There has been a lot of talk over a new poll that shows Americans would pick Ronald Reagan to fix the economy over FDR. The poll is really interesting:

Ronald Reagan beat out Franklin Delano Roosevelt as the former president Americans would like to see in the White House during these trying economic times, a new 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair poll finds.

Thirty-six percent of those polled said they wanted the Gipper to lead America out of the economic crisis, while 29 percent picked Roosevelt. Thomas Jefferson came in third place with the support of 14 percent of those polled, followed by Roosevelt’s successor Harry Truman at 8 percent. William Henry Harrison, who was inaugurated in March 1841 and died one month later, came in last with 1 percent support.

Reagan was the pick of 68 percent of Republicans, 16 percent of Democrats and 34 percent of independents surveyed. Sixteen percent of Republicans, 43 percent of Democrats and 26 percent of independents chose Roosevelt.

Something else this poll shows is that Republicans (and even Democrats) don’t really know who Reagan was.  Let’s look at some of Reagan’s actions and views on the economy.

Raising Taxes

In 1982 and 1983 Ronald Reagan did some of the biggest tax increases in history. Was this a bad thing? Not at all. What Reagan’s tax increases did was help lower unemployment, a fact brought up by even Republican economists.

Infrastructure

“the bridges and highways we fail to repair today will have to be rebuilt tomorrow at many times the cost.” Remember that quote because the White House is pushing it out today and that was a quote from Reagan in 1982. Reagan’s proposal for funding this was not through a raise on income tax though, but rather a motorist tax. Still it’s a tax and today’s Republicans would be screaming bloody murder.

Taxing The Rich

How about this?

We’re going to close the unproductive tax loopholes that allow 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, while 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?

That was Ronald Reagan in 1985 saying the same thing President Obama is saying today, yet Reagan wasn’t accused of “class warfare” from far right zealots like Eric Cantor and John Boehner.

National Debt

Ronald Reagan raised the national debt far more than any current President, 189% compared to Bush 43, who came in second at 86%.  Enough said!

Finally!

If Ronald Reagan were in the White House today the right would go right after him to the point of possible impeachment. I doubt Ronald Reagan would even want to associate with the Republican Party of today given their extreme partisan rhetoric and putting party above country. What makes this even worse is that the GOP has taken the man they consider their hero and do nothing but pissed on his grave. When confronted with facts like this the right quickly goes to “that’s spin” defense. When Reagan’s closest friends and advisors back up these facts the right takes to attacking them. The Republican Party has absolutely no respect for the Gipper and that is backed up by their words and actions.