Where Reagan Lost It: Let’s Never Find Out!
New Math For Tired Arguments    
America’s ceaseless quest for a New Reagan has taken myriad forms, from Charlie Crist, to Sarah Palin, to Barack Obama.
That last one has proven controversial!
Now Reaganauts of the true faith are fighting back, mobilising the armies of infectious optimism to carry John McCain over the last mile.
A hilariously ignorant ad by neverfindout.org shows it’s the economy, stupider:
“MAN 1: Senator McCain, history has shown us your economic plans will work.
WOMAN 1: When Ronald Reagan took office, the economy was far worse than it is today.
MAN 2: You understand that Reagan’s plan worked. Senator Obama does not.”
What were His wonder working ways?
             “Ronald Reagan cut spending and reduced the size of the federal government. Senator Obama plans to increase spending by nearly a trillion dollars. So who’s right?”
Gosh, if by “cutting” you mean increase by a quarter, and if by “reduced” you mean added 200,000 federal workers, then they are right on track.
Bill Clinton was actually closer to their mad dream. He cut heads, and shrank the government portion of GDP by twice what Reagan did.
 What Reagan did do is jack up unemployment, cut incomes and goose the stock market, and Clinton beat him on that last marker too.
| Average Annual Change | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s |
| Real GDP | 4.4% | 3.3% | 3.1% | 3.1% |
| Productivity | 2.9% | 2.0% | 1.4% | 1.9% |
| Employment | 1.9% | 2.4% | 1.7% | 1.3% |
| S&P 500: Real Returns | 6.6% | Ã0.5% | 12.9% | 15.9% |
| Real Weekly Wages | 1.45% | Ã0.27% | Ã0.72% | 0.28% |
| Real Median Family income | 3.21% | 0.76% | 1.01% | 0.95% |
| Average Level of Inflation | 2.3% | 7.1% | 5.6% | 3.0% |
| Average Level of Unemployment | 4.8% | 6.2% | 7.3% | 5.8% |
 source: Dollars & Sense
“MAN 5: Senator McCain, we are hopeful.
MAN 4: Because your economic policies are the policies of Ronald Reagan.
MAN 2: As a nation in crisis, we’d be fools not to embrace your ideas.
ANNOUNCER: What happens when we pick the alternative? Please America. Let’s never find out. “
