This’n’That; June Twenty-Eighth #2; “Ronaldus-Magnus”

From President Ronald Reagan’s Diaries

Today (June 28) in each year of President Reagan‘s second term:

1985

Friday, June 28:

    Yesterday we lost in the Judiciary Committee.  Brad Reynolds nomination (by me) to be the No. 3 man at Justice was rejected.  They even refused to pass it out to the floor with a no pass recommendation because of their fear the whole Sen. would do what they were unwilling to do–approve him. & they couldn’t have done what the did without the help of 2 Repubs. Sens. Spector and Mathias.  Well there are 2 Sens. I won’t have to help campaign.

    [Flew to Chicago; visited school with local officials; met families of hostages and of kidnap victim; speech on tax reform; returned to Washington; National Security Planning Group (NSPG) meeting; received indications that hostages might be moved to Damascus the following day; noted, “We also launched a plan to strike by air a guerilla base connected with the muderers of our 4 Marines.”]

1986

Thursday, June 26-Monday, June 30:

    For the 1st time this year the weather was beautiful each and every day.  We rode every morning, then Barney [Willard Barnett, fmr CHP; close friend, confidant and ‘ranch hand’], Dennis [LeBlanc; fmr CHP; part of Governor Reagan’s security detail and ‘ranch hand’] and I cut up some downed trees.  On Sun. we learned of Sen. East’s suicide–a sad time for all of us.  Now it is Mon. night and we are back at the White House.

1987

Sunday, June 28:

[Returned to W.H.; attended televised performance honoring Cole Porter and starring June Allyson, Patti Austin, Kaye Ballard, and Mel Torme’; telephoned Wasserman, surgery went well; received word that Paul Nitze’s wife died.]1988

Tuesday, June 28:

[Staff meeting on pending legislation; approved appointments.]

    NSC–I brought up the matter of Holocaust Museum.  It seems someone has approved a room dedicated to 1915 massacre of some Armenians by the Turks.  I’m against it but don’t know what we can do.  Latest intelligence has 10 more divisions on the border in N. Korea than we had estimated.  They’re playing games that may threaten the Olympics in S. Korea.  We have the Soviets pledge they won’t let anything like that happen. [….] a bomb plot in Panama City–an apartment bldg. housing about 40 of our mil. officers.  They’ve been moved out and on to the base.

    Met with our Sen. and Cong. leadership–Dole and Simpson, Bob Michel and Trent Lott.  A discussion of pending bills and the pol. games the Dems. are playing trying to get campaign issues.  Then a meeting with Meese and Carlucci regarding the investigation of the Pentagon.  Nothing much yet to report.

[Interviewed by biographer Edmund Morris; meeting with Israeli defense minister Yitzhak Rabin; went to dentist for teeth cleaning; received report on Conference for a Drug Free America; photos with GOP candidates; received allergy show and, as noted, “a little doctoring of my hearing aid.”]

Til Nex’Time….

This’n’That; June Twenty-Seventh #2; “Ronaldus-Magnus”

From President Ronald Reagan’s Diaries

    Today (June 27) in each year of President Reagan‘s first term:

1981

Wednesday, June 24-Monday June 29:

[Addressed National Jaycees Convention in San Antonio; Flew to L.A. and Century Plaza Hotel; made calls necessary before the following day’s congressional vote on budget.]

    There I was in Calif. and never left the hotel room except for a speech next day (noon) in the hotel dining room.  Just before going down learned we had won the 1st big vote.  It meant some quick changes in the speech.  Back to the room for an afternoon on the phone.  We won the next two votes and the victory was ours.

    Finally Fri. about 11 A.M. got out of the hotel and on to the ranch.  The weather was beautiful and so was Rancho del Cielo.  Patti [daughter, Davis {changed fr Reagan}] arrived Sat. morning.  We all rode in the A.M.  After lunch Geo. and Barbara Bush came up to brief me on European trip on their way to the Marcos’ Inaugural in Manilla.

[Relaxed  at the ranch, Monday, June 29: flew to Denver to address convention of the NAACP.  Returned to Washington.]

1982

Saturday, June 26-Sunday, June 27:

    Good weather–2 morning rides.  Ed M.[Meese, Att’y General], Jim B.[Baker III, Chief of Staff to the President], and Bill C. [Casey, Dir., Central Intelligence] helicoptered up with Mr and Mrs. George Shultz who had just arrived by Concorde from London.  We had a good working lunch.  I think things are going to work out find  Al [Haig, resigning Sec’y of State] will stay on for the transition.

    Sun. before leaving C. D. Bill and Bud McFarland called.  The Israeli cabinet has submitted a new idea.  Calls for a Lebanese army to disarm the P.L.O. in Beirut.  All of the armed P.L.O. will then be sent out of Lebanon to Syria.  The odd note was the Israeli call then for the U.S. to join in the negotiations with the P.L.O.  Heretofore, we have refused to do any talking to the P.L.O. until and unless they agreed to recognize Israel’s right to exit [exist?], which they’ve never done.  We’re having about 30 people in for dinner at the W.H. and then running Spielberg’s movie, “E.T.”

1983

Monday, June 27:

    Nancy left this A.M. for Phoenix.  I won’t see her unitl Wed. night–or is it Thurs. night–I’ll have to check.  Anyway I still don’t like this place without her.

    Met with Cardinal Krol who has returned from being with the Pope in Poland.  He believes there may well be some easing.  I believe also that Walesa may not be as much of a force as he once was.

[Photo session; issues lunch; videotapings; rehearsal for press conference.]

1984

Wednesday, June 27:

    Staff and NSC meetings.  Jesse Jackson off on his own diplomatic mission to Cuba, Nicaragua and other points Sout has tried to reach me by phone.  That is a call I’m not taking.  We have put Under Sec. of State Armacost on the phone at this end. J.J. has us on some pretty thin ice with his adventuring.  Commander Eric Liu (W.H. Staff Dr.), his wife and baby boy came by for a pic.  He’s being assigned to Bethesda Naval hosp.  He’s a good man.

