Posted on 12/04/2002 8:11:31 PM PST by editto
Many, especially those on Free Republic, are familiar with the words of Ronald Reagan, and his conservative views on domestic and foreign issues. Many have heard his positions on smaller government, lower taxes, communism, military strength, and all those issues for which he is well known.
In reading the book, Reagan In His Own Hand, I have come across Reagan's views on topics that still make prominent headlines in idealogical debate to this day. The book I mention is mostly a collection of handwritten drafts of Ronald Reagan's short-form radio addresses, that aired in the mid to late 70's.
The quotes that follow are all from that same radio program, and were written personally by Reagan, in his own hand, all roughly 25 years ago. They are his words, and I thought it would be interesting to "hear Reagan's voice" on current events, so to speak.
On foreign oil:
"Are we as Americans so thirsty for oil that we'll forget the traditions upon which our country is founded and let our foreign policy be dictated by anyone who has oil for sale? If so we may be nearer the dustbin of history than we realize."
On missile defense:
"There once was the beginning of ... an anti ballistic missile system which we had invented and which the Soviets didn't have. We bargained that away in exchange for nothing. Instead of a defense against their missiles we settled for something called mutual destruction... Today there is reason to question that as an adequate defense."
On domestic intelligence:
"...[I]sn't it time for someone to ask if we aren't threatened more by the people the FBI & the CIA are watching than we are by the FBI & the CIA?"
On homeland security:
"[Members of Congress] have co-authored a bill ... to reestablish the House Internal Security Committee... The committee if reinstituted would be handed the files of the original committee and given a mandate to look into domestic subversion and terror."
On United Nations "leadership" in the Korean War:
"The war in Korea was fought under the U.N. flag. True Americans did most of the fighting while Russia took a walk proving that ideology is thicker than water. Russia didn't exactly stay out of the Korean action -- they just got involved on the other side... Under the U.N. flag of course it wasn't a war, it was a police action, and so it was fought to no conclusion. The agressor wasn't punished, he just wasn't allowed to win. But then neither were we."
On International Criminal Court:
"Now let your imagination go for a minute. Picture some of our domestic mischief makers charging any kind of discrimination or unfairness taking their case to an international court which includes jurists from the Soviet Union, and other communist and pro-communist nations. Remember, once ratified by us this treaty subjects the U.S. to the unreserved jurisdiction of that International Court. It supercedes all state laws and nullifies all acts of Congress inconsistent with the terms of the Convention."
On foreign aid:
"If the purpose of foreign aid is to further our national interests, by what rhyme or reason do we entrust it to international banks answerable to no one but their international charters?... Calling for a national debate on the subject of foreign aid, how it is distributed and what we get in return for it can hardly be called a radical proposal."
On Israel and the Middle East:
"The real issue in the Middle East has to do with the Arab refusal to recognize that Israel has a right to exist as a nation."
On Palestine and Yasser Arafat:
"The loudest most persistent voice for a Palestinian state is that of Yasser Arafat, head of the P.L.O. -- Palestinian Liberation Organization. He is the leader of terrorist guerilla bands pledged to continue violence and the destruction of Israel. The P.L.O. has already assassinated West bank leaders who might be a threat to Arafat's dream of heading up the new nation. No evidence exists that he or the P.L.O. are the choice of the [Palestinian] refugees."
On civil service laws:
"Now admittedly, government being what it is, there can be be no quarrel with some kind of protection for workers who might be capriciously fired for political reasons, and no one wants a return to the spoils system that gave birth to civil service. But we are denied in the present system the basic tools of management: the ability to hire, to fire, and to demote."
On OSHA:
"Congress passed the law which gave OSHA [-- the Occupational Safety and Health Administration --] its authority. It is probable that OSHA like so many other agencies has has arrogantly gone beyond Congressional intent. But whatever -- Congress can undo what has been done and should do so quickly and emphatically."
On the Endangered Species Act:
"It is time to ask if some environmentalists... aren't using the Endangered Species Act of 1973 simply to halt construction of projects they don't like."
On drilling/mining in Alaska:
[Alaska] is a place of fantastic beauty with more than 3000 miles of coastline, rushing rivers, trackless forests, and great snow covered mountain peaks. In all of that beauty of course is a richness of natural resources, many of them growing scarce in the rest of our land. There is oil, natural gas, minerals, and great stands of timber... With all of this in mind, Congress closed off 80,000,000 acres of Alaska to mining and certain other uses... And it's close to one fourth of Alaska... That 1971 law expires at the end of next year... All sorts of ideas are being proposed as substitutes for that 1971 law, but no one seems to be asking the Alaskans how the feel about it...
Remember, the alternative is not destruction of the natural beauty of Alaska, it is exercise of common sense to have both a great expanse of permanent wilderness plus the vast treasures so far untapped in that new frontier."
On socialized healthcare:
Those who've been urging socialized medicine on us for at least two decades have invented a non-existent problem. There isn't a country in the world with government medicine programs that can match what we have here in the U.S. Health care is getting better and better and has been made increasingly available to more and more people."
On Social Security:
"[The T]ruth is if we could invest our and our employer's share of the Social Security tax in savings or insurance we could double the return promised by Social Security."
On welfare reform:
"Welfare can be reformed by using common sense. The objective should be to care for those who can't help themselves, give temporary aid to those who can while you get them back into the private industry job market."
Have not read that one yet, but will look into it thanks.
I hope the members of the United States Congress also consider reading it.
And Reagan's War is another great book that offers up further insight into what Ronald Reagan was all about.
Especially those who call themselves conservatives whenever they feel the tug of the squishy middle.
Boy the way Van Halen played
Songs on CD first were made
Concert prices could be paid
Those were the days
Stronger military then
Combat soldiers all were men
Mister, we could use a man
like Ronald Reagan again
Unemployment, high tax rates
Soviets and Berlin gates
They all fell like solid weights
Those were the days
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