8 reasons why Ronald Reagan was the worst President of our lifetime

[DainBramaged]

( Bonafide Freeper head exploder teeth gnashing hate spewing article)


If you ever happen to come across a Republican on television these days, chances are that you will hear the name Ronald Reagan. Recent Republican debates are the perfect example of the love fest that the current Republican party has for Reagan as each candidate name drops the former president at every turn. If you only listened to conservatives you would think that Jesus Christ was the only person above Reagan on the totem pole of conservative love. They talk about his love of low taxes, less government and conservative family values. The problem is that when you step out of the conservative dream and come back to reality, you find that not only was Ronald Reagan a bad president, but he was one of the worst presidents we've seen in modern times. Reagan's policies have destroyed the United States for three decades, and for the eight years he was in office, here are eight reasons why Ronald Reagan was the worst president of our lifetime.

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.


MORE

http://www.examiner.com/liberal-in-orlando/8-reasons-why-ronald-reagan-was-a-horrible-president-1

[Major Hogwash]

1. 220 Marines, 18 Navy sailors, and 3 Army soldiers killed in Beirut, Lebanon, October 23, 1983.

Most Marines killed in a single day since WWII.

That's why Raygun decided to invade Grenada -- to knock the news of all of those Marines being killed from off of the front pages of every newspaper in the country.

And that fucker got re-elected!!

[lbrtbell]

2. He only got re-elected b/c Mondale ran a weak campaign

I really like Walter Mondale, but I knew a lot of Republicans who would have voted for Gary Hart in a minute.

[DainBramaged]

4. I think the Pukers cheated back then, but we didn't know it....

too late to prove....

[Hippo_Tron]

57. Reagan was re-elected because of the assassination attempt

And because OPEC collapsed due to the Iran-Iraq conflict, a fire that we dumped kerosene on by arming both sides...

[Ter]

60. A week campaign hurts, but does not create a 49 state loss

Reagan was hugely popular in 1984, and would have beaten any Democrat with ease.

[pampango]

3. Rec. Excellent article. Thanks for the thread, DainBramaged. n/t

[mzteris]

5. I wouldn't go that far - 2nd worst.

GWB and his handlers were the WORST and the most evil.

[derby378]

34. And here's eight reasons why

1. Torture
2. Domestic surveillance
3. False pretenses for invading Iraq
4. Attempt to bypass habeas corpus
5. Bush tax cuts for the rich, weakening our infrastructure
6. Incompetence allowed 9/11 to happen
7. Dick Cheney
8. Gore won in 2000, but Bush & Company staged a coup

Yeah, that oughta cover it.

[Marie Marie]

46. Agreed except Dick Cheney should be at #1.

He was probably responsible for most of the rest of your list.

[AlbertCat]

59. BINGO!

Dubya is the worst because Cheney ran things. George didn't even win, but NO ONE voted for Cheney.

[progressoid]

42. Yeah, they should have called Ronny the worst Republican hero.

They worship him, but have no idea what a failure he was.

[caraher]

43. I'd still give the nod to St. Ronnie

if only because I think GWB could never have taken office were it not for the wrong turn we took in the '80s.

In isolation, I think Bush was worse - Reagan occasionally saw beyond his ideology, growing past his "Evil Empire" rhetoric to have meaningful discussions with Gorbachev. But I think a president's legacy includes trends he sets in motion, and Bush was a consequence of Reagan.

[caraher]

44. I'd still give the nod to St. Ronnie

if only because I think GWB could never have taken office were it not for the wrong turn we took in the '80s.

In isolation, I think Bush was worse - Reagan occasionally saw beyond his ideology, growing past his "Evil Empire" rhetoric to have meaningful discussions with Gorbachev. But I think a president's legacy includes trends he sets in motion, and Bush was a consequence of Reagan.

