I Received Support for my Allegations that Reagan is Responsible for Our Nation’s Financial Woes and Our Government’s Incompetence and Corruption

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart 

For as long as I have been a political writer, I have claimed that Ronald Reagan is responsible for two things: our nation’s financial woes and the demise of the Grand Old Party. He not only admitted that his administration supported the super-rich, he bragged about it. He told his party and his wealthy supporters that “greed is good.” 

Reagan was also responsible for the demise of the Grand Old Party, completed by Trump in 2017. He demanded complete loyalty and support from every Republican while abandoning the principles and standards of the former Party of Lincoln. He moved his party even farther to the right and extremism with his war on the working class, minorities, women, and non-Christians. Reagan is on my list of the five worst presidents in history. His fiscal policy of “supply side economics,” better known as “trickle-down economics,” not only reduced the quality of life for most Americans, tax breaks for the super-rich and corporations placed our nation in debt for more than a trillion dollars when he left office in 1989. 

Seldom mentioned is another fact which has greatly weakened our Constitution. His adamant support for the Christian religion helped Evangelical leaders create the Christian Religious Right, which has become one of the owners of today’s Republican Party in name only. 

Let’s move forward to the present. Our nation left capitalism far behind over the last seven years. We are now a Plutocracy. Less than five percent of all Americans control the lives of 330 million people.  

If you are a shopper, you might notice that customer service no longer exists in America. American businesses choose to spend their money on false advertising than on service and quality for consumers. For example: Walmart and many grocery store chains have eliminated about 90 percent of their checkers, replacing them with self-serve checkout stands. Personally, I hate this. It takes me a longer period of time to get out of their stores and if I have a concern, it takes five to 10 minutes to obtain assistance.  

The number of small businesses, like “mom and pop grocery stores,” have disappeared significantly over the last four decades. Once again, thank you Reagan. 

Our country itself has become a corporation. “All corporations are bad, some are simply worse than others." 

Another allegation I frequently offer my readers is the irrefutable fact that our country is engaged in a Second Civil War. The combatants are members of our government, past and present, and the super-rich, vs all patriotic Americans who choose democracy over fascism.  

Our list of “worst presidents” must list crimes and injuries against our nation and its people according to their severity. Although both parties would like you to believe that Richard Nixon and others who committed their crimes for personal reasons were at the top or near the top of the list, this is an egregious error. The most important issue must be the degree of harm to our nation.  

This is why Trump will always be number one on that list. For four years he intentionally divided our nation, violated the Constitution, and at the end attempted to overthrow our government by halting one of our nation’s most democratic processes being conducted in the Capitol Building by our duly elected officials. He failed to register a single accomplishment which would have affected all Americans. 

Second must be George W. Bush. Our 43rd president placed our nation in two illegal and unwinnable wars. He and his administration lied about Iraq’s involvement in terrorism. His refusal to capture or kill Osama bin Laden when he was hiding in the mountains of Afghanistan was ignored by the mainstream media and allowed to become forgotten. His fiscal policy of “trickle-down economics” nearly placed our nation in another Great Depression.  

Third must be Reagan. His bigotry and prejudices began the end of democracy in America.  His imperialistic actions, focused on both foreign nations and within his domestic agenda, began the end of legitimate deliberation and compromise in Washington. His constant support for the super-rich and the leaders of Christianity proved his ultimate ambition was to become an autocratic leader, ending democracy for the majority.  

It’s time for the American people to end the facade. Our federal government and the mainstream media have been hiding the truth from you and me for far too long. A comprehensive redo of our federal government is mandatory if the United States is to remain in existence throughout the 21st century. At the top of the list must be the end of the Electoral College, allowing every vote to count, and secondly, term limits for all three branches of our government. This is your country, not theirs. 

Op-ed by James Turnage 

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Source: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/1/29/2220215/-How-Reagan-s-Embrace-of-Greed-is-Good-Brought-Us-Broken-Airplane-Doors-Being-on-Hold-for-Hou?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web