Not really. If this were true, one might expect to see, say, deficit spending temper when Republicans control both houses and the presidency. Republicans just

Not really. If this were true, one might expect to see, say, deficit spending temper when Republicans control both houses and the presidency. Republicans just like to put debt into different things, like tax cuts for the rich. Plus a good deal of the “wouldn’t it be nice…” is real-world tested and proven and the “yeah, but…” is nonsense. [edit] this notion is a hold-over from when it was sorta, kinda true, when both parties were still basically trying to make government work well and largely working toward similar goals and differed largely on approach—but that was more than 50 years ago. Reagan’s campaign is the demarcation line.