Monday, January 28, 2008

The Myth of Reagan

I was listening to John McCain on Meet the Press from January 27, 2007, and something he said caught my ear:
"I'm proud to have been one in the Reagan revolution where we not only cut taxes, which I'm proud to have supported and I have a record of it, but we restrained spending. "
(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22867407/page/2/)

That rang false. Was spending indeed restrained under Reagan? No, not according to the U.S. Government Printing Office.

Here's the budget during the Reagan administration in millions of dollars:

Year Total
Receipts Outlays Surplus or Deficit(−)
1981 599,272 678,241 -78,968
1982 617,766 745,743 -127,977
1983 600,562 808,364 -207,802
1984 666,486 851,853 -185,367
1985 734,088 946,396 -212,308
1986 769,215 990,441 -221,227
1987 854,353 1,004,083 -149,730
1988 909,303 1,064,481 -155,178
1989 991,190 1,143,829 -152,639
1990 1,032,094 1,253,130 -221,036
(http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy08/sheets/hist01z1.xls)

And to account for inflation, in constant 2000 dollars in billions of dollars:

Fiscal Year In Current Dollars
Receipts Outlays Surplus or Deficit(−)
1981 599.3 678.2 -79.0
1982 617.8 745.7 -128.0
1983 600.6 808.4 -207.8
1984 666.5 851.9 -185.4
1985 734.1 946.4 -212.3
1986 769.2 990.4 -221.2
1987 854.4 1,004.1 -149.7
1988 909.3 1,064.5 -155.2
1989 991.2 1,143.8 -152.6
1990 1,032.1 1,253.1 -221.0
(http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy08/sheets/hist01z3.xls)

Both of these charts clearly show that rather than restraining spending, it nearly doubled during Reagan's two terms. Let's stop the mythmaking and face reality.

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