Originally Posted By tiggertoo Rep. Bob Inglis (R) seems to think so. And I agree. In an interview with Chris Matthews, the SC Representative who recently lost the 4th district primary gave some very interesting and candid views of the "New Right", including the influence of opinion leaders like Rush and Beck, the meaning a conservatism, and the anti-academican attitudes pervading radical conservatism. But more pointedly, that Reagan led by ideas and optimism, not fear, dread, and misinformation as the New Right seems to. It's an excellent interview. Here's the link: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy8Dk-9oUAA" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...Dk-9oUAA</a> Frankly, I didn't always agree with his positions over the years, but if the Republican Party was made up representatives like Inglis, I might consider re-joining the party. I was VERY impressed by his candor and astuteness. But alas, the yahoos have taken over and the politicians are pandering to the basest element of the party.
Originally Posted By Mr X The only ones with the guts to be candid are the ones who got kicked to the curb. Sadly, their opinions don't carry much weight. If a prominent Republican who WAS still in power told the truth (and didn't immediately recant at the alter of Rush), it would be far more effective.
Originally Posted By SuperDry The height of the irony is that Reagan running today as he was just might lose in some primaries against a tea bagger, precisely because he's not enough like Reagan was.
Originally Posted By Hooper42 Reagan, easily the best President we have ever had, would win by landslide. The US and the world were and are a better place because of him.
Originally Posted By fkurucz Reagan's legacy of deficit spending has the entire world economy on the brink of collapse. Sovereign debt is the crisis. Today its Greece, tomorrow it will be Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Italy. Japan is a bug looking for a windshield, and we are not far behind. Prior to Ronnie deficits and being in debt were considered bad. Now the US government is so up to its eyeballs in debt that it cannot be repaid. Our deficits now are larger than the entire national debt was under the Carter administration. Once interest rates begin to rise, and they will eventually, we won't be able to even service the debt, much less pay it pack. Our only two choices will be to either default or monetize via hyper inflation. And the private sector is in equally dire straights. Thanks Ronnie. PS. Sometimes I think tht it was unfortunate that the Iron Curtain fell. As long as we had the cold war with the commies the PTB had an incentive to keep the middle class healthy as an "in your face" gesture to the Soviets. Now that they are gone the Masters of the Universe can drop the pretense of caring about a healthy middle class. Now they tell us that we are overpaid and that we need to adapt to a 3rd World standard of living with falling wages and non-existant pensions.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo I always thought Ronnie was too right wing and dengerous, but in some ways he waqs a pussie cat compared to today. It is funny, Clinton got the US into the black, had some good social programmes and a good healthy relationship when it came to foreign policy. Then he couldn't keep it in his pants (like so many before him, difference is, he was caught), and the christian fundi's tried to find ways to impeach him. Bush then wins undemocratically and ruins the world, and the GOP are baying after a president that while not perfect, has an impressive track record. Crackpots.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <Reagan, easily the best President we have ever had,> Hard to take any opinion seriously that starts with that. #6 was a nice corrective, and didn't get into half of it.
Originally Posted By tiggertoo <<The only ones with the guts to be candid are the ones who got kicked to the curb.>> That's because those who have spoken out, HAVE been kicked to the curb. Inglis was the guy who said "turn Glenn Beck off" way back at a '09 townhall. Radical conservatives pounded him for it. How dare he? Telling them to stop listening to Beck is like telling a Christian to stop praying. Come to think of it, Beck probably has MORE influence than does God with these people.
Originally Posted By tiggertoo <<As long as we had the cold war with the commies the PTB had an incentive to keep the middle class healthy as an "in your face" gesture to the Soviets. Now that they are gone the Masters of the Universe can drop the pretense of caring about a healthy middle class.>> Good point. At some point American corporatism will become the cockroach that ate New York, but then had nowhere to live.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer Reagan and Roosevelt did exactly the same thing to improve the economy - massive federal deficit spending programs that resulted in more people getting paychecks that they spent in the marketplace. Reagan did it with the biggest peace-time defense buildup this country has ever seen and Roosevelt did it by investing in infrastructure improvements. The difference is that Roosevelt and Truman understood that you have to pay the debt off as soon as you can. Reagan and Bush didn't know that.
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>The difference is that Roosevelt and Truman understood that you have to pay the debt off as soon as you can. Reagan and Bush didn't know that.<< Or they did and just didn't care, choosing to simply "kick the can down the road". Ronnie's dead and his legacy of deficit spending is now "someone else's problem".
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Originally Posted By fkurucz <<This is and always has been class warfare>> During the previous admin I became keenly aware that the government had silently declared war against me and my family (as well as many other families I know). I watched as highly educated and skilled people I know were laid off while the gov't was handing out H1-B visas to their foreign replacements like they were candy, while repeatedly claiming that there was a shortage of skilled workers.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox OK, let me try this again and not violate the Community Standards, which I seem to get slammed for repeatedly when posting about conservatives. I firmly believe that Reagan and Bush deliberately drove up the deficit in order to force politicians to end social programs the conservatives have never liked and have been trying to shut down for decades, like Social Security and Medicare. Most conservatives would rather see government-run programs become privately-run programs so that business can profit from them, just like with our current health care system. I do not believe that either Reagan or Bush had any intention of reducing the deficit. Increasing the deficit was the goal, in order to achieve their ulterior motive of crippling the social programs that conservatives have always despised.
Originally Posted By fkurucz Reagan was the one who said that deficits didn't matter. 13 trillion dollars later he has been proven wrong.
