Political Quotes

“Mr. President, last week we were all celebrating what would have been the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan. There was a piece in the Wall Street Journal by one of the economists who advised Ronald Reagan, Arthur Laffer, which I think recounts and discusses probably as good as any other summary I have ever seen the contribution Reagan and his administration made to the economy of the United States. Therefore, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the article from the Wall Street Journal dated February 10, 2011. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: [From the Wall Street Journal, Feb. 10, 2011] Reaganomics: What We Learned (By Arthur B. Laffer) For 16 years prior to Ronald Reagan's presidency, the U.S. economy was in a tailspin--a result of bipartisan ignorance that resulted in tax increases, dollar devaluations, wage and price controls, minimum-wage hikes, misguided spending, pandering to unions, protectionist measures and other policy mistakes. In the late 1970s and early '80s, 10-year bond yields and inflation both were in the low double digits. The ``misery index''--the sum of consumer price inflation plus the unemployment rate--peaked at well over 20%. The real value of the S&P 500 stock price index had declined at an average annual rate of 6% from early 1966 to August 1982.…”