Edwin Meese III and Michael Needham: Will Obama Ever Learn Economics from Reagan?

Former U.S. attorney general Edwin Meese III holds the Ronald Reagan Chair in Public Policy at The Heritage Foundation (www.heritage.org). Michael Needham is chief executive officer of Heritage Action for America.

The centennial of Ronald Reagan's birth earlier this year brought an unusual sight: a round of press reports noting President Obama's admiration for his predecessor, including one he penned for this newspaper.

Despite their stark differences on policy, Obama praised Reagan for how he led the nation "through an extremely difficult period, with economic hardship at home and very real threats beyond our borders." And, lo and behold, many pundits are now comparing what they call Reagan's willingness to compromise on taxes to what they say is the intransigence of today's GOP.

A cautionary tale

Leading the nation through hard times wasn't easy. We'd like to suggest that President Obama take a closer look at how President Reagan dealt with that "economic hardship," and how he steered the nation toward what would turn into its longest peacetime economic expansion. It's a cautionary tale — one that involves the greatest domestic error of his administration.

In 1981, President Reagan's plan for revitalizing the economy was a four-fold one...