I’ve Got A Better Idea

I found this story on Facebook. That’s probably what I get for spending too much time on Facebook.

Proposal would put Ronald Reagan's face on the $50 bill

”In polls of presidential scholars, Reagan consistently outranks Grant, said Rep. Patrick T. McHenry (R-N.C.), who introduced legislation to make the change. “ (link to bio added)

How many different ways can a statement can be wrong ?

First: “By contrast, Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy tend to score highly in popular opinion polls, but rank highly less often in polls of historians because their negative qualities have been largely forgotten, for Reagan because he was seen as helping end the Cold War and for Kennedy because of sympathy after his assassination.”

So Reagan doesn’t really rate that high with “presidential scholars” -- especially when you remember Iran-Contra.

Second: Grant wasn’t such a great President. He was a great general (or at least a winning one) and that is why he is remembered. So Representative McHenry is comparing apples and oranges while trying to make you think it’s apples vs. apples. He probably has a bright future as a politician.

I’m somewhat surprised at how strongly I feel about all this. However, as time passes, I think more and more Americans will realize just what Ronald Reagan and his policies did to this country. Read the comments section of the L.A. Times article and you’ll see what I mean. There was a time when the mentally ill and homeless didn’t roam America’s streets. The families that suffered through the beginning of the AIDS epidemic have obviously not forgotten Ronald Reagan. I hope that my fellow controllers haven’t. (Please tell me none of the new kids actually refer to Washington National as “Reagan National”.)

I think all this will pale in comparison to The Great Recession, though. And The Great Recession is a direct result of the policies that became known as Reaganomics.

So I’ve got a better idea. Rename Wall Street -- the most famous street in America -- after Ronald Reagan. That, to me, would seem to be a fitting tribute.



Don Brown
March 4, 2010