    Met with 3 Gov’s. from Midwest on farm problems.  Between Tornadoes and Floods. agriculture is having a rough time.  But worse than nature is what reduced inflation has done.  Land prices when out of sight during the high inflation of the 70’s and 1980.  farmers borrowed using their land as collateral.  Now that sanity has returned to the market they are faced with big credit problems. 

    After lunch Geo. S. [Shultz-Sec’y of State] came in to report on our Ambassador to Central America and his meeting in Nicaragua.

[Addressed Conference on U.S./Soviet exchange; also National Association of Minority Contractors; meeting with Eureka boosters on college’s financial problems.]

Until Nex’Time….

This’n’That; June Fourteenth #2; More ‘Diaries’

The Reagan Diaries

    To the reader it should be blatantly obvious that “Ronaldus-Magnus” is by far, my favorite American president.  Arguably the best, most effective president of the twenty- and twenty-first centuries!  Diametrically opposed–both in thought, word and deed–to the “Clown” we have now, President Reagan firstly, lastly and always thought about the country and the affects his decisions had on it’s ‘health,’ welfare, growth, etc.  To that end, Mr Reagan never wanted to be “the first president to…;” at the end of the day, he only wanted what was best for the country.

    As my reading of “The Reagan Diaries” continues–time permitting–I’ve found entries about the possible selection and Senate confirmation of Mrs Sandra Day O’Connor as the first female Supreme Court Justice:

 

 

Monday, June 22  “Bill Smith {William French Smith, Mr Reagan‘s Attorney General, 1981-’85} came in on the Sup. Ct.  I believe if the check up goes well we should go with the lady in Ariz. to replace Potter Stewart to the Supreme Ct.”

Tuesday, July 7  “This morning I announced my nominee for Supreme Court, Mrs. O’Connor of Ariz.  I made some calls because someone has started a bonfire among the Right to Life people.  Apparently it all started with a woman–Dr. Gersten in Phoenix.  Her claims don’t match the record we have of O’Connor‘s voting record when she was a state Sen.  But she’s spread her message far & wide.  A full Cabinet meeting on the Ft. Chafee problem (Cubans–criminal & mentally deranged dumped on us by Castro).  We believe we can move them to an unused mil. base in Maryland which can be developed also as a holding area for legitimate refugees in the future.”

 

    President Reagan was far less concerned about Justice O’Connor being the first woman on the Supreme Court; less concerned about himself being the first president to nominate a woman for that position, than about what–and who–would be the best choice for the needs and requirements of the country as a whole.
Note:  Those “{….}” indicate that I added information to supplement and possibly clarify Mr Reagan‘s diary entries.
Til Nex’Time….

This’n’That; June Twelfth #2; Diaries

Again, Another Great Book ‘On The Cheap’

    As is the norm, when the “Young Miss Lovely” is off to what ever clothes shop she needs at the moment, I spend an hour or two at the local Barnes and Noble bookstore.  Last Sunday was no exception.  I found at least a dozen books I’d like to have but settled on one: “The Reagan Diaries,” edited by Douglas Brinkley.  It was on one of the store’s ‘cheap’ tables; I paid but $5.98, originally priced at $19.99.  This book received glowing reviews from such publications as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, The Christian Science Monitor, The New Orleans Times-Picayune, Los Angeles Magazine, The Oklahoman, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Times [of London] Literary Supplement, and The Washington Post, among others.  

    Most entries in this book are correct and complete quotes from the original diaries, others are in brackets ( “[-]”) which indicate they are the editor’s summaries of less important information.  So far, I’m through page 27 and already I’ve found about a dozen entries worthy of quote, like:

“Monday, March 30  My day to address the Bldg. & Const. Trades Nat. Conf. A.F.L.-C.I.O. at the Hilton Ballroom-2 P.M.  Was all dressed to go & for some reason at the last min. took off my really good wrist watch & wore an older one.

    Left the hotel at the usual side entrance and headed for the car–suddenly there was a burst of gun fire from the left.  S.S. Agent pushed me onto the floor of the car & jumped on top.  I felt a blow in my upper back that was unbelievably painful.  I was sure he’d broken my rib.  The car took off.  I sat up on the edge of the seat almost paralyzed by pain.  Then I began coughing up blood which made both of us think–yes I had a broken rib & it had punctured a lung.  He switched orders from W.H. to Geo. Wash. U. Hosp.

    By the time we arrived I was having great trouble getting enough air.  We did not know that Tim McCarthy (S.S.) had been shot in the chest, Jim Brady in the Head & a policeman Tom Delahanty in the neck.

    I walked into the emergency room and was hoisted onto a cart where I was stripped of my closthes.  It was then we learned I’d been shot & had a bullet in my lung.

    Gettin shot hurts.  Still my fear was growing because no matter how hard I tried to breathe it seemed I was getting less & less air.  I focused on that tiled ceiling and prayed.  But I realized I couldn’t ask for Gods help while at the same time I felt hatred for the mixed up young man who had shot me.  Isn’t that the meaning of the lost sheep?  We are all Gods children & therefore equally beloved by him.  I began to pray for his soul and that he would find his way back to the fold.

    I opened my eyes once to find Nancy there.  I pray I’ll never face a day when she isn’t there.  Of all the ways God has blessed me giving her to mie is the greatest and beyond anything I can ever hope to deserve.

    All the kids arrived and the hours ran together in a blur during which I was operated on.  I know it’s going to be a long recovery but there has been such anoutpouring of love from all over.

    The days of therapy, transfusion, intravenous etc. have gone by–now it is Sat. April 11 and this morning I left the hospital and am here at the W.H. with Nancy & Patti.  The treatment, the warmth, the skill of those at G.W. has been magnificent but it’s great to be here at home.

    Whatever happens now I owe my life to Go and will try to serve him in every way I can.”

    This was written in President Reagan‘s own hand after the assassination attempt.  “Ronaldus-Magnus” was one of only two or three presidents who kept diaries throughout their administrations.  I’ll try to do other quotes as time goes on….

Til Nex’Time….

