Downgrading Obama

August 19, 2011
by Chip Wood


Barack Obama refuses to take responsibility for any of his failed (and unbelievably expensive) policies.

Do you remember the mess our economy was in when Ronald Reagan took office 30 years ago?

Five years earlier, during the 1976 campaign, Jimmy Carter had hammered away at the so-called Misery Index, the combination of unemployment and the inflation rate. In the summer of 1976, it reached 13.57 percent; and worried voters handed the keys to the White House to the peanut farmer.

Unfortunately, Jimmy did nothing to make things better. By 1980, when he was running for re-election against Ronald Reagan, the Misery Index had climbed to an all-time high of 21.9 percent — more than 61 percent higher. Ouch! As a result, the voters booted him out and decided to give the former Governor of California a chance.

But all Reagan did for the next four years was blame Jimmy Carter for the mess he inherited, while things in the country got worse and worse.

Ha-ha, just making sure you’re paying attention. Of course, that last paragraph is a total fabrication. Rather than blame his predecessor for the conditions he inherited, Reagan and Paul Volcker slammed on the money-creation brakes, cutting inflation dramatically. Interest rates plummeted. Businesses could borrow again, with confidence that their investments would pay off.

A massive tax-reduction program encouraged individuals to start saving once again and companies to expand. Millions of new jobs were created, which meant millions of new taxpayers started sending a portion of their earnings to Washington. While lowering the tax rate, government revenues actually increased.

I wish I could tell you that President Reagan also abolished a ton of government agencies, as he promised during his campaign that he would. Unfortunately, once he took office, not a single major government department was abolished or even substantially reduced. By the time he left office eight years later, the total number of government employees and total government spending had grown dramatically.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that, like an old-time Biblical prophecy coming true, the wall came tumbling down. Communism collapsed in East Germany. Most of the former Soviet satellites tasted freedom for the first time since World War II. And the “evil empireâ€