Perhaps the answers lie beyond the parameters of our present politics.
In Year 1 of the Reagan Revolution, in which he was a shining star, budget director David Stockman told reporter William Greider: “Kemp-Roth (President Reagan’s 1981 tax cut) was always a Trojan horse to bring down the top rate. … It’s kind of hard to sell ‘trickle down.’ So the supply-side formula was the only way to get a tax policy that was really ‘trickle down.’ Supply-side is ‘trickle-down’ theory.”
An astounding admission. The president’s principal salesman of tax cuts was confessing that the altarpiece of the Reagan policy was a ruse – to cut tax rates of the richest Americans.
Stockman had dealt a pair of aces to the president’s enemies.
Yet, a betrayed Reagan did not fire Stockman. Instead, he walked him down “to the White House woodshed.”
Few suggested that this showed that Reagan was weak. For Reagan had already survived an assassination attempt, summarily fired an entire union of air-traffic controllers and rammed through a hostile House led by Tip O’Neill the largest tax cut in history.
Yet, most everyone here said Barack Obama had no choice but to fire Gen. McChrystal, or reinforce the impression he is weak and indecisive.
The Wall Street Journal–NBC Poll out yesterday confirms that the nation that entertained such high hopes for Barack Obama has lost confidence in his capacity to lead.