Reagan Mythology

Paul Rosenberg offers an assessment of President Reagan's legacy far more realistic than the one driving Tea Partiers and even President Obama, whom Rosenberg opines, "is as drunk on Reagan's kool-aid as anyone else in Washington today."

He explains,

Reagan was a disaster for the American economy in at least four fundamental ways:

... Under Ronald Reagan, the US went from being the world's largest creditor nation to the largest debtor nation in just a few years

... the number of unionised jobs and the number of jobs with American companies declined even further.

... The income stagnation that began under Reagan has had a devastating impact on personal savings.

... Before Reagan, debt really wasn't a problem for America.

The article begins:

As things stand today, the US is hurtling toward a budget showdown in less than a month. Either President Obama will once again capitulate to extreme Republican budget-slashing demands, making Democrats seem as much of a threat to Medicare as Republicans, and virtually ensuring a GOP electoral sweep in 2012, or the US will default on its debt for the first time in its history, most likely plunging the world economy back into another five-continent recession, also costing Democrats the 2012 elections.

Read the rest at Reagan mythology is leading US off a cliff - Opinion - Al Jazeera English


Hat tip to Millard Fillmore's Bathtub for bringing this editorial to my attention.