January 21, 2008




IMPEACH BUSH


IMPEACH CHENEY


MOURNING IN AMERICA


Since Ronald Reagan left the White House right-wingers have been busily engaged in revisionist history. Supposedly, Reagan's policies created a dynamic economy that created millions of jobs. Reagan, we're told, ended the Cold War because he stood toe-to-toe with the Soviet Union. Reagan supposedly brought back optimism to the country after the depressing 1970's. But facts remain facts. Reagan created massive deficits, enriched the already wealthy, widened the gap between rich and poor, had one of the most corrupt administrations in our history, and presided over massive human rights violations in Central America with his support of the Contras. The real Reagan record isn't pretty. This column by Paul Krugman is at www.nytimes.com:


The Reagan economy was a one-hit wonder. Yes, there was a boom in the mid-1980s, as the economy recovered from a severe recession. But while the rich got much richer, there was little sustained economic improvement for most Americans. By the late 1980s, middle-class incomes were barely higher than they had been a decade before — and the poverty rate had actually risen.


When the inevitable recession arrived, people felt betrayed — a sense of betrayal that Mr. Clinton was able to ride into the White House.



Given that reality, what was Mr. Obama talking about? Some good things did eventually happen to the U.S. economy — but not on Reagan’s watch.