tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post4013401610594891198..comments2023-10-16T07:13:12.123-05:00Comments on A plain blog about politics: Reagan's Second Term and the Bizarre Reputation of Tax ReformJonathan Bernsteinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15931039630306253241noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-86209840604929884542012-11-27T00:06:38.912-06:002012-11-27T00:06:38.912-06:00I stand ready to stand corrected; although I wonde...I stand ready to stand corrected; although I wonder how many of those seats were in the "wrong" hands due to Watergate? And the whole realignment of the South thing.....<br /><br />It's answerable, I just don't have the answers at my fingertips..Matt Jarvisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-15240611347287473342012-11-26T18:01:17.875-06:002012-11-26T18:01:17.875-06:00Because Reagan is lauded by conservatives for driv...Because Reagan is lauded by conservatives for driving, with the aid of Margaret Thatcher, the Soviet hordes from Europe, it's difficult for liberals to accept just how recalcitrant the GOP foreign policy establishment was to Reagan's overtures. What makes it more difficult to understand were Reagan's own contradictory moves: he'd write by hand a letter (over the objections of the State Department) to Brezhnev wondering when to meet to discuss world peace, then push for MX missiles in Western Europe. <br /><br />The best book on Reagan's Cold War policy is James Mann's "The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan," which I found more revelatory than his book on the Vulcans. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-37087350441865344452012-11-26T13:20:26.414-06:002012-11-26T13:20:26.414-06:00I don't know. It doesn't seem crazy to me...I don't know. It doesn't seem crazy to me that Republicans might have kept seats in South Dakota, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, or Florida, which were five of the seats that went Republican in 1980 and back to Democratic in 1986. Winning seats in North Dakota and Nevada hardly seems guaranteed, either (and neither was a "democratic seat to begin with). Barbara Mikulski in Maryland wasn't replacing a "Democratic seat to begin with," but long-time moderate Republican Charles Mathias.<br /><br />The only Democratic gain in 1986 that really fits your pattern is Brock Adams's win over Slade Gorton in Washington.<br /><br />Meanwhile, freshman Republicans in Alaska, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin were re-elected. I'd think people like Chuck Grassley, Warren Rudman, Al D'Amato, Arlen Specter, and Bob Kasten fit much better your definition of "fluke Republicans winning in Republican year" than the actual Republicans who were defeated, but they were all re-elected.Johnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-74932388887995566722012-11-26T12:35:21.783-06:002012-11-26T12:35:21.783-06:00@LWDL: yeah, but those were never their seats to b...@LWDL: yeah, but those were never their seats to begin with. Those Rs got lucky in 1980, and the only reason the Senate remained R until 1986 was their 6 year term. I wouldn't blame Reagan for that.<br /><br />But, yeah, the other things can be laid at the feet of a rather checked-out Reagan.<br />Matt Jarvisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-55896091234368521372012-11-26T11:44:17.185-06:002012-11-26T11:44:17.185-06:00Yeah not to mention that the 1986 midterms were a ...Yeah not to mention that the 1986 midterms were a disaster for the Republicans, they lost eight seats in the Senate and the majority including a lot of very conservative Reagan allied senators that were swept in with Reagan in 1980. Also ummm, Robert Bork? Yup, Reagan tried to enshrine his "revolution" into the highest court of the land and it blew up right in his face. Oh also remember when Attorney General Ed Mease got caught with mafia guys, kick backs and cooked books in the Wedtech scandal? Also there was a never ending series of screw ups with his second term chief of staff Don Regan, that culminated in Regan being forced out in a palace coup. <br /><br />Oh yes and Nancy and her astrologers.<br />longwalkdownlyndalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13173899547449318257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-39975069536057998582012-11-26T11:23:31.612-06:002012-11-26T11:23:31.612-06:00Revenue-neutral tax reform should not be a goal of...Revenue-neutral tax reform should not be a goal of any progressive, and I doubt if it is really a goal of Obama's. My recollection is that he campaigned on raising tax revenues from the wealthy, and that his preferred method for that was two-fold: implementing the Buffet Rule on wealthy individuals, which eliminates the special tax treatment of investment income, and eliminating corporate tax breaks while implementing a hard 20% rate for all corporations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6926413038778731189.post-29716898122073206222012-11-26T11:21:28.740-06:002012-11-26T11:21:28.740-06:00To me, what makes Reagan's second term a succe...To me, what makes Reagan's second term a success in political terms is the thawing of the Cold War. Even if you say that Gorbachev was more responsible for that than Reagan, you have to remember that there were many right-wingers at the time who thought that Reagan was being taken in by Gorbachev. Reagan has never been given enough credit by liberals for defying what was in 1985-88 a still vocal anti-Soviet right wing.<br /><br />In any event, whether because of or in spite of Reagan, the country was peaceful and prosperous in 1988--and voted for Reagan's vice-president to succeed him. If the country is equally peaceful and prosperous in 2016 and votes for a Democrat to succeed Obama, I would say that Obama's second term would be a success, even if he accomplished nothing legislatively except to prevent the rolling back of the ACA and other first-term accomplishments. David Tnoreply@blogger.com