The Truth About Ronald Reagan That Conservatives Ignore
Think Progress has compiled a list of facts about Ronald Reagan that are rarely mentioned as the myth surrounding his legacy grows. Conservatives have no real leader now, so they’ve constructed one and given it the Reagan persona. As we approach the 100th birthday of the iconic president, this puts things in perspective.
- Reagan was a serial tax raiser. As governor of California, Reagan “signed into law the largest tax increase in the history of any state up till then.” Meanwhile, state spending nearly doubled.
- Reagan nearly tripled the federal budget deficit. During the Reagan years, the debt increased to nearly $3 trillion, “roughly three times as much as the first 80 years of the century had done altogether.”
- Unemployment soared after Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts. Unemployment jumped to 10.8 percent after Reagan enacted his much-touted tax cut, and it took years for the rate to get back down to its previous level. Meanwhile, income inequality exploded.
- Reagan grew the size of the federal government tremendously. Reagan promised “to move boldly, decisively, and quickly to control the runaway growth of federal spending,” but federal spending “ballooned” under Reagan. He bailed out Social Security in 1983 after attempting to privatize it, and set up a progressive taxation system to keep it funded into the future.
- Reagan did little to fight a woman’s right to chose. As governor of California in 1967, Reagan signed a bill to liberalize the state’s abortion laws that “resulted in more than a million abortions.”
- Reagan was a “bellicose peacenik.” He wrote in his memoirs that “[m]y dream…became a world free of nuclear weapons.”
- Reagan gave amnesty to 3 million undocumented immigrants. Reagan signed into law a bill that made any immigrant who had entered the country before 1982 eligible for amnesty.
- Reagan illegally funneled weapons to Iran. Reagan and other senior U.S. officials secretly sold arms to officials in Iran, which was subject to a an arms embargo at the time, in exchange for American hostages. Some funds from the illegal arms sales also went to fund anti-Communist rebels in Nicaragua — something Congress had already prohibited the administration from doing.
- Reagan vetoed a comprehensive anti-Apartheid act. which placed sanctions on South Africa and cut off all American trade with the country. Reagan’s veto was overridden by the Republican-controlled Senate.
- Reagan helped create the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. Reagan fought a proxy war with the Soviet Union by training, arming, equipping, and funding Islamist mujahidin fighters in Afghanistan. Reagan funneled billions of dollars, along with top-secret intelligence and sophisticated weaponry to these fighters through the Pakistani intelligence service. The Talbian and Osama Bin Laden — a prominent mujahidin commander — emerged from these mujahidin groups Reagan helped create, and U.S. policy towards Pakistan remains strained because of the intelligence services’ close relations to these fighters.
Copyright 2011 Liberaland
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John Burgess March 21st, 2015 at 10:33
He sign laws that his democratic congress passed. Remember he worked well with Tip O’Neil and got his large military. He considered Tip a friend.
James Faughnan Sr. March 21st, 2015 at 10:49
We ignore these things because his greatness eclipses these petty faults.
William March 21st, 2015 at 11:13
Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha.
John Williams March 21st, 2015 at 11:35
Yeah–those Dems have sure been fiscally responsible. Idiot.
William March 21st, 2015 at 11:55
Yes we have. Pop in any time, especially if you have some sort of credible and lucid argument.
John Williams March 21st, 2015 at 13:29
Another lie–see above. GWB had a $400 billion deficit in 2004 and promised to cut it in half–and did so–by the 2006 election.
Bob March 21st, 2015 at 16:20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaQUU2ZL6D8
Obewon March 22nd, 2015 at 13:49
“Yes we can!” And already eliminated 71% of GWB’s U.S. record deficits!
POTUS ‘Obama likely to leave office with another Dem Presidential Surplus’-Conservative AEI! “Net Federal outlays fall below 0%: The March U.S. budget statement showed that the fiscal deficit likely collapsed to 2.9% of GDP in Q1 from a peak above 10% of GDP in late (GWB FY09 10/1/08-9/30/09) 2009, a 71% fall in just over four years.” https://www.aei.org/publication/surprise-obama-might-just-leave-office-with-a-budget-surplus/
jasperjava March 22nd, 2015 at 12:51
Selective statistics. Clinton left Dubya a surplus, which he squandered. You set an artificial benchmark of 2004-2006 to make him look good.
That’s like saying that a football team did a great job because they scored a touchdown in the second quarter, winning those fifteen minutes 7-3. Never mind that the other team ended up winning the game 43 to 10.
So Dubya reduced the deficit by half during a specifically selected segment of time? Big deal. Obama reduced it by two-thirds over his entire term. No cherry-picked statistics necessary.
John Williams March 24th, 2015 at 16:32
Please read something besides Democratic talking points. Obama’s deficits have been over $1 trillion ANNUALLY. He could reduce it by half and still add more to the debt than GWB in his WORST YEAR!
Obewon March 24th, 2015 at 21:44
GWB’s U.S. record $1.4 T 2008 Deficit reduced “71%” by POTUS Obama> GWB’s 10/1/08 U.S. record “deficits have been over $1 trillion ANNUALLY”- Vs Reality “the actual 2014 deficit was $483 billion”-RWNJ Bible Forbes citing CBO http://www.forbes.com/sites/stancollender/2014/10/16/stop-and-smell-the-roses-final-2014-federal-deficit-fell-big-time/
Unanimous dissembler John Williams is too easily debunked again. ‘Obama likely to leave office with another Dem POTUS Surplus’-April 11, 2014 as “Net Federal Outlays Drop Below 0%” “The March U.S. budget statement showed that the fiscal deficit likely collapsed to 2.9% of GDP in Q1-2014 from a peak above 10% of GDP in late 2009, a 71% fall in just over four years.” https://www.aei.org/publication/surprise-obama-might-just-leave-office-with-a-budget-surplus/
GWB’s 10/1/2008 to 1/20/2009 Deficit realized totaled $1.3 T+ “For the record, $483 billion is $197 billion below the almost $680 billion deficit recorded in 2013. It’s also $930 billion, that is, close to $1 trillion, less than the largely (12/07 Great) recession-caused $1.4 trillion deficit in (GWB’s 10/1/2008 to 9/30) 2009. (Attention trolls: the Congressional Budget Office projected in early 2009, that is, before the start of the Obama administration, that, because of the recession, the deficit that year would be $1.2 trillion.)”