This’n’That; May Twenty-Second #2; Important Quotes

From Ronald W. Reagan:

    ….as ‘citizen‘ Ronald W. Reagan (1911-January 2, 1967):

Mister Ronald Reagan‘s remarks at the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce annual meeting, Phoenix, Az., March 30, 1961:

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.  We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream.  It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.

Mister Ronald Reagan‘s remarks from “A Time for Choosing;” in support of the Barry Goldwater presidential candidacy, October 27, 1964:

You and I are told increasingly that we have to choose between a left or right, but I would like to suggest that there is no such thing as a left or right.  There is only an up or down–up to a man’s age-old dream, the ultimate in individual freedom consistent with law and order–or down t the ant heap totalitarianism, and regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would trade our freedom for security have embarked on this downward course.

Mister Ronald Reagan from the same speech:

You and I have a rendezvous with destiny.  We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness.  If we fail, at least let our children and and our children’s children say of us we justified our brief moment here.  We did all that could be done.

    ….as the 33rd Governor, State of California (1967-1975):

Governor Reagan‘s remarks to the American Trucking Association Board of Directors, San Francisco, Ca., October 6, 1974:

When a business or an individual spends more than it makes, it goes bankrupt.  When government does it, it sends you the bill.  And when government does it for 40 years, the bill comes in two ways:  higher taxes and inflation.

Governor Reagan‘s Second Inaugural Address as Governor of California, Sacramento, Ca., January 4, 1971:
When those who are governed do too little, those who govern can–and often will–do too much.
Governor Reagan‘s Interview with Radio News West, Los Angeles, Ca., December 30, 1974:
Individual liberty depends upon keeping government under control.
Governor Reagan‘s remarks at a political reception, Chicago, Il., September 10, 1974:

The dustbin of history is littered with remains of those countries that relied on diplomacy to secure their freedom.  We must never forget…. in the final analysis….that it is our military, industrial and economic strength that offers the best guarantee of peace for America in times of danger.
Governor Reagan‘s remarks at a “Meet the Students” television taping, Sacramento, Ca., September 17, 1973:
One thing our Founding Fathers could not foresee…. was a nation governed by professional politicians who had a vested interest in getting reelected.  They probably envisioned a fellow serving a couple of hitches and then looking…. forward to getting back to the farm.
    ….as the 40th President of the United States of America (1981-1989):
President Reagan‘s first Inaugural Address, U.S. Capitol, January 20,1981:

We hear much of special interest groups.  Well, our concern must be for a special interest group that has been too long neglected.  It is made up of men and women who raise our food, patrol our streets, man our mines and factories, teach our children, keep our homes, and heal us when we’re sick–professionals, industrialists, shopkeepers, clerks, cabbies, and truck drivers.  They are, in short, “We the people,” this breed called Americans.

President Reagan‘s remarks at a presidential news conference, The White House, January 29, 1981:
All of us should remember that the federal government is not some mysterious institution comprised of buildings, files and paper.  The people are the government.  What we create we ought to be able to control.
President Reagan‘s remarks at a Spirit of America rally, Atlanta, Ga., January 26, 1984:
The best view of big government is in the rearview mirror as we leave it behind.
President Reagan‘s remarks during a national radio address on economic growth, The White House, January 26, 1985:
We in government should learn to look at our country with the eyes of the entrepreneur, seeing possibilities where others see only problems.
President Reagan‘s remarks to the faculty and students, St. John’s University, New York, N.Y.,  March 28, 1985:
….I hope that when you’re my age, you’ll be able to say as I have been able to say: We lived in freedom, we lived lives that were a statement, not an apology.
President Reagan‘s Address to the Nation, The White House, January 16, 1984: 
History teaches that wars begin when governments believe the price of aggression is cheap.
President Reagan‘s remarks to students at the Moscow State University, Moscow, USSR, May 31, 1988:

Every once in a while, somebody has to get the bureaucracy by the neck and shake it loose and say “stop what you’re doing.”
President Reagan‘s final speech as president; his Farewell Address to the Nation from the Oval Office, January 11, 1989:

We’ve done our part.  And as I walk off into the city streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan revolution, the men and women across America wh for eight years did the work that brought America back.  My friends: We did it.  We weren’t just marking time.  We made a difference.  We made the city stronger.  We made the city freer, and we left her in good hands.  All in all, not bad, not bad at all.

President Reagan‘s remarks to the United Nations’ General Assembly, New York, N.Y., September 22, 1986:

 

Peace is more than just an absence of war. True peace is justice, true peace is freedom, and true peace dictates the recognition of human rights.

    ….as an elder-statesman (1989-June 5, 2004):
Former President Reagan‘s remarks at the Republican National Convention, Houston, Tx., August 17, 1992 (the ‘….shining city….’ speech):
My fondest hope for each one of you–and especially for the young people here–is that you will love your country, not for her power or wealth, but for her selflessness and her idealism.  May each of you have the heart to conceive, the understanding to direct, and the hand to execute works that will make the world a little better for your having been here.  May all of you as Americans never forget your heroic origins, never fail to seek divine guidance, and never lose your natural God-given optimism.  Andy finally, my fellow Americans, may ever dawn be a great new beginning for America and every evening bring us closer to that shining city upon a hill.
Former President Reagan, from the same speech:
And whatever else history may say about me when I’m gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears, to your confidence rather than your doubts.
Former President Reagan‘s remarks at a Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony, The White House, January 13, 1993:
Some may try to tell us that this is the end of an era.  But what they overlook is that in America, every day is a new beginning.  For this is the land that has never become, but is always in the act of becoming.
Former President Reagan‘s remarks to the Cambridge Union Society, Cambridge, England, December 5, 1990:
A leader, once convinced a particular course of action is the right one, must have the determination to stick with it and be undaunted when the going gets rough.
Former President Reagan‘s remarks at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library, West Branch, Ia., August 8, 1992:
We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.
Former President Reagan‘s remarks to the Captive Nations Week Conference, Los Angeles, Ca., July 15, 1991:
The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of these United States are covenants we have made not only with ourselves, but with all mankind.  Our founding documents proclaim to the world that freedom is not the sole prerogative of a chosen few.  It is the universal right of all God’s children.
    Every president, every senator, every representative has a corps of speech-writers.  While ‘citizen’ Reagan, Governor Reagan, President Reagan, and Former President Reagan was no different in that respect, he many times wrote his own remarks in their entirety. Nearly every speech “Ronaldus-Magnus” gave was personally edited by him.  A far cry from the blusterful blather of today’s professional and amateur politicians; today’s teleprompter-readers at every level; in every political sub-division!
Enjoy!!

