http://slate.msn.com//id/2101829/


Reagan said:

It is my intention to curb the size and influence of the Federal
establishment and to demand recognition of the distinction between the
powers granted to the Federal Government and those reserved to the States or
to the people.

But that didn't happen. As Michael Kinsley has observed, after Reagan's two
terms spending by the federal government was one quarter higher, factoring
out inflation, than when he got there; the federal civilian workforce had
increased from 2.8 million to 3 million; and federal spending, as a share of
Gross Domestic Product, had decreased by one percentage point to 21.2
percent. "If Ronald Reagan and his 'Reaganauts' could only slow down the
growth of government spending, not reverse it or eliminate wasteful
programs, what hope is there for any other conservative president?,"
complained the conservative Heritage Foundation soon after Reagan left
office. The only major government agency Reagan managed to eliminate was the
Civil Aeronautics Board, which didn't have much to do after the Carter
administration deregulated the airline industry. Fittingly, the Ronald
Reagan Building on Pennsylvania, completed ten years after Reagan left
office, today houses 5,000 government employees and is the largest
government building in Washington.