Randy Stephenson March 26th, 2015 at 22:51
And that surplus was due to the policies that Sr. enacted.
jasperjava March 26th, 2015 at 23:17
Ooooooh, I love this game!
All the success that Reagan had? That was thanks to President Carter!
Roosevelt licked the Depression and won the war? Couldn’t have done it without Hoover!
Lincoln won the Civil War? You can thank James K. Polk for that!
And on and on…
Bob March 21st, 2015 at 16:18
Yes, he did. Took Social Security debt off the books while keeping the income in the general fund and the numbers looked better!
William March 21st, 2015 at 12:00
Oh…
and don’t let the facts his you in he ass on the way out.
John Williams March 21st, 2015 at 13:28
Wow–more lies. Surprise, surprise. Obama increased the deficit from $200 billion GWB’s last term (until Dems took over in 2006), $400 billion Dems first year of control in 2007, and to $1 trillion for each of his first 5 years. You really should be ashamed…
Obewon March 21st, 2015 at 16:55
GWB’s FY-09 U.S. record forecast $1.84 T deficit began 10/1/08 totaling $1.3 Trillion+ on 1/20/09 inauguration day. USA “went from a (continuing CBO) $5.6 trillion surplus that George Bush inherited to over … $11-plus-trillion debt when George Bush left office.”-True! http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/jun/02/steny-hoyer/steny-hoyer-says-george-w-bush-inherited-56-trilli/
POTUS ‘Obama likely to leave office with another Dem Presidential Surplus’-Conservative AEI! “Net Federal outlays fall below 0%: The March U.S. budget statement showed that the fiscal deficit likely collapsed to 2.9% of GDP in Q1 from a peak above 10% of GDP in late 2009, a 71% fall in just over four years.” https://www.aei.org/publication/surprise-obama-might-just-leave-office-with-a-budget-surplus/
John Williams March 21st, 2015 at 19:13
There was NEVER any surplus except in the twisted minds of lefties. Had GWB conserved every ounce of the $5.6 trillion PROJECTED, Obama still would have spent it in his first four years. You guys are daft.
Obewon March 22nd, 2015 at 00:28
Clinton’s consecutive surpluses delivered totaled $550 B per CBO^ until Halliburton Cheney’s $6 T+ no WMD Iraq invasion, plus Reagan’s trickle down fantasy delivered GWB’s 12/07 Great Recession record low everything since (R) Hoover’s Great Depression! 1.08 M eight year total private jobs left “Bush on jobs: the Worst Track Record on Record”-WSJ 1/09/2009. https://www.flickr.com/photos/speakerpelosi/13630053153/in/photostream/ <-BLS March 2014
John Williams March 24th, 2015 at 16:30
PROJECTED SURPLUSES which were NEVER in the Treasury. Are you this obtuse?
Obewon March 24th, 2015 at 21:33
When Clinton consecutively surplussed $550 B, the “Public Debt” declined. John Williams is lying, an economic illiterate or both.
“Surplus” Exhibit A: (Again for debunked economic illiterate and dissembler John Williams)
B) Clinton Surplus deniers debunked: “But even if we remove Social Security from the equation, there was a surplus of $1.9 billion in fiscal 1999 (10/1/98 to 9/30/99) and $86.4 billion in fiscal 2000. So any way you count it, the federal budget was balanced and the deficit was erased, if only for a while.”
C) “Fiscal 2002 is the first for which President George W. Bush signed the appropriations bills, and the first to show the (Deficit) effect of his tax cuts.” CBO & U.S. Treasury linked via http://www.factcheck.org/2008/02/the-budget-and-deficit-under-clinton/
jasperjava March 22nd, 2015 at 12:36
“Had GWB conserved every ounce of the $5.6 trillion PROJECTED, Obama still would have spent it in his first four years.”
If my grandmother had wheels, she’d be a bus.
Dubya DIDN’T conserve Clinton’s surplus. He squandered it with his irresponsible tax cuts for the rich and his unfunded wars. Obama had to spend in order to stimulate the economy and repair the damage left by the criminal B*$h regime.
Obama’s strategy obviously worked. Millions of jobs created, the stock market stronger than ever, reducing the deficit, the economy on a roar.
Conservatives ought to be on their hands and knees thanking the President, but they will never acknowledge any thanks to a Black man.
jasperjava March 22nd, 2015 at 12:43
You are the one who ought to be ashamed. B*$h left office with a trillion-dollar deficit, which Obama steadily decreased during his term. But of course, you will never admit the truth, and we know why.
John Williams March 21st, 2015 at 14:47
BTW–for all you who are open-minded enough to think for yourselves and not believe all the garbage Pelosi’s office and Media Matters throw at you, here’s the truth:
http://www.factcheck.org/2012/02/dueling-debt-deceptions/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesglassman/2012/07/11/the-facts-about-budget-deficits-how-the-presidents-truly-rank/
I know, I know–libs LOVE to dittle with numbers to make things seem what they’re not and can generally figure out some wild-ass way to come up with the numbers they’re looking for–but it doesn’t make you smart or sophisticated–it makes you a liar.
William March 21st, 2015 at 15:33
2012? Wow you ARE up to date huh?
