About that GOP – the Party of Reagan and Lincoln
I read an amusing article by Michael Kinsley on The Atlantic Wire yesterday. It was about how Ronald Reagan, based on his record and his statements, would not be able to adopt the “Reagan Resolution.” It’s a list of ten principles to uphold that many Republicans wanted to adopt as an acid test for their candidates getting any money from the Republican Party. The ten principles are:
(1) Smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama’s “stimulus” bill
(2) Market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run healthcare;
(3) Market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation;
(4) Workers’ right to secret ballot by opposing card check
(5) Legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants;
(6) Victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges;
(7) Containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat
(8) Retention of the Defense of Marriage Act;
(9) Protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing and denial of health care and government funding of abortion; and
(10) The right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership
Kinsley writes:
He was a great one for assertions of principle but never one for mean-spirited anathemas. It’s a good thing, because if you judge from what he actually did as president, as opposed to what he said he would do—or, by the end, what he might have claimed (or even honestly believed) he had done—Ronald Reagan would not be able to sign the Reagan Resolution.
Kinsley then went through all ten principles and by his count came up with four apostasies of Reagan. My interpretation of Kinsley’s summary follows, and I say interpretation because Kinsley might be saying Reagan did not comply with #2 (he had no stance on healthcare reform), and it’s difficult to say for sure if he would have adhered to #7. But anyway…
He increased the size of the government payroll and increased tne national debt.
He signed a law that authorized amnesty for illegal immigrants.
On the “contaiment of North Korea and Iran” principle, the records shows that he publicly supported Sadaam Hussein’s regime, and secretly funneled money to Iran. I wouldn’t call that contaiment.
He was in favor of the Brady Bill that imposed some restrictions on gun ownership.
(Read Kinsely for yourself to see if you agree.)
That was a good read, but even funnier was this comic that I just read on Mr. Fish’s site.
