I REMEMBER RONALD REAGAN

I remember Ronald Reagan, the fortieth President of our nation, for the firing of 40.000 air traffic controllers, drastic cuts in school lunch programs, the Iran-Contra Scandal and moving up retirement age while reducing retirement benefits. Under the disguise of “Trickle Down Economics” he took it from the needy and gave it to the greedy. He hid his lack of vision for the nation behind his nationalistic rhetoric and demagoguery while practicing management by default. He generously delegated authority in order to sleep through most of his 8 years in the office. With the help of Saudis, he manipulated markets to lower oil prices from $40 a barrel to $12 a barrel in 1984 while turning a blind eye to devastating effects of the oil bust after hiding behind the principles of free market economics. His energy policies resulted in shutting down thousands of stripper wells, pushing hundreds of independent oil producers out of business and laying off nearly half a million oil field workers, causing, in the process, exploratory rig count here in the USA to drop from 3650 to nearly zero within a year period, creating the conditions for today’s high energy prices while pushing oil belt states into an economic depression. As far as I am concerned, Ronald Reagan was all image and no substance. He was nothing more than an empty shell of spin and glitter. God bless his soul.