The Many Ronald Reagans

I really appreciate Jonah Goldberg’s response to my column today on the many Ronald Reagans and many JD Vances that people love and hate in turn.

Jonah tries to give more political coherence and consistency to Reagan’s overall record than I think is really there. Deregulation got its first big push under Carter (airlines, trucking, and rail), but Reagan expanded on it mostly through appointees to the agencies who were hostile to regulation, shifting anti-trust enforcement, and using OMB review to slow rulemaking.

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Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is a senior writer at National Review Online.

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I really appreciate Jonah Goldberg’s response to my column today on the many Ronald Reagans and many JD Vances that people love and hate in turn.

Jonah tries to give more political coherence and consistency to Reagan’s overall record than I think is really there. Deregulation got its first big push under Carter (airlines, trucking, and rail), but Reagan expanded on it mostly through appointees to the agencies who were hostile to regulation, shifting anti-trust enforcement, and using OMB review to slow rulemaking.