|
|
"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
|
Celebrating reagan?
|
|---|
| Parent(s) |
Candidate
|
| Contributor | Blue Wizzrobe |
| Last Edited | Blue Wizzrobe Feb 06, 2004 09:43pm |
| Logged |
0
|
| Category | Commentary |
| News Date | Friday, February 6, 2004 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | I wrote this to years ago, for the AU Eagle.
It's Ronald Reagan's birthday, and Republicans are celebrating the former President's birthday again.
On February 6, to mark Reagan's 91st birthday, George W. Bush made a house where Reagan lived for three years a historic site. This adds to the number of tributes to the ex-President. So far, there is an airport and a federal building named after him, and some have proposed naming a location in every county after Reagan. Is any of this necessary, or even deserved?
Regardless of what his suporters will tell you, the Reagan legacy is not one to celebrate. One way of judging a President is to look at his priorities. Reagan's basic principles were cutting taxes, putting vast amounts of money into the military, and slashing domestic spending. Some of the Gipper's first tax initiatives were a tax loophole for business executives who held stock options and an "All Savers" tax credit only for individuals making over $40,000 a year. This last initiative was at the expense of a $200 tax rebate for the rest of the population. There were hundreds of billions of dollars in increased spending for the Pentagon - including money for technology that became obsolete over a decade ago.
Reagan paid for initiatives like these through attempts to zero out or severly reduce programs like food stamps ($1.9 billion in 1981 alone), child nutrition programs ($1.6 million), and social security. Even with these efforts, Reagan still couldn't balance the budget. Replacing food programs with fighter planes and children's welfare funding with corporate welfare, combined with diminishing revenues, drove the country into a deepening deficit.
Reagan's refusla to support raising taxes for the richest Americans insured deficits for nine years after he left office and a debt that still exists today. The debt is an example of the other method by which a President can be judged, which is to look at the long-term effects of his act |
| Share |
|
|
2¢
|
|
|
| Date |
Category |
Headline |
Article |
Contributor |
|
|
