tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503771624520315711.post2881254930863041861..comments2023-09-06T01:53:41.634-07:00Comments on doug's Site: The Man Who Sold The World: Ronald Reagan and the Betrayal of Main Street America Doug's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09219952832674415239noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503771624520315711.post-33056242167769671482011-09-22T13:13:33.000-07:002011-09-22T13:13:33.000-07:00LOL! The rock will preclude the need to have a c...LOL! The rock will preclude the need to have a cigar lighter. doug noakeshttp://dnoakes.multiply.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503771624520315711.post-33191851455800037472011-09-22T12:57:07.000-07:002011-09-22T12:57:07.000-07:00...and some arguing to do with Che Guevara, with w......and some arguing to do with Che Guevara, with whom they're probably sharing a hot-rock right about now (if not Che's cigars)....Astra Navigohttp://astranavigo08.multiply.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503771624520315711.post-58067226248704163812011-09-22T11:47:51.000-07:002011-09-22T11:47:51.000-07:00Thanks Will. I hope you get a chance to read this ...Thanks Will. I hope you get a chance to read this book. <br /><br />I suspect Reagan is sitting down right now with Colonel Sanders on KFC fame, discussing how they marketed themselves as a public brand. I will not speculate as to where their souls might be, but I suspect the Gipper had some " 'plaining to do" with St. Peter.doug noakeshttp://dnoakes.multiply.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503771624520315711.post-5086904228903645082011-09-22T11:45:22.000-07:002011-09-22T11:45:22.000-07:00That's true Fred. And that's why I said s...That's true Fred. And that's why I said some of this would have happened even without Reagan in office. But I submit that, unlike the Congress (which does indeed bare a lot of responsibility) the President sets a national tone so to speak. He (or eventually she) is the one figure in Washington who can use that "bully pulpit" to set the political agenda. But, in day to day governing, you're exactly right---Congress needs to take a share of the blame. I guess its easier to focus on one man or woman than a cadre of reprsentitives and their lobbying pals in one blog. <br /><br />Reagan was very attuned to the interests of his friends in corporate America. That is nothing new to American politics, really. What was new was this notion that government isn't a necessary part of the economy. FDR proved it was necessary and many Republican Presidents before Reagan understood the need for major government projects like NASA and the Interstate Highway system, and local needs like public education. No one likes to pay taxes, but to believe "government is the problem" as Reagan said, is as immature as the hippies we used to see on television saying "don't trust anybody over thirty years old ,man!" <br /><br />Reagan was, ironically, often willing to compromise, first as governor of California with the Democratic majority legislature and later in shoring up some government programs. He seemed to be against business regulation in a way that put too many foxes in the hen house, so to speak. The biggest problem I see right now is that these tea party Republicans remember what Reagan said very well, and are trying to obliterate what measure of practicality he brought occasionally to the table with guys like Tip O'Neill. This puzzles me.doug noakeshttp://dnoakes.multiply.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503771624520315711.post-85600288017801352002011-09-22T11:26:12.000-07:002011-09-22T11:26:12.000-07:00Jim, you've hit on one of the things that is p...Jim, you've hit on one of the things that is part of the American dilemma. Obama couldn't turn the economy around in a short stretch so the public bought back into power in the House and Senate members of a far right-wing agenda, the so-called "tea party" GOP. They espouse the same economic nostrums that brought us into this mess in the last decade. <br /><br /> Over sixty seats fell from Democratic to Republican in the 2010 elections. What should have been a rebuke to Obama---a loss of 20-25 seats as Reagan himself suffered in the 1982 Congressional elections--instead became a drubbing and, in fact, a beat down. The arson inspector took the blame for the fire, in my opinion. <br /><br />They sell "austerity" and public sector cuts in education as a way to save the economy. You might have noticed a few of those ideas in play with the Cameron and Clegg government, although I doubt Britain's public-sector decimators could be as radical as the lot we have in the USA. <br /><br /><br /> This is a feature of the American Constitution; seperation of powers between Executive and Legislative branches of government. The trick is that this non-Parlimentary style of government can only work if there are enough Congresspeople and Senators on all sides of the political parties to make compromises on important matters. Otherwise it falls apart because the majority in Congress declares defacto war on the Executive and his minority in Congress within his party. <br /><br />It's a great question Jim. I don't know how we do it until the public embraces old-fashioned American pragmatism--balancing cuts in some government programs with a stronger tax base, geared toward the big winners in the flush times of the past. <br /><br /> Don't count Obama out just yet by the way for 2012 by the way, judging by some of the Howlers running for President on the GOP side. <br /><br /> Some Republican politicos have gone so far rouge that they seem more and more radical than conservative. Even a very strong tree limb will snap and fall if you put too much weight too far out on the limb.doug noakeshttp://dnoakes.multiply.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503771624520315711.post-4068505326202103922011-09-22T11:13:05.000-07:002011-09-22T11:13:05.000-07:00I like that broken toilet analogy, Mike. A lot of ...I like that broken toilet analogy, Mike. A lot of people didn't notice theleak until the roof under the bathroom caved in.doug noakeshttp://dnoakes.multiply.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503771624520315711.post-68216564620454935092011-09-22T07:05:48.000-07:002011-09-22T07:05:48.000-07:00I haven't read it yet (hence; no 'stars...I haven't read it yet (hence; no 'stars') but I will. Good recommendation.<br /><br />(I was pretty unpopular when The Gipper died - because I said that if there really was a Hell, he was extra-crispy right about now for all he did to the economy....)Astra Navigohttp://astranavigo08.multiply.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503771624520315711.post-69521007154170325532011-09-22T03:11:13.000-07:002011-09-22T03:11:13.000-07:00History does repeat itself. Any president other th...History does repeat itself. Any president other than Roosevelt who walks into a bad economy is destined to be a scapegoat even though they inherited a lot of the problems. But blaming it on one man whether it be Reagan, Clinton or either Bush is wrong. Ultimately the Senate and the House of Representatives has the responsibility to monitor the President. They have been collectively drinking the Kool Aide and "blindly" allowed a lot of this to happen.crabby manhttp://crabbyman.multiply.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503771624520315711.post-50245362813366852662011-09-22T02:04:47.000-07:002011-09-22T02:04:47.000-07:00The question is, how do we (that is America and th...The question is, how do we (that is America and the rest of the western world) get out of the mess left behind by these people? It seems that Obama is a busted flush, dogged as he is by bad luck, an economy that stubbornly refuses to turn round and enemies everywhere who peddle the most outrageouse falsehoods which are believed by huge swathes of the electorate across America!<br /><br />Are we to be saddled with more of the right wing dogmatic medicine in a little more than twelve months? Sadly I suspect we will, short of some sort of miracle that is.Jim Westlakehttp://jazzmanic.multiply.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503771624520315711.post-37855196839069380802011-09-21T20:58:22.000-07:002011-09-21T20:58:22.000-07:00seems like a great read...I believe The good Mr Re...seems like a great read...I believe The good Mr Reagan's trickle down was actually a broken upstairs toilet. I wouldn't want to be where he is tonight.Mike ..http://wellhell2.multiply.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503771624520315711.post-54623698093979146872011-09-21T20:27:02.000-07:002011-09-21T20:27:02.000-07:00A 2009 interview of the author:A 2009 interview of the author:doug noakeshttp://dnoakes.multiply.comnoreply@blogger.com