Obama: Comparisons to Reagan

Here are a few comparisons between President B.O. and President Reagan...

- Under Reagan, the deficit peaked at $236 billion in 1983 (reduced to $141 billion by 1989).

- Obama is generating a $1.8 trillion deficit in his first year.

- Ronald Reagan increased the deficit by 35 percent in eight years, whereas Barack Obama has increased the deficit by 450 percent in eight weeks.

- Reagan created an extra $37 billion in annual deficit. Mr. Obama has already created an extra $1.4 trillion in annual deficit.

- Reagan’s tax cuts didn’t create the deficit. Tax revenues actually boomed from roughly $600 billion in 1981 to $1 trillion in 1989.

What did Reagan do about the October 1987 crash? Basically nothing — certainly nothing like a massive government “stimulus.” “Some people are talking of panic,” Reagan calmly confided to his diary. “Chrmn. of Stock Exchange is acting very upset.”

Those are Reagan’s only diary references to the financial crisis. With the economy freed, he was confident it would bounce back, and it did.

Source:Congressional Budget Office, March 20, 2009.and Paul Kengor - professor of political science and executive director of The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. Wednesday, April 08, 2009 Copyright 2009 The Bulletin; All Rights Reserved