RoSquirts said:
Dubiously sourced as in Reagan tripled tax revenue and decreased taxes ??
Reagan's voodoo economics (not my words, but a Papa Bush sound bite/lol) trickled down on the little man. I think he needed saw palmeto cause it was a very weak stream that trickled down on the little man, and most of that urine remained with the upper class cause they just couldn't find it a possibility to relieve themselves.
It was for him a lucky time when the dot com revolution (internet) was beginning to take off which had nothing to do with him (he was lucky to be in the right place at the right time) as far as increasing tax revenues while reducing taxes.
Reagan was the grand father to exploding budget deficeits. He began what Baby Bush finished! That is government on the credit card!
He rebuild the US Military on the credit card, just as Bush has done with the war.
Look at where we are now.
The Right wing has done their damnedest to build Reagan into something of a hero which he never was in any way of his life or Presidency. The Right wing has felt so threatened and isolated by the glorified images of John Kennedy, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, etc... .
One aspect of Reagan doing in the little guy strikes home to me. My father works for the US POSTAL Service. He works under what they call the Civil Service Retirement Plan. Reagan viewed someone working under Civil Service and working a second job as double dipping.
So in order to cut the little guy out of his social security and keep it for the government, Reagan signed into law the "WINDFALL ELIMINATION PROVISION".
This means that if you are covered by Civil Service and work a second job paying social security taxes when you retire you will only recieve 40 percent of what social security you have earned! If you have worked more than 20 years under social security you will have earned 45 percent and goes up 5 percent each additional year.
However, every other person in this country who works for a company paying a pension continues to be able to draw their pension and social security.
When my father retired he only got 40 per cent of what he earned in social security from working a second job. There are hundreds of thousands if not millions affected by this today.
Reagan himself was drawing a Federal Pension, a State of California Pension, a Sreen Actors Pension, and social security up till he died.
I apoligize for getting a little off track but just wanted to point out the unfairness and inequities of the budget games that went on with Reagan (the Reverse Robin Hood who took from the poor and middle class to give to the rich).
As you so eloquently stated: "Reagan tripled tax revenue and decreased taxes"; but you ignore the nationa debt that was passed along to our children and their children who will pay the bills for Reagan.
A lot of people were sqeezed and screwed by Reagan while the Rich got richer. The bullshit about him defeating communism is just that!
Reagan just maxed out the government credits and we had more reserves, however, when he left the credit remained for us to repay at a later date, and was maxed out under Baby Bush.
Lets face it the real reason counter to what the flag wavers and spinners say is that our finest young people are fighting and dying in Iraq right now because of "big oil" and the fact that this country is so far in debt to China and Saudi Arabia and the rest of the world we are held hostage and it has so much to do with what Reagan did or didn't do.
Last note is it was Reagan who "cut and run" when in lebannon several hundred of our US Marines were blown to bits in a terrorist bombing.
They made fun of Clinton shooting a missle or two, but that's what Reagan did. In fact it is a belief held by many that when the Marines were blown up in Lebannon that was in fact the beginning of the lead up to "911', due in large part to Reagans running away!