Til Nex’Time….

 

This’n’That; May Eighth #4; All That Emptiness!

I Suggest owe-bama Quit As FAILURE Looms!

    “Clown Prince ZERO-bama, the Narcissist” ‘opened’ to a dismally small crowd in one of Ohio State’s many sports venues.

‘Borrowed’ from Rush Limbaugh’s EIB Network Site!

As evidenced by the photo above, owe-bama ‘played’ to a mostly-empty arena in Columbus, Ohio, supposedly one of the “swing” states.  Estimates have been 9,000-10,000 in this 20,000 seat venue in one of the largest universities in the owe-bama ‘Prince-dom!’

Photo by Romney Campaign Spokesman, Ryan Williams

 

The owe-bama campaign handlers used all the tricks like moving some attendees onto the floor to appear larger for the television coverage; like having students spend the previous week canvassing Columbus and it’s suburbs to drum up attendance.  Nothing worked!!  The ‘over-flow’ crowds his handlers had projected, NEVER MATERIALIZED, it was just owe-bama and his buddy, ‘Mr Teleprompter!!’

    As evidenced by the “Clown Prince‘s” ripoff of “Ronaldus-Magnus‘”  ‘Morning in America‘ campaign ad from 1984, the owe-bama re-immaculation is in deep doo-doo, as they say!  The result of the owe-bama strategists writing-off the middle-class, the working-class, the taxpayer-class voters is the aforementioned dismal turnouts as compared to the 2008 campaign.  Isn’t it kinda sad when gaggles of students can’t convince the locals to attend this (hee, hee, hee) vital (hee, hee, hee) campaign kick-off announcement?!?

(President Reagan‘s ‘Morning in America’ 1984 campaign ad:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU-IBF8nwSY&feature=player_embedded

(The owe-bama ‘rip-off’ re-immaculation campaign ad:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=F0OVngTHkNg

    Has the wind gone out of the re-immaculation ‘sails?!?’  The owe-bama handlers–read: George Soros and the ‘Bilderbergers‘–are having great difficulty in assembling a cohesive campaign; without original thought the owe-bama ‘spinners’ are forced to copy from previous, successful campaigns; source and topics, be dammed!!

‘Splain to me again why YOU elected this Arschloch!?!

Til Nex’Time….

This’n’That; April Twenty-Fourth #3; A Final Note:

Same Book; Dust Cover Paragraph:

    I would be remiss if I didn’t quote the entire paragraph on the back of the dustcover of one of my personal favorites–Ronald Reagan in Private:

    “When we arrived at the old presidential guesthouse in Lisbon where we would psend two nights, the drapes were drawn, but we could hear the muffled sounds of a demostration taking place across the street from our residence.  Reagan and I were upstairs together and he was eager to catch a glimpse of the protesters.  We tried to open the thick, floor-length curtains but they had been pinned shut by the Secret Service.  Suddenly Reagan spied a door leading to a small balcony overlooking the demonstration.

“Let’s go out there,” he suggested.

I was floored.  “You can’t go our there,” I said.  “The Secret Service would go crazy.”

Reagan grinned at me.  “Watch me.” he said, and opened the door and stepped onto the rooftop deck.  Shirtless, he leanded over the short wall to gaze below at the hundreds of shouting protesters demonstrating against him in the streets.

I entreated him to come back into the room.  “They might see you.”

“So What?” shrugged Reagan.

    Fortunately, none of the Lisbon demonstrators looked up or they would have glimpsed the bare-chested president of the United States surveying them!

    This was the Ronald Reagan I got to know in my four years as his executive assistant in his second term.  When he was visible–whether it was in meetings in the Oval Office or in the cabinet room, events in the Rose Garden, at press conferences and speeches in front of the nation or on the other side of the world–he was bigger than life as the president of the United States.  He looked, spoke and breathed the part.  But when you were alone with him, he was the nicest, most regular guy in the world.

–From Ronald Reagan in Private

That’s the final word–maybe–from me on the subject!

Til Nex’Time….

http://product.half.ebay.com/Ronald-Reagan-In-Private-A-Memoir-Of-My-Years-In-The-White-House-by-Jim-Kuhn-2004-Hardcover/30885586&tg=info

This’n’That; April Twenty-Fourth #2; Finally, I’m FINISHED!!

A Book I’ve Been Reading For Months!

    I’ve finally completed “Ronald Reagan in Private,” by Jim Kuhn.  Mr Kuhn was President Reagan‘s “Executive Assistant to the President” during “Ronaldus-Magnus’” second-term.  Prior to that, he was Mr Reagan‘s personal assistant and the White House ‘advance man’ for official trips.

 

    Anyone who knows me personally, can not doubt the highest esteem I have for Ronald Reagan; secondarily for his grasp of economic and tax issues, but primarily for the lofty perch on which he placed the office of the President of the United States.  This book is one of the best ‘reads’ I’ve found on President Reagan‘s two-terms in office.  Mr Kuhn not only writes about the activities you and I know, but such things as:

President Reagan being responsible for a child’s pet fish;

[(This occurred during a Reagan-Gorbachev meeting in Geneva, Switzerland) Mr Kuhn writes:  Reagan had been faithfully feeding the fish belonging to the son of the Aga Kahn, but later than afternoon he suddenly noticed that one of them was, clearly, quite dead.   It was floating belly up at the top of the boy’s fish tank.  The president felt terrible about it.  I wondered what we were going to do and then decided that we would replace the fish.  I asked two of our advance team to go out and purchase two fish (one for backup) of the same size and breed.  We got the replacement fish but, unfortunately, our advance guys had told enough people about the dead fish, so the story got out that the president had killed the little boy’s fish.  The president left the boy an apologetic note.  “I don’t know what could have happened,” the note said.  He told the boy he’d replaced the fishe woth two other fish.  “I hope this is all right.”  He signed the note: “Your friend, Ronald Reagan.”] 

