What's the chance of Ted Cruz becoming president?

We will probably never get over what Reagan did to government in this country, Andy. Ronald Reagan was one of the dumbest presidents ever...and one of the most destructive.

Just sayin'!

I've already said what I had to say about this, Amender. You shouldn't just come into a thread and comment without reading it.

Ok, I do respect your opinion Frank, but taking completely "180" from what the facts it's puzzling to me. Frank... EXACT oposite is truth. He rebuilt economy, strengthen military, reduced government, ended cold war and elevated American role in the world as the most respected country. In the contrary to what you said about him, he was one of the most intelligent and honorable presidents we ever had and excellent orator. Others are G. Washington and Lincoln. Also, I would give lots of credit to JFK. Despite being democrat, he was more like most republicans are today. To name one example: Kennedy understood that reducing taxes will increase revenue and improve economy.

Reagan was an abomination as president. He managed to triple our national debt...because of this bizarre notion he had that communism is the scourge of the world. (Although I am a capitalist, I think unbridled capitalism is a much worse scourge.)

The very last thing in the world I would say about the man is that he was intelligent. He was personable...and had a way of speaking that appealed to many people. And, he was a movie star...which carries lots of weight with some. But he definitely was not especially intelligent.

He touted that government was not part of the solution...and that in fact, it was the problem.

That single act of his has almost destroyed the United States...and continues to plague us to this day.

Adore him if you want...that is your right.

But in my opinion, he was one of the worst presidents we've ever had.

Rebuilt the economy? From what? The economy was growing quite a bit when Reagan took office. There were 2 quarters of over 7% growth before Reagan took office then it went into recession several months later. One could argue that Reagan's policies caused the recession which was needed to bring down inflation.

Strengthen the military? Yes, he spent quite a bit on the military.

Reduced government? Who told you that? The government got larger under Reagan and spent a lot more than it took in. Total spending almost doubled in those 8 years. Under Reagan the US debt almost tripled. Reagan didn't reduce the size of government. He just refused to pay for government of that size and by doing so drove up the debt. Almost half of our current deficits are going to pay for interest on Reagan's debt.

Ended Cold war? That's a nice myth to lay it at the feet of Reagan. Not much truth to it other than Reagan just happened to be President at a time when the USSR started to see cracks. Gorbachev was more responsible for ending the cold war than Reagan was.

Elevated American role in the world? You mean by invading Grenada, getting 241 marines killed in Beirut before pulling all troops out, and selling arms to Iran? WW2 elevated the American role in the world. Reagan didn't do much to elevate anything.

There you go again, Mr. Gorbachev...

Seriously, if you want to waste time trying to present facts and pose logical arguments to someone who drank the Kool-Aid, go right ahead. To some people the feel that image and smiles are what matters most. For them, there IS no HOPE!

With all due respect, ocasionally, you should verify some of the tesis that you wrote:



Seriously???? You wanna talk about national debt? Well... don't make me start it... please. I would urge you to check our national debt clock before and after Obama took office.

The debt that this administration created, long ago exceeded combined debt of ALL PRESIDENTS BEFORE THIS ONE.

Now you are bringing up Reagan debt, and expect me not to laugh? Well... actually what the left is doing to this country, and than spinning all around, blaming on others, is not a laughing matter. Everyone should be alarmed.

If you would do a bit of more research, you will find out, that even some of the most "sworn", die hard democrat liberals, can't help but recognize Reagan achievements, admitting that there is no another Reagan in republican party right now and it might be a while before we'll see one.

Seriously? Yes. Do you understand how interest works? If the principle and interest isn't paid then the debt grows and can double every 7-12 years depending on the interest rate being paid. The US government was borrowing money at rates over 10% for most or Reagan's term. That means the debt he was creating was doubling in less than 7 years since he wasn't paying for it.


You seem to have problems with simple math. Debt the day Obama took office was $10.6 Trillion. Debt today is NOT $22 trillion. I'll let you go find it and then you can apologize for feeding us such nonsense.
I'll even give you the link so you can look at the numbers yourself.
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/debt/current

By the way, then we can discuss fiscal years and Presidential budgets and look at what Obama's actual numbers are compared to your fantasy world.

Perhaps it is you that should do the research when you spout crap that is so obviously wrong a first grader could tell you which number is bigger.

I never said that Reagan didn't have accomplishments. I was only pointing out that much of your list isn't supported by real evidence.

Reagan's biggest accomplishment is seeding the Teaparty efforts to destroy the federal government.

That doesn't make a lot of sense when you look at the growth of the federal government under Reagan and the Bush clan. But <shrug> the American rightwing media conveniently forgets about that when they're reporting.

As Frank has been pointing out, Reagan said that the problem IS the government. Teapartiers are doing what they can to shut down as much government as possible. Right wingers have taken Reagan's lead to ease taxes on business and ending social spending.

Reagan didn't walk his talk about government growth. Neither did the Bush group. The tea party group will have to disassociate itself from the Republican party if it doesn't want government to start growing again, since government growth traditionally flourishes under Republican presidents.

His language is what they remember, not his actions.

Then it is up to Americans who know the truth to speak it.

I don't understand how placid people are, letting lies like that stand.

It's rowing against the flood tide these days. Not very rewarding, mostly.

Its funny how people think Kennedy did that much: most of his misplaced credits belong to Johnson.

Kennedy threatened to nationalize the steel industry and the railroads. Big business wasn't thrilled by that. Kennedy had severe inflation problems.

How about you understanding the difference between the debt contributions (the money Obama borowed), and gross national debt growth. To hide the real net borrowed amount, left conveniently mix it with the interes. Entire world never have seen such a spender as Obama is.
Once again to make it more clear for you: all presidents combined, beginning from George Washington to George W Bush borrowed less money than Obama did for his little petty social projects.

At least Reagan strengthen our military. What exactly Obama did other than to destroyed our healthcare? How can you possibly spin this?

Do you want to talk numbers? On the date of Obama inauguration, Jan. 20, 2009, the debt accrued by all his predecessors -- stood at $6.307 trillion and, yes, the total debt was about $10.6 trillion (Dept. of the Tresury data).
After only one term of his presidency Obama added $6.5 trillon!! What else do you want me to say?

You are absolutely right. However I still have to give him credit for lowering taxes. For being democrat, that was incredible.

You don't think the thirty year T-bills written to cover Reagan's defense spending aren't part of the national debt, particularly these chickens are coming to roost right now, thirty years later? And these are some of highest interest yield notes ever written.