Quotes

Reagan on Taxes, Government, and Humor

“We don't need this tax for government's needs. We need it for government's wants.”

May 30, 1985

“'We don't need this tax for government's needs. We need it for government's wants.' And he was pretty prophetic, but there was another man that was almost laughed out of public life and public office, a Senator who said, 'If we pass this amendment, we may very well see the day when the government could think it could take as much as 10 percent of a person's earnings.' [Laughter] They thought that was a pretty ridiculous statement.”

— Remarks at the Prelude to Independence Celebrations in Williamsburg, VA