"...  our greatest Presidents-feel better? ..."   Heh, my feelings about RR of course aren't the issue - it is just as you cogently stated above:  " ... agree or disagree, to discuss and to be accurate with the facts ..."   Right?

I recall the original circumstances that you cite in the WaPo article, and at the time, they did indeed excite some Angst (especially among conservatives).  As time went on, however, it seems that most of us did survive.   In fact, for the last 20 years or so, liberal economists have been preaching that Federal debt is an illusion and that deficits don't even matter - in fact, borrowing is "smart finance" for government; we can enjoy all the advantages of spending now, and kick the can down the road for our kids and grandkids to pick up the ultimate tab.  That being the case, it is always odd to hear the modern liberal sneer at the Reagan deficits.  RR was just ahead of his time, in Progressive terms!  :-/