Will The Real Ronald Reagan Please Stand Up : NPR
So how does Ronald Reagan compare to the modern definition of a Reagan conservative? David Stockman, Reagan’s former budget director, tells Raz that he doesn’t think Reagan quite matches up.
“Even though he was highly negative about the role of government … he was also enough of a pragmatist to recognize facts,” Stockman says.
The modern interpretation of who Reagan was is based on two things, Stockman says: a selective reading of history and a full-bore adoption of Reagan rhetoric.
“What the history books are going to show, I believe, is that the Reagan revolution never happened. It was a campaign slogan,” he says. “Government wasn’t reduced; taxes were cut marginally, but the basic functions of the federal government didn’t change.”
What is left, Stockman says, is a lot of slogans and campaign speeches that the current crop of Republican politicians like to repeat over and over.
Ultimately, Stockman says it does matter that the Republican Party of today is so very different from the Republican Party of Reagan’s era. He says in a any democracy you can’t have fiscal stability or discipline unless you have one party that advocates discipline.
“The Republican Party has given up the role that the conservative party needs to play in a democracy,” he says. “As a result of surrendering that role, we’re in a very difficult and I think dangerous position.
This year, Stockman is backing Ron Paul.
