THE POST-REAGAN BUDGET DOLDRUMS

Ironically, Thompson points out, Clinton's hard-to-shake image as a military downsizer doesn't hold water historically, as military spending is now greater than it was, on average, during the Cold War, when about 90 percent of the budget was structured around deterring the Soviet Union. But after a surge in defense spending under President Reagan that peaked in the mid-1980s, Thompson says, "it looks like a cut. We've only come back to where we were."Post your opinion on theWashingtonbulletin board.