Ten Points of Ronald Reagan

Quote from the op

This statement overlooks, the fact that the left has been trying to paint Obama as being like Reagan in order to project him as a centrist. It has been a failed message and rightly so. But that is the reason for statements made by those on the right about Obama not being like Reagan. There seems to be a level of dishonesty in his article. The quotes are taken out of context in order to create this article. Maybe he was having brain lock and could not think of anything else.

 

Well as soon as I see “Huffington Post” I get wary. Then I see that the author has actually published a book on distorting what Reagan actually stood for. His ten points are all distortions and placed badly out of context:

1. Pathway to citizenship – Yes Reagan supported amnesty, but for a different group of immigrants at a different time. Only 10% or so of the illegals we have now. He was also dealing with the Mariel boatlift and Carter’s open invitation. It was the right thing to do at the time and does not compare to the situation we have today.
2. Trials for terrorists – Reagan was not involved in a war on terror. The terrorists Reagan dealt with were criminals and deserved trials, not POWs. And what we have now is no trials at all, civilian or military. We need to do something about the Gitmo detainees besides sit around and wait for them to die.
3. Raise taxes – This is a total distortion. Reagan may have raised some individual taxes, but only after cutting them. Overall taxes went down and revenues went up under Reagan. Something we should repeat today. Also in Reagan’s day we had the realistic expectation that cutting taxes was also going to result in reduced spending which the democratic congress never allowed.
4. Assault weapon ban – quoting a letter written years after he left office is not the same as a public act. President Reagan would have never signed this. Assault weapons are what the 2nd amendment is all about. It has nothing to do with hunting or sporting weapons and everything about overthrowing an unresponsive government.
5. Torture – No one likes torture and it is never justified. But how do you define torture? That is the real issue.
6. Supreme Court Justices – Yes a couple of Reagan’s nominees backfired on him and were not as conservative as they told us they were. But remember Reagan also had to get them confirmed by a hostile democratic senate. He could not nominate the people he really wanted to. O’Connor and Kennedy lied to Reagan and betrayed those who supported them.
7. Social Security – absolutely, we should save it, and the only way to do that is through privatatization. No other option comes close to a viable solution.
8. Lebanon – was a huge disaster for a number of reasons and Reagan got us out. He learned from our mistakes and adjusted. We should learn the same lessons and finish our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.
9. Environment – using acts as governor in the 60s to define national policy is a clear distortion. Yes we should protect our environment and the best way to do that is through corporate partnerships that will allow the development of our resources. Coal, Mine, Gas, and Timber need to be developed.
10. Nuclear Weapons – Right we need to eliminate them and the first step should be Iran! Let’s contain what is out there now then we can discuss disarming North Korea.