Yes, and the borders were supposed to be sealed and we were going to get tough on illegal immigration and hiring illegal workers. We didn't do any of that. It wasn't Reagan's fault, it was all in the same comprehensive bill that he signed, but when it came to actually funding the projects and doing what was supposed to be done, the Democrats watered it down and got rid of all that pesky enforcement stuff.
This is a liberal anti-Reagan and anti-Conservative talking point. It's an old one at that.
This is where I have to conclude all you Conservatives are piss stupid. Do you think Reagan and his masters in the 1% were REALLY serious about "getting tough"? Of course they weren't. The purpose of Amnesty was to make 3 million more cheap workers available to the 1% to exploit. You could end the "illegal" problem in ten minutes. No walls, no deportations. Just prosecute anyone who hires them and confiscate their shit.
But the Rich WANT illegals. And they want to keep dumb-ass mouth-breathers like you upset that a Mexican might date their daughters. Because the last thing they want stupid mouth breathers like you to realize is that you have more in common with the illegals than the One-Percenters who really run the GOP.
So they trot out someone like Uncle Tom who will validate your bigotries, and then keep screwing you. SQUEAL LIKE A PIG, BOY!!!!
He cut lots of deals with Tip ONeill, he had to. He was speaker of the house. How are you going to get anything done as president if you can't cut a deal with the speaker of the house?
Hey, dumbass, your side just ran poor Boehner out on a rail because he cut deals with Obama. So frankly, cutting deals with the "enemy" is the greatest of heresies!!!!
He wasn't welcomed by the Establishment GOP back then, he just had the power of the people backing him. The did everything they could to sabotage his campaign and nominate Gerald Ford. The Conservative base still loves Reagan and his core philosophy.
They love the MYTHICAL Reagan they've built up. And that's understandable. He's the only GOP President since that Commie Ike who wasn't voted out of office, impeached or left the economy in smoldering ruins.
The Real Reagan would be a RINO today, and people were whining he was a RINO then. That's why Bush had to scream "Read my Lips". Because Conservatives were so upset Reagan had compromised so much.
But he didn't prove Conservatives wrong, he proved them right. His "compassionate conservatism" was a disaster. He spent us into oblivion and we got nothing from it... he didn't even get any love from the liberals he was trying to satisfy. His tax cut was ineffective because it targeted everybody and cancelled itself out. The Bushes are not true Conservatives.
Ah, yes, the "No True Scotsman" Fallacy. That never gets old. Why isn't Bush a "real conservative". Not because he didn't get you every last ******* thing you wanted- more than Reagan did because he actually had a Congress ready to sign off on the worst stupidity. No, Bush isn't a "real conservative" because he fucked up EVERYTHING.
But instead of admitting things like "We really need government to regulate business" and "Tax cuts for rich people doesn't stimulate the economy", no, no, it was because Bush felt the need to make Conservatives sound less like assholes to get elected.
Reagan spent us into Oblivion, too, buddy. He tripled the national debt, and worse, created the precendent that we could have guns and butter and not pay for it. Don't blame the Bushes for continuing what Reagan started.