Part II Republican Conservatism: Unfit To Govern, The Reagan Years

The Reagan years was a fiscal disaster for the United States and its people. The country faced no major conflicts when he took office, war was not on the horizon, the American hostages taken by Iran were returned to the U.S. and Russia was no greater threat than in the past. The problem was inflation and a so called malaise.

President Reagan said he was going to balance the federal budget but instead gave the country and its people record deficit spending and debt. So the people can understand how massive those deficits were compare the following: Total deficit spending for the previous 12 years was $503.5 billion. $250.8 billion under Nixon-Ford in 8 years and $252.7 billion under Carter in 4 years. Reagan managed to exceed the deficit spending of the previous 12 years in his first three budgets, never sent one balanced budget to congress in his 8 years in office and ended his term in office with a whopping total deficit spending of $1.412 trillion.

The national debt was not a problem when Reagan came to office and was manageable. It stood at $997 billion at the end of Carter's last budget year ending 9/30/81. When Reagan's last budget year ended on 9/30/89 the national debt stood at $2.857 trillion, an increase of 186% in the national debt on his watch. This national debt explosion started the country on a collision course with history and continued with the Bush 41 and Bush 43 administrations.

Contrary to republican claims, federal spending on Reagan's watch exploded also. Total federal spending under Carter's 4 years ending with Carter's last fiscal year budget of 9/30/81 was $2.232 trillion. Total federal spending under Reagan's first four years ending 9/30/85 was $3.35 trillion, an increase of 50%. In Reagan's second term in office which fiscal year ended 9/30/89 total federal spending was $4.20 trillion, an increase of 25% over his first 4 years in office. Total federal spending under Reagan's 8 years in office was up 75%.

This writer is in possession of a Ronald Reagan calender celebrating his 100 birthday. It is full of Reagan's quotes. One of them concerns fiscal matters and I quote, "We don't have a trillion dollar debt because we havent taxed enough, we have a trillion dollar debt because we spend too much." The President must have been trying out for the academy awards when he made that statement because he was talking about himself and his own administration.

Thirty plus years after Reagan, Mitt Romney, John McCain and many other republicans still talk about how Reagan cut spending, the lie just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Is there any wonder why republican administrations are the biggest spenders in Washington. President Reagan and his administration started the nation down the road to the fiscal nightmare we are now facing. President Reagan by his record was not fit to govern the nations fiscal health.