[Doctor 2Brains]

I’m fond of patting myself on the back for my first ever political realization 25 years ago: The welfare state will kill us, NOT the Russians, or any commies, or the Muzzies, or nuclear war, or anything else. Even Reagan managed to put ABSOLUTELY NO DENT WHATSOEVER in the welfare state. NOT ONE SERIOUS CONTENDER POL, NOT ONE, has ever vigorously pushed for even cutting back on the welfare state. Maybe Ryan has, actually. I’m not sure.

[OneWingedShark]

The way to put the welfare state into check is to enforce budget constraints; the way to enforce budget constraints involves a Constitutional amendment to:
(a) remove the Congress's power to regulate the Dollar's value,
(b) define the Dollar's value in terms of a real, physical commodity [e.g. gold],
(c) ensure that the amount in b cannot be tampered w/ via the Congress's control of weights and measures,
(d) invalidate and prohibit "unfunded liabilities" [or any obligation laid upon the states w/o funding]
(e) define the debt limit in terms of the physical commodity [i.e. the United States shall assume no debt which shall cause the total obligations of the United States to exceed 110% of the gold in the treasury], and finally
(f) cause compulsory loss of position and retirement benefits for the confiscation of the commodity in b.

[98ZJ USMC]

Even Reagan managed to put ABSOLUTELY NO DENT WHATSOEVER in the welfare state.

That is correct. However, Ronaldus was backstabbed by the (D)Marxists on a deal to eliminate the Dept. of Indoctrination in return for a tax hike. Got the tax hike.

There was no way he was going to get anything through that Congress reforming Welfare, or the state itself. They fought the SS age rise tooth and nail when serious reform and tighter rules would have gone a long way to fixing it.

[Theodore R.]

Even Reagan managed to put ABSOLUTELY NO DENT WHATSOEVER in the welfare state. NOT ONE SERIOUS CONTENDER POL, NOT ONE, has ever vigorously pushed for even cutting back on the welfare state.

Maybe Nancy held him back on that, or maybe it was her friend Howard Baker.