Here’s something the fair and balanced people won’t show you.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/10/15/chart-week-deficit-falls-its-lowest-level-2007
John Williams March 21st, 2015 at 19:12
Really? This White House? And you think that’s an unbiased source? You’re a fool.
Progressive Republican June 2nd, 2015 at 03:57
‘Dittle”?
John Williams June 3rd, 2015 at 10:24
HA! Nice try. I always use “diddle”–I’ve never even seen the word “dittle”. You libs are shameless. Changing posts after the fact is true desperation.
Progressive Republican June 4th, 2015 at 01:49
So far as I know there is no way for anyone but you to ‘change’ your post.
This makes you either an idiot, or a liar.
Pick one.
Bob March 21st, 2015 at 16:17
Liars figure and figures lie. Obama has doubled out debt, play with those numbers!
Budda March 21st, 2015 at 13:50
“Petty faults”?! Really?
James Faughnan Sr. April 6th, 2015 at 21:47
Yeah, get over it. Reagan was the greatest US President ever.
OldLefty April 6th, 2015 at 22:02
Are you from the Onion?
Satire?
Budda April 7th, 2015 at 09:19
“Greatest president ever”….really? Did you read the article?
he was better than your other hero, tricky dick nixon.
Still trying to score on an eleven day old post is pretty pathetic.
Progressive Republican June 2nd, 2015 at 03:56
If by ‘greatest’ you mean ‘most corrupt’, then you might have a case.
Mmoose March 21st, 2015 at 12:11
The problem isn’t Reagan, his accomplishments, his visions or his faults it’s what both parties have become today. The choices for ’16 are quite dismal (at this point) and who we have in the WH is a joke.
Budda March 21st, 2015 at 12:21
Why is he a joke? Be specific and factual please
William March 21st, 2015 at 12:45
Specifics?
Budda March 21st, 2015 at 12:20
I notice a lot of cons jumped into this discussion late, very late. Isuspect it is because they didnt want to engage in real and truthful dialogue….just saying.
Randy Stephenson March 26th, 2015 at 22:48
Still looking for it
Mmoose March 21st, 2015 at 13:30
No doubt supporters of Obama will see no fault. One cannot reasonably argue with these types because of entrenched ideologies. We have a liberal leftist running the country right now and dare I say a Socialist. These truths are self evident. I see it, others see it but those of you who see a vision of America that strays away from the visions of our founding fathers do not. You cannot be helped but thank god for elections which oust our bad choices.
Budda March 21st, 2015 at 13:49
If you think Obama is “leftist” and “dare I say socialist” then you have NO idea what the terms mean.
It is not that many see “no fault” in Obama, rather we see more flaws, lies and distortions in the Right.
Oh, and just an aside; our founding fathers were liberals.
Bobby Stone March 21st, 2015 at 22:02
http://www.crossroad.to/Quotes/communism/alinsky.htm http://www.wnd.com/2010/08/191609/
Budda March 22nd, 2015 at 15:49
You can call a tree a fish but that does not make it so. again, what is the definition of a socialist…other than name calling?
Progressive Republican June 2nd, 2015 at 03:54
WND.
Right.
The Onion is more credible.
fentonite March 22nd, 2015 at 05:20
Shut your demented pie hole you stinking commie scum. You know nothing.
jasperjava March 21st, 2015 at 16:09
Obama is a moderate centrist who is mildly liberal on his best days. Only an ultra-right-wing fascist arch-conservative freak would think that he’s a socialist. It’s all relative.
Bobby Stone March 21st, 2015 at 22:00
http://www.crossroad.to/Quotes/communism/alinsky.htm
Progressive Republican June 2nd, 2015 at 03:51
Thanks for reminding me of how much the GOP just loves ol’ Saul.
Why, I can remember way back when ol’ Mittens’ dad George Rmoney, Dick Armey, Jimmy O’Keefe and others with “R”s after their names turned out to be big fans.
“I think you ought to listen to Alinsky,” said Rmoney to “white friends,” according to his biography by T. George Harris. “It seems to me that we are always talking to the same people. Maybe the time has come to hear new voices.”
Former House majority leader-turned-chairman of teaandertal group FreedomWorks Dick Armey handed out copies to their activists. They say they have studied it very closely.
Professional schmuck James O’Keefe has also said that he was inspired by it.
Even Newt Gingrich has had nice things to say about it. He’s certainly shown he knows how to implement it.
Numerous articles have been written on this including the Washington Examiner’s Philip Klein who made the somewhat ironic point that Gingrich himself was using many of Saul Alinsky’s tactics. He quoted Alinsky as saying, “The job of the organizer is to maneuver and bait the establishment so that it will publicly attack him as a ‘dangerous enemy.'”
That tactic was part of what led to Gingrich’s success in the 2012 presidential campaign.
At least the level of success he attained.
fentonite March 22nd, 2015 at 05:19
You talk like a stinking commie
Are you?
jasperjava March 22nd, 2015 at 10:16
Ah, the knuckle-dragging right-winger playing the McCarthyist card. Quaint.
I’m not a Communist, but I’d rather be a communist than be an ignorant right-wing racist bigot.
William March 22nd, 2015 at 11:10
When they break out the “Commie” handle it’s pretty much a given that they have nothing left.
nightflyer956 March 22nd, 2015 at 13:35
I have always been a moderate in my political views, however, the current political climate has swung so far to the left that my views are considered “right wing extremism”. I too believe in a “government of the people, by the people and for the people” BUT that doesn’t mean we are socialist, I am tired of the Government taking my tax dollars and giving it to other people, the Government in not a charitable organization and should only spend tax revenues on the running of the Government. There is NOTHING in the Constitution that permits the socialistic Government to take our tax dollars and give it away to other people or other countries. We are not a Democracy, we are a Constitutional Republic and if we would adhere to the guidelines of the Constitution instead of the socialistic left we would not be in the mess that we are in now. Jasperjava, the right hasn’t moved further right, the Democrats have moved so far to the left that they are now the socialist/communist and the Republicans are now the Democrats… and take your race baiting some where else, typical libtard, when all else fails cry “racist”.
jasperjava March 21st, 2015 at 16:27
“a vision of America that strays away from the visions of our founding fathers”
Many of the founding fathers owned slaves. Women didn’t have the right to vote, or hardly any other rights. No wonder you’re nostalgic for those days.
