Some sources indicate the phrase 'government is the problem' was not part of the speech. (E.g. yale.edu http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/reagan1.asp). Live recordings of the address demonstrate that Reagan did indeed use the phrase in question. See Ronald Reagan: First Inaugural Address http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IleiqUDYpFQ; start at 6:08
1980s, First term of office (1981–1985), First Inaugural address (1981)
Variant: In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem
Context: In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. From time to time we've been tempted to believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people. Well, if no one among us is capable of governing himself, then who among us has the capacity to govern someone else? All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden. The solutions we seek must be equitable, with no one group singled out to pay a higher price.
“Interview with Milton Friedman”, Playboy magazine (Feb. 1973)
“Government is never the solution, but it is almost always the problem.”
Source: Morning Star (2016), Ch. 21: Quicksilver
Context: No. I am not an anarchist, a communist, a fascist, a plutocrat, or even a demokrat, for that matter. My boys, don't believe what they tell you in school. Government is never the solution, but it is almost always the problem. I'm a capitalist. And I believe in effort and progress and the ingenuity of our species. The continuing evolution and advancement of our kind based on fair competition. Fact of the matter is, Gold does not want man to continue to evolve. Since the conquering, they have routinely stifled advancement to maintain their heaven. They've wrapped themselves in myth. Filled their grand oceans with monsters to hunt. Cultivated private Mirkwoods and Olympuses of their very own. They have suits of armor to make them flying gods. And they preserve that ridiculous fairy tale by keeping mankind frozen in time. Curbing invention, curiosity, social mobility. Change threatens that.
2012, " The State of the Union is Still a State of War http://www.libertyforall.net/?p=7189"
[Conservatives betrayed: how George W. Bush and other big government republicans hijacked the Conservative cause, Viguerie, Richard A., Bonus Books, 978-1-56625-285-0, 43]
Attributed
“Government does not solve problems. It subsidizes them.”
Variant: Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them.
“Government doesn't cure problems. It aggravates them.”
Lift Her Up, Tenderly, Pine Tree Press (December 1, 1976) p.196
“To the deficit commission, a depression is the solution to the problem, not a problem.”
" Why Government is More Afraid of Debt than Depression http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=6002" Video Interview, The Real News Network (TRNN) (December 16, 2010)
Source: An Economist's Protest: Columns in Political Economy (1966), p. 107
