“A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves.” –Bertrand de Jouvenel
by Tina Grazier
Today marks the 100th anniversary of President Ronald Reagan’s birth. While pondering what I might write to honor this great man I recalled the many times he had taken to a microphone to inspire and urge the American people to greater individual accomplishment. He spoke of the entrepreneurial spirit and, through the power of leadership granted him, inspired aliveness and a host of new business activity. He also reminded us of the great principles that act as a foundation for our endeavors. He made us feel proud, once again, to be American citizens. Choosing among his words would be difficult. I finally settled on the following because it is appropriate to our situation today:
“Americans are, in their time of discontent, encouraged by doom and gloom criers who would have us believe our only salvation lies in becoming docile sheep for the government shepherd. I happen to believe government is not the solution to our problems – government is the problem.” – Ronald Reagan
Salvation through government is an idea whose time must end. We have now experienced the down side of the savior’s exciting message of hope. When we foolishly put our faith in a distant government as the solution to problems what follows is increased pain and suffering for all but the very wealthy. Big government is inefficient, complex and wasteful. Bigger government simply cannot, therefore, mark an improvement and it certainly will not leave a legacy we can proudly pass to future generations.
For decades Americans have listened to the voices that preach big government answers to problems. FDR gave us social security as part of the New Deal; social security has become a faltering bankrupt system that adds to our debt and overburdens our children and grandchildren. LBJ’s contribution to the big government ideal was the ever increasing “War on Poverty” welfare and Medicare systems. Both of these have added to our debt and placed excessive financial burdens on future generations. Jimmy Carter added two new departments, Education and Energy, to increase the size and scope of government. The Clinton presidency was spared a similar big government legacy only with the defeat of “Hillarycare” and the restraint of a newly elected Republican congress. George W. Bush moved that center further right but failed to get his social security reforms passed in Congress. Although he attempted to consolidate certain agencies he also created the very expensive Department of Homeland Security. President Obama has taken the helm and focused on two things: redistribution of wealth and growing the size and power of government. As Reagan himself might have said, “There they go again.”
Ronald Reagan was unable to reclaim the Republican form of government that the founders established and that he spoke of so eloquently but his ability to remind the American people of their identity and heritage remains strong and will act as a beacon for generations to come. As we consider the state of our nation, the massive debt, the lack of opportunity, the burdens we are leaving to our children, and as we continue to feel the financial burdens of expansive and intrusive government it would be wise to heed the wise words of our former president, Ronald Reagan:
“We are a nation that has a government–not the other way around. And this makes us special among the nations of the Earth. Our government has no power except that granted it by the people. It is time to check and reverse the growth of government, which shows signs of having grown beyond the consent of the governed.”
It has never in our history been so obvious that big government is not the answer. It is time for the people to dismantle the government bureaucracy that is costing us so very much in terms of dollars, lost dreams, and opportunity. We are not mere sheep; we can reclaim our power and take on the responsibilities of self governance. We are a nation of individuals, each with particular strengths and talents, and each with something of value to contribute. Together we can once again become a force to be reckoned with and a marvel for the world’s peoples to emulate. When free to pursue our own interests, to work and provide for ourselves, and to risk and follow our passions we also inspire and create opportunity for others. This dynamic of individual effort and individual responsibility works. Reagan knew that it because he lived it and witnessed it at work when he and his fellow Americans resolved to overcome the devastation of the great depression and to win WWII. It was the spirit of the individual that won these battles and it will be that same spirit that restores America to her vibrant dynamic self. We need only say no to the central planners in Washington and yes to our own divine spirits. It will be a difficult undertaking but no more so than what will befall the American people if we continue down this broken and dusty big government path.
I can’t think of a more fitting tribute to mark the 100th birthday of former President Ronald Reagan than to resolve together to throw off the chains and restraints of big government.
“I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents….” –James Madison
We Should use the occasion to finally be honest with ourselves about what a leftist Ronny was.
Here are ten things I found today.
1. Reagan was a serial tax raiser. As governor of California, Reagan “signed into law the largest tax increase in the history of any state up till then.” Meanwhile, state spending nearly doubled. As president, Reagan “raised taxes in seven of his eight years in office,” including four times in just two years. As former GOP Senator Alan Simpson, who called Reagan “a dear friend,” told NPR, “Ronald Reagan raised taxes 11 times in his administration — I was there.” “Reagan was never afraid to raise taxes,” said historian Douglas Brinkley, who edited Reagan’s memoir. Reagan the anti-tax zealot is “false mythology,” Brinkley said.
2. Reagan nearly tripled the federal budget deficit. During the Reagan years, the debt increased to nearly $3 trillion, “roughly three times as much as the first 80 years of the century had done altogether.” Reagan enacted a major tax cut his first year in office and government revenue dropped off precipitously. Despite the conservative myth that tax cuts somehow increase revenue, the government went deeper into debt and Reagan had to raise taxes just a year after he enacted his tax cut. Despite ten more tax hikes on everything from gasoline to corporate income, Reagan was never able to get the deficit under control.
3. Unemployment soared after Reagan’s 1981 tax cuts. Unemployment jumped to 10.8 percent after Reagan enacted his much-touted tax cut, and it took years for the rate to get back down to its previous level. Meanwhile, income inequality exploded. Despite the myth that Reagan presided over an era of unmatched economic boom for all Americans, Reagan disproportionately taxed the poor and middle class, but the economic growth of the 1980s did little help them. “Since 1980, median household income has risen only 30 percent, adjusted for inflation, while average incomes at the top have tripled or quadrupled,” the New York Times’ David Leonhardt noted.
