I’ve written before about the comparisons between the domestic policies of Lyndon Baines Johnson and George Walker Bush. Now, comes this post over at Hit and Run which makes the comparison seem even worse.
From that post here are the percentage changes in real discreationary spending under all Presidents since LBJ (except Ford):
LBJ: 25.2%
Nixon: -16.5%
Reagan: 11.9%
Clinton: -8.2%
Bush: 35.2%
That’s right, Bush has beaten LBJ by 10%. The end result of LBJ’s profligate spending are well known. Hyperinflation, a stagnante economy, and record unemployment. By the time we’re done dealing with the consequences of this mess, LBJ could look like a saint by comparison.
And on an unrelated point, why the 8.2% drop in spending during the Clinton administration ? I think there are several reasons. First, the end of the Cold War resulted in a substantial reduction in Defense Department spending that didn’t see a turn-around until the First Gulf War. Second, and more important, is the fact that from 1994 onward, Clinton was dealing with a divided government and a Republican Congress that actually acted on what it believed. Most of the leaders of the 1994 revolution are gone, though, and once George W. Bush came into power, the Republican leadership in Congress decided that it was in their interest to act like the Democrats did in the 1960’s and 70’s.
Hat Tip to Professor Bainbridge