[coalition_unwilling]

6. I'll grant you Reagan was horrible, but worse than W? I don't think

so, not even close. Even though Reagan presided over a constitutional coup d'etat (Iran Contra), his crimes pale in comparison to those of the Bush-Cheney Junta.

Can anyone say "Abu Ghraib?"

[DainBramaged]

7. Did you even read the article? No, of course not

but that's OK, opinions are just peachy here.......why not go toe to tore with thw author and give your points why W was worse......

[coalition_unwilling]

8. I did indeed read the article in full. I happen to disagree with the

author (and I suppose with you, since you posted it).

It did not occur to me to post my disagreement directly with the author of the article at its source (not enough coffee yet this a.m. :) - thanks for reminding me. I'll be posting a version of my response here on the papers' website shortly.

[DainBramaged]

9. Monster Kona Blend

Ass-kicking coffee for the 21st century........

[coalition_unwilling]

10. he-he. Took an anti-histamine last nite, so still a bit groggy. You'll

now find a version of my comment here in the comments section of the source article.

[DainBramaged]

11. A quick response worthy of a Red Bull....

:yourock:

[kag]

48. Hmmm. Which is worse, W or Ronnie?

That's like asking "Would you rather step in vomit or shit?"

:puke: :hurts:

[coalition_unwilling]

54. I used your question to answer my wife when she asked me whom

I found more objectionable: Willard (Mitt) or Newt.

Wife is ROFL

:)

[Hippo_Tron]

58. There would be no W without Reagan

The organized right is an alliance religious fundamentalists, free-market fundamentalists, neoconservatives, and southerners who left the Democratic Party because of the Civil Rights Act, exists largely because of Reagan. This organization propelled Dubya to the Republican nomination and ultimately to the White House (although not without a little help from Katherine Harris and the Supreme Court).

Assuming that Poppy had managed to be elected President without being Reagan's VP and thus his failure of a son would've had a chance at being elected governor, he still would have lost to John McCain in the primaries without the organized right pulling all of the stops to prevent that from happening.

[indepat]

12. Eight reasons the right beatified the gipper, then made him a saint, and is now in the process of

deifying him. :patriot:

[Rex]

13. RWR is roasting in hell along with Nixon and Stalin.

I hope they pitchfork his ass every dam night!

[LongTomH]

14. K&R

:kick:

[Know_Where]

15. No: GWB is 2nd only to Buchanan

for worst President of ALL lifetimes!

[Dawson Leery]

16. Bush II was the continuation of what Reagan and company started.

Frat boy Bush did not have nearly as many roadblocks as Ronnie boy did.

[RZM]

17. There are some problems with numbers 4 and 7

Not that they didn't happen, but the author gets some things wrong, especially about number 4.

The author makes it seem like Reagan personally handed the most extremist Afghans weapons and money on purpose, but US aid was actually mainly channeled through the Pakistanis, who had the right contacts/networks to get the stuff through. The Pakistanis deliberately funneled the aid to the most extremist elements in Afghanistan as to cultivate them as their exclusive proxies/pets in order to maximize Pakistani influence in a country that is so strategically vital to them, especially given their issues with India. They have continued to pretty much do the same thing ever since, as shown by the rapid deterioration of US-Pakistani relations recently.

Also, the notion that this all happened because Reagan was 'prepping for war' doesn't make much sense. US support of the Afghan rebels was much more in line with longstanding US Cold War policy that dated back to the Truman administration. The US and Soviets spent decades peddling influence and supporting proxies and such all over the third world (the term 'third world' itself has Cold War origins, after all).

http://www.amazon.com/Global-Cold-War-Interventions-Making/dp/052170314X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323027669&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/World-Was-Going-Our-Way/dp/B000MKYKEK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323027684&sr=1-1

Number 7 seems more or less factually accurate, but it's a little odd that it's included on this list, which is mainly critical of Reagan from a left perspective. It would be more at home in a list of why conservatives shouldn't like Reagan, not why liberals shouldn't. Of course, the dividing lines on immigration are often tricky, since some mainstream Republicans (like Bush, Perry, and Gingrich) are less hostile to illegal immigrants than some Democrats and progressives are.

