No, it’s not covering my butt. I thought the predictions of long term Republican dominance were wishful thinking then and I said so then. I thought that it was possible if Republicans did the right things, but I never had any faith that they would.
I don’t see any way to say that 1980 laid the groundwork for 1994.
The tax cuts are temporary. Better than not at all, but hardly a groundbreaking victory. If you see the porous southern border as part of the war on terror (I certainly do) then the prosecution of the WOT is seriously lacking.
Am I pessimistic about our prospects? You bet. Only because I am being realistic. Until you face the reality of the situation, the will to pursue the hard steps needed to improve our prospects will not exist.
As far as your “border only people” comment, do you seriously think that any of these other issues will mean squat after another 20-40 million illiterate Mexicans get in and continue propagating? Prioritize. Stop the illegals or none of these other things you (and I) consider important will happen.
And, yes, every statistic we have shows that the Reagan tax cuts were not only NOT "temporary," but that the 1990s were almost entirely based on those cuts.