mr. carlson. you're a journalist with integrity and i hope you have -- i hope you do not pull a bill o'reilly or brian williams anytime soon. my question is about ronald reagan. generally considered to be against a government but when you look at his record, it did not always turn out that way. there are no real programs that i think that he cut. when he left office, the budget deficit -- the national debt was three times higher than it was when he came into office which is about similar to obama's record. what you think about this on the myth of reagan trying to downsize the government? guest: i think there's a lot of truth in what you said. i have seen all kinds of numbers on this question. numbers are famously fungible. i don't think there was a massive net reduction of government for sure under the reagan administration. i am not giving them a pass on this. it is pretty hard to cut anything. if you attempt even to rein in the growth of spending -- the slashing the budget and making elderly wid

mr. carlson.ou're a journalist with integrity and i hope you have -- i hope you do not pull of bill o'reilly or brian williams anytime soon. my question is about ronald reagan. generally considered to be against a government but when you look at his record, it did not always turn out that way. there are no real programs that i think that he cut. when he left office, the budget deficit -- the national debt was three times higher than it was when he came into office which is about similar to obama's record. what you think about this on the myth of reagan trying to downsize the government? guest: i think there's a lot of truth in what you said. i have seen all kinds of numbers on this question. numbers are famously fungible. gdeable. i am not giving them a pass on this. it is pretty hard to cut anything. if you attempt even to rein in the growth of spending -- the dramatic, over the top language of any attempt to rein in spending are almost unbelievable. this may be the core problem of democracy. onc