I was going to start a thread about this. The GOP has been down before. Then they found a champion out of Cali. Reagan did not talk about abortion, states rights, freeloaders, or any of that. Today, Reagan is a liberal, according to the Wingers.
The left loves to distort Reagan... We need more liberals like Reagan... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Ronald_Reagan Economic policy Main article: Reaganomics Reagan gives a televised address from the Oval Office, outlining his plan for Tax Reduction Legislation in July 1981 [edit]Economic plans, taxes, and deficit Reagan implemented policies based on supply-side economics and advocated a laissez-faire philosophy,[12] seeking to stimulate the economy with large, across-the-board tax cuts.[13][14] Reagan pointed to improvements in certain key economic indicators as evidence of success.[3] The policies proposed that economic growth would occur when marginal tax rates were low enough to spur investment,[15] which would then lead to increased economic growth, higher employment and wages. Reagan was ardently opposed to raising income taxes. During his presidential tenure, federal income tax rates were lowered significantly.[16] In order to cover the growing federal budget deficits, the United States borrowed heavily both domestically and abroad, raising the national debt from $700 billion to $3 trillion.[17] Reagan described the new debt as the "greatest disappointment" of his presidency.[17] [edit]Free trade Reagan was a supporter of free trade.[18] When running for president in 1979, Reagan proposed a "North American accord", in which goods could move freely throughout Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.[19] Largely dismissed at the time, Reagan was serious in his proposal. Once in office, he signed an agreement with Canada to that effect.[18] His "North American accord" later became the official North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), signed by President George H. W. Bush and ratified by President Bill Clinton.[19] [edit]Healthcare Reagan was opposed to socialized healthcare, universal health care, or publicly funded health care. In 1961, while still a member of the Democratic party, Reagan voiced his opposition to single-payer healthcare in an 11-minute recording;[20] the idea was beginning to be advocated by the Democratic party. In it, Reagan stated: "One of the traditional methods of imposing statism or socialism on a people has been by way of medicine. It is very easy to describe a medical program as a humanitarian project... Under the Truman administration, it was proposed that we have a compulsory health insurance program for all people in the United States, and of course, the American people unhesitatingly rejected this... In the last decade, 127 million of our citizens, in just ten years, have come under the protection of some privately-owned medical or hospital insurance. The advocates of [socialized healthcare], when you try to oppose it, challenge you on an emotional basis... What can we do about this? Well you and I can do a great deal. We can write to our Congressmen, to our Senators. We can say right now that we want no further encroachment on these individual liberties and freedoms. And at the moment, the key issue is we do not want socialized medicine... If you don't, this program I promise you will pass just as surely as the sun will come up tomorrow. And behind it will come other federal programs that will invade every area of freedom as well have known it in this country, until one day, as Norman Thomas said, we will awake to find that we have socialism. If you don't do this and if I don't do it, one of these days you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children, and our children's children, what it once was like in America when men were free."[20][21] [edit]Social Security Reagan was in favor of making Social Security benefits voluntary.[22] According to Reagan biographer Lou Cannon, "I have no doubt that he shared the view that Social Security was a Ponzi scheme. He was intrigued with the idea of a voluntary plan that would have allowed workers to make their own investments. This idea would have undermined the system by depriving Social Security of the contributions of millions of the nationâs highest-paid workers."[22] Although, Reagan was for a limited government, and against the idea of a welfare state, Reagan continued to fully fund Social Security and Medicare because the elderly were dependent on those programs. [edit]New Deal Reagan wrote that he was never trying to undo the New Deal. He admired Franklin Delano Roosevelt and voted for him four times.[citation needed]