4. Reagan grew the size of the federal government tremendously. Reagan promised “to move boldly, decisively, and quickly to control the runaway growth of federal spending,” but federal spending “ballooned” under Reagan. He bailed out Social Security in 1983 after attempting to privatize it, and set up a progressive taxation system to keep it funded into the future. He promised to cut government agencies like the Department of Energy and Education but ended up adding one of the largest — the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, which today has a budget of nearly $90 billion and close to 300,000 employees. He also hiked defense spending by over $100 billion a year to a level not seen since the height of the Vietnam war.
5. Reagan did little to fight a woman’s right to choose. As governor of California in 1967, Reagan signed a bill to liberalize the state’s abortion laws that “resulted in more than a million abortions.” When Reagan ran for president, he advocated a constitutional amendment that would have prohibited all abortions except when necessary to save the life of the mother, but once in office, he “never seriously pursued” curbing choice.
6. Reagan was a “bellicose peacenik.” He wrote in his memoirs that “[m]y dream…became a world free of nuclear weapons.” “This vision stemmed from the president’s belief that the biblical account of Armageddon prophesied nuclear war — and that apocalypse could be averted if everyone, especially the Soviets, eliminated nuclear weapons,” the Washington Monthly noted. And Reagan’s military buildup was meant to crush the Soviet Union, but “also to put the United States in a stronger position from which to establish effective arms control” for the the entire world — a vision acted out by Regean’s vice president, George H.W. Bush, when he became president.
7. Reagan gave amnesty to 3 million undocumented immigrants. Reagan signed into law a bill that made any immigrant who had entered the country before 1982 eligible for amnesty. The bill was sold as a crackdown, but its tough sanctions on employers who hired undocumented immigrants were removed before final passage. The bill helped 3 million people and millions more family members gain American residency. It has since become a source of major embarrassment for conservatives.
8. Reagan illegally funneled weapons to Iran. Reagan and other senior U.S. officials secretly sold arms to officials in Iran, which was subject to a an arms embargo at the time, in exchange for American hostages. Some funds from the illegal arms sales also went to fund anti-Communist rebels in Nicaragua — something Congress had already prohibited the administration from doing. When the deals went public, the Iran-Contra Affair, as it came to be know, was an enormous political scandal that forced several senior administration officials to resign.
9. Reagan vetoed a comprehensive anti-Apartheid act. which placed sanctions on South Africa and cut off all American trade with the country. Reagan’s veto was overridden by the Republican-controlled Senate. Reagan responded by saying “I deeply regret that Congress has seen fit to override my veto,” saying that the law “will not solve the serious problems that plague that country.”
10. Reagan helped create the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. Reagan fought a proxy war with the Soviet Union by training, arming, equipping, and funding Islamist mujahidin fighters in Afghanistan. Reagan funneled billions of dollars, along with top-secret intelligence and sophisticated weaponry to these fighters through the Pakistani intelligence service. The Talbian and Osama Bin Laden — a prominent mujahadee commander — emerged from these mujahidin groups Reagan helped create, and U.S. policy towards Pakistan remains strained because of the intelligence services’ close relations to these fighters. In fact, Reagan’s decision to continue the proxy war after the Soviets were willing to retreat played a direct role in Bin Laden’s ascendancy.
If only we had some really old people who actually lived back in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. I cant help but feel that if we had some input from people who lived in those horrible times they could really put the cherry on that cake of bullshit your frosting Q.
This “top 10” list of weak arguments against one of America’s most loved Presidents has been reposted numerous times on the internet. It’s a testament to Reagan that so many years after his death, so many would-be opinion leaders still try to bring down his name.
It’s not so much of a testament to the person who posted it here that he reposts this garbage. Are we to believe Q is unhappy that Reagan wasn’t vocal enough on Right to Life issues, or that Q thinks Reagan was wrong for envisioning a world without nuclear weapons?
Are we really to believe the faux anger that Reagan had a $3 trillion deficit, given the deficit under Obama is now 5 times as much?
Reagan began the dream of conservatism, whether he stood the test of today’s conservative values or not. No one has ever claimed that he was perfect, quite the contrary, even Reagan admits himself that for a portion of his younger life he made the mistake of voting democrat too!
Nice try, but sorry, no prize. Ronald Reagan remains a better inspiration for today’s America than anyone the left has put up for office since our nation’s birth. He remains our hero, and no carbon copied David Letterman styled top 10 list will change that.
When we fail to provide a full context along with a few facts, the true record isnt served. To that end let us add some color to what Quentin has shared:
I dont think anyone who admires Reagan has ever said he was an anti-tax zealot but the intense descriptor does make for interesting copy. What we have done is make generalized statements about Reagans tax cuts and the dynamic effect those tax cuts had on the overall economy. What we have done is share the philosophy which is often different from the overall record as he worked within the confines and restraints of government with its checks and balances. There is a difference between being in the game and ones desires prior to the game. The quarterback doesnt always move the ball as well as he would like.
Reagan became a big fan of reasonable income tax rates based on the Laffer Curve, a theory that demonstrates there is a point at which tax rates begin to have a negative impact on the private sector and lead to lost revenue to the state, a stagnating private sector and high unemployment. Rates that are too low (given the enormous size of government) would be unwise as well unless we can cut the size of government and reform entitlement spending moving it to the private sector. Government has no business playing at being in business so this would be more desirable. (see more about the Laffer Curve here:
http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/real-world-evidence-for-the-laffer-curve-from-the-government-of-washington-dc/
In California Reagan sought to keep a workable balance by advocating for lower taxes when they were strangling the private sector. Following the era of Edmond G Brown his position was right on the money!
http://www.newgeography.com/content/001712-the-golden-state%E2%80%99s-war-itself