Never understood the fixation with Regan. His policies devastated Central America and laid the foundation for the migration crisis today. He started an arms race with the Soviets but put everything on credit, laying the foundation for the massive debt that will likely destroy the dollar within the next 5-10 years. He was not a good leader and America is still paying for his bad policies.
Well said, and it seems like every president since then has to some extent or another simply reinforced his policies and outlook. Reagan has taken on a mythical status as though he "ended the Cold War" and gave America back its self-respect. The truth is that the Soviet Union was dying and that many Americans wanted somebody who helped them feel good. He was smooth, lucky, and as empty as an old shoe box.
I was 15 the day Ronaldo Maximus was sworn in and 23 when his administration came to its merciful demise. He was an evil man and I do not mourn him, but I did not celebrate his death. The guy in office now? I will be dancing in the streets the day he assumes room temperature. 😁
What we need now is a new New Deal. We need to return to tax structures more like the 1950s. We need healthcare at no direct cost to the individual, now. We need to remove the cap on social security contributions. We need capital gains to be treated as ordinary income. We need to reverse citizens united. We need an amendment that defines people as people and corporations as not people, and limiting contributions to political campaigns to people only, and at very low numbers, like maybe $2,000. And we need to punish the living crap out of corporations that attempt to sidestep that. We need to increase funding to schools, the arts, and cultural organizations like museums and libraries. We need free university education to those who are intellectually qualified to benefit from it. We need to cancel student and medical debt. We need to fund SNAP and other social services benefits. We need to make social security benefits higher and Medicare coverage more robust.
There, I laid out the beginnings of a successful campaign. If we truly are the greatest and wealthiest nation on earth, and I believe we are, this should be a no brainer.
A broken clock is right twice a day, even Trump has been right about some things Such as "the press is the enemy of the people": Correct, it is because of the press that Trump got elected, (millions of free press).. The FBI is the enemy of the people. Who can argue with an outfit that devoted all of it's resources to investigating, civil rights organizers, union organizers,and then totally ignored the subversives, the insurrectionists in congress, and look at it now.
Reagan’s ghost showing up during the World Series to scold America about tariffs might be the most on-brand sequel of 2025. It’s like watching the past argue with itself while the future quietly packs a bag and leaves. The man’s been gone for decades, but somehow we’re still letting his economic hangover write our headlines.
Both sides keep worshiping at the altar of nostalgia, pretending the ‘80s were a policy golden age instead of the prequel to our current mess. The same playbook that gutted labor, deregulated everything in sight, and handed billionaires a megaphone is still running on autopilot — just with louder slogans and worse hair.
The truth is, you can’t fix a collapsing roof with Reagan posters and trickle-down prayers. Time to stop debating ghosts and start building something that actually works for the living.
I made the comment to one of jvl’s newsletters that we need to start articulating this new platform along the lines you describe. So let’s start. What are the planks in this platform? Thanks for your thoughts. I will stew on them.
Father-hunger sufferer Michael Reagan has gone full MAGA at the Reagan Foundation. Regular helpings of fresh MAGA beef nourishes his profound sense of victimcould, on top of his lived experience as a child rejected by his adoptive parents and stepmother.
If ideology had DNA like humans and YDNA at that. Then MAGA would share the same SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism) as Reaganism.
With YDNA, a new SNP appears every 4th generation or so, and it is added to previous SNP's.
And through that succession, one can trace paternal descent back thousands of years. Thus Generation 1 - Reaganism, Generation 4-Tea Party/MAGA.Tea {arty is father of MAGA
In my case, My terminal SNP appeared with the birth of my great grandfather in 1850, he is a subclade of his great grandfather born in 1727, which is a subclade of his great grandfather born in 1627, and his is a subclade of his great grandfather born in 1518, and his is a subclade of a great grandfather born in 1444
What is that something "new" on new ground? To me it might be a very strong independent party. I'm 77 & real tired of democrats & even more republicans. It's theater, mostly ego, hog in trough, & cock on dunghill game.
You can draw a straight line from Reagan’s 11th commandment to Republicans enabling flagrant Trump criminality.
Never understood the fixation with Regan. His policies devastated Central America and laid the foundation for the migration crisis today. He started an arms race with the Soviets but put everything on credit, laying the foundation for the massive debt that will likely destroy the dollar within the next 5-10 years. He was not a good leader and America is still paying for his bad policies.
