July 15, 201016 yr By today's Republican party standards, a primary opponent could very well throw that favorite Republican label of liberal on Reagan. This article is a couple months old, but as Tea Party fever continues and the Republican party tries to figure out who they are, I think it brings up some points to ponder. Basically, the article says if the Republican party applied it's current "Principles of Reagan" test, not one of the past 5 Republican presidents are conservative enough. Even Reagan only scores 4 out of 10 on a "purity test" that supposedly is based on his principles. I have argued this since before the last election. The Republican party is drifting too far right. And as they try to figure out what is wrong, they seem to think going even further right is the answer. I don't think so. I think the Republican party needs to move back toward the middle. Here is the article: http://www.newsweek.com/2010/05/10/even-reagan-wasn-t-a-reagan-republican.html
July 15, 201016 yr Once again-everything begins with the setup-Newsweek-that bastion of conservative thinking isn't even a credible media source anymore, which is a shame, because they used to lean left, but play in the middle. So Reagan scores a 1/10 on their purity scale. Therefore, and by definition their scoring system is wrong. Most republicans would have the scores completely reversed-meaning the Bush's were the least conservative and reagan the most, but what do they know??:confused:
July 15, 201016 yr By today's Republican party standards, a primary opponent could very well throw that favorite Republican label of liberal on Reagan. This article is a couple months old, but as Tea Party fever continues and the Republican party tries to figure out who they are, I think it brings up some points to ponder. Basically, the article says if the Republican party applied it's current "Principles of Reagan" test, not one of the past 5 Republican presidents are conservative enough. Even Reagan only scores 4 out of 10 on a "purity test" that supposedly is based on his principles. I have argued this since before the last election. The Republican party is drifting too far right. And as they try to figure out what is wrong, they seem to think going even further right is the answer. I don't think so. I think the Republican party needs to move back toward the middle. Here is the article: http://www.newsweek.com/2010/05/10/even-reagan-wasn-t-a-reagan-republican.html And the Democrat Party is drifting too far left. They both need to move back to the middle, VOR.
July 16, 201016 yr And the Democrat Party is drifting too far left. They both need to move back to the middle, VOR. :thumb:
July 16, 201016 yr Author And the Democrat Party is drifting too far left. They both need to move back to the middle, VOR. I agree. Spending is out of control. Obama needs to focus on controlling spending and shrinking government. Any legislation that increases spending has to be put on hold from here on out. Is there anything else is on Obama's agenda that will increase spending?
July 18, 201016 yr Newsweek is running another good story this week about how Reagan wouldn't pass the Reagan Litmus Test that Republicans try to give every candidate now. Reagan actually grew government and raised taxes...
July 18, 201016 yr Reagan enacted lower marginal tax rates in conjunction with simplified income tax ... and away from higher earners and capital gains on existing investments... The only government Reagan "grew" was defense and thus ended the cold war....
July 19, 201016 yr Reagan enacted lower marginal tax rates in conjunction with simplified income tax ... and away from higher earners and capital gains on existing investments... The only government Reagan "grew" was defense and thus ended the cold war.... That's what the party line is and was but really its not true. He did lower the tax rates greatly in his first year and then restored about 1/3 of the previous cuts in 1982. He followed that with a gas tax hike and a payroll tax hike to help fund Medicare and Social Security. In 1986 he hit businesses with $420M in new fees. Federal spending grew by over 20% and he grew the ranks of public employees. I'm not criticizing him or his actions because they worked at the time. However, you can't just stick your head in the ground and say Reagan was a promoter of lower taxes and spending. How did he simplify taxes?
July 19, 201016 yr I'm not criticizing him or his actions because they worked. Exactly... Reagan inherited a bad economy with double digit interest rates and double digit unemployment.. He didn't whine and cry that it wasn't his fault unlike the Obama administration... He went to work and fixed the problems... Not all of his policies were well received but they worked.. I can't understand why the left wants to continually try to dis Reagan for being successful and praise Obama for making things worse.. History shows that no major liberal policies have never been successful in the long run...
July 19, 201016 yr Exactly... Reagan inherited a bad economy with double digit interest rates and double digit unemployment.. He didn't whine and cry that it wasn't his fault unlike the Obama administration... He went to work and fixed the problems... Not all of his policies were well received but they worked.. I can't understand why the left wants to continually try to dis Reagan for being successful and praise Obama for making things worse.. History shows that no major liberal policies have never been successful in the long run... My post was in response to your claim (and its shared by many) that President Reagan didn't believe in tax increases. He did and it worked. He would get scorched today for doing what he did then. Secondly, it would seem that most would consider raising personal taxes, raising fees for businesses, and raising gas taxes to be liberal policies if enacted by President Obama. So, are you saying that the work/never work is based upon who enacts them?
July 19, 201016 yr I'm not criticizing him or his actions because they worked. Exactly... Reagan inherited a bad economy with double digit interest rates and double digit unemployment.. He didn't whine and cry that it wasn't his fault unlike the Obama administration... He went to work and fixed the problems... Not all of his policies were well received but they worked.. I can't understand why the left wants to continually try to dis Reagan for being successful and praise Obama for making things worse.. History shows that no major liberal policies have never been successful in the long run... Reagan had a good presidency. But let's be honest- the USSR was going to fall regardless of who was sitting in the White House. And the other thing Republicans diefy him for (shrinking government) isn't actually true at all. He grew government by 60,000 jobs during his tenure. Contrast that to Clinton who cut almost 350,000 government jobs in his 8 years.
July 19, 201016 yr I think many Republicans, if honest, would say Clinton didn't do a bad job. His personal affairs were are different matter. Obama is no Clinton.
July 19, 201016 yr Reagan had a good presidency. But let's be honest- the USSR was going to fall regardless of who was sitting in the White House. And the other thing Republicans diefy him for (shrinking government) isn't actually true at all. He grew government by 60,000 jobs during his tenure. Contrast that to Clinton who cut almost 350,000 government jobs in his 8 years. Clinton cut most of those jobs out of the military when he "balanced" the budget by crippling the armed forces...
July 19, 201016 yr I think many Republicans, if honest, would say Clinton didn't do a bad job. His personal affairs were are different matter. Obama is no Clinton. Agreed...
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