THE GOP - HAS IT FORGOTTEN REAGAN ? - THE SUNDAY COMMENTARY
He gave the GOP its conservative soul and began a movement that elevated the Republican Party to political prominence. Ronald Wilson Reagan the 40th President of The United States presented a philosophy of conservatism that politically called for reducing government then limiting its influence in American society, cutting taxes and giving the people back their money. Providing for a strong defense to protect America while reaching out to the world with the American ideal if freedom.
More than this political philosophy President Reagan brought an optimism in America that saw this nation as the, "shining city on a hill," the last best hope of the world for freedom. His optimism and belief in the American people was contagious and when he said we could accomplish anything, we believed him and we did. When he said, "tear down this wall, " we knew that it would happen. When he told us America's best days were ahead, we knew he was right. Reagan made us believe, Republican, Democrat and Independent alike in ourselves, our country and in the American spirit and because of this belief America became the, "shining city on the hill."
Under Reagan's leadership the GOP adopted conservatism as its core of values and the very soul of the party. Even after he left the White House this core continued and the American people understood that this was the America they wanted and the GOP grew with conservatism. Has the GOP forgotten Reagan and lost its soul ? While the party still loves and remembers the man, I believe they have forgotten why he was so admired and how his philosophy of conservatism gave the country and the party its strength.
As we begin the race for the 08 Presidential run most of the candidates while expressing some conservative values and ideas leave much to be desired in understanding and following true Reagan conservatism. Many claim to be Reagan Conservatives like John McCain but their record and their ideas prove otherwise.
Those elected in Congress as a whole have drifted so far from Reagan conservative ideals and policies that the electorate chose to cast them out of the majority accepting the Nancy Pelosi/Harry Reid liberal agenda rather than allowing the GOP to continue to meander in the soulless state that they now find themselves.
Poll after poll show that the majority of the country is or leans more conservative yet the GOP has to a certain extent ignored this and we now find ourselves with a Congress that has already begun a greater march to big government, exhaustive regulations, the gradual dismantling of business which drives Capitalism and a successful economy. Threats of taxation which will eventually find fruition in the present Congress and the weakening of our national defense pressing for a slow strategy of surrender in the war to defeat an enemy whose desire is our destruction.
The optimism that President Reagan shared with us has turned, because of a constant barrage of negativism from the media and the left into a pessimism in our nation that even doubts whether we can win this war and despite a strong economy this pessimism cries foul and most believe the economy is weak.
President Reagan reminded us of who we are as a nation and the greatness of America. The GOP understood this and followed his ideals and political philosophy and continued both even after Alzheimer's had taken him from public appearances. Then gradually as time went by the GOP lost touch with Reaganism and soon the distinction between parties began to fade as the GOP grew government, spent wildly and forgot its soul. The American people seeing no distinction last November threw out the GOP and now we face a liberal agenda that is opposite of what conservatism brought to our nation.
Reagan Conservatism continually gave us the optimism and belief that we as Americans could achieve anything. It rekindled the spirit of 1776 which gave birth to our nation and the establishment of freedom as a form of government by the people. We understood that a strong defense coupled with a limited government protected and allowed these freedoms to thrive. Reagan knew this and through his flamboyant personality we accepted it and lived it.
The GOP can bring this philosophy of Reagan Conservatism to America again and regain its soul. It will take a steadfast discipline of mind and politics to do so but it can be done. While there will never be another Reagan his ideals and his philosophy of government and belief in the people still remain. It is just beneath the surface of the current political climate and all it will take is a demand by the people whom Reagan believed in with all of his heart to rekindle the soul of the GOP and the conservative optimism that changed the nation and the world.
Ken Taylor
More than this political philosophy President Reagan brought an optimism in America that saw this nation as the, "shining city on a hill," the last best hope of the world for freedom. His optimism and belief in the American people was contagious and when he said we could accomplish anything, we believed him and we did. When he said, "tear down this wall, " we knew that it would happen. When he told us America's best days were ahead, we knew he was right. Reagan made us believe, Republican, Democrat and Independent alike in ourselves, our country and in the American spirit and because of this belief America became the, "shining city on the hill."
