Democrats Recall Reagan’s Tax Increases

Democrats Recall Reagan’s Tax Increases

Brian Faler

Democrats are claiming an unlikely ally in this year’s fight over the debt limit: Ronald Reagan.

Reagan, renowned by Republicans as a tax-cutter, also increased revenue about a dozen times when confronted with surging deficits. The Treasury Department has estimated those measures would be the equivalent of $300 billion annually today -- more than what many Democrats are now seeking as part of a deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling.

That often-forgotten history has some lawmakers trading places, with Democrats hailing the former Republican president as an example for today’s budget negotiators.

“He’s a guy who was willing to compromise,” said Representative Chris Van Hollen, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee. “He was a practical conservative” who “recognized that it’s unrealistic to get 100 percent of your demands.”

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Democrats-Recall-Reagans-Tax-bloomberg-3195309127.html?x=0

I understand why, but invoking for political need the name of Reagan, who created this death spiral we're in, shows how insipid our own brand has become.