I had to chuckle when some of the current Republican candidates were asked who was the greatest living president and they avoided the answer by talking about how great Reagan was as president. I guess they misunderstood the question and didn't hear the word "living", just as Jeb misunderstood the question about "knowing what you know now" would you go to war like your brother did. I think that's called selective listening.
If any of these candidates took a serious look at Reagan's record in office they would realize he was called "the great Communicator" for a good reason. Reagan, the ol' Gipper, talked a really good game and it was all bull poop. Here are just a few of his famous quotes. "Man is not free unless government is limited", "As government expands, liberty contracts", and "We don't have a trillion dollar debt because we haven't taxed enough; we have a trillion dollar debt because we spend too much".
When Reagan was President (1981-1989) he increased Federal spending, increased the size of government, increased federal entitlements, increased the Dept of Energy, Increased farm programs, increased foreign aid, increased Medicare, and Reagan tripled the deficit in his 8 years in office. So much for small limited government!
If the Republicans actually took that serious look at Reagan's Record they just might have some misgivings about this man they idolize. Here are a few of his most notorious actions. He gave $5 billion taxpayer money to jihadist militants and supported Islamic terrorist. Several of his cohorts went to jail over the Iran-Contra affair. His deregulation of big businesses and banks led to the Savings and Loan Scandal. There were lots of illegal scandals during his tenure: HUD grant Rigging Scandal which funneled money to Republican campaigns, Sewergate in which he tried to fix elections, and diverting EPA superfunds to Republican campaigns. Reagan sponsored bloodshed by military dictators in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala. Reagan and the CIA conspired with Contras to smuggle cocaine from South America into this country and into the hands of drug dealers. Then he shielded the drug dealers from being investigated.
He opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. I think it is fair to conclude that he is as racist as the Republicans of today. He closed mental hospitals throwing mental patients onto the streets where they ended up homeless or went to jail. Reagan had no compassion for the less fortunate.
The poor and the middle class suffer today because of Reaganomics. He is responsible for the financialization of the American economy in which the wealthy have all the control. His policies led to the housing bubble busting, foreclosures, unemployment, our decline in education, lost retirement savings and our crumbling infrastructure. He is directly responsible for so many poor needing Medicaid, food stamps and welfare. His trickle down theory has never worked for the good of the country. His deregulation has fostered capitalism on steroids and allowed companies to fix prices, create monopolies, send jobs overseas, obtain tax breaks and use loopholes, and shelter money in foreign banks. He started this whole mess of income inequality. His contemptible malignant views have caused much harm to America, but it is not to late to dig our way out of the hole. I have faith that the day will come when the middle class gets organized and united. Then we will take our Nation back from the plutocrats and return to the principles of democracy: justice, fairness, and equality.