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deCypher



Registered: 02/10/08
Posts: 56,232
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10 Things Conservatives Don’t Want You To Know About Ronald Reagan
#13931479 - 02/09/11 01:22 AM (13 years, 3 months ago) |
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1. Reagan was a serial tax raiser. As governor of California, Reagan “signed into law the largest tax increase in the history of any state up till then.” Meanwhile, state spending nearly doubled. As president, Reagan “raised taxes in seven of his eight years in office,” including four times in just two years. As former GOP Senator Alan Simpson, who called Reagan “a dear friend,” told NPR, “Ronald Reagan raised taxes 11 times in his administration — I was there.” “Reagan was never afraid to raise taxes,” said historian Douglas Brinkley, who edited Reagan’s memoir. Reagan the anti-tax zealot is “false mythology,” Brinkley said.
2. Reagan nearly tripled the federal budget deficit. During the Reagan years, the debt increased to nearly $3 trillion, “roughly three times as much as the first 80 years of the century had done altogether.” Reagan enacted a major tax cut his first year in office and government revenue dropped off precipitously. Despite the conservative myth that tax cuts somehow increase revenue, the government went deeper into debt and Reagan had to raise taxes just a year after he enacted his tax cut. Despite ten more tax hikes on everything from gasoline to corporate income, Reagan was never able to get the deficit under control.
3. Unemployment soared after Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts. Unemployment jumped to 10.8 percent after Reagan enacted his much-touted tax cut, and it took years for the rate to get back down to its previous level. Meanwhile, income inequality exploded. Despite the myth that Reagan presided over an era of unmatched economic boom for all Americans, Reagan disproportionately taxed the poor and middle class, but the economic growth of the 1980′s did little help them. “Since 1980, median household income has risen only 30 percent, adjusted for inflation, while average incomes at the top have tripled or quadrupled,” the New York Times’ David Leonhardt noted.
4. Reagan grew the size of the federal government tremendously. Reagan promised “to move boldly, decisively, and quickly to control the runaway growth of federal spending,” but federal spending “ballooned” under Reagan. He bailed out Social Security in 1983 after attempting to privatize it, and set up a progressive taxation system to keep it funded into the future. He promised to cut government agencies like the Department of Energy and Education but ended up adding one of the largest — the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, which today has a budget of nearly $90 billion and close to 300,000 employees. He also hiked defense spending by over $100 billion a year to a level not seen since the height of the Vietnam war.
5. Reagan did little to fight a woman’s right to choose. As governor of California in 1967, Reagan signed a bill to liberalize the state’s abortion laws that “resulted in more than a million abortions.” When Reagan ran for president, he advocated a constitutional amendment that would have prohibited all abortions except when necessary to save the life of the mother, but once in office, he “never seriously pursued” curbing choice.
6. Reagan was a “bellicose peacenik.” He wrote in his memoirs that “[m]y dream…became a world free of nuclear weapons.” “This vision stemmed from the president’s belief that the biblical account of Armageddon prophesied nuclear war — and that apocalypse could be averted if everyone, especially the Soviets, eliminated nuclear weapons,” the Washington Monthly noted. And Reagan’s military buildup was meant to crush the Soviet Union, but “also to put the United States in a stronger position from which to establish effective arms control” for the the entire world — a vision acted out by Regean’s vice president, George H.W. Bush, when he became president.
7. Reagan gave amnesty to 3 million undocumented immigrants. Reagan signed into law a bill that made any immigrant who had entered the country before 1982 eligible for amnesty. The bill was sold as a crackdown, but its tough sanctions on employers who hired undocumented immigrants were removed before final passage. The bill helped 3 million people and millions more family members gain American residency. It has since become a source of major embarrassment for conservatives.
8. Reagan illegally funneled weapons to Iran. Reagan and other senior U.S. officials secretly sold arms to officials in Iran, which was subject to a an arms embargo at the time, in exchange for American hostages. Some funds from the illegal arms sales also went to fund anti-Communist rebels in Nicaragua — something Congress had already prohibited the administration from doing. When the deals went public, the Iran-Contra Affair, as it came to be know, was an enormous political scandal that forced several senior administration officials to resign.
9. Reagan vetoed a comprehensive anti-Apartheid act. which placed sanctions on South Africa and cut off all American trade with the country. Reagan’s veto was overridden by the Republican-controlled Senate. Reagan responded by saying “I deeply regret that Congress has seen fit to override my veto,” saying that the law “will not solve the serious problems that plague that country.”
10. Reagan helped create the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. Reagan fought a proxy war with the Soviet Union by training, arming, equipping, and funding Islamist mujahidin fighters in Afghanistan. Reagan funneled billions of dollars, along with top-secret intelligence and sophisticated weaponry to these fighters through the Pakistani intelligence service. The Talbian and Osama Bin Laden — a prominent mujahidin commander — emerged from these mujahidin groups Reagan helped create, and U.S. policy towards Pakistan remains strained because of the intelligence services’ close relations to these fighters. In fact, Reagan’s decision to continue the proxy war after the Soviets were willing to retreat played a direct role in Bin Laden’s ascendancy.
http://thinkprogress.org/2011/02/05/reagan-centennial/
I thought this was a pretty interesting article; I never realized Reagan went against so many conservative policies during his time in office. I wonder why conservatives never mention these points... or perhaps the article itself is biased? What say you?
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero



