Ronald Reagan

Bill Maher On Ronald Reagan Two Weeks Ago: Right On The Mark!

Ronald 18 Comments

Comedian Bill Maher is famous, and infamous, for stating outrageous opinions, and sometimes, he states opinions through humor that one can find unacceptable, or disagree with.

But other times, he is right on the mark, and such case occurred two weeks ago, when he dared to challenge the mythology around President Ronald Reagan.

The Republican Party and conservatives tend to worship the ground that Ronald Reagan walked on, and while interpretations of Reagan will continue to evolve, both positive and negative, what Maher had to say about Reagan in a negative way, makes a lot of sense!

Maher said that Reagan, by his comments and his actions, fit the following profile:

That Reagan was the forerunner of the Tea Party Movement, that he was anti government, that he believed in busting unions, that he was anti abortion, that he was insensitive to gays on the issue of AIDS, that he was anti intellectual, that he cut the taxes of wealthy people while raising taxes on the average middle class person, that he worshiped the military industrial complex, that he believed Medicare was Socialism and that senior citizens were waiting for handouts on the program, that he promoted states rights, that he spread the myth of the welfare queen in Chicago who was black, and that minorities were waiting for the government to support their needs, described the New Deal as Fascism, said that unemployment compensation was a prepaid vacation for freeloaders, that he had no concern for the poor, that he said trees cause pollution, that he promoted hate of government, and that he is the man most responsible for our decline since the high point of the economy and wages in 1973!

Can anyone deny that all of the above is true and factual, based on what Reagan said and did, in and out of the Presidency?

89th Birthday Of President George H. W. Bush: His Stature Has Risen!

Ronald Leave a comment

Today is the 89th birthday of former President George H. W. Bush, the 41st President, and we almost lost him at the end of 2012, when he was in the hospital for a long time, and it seemed as if he was not going to make it through bronchitis and other ills.

The fact that the senior Bush was a moderate Republican, who took us through the Gulf War; had the courage to raise taxes, even though it helped to defeat him in 1992; and promoted the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act, one of the most important civil rights laws in our history; all this helps to add to his stature as we look back after twenty plus years since he lost reelection to Bill Clinton.

While Bush will never make it to the top third of our Presidents, he has gained respect and recognition as a President who, even with faults and shortcomings in office, contributed in important ways to the advancement of the United States, both domestic and foreign, so today is a day to salute the 41st President and wish him many more years of enjoying his children and grandchildren, and the appreciation of the American people for a job done with full commitment to his nation!

It is wonderful that longevity has become a norm, not only in society in general, but among Presidents, as now Bush is the fifth longest lived President, after Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, both of whom reached 93 years of age; and John Adams and Herbert Hoover, who both reached 90. And on October 1, Jimmy Carter will also reach the age of 89, and is in far better health than Bush is at this time. Both Bush and Carter have already surpassed Harry Truman, who died at age 88 and seven and a half months.

Second Term Doldrums Hit Obama Presidency As It Did For FDR, Truman, Ike, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, And Bush II!

Ronald 1 Comment

The second term doldrums have hit the Obama Presidency, and the likelihood of much more being accomplished now seems dim–whether immigration reform, gun regulations, climate change, or anything else.

The same thing happened to Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush in their second terms, and for all but Roosevelt and Truman, the 22nd Amendment, limiting terms of office to two terms, has helped contribute to the problem, as a President, even if he wins a massive second term victory, is still, fundamentally, a “lame duck”, since Congress and the news media know he is term limited, and will not be able to run for the Presidency again.

Scandals have harmed all of these Presidents mentioned, in that second term, with the exception of FDR, and foreign policy controversies also affected all of them, except Nixon and Clinton in their second terms in office.

So the controversies swirling today around Barack Obama will cause more focus to begin sooner on the race to replace him in the White House on January 20, 2017!

Barack Obama Joins Four Other Presidents In Doubling Of Stock Market In His Term!

Ronald 34 Comments

Barack Obama has joined a distinct group of four other Presidents who witnessed a doubling of the Standard and Poors 500 Index during their time in office.

The other four, just like Obama, won a second term in the Presidency, with Franklin D. Roosevelt also winning a third and fourth term, before the 22nd Amendment was passed, preventing any such situation in the future.

