Quote:
Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Indeed. Although I think both parties have changed since then, and are now ideologically more cohesive than they once were.
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If you believe David Stockman (in the Triumph of Politics), which I do, the problem in the 80s was that Reagan pushed through the tax cuts, pushed through the Defense increases, and when it came time to make the cuts necessary to make up for this stuff he balked. He didn't make the effort and really didn't really want to make the cuts that were necessary. And the growth created by the tax cuts was not nearly strong enough to make up for the massive defense increases and tax cuts. So Stockman told Reagan that in order to balance the budget he would have to make deep cuts in the budget, reduce the amount of defense spending or raise taxes. In the alternative, he ws going to have to tell the American public that deficits were going to be a fact of life for a while. And for speaking the truth he got pushed out.
At least that is what I think what happened.
