Posted on 08/24/2011 6:28:40 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
What would the Club for Growth say about Ronald Reagan? We know what they think about Rick Perry since they have produced new Presidential White Papers on him. Their opinion: eh, not bad, but not great.
Now, keep in mind, the Club for Growth is hard to please. We are talking about Rick Perry, the governor of Texas. That is Texas, arguably one of the most conservative and freest of the market states in the country. The very place that George W. Bush helped to create a pro-business atmosphere. All he had to do was clock in and clock out and he gets an A, right?
What I find fascinating when I read the Club for Growth White Papers is that generally only politicians who aren’t governors get great scores. The Club for Growth loves Michele Bachmann. That’s mainly because she has the freedom to toe the ideological line. She has never been forced to balance a budget in a politically diverse environment. So if you are a governor, and especially a governor from a non-ideologically pure state, then prepare to get your hat handed to you by the Club for Growth.
With that being said, I thought it would be interested to imagine the White Papers for conservative icon Ronald Reagan. It might go as follows:
While Ronald Reagan showed promised early on in his presidency by passing one of the largest tax decreases in history, he spent the rest of his presidency signing into law 11 different tax increases. These tax hikes were enacted with the goal of paying for government-run health insurance, such as Medicare. While the eleven tax hikes did not fully make up for that initial tax cut, we find Reagan’s vulnerability to compromise somewhat alarming. True conservatives never increase taxes, much less 11 times.
In Reagan’s eight years, the United States also went from being the world’s largest international creditor to being the world’s largest debtor. In 1981, the deficit was $74 billion and the national debt was $930 billion. Within two years (because of the 1981 tax cut), the deficit was $208 billion. By the end of Reagan’s presidency, the Gipper had allowed the national debt to spiral to $2.6 trillion. We at the Club for Growth find Reagan’s utter disregard for our nation’s finances troubling. What America needs is someone who reduces government, not increases it.
Again, while Reagan entered office with the kind of government-reducing rhetoric that the Club for Growth admires, he largely failed to follow through on his commitments. We find Reagan’s creation of the Department of Veteran Affairs troublesome. Indeed, Reagan ended his presidency with 60,000 more federal employees in the workforce. In 1983, Reagan agreed to $165 billion in government bailout money for the unconstitutional Social Security. Now is the not the time when the United States should bail out its government run programs. If Reagan’s goal was to reduce government, then he utterly failed. America needs somebody who will stick it to Washington, not a government-loving RINO like Ronald Reagan.
Of course, we are not even going to go into Reagan’s non budget-related indiscretions, such as his granting amnesty to illegal immigrants, his states’ rights crippling support of a federal minimum drinking age, and his 1981 “voluntary” export restraint on Japanese cars (the auto industry doesn’t need more bailouts). And then there is his breath-taking support of the Brady Bill, published on the pages of the ghastly New York Times. There is enough here alone to suggest that America would be better off without Reagan’s big government policies.
We think that Dick Cheney is wrong when when he stated that Reagan proved that deficits don’t matter. America would be better off served by somebody like Michele Bachmann. She is ideologically pure.
Sounds like someone needs a lesson in gross versus net.
Were taxes lower or higher after his term in office from when he first came in?
This is like saying he cut $100 but added in four $1 increases and accusing him of a spender.
What about signing one of the biggest amnesty bills in modern history?
Got taken by the rats...3 dollars in cuts for every dollar of tax increases...hell Reagan started a twenty year boom....and rebuilt the military and beat the Russians not to bad for an old man..did more work in one day than Obama has done in 2.5 years..
This is journalism?? Uh...no...it’s crap. The tax decrease this cretin barely mentions dropped the tax rate from 70 to 28 per cent. Compare that to the incidental taxes he increased and he still comes off as a major tax cutter.
No matter how you try to sully Reagan, whichever RINO you try to put a ribbon on still smells like a pig.
Here’s a good rule of thumb.
If you’ve got to deconstruct Reagan to make your guy look good, find another guy.
bump.
[ (He signed into law 11 different tax increases as President) ]
Of course Reagan had a totally democrat Congresses to deal with as well..
Its a wonder he did what he did.. a miracle really..
The democrats have always been for SPENDING more and more taxpayer bucks..
Its not a new thing.. what happened to the republican party was democrats becoming republicans..
You can remove the democrat form the party but its almost impossible to remove the democrat from the democrat..
Even Reagan was an EX-democrat.. and yes had a little of the spending disease in him..
EX-democrats must be watched they have a virulent disease in them..
They WANT a democracy INSTEAD of a REPUBLIC..
I think Bush(all three of them) were infected.. for sure Romney is.. and probably Perry..
Changebthat to one day vs Obama’s whole life and I’m on board.
RE: Why in the world would anyone post anything from the Frum Forum?
For discussion purposes my friend, as well as for thoughtful and knowledgeable conservatives to rebut them.
Yep.
“Here’s a good rule of thumb.
If you’ve got to deconstruct Reagan to make your guy look good, find another guy.”
____________________________________________________
Absolutely—couldn’t agree more.
I couldn’t get through that article. I was a green 18 year-old that first election and I voted for Ronald Reagan because my dad told me to, then I rebelled and voted against him in the next election.
But then I grew up, and came to appreciate him.
Frum?? Even RATS know he’s an idiot.
“Were taxes lower or higher after his term in office from when he first came in?”
The 1986 :Tax Simplification Act” was the bigest tax increase in our history!!!
When he was Governor of California he was one of the biggest tax increasers in history.
Durring his term he doubled taxes and trippled the number of State emoloyees.
The only way he ballanced the budget in his last year was instituting witholding taxes on payroll and taking 2 years taxes on a one time basis in one year.
Look at what he did, not what he spewed out of his mouth!
“came to appreciate him”—both Ronald Reagan ... and my Dad! :)
Had Reagan’s amnesty worked as intended, it would have meant limited numbers and secure borders.
20 or 30 million illegals later, he’d probably kick his own ass for it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.