Registered: 04/27/01
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Re: 10 Things Conservatives Don’t Want You To Know About Ronald Reagan [Re: deCypher]
#13931924 - 02/09/11 03:41 AM (13 years, 3 months ago) |
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> or perhaps the article itself is biased? What say you?
A lot of the points are presented without of context. If you try hard enough, you can make Mother Teresa look bad. Reagan certainly had some faults, but then, so does every president. From what I can tell, it isn't an easy job.
> 1. Reagan was a serial tax raiser ... > 3. ... after Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts.
Hmmm....
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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zappaisgod
horrid asshole


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Re: 10 Things Conservatives Don’t Want You To Know About Ronald Reagan [Re: Seuss]
#13932409 - 02/09/11 08:23 AM (13 years, 3 months ago) |
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The scummy little ankle biters at Think Progress have been slandering conservatives for quite some time. That's all they do.
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DieCommie

Registered: 12/11/03
Posts: 29,258
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Re: 10 Things Conservatives Don’t Want You To Know About Ronald Reagan [Re: deCypher]
#13932422 - 02/09/11 08:27 AM (13 years, 3 months ago) |
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Ive actually heard conservatives complain or talk about those things multiple times. Who says conservatives dont want us to know them? Idiots... My guess is that its liberals who are trying to pretend that conservatives are keeping a big secret. Normally when something is touted as "_______ doesnt want you to know", its B.S.
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NortonStPhallus



Registered: 08/25/09
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Re: 10 Things Conservatives Don’t Want You To Know About Ronald Reagan [Re: DieCommie]
#13933144 - 02/09/11 11:37 AM (13 years, 3 months ago) |
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Sooo.... theres no truth in any of this? Anybody on either side want to provide some proof?
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero



Registered: 04/27/01
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Re: 10 Things Conservatives Don’t Want You To Know About Ronald Reagan [Re: NortonStPhallus]
#13933374 - 02/09/11 12:31 PM (13 years, 3 months ago) |
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> Sooo.... theres no truth in any of this?
There is no context to any of it. Truth is irrelevant without context. For example, if I say "Joe killed Sam." This might be true, and it makes Joe sound like a bad person. However, if I put it into context, "Joe killed Sam in self defense as Sam was trying to cut Joe's head off with a butcher knife," then Joe becomes the hero. Context is important.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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NortonStPhallus



