[TheRealThing]

From somebody who was actually there.


I actually lived and worked, during the Carter Era. Jimmy came on the scene and I just loved the guy, he was a southerner, a Christian, and one could tell he was just a good and decent man. His Presidency was nonetheless a disaster.

Then along came Ronald Reagan and like so many other blue dog Democrats, I found myself voting for him, and with great enthusiasm I would add. Many Dems of that day were pretty conservative as were so many of the Dems who changed their party affiliation to Republican and voted for DJT. Regardless of the liberal spin and equivocations on the matter, the dynamic from voter's eyes is exactly the same now as in the days of Reagan. The only difference being the level of resolve. Which, I believe is much greater in the case of Trump's first term and probably will only intensify in 2020.

Many folks, the vast majority of whom being Democrats, are on TV right now slamming the Trump Administration Tax Plan. Charlie Gasparino for example, is a FOX Business News contributor who takes his criticisms of the plan to extremes. But his main talking point matches Chuck Schumer's main talking point; Both saying the average American will only realize a very small increase in their paychecks, 10 to 20 dollars. Minimize much Charlie? Let me answer that, yes you do, daily if it has anything to do with DJT. But the 10 - 20 dollar charge is one which for accuracy's sake, I doubt BTW. But Schumer lived and worked in Congress during the Reagan Era, though he did not arrive until 1998 only a year prior to Reagan's departure. So, in my view he has a piece of the real picture but not a very big one.

Because times were so good, as soon as Reagan left office the Dems started giving Bill Clinton credit for everything. He did it all to hear them tell it, but I knew the spin was completely untrue. The great revision had left the confines of the library, historical documents and ultimately this nation's classrooms, and launched out into real time distortions of the truth, and even then the media were complicit even proactive. Schumer was there to watch how unbelievably, even though the nation had just watched themselves go from an abiding fear of losing their home and opening their electric bills, to miraculous financial recovery and 6 straight years of record growth, how through steady insistence and unwavering persistence, Dems turned public opinion to the left anyway. So Ol Cryin Chuck is just doing what he was trained to do with the onset of the Clinton Administration.

But I just want to clear the air on the point about the personal tax adjustments and the resultant increase in take home pay, which arguably only a bozo would argue with. In the Reagan days that increase was not all that noticeable for average working folks either. I wasn't out clicking my heels because of my lightened tax bill. I was however out clicking my heels because I had meaningful steady employment. I was privileged to be so blessed that I could go to work every day to provide for my family's needs. Frankly, it was a thrill. And it wasn't easy BTW, I had to pursue that weekly check with diligence. My employer changed every time the project on which I was working came to fruition. So my optimism was not fueled by tax decreases, it was fueled by paychecks. Gasparino et-al are guilty of spending all of their energy in either misunderstanding the history associated with the tax reforms of JFK and Reagan, or outright prosecution of a canard. Either way their conclusions are all wrong.

The balance of the left's argument regarding the millions whose greatest skill is in sticking out their hands, is just an elaborate and ever-morphing social justification of this nation's runaway welfare system. We give too much away while we wouldn't think of shaming the able bodied for choosing not to work. Most of whom actually do think they're too good to accept a lower paying job. Equality of Opportunity, that is the gift of financial promise to free people, not sitting around waiting for one's visit from "Clearing House Giveaway" or "Extreme Makeover."