Tavares, FL - May 12, 2012
by Vance Jochim
In 1981, Ronald Reagan took office for eight years as US President, and Netflix has a DVD "President Ronald Reagan: The Great Speeches" which I just watched.
- He took over from Jimmy Carter when interest rates had gone up to 21% due to Carter's liberal spending programs (Gee, sounds like Owebama, doesn't it). We still had the huge welfare program that continued to pay funds to low income, non-working citizens for LIFE.
- At the time, we still had a "cold war" with the Communists in Russia, and there was a wall between East & West Berlin. Carter had launched a botched rescue of people in Cuba which failed.
- In an early April 18 speech, Reagan says "Our Government is too big, & spends too much".
- One 1982 speech talks how Reagan's administration has transferred liberal social programs down to State governments and how interest rates have dropped to 15%, and inflation has dropped from 12.4% to 8.9%.
- Reagan discusses the harmful ideas of communists, class war and Stalin's schemes to implement Soviet doctrine and "totalitarian power".
- Reagan talks to a national organization of "Evangelicals" and discusses the need for improved morality, prayer in schools and other social conservative issues. You don't hear that today.
- In his 1984 Acceptance speech as the Republican nominee for his second Presidential term, he talks about the recent Democratic convention in San Francisco and tells the packed Republican convention "We didn't discover our values in a poll taken just before our election, and we didn't set a weather vane on top of the Golden Gate bridge before talking about the American family..." "Their (Democrat's) Government only sees people as members of groups (i.e. socialism or communitarianism) ... ours sees them as individuals. "
"Inflation was not borne on the wind as some type of plague, but it was a deliberate part of their (Democrats) official economic policy they said was needed to maintain prosperity. They didn't tell us that with inflation would come the highest interest rates since the Civil War. Average monthly home payments nearly doubled and home building ground to a halt. And, who controlled both houses of government and the executive branch ... not us (Republicans). "
"Farmers have to fight insects, the weather and the marketplace and they shouldn't have to fight their own government..."
"Democrats never met a tax they didn't like..."
- There are numerous famous quotes and uplifting jokes and stories, so I suggest you get the DVD from Netflix and watch it also. Or, try CSPAN's website and they might have many of the speeches also, but maybe not the ones to private groups.
- During Reagan's 8 years, they created 19-million new jobs.
- The US was regarded by the world as the savior of "Freedom because the Berlin wall fell and the Soviet Union collapsed into separate countries. Fear from Russian violence or nuclear war dropped significantly. Defenses were rebuilt to "carry a big stick". Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan. Nuclear fears were reduced through reductions in nuclear missiles on both sides of the Atlantic. Tax rates were cut significantly. Family income went up the last four years of his term. "Our first principle is to believe in ourselves." - not big government.' "We the people tell the government what to do, it doesn't tell us... We the people are free". "Most other governments tell people what they can do, but in the US, "We The People" tell government what it is allowed to do...". "As government expands, Liberty contracts...". "We have to teach history not based upon what's popular now, but what's important."
- The best single speech is his final Farewell Address to the Nation from the Oval Office on January 11, 1989 before leaving office. Be sure to watch it, where he talks about "We the People", comparisons of Communism vs US lifestyles, the benefits of reduced governments, Freedom, etc.
Ronald Reagan was the original Hope and Change guy who actually did it with DEEDS, not PROMISES.
vj