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Re: 10 Things Conservatives Don’t Want You To Know About Ronald Reagan [Re: Seuss]
#13933512 - 02/09/11 12:57 PM (13 years, 3 months ago) |
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Ok well the question is, did Reagan in fact do these things, and if yes, did the context in which he did them make them justifiable/ reconcilable with current conservative policys?
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Icelander
The Minstrel in the Gallery



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Re: 10 Things Conservatives Don’t Want You To Know About Ronald Reagan [Re: NortonStPhallus]
#13933670 - 02/09/11 01:29 PM (13 years, 3 months ago) |
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Seems Reagan was practical. First he cut taxes and then he had to raise them when the deficit got too big.
I think it's smart if a politician changes tactics when his first choice is going south.
-------------------- "Don't believe everything you think". -Anom. " All that lives was born to die"-Anom. With much wisdom comes much sorrow, The more knowledge, the more grief. Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC
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Prisoner#1
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Re: 10 Things Conservatives Don’t Want You To Know About Ronald Reagan [Re: Seuss]
#13935392 - 02/09/11 06:18 PM (13 years, 3 months ago) |
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Seuss said: If you try hard enough, you can make Mother Teresa look bad.
that's easy... but obviously for another thread in a different forum
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Reagan certainly had some faults, but then, so does every president.
BLASPHEMER!
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johnm214


Registered: 05/31/07
Posts: 17,582
Loc: Americas
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Re: 10 Things Conservatives Don’t Want You To Know About Ronald Reagan [Re: DieCommie]
#13940309 - 02/10/11 03:58 PM (13 years, 3 months ago) |
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NortonStPhallus said: Ok well the question is, did Reagan in fact do these things
yes
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and if yes, did the context in which he did them make them justifiable/ reconcilable with current conservative policys?
Hard to say. I really have a hard time identifying what "current conservative policy" is other than calling obama a socialist and trying to co-opt grass roots disgust with the government's inability to ballance the budget, cut spending, or stop controlling every single aspect of our lives and state government.
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DieCommie said: Ive actually heard conservatives complain or talk about those things multiple times. Who says conservatives dont want us to know them? Idiots... My guess is that its liberals who are trying to pretend that conservatives are keeping a big secret. Normally when something is touted as "_______ doesnt want you to know", its B.S.
True. These kinds of articles are kind of patronizing too. These are pretty widely known facts that anyone with more than a passing interest or study of Reagan would know, yet they position themselves as if they are disclosing some secret- like their readership (us) is too stupid and ignorant to know of this crap. "Oh, gee whiz, thanks for educating us on these top secret facts! Nobody would have known about Iran Contra had you not mentioned it!)
The Reagan cult is pretty stupid anyways. Its pretty disgusting to see the republican primary canddiates spend their entire debate kissing his ass for vague attributes and policy that is pretty dissimmilar to what any of them actually support. They seem to have co-opted his legacy and policy just like they've now done with the tea party- and suddenly people wonder how these social conservatives have anything in common with the tea party ideals?
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zorbman
blarrr


Registered: 06/04/04
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Re: 10 Things Conservatives Don’t Want You To Know About Ronald Reagan [Re: deCypher]
#13961344 - 02/14/11 01:39 PM (13 years, 3 months ago) |
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Reagan nearly tripled the federal budget deficit.
We also ran a deficit during WWII. Sometimes they are unavoidable.
Winning the Cold War was a darn good reward for running a deficit. We got our money's worth on that one. Unlike today where we are running deficits with nothing to show for them.
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Reagan grew the size of the federal government tremendously.
So has every president since then. Government grows. That's what it does.
I don't think conservatives are really trying to hide all this information although a couple points might surprise people.
-------------------- “The crisis takes a much longer time coming than you think, and then it happens much faster than you would have thought.” -- Rudiger Dornbusch
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zappaisgod
horrid asshole


