I fully understand what Reagan did. The 70% tax rate in the 70s was hurting growth. Reagan's plan was to combat stagflation, and it worked in that regard, but he largely overcorrected which led to a larger deficit. And every president since has upped the debt. Hard to fully judge Trump or Biden for COVID and adjacent year spending. There was a lot of waste that both parties agreed to. PPP was a joke. My old firm had a normal year for income, but they still received $7MM in PPP funds. I have dozens of clients that took PPP money, and only one of them truly needed the money to stay afloat.1986 was the year that Regan lowered the top marginal tax rate to 28 percent. have a look at that graph again....
Trump, excluding COVID spending, had record spending. Biden made what Reagan did seem like pocket change. And revenue was higher than ever. It is a problem on both sides. If Trump could get us back to what Bill Clinton did it would be a miracle.
The problem is we keep adding programs and spending without revenue to support it. So yes, the needed cuts will hurt for those that rely on them, but sacrifices are needed.