Under Reagan's leadership the GOP adopted conservatism as its core of values and the very soul of the party. Even after he left the White House this core continued and the American people understood that this was the America they wanted and the GOP grew with conservatism. Has the GOP forgotten Reagan and lost its soul ? While the party still loves and remembers the man, I believe they have forgotten why he was so admired and how his philosophy of conservatism gave the country and the party its strength.
As we begin the race for the 08 Presidential run most of the candidates while expressing some conservative values and ideas leave much to be desired in understanding and following true Reagan conservatism. Many claim to be Reagan Conservatives like John McCain but their record and their ideas prove otherwise.
Those elected in Congress as a whole have drifted so far from Reagan conservative ideals and policies that the electorate chose to cast them out of the majority accepting the Nancy Pelosi/Harry Reid liberal agenda rather than allowing the GOP to continue to meander in the soulless state that they now find themselves.
Poll after poll show that the majority of the country is or leans more conservative yet the GOP has to a certain extent ignored this and we now find ourselves with a Congress that has already begun a greater march to big government, exhaustive regulations, the gradual dismantling of business which drives Capitalism and a successful economy. Threats of taxation which will eventually find fruition in the present Congress and the weakening of our national defense pressing for a slow strategy of surrender in the war to defeat an enemy whose desire is our destruction.
The optimism that President Reagan shared with us has turned, because of a constant barrage of negativism from the media and the left into a pessimism in our nation that even doubts whether we can win this war and despite a strong economy this pessimism cries foul and most believe the economy is weak.
President Reagan reminded us of who we are as a nation and the greatness of America. The GOP understood this and followed his ideals and political philosophy and continued both even after Alzheimer's had taken him from public appearances. Then gradually as time went by the GOP lost touch with Reaganism and soon the distinction between parties began to fade as the GOP grew government, spent wildly and forgot its soul. The American people seeing no distinction last November threw out the GOP and now we face a liberal agenda that is opposite of what conservatism brought to our nation.
Reagan Conservatism continually gave us the optimism and belief that we as Americans could achieve anything. It rekindled the spirit of 1776 which gave birth to our nation and the establishment of freedom as a form of government by the people. We understood that a strong defense coupled with a limited government protected and allowed these freedoms to thrive. Reagan knew this and through his flamboyant personality we accepted it and lived it.
The GOP can bring this philosophy of Reagan Conservatism to America again and regain its soul. It will take a steadfast discipline of mind and politics to do so but it can be done. While there will never be another Reagan his ideals and his philosophy of government and belief in the people still remain. It is just beneath the surface of the current political climate and all it will take is a demand by the people whom Reagan believed in with all of his heart to rekindle the soul of the GOP and the conservative optimism that changed the nation and the world.
Ken Taylor
posted by The Liberal Lie The Conservative Truth | 10:19 AM
13 Comments:
Most of the GOP has forgotten Reagan it seems. Thank God for true Conservatives like Duncan Hunter.
Duncan Hunter, however, is not selling hope, although I agree that in order to be a consistent, a rightwinger has no other choice but to support Duncan Hunter.
But Hunter is no conservative. Not at all. He's a rightwing extremeist. A radical reactionary. He is anything but a conservative.
The GOP has become a shadow of its former self -- they've all but turned their backs on the bountiful political legacy left them by Reagan, substituting it with the same PC sponsored by the Democrats, complacency and the priority goal of reelection rather than representation of their electoral base. They're frittering away their inheritance and turning governance of America over to a political party whose agendas are profoundly contrary to the best interests of both country and Constitution.
It's too bad there isn't a Reagan booster shot that can be administered to these sellouts.
I am not a political scholar but an average voter. I am fascinated by the glorifying of Reagan recently, by ex-Bush fans longing for the "good old days" of Reagan. As far as I can tell, although Reagan was for smaller Government and Bush has expanded Government greatly, they both wildly spent the people's money and then cried "see what a great economy we have?" when it was largely Government monies that made everyone feel so flush. I'm not sure how after 6 years of the Republican expansion of Government, you can complain that "we now find ourselves with a Congress that has already begun a greater march to big government". You complain theat the new congress is anti-business, but the best thing that could have happened to small business over the last six years would have been if congress had touched upon the health care issue, but they avoided it like the plague and small businesses are reluctant to hire because of the unbearable burden of health care. Did Reagan begin to tackle this issue either?
