The Nationalization of Proposition 13

Extract

The Reagan Administration's budget revisions for fiscal year 1982 reflect a basic shift in the domestic policies of the U.S. national government which can be expected to have profound effects for American federalism. The 15-year period up to 1978, the year in which California voters brought the taxpayer's revolt to the front pages by passing Proposition 13, was a period of growth and activism in the domestic policy of the U.S. national government. The biggest spurt in domestic spending was Lyndon Johnson's Great Society program; Richard Nixon's domestic policy initiatives in 1969 and 1971 also boosted domestic spending. The Carter Administration tried to slow down the federal domestic spending machine after the California fiscal earthquake in 1978, but failed to do so. The Reagan Administration has succeeded, and has done so dramatically.