Social policy [edit]Environment Reagan dismissed acid rain and proposals to halt it as burdensome to industry.[23] In the early 1980s, pollution had become an issue in Canada; Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau objected to the pollution originating in U.S. factory smokestacks in the midwest.[24] The Environmental Protection Agency implored Reagan to make a major budget commitment to reduce acid rain; Reagan rejected the proposal and deemed it as wasteful government spending.[24] He questioned scientific evidence on the causes of acid rain.[24] [edit]Abortion Reagan was pro-life, and therefore anti-abortion.[25] He was quoted as saying, "If there is a question as to whether there is life or death, the doubt should be resolved in favor of life."[25] As Governor of California, Reagan signed into law the "Therapeutic Abortion Act", in an effort to reduce the number of "back room abortions" performed in California.[26] As a result, approximately one million abortions would be performed; Reagan blamed this on doctors, arguing that they had deliberately misinterpreted the law.[25] At the time that the law was signed, Reagan had been in office for four months, and stated that had he been more experienced as governor he would not have signed it.[27] He then declared himself to be pro-life. Reagan managed to gain the support of pro-life groups when running for president, despite his authorization of the "Therapeutic Abortion Act", by advocating a constitutional amendment that would have prohibited all abortions except when necessary to save the life of the mother.[25] He saw "abortion on demand" as emotionally harmful.[25] [edit]Crime and capital punishment Reagan was a supporter of capital punishment. As California's Governor, Reagan was beseeched to grant executive clemency to Aaron Mitchell, who had been sentenced to death for the murder of a Sacramento police officer, but did not.[28] Mitchell was executed the following morning.[28] It was the only execution during his eight years as governor; he had previously granted executive clemency to one man on death row who had a history of brain damage.[28] He approved the construction of three new prisons as president in 1982, as recommended by Attorney General William French Smith.[28] [edit]Drugs Reagan was serious when it came to his opposition to illegal drugs.[29] He and his wife sought to reduce the use of illegal drugs through the Just Say No Drug Awareness campaign, an organization Nancy Reagan founded as first lady.[29] In a 1986 address to the nation by Ronald and Nancy Reagan, the president said, "[W]hile drug and alcohol abuse cuts across all generations, it's especially damaging to the young people on whom our future depends... Drugs are menacing our society. They're threatening our values and undercutting our institutions. They're killing our children."[30] But Reagan also reacted to illegal drugs outside of Just Say No; the FBI added five hundred drug enforcement agents, began record drug crackdowns nationwide, and established thirteen regional anti-drug task forces under Reagan.[29] In the address with the first lady, President Reagan reported on the progress of his administration, saying, "Thirty-seven Federal agencies are working together in a vigorous national effort, and by next year our spending for drug law enforcement will have more than tripled from its 1981 levels. We have increased seizures of illegal drugs. Shortages of marijuana are now being reported. Last year alone over 10,000 drug criminals were convicted and nearly $250 million of their assets were seized by the DEA, the Drug Enforcement Administration. And in the most important area, individual use, we see progress. In 4 years the number of high school seniors using marijuana on a daily basis has dropped from 1 in 14 to 1 in 20. The U.S. military has cut the use of illegal drugs among its personnel by 67 percent since 1980. These are a measure of our commitment and emerging signs that we can defeat this enemy."[30] [edit]Civil rights [edit]Women While running for president, Reagan pledged that if given the chance, he would appoint a woman to the Supreme Court of the United States.[31] In 1981, he did just that with his nomination of Sandra Day O'Connor, who was confirmed by the United States Senate by a vote of 99-0. As President, Ronald Reagan opposed the Equal Rights Amendment because he felt that women were already protected by the Fourteenth Amendment, although as Governor of California Reagan had supported the amendment and offered to help women's groups achieve its ratification.[32] Reagan pulled his support for the ERA shortly before announcing his 1976 candidacy for President; the 1976 Republican National Convention renewed the party's support for the amendment but in 1980 the party qualified its 40-year support for ERA. Despite opposing the ERA, Reagan did not actively work against the amendment, which his daughter Maureen (who advised her father on various issues including women's rights) and most prominent Republicans supported. Reagan established a "Fifty States Project" and councils and commissions on women designed to find existing statutes at the federal and state levels and eradicate them, the latter through a liaison with the various state governors. Elizabeth Dole, a Republican feminist and former Federal Trade Commissioner and advisor to Presidents Johnson, Nixon, and Ford (who would go on to become Reagan's Transportation Secretary) headed up his women's rights project. [edit]Minorities Reagan did not support federal initiatives to provide blacks with civil rights.