Reagan/Obama? Really?

Once again the Mainstream Media attempts to defend the President that they helped to elect by using a new tactic... Apparently, playing up the sagging economy by stopping short of saying that "The Stimulus has created a Boom" has failed as has the spin on how "helpful" the Health Care Reform shall be... The "Hope" and "Inspiration" spin seems to have gotten stale too. Nope, this week TIME Magazine has used a new tactic. "Try to appeal to Moderate voters by comparing President Obama with a great Republican President".

On the cover of the new issue of Time Magazine, there is a picture of the 40th U.S. President, Ronald W Reagan with a "shadow" of the face of Barack H. Obama. The article is titled "The Role Model: What Obama Sees in Reagan". It does seem that the two do have something in common. They both have an Illinois connection. President Reagan grew up in Dixon, IL and was born in Tampico, IL whereas President Obama became a Senator and a "Community Organizer" in Illinois later in life. In all fairness, Reagan and Obama BOTH built up HUGE deficits and have high unemployment numbers during their first Presidential terms. This however is as far as the connection goes.



President Reagan slashed government spending and passed Tax cuts to stimulate the economy in 1982's "Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act". Many criticized his supply side "Trickle Down" economic methods. President Obama proposed a MASSIVE stimulus that was used primarily to create temporary government jobs and the illusion of "green" jobs which have failed to bear fruit. Granted, both Presidents walked into a bad economic situation. When President Reagan took office in 1981, the U.S. Inflation rate was at over 10 percent as was the Unemployment rate, which peaked in November and December at 10.80% for Reagan and 10.10% in November of 2009 for Obama.

The results of Reagan's slash and burn, supply side economics though began to see immediate results with the drop in inflation rate. Under Reagan, the inflation rate fell to a low of 1.91% in 1986, unemployment began to steadily decline through the rest of his first term.

President Reagan also made no apologies for U.S. Foreign Policy, which helped to shape his legacy in many ways. Reagan however, is credited with playing an instrumental part in the ending of "the Cold War". Meanwhile, President Obama's focus has been on apologetic diplomacy and is perceived as yielding and bowing to foreign leaders, whereas Reagan was seen as the rugged individualistic John Wayne-esque cowboy.



Also on the issue of organized labor, while the SEIU and other unions clamored to support Obama's run for President and were rewarded handsomely with pricy bailouts, President Reagan took a hard line approach in standing up to the labor unions. Most notably, President Reagan fired 11,345 striking air traffic controllers and successfully "busted" their union.

Let us also not forget that Reagan was no stranger to tragedy during his Presidency. Early in his term, 29 days into office, the President was shot by John Hinckley Jr. outside the Washington Hilton Hotel. At the time, there were no calls to "end the hateful rhetoric" and finger pointing, instead the nation united.

Much to the dismay of many Conservatives, President Reagan also provided an amnesty to illegal aliens with 1986's "Immigration Reform and Control Act" which allowed up to 3 million illegal aliens that had entered the U.S. Prior to January 1st, 1982, an amnesty. President Obama continues to attempt to push for "The Dream Act" and other amnesties for the up to 12 million illegal aliens currently living in the U.S.

On the issue of the Supreme Court, President Reagan reached across the aisle and made progress by nominating Sandra Day O'Connor whom was a liberal justice. Reagan also appointed conservative William Rehnquist to Chief Justice and appointed Conservative Supreme court justice, Antonin Scalia, whom is revered by conservatives. Thus far, President Obama's Supreme Court picks have been: Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagen, whom is alleged to be a moderate. This would balance the 4-4 lib/con balance with one moderate...

I find the media's disingenuous attempt to compare President Obama to other "great Presidents" to be pathetic and laughable at best, a sign of unwavering, calculated bias at worst. We shall see how this plays out, but in the meantime, "Barack Hussein Obama, You are no Ronald Wayne Reagan"..