November 6, 2003

Bad President Reagan, No Jelly Bean!

Just in case it wasn't clear to folks, and it seems not to have been:

Ronald Reagan was a very bad president. Not a very good president.

Under Reagan, we sent the deficit skyrocketing, growing faster in real dollars than under any other president, including the current one. We cut social spending to the bone, creating the homeless problem by turning hundreds of thousands of mentally ill people out on the streets. We appointed Antonin Scalia to the Supreme Court. We cut school funding, trying to classify ketchup as a vegetable. We banned the Beach Boys as attracting the wrong sort of crowd. We traded arms, money, drugs, and hostages between Iran and the Nicaraguan rebels. More appointed officials were indicted and convicted of crimes than under any other president. We gave chemical weapons to Saddam Hussein. We claimed that trees cause most pollution.

He catastrophically lowered taxes in 1981, creating debt so bad he raised taxes each of the next six years and still didn't make up for it. And while he streamlined the complex and exemption-riddled income tax, his changes created the largest-ever shift of tax burden from the wealthy to the middle-class and working poor.

He was a bad president, who promulgated bad policies and appointed bad people.

I thought you might like to know that, considering the manufactured controversy over The Reagans miniseries.

Posted by Greg at November 6, 2003 10:36 AM

Comments
#1 ::: Dan ::: November 6, 2003 12:13 PM ::: link

No love for the Gipper?

#2 ::: Greg Morrow ::: November 6, 2003 2:00 PM ::: link

The Gipper, sure; dead ND football heroes deserve props. But Reagan wasn't the Gipper.

I really only became cognizant of politics as Reagan was taking office, and the subsequent eight years taught me a very strong lesson about how a stupid and out-of-touch man could let the country and its citizens be conned, robbed, abused, lied to, and confused for eight years.

The man was incompetent, a prude, a religious panderer, and a host of other things that make my bile rise.

Similarities to any other current president are left for the reader to draw.

#3 ::: Babydoll ::: December 2, 2003 1:06 PM ::: link

Hey...

I'm doing a paper on Reagan, and I'm supposed to decide whether he was a good guy or a bad guy. Up to this point I've read a lot of believable stuff that he was a great president...plus I know people who lived through his presidency and they argue that he was one of the best presidents we've ever had.

Incidentaly, I've not read too many books and articles telling me that he was bad, besides bias leftist propaganda that to tell the truth really doesn't make much sense (seems like they're just babbling and being sore that Reagan got so much acomplished when they couldn't). So when I stumbled upon your site, I wondered...maybe he could give me something!

Here's my question: Could you possibly give a list (clear and simple) of the things you think Reagan did wrong. Ok, maybe there's too much you think he did wrong to list it all, but if you could give me, say, the top 10 or 15 things that TOTALLY RUINED our country, it would be extremely helpful. Yeah, I know, you did list a bunch of things already, but it wasn't clear cut and you didn't give any proof...it just seemed like you were ranting.

If you're not able or don't want to spend the time doing this for me, that's fine. But if you want to give me your (sensible) point of view, it would be really very helpful to me. And who knows? You might even convert me;-)

#4 ::: Greg Morrow ::: December 2, 2003 1:59 PM ::: link
  1. Iran-Contra. Look it up. Basically, it involved violating federal law by trading in war materiel with the Iranians and the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.

  2. President Reagan ignored the health crisis caused by AIDS.

  3. SDI. Reagan spent billions on the boondoggle of
    an "anti-missile shield". Which, incidentally, violated
    the ABM treaty, in addition to wasting a lot of money.

  4. Budget deficits grow from about $20B in the late 70s
    to about $150B in the mid 80s. Reagan more than tripled
    the national debt.

  5. ) Reagan told Surgeon General C. Everett Koop to produce
    a report detailing the long-term physical and emotional trauma a woman
    suffered as a result of having an abortion. Koop, an abortion
    foe, but a good scientist, discovered that, in fact, a woman
    did not suffer long-term physical or emotional trauma as a result
    of having an abortion. Reagan suppressed the report.

  6. Reagan provided Saddam Hussein with chemical weapons.

  7. Reagan's tax restructuring (massive cuts in 1981, followed
    by tax increases in 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, and 1987)
    transferred tax burden from corporations and the wealthy to
    the middle class and, especially, the working class poor.

  8. When a Marine barracks was blown up by terrorists in Lebanon, Reagan
    responded...by pulling American forces out of Lebanon and invading the
    small Caribbean island of Grenada.

  9. Reagan's attorney general was Ed Meese, who was investigated
    by three different special prosecutors for involvement in three
    different scandals. Over 100 Reagan appointees were convicted
    of crimes committed while in office.

Like I said, he appointed bad people and pursued bad policies.