| RONALD WILSON REAGAN Born: 6 February 1911 — Died at 93: 4 June 2004 Served as President of the Screen Actors Guild: 1947-1952 and 1959-1960 Elected Governor of California in 1966 — Reëlected Governor of California in 1970 1980: Elected Fortieth President of the United States of America by every California County except San Francisco and Alameda 1984: Reëlected President of the USA by every California County except San Francisco, Alameda, and Marín The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones. — Shakespeare THINK PROGRESS — The Progress Report — February 7, 2011 by Faiz Shakir, Benjamin Armbruster, George Zornick, Zaid Jilani, Alex Seitz-Wald, and Tanya Somanader Transcript of testimony before the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities (HUAC) |
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Ronald Reagan will be remembered for: Being, per Clark Clifford, “an amiable dunce” and, per Gore Vidal, “the acting president” Having more style than substance Ordering National Guard troops to spread tear gas over the Berkeley campus of the University of California resulting in the shooting, and death, of a student protester Creating “the homeless problem” by closing California's mental hospitals Supporting blacklisting of politically-unpopular artists while President of the Screen Actors Guild and informing on more than fifty SAG members while he was its president Firing Air Traffic Controllers Ordering drug testing of Federal employees Advocating organized prayer in public schools in violation of his oath to protect the Constitution Allowing AIDS to become pandemic by ignoring the facts for longer than five years during which almost 28,000 died Refusing to allow Federal funds to be used to treat AIDS patients after acknowledging, following the deaths of Liberace and his friend Rock Hudson, that it exists Engaging in military actions in Nicaragua and El Salvador in violation of the United States Congress' orders Paying an official visit to a Nazi cemetery in Bitburg, Germany Having his veto of sanctions against apartheid South Africa overridden by Congress Stealing from Mikhail Gorbachev credit for peacefully ending the Cold War Boring first wife Jane Wyman to divorce Speaker Tip O'Neill refusing to allow him to address the House of Representatives (6/23/86) Removing solar panels, installed by Jimmy Carter in 1979, from White House in 1986 Causing “an across-the-board breakdown in the machinery constructed by six previous administrations to protect civil rights.” according to the Citizens Commission on Civil Rights Invading Grenada Opposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Opposing the Voting Rights Act of 1965 Opposing the Fair Housing Act of 1968 Creating the myth of the “Welfare Queen” Saying “A tree is a tree. How many more do you have to see?” Being ranked second-worst President for Civil Rights by the Encyclopedia of African-American Politics Supporting military dictatorships in Guatemala: 440 villages destroyed
Creating more than a million refugees fleeing El Salvador and Guatemala Supporting opponents of the Sandinistas who ousted the hated Somoza dictatorship of Nicaragua with funds earned by treasonously selling armaments to Iran Deregulating the Savings & Loan industry resulting in a $350 billion taxpayer bailout Almost tripling the national debt by reducing taxes and increasing spending Taking tax revenue from the poor to give to the rich (6/24/86) :Ronald Reagan will also be remembered for: Being “the Great Communicator” Co-starring with a chimpanzee in Bedtime for Bonzo Signing close to 40 bills adding 10.6 million acres to the National Wilderness Preservation System Saying “I hope you're all Republicans” to those about to treat his bullet wound One replied “Today, Mister President, we are all Republicans” Marrying Nancy Davis Signing Martin Luther King holiday into law Stopping Federally-proposed dams on California's Feather and Eel rivers Stopping a Federal freeway through the Sierra Nevada Opposing California's Briggs Initiative to prohibit homosexuals from teaching in schools Appointing first woman, Sandra Day O'Connor (seated 6/18/81), to the Supreme Court of the United States Working to improve wages, benefits, and working conditions for actors while President of the Screen Actors Guild Calling the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics an "evil empire" (6/17/82) Saying “Mister Gorbachev: Tear down this wall!” in Berlin |
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| Reagan Administration PROGRAM CUTS … … … (Millions of dollars) | 1988 | |
| Training and Employment | $9,107 | $2,888 |
| Energy Assistance | 1,850 | 1,162 |
| Health Services (Community Health Centers; Care for the Homeless) | 856 | 814 |
| Legal Services | 320 | 233 |
| Compensatory Education | 3,545 | 3,291 |
| Housing Assistance for the Elderly | 797 | 422 |
| Community Services Block Grants (Anti-poverty agencies) | 525 | 290 |
| From: Roger B. (rcblinn@*.net) Icono Clast wrote... > Remembering Ronald Reagan: Let Us Remember Lest We Forget > http://iclast.net/Articles/rReagan.html While remembering Regan, shall we also remember Regan's Secretary of the Interior, James G. Watt? From High Country News —
On September 20, 1983, the Senate voted 63-33 to deny Watt the power to lease coal at his discretion, to forbid the leasing of certain key off-shore oil and gas tracts, to forbid drilling in Wilderness, and so on. The bill also ordered Watt to do something he'd sworn he wouldn't do — buy additional National Parks land. 1984 was to be his big year. He was going to lease (strip-mine) coal adjacent to Bryce Canyon National Park®. ———————— James G Watt: “I have a black, a woman, two Jews and a cripple. And we have talent.” (a reference to his staff) — to the US Chamber of Commerce, September 21, 1983. From: Bob G in Surprise, Arizona In the UseNet Group alt.fifty-plus.friends, said: I remember the Reagan values. ………First he put an end to the Kennedy-Johnson concept of service to man and America. What took its place was the Yuppie values of the Reagan era, greed with everyone out to get as much as they could for themselves to hell with everyone else. ………Remember the Reagan conventions, with the theme song, “I’m proud to be an American”? How did Reagan demonstrate that pride? He bullied and invaded a small country incapable of fighting back; Grenada and interfered in the self determination of Nicaragua. Remember the arm[s] for Contras scandal that many believe kept the hostages in Iran much longer than necessary? But when it came to someone who could stride back, thinking of Lebanon, it was another matter. He had no problem stationing a battleship off coast and shelling the Palestinians in Lebanon, but when they struck back by bombing the marine barracks, he cut and ran with his tail between his legs. He taught the Palestinians and Islamic radicals that he would talk big but could not take a punch in the nose. ………Let’s not return to the Reagan values of cowardly bullying and greed, we are doing much better since he is gone from the scene. |