GOP: Sorry President Obama, Ronald Reagan Inherited a Much Worse Mess Than You Did.

[ProSense]

Sorry President Obama, Ronald Reagan Inherited a Much Worse Mess Than You Did.

by eXtina

Gov. Mitch Daniel, who continues to attract GOP VP speculation, appeared on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace. He was asked, very bluntly by Wallace, (except of course he frames it as 'the Obama argument') how going back to George Bush's trickle down, tax cuts for the rich policies could result in anything but more of the same, i.e. really bad news.

The answer is hardly surprising coming from a Republican. Sure, President Obama got a pretty raw deal but you know who had a worse mess when they entered office? If you guessed Ronald Reagan, you would be right of course.

The all purpose answer to anything and everything GOP. Ronald Reagan!

From the interview on Fox News Sunday with Gov. Mitch Daniels:

WALLACE: Well, let me pick up on that, though. What about the Obama argument that he inherited a mess from George W. Bush, and that if Romney gets in to office and enacts the policies he's espousing, that he will simply return us to that mess?

Governor Romney has endorsed Paul Ryan's budget. In principle, Ryan cuts tax rates for the rich without specifying which loopholes he would close. Ryan cuts nondefense discretionary spending by 19 percent in 2014, which the Obama campaign says would mean major cuts in Head Start, medical research and healthcare for the poor.

So, how about the Obama argument, what Romney will do is give tax cuts to the rich and spending cuts to the poor and the middle class?

DANIELS: First of all, the president did inherit a mess but it's not the first time it's ever happened. He's done less with the mess than anyone else ever did. Ronald Reagan inherited a bigger one and had a roaring economy already by this stage.

Whoa, let's stop right there. What a full of fail, full of lies package in two little sentences. It's not the 'first time' it's ever happened. True. There was that Great Depression thing. Which was created under a Republican administration and the country crawled out of with a Democratic president. So it's only been about 70 years or so since it happened before.

Ronald Reagan inherited a 'bigger mess'? Really? That's the new GOP talking point? Even if that were remotely true, that hardly discounts everything President Obama has done to get the economy going. Not to mention against historic intransigence from the opposition party. And the economy was 'roaring three years into his presidency?

How bad was the recession Reagan inherited?

The early 1980s recession was a severe recession in the United States which began in July 1981 and ended in November 1982

It didn't start until months into Reagan's first term.

According to Bloomberg News, who know a thing or two about the economy, the recession of 2009 is the worst on record since WWII.

- more -

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/04/23/1085578/-Sorry-President-Obama-Ronald-Reagan-Inherited-a-Much-Worse-Mess-Than-You-Did-

GOP message: The economy really sucks , but it's Obama's fault, not Bush's. In fact, Obama didn't inherit the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, Reagan did. Still, the economy sucks at historic levels, and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depressions is Obama's fault.

On edit: Under Carter, more than 10 million jobs were created (and that's in one term). That's about 5 million jobs more than both Bushes combined. In fact, during the Clinton years, there were more jobs created (23 million, two terms) than Reagan (16 million in two terms) and both Bushes (5.5 million across three terms), combined.

[Scuba]

1. What utter bullshit.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. If the GOP wants to go there, then they have to trace the origins back to Nixon.

His administration didn't mention the expenses for prosecuting the Vietnam War when drafting the Budget.

[Democrats_win]

13. Don't forget the Nixon "Easter egg" aka Iran or the Arab oil boycott.

The Iran "Easter egg" was quite a surprise. Nixon propped up this Shah fool and he drove inflation in Iran to such a high level that the people rebelled. The Shah also had his secret police which Nixon ignored. Then when Carter took over, the Iran bubble burst leaving America with the second oil crisis of the 70s.

The first oil crisis of the 70s was the Arab oil boycott. Although we all supported Israel during the 1971 war, Nixon did a poor job of determining if Israel actually needed our help--he just went ahead whether they needed it or not. The Arabs responded. And don't forget that Nixon had, in 1969, told the Shah that he could raise oil prices.

[DonCoquixote]

3. This would be funny

If it was not so tragic.

First off, a lot of the "Mess" was caused by GOP well before Raygun got it; why else do you think the Iranians offered hostages after Carter was out? Also, the nation had not recovered from what Nixon pulled off.

Add to this that THE MAIN REASON THIS ECONOMY SUX is because of the deregulation process Raygun started!

