Do You Mind If We Borrow Your Political God For a Minute to Try and Prove That You're Completely Wrong ?

Barack Obama's Invoking Ronald Reagan Is a Long-Used Gimmick That We've Done With FDR and JFK to Make Our Point As Well.....



      So, the big blowout yesterday was Republicans (particularly Rush Limbaugh) freaking out over Barack Obama invoking Ronald Reagan by name to support his proposal of the Buffett Rule.  While we have already stated our position on the amount of time versus the effect that Obama has spent on the Buffett Rule, there is little to deny when your opponent states facts - like it or not.


     Now I know, we in political parties feel a certain ownership of Gods from our own party.  It drives us insane when the other party uses our biggest stars against us.  After a few decades, our Presidents get marbleized in a way... That is, things about their true character and record get distorted a bit, and a huge generalization about that man or women is chiseled.  When the other party goes back and chips that small part of the truth about them, it offends us.  Why? Because that guy is OUR guy - right or wrong.  We feel that the only people who can invoke him/her is us...


    Now, going back into history, it is true - Ronald Reagan did raise taxes during his tenure as President.  There is an economic reality in that Trickle Down Economics does reach a point where the tax cuts have less effect on the economy. Less of it is put back into the economy, and tax revenues are affected less, causing Budget Deficits... Simply put, overtaxing sucks, and undertaxing gets watered down eventually.  So Barack Obama is right - Ronald Reagan both cut taxes and raised them later on.


     Like Ebenezer Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Past, his own words were used against him.  Why? Because it is perhaps the most effective way to make an argument - especially when that person is dead, because dead people can't defend themselves.  We've done it as well.  Republicans have often noted that John F. Kennedy cut taxes as President, and I personally have argued during the Social Security debate that FDR himself never planned it to be the sole source of retirement, but rather one leg of a three legged chair of security.  Yeah, I kicked Jim Clyburn's ass all over that issue, and he was left to resorting to fearmongering and distorting my position.  It works...


     The important part of what the GOP needs to do regarding the Buffett Rule is that while Reagan did raise taxes, he didn't DOUBLE them and threaten a major part of who invests in the financial markets.  That, and he's spending way too much time on this.  There are programs that would cut the deficit by ten times as much as instituting the Buffett Rule, without wasting this much time on it.  But again, it's all politics at work.  The truth doesn't always hurt, but it is pretty good at making a point...


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