Little known factoids about RR: he presided over the biggest tax increase in US history.

Yup. That was TEFRA, or the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982.

The deal at the time was that for every dollar of tax increase congress would find three dollars of spending reductions. And we all fondly remember how well that worked out.

Anyhow, revenue increased from about $956 billion in 1980 to $ 1221 billion in 1990. TEFRA brought in about $ 35 billion/year of that, so I suppose you could argue that the rest came from increased economic activity due to the tax rate reductions (ala JFK) of 1981.

BUT - Spending went up even more, making deficits worse.

So stop grumping about taxes and get my check in the mail. Oh, and since I am now eligible for Social Security and Medicare, would all the rest of you kindly do lots of gigs, make lots of money, and pay lots of taxes so I can live in the style to which I would like to become accustomed!

Mark