Mmoose March 22nd, 2015 at 13:55
Budda writes: “our founding fathers were liberal”
Jasperjava writes:
Many of the founding fathers owned slaves. Women didn’t have the right to vote, or hardly any other rights. No wonder you’re nostalgic for those days.
William? Not sure where he was going but if name calling makes him feel better………………..
The problem with labels as I see it is they have become so distorted no one knows what anyone is talking about.
One can see the confusion as they refer to our slaves keeping women repressive liberal founding fathers as some of their own. A blatant disregard for history, perspective and intent. Clearly their are “liberals” and then there is the introduction of liberal thought into a moral and just society.
I’m quite sure these “liberals” of the days of yore were of a different kind, not the open minded ones of today that embrace all ideas, seeking to understand others without belittling them through name calling, race baiting and gender baiting right? Detect any sarcasm?
Unity is important, something Obama has not accomplished as leaders are prone to be expected to do. One would think liberals would respect my point of view, thus the liberal sharing of thought, ideas and ideologies. A little of this and a little of that, not the divisive nature of the Potus, the arrogant disregard of compromise but the forging ahead of an agenda that is clear to many but blind to others.
It is indeed a wait and see as these things tend to manifest in ways we cannot imagine………….
jasperjava March 22nd, 2015 at 14:04
The President is only “divisive” because there are people like you who will NEVER support him, no matter WHAT he does.
And we know why.
Mmoose March 22nd, 2015 at 14:52
I see, playing the blame game. So, I am responsible for his actions? I am generally disenfranchised with the direction our country is going which I blame on a dysfunctional government. Obama promised America “Hope” & “Change”. Since I already have faith I don’t need hope and if change is a people that are pitted against each other, a government that is pitted against each other and a president that thinks America is about mandatory healthcare and voting, then I will have none of it.
Randy Stephenson March 26th, 2015 at 23:24
Some people have there head so far up their politics, all they can do is blame and deflect . jasper is yelling loader than you so he wins.
Randy Stephenson March 26th, 2015 at 23:21
Go ahead, read my mind, presume you know, project your own thoughts. ‘We know ‘? How many of ‘you’ are there?
Randy Stephenson March 26th, 2015 at 23:21
Go ahead, read my mind, presume you know, project your own thoughts. ‘We know ‘? How many of ‘you’ are there?
Jim Wilson March 22nd, 2015 at 09:01
the reason obama got 2 terms,the repubs can’t find a viable alternative,and they dont have any to choose from in the next election either
Randy Stephenson March 26th, 2015 at 23:17
No , acorn is the reason.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkUKOSnv2zY&feature=player_embedded#!
mmmjv June 1st, 2015 at 17:28
He won because people who love America voted for him
William March 22nd, 2015 at 11:09
We have a liberal leftist running the country right now and dare I say a Socialist.
Well?
Apparently socialism works huh?
You idiots need to find better material.
Randy Stephenson March 26th, 2015 at 23:30
And it did
Bob March 21st, 2015 at 16:15
And yet he is 100x better than the criminals we have in office today IMHO.
Obewon March 21st, 2015 at 17:25
Reagan’s Iranian missiles for Mullahs via Iran / Contra 138 repubs indicted, prosecuted, or guilty pleas of Reagan officials in violation of congresses prohibitions, were nearly as bad as GWB’s 80+ Jack Abramoff Felons indicted, prosecuted, or sentenced to prison including the first sitting cabinet secretary Gail Norton plus GOP convicts Jack Abramoff | Michael Scanlon | Adam Kidan | Ben Waldman | Konstantinos “Gus” Boulis | Grover Norquist | Ralph Reed | Italia Federici | Rev. Louis P. Sheldon | David H. Safavian | J. Steven Griles | Rep. Robert Ney (R-Ohio) | Neil G. Volz | Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) | Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) | Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) | Tony C. Rudy http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/custom/2005/12/23/CU2005122300939.html Mar 4, 2006 – Randy-Duke “Top Gun” Cunningham sentenced to 8 years and 4 months in prison for bribery! Today’s GOP indicted, prosecuted & sentenced “criminals” are just as bad as Reagan’s. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/04/politics/04cunningham.html
fentonite March 22nd, 2015 at 05:17
The Dems were mad because Reagan helped arm against the Sandanista commie scum . Dems never met a commie they didn’t like since WW2.
Randy Stephenson March 26th, 2015 at 23:29
And Obam has outspent EVERY previous administration..COMBINED.
Progressive Republican June 2nd, 2015 at 03:33
It’s never been cheap wiping the asses of Rethuglicons.
Progressive Republican June 2nd, 2015 at 03:32
Not to mention his being the second GOP presidential hopeful in a row to have committed treason in order to win the White House.
Wotta guy.
jasperjava March 21st, 2015 at 16:21
You do realize that for much of its history the Democratic Party was CONSERVATIVE, don’t you? Or are you really that ignorant?
The Republican Party was founded as a left-wing liberal party that wanted to bring about progressive social, economic, cultural and political change, in opposition to conservative Democrats who wanted to preserve the status quo. Over decades, the parties switched sides along the ideological spectrum.
galen_b March 23rd, 2015 at 02:59
Dear JasperFlavorade.
