More FACTS...
Carter Revisited
Popularly known as one of our weakest and unsuccessful Presidents- although the “perception” may be true- much of it is a result of myths- and incorrect information- whereas- Ronald Reagan’s overall great image in American politics- is also due to many myths.
Jimmy Carter did not entangle America in foreign conflicts- Jimmy Carter did not expand our debt significantly (1.6-2.7%)- Jimmy Carter reduced the poverty rate (1976-80 poverty rate fell several points), Jimmy Carter was not a big tax and spend President.
Another popular myth is what Jimmy Carter did to the military- i.e. created a hollow force, reduced spending, etc. – this is a myth. Carter did not engage in some massive reduction in military spending, the budget was on a rapid decline because of the end of the Vietnam War, but into his second year- he (Carter) began a military buildup in spending and to address the “hollow force” issues which was a result of the draw down related directly to the ending of the Vietnam War.
After Carter’s second year in office military spending was boosted by 5% on an upward trajectory- continued by Reagan. During the Carter years- defense spending increased from 4.7% of GDP to 5.2% of GDP- therefore- it was pure myth that during the Carter years the military was “hollowed out” or cut is simply not true. Indeed “some” cut were being made as a result of winding up the Vietnam War and it was Carter who initiated programs to rectify this situation by creating new platforms, commission new weapons, and a surge in building “LIFT” capability (in later years this gave our military global reach). Reagan continued and expanded upon Carter’s and Secretary of Defense Brown’s policies.
I am personally a great fan of Ronald Reagan and remember his Presidency well, but in the study of history- we use time and greater time as an analytical tool to be able to reflect on events more clearly, more objectively and with less emotion- and probably- with many more facts than when events occurred.
In this case, itÂ’s time to revise history just a bit- to realize that Carter got a bad rap for many things which were simply not true about him- and Reagan gained a lot of adulation for things which were not true about him also- i.e. he created enormous deficits by cutting taxes and raising defense spending and the increased tax base did not yield as much revenue as predicted- hence large deficits.
For example, under Carter, the budget deficit as a percentage of GDP was 1.6%-2.7% yet under Reagan, our deficits expanded from 2.6% to 4.0% to 6.0% hovering for two years at 5.1% before reducing to 3.2% during his final year. From those numbers- clearly Carter is the fiscal conservative whereas Reagan is the one expanding government, spending, and debt levels.
In fact, despite Reagan’s huge “federal” tax cuts- after he approved and signed into law- other tax increases- his overall tax cut was only 1/10 of a percent- hardly aligns with what people think of Reagan since the media hyped his large federal income tax reductions- but in reality- he signed in a host of other taxes which in most part- neutralized his federal tax cuts- that’s the reality! Another anti-conservative policy of Reagan was the immigration Act of 1986 which gave AMNESTY to THREE MILLION (3 million) illegal aliens in America- and is probably the single biggest catalyst for massive illegal immigration thereafter- since illegals thought they could continue to enter America and just wait and hide until the next amnesty comes along- HARDLY a conservative policy for a Republican president.
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