Bill Maher is often a weak-minded light weight.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

For example, Maher had Grover Norquist on his show last Friday and said something so stupid that it made my head hurt. He said Ronald Reagan was an “old school” Republican. The context was that Reagan had agreed to six or seven tax hikes during his two terms.

The idea that Reagan was “old school” in his approach to taxes is laughable. He was revolutionary (or more aptly “reactionary) in his approach to taxes. He caused radical decreases in the largest marginal income tax rates, from 70% to 28%. When his ideologically ridiculous “trickle down” policies led to the opposite effect on the federal deficit from the predictions he made, he was forced to compromise with a Democratic Congress. Hence the modest tax increases after his original hugely regressive initiative upon taking power.

Bill Maher, either get smart or surrender your show to someone with a sense of history and greater capacity for critical thinking.

[villager]

1. And everyone always forgets it was Reagan who taxed *unemployment benefits*

Which, it should be noted, no Democrat, subsequently, seems willing to make an issue of.

[Laluchacontinua]

15. And social security benefits, for the first time in the history of the program.

[FarLeftFist]

2. When Reagan said "The Govt is the problem" is the day democracy was undermined and died.

STUPIDEST thing a sitting President has ever said. But I think Maher got to Norquist, Norquist was squirming.

[arcane1]

3. Compared to today's repubs, he's exactly right

I guess it depends on how one uses "old school".

I found the interview to be a lot of fun, because he made Grover so uncomfortable :)

[FarLeftFist]

6. Yeah he did. We can't expect Maher to completely berate his guests.

He wants them to come back so he can continue chipping away at their ideology.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

25. I wouldn't encourage him to berate guests.

But I do encourage him not to mischaracterize an ideologue who set this country on a tragic course.

[FarLeftFist]

29. I think it was his way of saying "look how batshit crazy you have all become"

[applegrove]

31. I think we all knew Maher meant that Regan wasn't as batshit crazy

as the current teabaggers policywise. Though he was batshit crazy.

[ellisonz]

4. Voodoo economics.

;-)

[XanaDUer]

5. I've heard Maher referred to as an "intellectual"

He's not but he is fairly well read. when he's spot on he can be inspired. Not sure where he got that a out Ronnie. Sarcasm, I hope?

[Worship Money]

7. Right

Maher IS a bit of an intellectual lightweight, but that's relative and he usually (usually) doesn't pretend otherwise. The other thing is, I don't think he's all that funny.

However, he is spot on and quite well spoken on a number of really important issues. Like...THE MOST important issues. He's surprisingly charismatic and brings up excellent points.

I definitely consider Maher as on our side, with secondary disagreements coming up as you'd expect.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

17. He seemed quite sincere.

My point is that when so many give any credence to Reagan, it pollutes the public discourse. The majority of Americans never agreed with Reagan's radical policies. But he always polled better on his likability ratings than policy. With the hagiographic treatment by Fox News and others, historical revisionism on Reagan is in full swing.

Most people believe whatever they hear, if it is repeated often enough. So-called progressives participating in the revisionism is a big part of the problem. Hence the cognitive dissonance: a supermajority of Americans want a sea change away from Reaganism but few are willing to go TV and tell the truth about the connection between the Reagan Revolution and the resultant Occupy movement!

[truedelphi]

32. My problems with Maher started this year when he would come

on stage with this plate of food. It was his way of having a "pie chart" that was supposed to graphically portray how the Federal Government's general fund pays for things.

And he, for whatever reason, insisted on having the Social Security monies that get paid out, come from the General Fund. By lumping Social Security with Medicare, he is showing everyone that one third of our yearly budget is spent on those items.

It is very graphic, and it does make a point - but it is totally wrong. Social Security has its own fund. That fund has a 2.1 trillion dollar surplus. Why no one has corrected him on this I don't know.

But he thinks his "pie chart" is the most clever thing in the world.

He has dragged it out at least three times already this season.

