Obamagan?
Posted by Michelle Moquin on February 13th, 2014
Good morning!
7 Things Republicans Would Be Shocked To Learn About Ronald Reagan
“Happy birthday to Ronald Reagan!” Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) tweeted on Thursday, swiftly followed by his Tea Party compatriot Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX). While praise from this sort of Republican on what would have been President Reagan’s 103rd birthday isn’t surprising, it is somewhat ironic. Though Reagan was extremely conservative (often terribly so), he bucked the sort of hardline conservative line the Tea Party has become synonymous with repeatedly throughout his career in politics. Here are 7 Reagan moves that may well have led to his excommunication from today’s Republican Party if he were alive today:
1. Paved the way for Obamacare
CREDIT: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Reagan’s health policy previewed Obamacare in three major ways. First, Reagan signed Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA), the law barring hospitals from turning away patients on grounds of their insurance or citizenship — a preview of Obamacare’s ban on insurance discrimination against individuals with preexisting conditions. Second, Reagan doubled the size of Medicaid over the course of his presidency to pay for all of those new uninsured patients — a huge Obamacare-style Medicaid expansion. Third, Reagan pushed something called Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs), which essentially had the government set the prices Medicare was willing to pay for each Medicare admission rather than pay for reimburse doctors per cost. DRGs cut Medicare costs by $49 billion by 1986, proving a promising trial for the sorts of Medicare payment reform policies you can find in Obamacare.
2. Amnesty for undocumented immigrants
Immigrant sailors being naturalized aboard the USS Ronald Reagan.
CREDIT: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
In 1986, Reagan signed the Simpson-Mazzoli Act, a bipartisan immigration reform bill that created a pathway to citizenship for 3 million undocumented immigrants. Simpson-Mazzoli is now referred to by some conservatives as the “Reagan amnesty,” and came up during both the 2007 and 2013 immigration reform debates.
3. Successfully pushed for an assault weapons ban
Before the National Rifle Association became what it was today, Reagan worked with them to ban guns. Specifically, automatic weapons: civilians were legally allowed to own fully automatic rifles until 1986, when Reagan signed the Firearm Owners’ Protection Act banning them. After his Presidency, Reagan backed the Brady gun law establishing many of the major restrictions on gun purchases today. His support for the 1994 Assault Weapon Ban pushed the ban to its two vote margin of victory — according to two of the Congressmen who made the difference.
4. Grew the federal government, big time
CREDIT: EZRA KLEIN
Reagan’s record belies his reputation as a huge foe of government. Reagan built a progressive tax system to fund Social Security, and funded the creation of a new federal department (the Department of Veterans’ Affairs). Much of Reagan’s spending, including his defense buildup, was funded by deficit spending. If Obama spent like Reagan, the deficit would be much, much higher.
5. Dealt with Russia to build a world free of nuclear weapons
CREDIT: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Back when there was an actual Soviet Union, Reagan kicked off negotiations aimed at reducing the nuclear threat — negotiations that eventually morphed into the START treaty. In his memoir, Reagan wrote that “[m]y dream…became a world free of nuclear weapons.” After START expired in 2009, its replacement (NEW START) was ratified over the bitter objections of a majority of Senate Republicans.
6. Wanted to make millionaires pay more in taxes
CREDIT: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Reagan despised tax loopholes that allowed millionaires to skate around their tax obligations. “Tax loopholes,” according to the Gipper, “sometimes made it possible for millionaires to pay nothing, while a bus driver was paying ten percent of his salary, and that’s crazy.” It’s crazy, he said, because the “truly wealthy” were avoiding “paying their fair share.”
7. Passed environmental regulations that are now being used to fight climate change
CREDIT: RON FREHM/AP IMAGES
Make no mistake — Reagan bears significant responsibility for the climate emergency. But he also negotiated the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement got the whole world to clamp down on pollution that was tearing holes in the ozone layer. Today, the Montreal Protocol is being used to clamp down on the technology that replaced the ozone-depleting kind, which turned out to be a fairly significant contributor to climate change.
