Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) faced a generally unfriendly crowd on Monday's Late Show, but Stephen Colbert didn't allow things to get ugly. ("Guys, guys — however you feel, he's my guest, so please don't boo him," Colbert said when talk turned to gay marriage.) But Colbert started out by asking Cruz about President Ronald Reagan, held up as a role model by Cruz and other Republican presidential candidates. "Reagan raised taxes," Colbert noted. "Reagan actually had an amnesty program for illegal immigrants. Neither of those things would allow Reagan to be nominated today."
When pressed, Cruz said "of course" he didn't agree with either of those actions by Reagan, but that he is a fan of Reagan's huge tax cut and deregulation. "When conditions changed in the country, he reversed his 'world's largest tax cut' and raised taxes, when revenues did not match the expectations," Colbert pushed back. "It's entirely possible that your plan might be the right one," he told Cruz, but "if it turns out not to be the right one, would you be willing to compromise with the other side, change your mind, and do something that the other side wants, and not feel like you've capitulated with the devil?"
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