To post 16 - You’ve omitted how many times were taxes cut during Reagan’s Presidency and by how much. So, does this, or not, make him a significant net reducer of taxes?
Reagan also had to practically rebuild the U.s. armed forces from scratch.
As a result of Carter ‘s policies, our American military was plagued by low morale, low pay, obsolete weaponry and nearly zero maintenance on what hard assets we did have. Key military personnel (Lt’s and Sgt’s) were not reenlisting, and thousands of enlisted men’s families were on food stamps.
Afterthe Vietnam War, the defense industry was much as it had been since World War II. Stores of weapons had been depleted by the war and not replaced. The derfense industry was beginning to develop new technologies such as stealth and two fighter aircraft that would become the finest in the world, the F-15 and the F-16.
Reagan brought such programs back to life with an infusion of cash. Defense peaked at $456.5 billion in 1987 (in projected 2005 dollars), compared with $325.1 billion in 1980 and $339.6 million in 1981. Most of the increase was for procurement and R&D. The procurement budget doubled to $147.3 billion from $71.2 billion.
The liberals were kicking and screaming all the while.
- JP