The others besides FDR and Obama with this great accomplishment were Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton!

So Obama is anti capitalism, and anti business, the same charges brought against FDR in 1936, but repudiated by the American people!

The right wing has no substance to stand on, so they issue ridiculous charges, which are totally lies and propaganda!

Republicans Are Declaring War On Students: Doubling Of Student Loan Interest A Month Away!

Ronald 14 Comments

The Republican House of Representatives has voted to allow a doubling of student loan rates on July 1, and unless they change their tune, that is what will happen, as action needs to be taken to prevent an automatic increase!

This is a new declaration of war, adding to that on women, immigrants, racial minorities, labor, senior citizens, the poor, the middle class, and the environment!

Bob Dole and other sane Republicans of the past generation KNOW that the GOP is on a maniacal path, which leads to long term doom for the party of Lincoln, TR, Ike, and Reagan! The GOP is committing suicide, but meanwhile, is making victims of vast numbers of the American people!

Bob Dole Indicts 2013 Republican Party As Not A Party For Himself, Richard Nixon, Or Ronald Reagan!

Ronald 31 Comments

Former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas, former Vice Presidential running mate of Gerald Ford in 1976; former Presidential nominee of the Republican Party in 1996; Senate Majority Leader and five term member of the Senate overall; and a total of 36 years in both houses of Congress, was on Fox News Sunday today, and he indicted the present day GOP as a party which would not welcome such venerable political figures as himself, Richard Nixon, and even Ronald Reagan in the 2013 political climate that has been established by a party he does not recognize!

Dole condemned the overuse of the filibuster, making it nearly impossible for any progress to be made on any significant legislation, or nominees for many government positions, including to regulatory commissions and to the judiciary.

Dole suggested a sign “closed for repairs” on the door of the Republican National Committee, as the party tries to come up with positive ideas, and returns to the conservative mainstream, which it has left, with its extremist agenda, with 115 cloture motions in past two years as compared to seven in the first two years that Dole was a Senator during the Nixon Administration!

As long as the Republican Party continues on its present course, it will NEVER win the White House again, and will continue to promote the image that it is only a party that is out to obstruct and block, rather than come up with real solutions to America’s domestic and foreign policy agenda!

Republican Presidents And Political Scandals–The Five Greatest Scandals, Unmatched By ANY Democratic Presidential Administration!

Ronald 75 Comments

As we witness the accusations of “scandal” in the Obama Administration, it is easy to forget that in historical terms, it is Republican Presidents who have presided over the most significant and numerous scandals.

Any objective historian would know that the five top scandalous Presidential administrations are all Republican Presidents!

In chronological order, they are:

Ulysses S. Grant—1869-1877–best known for the Credit Mobilier Scandal.
Warren G. Harding—1921-1923,–best known for the Teapot Dome Scandal.
Richard Nixon–1969-1974–best known for the Watergate Scandal.
Ronald Reagan–1981-1989–best known for the Iran-Contra Scandal.
George W. Bush–2001-2009–best known for the Scooter Libby Scandal.

Realize there are MULTIPLE scandals under each of these Republican Presidents, and by analysis, the “scandals” under Democratic Presidents pale by comparison, although no claim is made here that Democratic Presidential administrations are “holier than thou”!

Comparing Apples With Oranges: Obama Versus Republican Abuses Of Power Under Nixon, Reagan, Bush II

Ronald 6 Comments

The Republican Party and conservatives are having a field day on the supposed Obama scandals over the Benghazi, Libya terror attack that killed the ambassador and three others; over the improper investigation of right wing groups by the Internal Revenue Service; and the investigation of Associated Press journalists on the basis of a national security investigation.

We are being told that Barack Obama is another Richard Nixon, when it is more appropriate to say that Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush are examples of another Richard Nixon, to a much greater level!

Nixon was involved in the promotion of break ins; internal revenue service investigations of political opponents, including Ted Kennedy; had an “enemies list”; had his aides do “dirty tricks”; blocked investigations by the Congress and the FBI. He undermined the Presidency in massive ways, and abused power in ways that have harmed the image of the Presidency ever since.