Reagan destroyed the US economy, too. Remember the rust belt? Damn!
Yours was the first post on the Thom Hartmann substack today, I hope that it gets more viewers, they are missing out if they don't subscribe.
Well said, and it seems like every president since then has to some extent or another simply reinforced his policies and outlook. Reagan has taken on a mythical status as though he "ended the Cold War" and gave America back its self-respect. The truth is that the Soviet Union was dying and that many Americans wanted somebody who helped them feel good. He was smooth, lucky, and as empty as an old shoe box.
Reminds me of an old (but evergreen) verse:
https://biblehub.com/matthew/23-25.htm
Maier, I don't see the connection, please explain.
I was 15 the day Ronaldo Maximus was sworn in and 23 when his administration came to its merciful demise. He was an evil man and I do not mourn him, but I did not celebrate his death. The guy in office now? I will be dancing in the streets the day he assumes room temperature. 😁
What we need now is a new New Deal. We need to return to tax structures more like the 1950s. We need healthcare at no direct cost to the individual, now. We need to remove the cap on social security contributions. We need capital gains to be treated as ordinary income. We need to reverse citizens united. We need an amendment that defines people as people and corporations as not people, and limiting contributions to political campaigns to people only, and at very low numbers, like maybe $2,000. And we need to punish the living crap out of corporations that attempt to sidestep that. We need to increase funding to schools, the arts, and cultural organizations like museums and libraries. We need free university education to those who are intellectually qualified to benefit from it. We need to cancel student and medical debt. We need to fund SNAP and other social services benefits. We need to make social security benefits higher and Medicare coverage more robust.
There, I laid out the beginnings of a successful campaign. If we truly are the greatest and wealthiest nation on earth, and I believe we are, this should be a no brainer.
I was never a fan of Reagan.
But he was right about Immigration (that immgrants strengthened our country), and Tariffs (that they destroyed our countty).
A broken clock is right twice a day, even Trump has been right about some things Such as "the press is the enemy of the people": Correct, it is because of the press that Trump got elected, (millions of free press).. The FBI is the enemy of the people. Who can argue with an outfit that devoted all of it's resources to investigating, civil rights organizers, union organizers,and then totally ignored the subversives, the insurrectionists in congress, and look at it now.
Reagan’s ghost showing up during the World Series to scold America about tariffs might be the most on-brand sequel of 2025. It’s like watching the past argue with itself while the future quietly packs a bag and leaves. The man’s been gone for decades, but somehow we’re still letting his economic hangover write our headlines.
Both sides keep worshiping at the altar of nostalgia, pretending the ‘80s were a policy golden age instead of the prequel to our current mess. The same playbook that gutted labor, deregulated everything in sight, and handed billionaires a megaphone is still running on autopilot — just with louder slogans and worse hair.
The truth is, you can’t fix a collapsing roof with Reagan posters and trickle-down prayers. Time to stop debating ghosts and start building something that actually works for the living.
I made the comment to one of jvl’s newsletters that we need to start articulating this new platform along the lines you describe. So let’s start. What are the planks in this platform? Thanks for your thoughts. I will stew on them.
See my response elsewhere.
Father-hunger sufferer Michael Reagan has gone full MAGA at the Reagan Foundation. Regular helpings of fresh MAGA beef nourishes his profound sense of victimcould, on top of his lived experience as a child rejected by his adoptive parents and stepmother.
If ideology had DNA like humans and YDNA at that. Then MAGA would share the same SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism) as Reaganism.
With YDNA, a new SNP appears every 4th generation or so, and it is added to previous SNP's.
And through that succession, one can trace paternal descent back thousands of years. Thus Generation 1 - Reaganism, Generation 4-Tea Party/MAGA.Tea {arty is father of MAGA
In my case, My terminal SNP appeared with the birth of my great grandfather in 1850, he is a subclade of his great grandfather born in 1727, which is a subclade of his great grandfather born in 1627, and his is a subclade of his great grandfather born in 1518, and his is a subclade of a great grandfather born in 1444
Great essay
What is that something "new" on new ground? To me it might be a very strong independent party. I'm 77 & real tired of democrats & even more republicans. It's theater, mostly ego, hog in trough, & cock on dunghill game.