It is not just Reagan’s Tinkle Down theory or his aptly named Voodoo Reaganomics that changed America into a cold nation of satisfied conservative customers. But a host of other things.
The first thing he did as Governor of California was to remove funding for perscription eye glasses for poor children. The first thing he did as President was bust a union, hire scabs and refuse to ever hire the strikers back. As AIDS began when he took office in 1981 killing thousands of Americans in the deadliest pandemic in a generation Ronald Reagan refused to even mention it until a few months before he left office more than 7 years later. That alone is beyond disgusting. And thought he famously set the tone to keep reducing taxes on the wealthy and building up the military he TRIPLED the national debt. He gave us the model of ever increasing debt and not caring about it.
But the two things he is most responsible for is the prevailing anger of HATE THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT that so drives the Tea Party, Talk Radio, Fox News, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann et al. And of course shifting a nation that once cared for each other into a nation that no longer is even capable of even mentioning the poor, the working poor, or those who suffer the most at the hands of ever increasing Lassie Farts Capitalism. The ULTIMATE Lipstick on a Pig
Today there are four issues at play. Turn on the TV, surf the web, listen to the radio and its the same four things at the top of every agenda that we we must do or die:
Massive cuts in Medicaid – Medical help for the poor, the working poor and the uninsured.
Massive cuts in Medicare – Medical help for senior citizens, MOST of whom have no alternative.
Massive cuts in Social Security – What MOST seniors need for rent, food and drugs.
Repeal of Health Care Reform – SO NONE OF THE ABOVE WILL BE ADDRESSED OR FIXED.
BTW, that is mostly the NEW DEAL which Republicans have been trying to destroy for 80 years. There is no discussion on raising taxes to pay for anything at all. It is no longer a political option. If you even talk about taxing the wealthy they will play the extortion card. "If you raise taxes on us, we will refuse to hire anyone, and move more of our business and capital offshore." There you have today’s Republican patriotism.
And it is not just Republicans, it has become who we are and what we vote for. It is ugly and mean and selfish and above all, it is as UNCHRISTIAN as is humanly possible.