 

President Reagan speaking to Soviet college students;

[(This occurred on one of the Reagan‘s visits to Moscow; President Reagan making a scheduled speech to students at Moscow State University, with a follow-on Q&A period)  Mr Kuhn writes:  He (President Reagan) did a question-and-answer session with the students, telling them that he looked forward to a day when there would be no more nuclear weapons in the world.  One student asked him if youth had changed since he was a student.  Reagan smiled, recalling the day when he was California governer when “I could start a riot just by going to a campus.”  But all that has changed, he told the Moscow State students, “and I could be looking out at any American student body as well as I’m looking out here and would not be able to tell the difference between you.”  That was, in my mind one of the most symbolic events of President Reagan‘s extraordinary eight years in office.  The aging cold war warrior, entering the twilignt of his presidency, sahring his thoughts and wisdom with young people in a country he had once considered the font of all evil in the world.] 

 

President Reagan‘s ease with–and without–his ‘perks-of-power;’

[This occurred late in President Reagan’s second-term, as he played off a remark made by LBJ when told ‘his helicopter was ready;’ President Johnson told the sailor “Son, they’re all my helicopters.”  Mr Kuhn writes:  “Which one is ours?” I asked someone as we walked with President Reagan.  Overhearing me, Reagan turned to me with a wicked grin.  “Jim, they’re all my helicopters.”  We all burst out laughing, including the president.  We knew he didn’t meant it-in face, that was the joke. [….] That was Reagan.  Don’t take the perks of power too seriously-they are ephemeral and fleeting.  As his remarkable eight-year tenure wound down, he didn’t regret losing those benefits-or the job itself.]

    With the book finally finished, with ‘well tabbed’ important–at least to me–passages; it will now go to the ‘Ronaldus-Magnus‘ Wing of my personal library.  I think everyone should have a WELL READ copy in their libraries; you should get yours!!

http://product.half.ebay.com/Ronald-Reagan-In-Private-A-Memoir-Of-My-Years-In-The-White-House-by-Jim-Kuhn-2004-Hardcover/30885586&tg=info

Til Nex’Time….

“Clown Prince” Weekly Blather; April 14th

A Patriotic Response To The “Clown Prince;” 04/14/2012

barackingham Palace,

District of Corruption

 April 14, 2012

    One of the fundamental challenges of our time is building an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules.  And as many Americans rush to file their taxes this weekend, it’s worth pointing out that we’ve got a tax system that doesn’t always uphold the principle of everyone doing their part.  Now, this is not just about fairness. This is also about growth. It’s about being able to make the investments we need to strengthen our economy and create jobs. And it’s about whether we as a country are willing to pay for those investments.  In a perfect world, of course, none of us would have to pay any taxes. We’d have no deficits to pay down. And we’d have all the resources we needed to invest in things like schools and roads and a strong military and new sources of energy – investments that have always bolstered our economy and strengthened the middle class.  But we live in the real world, with real choices and real consequences. Right now, we’ve got significant deficits to close. We’ve got serious investments to make to keep our economy growing. And we can’t afford to keep spending more money on tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans who don’t need them and didn’t even ask for them.

[What I’m not telling you: As you’ve found in the past three-plus-years, the truth has no place in my rhetoric!  This has nothing to do with tax receipts to help fend off the continuing owe-bamaGeddon; it has nothing to do with fairness.  This is all about my re-immaculation as your exalted ruler!!  At the outset, let’s define ‘fairness:’ 

1.  The state, condition or quality of being fair; free from bias or injustice; evenhandedness.

2.  The quality of being light of hair or complexion.

Just by virtue of this definition, the ‘Buffett Rule‘ has no place in in federal governance; in federal taxation code.  There’s nothing ‘fair’ about my proposal save the color of the paper on which it’s printed!  The ‘Buffett Rule‘ is but one example of many in my class- and economic-warfares.  The truly unique aspect of the ‘Buffett Rule‘ is that it pits nearly every adult of working age against the most fortunate among us.  Those 46% (the wagon-pullers) combined with the 52% (the wagon-riders) against–at most–several hundred high-earners!!  This is right out of the Benito Mussolini ‘Equalization’ handbook!!  Mussolini and your exalted ruler have many of the same character traits in common; that’s blather best left for another opportunity.

    This latest attempt to further the class and economic warfare has no chance of passing through the Congress to become law.  I know that.  This is all for show!  As I’m losing my grip on the very electorate that swept me into power in 2008, something must be done to continue my reign until 2016!  The current mindset of said electorate is wholly unexpected; we had not planned for any opposition going into the 2012 campaign.  

    The ‘Buffett Rule’–as proposed tax law–does not have even a modicum of impact on the huge deficits I’ve attained in the last three-plus-years.  Until those 4,000 affected U.S. millionaires become ex-patriots, the ‘Buffett Rule’ is expected to generate–comparatively–a measly $4.7 billion, annually.  Let’s check out the math, here so my loyal subjects can see how infintesimal the ‘Buffet Rule‘ receipts will be in the whole scheme of things: 

1.  On average, there are 2,080 work-hours per year, and

2.  The ‘Buffet Rule‘ projection is $4.7 billion in essentially needless receipts, which equals $2, 259,615.30 PER HOUR to the Treasury, and

3.  MY owe-bama Regime—just during the month of February, (but 29 days)2012–spent $232 Billion; which equals $11.5 billion-per-day; which equals $480 million per-HOUR, and

4.  If the ‘Buffett Rule‘ were currently in effect, this ‘fuzzy-math’ exposes $477,741,000–and change–in additional deficit spending, PER HOUR!! 

