The Fiscal Cliff: What Would Reagan Do?

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The Patriot Post:

The Fiscal Cliff: What Would Reagan Do?

 

By Dr. Paul Kengor · December 19, 2012

Editor's note: A version of this article first appeared at FoxNews.com.

As President Obama and Democrats urge Republicans to increase taxes, some liberals are curiously invoking the name of Ronald Reagan, the ultimate tax-cutting Republican. They insist that even Reagan was willing to compromise with Democrats on tax increases; thus, John Boehner and Republicans should as well. In truth, this is (at best) a false parallel.

It is correct that Ronald Reagan occasionally compromised on certain tax increases, as he did in 1982. He did so in exchange for promised spending cuts from Democrats that never materialized, to his great regret. Reagan would constantly point back to this broken promise by Democrats.

More importantly, however, President Reagan never budged on income taxes. He flatly refused to increase income taxes, which is what President Obama demands of Republicans right now. Reagan understood that not all taxes, and thus not all tax increases, were equal

In short, this is why Republicans should not agree to Democrats' demands for tax increases. This nation has a spending problem -- a grave one -- not a tax-revenue problem. Our problem today is reckless big government.