what? really? It was higher under Reagan, he did the best he could to lower it, but you can only do so much with both houses full of democrats. I'd love to know why you would think Reagan would want higher taxes, everything I've read would say otherwise.
Reagan lowered taxes, realized he lowered them too far, then raised them to get revenues back up. Ended up at a much smaller cut than he initially got through. Can't find a best link, but google 'Deficit Reduction Act reagan' and you'll get lots of hits.
But that was a different, more responsible era than the last administration.
Just to clarify, Reagan's tax cuts were actually a revenue windfall for the Treasury, as it unlocked a ton of capital gains that investors had been sitting on and resulted in an economic expansion that, aside from a brief recession in 90-91, pushed through the end of Clinton's administration[1].
[1] Not that Bush Sr. and Clinton deserve no credit, of course, Some folks have unfairly vilified Bush Sr., but the fact is, economists agree that the US was emerging from recession before the end of his administration