[GoCubsGo]

4. They would know.

They like to blame the economic mess of the late 1970s through 1980s on Jimmy Carter, which was actually the doing of their boys, Richard M. Nixon and Gerald Ford. It's no surprise that they are once again trying to blame their fuck-ups on a Democrat. Same shit, different decade. They still try to blame the Great Depression on FDR, too.

edited for clarity

[Proud Liberal Dem]

6. Yeah

and the American public blamed FDR for the Great Depression so much that he only get re-elected 3 times too! To me (and most of us whom don't pay attention to Fox News), there's been what's called an "improvement" in the economy since Barack Obama became POTUS. Maybe it's not as great as it could have been (had he and his party in Congress not had to deal with such a severe degree of obstructionisim from the Republicans) but it's pretty damned delusional to declare that the economy has gotten worse than it was back in 2009 when Barack Obama became POTUS (and the economy was still locked in a death spiral). Unfortunately, as we all know much too well, Fox News and hate radio don't inhabit the same reality as the rest of us.

[GoCubsGo]

20. It chaps my ass to see that "the economy is worse" meme here, too.

I am not as disappointed in the President as many here are. I wasn't expecting miracles. I really don't think many people understand just what a goddamn mess this country is in thanks to a dozen years of GOP congressional rule, combined with six of those having the Village Idiot in the White House. Anybody who paid attention over that period should have at least some idea of how utterly fucked up everything is. Multiply how bad you think it is by tens of thousands of times, and you'll probably be in the ballpark. This is going to take DECADES to fix, not four years. And, I don't care who is President. Nobody is going to repair damage that went back as the far as the Nixon years in one term--especially not with all that obstructionism that you point out.

[warrior1]

5. Mitch Daniels trips on his way out the gate

You forgot to mention the RR raised taxes 11 times, bub.

[WI_DEM]

7. Mitch, the unemployment rate in April, 1984 was 7.8% just slightly lower than our current 8.2%

[HappyMe]

8. *sniff! sniff!*

Smells like bullshit to me.

[DCKit]

9. Then it follows that Reagan's tax hikes were responsible for the improving economy.

The morans can't help but open mouth, insert foot.

[CRK7376]

10. I enlisted in the Army

in 1977 and we were not at war, not a Shooting war at least. In 1979, while I was still in the Army, we did the Iran Hostage Rescue fiasco, but that wasn't really a war. Now in 2001 we went to war ,and now it's 2012 and we are still in the same war. Major combat operations in two countries for 10 years, oh yeah, I'm still in the Army...Hmmmm....Lets see who inherited the greatest crisis....sure wasn't Reagan...

[G_j]

11. ever hear a GOP talking point that wasn't a lie?

[socialist_n_TN]

12. Bullshit. Of course it doesn't matter that it's bullshit..........

IF the people of the country don't REALIZE that it's bullshit. I think that Republicans are counting on the short memory of the American people. It's up to the Dems to set the record straight and get the message out that this meme IS bullshit.

[SidDithers]

14. Seen at DU this morning...

President Obama may be a progressive when compared to R. Reagan. However that may be comparing the lowliness of a snake, with that of whale shit.

It's not only the GOP spouting bullshit.

Sid

[KansDem]

15. They just say whatever...whenever...anymore.

I guess politics now means pulling anything out your ass, as long as it supports your "platform."

[cthulu2016]

16. They have a point, but not one they understand

Reagan did inherit a hell of a mess. But Reagan didn't fix it. Paul Volker did.

And Bernake would be as effective as Volker if arithmetic worked differently.

Volker could raise rates to infinity if needed. Bernanke cannot cut rates below zero.

And, of course, Reagan did not face a congress that sought to destroy the economy as a political stunt.

[ProSense]

17. Nope

"They have a point, but not one they understand"

...they don't have a point.

Reagan did inherit a hell of a mess. But Reagan didn't fix it. Paul Volker did.

And Bernake would be as effective as Volker if arithmetic worked differently.

Volker could raise rates to infinity if needed. Bernanke cannot cut rates below zero.

This is typical of taking the point and misrepresenting it to make a completely unrelated point.

Their point is bullshit. Reagan didn't inherit a worse mess than Obama. They're focusing on jobs, which makes their point even more absurd.

[EC]

18. No it wasn't worse when Reagan got in

but even if it were, Reagan raised taxes...they wouldn't let Obama do ANYTHING...


But I remember those years and they weren't anywhere near what I saw happening in the 8 years Bushie had.

[B Calm]

19. So that's why Reagan raised taxes

SEVEN TIMES?