[Jello Biafra]

8. What you expect from Maher....?

he's a comedian...and as such I wouldn't expect him to have a sense of history. Herman Cain, on the other hand, thinks China doesn't have nuclear weapons yet. But as a presidential candidate, I would expect Cain to know more about history to be qualified. It seems none of the GOP candidates are qualified since they don't know about history and they don't read. Wow have we down dumbed the position...

[baldguy]

9. Like any libertarian, he prefers simple solutions to complex problems.

Like any comedian, he prefers a joke to the truth - even if the joke might relies biases which are false.

[Bluenorthwest]

10. Obama called Regan 'transformative' and more so than Clinton

And Maher is a comic. Discuss. His show exists to entertain, not to present the greatest capacity for critical thinking. The point is laughs. That's the objective.
Grover was highly uncomfortable. That was entertaining, and I laughed.

[Liberal Veteran]

11. Yeah, he is a mixed bag. He is no Rachel Maddow or Thom Hartmann, but...

....he does seem to be on the correct side of a lot of issues.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

28. Agreed.

I agree with him much more often than not. But sometimes I think it's unsettling when comedians take themselves seriously. Of Maher, Jon Stewart and Colbert, I think Stephen Colbert is the only one with sufficient gravitas to be spot on almost every time. In general, I think they all do some very good things. But Mr. Maher, don't just rely on staff research, please talk to a real thinker before interviewing someone with great influence, such as Norquist!

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

22. What is "lazy and reprehensible"

is Bill Maher who did indeed say Reagan was an "old school" Republican at the eight minute mark of the linked video in the way I suggested in the OP. Reagan did *not* believe that raising taxes was necessary in order to avoid deficits, as Maher asserts. He campaigned and governed on precisely the opposite premise. To suggest that Reagan was an old school Republican is a perversion of history. So what is your point?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

13. Maher is an entertainer...first, foremost, and always

This should surprise no one.

[Laluchacontinua]

14. Bill Maher is a mediocre thinker who imagines he's brilliant. I've always disliked him.

[FiveGoodMen]

16. Maher's really great talent is the perfectly-worded smackdown

When he aims it in the proper direction it's a lot of fun to witness.

[phleshdef]

18. Reagan was President over 20 years ago. And he was a lot more cooperative minded than today's breed.

That all Bill is saying. He isn't trying to let Reagan off the hook for anything. What he said is factually accurate.

[libinnyandia]

19. Maher doesn't pretend to be deep thinker and

I enjoy much more listening to him than Dennis Miller or Michael Moore.

[ProfessorGAC]

20. That Wasn't Maher's Point

You missed the point completely. He was undermining Norquist by reminding him that even St. Ronnie saw that sometimes one can't stay locked into the "low taxes" mindset.

The right thinks all Reagan did was lower taxes and save the economy. Maher was reminding the loathesome Norquist, on international TV, that he was wrong.

The point was to make Norquist look like the radical dimwit he is.
GAC

[Admiral Loinpresser]

24. Actually, I believe you missed mine.

I noted in the OP that Maher was making the point that Reagan raised taxes many times. A legitmate point which made Norquist uncomfortable. But indoing so he referred to Reagan in a way which is highly misleading on his position on taxes: "old school." My broader point here is that to submit to the premise that Reagan is laudable in some way in this regard is not historically accurate. If Maher had not tried to paint Reagan in a false light I would not have had a problem. Many parts of the interview were good. But continuing this slavish deference to Reagan as someone of substance is pollutive of the public discourse.

[snooper2]

26. you forgot to put a space between "in" and "doing"

[Admiral Loinpresser]

27. LOL, I stand corrected. n/t

[KharmaTrain]

21. Mahrer handed Grover his lunch in a bathtub...

He beat up Grover with his own words and analogies. I thought he turned the Raygun myths and bullshit that Grover and his ilk perpetrate on him...and made him look like the hypocrite and fool that he his. He may not have used the framing you like but he did it with Grover's own words...hanging him on his own petard.

There are many times that I would agree that Mahrer is a lightweight or lets his prejudices get in the way of being as objective and educated on a topic as I would like, but in this case, much to my surprise and delight disected Grover using his own talking points.

[jayfish]

23. Aren't we all? -NT-

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.