Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. has raised the ghastly specter of Reaganomics.
“If we cut taxes for the wealthy, while maintaining massive military spending in support of two wars, then the new Republican Congress will be empowered to cut social programs in order to reduce the deficit,” Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., a longtime friend and sometimes critic of the president, said in a statement. “So it will be a choice between cutting programs for the poor, children, the unemployed, the uninsured and veterans or allowing deficits to pile up. That was President Reagan’s strategy: A ‘starve the beast’ plan of lowered taxes and increased military spending that would force Congress to make deep cuts in program for the most vulnerable.”
Is Obamanomics really Reaganomics? And is that a bad thing?
Many people think that Reagan was one of our greatest presidents, and Reaganomics was his defining legacy.
This is a good place to stop and examine exactly what Reaganomics was and what it means. Most importantly, let’s look at the raw numbers so no one can confuse us with spin.