Ronald Reagan was a better President than FDR

It is important to remember than Reagan was first a liberal, but became a strong conservative. As for Gingrich and other conservatives, many respective him for his leadership in World War 2 and not his New Deal, but this is unimportant to the debate. Typically, I debate first with my case and then make my refutations in rounds 3 and 4. However, in this debate I will divide it between Reagan (in a sense my case) and Roosevelt (my opponent's case). Ronald ReaganI. Economic PolicyMy opponent stated that Reagan's economic policies were not bad ones, this means that basically my opponent has conceded the economic argument of the debate and was responsible for ending the recession. On debt, most of that was caused by Reagan's military spending needed to defeat the Soviet Union. Domestic spending growth under Carter was 3.5% and it went down to 1% under Ronald Reagan, so he did attempt to reduce domestic spending while increasing military spending. His tax cuts also raised revenue. [1,2]II. The Cold WarMy opponent argues that the Soviet Union kill itself through economic stagnation, but that has never been fully prove to have be the major and final blow to the Soviet Union. The USSR did not fall until 1991, but my opponent is discussing actions between 1970 and 1985, missing later crucial years. As Mr. D'Souza explains:"This analysis is impressive only for its audacity. The revisionists are certainly right that the Soviet Union during the 1980s suffered from debiliating economic problems on account of its inefficent socialist system. But why would this factor by itself bring about the end of the political regime? Historically, poor economic performance is commonplace, bujt the peacetime implosion of a great political regime is rare. Never have food shortages or techonological backwardness been sufficient causes for the destruction of a large empire. The Roman Empire survived internal corrosion for centuries before it was destroyed by the barbarian hordes. Despite serious domestic strains the Ottoman Empire persisted as the "sick man of Europe" for generations ended only by the catastrophic defeat of World War 1. So the economic argument cannot explain why the empire collapsed at the particular time that it did, when the Soviet Union was previously able to sustain itself in the of comparable - and in some cases worse - economic conditions. " [3]This "Carter Doctrine" my opponent talks about has to be seen as considerably weak. From 1974 to 1980, ten countries fell to communism: South Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, South Yemen, Angola, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Grenada, Nicaragua, and Afghanistan. The Soviet Union had also by now built the strongest nuclear arsenal in the world. Where is this weakening Sovet Union? Also, on SDI:"Even if SDI was complete scientific nonsense, Moscow apparently was sufficiently impressed by U. S. technological capability - as previously demonstrated in programs such as the Manhattan Project and the moon landing - that it didn't want to take the risk of having its entire missile program rendered useless. Anatoly Dobrynin, Soviet ambassador to the United States from 1962 to 1986, recalls in his memoirs that the Soviet leadership treated SDI as a "real threat" because "our leadership was convinced that the great technical potential of the U. S. had scored again. " [3]III. Iran-ContraMy opponent seems to have forgotten than Reagan was found of no wrong-doing in Iran-Contra. Notice that he uses "Reagan administration", not Reagan. As for the Contras, my opponent seems to have forgotten that the war between the Contras and the Sandinistas was a guerrilla war. These wars are always commonly very gruesome. Look at Vietnam as an example. Why should the war in Nacaragua be no different. Overall, the members of Reagan's administration that conducted these actions did succeed in giving the Contras victory and leading to another victory against the Soviets. While the Contras committed terrible acts, so did the Sandinistas by confiscation of property, collectivizing farms, and instituting censorship. They also intended to spread socialism with the largest military in Central America. [3]It has to be remembered that the Reagan administration had honored to support the Contras, but Congress stopped it. That damaged US credibility heavily, but some men wanted to honor their agreements with the Contras and tried to help them the best they could, they just got overextended. IV. Savings and LoanIt is important to remember that President George H. W. Bush changed taxes by raising it during his presidency. At the same time, it is important to understand that the stock market and the economy still did well under Bush even when he changed some of Reagan's policies. Dow Jones growth under him grew 45.41% and under Reagan grew 130.60%. At the same time, the Federal Reserve restricted the money supply leading to higher unemployment. [4]Franklin D. RooseveltI. New DealMy opponent made no serious attempt at refuting my arguments on the Great Depression. Instead he cites a simple poll, but with little data and crucial economic information. By the way, only 51% of the economists polled believed that Franklin Roosevelt's did not extend the Great Depression. It only takes the Depression as a whole and does not include a fourth answer of it having no effect. There were instead three. The other two were that it prolonged and that it mostly prolonged it amounting to 49%. This is hardly a strong majority. Like I said, the wealth from World War 2 was fake government wealth, not real wealth. Wars destroy wealth rather than creating it. II. Banking SecurityWhile banking security was a key part of FDR's New Deal, it did not seem to have any major effect in curing the Great Depression faster. In fact, had most of the New Deal been left out it has been included the Great Depression would have ended much faster. Banking security was only one party of what to fix. In a study recently conducted:"Our results suggest that New Deal policies are an important contributing factor tothe persistence of the Great Depression. The key depressing element behind these policies firms to collude with paying high wages. Our model indicates that these policies reduced consumption, and investment about 14 percent relative to their competitive balanced growth path levels. Thus, the model accounts for about half of the continuation of the Great Depression between 1934 and 1939. " [5]III. Social SecurityIts pretty much a fact that today Social Security has created major fiscal problems in the United States that cannot be ignored. Private retirement accounts have proven to be better than Social Security. IV. He did so much! My opponent simply points out several pieces of legislation conducted by FDR, but I can do the same with Reagan. In fact, Calvin Coolidge had a very succesful presidency be doing nothing. Grover Cleveland did little in his first term and won a second non-consecutive term later. You can succeed by doing nothing too, so just showing all these pieces of legislation and touting that Roosevelt did things is not strong in my opinion. V. Court PackingLosing this fight led to big losses in the 1938 midterm elections and hampered FDR's policy chances entirely. The New Deal seemed dead by the time World War 2 got around. Republicans and conservative Democrats attacked FDR's legislation as Dick Morris explained in the previous video. It was a disaster. [6,7]VI. Japanese InternmentMy opponent concedes here. ConclusionMy opponent never countered Reagan's economy, which recovered faster than FDR. The Soviet Union was still standing strong and was very worried with Ronald Reagan's doctrine ultimaterly leading to their defeat. He had no part in Iran-Contra and the 1990s recession was caused by the Federal Reserve and raised taxes. He never countered my Great Depression arguments and Social Security has turned out to be a disaster. The Supreme Court planned destroyed his chances at domestic legislation. Japanese interment was conceded. The Gipper defeats the New Dealer. Sources1. Niskanen, William A. , and Stephen Moore. "Cato Institute Policy Analysis No. 261: Supply-Side Tax Cuts and the Truth about the Reagan Economic Record. " Cato. org. Cato Institute, 22 Oct. 1996. Web.2. Cain, Herman, and Rich Lowrie. 9-9-9: An Army of Davids. Herndon, VA: Velocity ; Mascot, 2012. Print.3. D'Souza, Dinesh. Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader. New York: Free, 1997. Print.4. Blaine, Charley. "Stocks Have Had a Great Run in Obama's Term. " MSN. com. MSN Money, 5 Nov. 2012. Web.5. Cole, Harold L. , and Lee E. Ohanian. "New Deal Policies and the Persistence of the Great Depression: A General Equilibrium Analysis. " Econ. Yale. Edu. Yale Department of Economics, May 2001. Web.6. . http://en.wikipedia.org...7. . http://en.wikipedia.org...