It's Time For A Change: Remove Geithner

In February I attached an article saying that there was a power struggle between Geithner and Axelrod over the direction that was going to be taken with the economy. Geithner won out and it was a mistake. President Obama needs to go back to the people who brought him. He needs to break away from the failed policies that Geithner is continuing that were Paulsen's. The President needs to take charge of this because he is being put into a terrible position and giving the neocons ammunition. Geithner's reality is Wall Street not Main Street. The President needs to go back to Main Street before its too late.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/geithner-unable-to-escape_b_178006.html

Reagan and the Right Wing Conspiracy

Once Ronald Reagan announced that he was suffering from the terrible disease, Alzheimer's, the neocons decided that it was important to perpetuate the right image of Ronald Reagan. Led by neocon Grover Norquist, the Reagan Legacy Project was started in 1997. The purpose was to ensure that the neocon hero would never be subject to critical historical analysis. For the most part, the Legacy Project has been very successful. The coverage in 2004 of the death of Reagan and his funeral far surpassed that of any other President's death other than that of John Kennedy. Of course, Kennedy was murdered as our sitting President. Reagan had been out of office for 16 years.

Tied into the Reagan Legacy Project was the fear on the part of many neocons that the presidency of Bill Clinton could upset the neocon dominance moving into the 21st Century. Many of the same people who funded the Legacy Project were also involved in the many allegations against the Clintons. Bill Clinton was President during a time of great economic growth, no foreign conflicts and balanced budgets. The neocons knew that this was a problem and they needed to muddy him up. And that they did. Despite support from the American people, the House called for impeachment but the Senate could not move on impeachment the winner because of the American people's support of Clinton.

However, the neocons of the Reagan Legacy Project accomplished what they wanted. A president who presided over great economic growth, no foreign conflicts and balanced budgets was neutralized right out of the 2000 presidential election which had his vice president as the standard barrier of the Democratic party. Al Gore did not use Clinton as he should have which resulted in Gore losing states such as Arkansas and West Virginia where Clinton could have brought home the bacon. As a result, the Supreme Court decided the winner and we ended up with George W. Bush as the 43rd President of The United States.

George W. Bush played on the Reagan image: be tough and cut taxes. As a result, we are currently facing economic disaster and are fighting a war on two fronts in the Middle East. Bush won re-election thus maintaining the neocon dominance. But the 2006 congressional elections and the election of Barack Obama as president as set the neocons back on thei heels and has them ready to do whatever is possible to ensure that Obama fails. That's why Limbaugh says what he says. That's why Cheney is out there blasting the Obama Administration for making our country less safe. That is why the McConnell's and Boehner's of the world know nothing but to say no.

This is also why we as lefties need to combat everything that is said by any necon nut out there. We cannot let our guard down because these people are pissed and they will pull out all the stops to bring President Obama down. Hillary Clinton was laughed at when she talked about a right wing conspiracy but she was right on the money. Beware of the sainthood of Ronald Reagan!!!

What would Reagan Do????

Throughout Bush's presidency, Sean Hannity would constantly ask, "what would Reagan do?" Of course, Sean would conclude that Reagan would have invaded Iraq, would never negotiate with our enemies and would condone a pre-emptive strike. As usual Hannity is off base.

Reagan is credited with ending the Cold War however the facts are that the Soviet Union was collapsing on its own. In fact, Reagan's saber rattling probably delayed the end of the USSR. However, Reagan deserves credit for opening up discussions with Gorbachev. The standard bearer of the conservative movement sat down with the leader of the evil empire. He sat down with the enemy. Wasn't candidate Barack Obama criticized for saying that he would sit down with our enemies??

With respect to the Middle East, the seeds of the problems that exist today was born during the Reagan era. Reagan, through Rumsfeld, supported Saddam Hussein to neutralize Iran. When over 200 Marines were killed in a terrorist attack in Lebanon, Reagan pulled Americans out of Lebanon. Sounds like "cutting and run"!!! Of course there is the whole Iran-Contra affair where the Reagan Administration negotiated with terrorists.

