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Greatest President Ever?


Soxplosion

Just curious...  

37 members have voted

  1. 1. Just curious...

    • Abe Lincoln
      11
    • George Washington
      6
    • John Kennedy
      1
    • Andrew Jackson
      1
    • Teddy Roosevelt
      0
    • Franklin Roosevelt
      8
    • Thomas Jefferson
      5
    • James Madison
      0
    • Harry Truman
      1
    • Other (please specify)
      4


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Because he threw the economy into the s***ter? Just a hunch.

Yeah? What's your favorite memory of the Reagan presidency? The double digit inflation rate he took over from Carter? The abysmal American morale he got from Carter? His ending the Cold War? The 33% growth in the American economy under his leadership?

 

Or perhaps your being potty trained? :)

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I'll say this much, and I'm not going to get into any political debates with anyone on this at all, but in my opinion Ronald Reagan was the greatest president of my lifetime, so far.

Well im YOUNGER ;) , but no arguements from me............ :headbang

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Yeah? What's your favorite memory of the Reagan presidency? The double digit inflation rate he took over from Carter? The abysmal American morale he got from Carter? His ending the Cold War? The 33% growth in the American economy under his leadership?

 

Or perhaps your being potty trained? :)

Thank you.

 

Don't forget about the 20% interest rates.

 

News Flash! Supply side economics works!

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Yeah? What's your favorite memory of the Reagan presidency? The double digit inflation rate he took over from Carter? The abysmal American morale he got from Carter? His ending the Cold War? The 33% growth in the American economy under his leadership?

 

Or perhaps your being potty trained? :)

Thank you.

 

Don't forget about the 20% interest rates.

 

News Flash! Supply side economics works!

And it is working so well right now :rolleyes: To amend your statement, supply side economics works IF capacity utilization is near 100% and employment is near full. Otherwise it is just giving money to the rich.

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Yeah? What's your favorite memory of the Reagan presidency? The double digit inflation rate he took over from Carter? The abysmal American morale he got from Carter? His ending the Cold War? The 33% growth in the American economy under his leadership?

 

Or perhaps your being potty trained? :)

Thank you.

 

Don't forget about the 20% interest rates.

 

News Flash! Supply side economics works!

And it is working so well right now :rolleyes: To amend your statement, supply side economics works IF capacity utilization is near 100% and employment is near full. Otherwise it is just giving money to the rich.

Give it time. Give it time. We're getting there. The economy is growing again and employment is rising.

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Yeah? What's your favorite memory of the Reagan presidency? The double digit inflation rate he took over from Carter? The abysmal American morale he got from Carter? His ending the Cold War? The 33% growth in the American economy under his leadership?

 

Or perhaps your being potty trained? :)

Thank you.

 

Don't forget about the 20% interest rates.

 

News Flash! Supply side economics works!

And it is working so well right now :rolleyes: To amend your statement, supply side economics works IF capacity utilization is near 100% and employment is near full. Otherwise it is just giving money to the rich.

Give it time. Give it time. We're getting there. The economy is growing again and employment is rising.

Not really. Along with the growth is the fact that more people are giving up on unemployment, running out of unemployment, or working part time because they can't find work, which all don't show up as "unemployment". The big part of growth has come from American's deficit spending, which is actually not considered true "economic" growth. I have said it before, and will say it again. Either this economy is going to double dip into recession, or we are going to see inflation again.

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Hmmm.... my favorite Reagan moment?

 

The invasion of Grenada. We won one for the Gipper! My least favorite, reckless defense spending caused a zero sum game to be formed in the Federal Government. We need more bombs, so less money for education.

 

I would argue that the best president in recent memory was Clinton. Most investigated, and it turns out, the least culpable.

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Warning. This may turn out to be a long one. I find the Reagan Presidency very difficult to assess. I know the usual blather. If you are conservative, whatever in the hell that is these days, then Reagan and the Bushes are your heroes and Clinton and Gore are the devil incarnates and if you are liberal or whatever in the hell that is these days, then the opposite is true. Anyway, the year Reagan took office the economy went into the worst downturn since the Great Depression. I saw it described as "The Great Recession." Official unemployment went into double digits for the first time since the 1930's. Especially hard hit was Rust Belt and the Farm Belt. Since Illinois lies in both it was one of the hardest hit states in the country. For two years the national economy was really in the s***ter (Fall of 1981 to about the summer of 83), and Reagans Presidency was in serious trouble. But the economy came back strong in 84 and the Dems nominated Mondale who would have lost even if unemployment had stayed in double digits. The economy did not go into recession any more during the reign of Reagan, and despite Iran Contra and the fact that the aged Reagan was more than likely on the cusp of senility he probably could have had a third term if it was legally permissible. The Reagan economy was described as "Bi Coastal" by USA today in the mid 80's. Many areas of the country did well while the previously mentioned Rust Belts and Farm Belts never did quite recover, although they did improve. Ironically some of the most liberal areas of the country like NY,NE and NCal did smashingly well during the Reagan years. The Reagan years set up Silicon Valley for a second boom in the mid and late 90's. Reagan tax cuts and supply side economics worked. Unfortunately, like I said previously the growth was uneven and not shared by the entire country.

 

Why did the economy tank so badly at the beginning of Reagans term? In 1974-75 the economy also suffered a very serious recession. Unemployment reached highs not seen since the 30's and unemployment was extended to 65 weeks in many states. The economy came back strong in 76, but inflation was high all throughout the 70's peaking in the late 70's and early 80's. This as much as anything doomed Jimmy Carters bid for reelection in 1980. Chairman of the Fed Paul Volcker pursued policies that brought down inflation but wrecked the economy in the process. You think this post is long already? I could write a 20 page paper off the top of my head on why I think Volcker is one of the biggest villians in American history. But any way there you have it IMO. The seeds of our shaky economy today were planted by actions of the Fed responding to the 74-75 recession and the subsequent hyper inflation that followed. They slew the inflation dragon but killed the American Industrial economy in the process. The carnage continues in this latest recession. When it comes to the economy the Chariman of the Fed trumps the President hands down.

 

Southsider why do you think a return of inflation might happen? I think a return of 30's style deflation is much more likely, particularly in real estate. I admit I have no degree in business, finance, economics or the like.

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