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Readers: Yes, we can make some comparisons between Obama and Reagan, and yes, there are some similarities that are worth mentioning since Obama is constantly getting flak from the Reagan loving republicans. However, I’m not so sure the repubs would be so shocked at this information about Reagan, because the true bottom line is, it doesn’t matter what Obama stands for or whether the repubs would support Reagan or not if he were still alive pushing for those same policies that this write says would have led to his excommunication from today’s Republican Party, the repubs are simply just against anything that Obama is for, at whatever the cost, because they don’t want a black man to be the greatest president that we have had to date. Period.
Thoughts? Blog me.
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February 14th, 2014 at 10:51 am
This guy reagan totally sucked. That’s why the right loves him. He never saw a dollar he wouldn’t sell out for. The ideal every republican politician lives for.
February 14th, 2014 at 10:53 am
What Was He, Some Sort of Fucking Commie?
He should have been impeached! Ideological purity forever!
February 14th, 2014 at 10:54 am
I’m glad he pulled out of Lebanon, don’t know why we need to be snarky about that point.
February 14th, 2014 at 10:57 am
Reagan is a made up piece of garbage to give the idiot choir of the republican party an idol to look up to.
February 14th, 2014 at 11:05 am
Reggie, We are snarky because the GOP base are hypocrites thinking Saint Ronnie gave birth to their creation myth and justifies all of their current actions.
Their current actions are gutting the middle class
February 14th, 2014 at 11:12 am
It is setting the bar pretty low to measure up to Reagan. His treatment of women and minorities was so low it wouldn’t cast a shadow.
Todays tea party Republicans seem to go even lower. Read Walsh’s IRAN/CONTRA REPORT if you think anyone other than George Herbert Walker Bush could go lower than Ronald Reagan.
Of course like George W. Bush, Reagan was being controlled by his Vice President.
February 14th, 2014 at 11:13 am
As Ray-gun’s close advisors (like Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson) might say…
AMEN
February 14th, 2014 at 11:16 am
1) Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdLpem-AAs
2) According to Ronald Reagan himself, as told to his trusted long-time friend and U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese, the biggest mistake of his presidency was signing the l986 amnesty for what turned out to be more than half the five million illegal immigrants in the country.
Reagan was uncomfortable with the amnesty but was persuaded by some of the leaders of his own party (still living) that it would only affect a small number of illegal immigrants and would assure that Congress would follow through with more vigorous enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.
The misnamed Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 was touted by its supporters as “comprehensive immigration reform” that would grant amnesty only to a few long-settled immigrants and strengthen border security and internal immigration enforcement against employers who were hiring illegal immigrants.
3) Michael Reagan, the son of the late President Ronald Reagan, said in Springfield today that his father’s signature on a 1994 letter backing an assault weapons ban came at a time when the former president’s mind was deteriorating.
“When Ronald Reagan was president and was not deteriorating with Alzheimer’s disease …, he never took the position of supporting the Brady bill,” Reagan told reporters at the Prairie Capital Convention Center.
February 14th, 2014 at 11:20 am
You’re right, Walther#8. Reagan was no liberal. He was about as far right looney as he could get. Thanks for pointing that out.
About his mind deteriorating, it’s debatable if it was fully intact in 1980. I strongly believe that it was, and that he should be held fully accountable for his legacy and all the damage it has caused this nation.
February 14th, 2014 at 11:21 am
““When Ronald Reagan was president and was not deteriorating with Alzheimer’s disease …, he never took the position of supporting the Brady bill,” Reagan told reporters at the Prairie Capital Convention Center.”
Maybe not, but as Governor of California, he pushed for and signed the Mulford Act, which banned open carry of firearms.
Of course, that law was meant to disarm blacks and lefties, so it’s consistent with his policies.
February 14th, 2014 at 11:26 am
4) Obama vs. Reagan: Current Administration’ s Spending and Deficits Make Reagan Seem Austere
http://atr.org/obama-vs-reagan-current-administrations-spending-a7075#ixzz2sphrn9yV
5) The Current Russian Government
“Russia’s current system of government is characterized principally by the centralization of power. Politically, economically, geographically, and culturally, virtually all power resides in “apparatchiks” or elites – wealthy individuals who are close to the Kremlin.
Vladimir Putin orchestrated this consolidation, serving as President from 1999 until March 2008. He was then forced by term limits to move into the role of Prime Minister.
Although his former post is officially now occupied by his long-time deputy, Dmitry Medvedev, nearly all experts continue to see Putin’s influence both in the consolidation and exercise of power domestically and in foreign policy.