[33] He opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964[34] and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson.[33] His opposition was based on his view that certain provisions of both Acts violated the US Constitution and in the case of the 1964 Act, intruded upon the civil rights of business and property owners.[33] Reagan did not consider himself a racist, and dismissed any attacks aimed at him relating to racism as attacks on his personal character and integrity.[33] He claimed his opposition to certain federal government civil rights acts were not because he was racist, but because he believed in states rights. Reagan gave a States' Rights speech[35] in Philadelphia, Mississippi, the town where three civil rights workers were murdered in 1964,[36] when running for president in 1980 and said (while campaigning in Georgia) that Confederate President Jefferson Davis was "a hero of mine."[37] However, Reagan was offended that some accused him of racism.[37] In 1980 Reagan said the Voting Rights Act was "humiliating to the South,"[38] although he later supported extending the Act.[39] He opposed Fair Housing legislation in California (the Rumford Fair Housing Act),[40] but in 1988 signed a law expanding the Fair Housing Act of 1968.[41] Reagan was unsuccessful in trying to veto another civil rights bill in March of the same year.[42] Reagan supported South Africa in spite of apartheid, but yielded to pressure from Congress and his own party.[43] At first Reagan opposed the Martin Luther King holiday, and signed it only after an overwhelming veto-proof majority (338 to 90 in the House of Representatives and 78 to 22 in the Senate) voted in favor of it.[44] Congress overrode Reagan's veto of the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1988.[42][45] Reagan said the Restoration Act would impose too many regulations on churches, the private sector and state and local governments.[46] [edit]Education [edit]School prayer Reagan was a supporter of prayer in U.S. schools.[47] On February 25, 1984, in his weekly radio address, he said, "Sometimes I can't help but feel the first amendment is being turned on its head. Because ask yourselves: Can it really be true that the first amendment can permit Nazis and Ku Klux Klansmen to march on public property, advocate the extermination of people of the Jewish faith and the subjugation of blacks, while the same amendment forbids our children from saying a prayer in school?"[47] However, President Reagan did not pursue a Constitutional amendment requiring school prayer in public schools.[48] [edit]Department of Education Reagan was particularly opposed to the establishment of the Department of Education, which had occurred under his predecessor, Jimmy Carter. This view stemmed from his less-government intervention views.[49] He had pledged to abolish the department, but did not pursue that goal as president.[49]
And all of that is good. The trick is that Reagan did not allow himself to get stuck in the social mud. He kept it fiscal, and so his ideas were heard.
Perhaps...but there aren't as many smart people as back in the day. (This is one question I had run by some unvisersity professors. I'd ask if students are dumber, he said basically there are many bright young individuals but not as many...oh well)
The real Ronald Reagan may not meet today's GOP standards The pragmatic side of the former president, who was willing to compromise when necessary, is overlooked as he becomes a conservative icon. September 06, 2011|By Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times When the Republican presidential hopefuls gather to debate Wednesday night in Simi Valley, one thing seems certain: Lavish tribute will be paid to Ronald Reagan. That is fitting: The event is being held at Reagan's presidential library and burial ground, high on a bluff overlooking the Santa Susana Mountains. It's also smart politics. Reagan has become a sainted figure within the GOP who, not incidentally, is the most successful and popular of the party's modern presidents. But the Reagan reverie will doubtless overlook much of the Reagan reality. As president, the conservative icon approved several tax increases to deal with a soaring budget deficit, repeatedly boosted the nation's debt limit, signed into law a bill granting amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants and, despite his anti-Washington rhetoric, oversaw an increase in the size and spending of the federal government. Before that, as California governor, he enacted what at the time was the largest state tax increase in American history. He also signed into law one of the nation's most permissive abortion bills; any Republican who tried that today would be cast out of the party. The fact that Reagan often took the actions grudgingly speaks to what, by modern Republican standards, may be one of the