekeepers been around to check his credentials. He raised taxes 11 times after his initial tax cuts caused the deficit to explode; he struck a deal to save Social Security, which he had previously wanted to undermine by making it voluntary...
I highly recommend the book The Triumph of Politics: Why the Reagan Revolution Failed by David Stockman -- the director of OMB in Reagan's first term. I changed registration from Republican to Libertarian the day after I finished it in 1988. The book made so many episodes that were baffling to me during the Reagan years suddenly become crystal clear.
ReplyDeleteSo, the tax cuts caused the deficit to explode? I was under the impression this was a spending issue, and the tax cuts increased revenue (at least relative to what the old tax rates had drawn in and what the new tax rates were forecast to bring in (before they were implemented)). Is this view mistaken?
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