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This guy was more liberal than Obama, yet he's the most revered among conservatives? why? The guy was liberal on so many levels.
Quote:
1. Reagan was a big FDR fanboy.
Though Reagan famously quipped, "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help,'" he admired Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who arguably did more to expand the role of government than any other American leader. Reagan voted for FDR all four times and called him "one of history's truly monumental figures." It would be hard to find a GOP candidate today willing to admit a similar admiration for Roosevelt. 2. Reagan was no stranger to tax hikes.
Reagan was not afraid to raise taxes. As governor of California, he signed the largest tax increase in the history of any state at that time. Though it's true that under President Reagan, the top income tax rate decreased from roughly 70 percent to 28 percent, taxes increased 11 times during his tenure. As professor Douglas Brinkley, author of The Reagan Diaries, said in a 2011 NPR interview, "There's a false mythology out there about Reagan as this conservative president who came in and just cut taxes and trimmed federal spending in a dramatic way. It didn't happen that way." 3. Reagan helped expand the federal government.
Though the myth persists, Reagan did not reduce the size of the government during his tenure. Annual federal spending during his terms averaged 22.4 percent of the gross domestic product, which is greater than the 20.8 percent average under President Jimmy Carter. As then-Slate editor Michael Kinsley once noted, the federal government's spending increased by 25 percent in real terms from the time Reagan entered office to the time he left. During the same time, the federal civilian workforce grew from 2.8 million to 3 million. 4. Reagan gave amnesty to three million undocumented immigrants.
With today's heated rhetoric over immigration reform and border security, many tea party supporters should be horrified that Reagan signed a 1986 law granting amnesty to three million undocumented immigrants. Anyone who came to the U.S. prior to 1982 was eligible for the amnesty. The comprehensive legislation also mandated tighter security along the Mexican border and provided for penalties on employers who hired immigrants without papers. 5. Reagan blew up the national debt.
Debt reduction is now a central tenet of Republican ideology, but during the Reagan presidency, the national debt tripled -- from $995 billion to $2.9 trillion. In a 1998 book, Richard Darman, the former president's adviser, declared, "In the Reagan years, more federal debt was added than in the entire prior history of the United States." 6. One of Reagan's Supreme Court appointees saved abortion rights.
When Reagan nominated Sandra Day O'Connor to the Supreme Court in 1981, she came with a record of pro-choice votes as an Arizona state legislator, much to the chagrin of evangelicals. The first woman justice, O'Connor would become a critical swing vote on abortion and reaffirm the core of Roe v. Wade in 1992. In other words, Reagan's decision to name O'Connor to the Supreme Court ensured that women had the right to choose for another generation. 7. Reagan negotiated with terrorists.
In the events that became known as Iran-Contra, Reagan went where Republicans wouldn't dare today: He negotiated with terrorists. Trying to free American hostages held by Iranian terrorists in Lebanon, Reagan violated the U.S. embargo and secretly sold weapons to Iran. The funds from selling those weapons were then used to support the Contra rebels in Nicaragua. Some would argue that Iran-Contra was a far greater scandal than those now facing President Barack Obama.
Two really important things Republicans remember and love about Ronald Reagan:
"Mr. G, tear down this wall."
"Government is not the solution to our problems. Government IS the problem."
And let's not forget that Reagan started as a democrat. He came to his senses.
Revisionist history at its finest. Thatcher was a von Hayek disciple, while Reagan was not the "conservative" Fox News and the RNC paint him as. Today's GOP is to the right of Reagan's GOP. The GOP today is at its most right-wing in party history. The so-called RINOs that are popular to hate on today made up the GOP before the Gingrich era, not after
Revisionist history at its finest. Thatcher was a von Hayek disciple, while Reagan was not the "conservative" Fox News and the RNC paint him as. Today's GOP is to the right of Reagan's GOP. The GOP today is at its most right-wing in party history. The so-called RINOs that are popular to hate on today made up the GOP before the Gingrich era
Are you saying Ronald Reagan did NOT say what I quoted? How is it 'revisionist'?
And this thread is about Ronald Reagan. What does Mrs. Thatcher have to do with it? For that matter, what does today's GOP have to do with it?
Are you saying Ronald Reagan did NOT say what I quoted? How is it 'revisionist'?
And this thread is about Ronald Reagan. What does Mrs. Thatcher have to do with it? For that matter, what does today's GOP have to do with it?
Focus!
You tell me to focus, I tell you to extrapolate deeper meaning from what I am saying. Are you not capable of analyzing written English and comparing and contrasting?
Reagan promised to balance the budget and yet never, not once, submitted a balanced budget.
Reagan holds the record for raising the debt ceiling 18 times over his 2 terms.
Regan promised not to raise taxes and then raised Payroll taxes to make sure money was available for retirees in 20 years. The money was immediately deficit spent. Bush 1, Clinton and Bush 2 did the same.
He and Nancy put the "W" into the War on Drugs. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 included reform of FOIA and broadened law enforcement exemption and increased the authority of federal agencies to withhold sensitive law enforcement documents in their possession. The Act included a budget of $1.7 billion to fund the war and increase the severity of punishment for drug related offences.
Reagan would be a centrist Democrat in today's political climate.
Indeed.
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