Forgotten Policies of President Ronald Reagan

There are many, shockingly, that have forgotten, or have been just so blinded by the scabs of socialist liberalism over their eyes and minds that everything President Reagan said, stood for and fought for has eluded them. I hear and read remarks about his failed economic policies; those who say such things are incredibly backwards, naïve and short sighted in their thinking.


The policies laid down and set into motion by President Reagan saved this nation, defeated communism, and gave this nation a new respectability in the world. For those of you who have forgotten or just ignored what he had to say I have provided a few things for you to read and think about. Easy to read comments of incredible importance that influenced the world. If we listened to the words of President Reagan we would not be in the situation we are in today, there is still time to turn back from our disastrous socialist heading and return to the ideals of this great President.


Reagan’s Remarks on Signing the 1986 Tax Reform Act (October 22, 1986)
http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/s%20...%2002286a.htm


“The problem isn’t a shortage of fuel; it’s a surplus of government.” —Ronald Reagan


“Are you willing to spend time studying the issues, making yourself aware, and then conveying that information to family and friends? Will you resist the temptation to get a government handout for your community? Realize that the doctor’s fight against socialized medicine is your fight. We can’t socialize the doctors without socializing the patients. Recognize that government invasion of public power is eventually an assault upon your own business. If some among you fear taking a stand because you are afraid of reprisals from customers, clients, or even government, recognize that you are just feeding the crocodile hoping he’ll eat you last.” —Ronald Reagan


“An opportunity society awaits us. We need only believe in ourselves and give men and women of faith, courage, and vision the freedom to build it. Let others run down America and seek to punish success. Let them call you greedy for not wanting government to take more and more of your earnings. Let them defend their tombstone society of wage and price guidelines, mandatory quotas, tax increases, planned shortages, and shared sacrifices. We want no part of that mess, thank you very much. We will encourage all Americans—men and women, young and old, individuals of every race, creed, and color—to succeed and be healthy, happy, and whole. This is our goal. We see America not falling behind, but moving ahead; our citizens not fearful and divided, but confident and united by shared values of faith, family, work, neighborhood, peace and freedom.” —Ronald Reagan


“The big difference between Republicans and liberal Democrats is the way each party views people. Republicans see us as individuals and respect our God-given human dignity. To liberal Democrats, we’re not individuals; we’re members of a herd with all the dignity of a cow or pig dependent on its owner for daily rations of hay or slop. Democrats see us as being white or as blacks or as straights or as gays, or as lesbians or as heterosexuals, or as rich or poor, or as Christians or as Jews or as Muslims, or as young or as old, as working or as retired, or as housewives or as career women. They submerge us into pools that define us as members of groups instead of as what we are as God sees us—as any father sees his children—each being different from one another, and each child being a separate and distinct individual with his or her own specific talents and abilities, and all deserving of his love... This Marxist view of human nature embraces group-think, despises individuality, and seeks to eliminate all vestiges of the dignity to which every human being created in the image and likeness of God is entitled. Only the hopes and aspirations of the groups matter, and they matter solely because they create dependency on the state—which seeks to supplant God as the source of all that is good and necessary for survival.” —Michael Reagan, June 2, 2008


There was a time, not so long ago, when the Soviet Union was a real competitor with the United States. There was a time when many weren't quite sure whether a free market or totalitarian economic control was the best way to go. And even more disturbing, there was a time when that largely economic dispute found its expression in nuclear warheads aimed at nearly every major urban center in the world.


It was President Reagan who had the vision to see that Communist Socialism was doomed to failure, and it was Reagan who had the leadership ability necessary to instill that vision in others. At a time when Communism was competing for economic dominance, Reagan inherited an American economy in disarray -- an economy suffering from high inflation and unemployment. In the political climate of the day, many were clamoring for greater government involvement in the economy. But instead of capitulating to the principles of Socialism in the short term, Reagan resolutely stood against artificial inflation and higher taxes. Anticipating the inevitable self-destruction of Communism, he pursued greater economic productivity in America. He lowered taxes, encouraging work and investment, and he worked to get the government out of the economy in general. Free trade, deregulation, and less government restrictions on businesses all contributed to greater production of goods and services.


Ultimately, it was the superior productivity of the market economy -- productivity helped along by Reagan's economic policies -- that ushered Communism down the path toward resounding defeat. Under Reagan, America proved to the world that the free market is unparalleled in its ability to encourage the production of wealth and widespread prosperity.


In a letter to Mrs. Reagan from Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet President wrote, "Ronald traveled his life journey with dignity.... I shall always remember the years of working together with President Reagan, putting an end to confrontation between our two countries, and equally, our friendly rapport, which revealed Ronald's human qualities. ... Your husband has earned his place in history, and in the people's hearts."


“First, if I may, I’d like to establish the scope of the topic under discussion. For when we speak about the economy, we’re dealing with more than mere numbers, more than statistics about productivity and employment. We’re dealing instead with one of the most basic aspects of human existence: We’re dealing with the way the great majority of men and women spend most of their hours, most days, throughout the most productive years of their lives...I believe it’s important to remind ourselves that in dealing with the economy we’re dealing with human creativity. This insight has represented the underpinning of our economic expansion. We cut tax rates, reduced government regulation, and restrained Federal spending; and we unleashed the creativity of individuals and businesses. We gave them freedom to create; to keep the rewards of their own risk-taking and hard work; and to reach for new, bold ideas.” —Ronald Reagan


“Let us show that we stand for fiscal integrity and sound money and above all for an end to deficit spending, with ultimate retirement of the national debt. Let us also include a permanent limit on the percentage of the people’s earnings government can take without their consent. Let our banner proclaim a genuine tax reform... Let us explore ways to ward off socialism, not by increasing government’s coercive power, but by increasing participation by the people in the ownership of our industrial machine... And we must make it plain to international adventurers that our love of peace stops short of ‘peace at any price.’ We will maintain whatever level of strength is necessary to preserve our free way of life. ... I do not believe I have proposed anything that is contrary to what has been considered Republican principle. It is at the same time the very basis of conservatism. It is time to reassert that principle and raise it to full view. And if there are those who cannot subscribe to these principles, then let them go their way.” —Ronald Reagan


The Shining City


"I've thought a bit about the 'shining city upon a hill.' The phrase comes from John Winthrop, [a Pilgrim] who wrote it to describe the America he imagined. ... I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still. And how stands the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure and happier than it was eight years ago. But more than that: After two hundred years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness toward home. We've done our part. And as I walk off into the city streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan revolution, the men and women across America who for eight years did the work that brought America back. My friends: We did it. We weren't just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger, we made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all. And so, goodbye, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America." (From his Farewell Address to the Nation, 1989.)
http://www.nationalreview.com/document/%20...%20052132.asp


"And whatever else history may say about me when I'm gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears, to your confidence rather than your doubts. My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with liberty's lamp guiding your steps and opportunity's arm steadying your way. My fondest hope for each one of you -- and especially for young people -- is that you will love your country, not for her power or wealth, but for her selflessness and her idealism. May each of you have the heart to conceive, the understanding to direct, and the hand to execute works that will make the world a little better for your having been here. May all of you as Americans never forget your heroic origins, never fail to seek divine guidance, and never lose your natural, God-given optimism. And finally, my fellow Americans, may every dawn be a great new beginning for America and every evening bring us closer to that shining city upon a hill." --Ronald Reagan (1992)


I ask you, can any sane person find fault in what you have just read?