greatest heresies of all: At bottom, Reagan was a pragmatist, willing, when necessary, to cut a deal and compromise. "He had a strong set of core values and operated off of those," said Stuart Spencer, a GOP strategist who stood by Reagan's side for virtually his entire political career, starting with his first run for governor. "But when push came to shove, he did various things he didn't like doing, because he knew it was in the best interests of the state or country at the time." Spencer, with characteristic bluntness, dismissed the current vogue of Reagan revisionism: "A lot of those people running out there don't really understand what he did. It's just a matter of attaching themselves to a winner." Reagan's transformation from man to myth is, to some degree, calculated. The passage of time almost invariably casts a warm (or at least warmer) glow on recent past presidents. Thanks to their good works, Democrats Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter have risen in the public's esteem. Even Richard Nixon, who resigned in disgrace, has ticked up in opinion surveys. In Reagan's case, there has been an orchestrated campaign over the last several years by acolytes eager to glorify his image and affix his name to as many public markers â airports, mountains, roads, bridges, buildings â as possible. But Reagan is also celebrated because he achieved big things, both domestically, where he revived the nation's flagging self-confidence, and abroad, where he helped drive the Soviet Union to extinction. After a deep and stubborn recession early on, the economy thrived for much of Reagan's two terms and, though partisans may debate the causes and the ultimate costs of that boomlet, those frothy times compare quite favorably with today's anxiety-ridden environment. "It wasn't like pushing a button and the machine just took off," said Lou Cannon, a retired Washington Post reporter who wrote several books chronicling Reagan's career, starting with his two terms in Sacramento. "It took some calibration" â the top income tax rate was cut drastically while various tax breaks and loopholes ended â "but Reagan was practical and willing to calibrate." Many also extol Reagan for his command of the presidency â both its power and trappings â in further contrast, they say, with the current occupant of the White House. "He came into office with a strong set of principles and, with some digressions and a few failures, fought for them, represented them and stood by them," said Ken Khachigian, a former Reagan speechwriter and political strategist. (Reagan was also a fabulously gifted politician, even if that description made him blanch. "He had a way of seeming steadfast," Khachigian said, "even when he was bending.") The Republican Party has obviously changed greatly since Reagan first ran for president in 1968, and even since he left office with a solid 63% approval rating in January 1989. It is hard to imagine a governor with Reagan's record on taxes and abortion faring very well in today's GOP nominating fight, even if he did repudiate those positions. Reagan's willingness to compromise has also fallen badly out of favor in a Republican Party fired up by its give-no-quarter "tea party" ranks. "People that pragmatic now are what they call RINOs," said Spencer, using the epithet, "Republican in Name Only," that is flung by keepers of the faith at those deemed less than pure. If, however, the Reagan of real life seems less welcome on Wednesday night's debate stage than the Reagan the candidates are likely to conjure, not every admirer seems as ready to restyle the 40th president to suit today's political fashion. "You can make someone so iconic and so near divine that you lose the essence of the man," said Craig Shirley, a longtime conservative strategist and Reagan biographer. "If you are faithful and you want to do the man justice, then you have to accept the whole body of knowledge," compromises and all. "I don't think," Shirley said, "you should cherry-pick history." mark.barabak@latimes.com
Not analogous to household finance. If it were, then our household would be able to pass its debt (and service) on to the kids, and the kids would be able to do the same for their kids, and so on until the last generation of kids, who only then would be liable for the entire outstanding principal.
yooohoo.. dipshit, excuse me but who exactly exposed the working to man to global economics and wage compression? obviously the OWS crowd has all the answers we need
baloney... you posted that silly idea from that idiotic blog in the past. who the hell are we to tell our kids to try and finance what 100 - 200 percent of their gdp... yeah... that economy will work. Outsiders will not lend at that kind of increasing debt. that is the most selfish proposal I have heard from you. besides... we are already seeing that the world is not willing to lend. The fed is having to debase half of what we are borrowing. So the bill is already coming do as the massive tax of inflation on everyday items such as food and gas.