Shakespeare wrote, "the evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones." In American politics the process is reversed, as the longer a president is out of office the more his reputation is sanitized. Tricky Dick Nixon is recast as a "statesman." And Ronald Reagan, who did more than any contemporary president to kill the American dream, is elevated to sainthood.
February 6th was Reagan's 100th birthday. Throughout the U.S. he was eulogized as a font of optimism; remembered for his promise "it's morning in America." For this reason it's a good time to tell the truth about Ronald Reagan, to set the record straight, because many onerous US problems are his responsibility.
Reagan was a popular president, despite the fact that throughout his tenure most voters disagreed with his policies. Reagan got what he wanted from Congress because he had an affable manner, was an effective speaker, and could deliver the most egregious lie with a straight face. Of course, Ronald Reagan was an actor made famous as a spokesman for General Electric and their nuclear power program, where "progress is our most important product."
Regan's archconservative ideology has had a devastating impact on America: dogmatic advocacy of unlimited defense spending; unwarranted faith in the free market; and exaggerated emphasis on "traditional" values.
Military Budget: During his first term as president, Reagan dramatically escalated the "Cold War" with the USSR and increased weapon-related expenditures. Some say the resulting arms race precipitated the economic demise of the Soviet Union. Whatever the reality, no one doubts that the spending spree produced the zenith of American "empire" where the US military budget was more than that of all other nations combined.
As a consequence of Reagan's policies, America continues to spend billions on "defense," even though the Soviet Union has ceased to exist and there is no comparable threat to our security -- fighting "terrorism" requires far fewer resources. Nonetheless, the Department of Defense remains America's sacred cow. Politicians fear to challenge DOD expenditures less their manhood be questioned and their reelection prospects diminished.
Ronald Reagan is gone but his military policies continue. Now it's the US, rather than the USSR, that teeters on the edge of bankruptcy. And, like the former Soviet Union, America has wasted billions on a bloated military while vital infrastructure projects were not funded.
Free Market Economics: During the Reagan presidency, conservative economists infused American political discourse with three malignant notions: helping the rich get richer would inevitably help everyone else, "a rising tide lifts all boats;" markets were inherently self correcting and there was no need for government regulation; and the US did not need an economic strategy because that was a byproduct of the free market. Indeed, Reagan famously argued, "government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem."
As a consequence, America's working families were abandoned in favor of the rich. Inequality rose as middle class income and wealth declined. As corporate power increased, unions were systematically undermined. As CEO salaries soared, fewer families earned living wages. "Reaganism" produced a warped and brittle US economy, where more than two-thirds of our GDP was housing related: building, buying, and furnishing new homes or borrowing against existing homes in order to maintain a decent standard of living. (When the credit bubble burst, the debt-based consumption model failed, taking down first the housing sector and then the entire economy, resulting in catastrophic job losses.)
Ronald Reagan had been President of the Screen Actor's Guild, a union. Nonetheless, as President of the United States, he turned against labor and "broke" the Air Traffic Controller's Union, thereby sending a message that Republicans were anti-labor and greatly diminishing the power of US workers.
Traditional Values: Finally, Reagan and his GOP cohorts devised the "Southern Strategy" to win over Democrats incensed about Lyndon Johnson's support for the Civil Rights movement. The strategy had three ideological components: support for state's rights; stealth racism -- opposition to affirmative action and the suggestion that people-of-color did not deserve the same privileges as white folks because they were "lazy;" and "traditional values."
Abortion and rejection of same-sex marriage are the most visible manifestations of the Republican traditional values agenda. They are the banners that herald a GOP worldview that is radically different from that of most Americans. (In his landmark book, Moral Politics University of California Linguistics Professor George Lakoff explains the elemental differences between the parties. Republicans favor a "strict father" family system, while most Democrats support a "nurturant parent" model.)
In the Reagan worldview, the man is the unquestioned leader of the family: father, breadwinner, and protector; and women are subordinate to men, caregivers for the children and father. Reaganism is political social Darwinism that preaches that rich white men are in power because they deserve it.
Ronald Reagan has been out of the White House for twenty-two years but his legacy lingers on, leading us down the path to "Twilight in America."
A real conservative hero.
Liberals have not since been able to take control of the national conversation in any meaningful way, as it would take to topple Reagan's legacy. It's partially a matter of the conservative strategy being extremely effective and liberals not being able to emulate. It's partially that liberals have less control over the Democratic Party than conservatives have over the GOP. A lot of it is also that the conservative monologue, as dishonest as it is, is so convenient for large blocs of the population (including those who are hurt by it).
So I guess the real question is:
When, in the past thirty years, have liberals (we're talking ideology, not a political party- which by definition is a coalition based on winning power) had the kind of control necessary to topple the conservative worldview?