[DainBramaged]

18. OK. for the record, does it matter? RAYGUN FUCKED THIS COUNTRY UP

for the next TWO generations. Nitpicking the authors reasons is simply sounding like a backdoor defence of the Reagan policies.......

[RZM]

20. Facts are the building blocks of any good argument

It's perfectly fine (and quite necessary, IMO) to criticize US policy toward Afghanistan in the 1980s on the grounds that it helped set the stage for what's going on there now. But you must get the facts straight when doing so, otherwise the argument lacks the force to do what it's supposed to do, which is make a convincing case that will sway others. Isn't that a basic rule of arguing? A case that contains mistakes can be fatally weakened by criticism of those mistakes, even if the conclusion still makes sense.

It's like a court of law. You can know all day long that somebody is guilty, but if your case contains too many mistakes, they walk. Same thing here. A problem with an argument can lead people to reject the conclusions solely on the grounds that their are mistakes in the body.

Once you start arguing that one's own side can cut corners, you're no better than those who on the other side who do the same thing.

And I had no major issue with the argument about the amnesty, I just was surprised to see it on this list.

[Hamlette]

19. add a few: racist "welfare queen" attacks, destruction of higher education, "gov't is the problem"

the ones on that list are not my tops. When Reagan became governor of California, you could get a 2 year degree at a community college for free and 2 more years for practically nothing. He destroyed that system and set the GOP up to hate people with education (sort of) by calling them the elites. Code speak.

His bullshit line: "the gov't is not the solution, the gov't is the problem" is what set up today's bullshit "big government" argument that, if you push them, they cannot even defend/have no idea what it means (states' right? for gun control or abortion or gay marriage nope. What the hell does it mean? They don't know but they spout it and sheep go along with it and hate "Washington" when dems are in power.)

I remember the "young buck" buying steaks with food stamps and welfare queen BS which was at its heart racist.

I don't care so much about some on the list like tripling the national debt. It would be better if people actually KNEW he was largely responsible to the fiscal mess they now complain about but they really aren't complaining about the debt now, they are really just playing politics. As they always do.

[Faygo Kid]

21. Not a fan, but W. was the worst ever, followed by Andrew Johnson, Buchanan and Nixon - then Reagan.

W. was the worst ever.

Unless Newt somehow gets in.

[Mosaic]

22. He was brain dead, literally

A cheap, good for nothing actor. He was just a product of his handlers, radical cons, conning the nation into third world nation status.

[russspeakeasy]

23. Yup !

[begin_within]

24. I'd love to read freeper reactions to that article, for a good laugh.

[certainot]

25. sorry, it was telling me it wasn't posting....

[certainot]

26. x

[certainot]

27. good list but i would add reagan's ending of the Fairness Doctrine, which allowed

the right to subsidize and build the talk radio monopoly which has done the heavy lifting nation-wide repetition that has allowed the right to create their own reality, change language, swiftboat good people and ideas, obstruct progress, and intimidate, manage, and enable politicians and media to effect the reagan legacy.

no other medium has been more responsible for getting us in the mess we're in. the only plus is that by transforming the party of lincoln into the party of limbaugh, reagan is ultimately responsible for driving the GOP off a cliff. the pitiful, ignorant, and corrupt candidates they put out as their best are mostly talk radio candidates, weeded out on national and local levels by the talk radio gods as the one's best suited to repeat their talking points and lies.

unfortunately the RW talk radio monopoly has done very well dragging the rest of the country along with it. and more than any other tool, RWTR has allowed the limbaugh party to rewrite the history on reagan while cementing and continuing much of the disastrous legacy listed above.