Blah blah blah. Who cares. Why didn’t you blame Bush while you were at it. I am not your little bitch, I do not like ANYONE that violates the rights of another. I don’t care what they call themselves. Typical of brain dead leftist morons. I mention think progress and you grab the closest talking point you can think of. You do realize a more appropriate response would have been, Fauxnews blah blah blah.
As for the displayed of ignorance, the soviet (democratic) party fought civil rights then, and today they fight the bill of rights. Show me where they switched their ideology of oppression?
Spend a little more time studying history and you will spend lees time spreading propaganda. Stop believing everything some leftist nitwit tells you. They lie cheat and steal.
jasperjava March 23rd, 2015 at 12:08
You’re funny. You accuse me of using talking points, after posting a laundry list of supposed “Democrat” malfeasance that looks like it came from a mass-email being passed around by uneducated conservative blue-haired grandmothers.
You say you don’t care what opponents of civil rights call themselves, and yet your list exclusively includes only your twisted ideas about the Democratic Party. Not very consistent or intellectually honest, are you.
Liberals have always been champions of civil rights and human rights. That’s why I’m proud to call myself a liberal. Back when Republicans were opposed to slavery and segregation, I would have been proud to join them. But we all know that Republicans are no longer like that.
Looks like you’re the one who needs to get a refresher on history.
galen_b March 23rd, 2015 at 23:23
Maybe you are living in a world of your own minds making. First natural and civil rights are not the same thing. Second, attacking the soviet (democratic) party does not mean support of other parties. Third you use the word liberal without making the distinction of which era of the liberal you are talking about. The classic liberal (libertarian) or the modern liberal (the statist). It is you that brought up liberal and conservatives. What you see as inconsistence is you making false assumptions, the hallmark of a leftist.
Your whining about my attack on the poor little democrats, the champions of all that is good, misses that I was pointing out that think progress is a leftist propaganda site populated with liars will attack only the political enemy. They do not point out the what their gods do wrong. My intent was to point out the party they generally support are the rights violators with the ideology matching that of the mass murderers in the world. How you think the people that fought against “equal rights” for blacks and is currently fighting nearly every one of the bill of rights, has somehow magically changed is beyond me.
jasperjava March 23rd, 2015 at 23:31
It’s beyond you all right, but not for the reason you think.
I have a political science degree. I know what a liberal is and what a conservative is. I have studied how time has changed the ideologies of the parties, how the Republicans went from a liberal anti-slavery party to a conservative pro-business party, and how the New Deal big-tent Democrats spilt into a liberal civil rights faction and a conservative segregationist faction.
We could talk all night about this, but if you don’t have the basic knowledge about history and ideology, there’s not much point.
galen_b March 24th, 2015 at 22:05
Leftist lie cheat and steal, so I have no reason to believe you have a degree. If you do, a two year degree does not mean you know much.
I will say again, democrats oppressed blacks and today they are oppressing everyone. Show where I am wrong.
Obewon March 24th, 2015 at 22:23
Republicans/TP are 90% of Politicians convicted or pleaded guilty and imprisoned!
Are Felons (R-NY Staten Island) Michael Grimm, Former VA Gov Bob McDonnell, Maureen McDonnell and Dinesh D’Souza “Leftist”? http://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-virginia-governor-robert-mcdonnell-sentenced/ Are GWB’s Convicted Jack Abramoff Felons leftist? Jack Abramoff | Michael Scanlon | Adam Kidan | Ben Waldman | Konstantinos “Gus” Boulis | Grover Norquist | Ralph Reed | Italia Federici | Rev. Louis P. Sheldon | David H. Safavian | J. Steven Griles | Rep. Robert Ney (R-Ohio) | Neil G. Volz | Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) | Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) | Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) | Tony C. Rudy http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/custom/2005/12/23/CU2005122300939.html Rusty the Racist and faux news are always well proven to be wrong.
jasperjava March 25th, 2015 at 00:33
You’re hopelessly ignorant and full of hate. Let’s leave it at that.
Randy Stephenson March 26th, 2015 at 22:55
He can’t
tracey marie March 23rd, 2015 at 23:46
stop trolling already
galen_b March 24th, 2015 at 21:55
why?
Randy Stephenson March 26th, 2015 at 22:54
Not this again….
jasperjava March 26th, 2015 at 23:19
Yes, another history lesson for ignorant conservatives. We do it because you need it.
Randy Stephenson April 5th, 2015 at 16:43
Thanks for your opinion BTW no such thing as a ignorant conservative.
jasperjava April 6th, 2015 at 01:34
What an ignorant thing to say.
Randy Stephenson April 23rd, 2015 at 23:08
your opinion is of no consequence
jasperjava April 24th, 2015 at 01:55
More than yours. You said that there’s no such thing as an ignorant conservative, yet you stare at one in the bathroom mirror every morning.
There are very few educated and intelligent conservatives. It’s not liberals who deny the science of global warming and evolution. It’s not liberals who still cling to discredited economic theories like supply-side trickle-down Austrian school economics. Conservatives have distorted ideas about history and politics that would get them laughed off any decent university campus.
So yeah, there are a LOT of ignorant conservatives, and people like you just prove it whenever you engage in your feeble attempts at “debate”.
Randy Stephenson April 29th, 2015 at 23:44
” More than yours ” , only to yourself. Thanks for your opinion btw. It seems that the liberal brain is ripe for harvesting ignorance, as all can see. Just because I respect you have an opinion, does not mean it has anything respectable about it. Your belief in the religion of unproven evolution theory is a right guaranteed by our Constitution, man made global warming is not a science at all, global warming on the other hand, has been proven by history over and over again ( see ice age ). So knuckle dragger, go say hello to your cousin in the ape section at the local zoo as you burn to a crisp, being created by those evil evolved men that you so despise.
tracey marie April 30th, 2015 at 00:02
wow, I bet you call yourself a xtian…I call you an inbred mentally ill teabagger.