Lastly, was it not Reagan who began the great march toward the strength of the nutty religious right, who hired Bush simply because he said the magic "anti-abortion" words, regardless of his complete incompetance in all other governing areas (as well as his penchant for actually killing human beings)? Don't lionize Reagan. He was an actor. The great Norman Rockwellization of Reagan was just part of his most important acting role.
I don't know why you let that ignorant ranting little mouse spit kitty litter comment.
Has that loon been right yet on anything?
I went to meet Duncan Hunter for lunch yesterday and he's anything but a right wing reactionary.
And that dip shit kitty litter wouldn't know the difference anyway.
Mike, what is it with you? You show up on this blog and drag it down with you childish name calling and expletives.
Since you met with Duncan Hunter, why don't you write about the discussion and why you feel he is not a reactionary. That might be enlightening.
If you read Jack Kemp's view on Hunter in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal, it would seem that there is some reason to believe he is a misguided reactionary.
Hey, that's just mike.
Watch.
How sad it is to dee history re-written.
Reagan rescued this country from a dark period that begun with the mismanagement of Vietnam, Watergate, and the Carter years. It was his message of strength and optimism, hope and hard work that is his legacy. He took on the evil empire head on, walking away from the table in Iceland instead of bowing in fear to the Soviets. He brought down the USSR without a war being fought, because he knew the strength of the American people and the righteousness of our way of life.
The money was spent by the democratic congress who falsly pledged to cut spending. When the enormous tax cuts brought about unparalleled revenues to the government, no programs were cut.
And there is a difference between health care and health insurance.
Hisstory will judge Reagan as the greatest President of the 20th century. Most of the population already believes that.
All of the above is false and creepily delusional. Like a male fairy-tale with a hero. It's like man-crushes.
History will judge Reagan to be the great disinterested, and distractable president, and it's simply a fact that the so-called Soviet Union collapsed from within, which the CIA admits they didn't see coming.
The Berlin Wall fell on Bush's watch, and Bush didn't see that coming either.
Because rightwingers and republicans are deliberately obtuse. At least it's deliberate.
I can understand hero worship in the young, but if you're a grown man, it's unbecoming.
Robert, Robert, Robert . . . unparalleled government revenues?
What are you basing your numbers on?
From 1981-1988 (Reagan), government revenues increased from $599 billion to $909 billion (52 percent)
From 1993-2000 (Clinton), government revenues increased from $1.155 trillion to $2.023 trillion (75 percent).
So revenues clearly favored Clinton - by far.
On the spending side, under Reagan, discretionary government spending (not mandatory increases tied to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid) increased from $308 billion to $464 billion (51 percent). For Clinton it increased from $539 billion to $615 billion (14 percent).
The deficit doubled from $79 billion to $155 billion during Reagan's 8 years, and during Clinton's 8 years it went from a $255 billion budget deficit to a $236 billion budget SURPLUS. The greatest economic turnaround in this country's history.
The numbers I am citing are from the U.S. Treasury Department and the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. The way the numbers are kept is not subject to changing administrations or parties. It is the way the government has been keeping track of figures for decades.
Please tell me how you come to your conclusions?
Oh, and by the way, during the Carter years, government revenues went up from $356 billion to $517 billion (45 percent).
Discretionary spending went form $197 billion to $276 billion (40 percent).
The deficit grew from $54 billion to $74 billion (37 percent).
Just for comparison.
Believe me when I say, you don't even want to look at how bad the National Debt growth was under Reagan relative to Carter and Clinton. His explosion of debt is only rivaled by W's current economic programs.
As of 1988, the increase in revenues was unparalleled. It would not have happened if Carter-like policies had been continued.
I despise the irresponsibility of spending. Deficit spending is sometimes in our best interest, but not to the level today or under today's circumstances.
So you desire to see the Congress reduce social programs to get the deficit under control?
I give you numbers and you give me an unsubstantiated opinion with no explanation.
You do realize that Reagan signed four significant tax increases between 1982 and 1984. That is not re-writing history - that is fact. He recognized that the deficits were exploding and worked with Congress to reign in the deficits.
The new Dem Congress has reinstituted pay-go rules (which the Republicans eliminated). That in and of itself will help control deficits that have become out of control under Republican rule.
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