Dumbass Quote Of Note - Ronald Reagan

"We might come closer to balancing the Budget if all of us lived closer to the Commandments and the Golden Rule." - Ronald Reagan

Dumbass Quote Of Note - Ronald Reagan

"We are never defeated unless we give up on God." - Ronald Reagan

Dumbass Quote Of Note - Ronald Reagan

"Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face." - Ronald Reagan

Dumbass Quote Of Note - Ronald Reagan

"Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged. - Ronald Reagan

Dumbass Quote Of Note - Ronald Reagan

"Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure." - Ronald Reagan

Dumbass Quote Of Note - Ronald Reagan

"If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under." - Ronald Reagan

If Problem, Then Solution

Ronald Reagan had things backward when he said "Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem."

It was the United States Government that solved the problem of Ammon Bundy and his minions.

It's as simple as that.

Do we want a civilized society or do we want vigilante justice?

"The misguided notion that financial markets can regulate themselves"

"Government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem." Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan was right. He just said those words twenty seven years too soon. He was wrong about the meaning of those words, however. He meant that government regulation was a bad thing. How wrong can you be? Thanks to him, government is not providing solutions, and it is the problem because it is not doing any oversight at all. So we are left with the financial mess we now find ourselves in because there’s no one left to mind the store, except the thieves.

I have a newfound respect for Reagan. He was able to look into the future and see the absolute mess of the government that is the Bush Administration.

From Seven Deadly Sins of Deregulation -- and Three Necessary Reforms by Robert Kuttner:

The current carnage on Wall Street, with dire spillover effects on Main Street, is the result of a failed ideology -- the idea that financial markets could regulate themselves. Serial deregulation fed on itself. Deliberate repeal of regulations became entangled with failure to carry out laws still on the books. Corruption mingled with simple incompetence. And though the ideology was largely Republican, it was abetted by Wall Street Democrats.

Why regulate? As we have seen ever since the sub-prime market blew up in the summer of 2007, government cannot stand by when a financial crash threatens to turn into a general depression -- even a government like the Bush administration that fervently believes in free markets. But if government must act to contain wider damage when large banks fail, then it is obliged to act to prevent damage from occurring in the first place. Otherwise, the result is what economists term "moral hazard"-- an invitation to take excessive risks.

Read the rest here.

That Was Then And This Is Now

Then:

Jimmy Carter put solar panels on the White House roof, and offered tax credits to anyone who purchased solar energy systems. When Ronald Reagan took office, one of the first things he did was remove the solar panels from the White House and terminate the tax credits. Many people in the solar industry went out of business. The country was convinced that solar doesn't work.

The Time Between Then And Now:

Wasted years and bad leadership as far as energy is concerned. Ronald Reagan helped convince nearly everyone that solar doesn't work. The consensus was that Jimmy Carter was a doofus. Politicians talk a lot about taxes. Ronald Reagan is anointed to sainthood by the Right Wing. Oil consumption and more oil consumption. Rush Limbaugh inexplicably becomes a power-house media figure and further elevates Reagan (into godhood I suppose) while denouncing Carter, and talks a lot about taxes. Politicians talk some more about taxes. GM kills the EV1. Politicians keep talking about taxes. Wars and more wars fought over oil.

Now:

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman inaugurated a solar energy system Tuesday at the department's headquarters in Washington.

The new system involves a 205 kilowatt photovoltaic solar array placed on the roof of the building. The photovoltaic system is 40- to 50 times the size of a typical residential PV system and is one of the largest in the Washington area, officials said. It is expected to save as much as $26,000 in utility costs during its first year of operation.

"As America's largest energy consumer, the U.S. government has the responsibility and the opportunity to lead the way to a cleaner, more efficient, more affordable and more secure energy future," Bodman said in prepared remarks. "I determined the Department of Energy should -- and would -- lead by example."

Bodman said the significance of the solar array is both practical and symbolic: "It improves the way the department consumes energy. And it is a symbol of America's commitment to using the best available new technologies to confront the energy challenges we face today and will face tomorrow."