Ronald Reagan may have had a more pleasant persona, but he authorized illegal activities against Nicaragua, backed arms sales to Iran, feigned ignorance of Iran Contra, and promoted secrecy and suspicion of his opponents.

George W. Bush promoted deception and lies to get American into Iraq; engaged in the exposure of a CIA agent who opposed what he was doing; gave his Vice President Dick Cheney unprecedented power to abuse his position; had the IRS investigate liberal groups; engaged in lies and deception not seen seen Richard Nixon.

Barack Obama is NOT engaged in corruption of any kind, but his enemies are pursuing him as if he was the abuser that Nixon, Reagan and Bush II were, but it is all theater, and just like the pursuit of Bill Clinton for his personal behavior, it will fail, and the GOP will suffer as a result!

The sad part of this hot pursuit of Obama is that even liberal media are jumping on the bandwagon of attack, and they should be ashamed of themselves, as they demonstrate no knowledge of history, and are just pursuing a story to build up circulation and readership and make money, a sad moment for the media, when they allow the right wing propaganda to control them!

Barack Obama Becoming Another Bill Clinton On The Economy: Higher Taxes On Wealthy, Better Economy!

Ronald 9 Comments

Barack Obama has fought for higher taxes on the wealthy, and brought them about in 2013, as Bill Clinton did in 1993.

Under Bill Clinton, we had the greatest period of economic prosperity in American history, the rich paid more, and the country did not tank!

Now under Barack Obama, the deficit in government spending is rapidly declining, and the stock market is at an all time high, both occurring as we see higher taxes on the wealthy once again!

The Republicans complain bitterly once again, and again, they are wrong, and economic expansion is occurring, even with the GOP attempts to block it, and instead, draw attention to what they call “scandals”, which, by comparison with scandals and controversies under George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan, pale by comparison!

The result of the GOP political “dirty tricks” is that they will NOT harm Barack Obama’s historical accomplishments, or Hillary Clinton’s chances for the White House, which depend only on her desire to run. If she runs, she is the 45th President of the United States on January 20, 2017!

Urgent That Barack Obama Take Leadership In Investigation Of Alleged Scandals In His Presidency!

Ronald 28 Comments

President Barack Obama has been President for more than four years, and is in the crucial first year of his second and last term in the White House.

The time for applause over his second term victory is over, and he must face the facts that his administration is in crisis, caused by his own lack of outfront leadership over what goes on during his watch in the Oval Office!

The Benghazi matter is being politicized, but more needs to be revealed about that tragedy, and no coverup is going to work, although it seems clear there is no “smoking gun” on that issue.

The confusion over the IRS checking out conservative and Tea Party groups is reprehensible, and it must be made clear who was involved, people appointed by the President, or civil service bureaucrats who have gone way beyond their authority, and abused their positions. Heads must roll, and if it is the bureaucracy, then the whole agency must be cleaned up of those who have broken the law, and prosecutions must follow quickly!

The Associated Press matter, if related to national security matters, must also be revealed in total, as media should never be interfered with by the Justice Department, and a full investigation must be pursued, with Attorney General Eric Holder properly recusing himself in this matter.

The point is, that despite Republicans gleefully jumping on these controversies, it is yet possible that nothing that Obama could have done would have been able to prevent these controversies, but he MUST be proactive, not laid back and withdrawn, which has too often been his mode of operation in his first term.

Obama is in danger of ending up like other second term Presidencies, in the midst of scandals which undermine their legacy, no matter how good those legacies might be.

Progressives do not want Obama to end up in the troubled historical legacy of such predecessors as:

Ulysses S. Grant–Credit Mobilier Scandals
Harry Truman–several minor scandals
Dwight D. Eisenhower—Sherman Adams Scandal
Richard Nixon–Watergate Scandal
Ronald Reagan–Iran Contra Scandal
Bill Clinton–Monica Lewinksy–Paul Jones Scandals
George W. Bush—Scooter Libby Scandal

The only way to avoid this fate is PROMPT, ASSERTIVE, PROACTIVE leadership by our 44th President, who has done so much good, and should not allow his enemies to destroy him by a policy of passivity, and leading from behind!