Day: February 6, 2011

Verbatim

Trish

Anybody giving you anything different than that, you want to walk out the door, stick your finger down your throat and give them the green weenie.

— Former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.), co-chair of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, declaring that people who claim they will cut the deficit without attacking entitlements (Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security) or defense aren’t serious. Simpson added, “If you have a career politician get up and say, ‘I know we can get this done; we’re going to get rid of all earmarks, all waste, fraud, and abuse, all foreign aid, Air Force one, all congressional pensions,’ that’s a sparrow’s belch in the midst of a typhoon.”

The Reagan Legacy: Can We Talk?

Trish

reaganWhile folks born from the late ’70s on reflect fondly on the 100th birthday of Pres. Ronald Reagan, I wanted to inject a little reality on the subject of the Gipper.

As someone who was already around when he was in office, I have a different view of the golden age conservatives now see as the greatest in our country’s history, except of course, for the halcyon days of 3/5ths personhood and what-not at our country’s founding. Reagan gave us:

  • Voodoo economics, aka trickle-down economics, aka supply-side economics, aka tax breaks for the rich
  • Tripling the national debt within two years (see “voodoo economics”)
  • Just Say No
  • Creating a new demographic of Americans: The Homeless
  • A 4,370-piece set of dishes (19 pieces per setting), costing $209,508
  • Bombing Libya and killing 60 people, including Leader Muammar al-Gaddafi’s 15-month-old daughter
  • Ketchup as a vegetable in public school lunches
  • Lt. Col. Oliver North
  • Selling arms to Iran and using the money to overthrow the government of Nicaragua
  • Using astrology to plan presidential trips, functions, speeches, etc.

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