First, neither Reagan nor Bush the elder had a Republican congress. (Reagan had a Republican Senate for six years) Bush the Younger had a barely Republican Congress for about half of his two terms.
If the population and the economy are growing, if previous entitlement programs make certain expenditures completely impossible to control (e.g. government pension programs, veterans commitments, interest on the national debt), then yes, the spending may not go down in absolute numbers.
It has been said that Reagan was relatively indifferent to deficits, because his proposal of a $90 billion budget cut, in 1976 dollars, cost him the Florida primary and therefore the nomination. It didn’t help in 1980 when the military’s preparedness was completely sacrificed by J.E.C. Also, some thought that it would be better to expend political capital on tax cuts, rather than spending cuts, because the deficits themselves would ultimately prove a check on spending (until the current W.H. occupant decided that trillion dollar checks were worth writing.)
When did spending come under some control? Under Grahm-Rudman, under Newt Gingrich’s House. Under a Clinton that had lost his Congress due to his own performance and had to act more carefully.
While the spending never actually went down in absolute dollars, it really did go down as a portion of the GDP. SPENDING ORIGINATES IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Unfortunately, Bush the Younger didn’t want to keep the brakes on, won on promises to spend (No Child Left Behind, Medicare Prescription benefits), and finally felt obliged to spend a lot on restructuring large chunks of the government after 9/11, and of course the wars, which requires spending if you are going to do it at all. Finally, the autumn financial crisis scared him again, and spending money and making financial commitments was the fastest and easiest (though not best) way to address that.
Up until Bush the Younger, who was given a couple of pretty tough challenges, you see LESS spending, and more responsibility from the Republican Congress, Reagan and even Bush the Elder (save the S&L debacle, which I believe was due to the ill conceived TEFRA act.)
Thank you. Well written. I was being glib in #21, you said what needed to be said.