Randy Stephenson May 31st, 2015 at 23:30
Well your mother called me god..or was it OH GOD! You were in another room being raped by your daddy at the time. I call you the squealing piggy.
xpatYankeeCurmudgeon April 30th, 2015 at 06:44
Old enough to have lived through the stagflation of the Carter years?
Randy Stephenson April 29th, 2015 at 23:42
It’s you who need a political history lesson, stop spreading the bs that we both know is untrue. Well, your indoctrination of parroting instead of actually studying may account for your mis-informed opinion of facts. It still does not excuse the bald face lies you spread. Go to a library and read a book or two on the subject, it will keep you from sounding so ignorant when you post.
tracey marie April 30th, 2015 at 00:04
You again, go shave your back and knuckles
Randy Stephenson April 30th, 2015 at 00:15
I don’t have hair…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kry_VfFSh4
Randy Stephenson May 31st, 2015 at 23:49
I have no hair to shave, how about you shave that little furry rat you have as your avatar .
jasperjava March 21st, 2015 at 16:30
Thank goodness.
LMW51 March 23rd, 2015 at 14:58
Yeah, thank goodness we have Obama who left a vacuum in Iraq that allowed ISIS to carry out their jhad on thousands of Muslims, Christians and Jews and homosexuals of all faiths and no faith and teenagers who watched soccer games and girls for being girls.
And thank goodness Obama has been able to un-insure so many insured Americans and re-insure them at higher rates while taking away their access to their doctors and hospitals so that the uninsured get their “free” insurance…only to find out this year that they have to pay back some of that “free” insurance.
And thank goodness for the IRS that targeted Obama’s political opponents to keep them quiet for the 2012 election where 67% of Americans had no idea that Obamacare had been made law and that they were going to un-insured just to be re-insured at higher rates….
And thank goodness that Obama is friendlier with our enemies than he is with our allies like Israel…..
We are so much better off.
jasperjava March 23rd, 2015 at 16:42
The vacuum in Iraq was created when Dubya’s war criminal regime destroyed the Iraqi civil institutions without a plan to replace them.
If you want to talk about creating terrorists, you might want to talk to Ronald Reagan, who funded and trained the “freedom fighters” who eventually became the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
I see you’re the kind of asshat who believes that an imperfect health insurance system is somehow worse than no coverage at all. Typical Republican. Don’t get sick, but if you do, die quickly.
I find it astounding that some people are still not aware that the entire IRS “scandal” has been debunked. I guess they’re still talking about that in the echo chamber? You may want to leave your mother’s basement and check out what’s happening in the outside world.
Progressive Republican June 2nd, 2015 at 04:11
You got a problem with the power vacuum? Look at the machinations of the last three GOP Presidents.
You got a problem with the PPACA? Blame the GOP you voted for. It was their idea, not Obama’s.
You got a problem with IRS targeting? Blame the politicization of what were once civil service posts by da shrub’s minions and their famous, “What is it about George Bush that makes you want to serve Him?” question.
And then there’s the way your boy da shrub let his old family friends the bin Ladens fly out of the country after the skies had (theoretically) been shut down. Except for old friends, apparently.
With allies like Israel, we need no more enemies with as badly as Bibi’s itching to start WWIII.
Ace Ventura March 21st, 2015 at 17:49
Illuminati BOHEMIAN GROVE MEMBERS Nixon, Reagan,
George Bush, Prince Phillip Exposed
Alex Jones https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZRjFW6GOY8
Reagan stops John F. Kennedy’s
executive order 11110: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_11110
Look_A_Squirrel March 21st, 2015 at 18:08
But Reagan left the country – and the world – in far better shape than he found it. He revived a moribund economy with tax cuts that was so robust it lasted through the Clinton years. He single-handedly oversaw the collapse of the Soviet Union.
He loved the country, unlike the traitor in the White House today.
jasperjava March 22nd, 2015 at 10:32
Yeah, Reagan was like Joshua at the battle of Jericho, single-handedly bringing down the Berlin wall with one word.
Your simple-minded hero worship is embarrassing.
William March 22nd, 2015 at 11:07
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha.
Randy Stephenson March 26th, 2015 at 23:26
Just wondering how long it took to unwind the Carter Admin ?
jasperjava March 22nd, 2015 at 13:24
Traitor in the White House? You mean the one who sold weapons to Iran and used the proceeds to illegally fund terrorist death squads? The one who called the Afghan Mujahadin (who later morphed into Al Qaeda and the Taliban) “The moral equivalent of our Founding Fathers”. The one who refused to impose sanctions on Saddam Hussein after he gassed the Kurds? The one who sent Rumsfeld to shake Saddam’s hand after Saddam used nerve gas against children? The one who “cut-and-ran” from Lebanon after hundreds of Marines were murdered? The one who negotiated with terrorists and hostage-takers, and traded arms for hostages?
Name one thing that Obama has done that could be considered against the interests of the United States, loser. Being Black does not make him a traitor. It’s rather those who sign a letter to sabotage sensitive negotiations whose loyalty we should question.
Progressive Republican June 2nd, 2015 at 03:28
Wow. What a load of [crap].
Are you a bigger idiot, or liar?
Bobby Stone March 21st, 2015 at 22:07
http://www.wnd.com/2010/08/191609/ http://www.crossroad.to/Quotes/communism/alinsky.htm
Alana_Miller March 22nd, 2015 at 00:57
They also forget he died of Alzheimers, which started showing up in his second term.
