No, I haven't read the book, only the Newsweek coverage of it. I have read some interesting things about his governorship, but it's kind of OT, and was a long time ago. I think I did post that he was already doing his delusional thing-- saying over and over that he was lowering expenditures while in fact the budget was doubling.
Here's a summary of his tenure as governor, just fyi. It's from the Garry Wills book I quoted earlier, and is quoted from two Reagan-friendly academics, Hamilton and Biggart:
"A final, ironic consequence of the structured Reagan administration was that it worked well to systematize government. Many of the management reforms and experienced executives that the Reagan administration brought to Sacramento, in fact, made government run better, and deliver services more effectively... the budget more than doubled from 4.6 billion to 10.2 billion... California did not shrink and allow private citizens to handle their own affairs. Instead, government entrenched itself in many ways as a strong, effective force in California society."
Wills' last comment: "Reagan had committed the very sin he inveighed against-- government."
So what we have is Reagan improving the state government as a functioning machine, and all the while... talking as though he was in the process of dismantling it.
Lies or delusions? |
