Final answer:
Ronald Reagan justified cuts to welfare programs by arguing that reduced federal spending and tax cuts would stimulate economic growth.
Step-by-step explanation:
President Ronald Reagan justified cuts to basic programs by promoting the idea that significant reductions in federal government spending were necessary to stimulate the economy and reduce the nation's deficit. He believed that lower taxes would lead to increased investments from the wealthy, which would then trickle down and benefit the entire economy through job creation and growth, a theory central to Reaganomics. Reagan's anecdotes often played on existing prejudices to gain support for these cuts, particularly through storied characterizations of welfare abuse, such as the fabricated story of a welfare recipient driving a Cadillac.
Reagan pursued tax cuts aggressively, with the belief that reducing government intervention would spur an economic boom. Despite cutting taxes, Reagan did not proportionally reduce government spending; he increased military spending and eventually had to reverse proposed cuts to Social Security and Medicare due to public outcry. Critics labeled Reagan's economic theories as 'voodoo economics' due to the doubtful feasibility of his policy's outcomes.