Reagan: The Great American Socialist

[riverdeep]

This is the economist Ravi Batra on Reagan:

There is no doubt that President Obama's economic measures, passed and proposed, will raise tax rates on the richest Americans to pay for increased government funding of health care, green energy and education. So the new president is indeed a redistributionist, but so was Ronald Reagan, except that Obama's plans will transfer wealth from the rich to the poor, whereas Reagan's bills transferred wealth from the poor and the middle class to the opulent. In fact, Obama's measures are puny, whereas Reagan's were massive. If the Democrat is a "small" socialist, Reagan was the Great American Socialist.

Let's go back to the early 1980's. In 1981, Reagan signed a law that sharply reduced the income tax for the wealthiest Americans and corporations. The president asserted his program would create jobs, purge inflation and, get this, trim the budget deficit. However, following the tax cut, the deficit soared from 2.5 percent of GDP to over 6 percent, alarming financial markets, sending interest rates sky high, and culminating in the worst recession since the 1930's.

http://www.truthout.org/032009R

Let's keep things in perspective.

[Believing Is Art]

1. 10 bucks to the person who posts this in Freeperville

and stays to watch the fireworks.

Good article.

[Eric J in MN]

2. Socialism is based on an underlying belief that men are equals.

Redistributing money from the poor and middle-class to the rich isn't socialism.

Update: the author probably realizes that but wanted an angle for the article

[riverdeep]

3. Here is how the author defines the term.

"Socialism" is a pejorative term in American politics and needs to be carefully examined. It usually refers to increased government control over the economy, or policies that promote the redistribution of wealth.'

Notice it doesn't say anything about distribution from up to down or down to up, but redistribution. Does this differ from a standard definition? You may argue that it does. The central point is that those who argue against redistribution in ANY form because a sacred concept of the free market is meritocracy alone, are left wanting.

[baldguy]

4. Reaganism - socialism with all the totalitarianism with none of the equality.

[indepat]

5. Redistribution of wealth upward has always been the 'pukes job #1

:P