Liberals Couldn't Ruin Reagan's Reputation

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Where is the respect on this board for the President who won the cold war and changed the paradigm of the US and the world? You would never know Reagan won two landslide elections and was popular enough to have been able to get his VP (Bush 41) elected – the first incumbent Vice-President since Martin van Buren to be elected to the presidency in 150 years.
The economic situation was just as bad back in 1980 as compared to 2009. Reagan had inherited sky high inflation, taxes, gas prices and unemployment but eventually created a 25+ year economic boom and over eight years had rebuilt the military which we were able to use to win the cold war, two gulf wars and for liberal peace keeping all over the world since he left office. For all the concern about debt in the 80's where is your concern about the massive spending by the government the first six months of the Obama presidency?
The Congressional Budget Office is forecasting that the 1 trillion budget deficit in 2009, using the administration's spending assumptions, will equal 13 percent of the total economy, as measured by the gross domestic product which would surpass the record of recent years - 6 percent of GDP, achieved in 1983, during the Reagan administration. Without a doubt, the deficit will be the largest in dollar terms, what exactly are we all getting with these 1-2 trillion dollar deficits starting this year?

LineMountain of PA 2:31PM July 20, 2009

i'm so tired of the hate--we'll all have to answer to God some day. sadly, that is true wheather you believe that or not.

judy of TX 1:02AM April 16, 2009

Liberals don't have to ruin Reagan's reputation. The current economic mess is entirely the product of the policies of Ronald Reagan as put into place by himself and the utterly awful George W. Bush.
Our current crisis is Reaganomics gone wild, and history is finally catching up with the Great Prevaricator.
I figured it would take history twenty years to drop Reagan to the bottom of the heap where he belongs, but I was hoping the countdown would start from the beginning and not the end of his presidency. The only thing that kept the clock from starting sooner was fact that a Democrat, William Jefferson Clinton, exercised the kind of financial prudence that Republicans talk about, but never carry out.
While millions found Reagan to be a likeable fellow, he was an awful president, and history will judge him to be so.

jimatmadison of WI 11:27PM April 15, 2009

Reagan is highly esteemed in retrospect because he is being compared to what the conservative movement has become since his departure. Liberals, moderates, and TRUE conservatives (the few that are left) long for the days when the GOP (regardless of their policies) maintained at least a modicum of rationale and dignity. If you need confirmation, look no further than the share of college educated voters who have voted Republican over the past 4 elections and the exodus of most of the parties intellectual elite. Reagan's policies, like many principles of both conservative and liberal orthodoxy, are a mixed bag. They led to both burdens and benefits during his presidency, but were not allowed to spiral out of control until his GOP descendants took control. Say what you want about Reagan, he never would have risked putting the country in the hands of a dunce like Sarah Palin simply for the purpose of political expediency.
http://chaosoutoforder.wordpress.com/

Matthew Bilinsky of CA 4:32PM April 15, 2009

If you don't believe, do a little googling about the Berkeley occupation and what he did to set those "damn" communist sympathizers, protesters and sex deviants" at the university.

Mimi Schaeffer of VA 12:51PM April 15, 2009

His policies are on the trash heap, of course, but Americans will always have a kindly memory of the Gipper. They like his personality. Actually, they liked Coolidge too, even years later. But Voodoo Economics are going to have a hard time making a comeback.

rzzzzz of VA 11:32AM April 15, 2009

Reagan and Bush both believed in America and Americans. They wanted to give all of us the OPPORTUNITY to become rich.
Obama thinks of himself as a victim and blames America for his and all the world's ills. He would rather see equally poor people across America, than to have the rich, middle class, and the poor.
You all can say what you want about Reagan but he brought this country back to greatness.

Larry of CA 11:11AM April 15, 2009

Typical circular reasoning from conservatives. If you only listen to like-minded true believers then there is nothing to disturb the reverence for Reagan. For those of us who thought he nearly wrecked this country, that has not changed either. Reagan's good reputation is as delusional as the man himself.

Panskeptic of MT 10:26AM April 15, 2009

History will trash Bush, for the economy. Bush will be 'Hoover-ised' the guy who sat on a mounting depression and did nothing to stop it. Don't worry about that. A 23% approval rating (Bush's) isn't quite the same as a 67% approval rating (Reagan's). Bush will, quite rightly, be remembered as a scourge on his country and the quite possible downfall of the once-great GOP.

jake of MD 9:37AM April 15, 2009

Obama just released something like 250,000 pages from Reagan's term. Let's let the truth come out before we get all high and mighty. There's clearly a reason why Bush sat on them for eight years and it's not because Reagan was a saint. Nice try, though.

Dan of MI 8:25AM April 15, 2009