Many experts anticipate Putin’s return to the Presidency in the future. Most would agree that currently, modern Russia remains Putin’s Russia…”
http://worldsavvy.org/monitor/index.php?option=com_content&id=395&Itemid=689
February 14th, 2014 at 11:39 am
Walther#11, are you on Drugs?
” Obama vs. Reagan: Current Administration’ s Spending and Deficits Make Reagan Seem Austere”
Huh? Let’s see what the U.S. Treasury reports.
National Debt by Presidential Administrations (in trillions of dollars)
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/histdebt/histdebt.htm
Reagan – Start, $1 (trillion): End, $2.9: Change, nearly tripled in 8 years
Bush I – Start, $2.9: End, $4.4: Change, half again in 4 years
Clinton – Start, $4.4: End, $5.8: Change, less than 1/3 increase in 8 years
Bush II – Start, $5.8: End, $12: Change, more than doubled in 8 years
Obama – Start, 12: Years, 5: End, $16: Change, 1/3 added in first 5 years
(At current rate, Debt will go up by about 1/2 at end of Obama Administration)
February 14th, 2014 at 11:41 am
6) Reagan On Taxes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJkMOjqwxFI
Obama vs. Reagan: A tale of two recoveries
“The Reagan recovery had one of the fastest rates of growth we ever saw,” said Barry Bosworth, an economist at the Brookings Institution. “If anything it was too strong. It was spectacular.”
http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/06/news/economy/obama_reagan_recovery/index.htm
7) “Warming fears are the “worst scientific scandal in history . . .When people come to know what the truth is, they will feel deceived by science and scientists.” – UN IPCC Japanese Scientist Dr. Kiminori Itoh, and award-winning PhD environmental physical chemist.
Harold Lewis, emeritus professor of physics at the University of California-Sant a Barbara, who resigned this month from the American Physical Society after 67 years of loyal membership.
His resignation letter said this: “It is of course, the global warming scam, with the (literally) trillions of dollars driving it, that has corrupted so many scientists, and has carried APS before it like a rogue wave.
It is the greatest and most successful pseudoscientifi c fraud I have seen in my long life as a physicist.” http://tgr.ph/92YKOp
February 14th, 2014 at 11:49 am
Walter#13, as usual you rightees are so full of shit and you lie without blinking because you don’t care if smart people know you are lying you do it to con the ignorant.
Quoting Walther#13:
6) Reagan On Taxes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJkMOjqwxFI
Obama vs. Reagan: A tale of two recoveries
“The Reagan recovery had one of the fastest rates of growth we ever saw,” said Barry Bosworth, an economist at the Brookings Institution. “If anything it was too strong. It was spectacular.”
http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/06/news/economy/obama_reagan_recovery/index.htm
7) “Warming fears are the “worst scientific scandal in history . . .When people come to know what the truth is, they will feel deceived by science and scientists.” – UN IPCC Japanese Scientist Dr. Kiminori Itoh, and award-winning PhD environmental physical chemist.
Harold Lewis, emeritus professor of physics at the University of California-Santa Barbara, who resigned this month from the American Physical Society after 67 years of loyal membership. His resignation letter said this: “It is of course, the global warming scam, with the (literally) trillions of dollars driving it, that has corrupted so many scientists, and has carried APS before it like a rogue wave. It is the greatest and most successful pseudoscientific fraud I have seen in my long life as a physicist.” http://tgr.ph/92YKOp
What trillions? Just throw out a number to mesmerize your ignorant flock. You people need fact checkers every time you open your mouths.
Oh and as for your #8 (2) comment. Was number two his, or was it a bill that passed with a veto proof majority?
February 14th, 2014 at 11:56 am
I am shocked.
Reagan had shown that he was not against liberal policies. But it looks like he had his limitations on how far he would go.
That deficit increase looks like the majority of it was from rebuilding our military after it was torn down.
His healthcare did not look like socialized medicine to me. His medical expansion was to assist those in need.
February 14th, 2014 at 11:57 am
Unfortunately, you can’t believe anything Democrats or Democrat websites say anymore.
Democrats are known, prolific and pathological liars and are not really embarrassed about it anymore.
So what your referenced liberal website says has no merit or standing, four4me. It would all have to be vetted for truth and accuracy and I’m just not that energetic right now.