Keep in mind that Carter only won as a Southern moderate. Clinton also won as a Southerner and basically conceded to the strength of the Reaganist view. Obama ran as a pragmatic centrist and acts like one. I think he's actually more liberal, but only does as much as he believes is realistic... which isn't much.
You'd expect after a recent failure of conservatism for liberalism to come back.
But apparently conservatism is just that damn convenient.
i was in the military when Reagan took office, i left before the end of his first term (as soon as possible)
the Evangelical "requirement" that became oppressive (and is even more rampant today), not to mention the pure waste...all contributed to my decision
as pointed out, the reality of the taxes question, as well as actual growth in GDP (comparatively) and where that money went, is crucial to understanding the mess we are in today...so few are willing to come out and say it, and show their facts
here are the facts...
U.S. Debt (trillions - current dollars)
$1.850 Carter 1978
$1.821 Carter 1979
$1.808 Carter 1980
$1.787 Carter 1981
$1.908 Reagan 1982
$2.195 Reagan 1983
$2.386 Reagan 1984
$2.680 Reagan 1985
$3.052 Reagan 1986
$3.283 Reagan 1987
$3.534 Reagan 1988
$3.757 Reagan 1989
$4.067 Bush 1990
$4.374 Bush 1991
$4.703 Bush 1992
$4.987 Bush 1993
$5.216 Clinton 1994
$5.395 Clinton 1995
$5.554 Clinton 1996
$5.647 Clinton 1997
$5.704 Clinton 1998
$5.750 Clinton 1999
$5.628 Clinton 2000
$5.638 Clinton 2001
$5.945 Bush 2002
$6.316 Bush 2003
$6.677 Bush 2004
$6,923 Bush 2005
$7.158 Bush 2006
$7.419 Bush 2007
$7.793 Bush 2008
$8.218 Bush 2009
$8.477 Obama 2010
Do you notice how each new right-wing meme is repeated by all Republicans and Fox News spokesperson exactly? The focus groups said this was the best catch phrase to use. Terms like Tax-and-spend-liberal or job-killing-tax assign an emotional negative to a a neutral concept to condition humans to couple the two.
This approach works, and the Left does not employ it. Once you connect negative thoughts with terms routinely used to discuss your opponents side of an issue, you have gone a long way control the outcome.
When you hear three Republicans voice the same meme, you know they are on a mind-manipulation mission.
It's so effective that even our current president exhibits the effects of an entire adult lifetime of being bombarded by the same messaging. It's made him divert so much of our economic stimulus to the proven ineffective solution of tax cuts, delaying our recovery from the Reagan/Bush Collapse of '08.
If the democrats has all started calling it the Reagan/Bush Collapse of '08 at the time, we might be a little more recovered than not at all right now.
So from now on we could append Greed-serving or Fear-mongering to any Republican initiative and fight back.
You "know" lots about Reagan! So much just isn't so! Three examples:
Reagan turned against labor and "broke" the ATC union sending an anti-labor message. (Please!)
Wikipedia: The 1981 strike and defeat of PATCO has been called "one of the most important events in late twentieth century U.S. labor history." ... On August 3, 1981 the union declared a strike ... In doing so, the union violated a law {5 U.S.C. (Supp. III 1956) 118p.} that banned strikes by government unions. Ronald Reagan declared the PATCO strike a "peril to national safety" and ordered them back to work under the terms of the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947.
.. most voters disagreed with his policies. (Really!?!)
Wikipedia: (After voters had four years to get to really know his policies) Reagan was re-elected, winning 49 of 50 states. The president's landslide victory saw Mondale carry only his home state of Minnesota (by 3800 votes) and the District of Columbia. Reagan won a record 525 electoral votes, the most of any candidate in United States history.
In the Reagan worldview, the man is the unquestioned leader of the family. (LOL!)
Wikipedia: Press accounts framed Nancy as her husband's "chief protector", an extension of their general initial framing of her as a helpmate and a Cold War domestic ideal.
"PATCO's refusal to endorse the Democratic Party stemmed in large part from poor labor relations with the FAA (the employer of PATCO members) under the Carter administration and Ronald Reagan's endorsement of the union and its struggle for better conditions during the 1980 election campaign."
In typical hypocritical fashion, he *endorsed* their struggle for better working conditions provided that it didn't succeed.
#1: He supported their struggle like he supported the Polish union Solidarity.
#2: He did not support their violating a law {5 U.S.C. (Supp. III 1956) 118p.} that banned strikes by government unions!
#3: The fact that he did #2 despite #1 shows his strength of character and the fact that he could not be bought like most politicians. I don't see that as hypocritical.
"Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first."
Ronald Reagan
G.W.H. Bush was excoriated for saying "no new taxes" but Reagan is worshipped for quadrupling the deficit he promised to eliminate??
Ronald Reagan