Ronald Reagan Revisited
February 10, 2016
The Republican candidates for most any office in the country always try to tie themselves to the coattails of Ronald Reagan. In their every speech they deify the movie actor, cowboy, radio broadcast spokesperson for GE’s right-wing conspiracy, California governor, President of the United States, and then terminator of the prospering middle class economy which prevailed when he was crowned king of the free world in 1980.
Thanks to Linda Pierce for sending me this compelling article by SemDem from February 7th in the Daily Kos: Obama v. Reagan: Fun Comparison I Did To Piss Off Wingnuts on Reagan’s B-day
Quotes from the article:
“Imagine a world that never knew Ronald Reagan:
“No Scalia, No Rumsfeld, No Cheney. No Bushes and all of their appointments and disasters. No funding of dictators like Saddam Hussein (Reagan propped him up big time) or psychopaths like Osama Bin Laden (that worked out well).
“…. a healthy economy with a strong middle class instead of a world where the labor movement has been viciously attacked, and the middle class is systematically being dismantled. Under Reagan, corporations gained massive power to the point today where they have become “people”. Unions, the worker’s last protection, were severely weakened, and the socioeconomic gap exploded. He also bankrupted us, pouring hundreds of billions into wasteful spending, like the failed and ridiculous Star Wars missile-defense system. All in just 8 short years.
“Reagan created the modern plutocracy. He introduced us to the whole “take from the poor, give to the rich” supply-side economics that we still suffer today. He turned compassion to the less fortunate to villainization… created the mythical “welfare queen”, mocked AIDS patients, and let his fellow “Christians” know it was okay to belittle the homeless.
“REAGAN:
“He got through a big tax cut once he took office. But to hear conservatives talk, that’s where the story ends. They forget he raised income taxes in 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987.
“Actually, he raised taxes 11 times to include four MASSIVE tax increases!
“DEFICIT SPENDING
“REAGAN:
“Whether you are looking at the economic policies of Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush, reining in the deficit was clearly of no concern. Reagan tripled the Gross Federal Debt, from $900 billion to $2.7 trillion. Ford and Carter in their combined terms could only double it. It took 31 years to accomplish the first postwar debt tripling, yet Reagan did it in eight. Reagan soared the spending, Clinton brought in back down a bit, and W. took it way back up. To be fair to the Gipper, NO ONE did deficit like W. He spent the Clinton surplus like a drunken sailor. And by the way, Obama’s spending initiatives were less than half of his predecessor.
“UPDATE: From politifact, Obama has cut the national deficit in half!”
“REAGAN:
“Reagan APPEASED terrorists. He ignored their atrocities and spent taxpayer dollars to train, arm, equip, fund and overall coddle Islamist mujahidin fighters in Afghanistan for his proxy war with the Soviets. He is directly responsible for making a terrorist kingpin out of Osama Bin Laden. Reagan loved him some Taliban:
“But all I really need to say is two words: IRAN-CONTRA. Reagan was so bad he SECRETLY TRADED arms for HOSTAGES! DO I really need to say more?? Can you just imagine the wingnut explosion if Obama did that?
“Reagan also met with our enemies without preconditions (1985, Soviet Union)… something that Obama was attacked for saying he just wanted to do. But again, giving weapons to terrorists pretty much takes the cake. “
If Republican candidates want to deify someone who they can claim as their own they should start with Theodore Roosevelt, the trust buster and environmental savior, and end with Dwight Eisenhower, for his brilliant military career under the most challenging circumstances imaginable. But no, they want to be like the Gipper, the guy whose favorite whine about anyone who opposed him was: “there they go again”.
He was successful in fulfilling his dream – which was destroying the bargaining power of the working class and launching the rise of the rich and powerful, those who he knew were destined to own and rule the world. And he set the stage for packing the Supreme Court with right-wing nuts who continue to enable our slide toward oligarchy.
Think about it!