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TrekkieLP -> RE: The greater good of the Republican agenda (5/7/2012 10:43:45 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: RacerJim
I don't think he's wrong about that, I know he is. We had been in an economic recession for at least a year prior to when Reagan took over from Carter. Gas was not only high priced but in such short supply as well that the Feds instituted odd-n-even license plate number refueling days. Inflation was 20% +. And let's not forget that Reagan never had a Republican House and Senate to "rubber stamp" his policies at any time during his two terms.
Then you're ignoring reality.
(Or at least ignoring parts of it. Yes, when Reagan took office, inflation and unemployment were high. In fact, the high inflation and unemployment were the issues Reagan ran on, to get elected. But, federal revenues were going up. The economic conditions (which had been going on for over a year) weren't pleasant, and the voters were (justifiably) ticked. But the economic conditions weren't causing federal revenues to go down. They were going up.)
Reagan took office halfway through FY81. Government revenues for FY81 were at an all-time high. (Which isn't all that unusual, since federal revenues almost always go up. It's rare for a year not to be an all-time high for federal revenues.)
Revenues went down for FY82 (which began in October of '81, 7 months after Reagan took office.) And they went down, again, for FY83. Down a total of 10%, from when he took office.
Link to the actual data on annual federal tax revenues.
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Now, as to the traditional attempt to claim that the evil Congress forced Reagan to spend more than he wanted, that's also untrue.
It's one of those things, though, where a quick chart says one thing, but the actual explanation is a lot more complicated. Rather than copy-and-pasting somebody else's explanation, or trying to explain it on my own, I'll provide a link to somebody who actually explains it very well, and it's a very short read.
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