"philo" wrote in message
...

In plain language he was "fair".

You're a generous soul, Philo. There's been a remarkable attempt to rewrite
history by some people concerning Reagan. They credit him with things that
he had little to do with (the collapse of the Soviet Union was underway for
a long time before Reagan became President). The Second Industrial
revolution (the advent of personal computing) provided much of the recovery
that Reagan-worshippers wrongly attribute to RR.

1. Reagan cut taxes for the Rich, increased taxes on the Middle Class -
Ronald Reagan is loved by conservatives and was loved by big business
throughout his presidency and there's a reason for it. When Reagan came into
office in January of 1981, the top tax rate was 70%, but when he left office
in 1989 the top tax rate was down to only 28%. As Reagan gave the breaks to
all his rich friends, there was a lack of revenue coming into the federal
government. In order to bring money back into the government, Reagan was
forced to raise taxes eleven times throughout his time in office. One
example was when he signed into law the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility
Act of 1982. Reagan raised taxes seven of the eight years he was in office
and the tax increases were felt hardest by the lower and middle class.

2. Tripling the National Debt - As Reagan cut taxes for the wealthy, the
government was left with less money to spend. When Reagan came into office
the national debt was $900 billion, by the time he left the national debt
had tripled to $2.8 trillion.

3. Iran/Contra - In 1986, a group of Americans were being held hostage by a
terrorist group with ties to Iran. In an attempt to free the hostages,
Ronald Reagan secretly sold arms and money to Iran. Much of the money that
was received from the trade went to fund the Nicaragua Contra rebels who
were in a war with the Sandinista government of Nicaragua. When the scandal
broke in the Untied States it became the biggest story in the country,
Reagan tried to down play what happened, but never fully recovered.

4. Reagan funded Terrorists - The attacks on 9/11 by al-Qaeda and Osama Bin
Laden brought new attention to international terrorism. All of a sudden,
Americans coast to coast wore their American flag pins, ate their freedom
fries and couldn't wait to go to war with anyone who looked like a Muslim.
What Americans didn't realize was that the same group that attacked the
United States on 9/11 was funded by Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. Prepping for
a possible war with the Soviet Union, Ronald Reagan spent billions of
dollars funding the Islamist mujahidin Freedom Fighters in Afghanistan. With
billions of American dollars, weapons and training coming their way, the
Taliban and Osama Bin Laden took everything they were given and gave it back
to the United States over a decade later in the worst possible way
imaginable.

5. Unemployment issues - When Ronald Reagan came into office 1981,
unemployment was at 7.5%. After Reagan cut taxes for the wealthy, he began
raising taxes on the middle and lower class. Corporations started to ship
more jobs out of the United States while hiring cheap foreign labor in order
to make a bigger profit. While corporations made billions, Americans across
the country lost their jobs. As 1982 came to a close, unemployment was
nearly 11%. Unemployment began to drop as the years went on, but the jobs
that were created were low paying and barely helped people make ends meet.
The middle and lower class had their wages nearly frozen as the top earners
saw dramatic increases in salary.

6. Ignoring AIDS - By the time the 1980s came around, AIDS had become one of
the most frightening things to happen to the country in recent memory. No
one understood what AIDS and HIV really was and when people don't understand
something, they become scared of it. The fear of the unknown was sweeping
across the country and Americans needed a leader to speak out about this
horrible virus, that leader never came. Instead of grabbing the bull by the
horns and taking charge, Reagan kept quiet. Reagan couldn't say the words
AIDS or HIV until seven years into his presidency, a leader not so much.

7. Reagan gave amnesty to 3 million Undocumented Immigrants - In today's
GOP, the idea of any immigrant staying in the United States whether they are
legal or illegal isn't something that conservatives embrace. What might
shock them is that in 1982 Ronald Reagan gave nearly 3 million undocumented
workers amnesty. The biggest reason for undocumented workers coming to the
United States is because corporations hire them at a cheaper rate than they
would an American citizen. All the laws that would have cracked down on
companies who hire undocumented workers were, of course, removed from the
bill.

8. His attack on Unions and the Middle Class - The Republican war on unions
and the middle class has been heating up in states like Wisconsin and Ohio,
but it has been going on for a long time. Unions are formed to give a united
voice to the workers in an attempt to create fairness between the
corporations and their employees. On August 3rd, 1981, PATCO (Professional
Air Traffic Controllers Organization) went on strike in an effort to get
better pay and safer working conditions. Two days later, taking the side of
business, Ronald Reagan fired 11,345 workers for not returning to work.

9. Reagan raided the Social Security Trust fund - With Ronald Reagan cutting
taxes so drastically, the U.S government was beginning to starve. Reagan
added to the government and didn't make enough spending cuts to offset the
tax cuts, so the money needed to come from somewhere. Ronald Reagan knew
that his polices would create economic bubbles, unemployment would drop and
some jobs would be created, but in time the bubble would burst leaving the
economy in ruins. In order to counteract his own economic policies, Ronald
Reagan needed to find somewhere else to get revenue.

Listening to Alan Greenspan and other advisers, Ronald Reagan raided the
Social Security Trust Fund and replaced it with glorified IOU's. Ronald
Reagan raised the Social Security tax rate which did add to the revenue, but
because there is a cap on Social Security, currently no income over $113,700
is taxed for Social Security, the wealthy didn't feel the tax increase and
the pain was pushed to the middle and lower classes.

10. Endless worship and never-ending praise - Ronald Reagan left office in
January of 1989 and nearly 25 years later he is held up high by the modern
Republican party. As nearly three decades have gone by since Ronald Reagan
was in the White House, reality and history has faded with time.
Conservative figures like anti-tax Grover Norquist created the "Ronald
Reagan Legacy Project" with a goal of memorializing Reagan in all 50 states.
As stated in this article, Ronald Reagan did a lot to hurt the United
States, not just while he was in office, but in the years that have
followed. What's scary about today's current Republican party is that while
Reagan was one of the worst presidents this country has had to endure over
the last 100 years, he would be considered too moderate to be nominated by
today's conservative standards.

http://www.examiner.com/article/8-re...f-our-lifetime