The Gipper’s Real Effect on US

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Read this:  In the first article below, by RaulVB, in the Daily KOS, we examine many of the Ronald Reagan (Gipper) myths.  The article starts out with a bold statement professing that the Reagan-era propaganda “hurt the country. It distorted our understanding of how to help low-income people, as well as our optimism they could be helped, and it corroded the social contract that had prevailed since the New Deal.”  Some of the key distortions follow.  Reagan the tax slasher: Nope, “he raised taxes 3 times … the main reason he’s remembered as a tax-cutter is because of what he did to tax rates for the uber-rich: He slashed the top rate from 70 percent to 28 percent, and income inequality has soared ever since.”  After leaving office Reagan was one of the most popular presidents: Nope, actually “just 4 years after Ronald Reagan left office his popularity numbers or approval of his Presidency was of about 43% of the American public … President Carter’s numbers, the public’s opinion about his term registered over 60% of approval of what he had done.”  The economy thrived because of Reagans’ Voodoo economics: Not a chance.  “Ironically Reagan’s home town, Dixon-Illinois, is today pretty much dead thanks to Reagan’s economic policies.”  Basically it seems that what people love most about Reagan is the myth that has been so effectively tied to his person, regardless of any facts.  The Salon article further examines the real Gipper.

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Daily KOS article on Reagan

Solon article on Reagan