What did Reagan do that was so significant? You know that he was working between financial crises, and that he was working deficits - and above average at that (between 1971 to 2010) - that were only corrected under Clinton?
If we had another Reagan, we'd have someone who'd continue the high spending. He might've cut taxes, but spending was also high and that's what Republicans say we shouldn't be doing right now. Clinton had similar GDP growth rates as Reagan (~4%) yet he went for surplus budgets instead of deficits.
I will quote this for you, it's by Reagan:
"Ours was the first revolution in the history of mankind that truly reversed the course of government, and with three little words: 'We the People.' 'We the People' tell the government what to do; it doesn't tell us. 'We the People' are the driver; the government is the car. And we decide where it should go, and by what route, and how fast. Almost all the world's constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which 'We the People' tell the government what it is allowed to do. 'We the People' are free. This belief has been the underlying basis for everything I've tried to do these past 8 years.
But back in the 1960's, when I began, it seemed to me that we'd begun reversing the order of things -- that through more and more rules and regulations and confiscatory taxes, the government was taking more of our money, more of our options, and more of our freedom. I went into politics in part to put up my hand and say, 'Stop.' I was a citizen politician, and it seemed the right thing for a citizen to do."
He reduced taxes on people, made sure the people had full choice in what they wanted to do, and 19 million people got jobs again. THAT is what Reagan did.
The government is now doing the opposite. Obamacare, by order of the President, MUST be attained by every American within the next few years. Evidence has shown that, despite it covering EVERY American, EVERYONE that has it must pay MORE than they did before.
Logically, this makes no sense. Obamacare and plans like it strip away the People's ability to make their own choices and do their own thing. Reagan is pretty much Obama's opposite yet, while Reagan wanted to help all of the people (which SHOULD have been something Democrats were to do), Obama only cares about the federal government's income and agenda (which SHOULD be something stereotypical of Republicans).
While Obamacare covers all these girls that get themselves knocked up and DON'T work, just get money for being single jobless mothers, Obamacare also has taken away tons of retirement funds from the elderly and raising THEIR medical costs. You said certain meds got cheaper, well which ones? Because I'm telling you those meds only got cheaper in return for OTHER meds getting more expensive.
The Republicans are trying to DESTROY the Fed Govt's ability to function. That way, all these laws that force the people to do certain things won't have any effect and those that aren't in the government will be able to affect the government in greater ways than ever before.
Republicans and Democrats have, throughout time, often switched the things they represented and moved from left-wing to right-wing and on and on - each of them have done this. It's wrong to stereotype Republicans as money grubbers just like how Democrats are no longer hippies. The fed govt has, throughout time, been abused and controlled by various people and, because of this, it has hurt far more than helped.
Let me give an example. Leon Czolgosz, having been ruined by the decisions of the government in his lifetime, assassinated the president at the time. The following is quoted from an article:
'Seeing that the mob on Czolgosz might easily and quickly kill him, President McKinley whispered either, "Don't let them hurt him" or "Go easy on him, boys."
...
Czolgosz readily admitted that he was the one who had shot the President. In his written confession, Czolgosz stated, "I killed President McKinley because I done my duty. I didn't believe one man should have so much service and another man should have none."'
Neither of them, the assassin or the president, were to blame. They both believed this. I believe, the moment they looked each other in the eye, they understood how they'd both been played. There is something very wrong with our government. Many people are seeing that. The majority suffer and those that try to stop the suffering do all they can to alleviate it, even if that means being seen as the enemy of the public. There is a problem with the way our government works. The shutdown is our opportunity to fix it.