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(1) how can you keep politics out of the 80s  :o . the cold war scared the bejebus out of us. nuclear armaggedon was a very real factor that we all had to live with.

(2) i guess you can credit reagan (and the nato allies) with eventually toppling the soviets but i always thought reagan was nothing more than a mouthpiece. (like most world leaders, those behind the curtains rule)
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(1) In terms of the coild war, you have to go back to the 50's.  I remember "air raid drills" in elementary school.  Fat lot of good they would have done considering that I lived only 35 miles from NYC.

(2) I think you have to credit the end of the Cold War to the arms race and the strength of the US economy compared to the Soviet.  By continuing to spend billions on WMDs the US forced the Soviets to do the same, but, in large part as a reasult of WW II devistation (the Soviets lost about 20 million people, and faced a destroyed infrastructure), couldn't afford both bullets and butter, as we could.

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He's been out of the spotlight cause of his All-Timers Disease! :( I hope he gets better.

Howard
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It's Altzimers (or old timers), and there is neither a treatment or a cure.  President Reagan had it while in office.  Nancy and her astrologer ran the country.

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If you're a Republican or conservative, Ronald Reagan is almost like a god.  Reagan is their hero that could do no wrong.  If they could name every school and mountain after Ronald Reagan, they would.      

I think Reagan had good points and bad points, he was a man that won the people over more on his charisma and strong presence rather then his policies.

And considering how pathetically weak the Democratic canidates were the years he ran----1980 Pres. Jimmy Carter, 1984--Walter Mondale, I guess we had no choice but to elect him.  Bush Sr. ran against yet another pathetically weak candidate in 1988---Michael Dukakis.  I always felt that's a huge reason Republicans hated Bill Clinton so much, they were so used to having their way with the push over Democrats that were running for president for so many years.  Then after 12 years of weak Democrats running, FINALLY in 1992 came along a guy (Clinton) that could play hardball and give just as much as he got.  Clinton actually gave back more then he got and was able to handle his political enemies like a true pro. The truth is it was well over 20 years of weak Democrats running for office, starting with George McGovern in 1972.  Even though Jimmy Carter actually got elected in 1976, he wasn't cut throat enough and he falls into the mold of the McGoverns, Mondales and Dukakis's.

I don't like Reagan's policies, but I have to admit that when I look back at the times, the alternatives weren't that good.  And Reagan did make most people feel cheery and better about America after the total misery of the 1970's (Vietnam, Watergate, high oil prices, high crime and the Iran hostage thing).  Reagan had a powerful charm that made people forget about the dark and gloomy problems of the 70's and instead made Americans in the 80's feel all around more cheery and happy.     
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I agree with this response. It's goes along my train of thought in reference to this topic.

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^That poor kid.
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I think Reagan is a nice name for a girl. Does anyone remember the Exorcist? ;D ;) Just kidding!

Actually, that was Regan. :)

I still think it makes a nice first name though.

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My impression of Reagan was that he was a powerful leader and someone people could look up to.  He could send a message to the world like not many other people can do.  However, underneath that facade was a rather sinister, power/money hungry and scandalous man.  

He definitely conducted so many shady and sometimes hypocritical dealings (i.e. Iran-Contra, Savings & Loan).  The appointed members of his cabinet and other close politicos screwed the American people out of billions of dollars as well as much of our resources (just think James Watt, Edwin Meese, Admiral Poindexter, Alexander Haig, Charles Keating and the list goes on and on).  

Reagan sure made it hard on middle and lower class people.  He and his cronies with their economic, or should I say "Reaganomic" policies practically help start the trend of "the rich get richer, the poor get poorer."

One way he was very hypocritical in that he sucked up to the religious right to get elected.  Meanwhile for his tenure in office it was reported that he set foot in a church 2-3 times.  Some religious guy, eh?  ::)   Also, back in his Hollywood days he was a big union supporter.  As soon as he gained lots of power he all at sudden was the most virulent union buster.  Twisted.

Somehow the country survived his diabolical reign.  It makes me wonder sometimes.  Ugghh politics suck.


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Very, very well said!

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It's Altzimers (or old timers), and there is neither a treatment or a cure.  President Reagan had it while in office.  Nancy and her astrologer ran the country.
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No, it's Alzheimer's Disease, which I think he had throughout his time in office.

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I can deny this.  The chaos and misconduct from deregulation is something we will be paying for for a long, long time.
And that's just one thing.
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OK, which "deregulation" are you talking about?

The one with airline deregulation?  THat only lowered the price of tickets so that everybody could afford to fly.  I remember a ticket from LAX to Las Vegas being $200+ before deregulation.  Now, $40 round trip is more normal.  Sure it cost airlines that could not adjust to the new way of things, but many others prospered.

Savings & Loan deregulation:  Sure, a lot of people lost money from the scams (Lincold Savings comes to mind.  But those were the exceptions.  It also allowed the building boom that created a LOT of jobs.  And don't forget, the politicians that got caught cheating with Lincoln Savings were primarilly Democrats.  Reagan may have deregulated, but the Democrats took advantage of it, and sent the mud the other direction when caught.

Another benefit of S&L deregulation is that S&L's could now offer checking accounts and credit cards, things that they were prohibited from doing before.

Also S&L's were allowed to make commercial loans, which added competition to regular Banks.  THis allowed more people (especially minorities) to start their own businesses.  It also lowered interest rates substantially.

Telecommunications Deregulation:  I know I like paying 2 cents per minute for long distance phone calls.  Of course, you can go back to paying $1 per minute if you wish, I prefer things the way they are now.

SO while "deregulation" was good and bad both, overall, we are benefitting much more because of lower costs.  And while some companies could not adjust (Pan-Am comes to mind), others took advantage and had tremendous growth (Southwest Airlines, MCI, Sprint).

