There they go again: Remembering the 'TEFRA Debacle of 1982'

It was the long hot summer of 1982, exactly 29 years ago. The worst economic recession since the Great Depression was in full flower. Unemployment was over 10 percent. The first phases of the 1981 Reagan tax cuts had kicked in, but Washington’s bipartisan ruling class was spooked by ominous deficit projections. The imperative of the moment then — like now — was that something had to be done.

In their minds, that “something” boiled down to finding a way to convince the “fanatical” wing of the stupid(er) party — the Republicans — to accept the need to raise taxes.