Ronald Reagan was a Better President than Barack Obama

I. Economic Policy "His supply-side economics brought the recession from its peak in 1982 to growing recover two years later." Crediting Reagan's 1981 tax-cuts for bringing the economy out of stagflation is false. In fact, most credit is given to Paul Volcker, the Federal Reserve Chief under Carter and Reagan. Volcker is well known for ending high-levels of inflation during this time, which helped pull the country out of its crisis. [1] Let"s talk about the economic collapse in 2008, right before Obama took office. This crisis happened because of excessive deregulation in the financial industry. Reagan was a big supporter of the idea that deregulating the economy is always the best solution, and he often enforced it. This idea that he, and the people who think like him, had been forceful with is the cause for the economic downfall. If we are comparing a mere "Which president is better" comparison, this would surely be a prime example of why Reagan was not a "better" president. [2] Let"s talk about the deficit and the debt. Obama inherited an annual deficit of 1.4 trillion dollars. As of this year, the deficit has been cut in half in relation to GDP, which is an incredible decrease in a five year time frame. [3] To make it clear, Obama is not responsible for a large portion of the debt that accumulated under him for a couple of reasons. I"ll list some of them below. 1. Unpaid for wars -George Bush paid for wars that he didn"t have the money for. He also made tax-cuts that we couldn"t afford, which comes exactly from the "Reagan playbook" of fiscal irresponsibility. It was Dick Cheney who said, "Reagan proved that deficits don"t matter." [4] In general, the government has to bring in the same amount of money as it spends. The deficit does matter, and the Bush Administration took this idea that it is irrelevant, and ran with it. 2. Unpaid Tax-Cuts -Reagan cut taxes in the beginning of his first term as president. He then later had to raise taxes to pay for the deficit increase that cutting them cost him. Even still, he didn"t raise them enough to cover the output gap. Politically, it didn"t hurt Reagan to increase the deficit. He won his second term, and he continued to push budget-busting policies. He influenced his predecessors to do the same, and their lack of fiscal responsibility lead up to the 2008 financial crisis. [5] You refer to Obama"s recovery as being one of the slowest economic recoveries in history. However, you need to remember that when Obama took office the US economy was losing 750,000 jobs a month, numerous major banks were on the verge of collapse, and another depression seemed possible. The economy shrunk more than 8% preceding his first quarter as President. When Reagan took office, he did not have nearly as much financial crisis to take on as Obama did. Comparing the two is like comparing apples to oranges. Barack Obama "Obama responded to the 2008-2009 recession with a demand-side stimulus package ... was a disaster." According to top economist Mark Zandi and the Congressional Budget Office, we would have millions of fewer jobs, and the unemployment rate would have been higher if the stimulus package was not passed. What would have been a disaster, as you say, is if the stimulus package wasn"t passed in the first place. [6] The auto-rescue plan Obama put into place in 2009, was seen as a recipe for disaster. At the time, it was thought that it would be the final nail in the coffin for the American Auto Industry. The outcome was quite the contrary. It helped put GM and Chrysler through bankruptcy and come out on the other side, and they both are now very profitable. Had they been liquidated, Ford would have gone under as well, because the suppliers would have dried out. There would have been a ripple effect across the entire economy. If it were not for the Obama administration and his auto-rescue plan, the entire American Auto Industry would have folded. [7] "...The longest period of sustained growth during peacetime..."This is false. It is actually Bill Clinton who has the longest period of sustained growth during peacetime of a 120 month expansion from 1991-2000. [8] Let"s take a look at the stock market. According to Google Finance, when Reagan was exactly where Obama is now in his presidency, the Dow Jones increased 48.4%. Under Obama it has increased 90.4% It has increased almost twice as much under Obama, which is an extremely impressive growth. [9] II. Foreign Policy "Despite the death of Osama Bin Laden and other leading terrorists, mistake over mistake over mistake have been made many times." You can"t just dismiss the killing of America"s greatest enemy in the 21st century. This is not irrelevant. All victories against other leading terrorists cannot be dismissed either. Ordering the killing of Osama Bin Laden was one of the most important accomplishments Obama has had in his presidency thus far. And if you want to talk about making mistakes, you should remember that Reagan armed and backed the Mujahideen to help defeat the soviets at the time, and they were the start of the terrorist movement we see today. [10] "Four Americans dead, including an ambassador, when our embassy and a CIA post were attacked." Reagan sent 1,800 Marines to lebanon to keep the peace in 1983. 241 of them were killed while deployed. According to your logic then, it is Reagan"s fault that 241 American Marines were killed and were not properly protected. People die. Just because it happens while one president is in office, does not mean it is automatically their fault. There are multiple more examples of Americans being killed in US Embassies throughout the world under Reagan. To make this about Obama, is ridiculous. [11] Sources 1. "Paul Volcker." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 June 2013. . 2. Koprowski, Gene J. . "Krugman: Reagan Deregulation Caused 2008 Crisis." Moneynews. N.p., 17 Dec. 2009. . 3. "Congressional Budget Office Summary Report for Fiscal Year 2013." Congressional Budget Office Summary Report for Fiscal Year 2013. N.p., 8 Nov. 2013. . 4. "Dick Cheney on Budget & Economy." On the Issues. N.p., 11 Jan. 2004. . 5. Sahadi, Jeanne. "Taxes: What people forget about Reagan." CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 8 Sept. 2010. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. . 6. Yin, Sara. "Mark Zandi: Boehner Was Wrong, Stimulus 'Did Exactly What It Was Intended To' (VIDEO)."The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 25 Aug. 2010. . 7. Whitman, Bernard. "52 Reasons to Vote for Obama: #9, Saved the U.S. Auto Industry." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 5 Nov. 2012. . 8. "USA. The longest economic expansion in American history hasended.." USA. The longest economic expansion in American history hasended.. N.p., n.d. . 9. "Dow Jones Industrial Average 2 Minute: INDEXDJX:.DJI historical prices - Google Finance." Dow Jones Industrial Average 2 Minute: INDEXDJX:.DJI historical prices - Google Finance. N.p., n.d. . 10. "Mujahideen." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Feb. 2013. . 11. "Terrorist Attacks on Americans 1979-1988." PBS. PBS, n.d. .