You see unlike the neocon chicken hawks, Reagan abhorred war. He was deeply troubled by collateral damage that involved civilians. Based on the history, I don't believe Reagan would have invaded Iraq. However, that is not what the neocons would have you believe as was evidenced by last year's GOP presidential debates.

Why is this post and the last one relevant today??? Well tomorrow I will tie it all together for you: The Reagan Myth and The Right Wing Conspiracy.

The Facts of Reaganomics

The economy under President Reagan was a time of lower income taxes especially for the rich, higher payroll taxes on working families, runaway federal deficits and borrowing and an increasing trade imbalance. The seeds of today's financial crisis was sown during Reagan with the deregulation of the financial industry. In October 1982, Reagan signed into law a bill that lifted many restrictions on the savings and loan industry. Some seven years later, after Reagan was out of office, the S&L industry was on the receiving end of the largest bailout(at the time) with American taxpayers footing the bulk of the $160 billion tab. Hmmm...I don't recall conservatives calling anyone a socialist then.

The 1980's also saw America lose manufacturing jobs. This was attributed to a number of corporate takeovers that created widespread layoffs and the beginning of blue collar jobs being sent overseas. The 80's also saw America move from being the largest creditor nation to be the largest debtor nation. (Reagan disciple George Bush continued this trend)

The Reagan era also saw a nation of savers was encouraged to live beyond one's means(hmmm..sound familiar to W.) An explanation for this is that people could not save and had to overextend to survive. This is illustrated by the fact that the gap between the wealthiest and poorest Americans grew dramatically. (again sound familiar)

While federal spending grew under Reagan, the bulk of that was on defense. Domestic spending was cut, particularly for infrastructure, environment, education and aid to cities. All of this contributing to the problems we face today.

As you can see Reaganomics was a failure. The scary thing is that Republican members of Congress are still espousing the tired old principles of Reaganomics. The same principles which has led to the corporate greed and Madoffs of the world to rip off hard working Americans. You see Republicans have continued to perpetuate the myth of the greatness of Reaganomics and refuse to acknowledge that it was a failure.

Next: What would Reagan do with "The War On Terror"

A Factual Account of Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan was a transformative figure in American history, but his real revolution was one of public-relations-meets-politics and not one of policy. 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. While Reagan talked about cutting government, in fact Reagan expanded the federal payroll and created a huge debt. Where he shrunk government was in regulation and oversight which ledto the savings and loan crisis in the late 80's and to the subprime mortgage crisis of the late 2000's.

Foreign policy is another area where what actually happened differs from what the neo-con myth machine will have one think. Reagan's credit for ending the Cold War is off based in that Reagan was not the sole reason. As with his acting career, Reagan was a B-movie participant in that. Then the Iran-Contra scandal is a situation that Reagan escaped blame leading to the term " the Teflon President"

My next post will focus primarily on the economics of the Reagan years. You may ask why discuss the Reagan years now? The reason is because the entire neo-con position is based on a re-creation of the Reagan years which is more fiction than facts and will help us understand why the Grand Obstructionist Party has taken the position that it has with our current economic situation. It also gives the clear example of why trickle down economics is a failure.

The Myth Of Ronald Reagan

Beginning this weekend, I will be exposing the myth of Ronald Reagan and how Reagan's shadow has dominated the Republican Party and was the beginning of the financial disaster that we find our country in today. The Reagan trickle down economics is only a small piece of the story. What is also important is that the media's continual deification of Reagan has done a considerable disservice to the American people and has led the Republican Party to the wilderness of Rush Limbaugh.

The Case For Reforming Health Care In America

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/opinion/01Kristof.html If you have a compassionate bone in your body, after reading this column I don't see how you can't admit that the health care system in this country is broken and we need change now!!!!!