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^That poor kid.




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Real nice.  

Very much uncalled for.  I see that being rude & obnoxious is still in style here.

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I think Reagan is a nice name for a girl. Does anyone remember the Exorcist? ;D ;) Just kidding!

Actually, that was Regan. :)

I still think it makes a nice first name though.
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Thanks Hairspray.  My red-headed beauty loves her name.

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OK, which "deregulation" are you talking about?

The one with airline deregulation?  THat only lowered the price of tickets so that everybody could afford to fly.  I remember a ticket from LAX to Las Vegas being $200+ before deregulation.  Now, $40 round trip is more normal.  Sure it cost airlines that could not adjust to the new way of things, but many others prospered.

Savings & Loan deregulation:  Sure, a lot of people lost money from the scams (Lincold Savings comes to mind.  But those were the exceptions.  It also allowed the building boom that created a LOT of jobs.  And don't forget, the politicians that got caught cheating with Lincoln Savings were primarilly Democrats.  Reagan may have deregulated, but the Democrats took advantage of it, and sent the mud the other direction when caught.

Another benefit of S&L deregulation is that S&L's could now offer checking accounts and credit cards, things that they were prohibited from doing before.

Also S&L's were allowed to make commercial loans, which added competition to regular Banks.  THis allowed more people (especially minorities) to start their own businesses.  It also lowered interest rates substantially.

Telecommunications Deregulation:  I know I like paying 2 cents per minute for long distance phone calls.  Of course, you can go back to paying $1 per minute if you wish, I prefer things the way they are now.

SO while "deregulation" was good and bad both, overall, we are benefitting much more because of lower costs.  And while some companies could not adjust (Pan-Am comes to mind), others took advantage and had tremendous growth (Southwest Airlines, MCI, Sprint).




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Obviously deregulation has worked wonders for the airlines, that's why the government has to bail them out and all of them are on the verge of bankrupcy.  And please don't try to say that's because of September 11th.  This has been going on for many years now long before September 11th.  
And it also worked wonders for the power companies.  Just ask anyone in California.
And the phone companies...in Illinois at least we've had lots of fun with the phone companies, creating (or trying to) create monopolies, hiding charges among other things.  
And those are just the ones I can come up with off the top of my head.

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Obviously deregulation has worked wonders for the airlines, that's why the government has to bail them out and all of them are on the verge of bankrupcy.  And please don't try to say that's because of September 11th.  This has been going on for many years now long before September 11th.  
And it also worked wonders for the power companies.  Just ask anyone in California.
And the phone companies...in Illinois at least we've had lots of fun with the phone companies, creating (or trying to) create monopolies, hiding charges among other things.  
And those are just the ones I can come up with off the top of my head.

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Not ALL airlines have needed to be bailed out in the last few years.  And not ALL are on the verge of Bankrupcy.  The ones that have had problems adapting to more competition have been having the problems.

While old carriers like United, American, and the like have been having problems, the more "modern" carriers like Tower, Southwest, Blue, Air Alaska, and others have been doing great business.

Mostly they have succeeded because they cut overhead.  Less money on things like champagne meals and long term contracts.  They also drop routes that are not profitable, and try to run as many flights as they can at max capacity.  This is unlike the "old school", which would run lines that made a loss, just to keep their private terminal agreements.

As far as California, I was there when that power mess happened.  The problem was not deregulation, but how they did it.  They forced the power companies to sell off their power plants, forcing them to buy all of their power.  Add to that the fact that California inports a large amount of it's power, and it was a disaster waiting to happen.

(As a side note, no new power plants have been built in California in over 20 years, and since the 2001 power disaster, voters there have turned down at least 5 more plans for new plants.  California has a SERIOUS problem dealing with reality.)

As for Telephone deregulation, that was a 10 year battle.  Department Of Justice started ANtitrust hearings against AT&T in 1974, which lead to the founding of the "RBOC" (Regional Bell Operating Companies) system of today.  The same law allowed other companies like MCI, Sprint, and others to compete for long distance service.  And many areas, companies are trying to break into local coverage.

Deregulation is overall a good thing I believe, but the Government has a job to make sure that it is not abused.  Enron learned that making a profit from abusing it's position can cost more then you make.  The same can be said to Global Crossing, and almost any other company that has abused it's power.  The gas companies had better watch, because they may be next for some regulation from the Government.

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Wow! Thanks for all your views.

Somebody mentioned 'Impeachment' to describe Reagan. What kind of liberties/injustices did he get away with?
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I don't have time right now to go into this in more depth(or to respond to the post on deregulation with the detail it deserves) but in brief I was referring to the Iran/Contra issue.

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Wow! Thanks for all your views.

Somebody mentioned 'Impeachment' to describe Reagan. What kind of liberties/injustices did he get away with?
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I do not remember ANY serious talk about impeaching President Reagan.  THere was some rumbeling, but nothing ever became of it.  If so, in a Democrat controlled COngress, it never got beyond a preliminary hearing phase.

Iran/Contra was an example of subordinates excceeding their authority.  THis is something that will always happen.

ANd if you think IC was a bad thing, ask the hostages that were released because of it, like Mr. Jacobson.  It was his release that got the reporters looking into how the Archbishop of Canterbery's Envoy Timothy Waite got them out that brought this to light, and caused him to be held for over a year himself.  And let's not all forget LtCol William Higgins, who was kidnapped and killed in 1988 because of this becomming a media circus.

IC was a case of people doing things they should not have done, but for all the right reasons.  They released a great many hostages.  Not only US hostages, but Brittish and French and other nationalities as well.  I am sure that if IC had not happened, a great many of them would have come home in body bags, not been reunited with their familied alive.