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Reagan was one of the worst. His trickle-down economics were a complete disaster, Iran-Contra is something he and many others in his administration should have been hanged for, there's credible evidence alongside Iran Contra to show that he sabotaged Carter's negotiations, Executive Order 12333 has been a disaster, and I really really hate the cult of personality that Republicans have built up around him.
Reagan took the US from being the largest international creditor to the largest debtor in just 8 years by tripling the national debt. And as much as his party today seems to fear the debt, this always seems to be ignored.
His actions in Central America were horrible, supporting genocidal dictators, yet he managed to keep his name separate somehow and this is generally forgotten. Lets not even get started on the whole "Just Say No" disaster that put hundreds of thousands of minorities in prison for petty drug offenses.
When heroin was a people of color problem it was a cash cow for America. More cops more prisons more methadone more crime. Inner cities were allowed to have open air drug markets while their neighborhoods were being destroyed. White people are now the face of the U.S. drug crisis. Hence, talk of treatment, not jail. And certainly no "war."
I view Reagan as a "pivotal" President and a strong one -- same as FDR, and despite te opposite orientation of the two men, for essentially the same reason. The emergence of the United Sates as a mature, urbanized society made the creation of a "safety net" of social programs inevitable, but left uncontested, we would have degenerated into an economic failure similar to Great Britain under the mismanagement of Clement Atlee and Harold Wilson, Reagan, and the people behind him, moderated that back-slide, just as Donald Trump and the people behind him are reigning in the fantasies of the Looney Left in the present day.
It's somewhat rare for modern presidential reputations to diminish over time but Reagan looks worse and worse as time goes by. He was too cute to impeach but that's what should have happened. He played politics with the hostages in Iran in a somewhat familiar (now) episode of foreign influence on elections. The Iran-Contra episodes were criminal and the invasion of Grenada was a blatant political act. We still have fools thinking Reagan's trickle-down economics actually works. He spent money and ran up debt like a drunken sailor. He foolishly gets some sort of credit for the demise of the Soviet Union which is patently false. He was absolutely senile and unfit for the job in his second term and simply a figurehead for manipulators.
I think if you take the long view he was better than average. If you take a shorter term view, Presidents since 1960 or even in the 20th century, he was great. Even though I disagree with some of his policy decision, I found him well-intentioned and very likable.
If Trump doesn't make some of the mistake Reagan made, policy-wise he could be greater.
I can remember saying, "A movie star for president?"
As if all that people cared about was good looks and a great personality.
When he became president it was about trickle down economics--and it didn't work. The money from the rich guys didn't trickle down to the poor guys. It just stayed with the rich guys.
I thought I'd ask since today is his birthday and I thought I'd bring him up. Other than Trump recently, and he seems to be some ways like Reagan himself (former Democrat/Hollywood type turned Republican), having support from both Republican voters and much Democrat crossover. (Reagan actually had the biggest landslide since George Washington in his second term.)
As a president, he was a damned good B Actor. He began the destruction of the middle class with wealth redistribution from the bottom to the top earners, and increased the size of the military by 40% to stave off the Great Recession that finally caught up with W who followed his failed policies.
Under Reagan, the National Debt grew 186%, in large part due to his absurd tax cuts for the wealthy.
I can remember saying, "A movie star for president?"
As if all that people cared about was good looks and a great personality.
He was governor of the most populous state in the country after he was a movie star.
Quote:
When he became president it was about trickle down economics--and it didn't work. The money from the rich guys didn't trickle down to the poor guys. It just stayed with the rich guys.
Not true. All income brackets benefited from his economic policies. Also, non-farm employment increased by 15 million between 1983 and 1988. This with a labor force only two-thirds of today's size.
As a president, he was a damned good B Actor. He began the destruction of the middle class with wealth redistribution from the bottom to the top earners, and increased the size of the military by 40% to stave off the Great Recession that finally caught up with W who followed his failed policies.
Under Reagan, the National Debt grew 186%, in large part due to his absurd tax cuts for the wealthy.
More myths. Why do the anti-Reagan people always repeat the same myths?
Congress spent, on average, 2.8% more than Reagan asked for. Every balanced-budget Reagan proposed to Congress was declared DOA by (Democrat) Tip O'Neil.
It was not a "tax cut for the wealthy." Is was an across-the-board tax cut.
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