The Reagan Myth That Democrats Reneged On Spending Cuts In 1982

[Lakhota]

By Glenn Kessler

“In 1982, Ronald Reagan sat down with the Democrats and they had a deal — a $3 cut in spending for every dollar they raised in taxes. Guess what? They raised the taxes, and they never cut the spending.”

— oft-repeated story told in Washington during “fiscal cliff” negotiations

It had become an article of faith by conservatives that President Reagan reluctantly agreed to raise taxes in his first term in office — and that Congress then failed to follow though on promised spending cuts. The frequent recitation of this story during the current fiscal debate made us wonder: What actually happened three decades ago?

It’s not hard to find the source of this story — Reagan’s own memoir, “An American Life.” Here’s what he wrote: “I made a deal with the congressional Democrats in 1982, agreeing to support a limited loophole-closing tax increase to raise more than $98.3 billion over three years in return for their agreement to cut spending by $280 billion during the same period; later the Democrats reneged on their pledge and we never got those cuts.”

When Reagan made a nationally-televised speech in support of the tax hike — trying to refute charges that it was the biggest tax increase in U.S. history — he also cited a 3-to-1 agreement:

“Revenues would increase over a three-year period by about $99 billion, and outlays in that same period would be reduced by $280 billion. Now, as you can see, that figures out to about a 3-to-1 ratio — $3 less in spending outlays for each $1 of increased revenue. This compromise adds up to a total over three years of a $380 billion reduction in the budget deficits.”
​

The Washington Post did not have a Fact Checker column back then, and this speech certainly would have been ripe for fact checking. (We would have been suspicious of his use of the word “outlays.”) Let’s go back in time to show what really happened, using documents, news reports and memoirs of the period.

It is time to abandon this myth. Reagan may have convinced himself he had been snookered, but that belief is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the deal he had reached.

Congress was never expected to match the tax increases with spending cuts on a 3-to-1 basis. Reagan appeared to acknowledge this in his speech when he referred to outlays (which would include interest expenses), rather than spending cuts. In the end, lawmakers apparently did a better job of living up to the bargain than the administration did.

If people want to cite the lessons of history, they need to get the history right in the first place.

Despite Reagan’s claim that he made a deal with the Democrats, the Senate at the time was controlled by Republicans. Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas — then chairman of the Finance Committee and later the majority leader and Republican nominee for president — was a driving force behind a big tax increase because he was concerned about soaring deficits after Reagan had boosted defense spending and slashed taxes.

The Facts: The historical myth that Reagan raised $1 of taxes in exchange for $3 of spending cuts - The Washington Post

 

[Oddball]

You should use them four Pinocchios as your sig line, Spamahontas.

 

[Lakhota]

I like setting the record straight.

 

[DiamondDave]

Wow.. shocking opinion from a known liberal reporter

 

[Lakhota]

The OP link also contains supporting live links for the mentally slow...

 

[Oddball]

Did the OP link provide any instance when the congress during the Reagan administration proposed any spending cuts?

Not just reductions to the baseline, but actual cuts.

When?

Beuller?

 

[Stephanie]

Oh brother...

 

[BreezeWood]

Reagan may have convinced himself he had been snookered -

Reagan convinced himself of many things ... and the above may actually have happened.

 

[bripat9643]

I like setting the record straight.

Don't turds like you normally call that "revisionism?"

 

[Lakhota]

I like setting the record straight.

Don't turds like you normally call that "revisionism?"

No, Finger Boy. Lefties aren't the ones trying to whitewash history and texbooks.