This week, February 6th was President Ronald Reagans birthday. Reagan was the charge the Conservative Movement needed in the early 1980s. Just like the country’s malaise ushered a Black President into office before many in the country could cope with it, so did the malaise of 1980 usher Conservative Ronald Reagan into office.
President Obama in an interview during his primaries called President Reagan a transformative president. He did not mean it as a complement but as kudos to what he was able to accomplish, have America support policies that are diametrically against their own interest. This is evident when one examines his last inaugural speech and contrast it with Reagan’ motto; "government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem.”
Liberals believed Reagan was Satan incarnate. Compared to the crop of Conservative Right Wing Republicans, Reagan was simply Paul. After all Paul went from the destructive Saul of Tarsus to Paul the apostle. Not that Reagan redeemed his ways; he just became marginally pragmatic, from voodoo economics to simply mathematically deficient economics.
- Today’s Right Wing continue to work towards the destruction of the unions, PATCO notwithstanding Reagan supported unions.
- Today’s Right Wing consider raising taxes even if it is a reversal of a temporary tax cut or a legally expiring tax cut (the Bush Tax cuts), a line in the sand, while Reagan raised taxes several times and actually supported raising taxes on the wealthy
- Today’s Right Wing demeans and attack the immigrant even as Reagan supported sensible immigration policy.
- Today’s Right Wing is trying to destroy America’s social safety net even as Reagan supported keeping social security viable.
- Today’s Right Wing Republicans sing Reagan’s praises for every bad deed they attempt to move forward. With a clear record that shows they share little in common with their Messiah, they make willful ignorance vogue. One can only wonder if Reagan could win in today’s Republican Party. After all, he was divorced, raised two very Liberal kids (Ron and Patti who pose for Playboy), and had lunch with many Liberal politicians.
Reagan while following a proven failed economic policy, never displayed the hate the current crop of Right Wing Republicans have shown for immigrants, women rights, human rights, and the social safety net. It is obvious why many Liberals yearn to work with Republicans like Reagan in retrospect. Ronnie, Liberals really miss you.
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This is one liberal who does not miss Reagan. He may have been less odious than the current crop of right-wing conservatives, but it’s under his administration that the policies became socially acceptable. I remember his solution to the problem of the homeless sleeping on hot air grates in Washington: make sleeping on grates illegal! He wasn’t exactly a great humanitarian, just smiled while he was screwing people.
I hope you got my sarcasm.
He cut my school aid off. They use to have a plan if your dad was on social security you would get a small amount each month to go school and his social security was reduced a little bit. When he came into office he cut that out and I had a very hard time making it through college but i did graduate. He also cut out the deduction for credit card interest and income averaging. Income averaging was when you would average your income. So if you got a great job your income would be averaged out over the prior year so that also helped a new kid out of college. Why do you think we have so many Hispanics in CA. Again his immigration policy let thousands in that were illegal. This was for big business so we would have a cheap labor force. I voted for Ronnie but as I grow older and much smarted i can see his deficits he ran and his administration caused major damage to this country. How about taking Jimmy Carters solar panels off the white house roof. Imagine if we would of kept the Carter energy policy we would be at least 75 percent powered by solar and drive electric cars.
The country would be better off if he ( Reagan ) had never been born…