[C. Edmund Wright]

This is true, and I’d say something else: the very notion that a President “increases spending” is just not true. Reagan lost many spending battles to a liberal Congress, and he horse traded with them to grow the economy, and he lowered tax rates, and he defeated the Soviet Union.

Not that a hard core libertarian rag ever thought the Soviets were a big deal in the first place.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Reagan didn't use "a pen and a phone" to dictate policy.

Congress decides how much to spend. A President who respects the Constitution can't stop them.