Who said "Status quo, you know, is Latin for 'the mess we're in'."?

President Ronald Reagan famously stated, "Status quo, you know, is Latin for 'the mess we're in'." Reagan made this remark in Chicago, Illinois, at the Annual Convention and Centennial Observance of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners in September 1981. Many believed that he thought it held a good deal of truth.

For critics and those who liked him, they agreed when Reagan advocated a strong style of self sufficient government. He cut tax rates across the board early in his first term to jump start the economy. The economy had been lagging for a long time under stagflation and wobbly growth. But he still didn't tackle large tax entitlements, which were eating away at the dwindling revenue of the US Treasury. His was truly a "less is better" approach to government.

During Reagan's time, the US should have been able to use a specific policy, not just politics, to fend off the economic calamities poised to take down the nation. It was very hard for the nation to move from the status quo.

Reagan held the belief that big government was bad; government was and is a necessary evil. To change the mess, the US government had to take action, make laws, and provide correct checks upon itself. These things should have truly helped solve the problem of big government getting too big to be useful. Reagan saw a mess (things in status quo). He said, "People have no desire to change current affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious issues, etc."