Ronald Reagan was much worse than George W. Bush

[Sandpiper]

Over the past couple of days, I've hear a lot of DUers say Reagan was the second worst President after Shrub. I'm going to have to say no way on that one.

Were it not for Ronald Reagan, there's no way that someone like George W. Bush would have ever been elected.

Reagan was the first idiot/empty suit President in our nation's history. He permanently lowered the bar for Presidential intellectual standards, thus allowing a dimwit like Dubya to get elected. Margaret Thatcher, his political ally, had this to say of him: "The poor dear. He has nothing between his ears."

The Reagan Administration also sowed the seeds of the neoconservative philosophy. Reagan bloated the military budget, helped create monsters like Hussein, the Contras, and the Taliban, and believed that the purpose of the armed forces were to enforce US hegemony around the globe in order to achieve the neocons' vision of a Pax Americana.

Furthermore, it was Ronald Reagan who introduced the destructive idea of trickle down economics, or in other words, cutting taxes for the rich and waiting for some of their largesse to trickle down to the rest of us. It was Reagan's voodoo economics that led to 189% increase of the national debt. And while the wealthy prospered, real wages of the working class declined, and poverty went up by 20%.

Everything Shrub does is just an extension of the poisonous legacy of Ronald Wilson Reagan. Were there no President Reagan, there would be no President George W. Bush. In my mind it's no contest as to who's the worst.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

1. Withour Nixon and Reagan, Bush II could have never been.

But the REAL damage is being done by Bush II. GWB has turned the world against us and has polarized a deeply divided nation. Nixon and Reagan did not bring hate towards America. Yes, Reagan was controversial and seen in the eyes of many being a "Rouge Cowboy", but he understood that he had to work with other people who were not like himself, such as Moderate Repugs as Howard Baker and co.

Bush II has no understanding of the world around him. He will do whatever it takes to get his way.

[Jokerman]

2. I Agree!

Reagan had a lot to do with the dumbing down of America. By gutting the FCC he paved the way for the corporate dominance of the news media and the subsequent free ride given to the shrub.

[Ganja Ninja]

3. Give the chimp 8 years and he'll make Reagan look mediocre.

[Shredr]

11. This is scary but true

You're comparing 8 years of Reagan to only 3 1/2 of Shrub. Give Dubya another term and he'll blow the old Gipper out of the water. he must be stopped.

[rogerashton]

4. All good points. Nevertheless

9-11 did not happen on Reagan's watch.

also --

"Reagan was the first idiot/empty suit President in our nation's history."

Could we be forgetting Warren G. Harding? James Buchanan? If I took the time I think I could suggest a few others. (But what a league to be in!)

[JHB]

6. But they were just empty suits...

...not empty suits providing cover for a movement (neocons, corporatists, and religious right).

[mopaul]

5. bush's whole cabinet are old reagan has beens, now running things

reagan/bush/bush a continuation interrupted for 8 years by attacking clinton.

[yella_dawg]

7. Reagan / Bush / Bush II are / were

just a continuation of the philosophies / personalities behind Nixon. Reagan was a puppet, Bush was a loser, and Bush II is the face currently presented by the monster. Better / Worse is a futile exercise. It's a continuum that has thus far produced Bush II. Evil is evil, and it is useless to make lesser / greater evil comparisons in this case. It's all the same, with each player fulfilling a different role.


on edit: spelling

[David__77]

8. Agree he was worse than Bush.

But I do not agree that he was an idiot. He was quite calculated actually. Bush is a bumbling fool in comparison.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

9. In less than four years, the NeoCons have managed to:...

**Destroy the economy (Reagan only wounded it);

**Get us involved in two simultaneous wars in the Middle East (even Ronnie was smart enough to keep us out of THAT quagmire);

**Cut social programs to the bone;

**Cut taxes for the rich while increasing the tax burden of the poor;

**Signed into law legislation originally designed to track terrorists, but now is used to track U. S. citizens;

**Alienate us from the international community.

[Zero Gravitas]

10. Disagree

As bad as the Reagan presidency was, GWB is a million times worse.

[Aidoneus]

12. They both have a really brilliant talent

For putting a nice smiley face on a big steaming pile of shit. That is important in order to get people to enjoy what is bad for them, a major piece of modern governance (see Huxley).

[K-W]

13. Bush is worse, but Reagan is responsible.

I agree with you entirely about Reagan, he was the one who put us in this mess. His meddling in the world helped create the dangerous world that Bush is using as an excuse to meddle. Reagan destroyed the democratic party and we are still trying to answer the riddle he created.

Why in a time of such ideological weakness for the GOP are they able to electorally defeat the Democratic party so often?

[sadiesworld]

14. Raygun set the stage for the destruction of the New Deal...

the monkey will deliver the coup de grace in a second term.

It breaks my heart to think of the hard fought progress Clinton made, only to have it wiped out in 3 1/2 years by irresponsible tax cuts and a pointless war.

[genius]

15. Reagan was braindead. He didn't know what he was doing. Bush is evil.