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Quote of the Day – Why Raising Taxes Never Works: Reagan's 1982 Tax Hike is a Cautionary Tale for Trump
Unleash Prosperity ^ | 05/04/2025 | Stephen Moore

Posted on 05/04/2025 6:17:51 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

A great piece in the WSJ by former Reagan speechwriter Kenneth Khachigian reminds us of what happened when Reagan was snookered into raising taxes 40 years ago.

“In 1988 Reagan complained that the 1982 tax increase that he reluctantly embraced was among the worst decisions of his presidency.”

“The fellas promised I would get $3 of spending cuts for every $1 of taxes I agreed to. Instead, for every dollar of new taxes we got $1.70 in new spending – the complete reversal of what I was promised.”

We would add that on several occasions when taxes were proposed to Reagan during his second term, he would fume: “I’m still waiting for those three dollars of spending cuts they promised me the last time we raised taxes.” They never came.

Reagan learned his lesson the hard way. Will President Trump and the current Republicans in Congress?


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; History; Society
KEYWORDS: reagan; spending; taxes

1 posted on 05/04/2025 6:17:51 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Reagan never saw the abuses of the FED that make sure that no billionaire is left behind. The 1% don’t pay taxes because they take out loans with stock/options ‘assets’ as collateral and the FED pump makes sure that those ‘assets’ never decline in ‘value’. It is all a racket; big club and the middle class ain’t in it.


2 posted on 05/04/2025 6:32:12 PM PDT by bakeneko
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To: SeekAndFind

I’ll agree, however, we do need deep cuts in spending because these trillion dollar deficits piling up are unsustainable .


3 posted on 05/04/2025 6:57:13 PM PDT by Robert DeLong
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To: SeekAndFind

Because we’re on the right hand side of the peak of the Laffer Curve.

Duh!!!


4 posted on 05/04/2025 7:33:59 PM PDT by Uncle Miltie (“Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And I said, "Here I am! Send me.")
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To: bakeneko

That should make everyone of us furious.


5 posted on 05/04/2025 8:25:41 PM PDT by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as)
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To: SeekAndFind

> Reagan learned his lesson the hard way. Will President Trump and the current Republicans in Congress?

50/50 on Trump. Republicans in Congress will definitely agree to raise taxes and they will accept immediate taxes for a vague promise of future cuts.


6 posted on 05/04/2025 9:02:54 PM PDT by ArcadeQuarters (You can't remove RINOs by voting for them!)
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To: SeekAndFind

This is BullCr@p...Trump is going to LOWER taxes not increase them.


7 posted on 05/04/2025 10:45:43 PM PDT by spokeshave (Proud Boys, Angry Dads. Grumpy Grandads & Curmudgeon<p.s)
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To: SeekAndFind
Well said.

Reagan was about the only politician I ever looked up to and respected -- ever.

This was about his only mistake in eight years. Not a bad record. Right?

Ronald, come back and save us from this massive mess we've made. God, will you help? 'Cause it's getting worse -- not better.

8 posted on 05/05/2025 4:30:26 AM PDT by icclearly
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To: SeekAndFind
...among the worst decisions of his presidency...

Yeah, he had a lot of those.

Him spitting on the 2nd Amendment by outlawing private ownership of machine guns manufactured after 1986 was the worst. Our Founding Fathers clearly intended for America's civilian population to have the same weapons as the federal JBTs. Only then could we defend against a govt filled with commie pigs.

Yeah, thanks for that ronnie.

9 posted on 05/05/2025 6:31:10 AM PDT by LouAvul (1 John 2:22: Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist.)
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