I was talking to a young protege of Lowell Greenbaum, chairman of the Richmond County Democratic Party, the other day, and he said: If you think Reagan was so great, what would he have done if he had inherited the mess Bush left?
I answered: You are either too young and naïve or you have been brainwashed by Lowell. President Carter left President Reagan 24 percent inflation, double-digit unemployment and our entire U.S. Embassy staff held hostage by Iran in part under their current president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for almost a year. President Carter, like President Obama, was a talker, not a doer. He tried to talk the Iranians into releasing the hostages with no success.
The hostages were released within hours of President Reagan's election because the Iranian government feared what he would do if they continued to hold them. He cut taxes, and brought unemployment and inflation down to single digits in his first year. He forced the Russians to tear down the wall separating East and West Germany, and ended the Cold War.
What he did not do was denigrate our great country every time he went overseas; talk to our adversaries in North Korea and Iran from a position of weakness, like President Carter; condemn the best health-care system in the world like Sen. Edward Kennedy; attempt to take government control of one-sixth of our national economy, like President Clinton and Hillary; give away our defensive weapons in Europe with no quid pro quo; take over the auto industry; plan to cut Medicare by $500 million; hire 43 un-vetted "czars" to do his bidding with no oversight; or triple the national debt in his first six months in office. That's an Obamanation!
President Reagan didn't get the Nobel Peace Prize. He didn't talk about what he planned to do. He did things to change the world for the better, and he did it from strength backed by the free enterprise system.
That was Reaganomics -- and he was qualified to be called "Mr. President!"
Richard T. Banks
Augusta
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
And we are now reaping the benefits of his "trickle down theory"
it trickled down to rock bottom. Pres. Reagan also wanted to conceal the effects of Agent Orange on Vietnam veterans.
strangedaysindeed......... care to explain how "trickle down" hurt the economy, or do you just intend to simply say it hurt the economy and hope everyone agrees with you.......... Have you ever gotten a job from a poor person?
strangedaysindeed......... care to explain how "trickle down" hurt the economy, or do you just intend to simply say it hurt the economy and hope everyone agrees with you.......... Have you ever gotten a job from a poor person?
Strange days, Reagan priside over the longest economic expansion in Americas history and left Bush one and Clinton with the "PEACE" windfall that made clinton look good...
Ol' Richard is an example of an individual whose grasp of the actuals fact is distorted. Reagan was a failure and here is why: He kicked off his campaign in Philadelphia, Miss. or La. where a Black man was murdered (unsolved) and spoke about "state's rights" which is code language for racists; he violated the Constitution by arming and secretly sending US tax dolloars to the Contras - a foreign country; his Nat'l Security Advisor (LTC North) went before Congress and LIED! (he now works on the Fox channel) Wow!; the deadly Beirut bombing that killed 240 marines that Reagan ignorantly placed there; his total opposition to the honoring of Dr. Martin Luther King Day; his resistence to enforce tough sanctions on South Africa (Mandella was still wrongfully in jail {28 yrs}) so Reagan was actually a failure on several fronts and really avoided impeachment because of a good ole boys system of corrupt politicans. And his deregulations caused this mess in the financial services because of ignorant governing started by him. Yep, ol' Reagan was not a friend of any citizen of color and misused the military in a reckless manner costing servicemembers their lives...now judge those facts.
justus4 it always interesting to see your perverted take on history. obama probably kicked his campaign off in chicago where blacks are murdered daily does this make him a racist??????????
justus: Once again, every freakin' thing isn't about race.
never try to change the mind of an obamanite, they're braindead but maybe they'll wakeup when bozero get's 60% of their paycheck
History speaks for itself. Revisionist history will continue to speak for the left.
We know one thing Bush Sr was right about "trickle down economics" is "voodo economics". Reagan and W saw the greatest concentration of wealth in our nations history. People do you watch the news everyday people are breaking the law to hold on to wealth, the executives at every control profitable or not are receiving records bonuses. By nature people don't spread or trickle down the wealth they corrall it. That is legal but I don't think it should be our economic policy the rich getting richer. Because ultimately it puts more people on the public dime and then the wealthy complain about taxation as a wedge issue. Well if your company lays off thousands and gives it top executive billions in bonuses it is going to happen.
"The Medicare reductions in the Reagan budget include a $1 billion reduction in payments to teaching hospitals; a $625 million savings through a 1.5 percent reduction in the formula used to project the effect of inflation on hospital costs; and an estimated $1.5 billion savings in the amount the Government gives hospitals to help cover construction and equipment costs.
