Reagan is a liberal today. If the GOP really wanted to be the party of Reagan, they would be fixed, tomorrow.
But, the important thing in the exchange, brother AK is that you are a liberal and can commend Reagan, while I am a conservative and can commend Reagan. That just doesn't happen today. The people have become so divided, I don't believe we will ever recover. Boner and Obama ain't not Reagan/O'Neil.
In Reagan's Halo don't for some of the more egregious things: Iran-Contra and the excesses of the IRS during his presidency. After cutting rates, the IRS' marching orders were to collect every penny possible and it led to an almost ganster culture among revenue agents. Remember the Congressional hearings in the 1990s and all the stories about the IRS strong arming small businesses over small details, siezing assets and forcing the closure of businesses due to deliquencies.
Reps cannot win on this. All Obama has to do is stand pat, let us go over the cliff, then propose to (re)lower middle class taxes.