And that’s a shame that Democrats have brought themselves to this reality, that they’re just a bunch of liars.
February 14th, 2014 at 12:01 pm
You can’t say anything negative about St. Ronnie, in the minds of those who believe he was some sort of hero/cowboy “all American” idol, and “great” POTUS.
His decisions(and those on Capitol Hill at the time), had a greater long term negative impact on the US economy, than most realize.
February 14th, 2014 at 12:06 pm
Yes, in the past I used the moniker Rick. Thank you Donna for noticing and calling me on it.
I will return to using Rick, since it pleases you so much. Here is my disclaimer. Adam#17 posted here before and elsewhere as Rick.
February 14th, 2014 at 12:11 pm
Reagan’s voodo economics has given the top 1% 281% of the nations wealth since 1979. The rest? 16 to 25%. That is a fact. Deny it all you want
February 14th, 2014 at 12:15 pm
t may be a fact, it may not be. I don’t have time to check it on a Friday afternoon for truthfulness, but I’ll make a general point. This is the same general point I have made repeatedly.
Any time you start talking about “the gap” between them you’ve already lost the discussion as you are resting upon a logically invalid point. The income inequality crowd would prefer the poor were more poor so long as the rich are less rich.
What happened in the data you’re citing? The rich became richer, but the poor also became richer. Everyone became richer. This does not a problem make.
Now look back at the entire 20th century. The lower class, the bottom income quintile, saw their purchasing power increase over 1900% – more than any other income group including the upper class. 1600% of this 1900% growth occurred in the first third of the century under closer to laissez-faire conditions.
The improvement in conditions of the poor decreased considerably after the creation of the large federal government; large income tax; and the regime of Welfare State programs.
So for every person I see bitching about the conditions of the poor never have I see one make a logically valid point in absolute terms. They always, like you, rely on illogical points about the relative position of each group.
Secondly never have I seen one then take a position in support of the things known to improve the conditions of the poor. They always take a position supporting things known to halt the income growth of the poor.
February 14th, 2014 at 12:21 pm
Rick#20:
Wow only a Reaganite could come up with so much hog wash and say nothing more then somehow making the rich richer makes the poor richer, which the only evidence is the working class went from a 2 car family down to a 1 junk car that barely gets them to their job at the fast food joint or Wally World where they then have to go on food stamps because their wages can not support them.
A believer in trickle down bull@!$%# how surprising. Why don’t you face reality Reagan was an insane ass clown who never did anything other then for himself.
February 14th, 2014 at 12:22 pm
Rick#20, “Any time you start talking about “the gap” between them you’ve already lost the discussion as you are resting upon a logically invalid point.”
And in your case, being a teabagger, the only facts you accept are the ones made up in your head, actual facts are for suckers, correct?
February 14th, 2014 at 12:25 pm
20. John In Texas Says:
February 14th, 2014 at 12:22 pm
“being a teabagger”
Nice try, but no. I haven’t cast a Republican vote for over a dozen years. Shame you’re not intelligent enough to address points in a discussion and only show the limited mental ability to respond with name calling.
Think Freud had a term for people stuck perpetually on the 7th grade playground. Hit me back when you get through puberty and want to talk grown up issues like an adult.
February 14th, 2014 at 12:27 pm
Rick#20, “The rich becoming richer comes at the expense of no one.”
I love that old saying:
“Don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s raining”
February 14th, 2014 at 12:29 pm
A look at what Ronald Reagan did to the State of California while he was governor opened my eyes when I lived there.
Before the Reagan Administration, there was a large network of state hospitals treating the mentally ill, the vanguard of treatment and teaching in this field.
Reagan opened the doors, and poof!- the streets of San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego filled with homeless people, and the wealthy Reagan supporters never set foot in the downtowns again.
Department stores closed, and…well, the rest is the same thing that eventually happened coast to coast. Now, they build prisons on some of the same sites.
As they have always said, “As goes California, so goes the nation”. I urge anyone interested in Reagan to read Tear Down this Myth, by Will Bunch.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/will-bunch/tearing-down-the-reagan-m_b_443914.html
February 14th, 2014 at 12:31 pm
Rick#23 I was number 22. I gave you facts, you chose not to accept them and tried to BS your way out of it, period.
Whether you vote for baggers or not, that’s a typical teabagger tactic which makes you a total waste of time.