    If fairness’ were really the objective-of-the-day, the ‘Buffett Rule‘ is blatantly unfair as written!!  What about MY ‘chosen majority;’ those who feed off the government tit and pay absolutely zero-point-shit for the privilege?!?  You–of course–know of whom I speak:  The WelfareRAT!!

If fairness were really the objective-of-the-day, the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) would be scrapped in favor of a Standard Minimum Tax which would tax ALL INCOME equally, be it from the government tit or actual hard work and wise investments!!]
Warren Buffett is one of the wealthiest men in the world. But he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. That’s just the way the system is set up. In fact, one in four millionaires pays a lower tax rate than millions of hardworking middle-class households.  As Warren points out, that’s not fair and it doesn’t make sense. It’s wrong that middle-class Americans pay a higher share of their income in taxes than some millionaires and billionaires.  This week, Members of Congress are going to have a chance to set things right. They get to vote on what we call the Buffett Rule.  It’s simple: If you make more than $1 million every year, you should pay at least the same percentage of your income in taxes as middle-class families do. On the other hand, if you make less than $250,000 a year — like 98 percent of American families do — your taxes shouldn’t go up.   That’s all there is to it. It’s pretty sensible. Most Americans support this idea. One survey found that two-thirds of millionaires do, too. So do nearly half of all Republicans.  We just need some Republican politicians to get on board with where the country is.  I know they’ll say that this is all about wanting to raise people’s taxes. They probably won’t tell you that if you belong to a middle-class family, then I’ve cut your taxes each year that I’ve been in office, and I’ve cut taxes for small business owners 17 times.

[What I’m not telling you: Please bear in mind, I’ve made it my personal objective–in each weekly blather opportunity–to include at least one truth.  This week, that one truth is the sentence:

“That’s just the way the system is set up.” 

The tax code is written to compensate those who actually take the risk of investment in infrastructure, in businesses of all sizes as well as those who actively invest for job creation.  The ‘Buffett Rule‘ misconstrues this concept from start-to-finish! 

1. MY owe-bama Regime pits 113,396,140 income-tax filers at all levels against those 4,000 millionaire taxpayers targetted by the ‘Buffett Rule.’

2. MY owe-bama Regime pits the current annual tax revenue of $2.258 TRILLION against the possible, additional ‘Buffett Rule‘ revenue of–a comparatively miniscule–$4.7 BILLION, for no logical reason other than class-warfare!! 

    As I said previously, my–self-imposed–one-truth rule has already been satisfied.   Everything herein is–again, by my rule–pure bullshit!!  All those tax cuts your exalted ruler gave both individuals and businesses are either the continuation of previous tax cuts about to expire or they originated in barackingham Palace and were coupled with fees and regulations designed to force a net-gain to the Treasury!!]
But the thing is, for most Americans like me, tax rates are near their lowest point in 50 years. In 2001 and 2003, the wealthiest Americans received two huge new tax cuts. We were told these tax cuts would lead to faster job growth. Instead, we got the slowest job growth in half a century, and the typical American family actually saw its income fall.  On the flip side, when the most well-off Americans were asked to pay a little more in the 1990s, we were warned that it would kill jobs. Instead, tens of millions of jobs followed.  So we’ve tried this trickle-down experiment before. It doesn’t work. And middle class families have seen too much of their security erode over the past few decades for us to tell them they’re going to have to do more because the wealthiest Americans are going to do less. We can’t stop investing in the things that will help grow our economy and create jobs – things like education, research, new sources of energy – just so folks like me can get another tax cut.  So I hope you’ll ask your Member of Congress to step up and echo that call this week by voting for the Buffett Rule. Remind them that in America, prosperity has never just trickled down from a wealthy few. Prosperity has always been built by a strong, thriving middle class. That’s a principle worth reaffirming right now.

[What I’m not telling you:  Now we come to the George Soros methodology.  Even when Mr Soros fed me this research for this week’s blather opportunity, I thought–and still think–it’s just more of his tax-and-spend bullshit!  But, it does fall in line with my–Saul Alinsky inspired–socio-fascist mantra.  Mr Soros‘ advice:

“….we’ve tried this trickle-down experiment before.  It doesn’t work;”

only considers a small part of tax-versus-growth history in the United States.  Mr Soros failed to have those Soros-funded websites fully research his statements; his blather suggestions.  Had he gone back to the “Ronaldus-Magnus” era he would have found that President Reagan sheperded in the greatest period of growth in modern times-a record 51 continuous months of unprecidented GDP growth!!  That was never achieved prior; has not been achieved since!! In the ten years that included the two terms of the Reagan Administration, tax revenue to the Treasury increased by 50–FIFTY–percent!! 

    On a personal note, both “Michelle Antoinette” and I–your exalted ruler–have agreed to take advantage of the very same tax code rules we’re vilifying ‘The Four-Thousand‘ for using.    We’ve both donated $12,000 EACH, to EACH Princess owe-bama; that’s a total of $48,000, more money than the vast majority of American workers make. I–your exalted ruler–have arrived at the Warren Buffett level of taxation:  I–your exalted ruler–paid a lower percentage in taxes than my former secretary, Katie Johnson!! When all was said-and-done, I–along with “MIchelle Antoinette“–paid  an effective rate of 20.5% ($162,074 in taxes on an AGI of $789,674); while Ms Johnson paid 24% ($21,663 in taxes on an AGI of $90,000)!!  And…. I didn’t create one-lousy-job to get where I am, tax-wise!!! 

    There is a side-benefit to all this taxation-based class-warfare:  I–your exalted ruler–will hammer Mitt Romney into releasing his current tax records; then I–your exalted ruler–will hammer him for paying a–relatively–miniscule amount on suspected high earnings.  See, the stupid people I–your exalted ruler–play to, don’t care that they’re only getting half the information; just enough to make the decision I–your exalted ruler–want them to make:  RepublicRATics earn big money-pay little taxes!  They don’t need to know Mr Romney is paying the correct rate as enumerated in the current tax code!!

Just like ‘Sherman Helmsley‘ said:

“We’re movin’ on up…. to the East Side; To that mansion in the sky!!!”]

