In his speech on the budget today, President Barack Obama made a passing reference to President "Ronald Reagan's own budget director" during a critique of Rep. Paul Ryan's Republican budget/deficit-reducing proposal.

"As Ronald Reagan's own budget director said, there's nothing serious or courageous about this plan," the president said.

We believe the president was referring to David Stockman, who has made a number of appearances on our show during the past six months. FULL POST

David Stockman, former U.S. Congressman and OMB director under Ronald Reagan, who, in discussing last week's budget negotiations, told this blog, “The Republicans proved that they don't have the courage of their misguided convictions.”

Eliot asks him about the efforts to tame America's debt and Stockman says, "We are issuing $6 billion of debt every day" and adds that elected officials are "dreamwalking."

CLICK HERE to read Stockman's most recent OFF-SET interview (4-11-11)

Reagan budget director David Stockman and Columbia University economist Jeffrey Sachs both harshly criticize Rep. Paul Ryan's long-term Republican budget plan in an interview with Fareed Zakaria, host of CNN's Global Public Square.

CLICK HERE to read our fascinating OFF-SET interview with Stockman, who says "Republicans need to man-up and shut the government down," exclusive to the In The Arena blog!

ONLY ON THE BLOG: Answering today’s OFF-SET questions is David Stockman, former Director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Reagan Administration.

From 1976 to 1981, he represented Southern Michigan in the U.S. House of Representatives. Stockman also served as Senior Managing Director of The Blackstone Group, and as a Managing Director in the Corporate Finance Department of Salomon Brothers, Inc.  He is the author of the best-selling book, “The Triumph of Politics; How the Reagan Revolution Failed.” Currently, Stockman serves as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Stockman is scheduled to appear IN THE ARENA on Wednesday, April 6, 2011.

On Tuesday, President Obama met with congressional leaders as Democrats and Republicans tried to strike a budget deal, facing a Friday deadline for a partial government shutdown. So far, top leaders have been unable to reach agreement on how much to cut government spending for the rest of the current fiscal year, which ends on September 30. Do you think anyone will let a shutdown happen this week? If so, what would that accomplish?

The Republicans need to man-up and shut the government down.  They have been bloviating for 30 years about cutting spending and have done almost nothing.

Yet non-defense discretionary spending is up $160 billion just since 2007 and has grown from $320 billion to $660 billion or 106% in the last decade. If they can’t cut $60 billion out of that massive, unaffordable growth, they should stop braying about no new taxes.  FULL POST

President Reagan's budget director David Stockman says "we have to raise taxes" in order to balance the federal budget.
  FULL POST

Ronald Reagan's budget director David Stockman throws a pitch fork into GOP traditional doctrine on taxes and defense.

"For 30 years," Stockman said, "both parties have been telling the public that we could have this massive government, 24 percent of GDP, all these programs, we could be an imperial power policing the world, and we don't have to raise the tax revenue needed to support it."

Ronald Reagan's budget director David Stockman has some big surprises for Eliot Spitzer as he names his cuts.