THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER Sunday, July 26, 2015
Reagan's legacy will be invoked repeatedly during Cleveland's Aug. 6 GOP debate –
but what does it really mean?
Robert Weiner and Eric Alves (Opinion)
With the first Republican debateset for Aug. 6 in Cleveland, one has to wonder how often Ronald Reagan's name will be invoked. One sure bet: Not one debater at the Qwill mention the Springfield-Mazzoli Actwhich Reagan signed in 1986, granting legal status to undocumented residents.
Cleveland had another major debate back on Oct. 28, 1980. At Music Hall,Reagan hammered President Jimmy Carteron his mishandling of government, pointing to "the General Accounting Office estimate that there is probably tens of billions of dollars that is lost in fraud alone ... waste adds even more." The debate helped seal Reagan's victory.
The coming Aug.6 debate could frame the current election and have as much impact.
The recall election that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, now a GOP Republican presidential candidate, wonin 2012 was on the date of Reagan's death, and he said the coincidence "sent a shiver down my spine." Walker said in his July 13 presidential announcement, "Reagan was the best president."
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal told a South Carolina gathering that Reagan was "obviously the greatest presidentof my lifetime." Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and fellow GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump said they agreed. New Jersey Gov.Chris Christie statedin New Hampshire that Reagan was "a principled man" who "knew governing was about compromising."
Tax crusader Grover Norquist, who often gets the legislation he advocates, wants a "Ronald Reagan Legacy Project"to name at least one public landmarkin every state after him. Ohio is covered --Cincinnati has theRonald Reagan Cross County Highway.
Reagan was the Great Communicator. His rhetorical inspiration, beginning with his campaign ad theme, "It'sMorning in America," deserves its status.
He is perceived as the patron saint of lower taxes and limited government--an image he helped create during the Cleveland debate. Reaganomics is hailed as proof that shrinking government and taxes can createa booming economyin whichwealth trickles down.
However, under Reagan, the federal government did not shrink. The federal workforce increased by 324,000 to 5.3 million, federal spending rose from $517 billion to $991 billionand the national debt tripled, from $907 billion in 1980 to $2.6 trillion in 1988, the largest percentage growth of debtunder any president.
Ohio Gov. JohnKasich believes he has strong Reagan-like credentials, including his stint as House Budget Committee chairman from1995 to 2001, when he led the way inRepublican domestic budget cuts and program freezes.
AWashington Times headline onMay 10asked,"Is John Kasich the next Reagan?" The accompanying story points outthat Kasich helped President Bill Clinton balance the federalbudget. The problem with their analysis is that, unlike Clinton, who balanced the federal budget three times, Reagan never balanced the budget.
The true legacy of Reagan is weakening President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal legacy.
During the Great Depression, the New Deal provided families a way out through jobs and government-funded programs--programs Reagan intentionally gutted.
While scratching the backs of big business with large tax cuts, in 1983, Reagan saw the poverty level jump from 13percentto 15.2percent. There was a3.4percentdecrease in poverty under Clinton.
Reagan contributed to the widespread income disparity currently haunting the United States, tripling the national debt bycutting the top income tax ratefrom 70percentto 28percentand expanding military spending.
The Reagan myth credits him with engineering the collapse of the Soviet Union -- "Mr. Gorbachev, teardown this wall!" -- and increasing U.S.military funding to levels 43percenthigher than it was during the Vietnam War. However, the Russian economy imploded of its own accord.
According to Jonathan Weiler, director of undergraduate studies inglobal studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,"The Soviet economyhad begun to stagnateby about 1975 ... dragged down by over-spending in the Soviet military at the expense of consumer needs" – a lesson for our nation today as well.
Reagan's actions had a significant role in our confrontation with terrorism today. When the Soviet Union was invading Afghanistan, Reagan created Operation Cyclone. It was a covert plan to arm and finance the radical Islamic militant mujahedeenfor their proclaimed jihad against the Soviet Union, instead of supporting less ideological resistance groups. It cost more than$2 billion.
Within the ranks was a youngOsama bin Laden, who used the skills he gained from his American training to form the terrorist organization al-Qaida,later giving birth to the breakaway groupthe Islamic State.
As Republicans prepare for Cleveland, it would be accurate to say Reagan's rhetoric was legendary and inspirational. However, the retrenchment he launched against the New Deal startedthe rise of income inequality, soreinstitutinghis policies now would only makeit worse. In foreign policy, he armed people who hate us as much as they hated the Soviet Union.
Robert Weiner, an Oberlin College graduate, is a former spokesman for the Clinton White House and senior staffer for Democratic U.S. Reps. John Conyers, Charles Rangel, Claude Pepper and Ed Koch and for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. Eric Alves is senior policy analyst at Robert Weiner Associates.