My recollection is that Reagan had to deal with a big spending Democrat House for 8 years and a big spending Democrat Senate for 2 years. Not to mention a hostile news media. The Reagan tax cuts didn't go into effect until January 1, 1983, and that's when the economic recovery began. Besides the tax cuts Reagan also slashed federal regulations. When Reagan took office total gov't spending was over 44% of national income. When he left office total gov't spending was about 40% of national income. This percentage declined each of Reagan's final 4 years in office. My recollection is that the federal deficit as a percent of national income also declined in each of Reagan's final 4 years. Reagan's 2 biggest regrets when he left office: 1) Not asking for bigger spending cuts as a negotiating plot to get bigger Democrat concessions. His top economic advisor Milton Friedman agreed. 2) Reagan wished he never signed the 1986 Amnesty Bill. Gingrich told him it would only give citizenship to ~300,000. Actual number was closer to 15,000,000 with chain migration, turning California from red to blue. Edit: to note that Reagan had a Dem Senate for only 2 years, not 6 as I stated. H/T VAg8r1
Link, please. Mentioned it before, after the election I saw an interview with a Mexican-American couple in Nevada. They originally entered the US illegally, received amnesty under the 1986 Immigration Reform Act signed by Reagan, became US citizens and voted for Trump in 2024.
What an obscene comparison... A wall dividing Berlin and wall protecting America's southern border are the same thing- disgusting. It's amazing how grotesque the left has become.
Ward probably heard this from Ed Rollin Obviously the 1986 amnesty was a disaste. Inconceivable that Reagan would not regret it.
I think overall Reagan was a great President. But he made a huge mistake trusting Tip and agreeing to asylum of the illegals
Yes, really. I probably understand Reagan better than anyone who has ever posted at Too Hot. I read just about all of the srchived.National Reviews in Library West at UF. NR was Reagan's favorite magazine I read every William F. Buckley non-fiction book ever written Reagan was a big admirer of WFB and they were friends. I read several Milton Friedman books. Friedman was Reagan's top economic advisor. And I naturally think like Reagan. Edit: And Reagan's 2 favorite strategic thinkers were people my dad met with to defeat communism: Stefan T. Possony, who had been called the greatest strategic thinker in the West, and James Burnham, whose column The Protracted Conflict appeared in National Review. WFB called Burnham the greatest strategic thinker in the West. Their books were in my house when I was growing up.
Actually Reagan had a Republican Senate for six of the eight years that he was in office. The Senate only flipped back to the Democrats following the 1986 election. Although it's hard to believe in view of the almost absolute partisanship in the current Congress, Reagan also had an effective majority in the House during his first two years in office thanks to enough relatively conservative Democrats in the House supporting his agenda against the wishes of a majority of their fellow party members. Phil Gramm was a prime example although not the only one. Before he ended up switching parties in 1983 Gramm was elected as a conservative Democrat.
I think like Reagan 1960-1989 if that's the question. As for National Review, I read virtually every issue from ~1955-2000. It went off the rails around 1993-1999. Buckley fired some of his best people when he went weak on immigration
