My How Things Change

The Republican party here in the United States has changed so drastically in the past couple of decades as to be almost unrecognizable. Thirty years ago the poster boy for conservatism was Ronald Reagan, he could do no wrong in the eyes of the right wing loyalists. Quote him now and the same party that idolized him will call you a socialist, marxist, communist, enemy of the state, blah blah blah and so on.

In 1985 Reagan stated, "We're going to close the unproductive tax loopholes that have allowed some of the truly wealthy to avoid paying their fair share. In theory some of those loopholes were understandable, but in practice they sometimes made it possible for millionaires to pay nothing but a bus driver was paying ten percent of his salary and that's crazy. Do you think the millionaire ought to pay more in taxes than the bus driver, or less?" The audience responded with an enthusiastic "More."

Cut to 2012 when President Obama states the same points. The same party that was all about the principle in 1985 is now vehemently opposed to the exact same principle. Now it's nothing more than a redistribution of wealth, socialism at its best. It's evil, wrong, class warfare even, and just plain anti-American. I find this rather amusing because for the past 30 years the Republican party has been hacking away at taxes for the rich, shifting the burden onto the middle class. They are in fact responsible for the largest redistribution of wealth in American history. They are owned, lock and stock and barrel by the corporate elite.The ultra-rich make their money from investments, the percentage of tax on those capital gains and dividends was lowered by the Bush Administration Congress in 2003 to barely half of what it was during Reagan's presidency, and the lowest rate (15%) since the 1930s. As those who can afford it are required to pay less, those who can't afford must pay more. In the end, Reagan's "tax reform" did close some loopholes, but ended up lowering the tax rate for the richest Americans while simultaneously raising it for the poorest for the first time in American history. Art Laffer, a member of Reagan's Economic Policy Advisory Board, seems quite proud of this ass backward policy and of the fact that it was the first time in US history that it had ever been done. Check out the end part of this video, in defending Reagan's policy while trashing Obama's identical goal Laffer states a result which contradicts the whole point of the policy. Laffer would later admit that he voted for Clinton in '92 and again in '96, citing Clinton's conservative fiscal policies as the reason for his support. So Clinton, whom most conservatives consider the next best thing to the antichrist, had conservative fiscal policies which led us to an economic boom, but all the conservatives fiscal policies have led to recession and inflation with soaring deficits and debt. Makes sense to me!

Along with their view on the tax issue the Republican view on religion and its necessary isolation and absence from government has shifted as well. On 26 Oct 1984 Reagan was giving a speech to the Temple Hillel and other community leaders in Valley Stream, New York. In the course of that speech he offered these viewpoints on religion in politics and on bigotry (something which I believe inevitably follows behind the fanatically religious), emphasis added by me;

1. "It will serve to remind our children and our children's children the tragic consequences of bigotry and intolerance. We in the United States, above all, must remember that lesson, for we were founded as a nation of openness to people of all beliefs. And so we must remain. Our very unity has been strengthened by our pluralism. We establish no religion in this country, we command no worship, we mandate no belief, nor will we ever. Church and state are, and must remain, separate."
2. "At the same time that our Constitution prohibits state establishment of religion, it protects the free exercise of all religions. And walking this fine line requires government to be strictly neutral."
3. "The ideals of our country leave no room whatsoever for intolerance, for anti-Semitism, or for bigotry of any kind -- none. In Dallas, we acted on this conviction. We passed a resolution concerning anti-Semitism and disassociating the Republican Party from all people and groups who practice bigotry in any form."
4. "We must never remain silent in the face of bigotry. We must condemn those who seek to divide us. In all quarters and at all times, we must teach tolerance and denounce racism, anti-Semitism, and all ethnic or religious bigotry wherever they exist as unacceptable evils. We have no place for haters in America -- none, whatsoever."
5. "We stand with you in condemning any and all who preach or countenance bigotry, hatred, or anti-Semitism."

Unfortunately the same views are no longer held by the Republican party because of their voter base. Today's Republican party is primarily supported by "good Christians" or more prominently the hate cult calling themselves the "Tea Party". The Tea Party is all about bigotry and hatred, and since the tea party constitutes the driving force of the Republican party's voter base the Republican party itself now espouses those same anti-american values. It has to, just to keep its base.

That's the predicament they find themselves in today, their incessant petty politics, obstructionism and divisiveness are what their rabidly ultra-conservative base demand. Without these fanatics behind them they lose elections so they must appease this voter base to remain in power, which is really all they want in the first place. The rhetoric grows more divisive every year, the policies grow more hateful, more divisive, and more bigoted. It's to the point now where here in the US state after state are passing laws written specifically for the purpose of legislating bigotry, intentionally denying Constitutionally guaranteed rights to whichever specific group of people they're hating that particular week, or creating laws forcing others to comply with somebody else's religious beliefs. If Reagan were still alive today I think he'd be very disappointed with his party and what they've become, and his party would quickly kick him to the curb for being too liberal. "Poster boy" is apparently a fleeting title at best.