This’n’That; April Twelfth #1; Unremarkable Remarks

[General-of-the-Army; President Dwight D.]

Eisenhower Executive Office Building,

District of Corruption

April 11, 2012

(A Conservative Perspective….?)

Lately, we’ve been talking about the fundamental choice that we face as a country. We can settle for an economy where a shrinking number of people do very, very well and everybody else is struggling to get by, or we can build an economy where we’re rewarding hard work and responsibility — an economy where everybody has a fair shot, and everybody is doing their fair share, and everybody is playing by the same set of rules.

    It can be said that every society; every segment of every society has rules, no matter how loosely perceived; how loosely applied. To that end–in federal governance–there are rules for all participants in the system.  For Executive Branch  edification: laws are written by the Congress, voted upon by the Congress, signed into law–or vetoed–by the president–or currently–our exalted ruler.  The rule is: the president doesn’t circumvent the Congress–and by extension, the will of the people–with executive orders to install ‘a rule’ disagreeable to both said Congress and said people.

The people who have joined me here today are extremely successful. They’ve created jobs and opportunity for thousands of Americans. They’re rightly proud of their success. They love the country that made their success possible, and most importantly, they want to make sure that the next generation, people coming up behind them, have the same opportunities that they had.  They understand, though, that for some time now, when compared to the middle class, they haven’t been asked to do their fair share. And they are here because they believe there is something deeply wrong and irresponsible about that. At a time when the share of national income flowing to the top 1 percent of people in this country has climbed to levels we haven’t seen since the 1920s, these same folks are paying taxes at one of the lowest rates in 50 years. In fact, one in four millionaires pays a lower tax rate than millions of hardworking middle-class households. And while many millionaires do pay their fair share, some take advantage of loopholes and shelters that let them get away with paying no income taxes whatsoever — and that’s all perfectly legal under the system that we currently have.

How would it skew the “Clown Prince‘s” doctrine of “class-warfare wins political office,” to consider those evil rich, pasty-white guys’ having paid their fair share of income taxes ….by extension?!?!  Those evil, rich, pasty-white guys have created umpteen hundreds-of-thousands of–TAX PAYING–jobs–far more than any owe-bama give-away program–and yet they’re vilified for not paying additional monies to the IRS!!

You’ve heard that my friend Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary — because he’s the one who’s been pointing that out and saying we should fix it. The executives who are with me here today, not just behind me but in the audience, agree with me. They agree with Warren — they should be fixed. They, in fact, have brought some of their own assistants to prove that same point — that it is just plain wrong that middle-class Americans pay a higher share of their income in taxes than some millionaires and billionaires.  Now, it’s not that these folks are excited about the idea of paying more taxes. This thing I’ve always made clear.  I have yet to meet people who just love taxes. Nobody loves paying taxes. In a perfect world, none of us would have to pay any taxes. We’d have no deficits to pay down. And schools and bridges and roads and national defense and caring for our veterans would all happen magically.  We’d all have the money we need to make investments in the things that help us grow — investments, by the way, that have always been essential to the private sector’s success, as well, not just — they’re not just important in terms of the people that directly benefit from these programs, but historically, those investments that we’ve made in infrastructure, in education, in science, in technology, in transportation, that’s part of what has made us an economic superpower.

owe-bama, again with the ‘apples-versus-oranges’ comparisons!  Warren Buffett‘s annual compensation is primarily dividends and interest income which is taxed at 15%.  The “Clown Prince” would like the public–the stupid people he plays to–to believe that Mr Buffett has actual earned income like any factory or office worker which is taxed in a range of 0% to 28%.  The ‘average’ evil rich guy pays 21%; the top 10% of working-aged adults pay 34% of taxes; the bottom 45% of working-aged adults pay ZERO-PERCENT of taxes!!  So much for the “Clown Prince‘s” class-warfare!!

FACT: Are you aware that Warren Buffett—the guy owe-bama parades around at all these class-warfare blatherings–owes the U.S. Treasury over ONE-BILLION-DOLLARS in unpaid income taxes?!?

And it would be nice if we didn’t have to pay for them, but this is the real world that we live in. We have real choices and real consequences. Right now, we’ve got significant deficits that are going to have to be closed. Right now, we have significant needs if we want to continue to grow this economy and compete in this 21st-century, hyper-competitive, technologically-integrated economy. That means we can’t afford to keep spending more money on tax cuts for wealthy Americans who don’t need them and weren’t even asking for them. And it’s time we did something about it.  Now, I want to emphasize, this is not simply an issue of redistributing wealth. That’s what you’ll hear from those who object to a tax plan that is fair. This is not just about fairness. This is also about growth. This is also about being able to make the investments we need to succeed. And it’s about we as a country being willing to pay for those investments and closing our deficits. That’s what this is about.  Now, next week, members of Congress are going to have a chance to vote on what we call the Buffett Rule. And it’s simple: If you make more money — more than $1 million a year, not if you have $1 million, but if you make more than $1 million a year, you should pay at least the same percentage of your income in taxes as middle-class families do. If on the other hand, you make less than $250,000 a year — like 98 percent of American families do — your taxes shouldn’t go up.  That’s all there is to it. That’s pretty sensible. Most Americans agree with me, so do most millionaires. One survey found that two-thirds of millionaires support this idea. So do nearly half of all Republicans across America.

I have to admire how this guy–the “Clown Prince“–can speak in the abstract; lies just roll off his tongue like ‘sweet-nothin’s’ in Michelle Antoinette‘s ear!

    Speaking of “….we’ve got significant deficits that have to be closed….”  Where do you suppose the bulk of these deficits came from?!?  From the $787 Billion PORKulus give-away; from the purchase of two auto manufacturers and giving substantial ownerships to the labor unions; from the untold billions-of-dollars passed out like gum-drops to owe-bama‘s- and owe-bamacRATic- supporters; from the untold billions-of-dollars given to various alternative energy companies who promptly filed bankruptcy; each and every one a result of one in the myriad of failed owe-bama economic policies!!  The interest on the national debt alone is $226.2 BILLION; wasted money that’s taken out of the economy; money that could stay in the economy to create hundreds of small businesses hiring several million unemployed workers!!