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Re: 10 Things Conservatives Don’t Want You To Know About Ronald Reagan [Re: zorbman]
#13961448 - 02/14/11 01:58 PM (13 years, 3 months ago) |
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How could Reagan triple the deficit or increase the size of government? Answer: he couldn't. The Dem Congress did. When are you children going to stop thinking that the US Government is a monarchy?
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zappaisgod
horrid asshole


Registered: 02/11/04
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Re: 10 Things Conservatives Don’t Want You To Know About Ronald Reagan [Re: zappaisgod]
#13961461 - 02/14/11 02:00 PM (13 years, 3 months ago) |
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By the way, if the solution to the government deficit is to create a different deficit in my bank account, and that has been the only solution the bum class has offered, then I say let the government deficit explode.
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johnm214


Registered: 05/31/07
Posts: 17,582
Loc: Americas
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Re: 10 Things Conservatives Don’t Want You To Know About Ronald Reagan [Re: zappaisgod]
#13965783 - 02/15/11 03:22 AM (13 years, 3 months ago) |
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zappaisgod said: How could Reagan triple the deficit or increase the size of government? Answer: he couldn't. The Dem Congress did. When are you children going to stop thinking that the US Government is a monarchy?
He runs the military and submits the budget. I don't pretend to know where that statistic comes from or what sense it necessarily makes to discuss the deficit in terms of the executive in office at the end of the fiscal year who's had to administer law he didn't have any say in, but I bet he did seek much greater spending on at least military expenses than previous administrations.
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zappaisgod said: By the way, if the solution to the government deficit is to create a different deficit in my bank account, and that has been the only solution the bum class has offered, then I say let the government deficit explode.
This threatens the ability to maintain the current tax structure and the entitelments which aren't funded any further back than the year in which they are disbersed. Its a bum move to force under criminal penalty your employer and you to relinquish funds to the government for your medical care and life expenses only to have those funds not paid back to you due to the government's policy. Maybe if you had a choice in the matter you could chalk it up to a bad decision, but if they're going to seize your assets for your own good and promise to provide retirement income and medical care, they better deliver.
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zappaisgod
horrid asshole


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Re: 10 Things Conservatives Don’t Want You To Know About Ronald Reagan [Re: johnm214]
#13966877 - 02/15/11 10:50 AM (13 years, 3 months ago) |
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johnm214 said:
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zappaisgod said: How could Reagan triple the deficit or increase the size of government? Answer: he couldn't. The Dem Congress did. When are you children going to stop thinking that the US Government is a monarchy?
He runs the military and submits the budget. I don't pretend to know where that statistic comes from or what sense it necessarily makes to discuss the deficit in terms of the executive in office at the end of the fiscal year who's had to administer law he didn't have any say in, but I bet he did seek much greater spending on at least military expenses than previous administrations.
He submits a budget proposal. That is it. Beyond that all he can do is either sign or veto what Congress passes. Nothing else.Quote:
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zappaisgod said: By the way, if the solution to the government deficit is to create a different deficit in my bank account, and that has been the only solution the bum class has offered, then I say let the government deficit explode.
This threatens the ability to maintain the current tax structure and the entitelments which aren't funded any further back than the year in which they are disbersed. Its a bum move to force under criminal penalty your employer and you to relinquish funds to the government for your medical care and life expenses only to have those funds not paid back to you due to the government's policy. Maybe if you had a choice in the matter you could chalk it up to a bad decision, but if they're going to seize your assets for your own good and promise to provide retirement income and medical care, they better deliver.
That was pretty disjointed, john, and not to the point. Every single proposal by the professional left has relied on relentlessly fucking the people who already pay most of the taxes. By that I mean ME! My medical care will never be paid for by the federal government. Never. My retirement will not consist largely of government supplied cat food. I will get pretty much nothing, as will most people, from soc sec and MC/MA. This holds true for most people who pay payroll taxes. They go'n' get raped.
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