[Huck]

The truth is, starting with Reagan, the fed gov took deficits to a whole new level.

[Marine_Uncle]

"The truth is, starting with Reagan, the fed gov took deficits to a whole new level."

It is a bit hard to deny there is not truth in that statement.
We have to remember, during the Yimmity Caatttaa years, the then demo POTUS and demo controlled congress cut back on military spending so much that when Ronnie got in he had no choice but to start re-building the military. And though I do not have charts at my disposal, believe it is fair to say we put a lot of bucks back into the military. So with not cutting back on any social programs, which obviously are the largest piece of pie, we did spend ourselves into a larger deficit. If ying yang and the congress did not cut the military budget earlier on so drastically, the Reagan years could have had little to complain about.
Other then that I am not entering this fray. If I am dead wrong. So be it. My statement will be exposed as a falsehood.

[LS]

Absolutely false: if you look at the real dollars, as a share of GNP, Reagan's deficits were lower than Ike's and nowhere close to FDR's; and as a share of GNP, the national debt under Reagan was lower than JFK, LBJ, Ike, Truman, and FDR.

See the charts in my book, "The Entrepreneurial Adventure."