Politicians are still talking about taxes.

Meanwhile I’m thinking that “affordable solar power for all” would be a good campaign slogan.

Windsurfing And Playing Cowboy

Isn’t John Kerry windsurfing more honest than Bush and Reagan playing cowboy? It seems to me that we really don’t want our politicians to be honest.

Parroting A Political Catchphrase

From Before Reagan, Only Nixon Said "God Bless America" by Matthew C. Nisbet:

In an op-ed at the Seattle Times, communication scholars Dave Domke and Kevin Coe note the absurd God & Country tests that have been applied to Barack Obama, ranging from the "Give Praise to God" test to the "Flag Lapel Pin" test and most recently the "God Bless America" test.

As it turns out, the tradition of saying "God Bless America" by political leaders is a manufactured illusion that has been turned into a patriotic sales pitch, only dating to Ronald Reagan and applied strategically in the post-9/11 Bush presidency.

Isn’t it in the Bible someplace that the parrots shall lead the sheep?

How Stupid Are Republicans? Part Deux

Myths are hard to kill, and it seems to me that most Republicans prefer myth to reality. Paul Krugman debunks another Republican myth in his February 22, 2008 column entitled Don’t Rerun That ‘70s Show:

Jimmy Carter’s overall economic record was much better than most people realize — the average economic growth rate under his administration was 3.4 percent per year, slightly higher than the growth rate under Ronald Reagan and far better than growth under either Bush.

How Stupid Are Republicans?

Stupid enough to vote for George W. Bush twice. Yes, that’s the obvious answer. However, let me ask you this: Did Ronald Reagan ever raise taxes during his presidency? If you answered “no”, you are wrong. If you answered “a little bit”, you are wrong. If you answered “yes, in fact, he is responsible for the biggest peacetime tax increase in American history, you are absolutely correct! Did Reagan raise taxes more than once? Again if you answered “yes”, you get a gold star. Take a look at this excerpt from The Wages of War by Steve H. Hanke published in Forbes on December 8, 2003:

Just look at what happened to President Reagan's supply-side tax cut of 1981. Less than a year later the Gipper put his pen to another tax law that raised taxes by almost 1% of GDP, making it the biggest peacetime tax increase in American history. And that was not all. In every subsequent year of Reagan's presidency, with the exception of 1988, Congress passed and Reagan signed tax increases.

I know what you’re saying: “Hey Paul, I can’t believe something published in that leftist Forbes magazine!” Well, let’s take it even further to the left with the New York Times and Paul Krugman:

But Ronald Reagan does hold a special place in the annals of tax policy, and not just as the patron saint of tax cuts. To his credit, he was more pragmatic and responsible than that; he followed his huge 1981 tax cut with two large tax increases. In fact, no peacetime president has raised taxes so much on so many people.

I know, I know, we can’t believe everything we read. Especially in lefty, communist magazines and newspapers. How about what we read in studies done by lefty, communist governments, like ours. Here is FactCheck.org referring to a study done by the U.S. Department of the Treasury:

In the period since 1968, the study said, "the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 was the biggest increase." That was the tax increase signed by Ronald Reagan, rescinding some of the effects of his huge tax cut passed the year before.

What about George H. W. Bush? “Read my lips, no new taxes”. Nope, he raised taxes too. George W. Bush? As far as I know he has not raised taxes, he’s just dug us into a huge financial hole that no one seems to be happy with, and left it for some other president to raise taxes to dig us out of.

Why does the myth persist that Republicans will lower taxes? They are very good at lying about it and telling us they won’t raise taxes. They aren’t so good at putting it into practice. Could it possibly be that we need taxes? To, you know, PAY FOR STUFF!

How stupid are Republicans? Very stupid, if they keep falling for the tired campaign slogan of “no new taxes”, or “tax cuts”, over and over again. Let’s put an end to this nonsense and cast our votes based on something other than the issue of lowering taxes.