How can we set the Repubes straight about Reagan and the "cut taxes" myth?

[serrano2008]

They all say that we need to cut taxes and quote Reagan's inaugural address where he said "government is the problem not the solution".

None of them seem to grasp that Reagan got us out of the early 80's recession by lowering interest rates and deficit spending. He didn't lower taxes until after the recession was over.

I hear radio a-holes and tv whomevers talking all the time about this and every single time they get it wrong. How can we set these fools straight on Reagan?

[Historic NY]

1. Just point to Wall Street, deregulation & privatization of government.

Government allowed things to run unchecked.

[DFW]

2. You can't

As with Jesus, Reagan's true believers really think he walked on water. There is no way
you will be able to convince them otherwise because it would shatter their core beliefs,
and force them to rethink the world. That's a tall order, indeed.

[stevedeshazer]

4. True

This is their religion.

[Idealism]

3. Teach them to read, then buy them a copy of "The Shock Doctrine"

[csziggy]

7. Or the newly released "Tear Down This Myth"

I want to get a copy to read and share.

From the book:

It was Ronald Reagan himself who, as the spotlight faded on his presidency in 1988, tried to highlight his eight-year record by reviving a quote from John Adams, that "facts are stubborn things." The moment became quite famous because the then-77-year-old president had botched it, and said that "facts are stupid things." The tragedy of American politics was that just two decades later, facts were neither stubborn nor even stupid - but largely irrelevant.

Any information about Iran-Contra or how the 1979-81 hostages were released (Rudy Giuliani had falsely claimed during the 2008 race they were freed when "the Gipper" looked Iranian leaders in the eye) that didn't fit the new official story line was being metaphorically clipped out of the newspaper and tossed down "memory hole" - the fate of any information that would have undercut Reagan's image as an all-benevolent Big Brother still guiding the conservative movement from above.

A more factual synopsis of the Reagan presidency might read like this: That Reagan was a transformative figure in American history, but his real revolution was one of public-relations-meets-politics and not one of policy. He combined his small-town heartland upbringing with a skill for story-telling that was honed on the back lots of Hollywood into a personal narrative that resonated with a majority of voters, but only after it tapped into something darker, which was white middle class resentment of 1960s unrest.

His story arc did become more optimistic and peaked at just the right moment, when Americans were tired of the "malaise" of the Jimmy Carter years and wanted someone who promised to make the nation feel good about itself again. But his positive legacy as president today hangs on events that most historians say were to some great measure out of his control: An economic recovery that was inevitable, especially when world oil prices returned to normal levels, and an end to the Cold War that was more driven by internal events in the Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe than Americans want to acknowledge.

His 1981 tax cut was followed quickly by tax hikes that you rarely hear about, and Reagan's real lasting achievement on that front was slashing marginal rates for the wealthy - even as rising payroll taxes socked the working class. His promise to shrink government was uttered so many time that many acolytes believe it really happened, but in fact Reagan expanded the federal payroll, added a new cabinet post, and created a huge debt that ultimately tripped up his handpicked successor, George H.W. Bush. What he did shrink was government regulation and oversight - linked to a series of unfortunate events from the savings-and-loan crisis of the late 1980s to the sub-prime mortgage crisis of the late 2000s.

http://www.truthout.org/012809L

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

5. History will regardless of how much the Pubs wish it wouldn't

http://www.truthout.org/012809L

That link has info about the book Tear Down This Myth

[rwheeler31]

6. When traders understand .

[sandnsea]

8. Volcker raised interest rates

to stop inflation. Reagan's tax cut caused people to hold off on investing, which actually made the recession worse. After that, they put us into debt by spending on defense, big surprise. Created a mortgage bubble and crashed the stock market. Threw us all out of work again.

[Hello_Kitty]

9. He nearly doubled payroll taxes.

We (working people) are still paying the price for that.

[opihimoimoi]

10. With the TRUTH and EVIDENCE.....LOGIC, REASON and COMMON SENSE

BTW....them white males....are hogging the HELM.....

Already a minority : President Obama : is demonstrating what appears to be real Leadership....even under these g;oomy present National and Global conditions....he seems to almost thrive...like he prepared himself for the mission....

This alone is keeping the Market from further sliding....he excudes confidence and optimism and it has a value onto itself