It's Not Socialism if a Republican Does It

My Republican conspecifics at the office have come full circle. I have heard them many times remark that Jimmy Carter messed up the economy and that Ronald Reagan fixed it. Now, however, they are saying that the federal government has no impact on the economy. Bush and the GOP didn't screw up the economy,see, and Obama can't do anything to fix it. This is totally different from the Carter/Reagan scenario somehow.

I lived through the Carter and Reagan years, and I was under the impression that Reagan stimulated the economy with tax cuts and deficit spending. And Reagan is the Republican God. The current stimulus has fewer tax cuts, and way fewer perks for the "supply side" (rich people), but it's basically the same trick as far as I can tell.

Of course, it may well be that the recession in the Carter and Reagan years would have fixed itself and that the Reagan stimulus didn't do anything to help. If that's the case now for Republicans, I reckon the apotheosis of Reagan should be rescinded.