Obewon March 22nd, 2015 at 16:50
nightflyer956’s constitutional illiteracy is confirmed by worshiping a convicted Torturer, who was fined $5,000 and forced by the U.S. Milt to resign! “Discussion on Allen B. West”-Dumped by voters in his ‘specially crafted’ RWNJ district after 1 term, and then by P.J. Media for anti-Semitism. What a fumb duck!
nightflyer956 March 22nd, 2015 at 19:37
Allen West was NEVER convicted of anything, get your facts straight. Google voter fraud/Allen West election, the voting machines are still locked up as a result of the law suits against the Supervisor of Elections in that county and while you’re at it try reading the Constitution and tell me where it says the Government has the authority to take one mans money and turn around and give it to someone else or for that matter, another country.. Curious, how did Allen West’s name get thrown into this, I thought this was a thread about Ronald Reagan?
Mmoose March 23rd, 2015 at 12:11
and now a joke to lighten mood………..
> Bob: “Did you hear about the
Obama administration scandal?,
> Jim: “You mean the Mexican gun
running?”
Bob: “No, the other one.”
> Jim: “You mean SEAL Team 6?”
> Bob: “No, the other one.”
> Jim: “You mean the State Dept.
lying about Benghazi?”
> Bob: “No, the other one.”
> Jim: “You mean voter fraud?”
> Bob: “No, the other one.”
> Jim: “You mean the military not
getting their votes counted?”
> Bob: “No, the other one.”
> Jim: “The NSA monitoring our
phone calls, emails and everything else?”
> Bob: “No, the other one.”
> Jim: “You mean the of drones in
our own country without the benefit of the law?”
> Bob: “No, the other one.”
> Jim: “Giving 123 Technologies
$300 Million and right after it declared bankruptcy and was sold
to the Chinese?”
> Bob: “No, the other one.”
> Jim: “You mean the president
arming the Muslim Brotherhood?”
> Bob: “No the other one:.
> Jim: “The IRS targeting
conservatives?”
> Bob: “No, the other one.”
> Jim: “The DOJ spying on the
press?”
> Bob: “No, the other one.”
> Jim: “Sebelius shaking down
health insurance executives?”
> Bob: “No, the other one.”
> Jim: “Giving SOLYNDRA $500
MILLION DOLLARS and 3 months later they declared bankruptcy and
then the Chinese bought it?”
> Bob: “No, the other one.”
> Jim: “The NSA monitoring our
phone calls, emails and everything else?”
> Bob: “No, the other one.”
> Jim: “The president’s ordering
the release of nearly 10,000 illegal immigrants from jails and
prisons, and falsely blaming the sequester?”
> Bob: “No, the other one.”
> Jim: “The president’s threat to
impose gun control by Executive Order in order to bypass
Congress?”
> Bob: “No, the other one.”
> Jim: “The president’s repeated
violation of the law requiring him to submit a budget no later
than the first Monday in February?”
> Bob: “No, the other one.”
> Jim: “The 2012 vote where 115%
of all registered voters in some counties voted 100% for Obama?”
> Bob: “No, the other one.”
> Jim: “The president’s
unconstitutional recess appointments in an attempt to circumvent
the Senate’s advise-and-consent role?”
> Bob: “No, the other one.”
> Jim: “The State Department
interfering with an Inspector General investigation on
departmental sexual misconduct?”
> Bob: “No, the other one.”
> Jim: “Clinton, the IRS, Clapper
and Holder all lying to Congress?”
> Bob: “No, the other one.”
> Jim: “I give up! … Oh wait, I
think I got it! You mean that 65 million low-information voters
who don’t pay taxes and get free stuff from taxpayers and stuck
us again with the most pandering, corrupt administration in
American history?”
> Bob: “THAT’S THE ONE!”
Hirightnow March 23rd, 2015 at 18:25
Lies are not jokes, with the exception of your genital size.
Mmoose March 23rd, 2015 at 22:03
Yes, very infantile but that’s okay, it only reflects your intellect. Good day.
tracey marie March 23rd, 2015 at 23:45
very appropriate, teababblers do have tiny penis’s
Randy Stephenson March 26th, 2015 at 22:46
That’s not what your mom said ;)
tracey marie March 26th, 2015 at 22:50
ewww, she died over 40 years ago…necrophilia is so baggerish
Randy Stephenson March 26th, 2015 at 22:56
You have no idea how old I am..son
tracey marie March 26th, 2015 at 23:00
son? you must have alzheimers, an old necrophiliac
Randy Stephenson March 26th, 2015 at 23:05
Well I know you used to be a son I guess a visit to Helsinki can change things
tracey marie March 26th, 2015 at 23:11
trolling me over a 3 day old comment, hilarious
Randy Stephenson March 26th, 2015 at 23:24
This is Entertainment !!
Hirightnow March 24th, 2015 at 11:57
You deserve no more.
Hirightnow March 24th, 2015 at 11:57
You deserve no more.
mmmjv June 1st, 2015 at 17:23
” 65 million low-information voters who don’t pay taxes and get free stuff from taxpayers”
That is pure bullshit, a statistic made up by the teabag crowd
Progressive Republican June 2nd, 2015 at 03:27
Witness a witless Teandertal’s (Yeah, I know that’s needlessly redundant) version of ‘humor’.
ha
Foundryman March 24th, 2015 at 01:07
Man, need to save this comment page. If anyone ever needs proof how the right wing ignores facts they proved it here.
Michael March 26th, 2015 at 02:07
Still better than Obama.
Klatuu 1 March 26th, 2015 at 13:55
More than 25 years since he left office, and more than 10 years after he died, Liberals are still fighting the ghost of Ronald Reagan. Why? Two main reasons, I think. First, because the narrative that he was such a good president it totally out of their control, and not controlling the narrative is the most hateful place on Earth to a Liberal. Second, because there is no narrative about Obama being a great president, or even a mediocre president for that matter, they desperately need to avoid touting his record. In short, attacking old, dead presidents (which is irrelevant to contemporary concerns) who were good at being president is a lot easier than defending a currently sitting president (which is relevant to contemporary concerns) who is truly inadequate.
