[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by Calgaryborn

Reagan's increased spending was do to military expenditures which won him the cold war and also modernized a military that thanks to Carter was hurting big time.

Clinton was pretty much hamstrung by the Republican houses which demanded a balanced budget. If he had control Hilliary would have introduced universal health care in his first term. Clinton's economic legacy was handed to him. He could continue playing lip service to all the special interest groups that make up his party and point to the congress as the bad guys when asked why he wasn't doing much for them. The economy without government tampering{taxes} grew strong as it always does.

The current President Bush is in the later stages of a war. War is expensive. Because of the rise of Islamic traditionalists he also has had to create a whole new government agency which is expensive. No President could do those things and keep a balanced budget. If it wasn't for Bush's tax cuts America would have been in recession a long time ago.

Ha! You're one of them!