[madrchsod]

28. Afghanistan was a cia war and reagan knew nothing about it.

he found out late in the war when the cia needed his signature for the stinger missiles. charlie wilson was responsible for the usa involvement in Afghanistan. both the documentary that wilson participated in and the movie "charlie wilson's war" is pretty dam close to the truth.reagan`s involvement in peace process in lebanon was undermined by george bush and his boys in the basement.

toward the end of his last term he had no clue what was going on in his presidency.


reagan/bush was bad but georgie boy bush was the worse president since the 20`s

[craigmatic]

29. Reagan was the worst president because of one fact he was indifferent to the suffering of the poor

and sick.

[NICO9000]

30. Plus, he was rock stupid

Thus helping pave the way for W, my pick for worst ever. Reagan was horrific and really accelarted the downhill slide in this country, but he definitely made W possible. And W has made Bachmann, Perry and the rest of these clowns possible. Dumb, dumber, dumberer.

[pacalo]

31. The Supreme Court's installment was the absolute worst, imo.

[DeSwiss]

32. K&R n/t

[TheeHazelnut]

33. Wish Obama wouldn't praise him every chance he gets to place himself above partisanship.

Helps build up the conservative narrative of Reagan's vision for America which hurts Democrats and liberals and the country as a whole.

[defendandprotect]

47. +1 -- ugh, agree -- !!

[dash_bannon]

35. W Was Worse!!

I can name one positive thing about Reagan, he did sign the missile treaty that banned medium ranged nuclear missiles in Europe. Granted the credit mostly goes to Gorbachev, but W wouldn't have had the brains to sign such an agreement.

In fact, W put anti-ballistic missile systems in place that have a 15% chance of working.

W was dumber and left a worse legacy than Reagan.

[Bluenorthwest]

36. Reagan was the Angel of Death In Cheif

Cold, shallow and ignorant man. Worst President in my lifetime,

[caseymoz]

37. Good reasons, but he has tough competition from Dubya.

I think the worst damage Reagan did was not even listed there: socio-political damage. He and his people knew how to make things look good. As a result, he and his followers made his fantasy conservatism look real. In doing so, he minted a whole generation of idiots who think conservatism is moral and practical. It's made worse from the fact that the Soviet Union chose a bad time to collapse, thus making it look like Reagan did it. Then conservatives were able to import the Cold War and use its rhetoric against liberals and progressives. George H. W. did this calling Dukakis a "card carrying member of the ACLU." Remember when that used to refer to the Communist Party?

I still think Dubya was the worst President by far, however, the Repubs and Right-Indys would have never supported such an utterly stupid person for the Presidency if they didn't think dotaring, uninterested, error-prone Reagan did a helluva job.

[tclambert]

38. One reason why Reagan was NOT the worst President in our lifetimes: George W. Bush.

[totodeinhere]

39. I don't know which was worse, Saint Ronnie or GWB, but suffice it to say, they were both horrible

presidents who went a long way toward destroying this country. And if Newt got elected, God forbid, then we'd be debating if maybe he was the worst ever.

[The Wizard]

40. A pitch man for

some of the worst and most corrupt scoundrels to walk the planet. Old man Bush was running things from the White House basement. The assassination attempt left him feeble and with just enough energy to be the ribbon cutter in chief. He committed treason when he had his people secretly negotiating with the Iranians to hold the hostages until he got elected and he would supply them with modern weapons. Poppy Bush and his cartel still run the country.

[caseymoz]

41. I don't know, Reagan gets tough competition from Dubya

I think the worst damage Reagan did was not even listed there: socio-political damage. He and his people knew how to make things look good. As a result, he and his followers made his fantasy conservatism look real. In doing so, he minted a whole generation of idiots who think conservatism is moral and practical. It's made worse from the fact that the Soviet Union chose a bad time to collapse, thus making it look like Reagan did it. Then conservatives were able to import the Cold War and use its rhetoric against liberals and progressives. George H. W. did this calling Dukakis a "card carrying member of the ACLU." Remember when that used to refer to the Communist Party?

