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Some skeptics charged that the speech was part of an increasing Pentagon propensity toward "threat inflation." Explained Congressman Les Aspin of Wisconsin: "We are seeing a more exaggerated and disingenuous presentation of the Soviet threat than we have seen in the past." As an example of how this works, critics point to Defense Department hype two years ago for the new Soviet T-80 tank. It was depicted in briefings and a Pentagon publication as fast, heavily armored and bristling with grenade and missile launchers. That was when the Administration was anxious to secure funding for America's new M1 tank. A recent photograph released by the Pentagon in its latest assessment of Soviet strength shows that the T-80 is actually only a slight modification of its predecessor, the T72, with similar shape, armor and capability.
Reactions to Reagan's defense of his military spending plans were dwarfed by the debate over his vision of satellite missile killers. "To inject and hurl out this new idea while the whole world is waiting for the U.S. to come up with a reasonable arms control proposal I find bizarre," said Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut. "Can you imagine the reaction here and abroad if Yuri Andropov had made this speech?" Others were appalled at the enormous potential costs of a space race. Said Republican Senator Mark Hatfield of Oregon: "It is a call to siphon off the meager and inadequate commitment which now exists to rebuild America." A few Senators, including Republicans Pete Domenici of New Mexico and Malcolm Wallop of Wyoming, have long been urging such a project. The reaction from most others was guarded curiosity. "It's worth putting out and debating," said Senator William Cohen, a Republican from Maine.
The White House reported an outpouring of supportive calls and telegrams after the speech (80% out of 2,800 in favor). Said Senior Adviser Michael Deaver: "He has had the most favorable response to any speech since he was elected President." But editorial reaction from around the country was more skeptical. The Atlanta Constitution, which labeled Reagan's characterization of the Soviet threat as "huckstering misimpressions," said that by "raising the remote possibility of a sci-fi defense against Soviet missiles, he risked destabilizing the U.S.-Soviet military balance—already dangerously tenuous." The Chicago Sun Times called the speech "an appalling disservice." Said the Detroit Free Press: "Reagan's vision of a 21st century in which the U.S. will be hermetically sealed against all nuclear attack provides no answer to the problem of how our national security is to best be addressed now and in the next couple of decades."