I think the writer has it backwards

In response to:
Deficit-spending a GOP tradition

From John Blethen:

I think the writer has it backwards -- it was the Reagan tax cuts on all brackets that spurred the subsequent two-decade growth. Clinton's tax increases dampened what would have been an even more robust 1990s. The writer seems to think tax increases help the economy. The deficits in the 1980 were because for every two dollars of increased revenue due to the tax cuts Congress spent three dollars. And Reagan spent a lot on rebuilding the military, which led to the peace dividend after the Cold War which Clinton inherited.