E Archer hit the nail on the head. It's ludicrous to blame spending all on the President. Read the constitution and you might discover some interesting things about who actually authorizes spending, versus proposing it. The fact is that Reagan and the Goldwater Republican faction he led had to compromise with the paleocons and the Democrats (mostly Great Society types) in order to get the things he felt were needed. Of course, what no one ever bothers to look at is that the economic growth of the 90's was enabled in the 80's. It takes about that long for policy changes to really take hold. But it's always much more convenient to blame the guy in the White House.

Actually Robert, Reagan was one of many "New Deal Democrats" who left the Democratic Party.

Income taxes, whether proportionate or progressive, are immoral. As far as Reagan favoring the rich, anon is just silly. The fact is that the rich (the truly rich, not the upper middle class) much prefer a progressive tax scheme. Progressive tax schemes always have nifty shelters and tax loopholes built into them to try and favor some politicians pet constituency. People with lots of money are far better able to manipulate such a system than people without money. When's the last time you heard Bill Gates or George Soros advocating a proportionate scheme of taxation?