Westside said:
Fair enough.
Now I'll reply to the subject.
Making us "feel good" was certainly not universal during the Reagan era. Just ask small farmers - I grew up on one during this time. B.O. is also supposedly supposed to make us "feel good" and you can judge for yourself how much should be placed in feelings. I stick with reality over feelings anyday.
The wasteful spending on the armed services is a major reason the debt exploded during the Reagan Era. It had nothing to do with the fall of the Soviet Union. Americans often have some sort of narcistic idea that everything is a result of something our country has done. The Soviet Union fell from within - economically, socially, and morally. I would like to hear a practical articulation of just how we sunk them - never heard a one in my life.
Being conservative isn't about tax breaks, its about living within your means. Sure, Reagan reduced the marginal tax rates for the wealthy - so what? He spent more money - a lot more. Somebody has to pay those debts someday. Not only that but Social Security tax and medicare went up - somewhat offsetting the tax cuts. Would a woman who runs up their husbands credit card on a shopping spree be considered conservative because she didn't pay for her spree in cash?
At the beginning of the Reagan Era we were the largest creditor nation in the world and at the end of the Era we were the largest debtor nation in the world.
So why else did I call him a colossal failure? He held the torch for conservatives and turned out to be extremely liberal just like the others - in some aspects even worse.