  Remember when earning a million-dollars was really big stuff?!?  Now, if you earn a–comparatively–measly $250,000.01, you’re one of those evil, rich, pasty-white guys to be demagogued by the owe-bama regime in their attempt to tax them out-of-existance!!

So we just need some of the Republican politicians here in Washington to get on board with where the country is. I know that some prefer to run around using the same reflexive, false claims about wanting to raise people’s taxes. What they won’t tell you is the truth — that I’ve cut taxes for middle-class families each year that I’ve been in office. I’ve cut taxes for small business owners not once or twice, but 17 times.  As I said, for most of the folks in this room, taxes are lower than they’ve been, or as low as they’ve been, in 50 years. There are others who are saying, well, this is just a gimmick. Just taxing millionaires and billionaires, just imposing the Buffett Rule won’t do enough to close the deficit. Well, I agree. That’s not all we have to do to close the deficit. But the notion that it doesn’t solve the entire problem doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do it at all.  There are enough excuses for inaction in Washington. We certainly don’t need more excuses. I’d just point out that the Buffett Rule is something that will get us moving in the right direction towards fairness, towards economic growth. It will help us close our deficit and it’s a lot more specific than anything that the other side has proposed so far. And if Republicans in Congress were truly concerned with deficits and debt, then I’m assuming they wouldn’t have just proposed to spend an additional $4.6 trillion on lower tax rates, including an average tax cut of at least $150,000 for every millionaire in America.

owe-bama—as his defeat gets ever closer–blathers on about tax cuts for this business; tax cuts for that class of taxpayer.  What this clown NEVER REFERS TO is the ‘net effect’ of his actions.  While he cuts taxes on the one hand; he’s establishing new fees, fines, reglatory red-tape which–in the end–never reduces taxpayer’s tax liability; most generally increases revenues to the Treasury to continue feeding his insatiable spending proclivities!!

They want to go in the opposite direction. They want to double down on some of the inequities that already exist in the tax code. If we’re going to keep giving somebody like me or some of the people in this room tax breaks that we don’t need and we can’t afford, then one of two things happens: Either you’ve got to borrow more money to pay down a deeper deficit, or you’ve got to demand deeper sacrifices from the middle class, and you’ve got to cut investments that help us grow as an economy. 

You’ve got to tell seniors to pay a little bit more for their Medicare. You’ve got to tell the college student, we’re going to have to charge you higher interest rates on your student loan or you’re just going to get smaller student loans. You’re going to have to tell that working family that’s scraping by that they’re going to have to do more because the wealthiest of Americans are doing less.  That’s not right. The middle class has seen enough of its security erode over the past few decades that we shouldn’t let that happen. And we’re not going to stop investing in the things that create real and lasting growth in this country just so folks like me can get an additional tax cut. We’re not going to stop building first-class schools and making sure that they’ve got science labs in them. We’re not going to fail to make investments in basic science and research that could cure diseases that harm people, or create the new technology that ends up creating entire jobs and industries that we haven’t seen before. In America, prosperity has never just trickled down from a wealthy few. Prosperity has always been built from the bottom up and from the heart of the middle class outward. And so it’s time for Congress to stand up for the middle class and make our tax system fairer by passing this Buffett Rule.  Let me just close by saying this. I’m not the first President to call for this idea that everybody has got to do their fair share. Some years ago, one of my predecessors traveled across the country pushing for the same concept. He gave a speech where he talked about a letter he had received from a wealthy executive who paid lower tax rates than his secretary, and wanted to come to Washington and tell Congress why that was wrong. So this President gave another speech where he said it was “crazy” — that’s a quote — that certain tax loopholes make it possible for multimillionaires to pay nothing, while a bus driver was paying 10 percent of his salary. That wild-eyed, socialist, tax-hiking class warrior was Ronald Reagan.  He thought that, in America, the wealthiest should pay their fair share, and he said so. I know that position might disqualify him from the Republican primaries these days  but what Ronald Reagan was calling for then is the same thing that we’re calling for now: a return to basic fairness and responsibility; everybody doing their part. And if it will help convince folks in Congress to make the right choice, we could call it the Reagan Rule instead of the Buffett Rule.  But the choice is clear. This vote is coming up. I’m asking every American who agrees with me to call your member of Congress, or write them an email, tweet them. Tell them to stop giving tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans who don’t need them and aren’t asking for them. Tell them to start asking everybody to do their fair share and play by the same rules, so that every American who’s willing to work hard has a chance at similar success, so that we’re making the investments that help this economy grow, so that we’re able to bring down our deficits in a fair and balanced and sensible way. Tell them to pass the Buffett Rule.  I’m going to keep on making this case across the country because I believe that this rule is consistent with those principles and those values that have helped make us this remarkable place where everybody has opportunity.  Now, each of us is only here because somebody, somewhere, felt responsibility not only for themselves, but also for their community and for their country. They felt a responsibility to us, to future generations. And now it’s our turn to be similarly responsible. Now it’s our turn to preserve that American Dream for future generations.

WHY–when he wants to APPEAR ‘centrist‘–does owe-bama invoke “Ronaldus-Magnus?!?”  I’ll tell’ya why: Ronald Reagan IS the best; the greatest president of BOTH the twentieth and twenty-first centuries!!  Mister Reagan is one of the very few presidents in American history who truly took the best interests of the American citizen to heart.  He presided over a period of almost unbelievable economic growth; 51 continuous months of increasing GDP! Over the ten-year period covering President Reagan‘s administration, revenues to the Treasury INCREASED nearly 30% due to his tax-rate reductions.  As a result of the Reagan economic policies, those evil, rich, pasty-white guys paid more in taxes after the Reagan tax cuts than they did under the previous tax rates!!  One needs no clearer evidence than Mr Reagan‘s policies to conclude the Buffett Rule is but one more of owe-bama‘s myriad of presidential failures.