Imagine a world that never knew Ronald Reagan. No Scalia, Thomas, Alito, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Rove, or Saddam Hussein (Reagan propped him him big time). A world where the labor movement wasn't attacked, and the middle class wasn't systematically dismantled.
Under Reagan, corporations gained real political power, unions were severely weakened, and the socioeconomic gap widened more than at any other time in history (until W).
He created the modern plutocracy. He invented the "take from the poor, give to the rich" supply-side economics that still haunts us today. He poured billions in wasteful spending, like Star Wars. All in just 8 short years.
CEOs before Reagan made 78 times their minimum wage workers. Today, its 4000 times! If the USA had the same income distribution we had in the 1970s, we would be averaging $120,000--not $40,000. Bottom Line: Reagan was a bastard.
And we are still suffering. So when I hear the idiot conservatives longing for him on the radio and the "specials" on Faux News, I want them to hurt. And the best way to do that? HIT THEM WHERE IT HURTS. Join me, this is going to be fun.
Next time someone starts revising history or just starts a syrupy tribute, hit them with this. Comparing their St. Ronnie with the man that literally drives them insane... Mr. Barry himself. Shoot them the following information...then just watch them squirm and enjoy the fireworks:
REAGAN CUT AND RUN, OBAMA DIDN'T COWER
Remember when the GOP loved to say "cut and run" as an excuse to keep our troops in Iraq forever? Even after they said "Mission Accomplished"? But who invented cut and run? The Gipper.
REAGAN: Reagan retreated from Lebanon immediately after the 1983 terror attack by Hizbullah that resulted in the murder of 243 Marines. According to the 9/11 Commission Report (p. 68), Reagan's cut and run INSPIRED Bin Laden, who viewed the United States as a "paper tiger" because of its rapid withdrawal after the attack.
OBAMA: Our troops are repeatedly attacked in Afghanistan, yet Obama increased our troop strength by 30,000.
I'm waiting for the response, Mr. GOPer.
OBAMA KILLED TERRORISTS, REAGAN GAVE THEM WEAPONS
OBAMA: Gave the naval commander the go ahead to kill several pirates, which resulted in saving the life of Captain Richard Phillips.
(PS--Even though terrorists were killed and the captain rescued, fucking Rush Limbaugh, who originally accused Obama of dithering on saving Capt. Phillips, then cried that Obama killed teenagers when the snipers took out the pirates. Obama-Derangement-Syndrome.
REAGAN: Traded FUCKING arms for hostages! DO I really need to say more?? Oh yeah, he met with our enemies without preconditions (1985, Soviet Union)... something that Obama is attacked for wanting to do, even though he has never done it. But again, giving weapons to terrorists pretty much takes the cake.
AMNESTY FOR ILLEGALS:
Hey Mr. wingnut? Why do support an amnesty-lover like Reagan?
I believe in the idea of amnesty for those who have put down roots and lived here even though sometime back they may have entered illegally.
-Ronald Reagan 10/28/1984
No matter how decent they are, no matter their reasons, the 11 million who broke these law should be held accountable.
-Barack Obama July 2010
Made that up, did I? Watch it yourself then!
REAGAN RAISED TAXES 11 TIMES, OBAMA NEVER
OBAMA: Refused to raise taxes on anyone making more than a quarter of a million dollars... and wound up not raising taxes on anybody.
"Let me be absolutely clear ... if you are a family making less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes go up: not your capital gains tax, not your payroll tax, not your income tax, no taxes, your taxes will not go up."
OH..and he never raised taxes on those making over $250,000 in an historic compromise that was reached in December 2010.
(By the way, he was in favor of letting the Bush tax cuts EXPIRE for the super wealthy, which is hardly a tax raise. But regardless, he didn't do it.) Obama has consistently CUT taxes, not raised them.
REAGAN: He got through a big tax cut once he took office. But to hear conservatives talk, that's where the story ends. Actually, the rest of his years in office he RAISED taxes... 11 times, including four massive tax increases!
DEFICIT SPENDING
Whether you are looking at the economic policies of Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush, reining in the deficit was clearly of no concern
REAGAN: Until W., the result was unprecedented government debt. Reagan tripled the Gross Federal Debt, from $900 billion to $2.7 trillion. Ford and Carter in their combined terms could only double it. It took 31 years to accomplish the first postwar debt tripling, yet Reagan did it in eight.
Another stat for ya:
Public debt to GDP ratio:
Before Reagan 33%
After Reagan and Bush I 64%
After Clinton 57%
After Bush II 69%
--www.usgovernmentspending.com
Reagan soared the spending, Clinton brought in back down a bit, and W. took it way back up.
To be fair to the Gipper, NO ONE did deficit like W. He spent the Clinton suprlus like a drunken sailor. And by the way, Obama's spending initiatives were less than half of his predecessor. (Where were the teabaggers yelping then?)
OBAMA: Even though Obama inherited a massive debt from W., and focused on a stimulus that benefited the people instead of Bush's stimulus for Wall Street, he still has a much better record on spending than the Gipper and much better than W. Obama did not triple the gross federal debt like Reagan did. Obama is following the Clinton model of spending up front and then focusing on deficit reduction. I predict at the end of Obama's term in 2016, the deficit will be cut drastically--but it can't be anywhere close to what Reagan or Bush had at the end of their two terms. Why? Because the GOP loves to throw money at their base...tax cuts for Big Oil and the wealthiest amongst us which add hundreds of billions to the debt but create nothing. That ain't happening--you are welcome teabaggers.
GUN CONTROL
Props for this. Conservatives sweep this under the rug.
REAGAN: COMPLETELY supported the Brady Bill, the holy grail of gun control. Reagan even wrote an op-ed piece for it in the evil NY Times.
OBAMA: The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence flunked Obama on every single gun control issue. Proposed nothing for federal gun control laws even with a super majority Dem Congress.
Yet the NRA hates Obama? Obama Derangement Syndrome strikes again.
So what's the verdict? Conservatives love affair with Reagan and their hate affair with Obama seems to be bassackwards. I submit it was REAGAN who was the illegal amnesty-supporting, gun control loving, deficit spending, tax raising, terrorist coddling coward. (As for family values, he was estranged from his children to boot.)
Challenge a conservative to disprove anything I mentioned here. I supported it with the facts. Just be prepared for all kinds of name-calling.
OH.. and just to turn the screws... presidential scholars think Obama outranks Reagan as president. So in a few years I expect to be flying into Obama National in DC!
Enjoy the birthday!!