Reagan wanted to abolish the Dept of Education. Nobody’s brought it up since then.
"Sheeple get scared when things change too fast, and stating the case as above doesn't sound near as scary and radical as saying we're are going to eliminate the department of education."
Newt brought it up in 1995, and this was one of the things they used to bring him down. I remember it like it was yesterday:
"THE REPUBLICANS WANT TO CUT EDUCATION!!!"
"THEY'RE GOING TO SLASH EDUCATION FUNDING!!!"
"THE REPUBLICANS WON'T FUND EDUCATION!!!"
Newt, Rush, Hannity, and whoever else was behind the mikes were naively unaware of how it would be spun, and we therefore handed them our own defeat on a platter.