Conservatives defend this narrative around Reagan, although with far less vigor than Liberals attack it, because it’s about the only narrative they own, and because they suck at controlling narratives in general. To be fair, Reagan’s greatness is a little over-stated. Time does that, though, and since he’ll never directly influence American politics again, there’s no harm in it.
The good news for the Libs is, that 25 years after he leaves office, they won’t have to defend Obama’s legacy as a great president. The only argument will be over who was more feckless & incompetent, Obama or Carter.
So, to Liberals, thanks for the worst president of the modern era.
To Conservatives, it’s been 26 years since you gave us a good one. It will be 28 years in 2016. How ’bout you step up your game? Here’s a tip: His name should be something other than “Bush”.
Kudos to Alan Colmes for having the prescience only two years into the Obama era that he perceived the need to divert attention away from how bad Obama would suck and saw the need to try to convince us that Reagan sucked, too. Way to get out in front of it, Mr. Colmes.
Sincerely,
Some Jerk Who Loves America More Than He Cares About Your Labels
jasperjava March 26th, 2015 at 23:23
President Obama will be remembered as the greatest President since FDR. Too bad that your vicious hate prevents you from seeing it.
Randy Stephenson April 5th, 2015 at 16:43
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha..keep up the standup.
Randy Stephenson April 29th, 2015 at 23:51
Fdr? really Eleanor could of run the Country better. Obam followed this and failed ALSO…But Roosevelt the economist is unworthy of emulation. His first goal was to reduce unemployment. Of his own great stimulus package, the National Industrial Recovery Act, he said: “The law I have just signed was passed to put people back to work.” Here, FDR failed abysmally. In the 1920s, unemployment had averaged below 5 percent. Blundering when they knew better, Herbert Hoover, his Treasury, the Federal Reserve and Congress drove that rate up to 25 percent. Roosevelt pulled unemployment down, but nowhere near enough to claim sustained recovery. From 1933 to 1940, FDR’s first two terms, it averaged in the high teens. Even if you add in all the work relief jobs, as some economists do, Roosevelt-era unemployment averages well above 10 percent. That’s a level Obama has referred to once or twice — as a nightmare.
The second goal of the New Deal was to stimulate the private sector. Instead, it supplanted it. To justify their own work, New Dealers attacked not merely those guilty of white-collar crimes but the entire business community — the “princes of property,” FDR called them. Washington’s policy evolved into a lethal combo of spending and retribution. Never did either U.S. investors or foreigners get a sense that the United States was now open for business. As a result, the Depression lasted half a decade longer than it had to, from 1929 to 1940 rather than, say, 1929 to 1936. The Dow Jones industrial average didn’t return to its summer 1929 high until 1954. The monetary shock of the first years of the Depression was immense, but it was this duration that made the Depression Great.
Progressive Republican June 2nd, 2015 at 03:24
The prolongation of the Depression can be laid at the feet of the GOP and their years-long whine about how we can’t afford the New Deal and how ineffective it was. Having worn FDR down, he capitulated. This, in turn, jumpstarted the Depression with renewed vigor forcing us to wait for WWII to regain what was lost in ’37.
Had FDR been less timid and followed his advisor’s advice (as did some European countries) the Depression might not have lasted so long so strongly.
OldLefty April 6th, 2015 at 22:04
Reagan was probably one of the worst presidents, which is why they had to ramp up the Ronald Reagan Legacy Foundation when he was barely out of office.
I did not realize this was so old.
mmmjv June 1st, 2015 at 17:14
I knew you were full of bullshit after reading the first statement, where you try and make like it’s us liberals who are obsessed with Reagan. It’s conservatives who are obsessed with Reagan, trying to make him out to be the greatest President ever and damn near declaring him a saint. What you call “fighting the ghost of Ronald Reagan” is in reality nothing more than us responding to the bullshit and setting the record straight.
As for Obama he’ll go down as one our our greatest Presidents. As for attacking old dead Presidents Woodrow Wilson has been dead a hell of a lot longer than Reagan, so hasn’t Johnson
eaglesfanintn July 20th, 2015 at 11:02
Wow, all that and the only thing you got right was “Some Jerk”.
Randy Stephenson March 26th, 2015 at 23:14
We do know how the current is/was supplying the Mexican drug cartel weapons to kill women children, US citizens. $13t with a T in debt , Benghazi, Voter fraud, Highest unemployment since depression? etc etc etc, want to compare apples to apples Alan?
nmgene June 2nd, 2015 at 01:53
everyone knows alan colmes is a leftie loonie liar !!!!! I lived through the Reagan years in Calif and as President. The unemployment rate was like 14% when he was elected President and he cut it in half his first year in office. Alan Colmes shouldnt be allowed on the internet with his lies just as he isnt allowed on Fox anymore. He is disgusting !!!!!
Progressive Republican June 2nd, 2015 at 03:19
And you’re either a liar or an idiot.
Tell me which.
Merlin July 21st, 2015 at 11:40
He’s both and he lies poorly, mostly to himself, I’m sure.
6660splendidday June 11th, 2015 at 15:25
Nobody that tells the truth about anything is allowed on Fox anymore.
Progressive Republican June 2nd, 2015 at 03:43
“…swung so far to the left…”?
Seriously?
Dude, I want some of whatever hallucinogen you’re on. It’s gotta fun.
Either that, or you’re psychotic, in which case nevermind.
The right has moved very much farther to the right. Those once considered extreme (like Sen. Goldwater) now seem almost centrist.
He noticed this before his death, btw, and the Rethuglicons have accelerated that movement since.