I still think Dubya was the worst President by far, however, the Repubs and Right-Indys would have never supported such an utterly stupid person for the Presidency if they hadn't been convinced that dotaring, uninterested, error-prone Reagan did a helluva job.

[Snarkoleptic]

45. You can't polish a turd (how I posted this on Facebook)

.

[mckara]

49. We Could Make a Fair Argument for Reagan When Considering the Zeitgeist

But, he would have governed differently if he had a sense of American History that was not written by right-wing propagandists.

[agincourt]

50. Reason #9

The most massive dumbing down of our political culture happened during the Reagen administration. Never before had Americans loved a president who had done so little for them and so much against. The Reagen "recovery" was a farce, without massive defense spending there would have been no economic growth. This imbecile did nothing good for us and yes we probably wouldn't have the terrorism problem we have today without his myopic anti-russian policies. He brought style and bullshit over substance politics to it's most effective level that we still see today. That in the end was probably the worst damage he done. Americans gave up their critical thinking skills in regards to politics and we haven't seen it come back yet. This was all done without fox news and RW talk radio. It's simply amazing how anyone could love this guy as president and still look at how he governed. His successful career changed the political landscape for the worst.

[oldhippydude]

52. he had some help

the "liberal press" was asleep at the wheel.. all 3 networks carried water for the adminisrtation..(pre fokkks).. it was far easier to just go along with the adminisrtation, than it was to gather any facts.. the folks in the administration knew this and simply wrote the press releases..

can you imaginewhat a Democrat would have faced after teh Beruit bombing killing our Marines..or Ollie North being a hero for Iran Contra.. and yes even trading with Iran when relations with that country were hotter than are today..

yep i remeber the Reagan recovery worst years of my working carreer..

heres another one.. Obamas election percentage was higher than Reagans... yep according to the ptb.. Reagan had a mandate, but not Obama..

Also please remember the difference between the congress of Reagan's time and Obama's Tip O'Neil was the house majority leader.. Tip O'Neil always worked for the benifit of average americans.. congress slowed down the reagan excesses a lot.. there were deals made that minimized to some extent the right ward surge.. The hose rublicans of teh Obama era have no honor.. an no constituancies save the elete

[guss]

56. Obama / Reagan

The comparison between Obama and Reagan is close I think. 
they both Started out being Democrats and then Bowed down to
the republicans. I see the train wreck when that happens. 

[Hutzpa]

51. k&r

nt.

[ErikJ]

53. Condensed List:

This is a good list to give to Neocons because it includes some of the LIBERAL events of his administration which REALLY freaks them out.

Reagan raised taxes eleven times as President.
Reagan legalized abortion as Governor of California.
Ronald Reagan supported gun control.

Reagan TRIPLED the national debt from 1 to 3 TRILLION
Reagan gave amnesty to 3 million illegals
Reagan doubled middle class payroll taxes while cutting taxes on the top 1% by 70%.
Reagan was the first to raid the growing SS surplus for the general fund to compensate for his tax cuts on the rich.

Reagan cut and run from Beirut
Reagan TRIPLED the national debt
Reagan grew the Federal government by 67,000 jobs.

Reagan secretly negotiated with terrorists in 1980 as a strategy to win the election.
Reagan armed the Mujadeen in Afghanistan who later became the Taliban.
Reagan took the 5th 70 times to avoid going to jail.

Ronald Wilson Reagan = 6 6 6
The GOP Logo has 3 upside down stars or Satanic Pentagrams.
Reagan used Astrology for his decisions

Reagan had the largest number of scandals for any US president with the investigation, indictment, or conviction of over 138 administration officials.
Reagan borrowed and SPENT more than all previous US presidents in history-COMBINED!.
Did I say? Reagan TRIPLED the national debt 1 to 3 Trillion.

[Angry Dragon]

55. Read Landslide ........ opened my eyes to many things