The Myth of Small Government Ronald Reagan seems to be one that some conservatives seem hellbent on preserving.

The latest example comes from Washington Post columnist/Fox News Propagandist Charles Krauthammer, in his column “Obama Unbound” (you can read it here).

In his usual screed against Obama, Krauthammer includes this nugget:

“On Jan. 20, 1981, Reagan had proclaimed: “Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.” And then succeeded in bending the national consensus to his ideology.”

One problem with that.  It’s a myth.  The federal government only grew under President Reagan (you can read an article about it here).

Federal government spending grew under Reagan, mostly because of the budgets he suggested to Congress.
The Department of Education’s budget doubled under Reagan, the department he vowed to eliminate.
Foreign aid doubled under Reagan.
He tripled the debt, going from $900 billion to $2.7 trillion.
A variety of federal taxes actually increased under Reagan, most at Reagan’s suggestion.
More federal government employees existed at the end of his time in office than at the beginning, 23,000 more.

Don’t let facts get in the way of a good myth, though.  And the Reagan Myth continues . . .