An additional $375 million would be saved through a freeze on the compensation for all but family physicians, and $250 million through an eight percent reduction in payments to radiologists, anesthesiologists and surgeons. Regulatory revisions would save an estimated $600 million." NYT 2.1.89
" As Americans mourn the passing of president Ronald Reagan, almost forgotten is the decisive part his administration played in the survival of Iraq's president Saddam Hussein through his eight year war with Iran.
US soldiers now fighting the remnants of Saddam's regime can look back to the early 1980s for the start of a relationship that fostered the rise of the largest military in the Middle East, one whose use of chemical weapons set the stage for last year's war.
Reagan played decisive role in Saddam Hussein's survival in Iran-Iraq war
Reagan, determined to check arch-foe Iran, opened a back door to Iraq through which flowed US intelligence and hundreds of millions of dollars in loan guarantees even as Washington professed neutrality in Baghdad's war with Tehran.
It was complemented by French weaponry and German dual-use technology that experts say wound up in Iraq's chemical and biological warfare programs.
Donald Rumsfeld, then Reagan's special Middle East envoy, is credited with establishing the back channel to Saddam on a secret trip to Baghdad in December 1983." Agence France Presse 6/9/04
Thank you cn and TL for agreeing with my 7:00 post.
"now judge those facts" --justus4.
Reagan, What a joke. He broke the state of California, went to D C, and broke the USA. He was a habitual liar just like all Conservatives, and perpetuated the concept of republican GREED. Now, what did he do for America?
Wait T.L., I thought Saddam didn't have chemical weapons?? Interesting.
WP (Patricia Thomas?): You obviously don't like facts. If they don't jive with your narrow minded scope of the world, it must be "revisionist" Stop getting your info from Rush, Beck, Hannity, and crew and try doing some research.
just: Forgetting Desert storm and years of weapons inspectors?
Techie- Please stop with the cut & paste. You were still swimmin around in some guy's sack when the Iranians influenced '80 election just as they did with the last one. Remember Opec and the 6 months of $4 a gallon gas, that's when bills got tough and things got tight; Enter the socialists.
justus, you are a moron.....'nuff said.
Obama Derangement Syndrome = this letter and writer. This daily hate fest from the Chronicle makes you laugh.
Good letter, Mr Banks. Pres Reagan was no pantywaist. He would not have failed our troops while he makes up his mind. The stimulus dollars had to be "right now", cash for clunkers "right now", Obama non-health care "right now" but our troops getting killed? Ho Hum.. they can wait.
dont: Born during Eisenhower's first term. Class act you have there. C & P is the quickest way to get the info, I do try to cite source. Avg gas price 11/3/08, $2.40, Consumer Reports, avg reg unleaded 1980, $1.25, USEIA.
What makes me laugh is what an icon the reactionaries have made out of that bumbling criminal Reagan. What a shill for the arms peddlers that jerk was. All pols make their buddies richer, but Reagan, like most Republicans that wrap themselves in the flag and hide behind the cross, took subterfuge to new depths. Miscreants like Reagan, Bush, et al, would sell any weapon to anybody as long as they could line their pockets with the proceeds, humanity be damned. Your philosophy speaks for itself, reactionaries. What a bunch of dupes.
wolf--And our troops aren't being killed while our fearful leader makes up his mind?"humanity be damned"? The lives of Americans are valuable to some of us.
TL What is gas prices today? Reg. 2.69.9..something like that? Looks like those in Wash are still in the oil business, raking in that money.
yes we did suport saddam against iran in there war. we also supported russia in ww2. common enemies bring togeather odd bed fellows. so what the point. reagen was the best president in my 55 years. unless you lived thru the carters years you will never understand how great reagen was. the mood of the country was rotten and pessimestic unemployment was 12 percent inflation was around 12 percent and the prime was 21 percent.unless you tried lived thru that you just wont understand. and by the way those number are where obama and his policies are leading us..
I think it would be better to wait 7 more years for the comparison. 10 months v. 8 years is tough to judge.
Nailed it!!! your article is great!
Of course you're right, cn. Reagan had a lot to learn when he became president (like ALL presidents) and I don't know if having a congress of a different party made his job easier or more difficult. While I don't like much about Obama's agenda, a fair comparison can't be made with Reagan until after Obama is out of office long enough to see what his influence will be.