Posted by
ApolloSpeaks on Sunday, June 17, 2012 9:29:33 AM
In the 1950s when Reagan was at the height of being a Keynesian Democrat Liberal he did the film "Bedtime For Bonzo" which leftists used to mock him for having a low IQ and monkey mind when it came to politics and most everything else. But by the time he was President Reagan had put the monkey business of Liberalism far behind him and caused Liberals to go ape-sh*t over his rightwing agenda.
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Rational Liberal following Paul Krugman writes:
"Ronald Reagan Was A Keynesian
I found this comment on another website (newser). It totally destroys the Apollo/conservative view that the Reagan recovery was due to his supply-side-voodoo economic policies.
"In Jan 1981, Reagan inherited a "bad economy" with 7.5% unemployment and immediately cut taxes (the highest in post war history) and dramatically cut spending... thus taking a bad economy... and making it significantly worse. In 1982, with unemployment still climbing, Reagan signed into law one of the biggest tax increases ever enacted during peacetime. Reagan's unemployment rate (UE) peaked in Jan 1983 at nearly 11% before the effect of his tax increases and spending took hold... causing the UE rate to decline.. Reagan's UE rate curve did not get below 7% until mid 1986 (nearly five years after taking office) and it was accomplished by TAX INCREASES and INCREASED SPENDING to STIMULATE the ECONOMY. Obama's UE rate curve has been more favorable, and has been accomplished WITHOUT RAISING TAXES. If Reagan is the Republican Hero... Obama should be a freakin Super Hero. Obama inherited a significantly worse economy, minimized its effect on unemployment, LOWERED taxes while doing so, and all this was accomplished with the asinine GOP party-of-no tearing him down at every opportunity... The GOP should have been following his lead and helping him to make things better. People who vote for corporate-wh*re republicans expecting the economy to continue to improve... are blithering idiots."
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My reply
In 1980 Ronald Reagan asked the American people: "Are you better off today than you were four years ago?" The people roared back NO! and Jimmy Carter was crushed in a 9 point, 44 state landslide defeat.
In 1984 Ronald Reagan again asked the American people: "Are you better off today than you were four years ago?" With soaring GDP growth and jobs falling from the sky the people roared back YES! and Walter Mondale was crushed in an 18 point, 49 state sweep.
In 2008 Barack Obama asked the American people: "Are you better off today than you were four years ago?" The people answered NO! and made him president with a 7 point, 28 state victory-hardly a landslide as the voters knew little about him making him president only because he was a charismatic black man, wasn't George Bush, and talked a good game of Hope and Change to a frightened nation wanting new leadership and direction.
In 2012 with weak GDP growth, poor jobs creation and falling confidence in his presidency and the future Barack Obama can't run on his record as most Americans today, White, Black, Hispanic, Christian, Jew, Moslem, men, women and gays are not better off than four years ago.
Instead, this silk stocking of a president filled with manure tries to justify the need for tax hikes and more spending to fix the economy by distorting Reaganomics and making the Gipper into a super tax and spend Keynesian Liberal becoming the first and only leader in history to prove Keynes right-Hoover, FDR, the Japanese, Greeks, British, Italians, Spanish, Portuguese and Obama himself all having failed for not spending enough, where Reagan alone had it right. Indeed, the stage has been set by Paul Krugman and others for Obama to hijack the Reagan Revolution and explain the Gipper's great recovery of 1984 in Keynesian terms of tax and spend Liberalism instead of supply-side-economics and free market capitalism. In other words, Reagan was a Keynesian but was too stupid to know it.
As we approach election day and Romney compares the Reagan recovery to Obama's Obama (the great anti-Reagan) will double down and expand on this new fictitious narrative about Reagan the "Big Government Keynesian Liberal" saying that, "Reagan out-taxed and outspent me, and grew government at a faster rate than I'm doing; and that explains the economic boom in the last year of his first term. Unless we follow Reagan's example and increase stimulus spending paid by tax hikes we'll never get out of this recession. Elect Governor Romney," Obama will warn, "and he'll do the opposite; contrary to Reagan he'll cut taxes and withdraw stimulus funds from the economy, explode the deficit and debt and collapse us into a second Great Depression throwing millions out of work, putting more folks on Food Stamps and welfare."
If you can't beat Reagan liberalize or Obamanize him is the new strategy to rob Romney of the Gipper's majestic mantle (which really belongs to Obama) and descredit Nancy Reagan's blessing of his candidacy. And that is what Rational Liberal, Obama, Krugman and other lefties (with help from RINO Alan Simpson) are desperately and deceptively doing in what little time is left before Election Day.
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Postscript: Crazy, Cracked Krugman
Atheist Paul Krugman praying for success in fooling the public with his latest economic lie that Reagan was a Keynesian.
Three years ago in May after falsely blaming Reagan for today's economic crisis (see and see) Paul Krugman, having forgotten what he said, does a 180 turn and praises Reagan claiming that he's the answer to the crisis (see). This unstable, leftist, Nobel Prize winning loon writes: "....we’d be in much better shape if we were following Reagan-style Keynesianism. Reagan may have preached small government, but in practice he presided over a lot of spending growth — and right now that’s exactly what America needs." It boggles the mind.
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Also see