Says Patti Davis of her father: “If he were here, he would not be at any of the celebrations for himself. He’d be watching the Super Bowl.”

84 presidential elections ad for Ronald Reagan campaign

HALT:HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth.com

You will notice the picture of Cary Grant below. I have to admit that I love the movies that Cary Grant did with Alfred Hitchock directing. The background music is tremendous in “North by Northwest.”

I also was amazed to learn that Hitchock was unable to get permission to shoot at the UN. Therefore, Hitchock set up in a van across the street and with a hidden camera filmed the scene when Grant walks out the front door of the UN. You will notice a person who passes Grant and looks back at him because he just saw a movie star.

There is no denying the growth in the economy during the Reagan years. So many times liberals will take shots at the nature of that success. William A. Niskanen and Stephen Moore have sent the record straight in their October 22, 1996 paper “Supply-Side Tax Cuts and the Truth about the Reagan Economic Record.” I will be sharing portions of that article with you over the next few days.Here is a myth:

Workers Had to Work Harder for Smaller Paychecks in the 1980s
“Caught between the lawmakers in Washington and the dealmakers on Wall Street have been millions of American workers forced to move from jobs that once paid $15 an hour into jobs that now pay $7” (Donald Barlett and James B. Steele, America: What Went Wrong? [Kansas City, Mo.: UniversalPress Syndicate, 1992], p. 3.)

Barlett and Steele never back up such anecdotal claims with any facts. Here they are: the correct way to measure changes in worker pay from one period to the next is not by examining wages alone, but by tallying the total compensation per hour–a measure that includes wages and benefits–paid to a worker.
Nonwage benefits havebeen an increasing share of total hourly worker compensation. In 1960, 9 percent of worker compensation was in theform of fringe benefits; in 1975, 16 percent of worker compensation was wage supplements; and by 1990, that percentage had risen to 20 percent.
So although it is true that average real wages have been falling over the past 20years, real compensation has been generally rising. The average real wage in 1990 dollars fell from about $11.00 anhour in 1980 to about $10.00 in 1988, a 9 percent decline. But real compensation per hour rose from $15.00 per hourin 1981 to $16.50 an hour in 1988.

President Reagan talking with Cary Grant and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. at a White House private dinner party in the yellow oval room. 12/4/81.

President Reagan meeting with Jerry Falwell in the Oval Office. 3/15/83.

Little known presidential facts:

1. No president has ever been an only child.^j
2. At his first inauguration, George Washington added the “so help me God” to the end of the oath of office.^b
3. John Adams’ campaign propaganda against Jefferson said that if Jefferson was elected, “murder, robbery, rape, adultery, and incest will be openly taught and practiced.” They later resolved their differences and wrote many letters to each other.ⁱ

If the 1980s expansion had been a classic, demand-driven Keynesian recovery, nominal demand should have grown rapidly in the 1980s. However, as Figure 9 shows, over the course of the 1980s the rate of nominal demand growth fell.
The Keynesian explanation of the economic recovery in the 1980s is also fundamentally inconsistent with the sharpfall in inflation throughout that decade. If the recovery had been driven by a hike in the demand for goods and servicesrather than by a supply-side effect of greater output, inflation would have risen rather than fallen. But it did fall. Thisis why the near-universal predictions by Reagan’s opponents from 1979 to 1981 of higher inflation from tax cutsproved to be entirely misguided.
Finally, if budget deficits are highly stimulative, the post-Reagan period of 1990-95 should have produced strongeconomic growth. The budget deficits of that period were very nearly of the same magnitude as the deficits of 1982-89(4.2 percent of GDP versus 3.9 percent of GDP); in the 1980s, however, we had rapid growth and in the 1990s wehave had anemic growth. The answer seems to be the supply-side effects of tax and regulatory reductions in the 1980s versus the tax hikes and reregulation in the 1990s.

Nancy Reagan with Dinah Shore and Burt Reynolds in the Blue Room during a state dinner for Premier Zhao Ziyang of the Peoples Republic of China. 1/10/84.

The Real Reagan Economic Record: Responsible and Successful Fiscal Policy

No matter how advocates of big government try to rewrite history, Ronald Reagan’s record of fiscal responsibility continues to stand as the most successful economic policy of the 20th century. His tax reforms triggered an economic expansion that continues to this day. His investments in national security ended the Cold War and made possible the subsequent defense spending reductions that are largely responsible for the current federal surpluses. His efforts to restrain the expansion of federal government helped to limit the growth of domestic spending.

If Reagan’s critics had been willing to work with him to limit domestic spending even further and to control the growth of entitlements, the budget would have been balanced five to ten years sooner and without the massive tax increase imposed in 1993. Today, Members of Congress from across the political spectrum should stand on the evidence and defend the Reagan record.

To the extent that President Bush’s proposals mirror those of Ronald Reagan, his plan should be a welcome strategy to lower the tax burden on Americans and to make the system more responsible. If the advocates of big government in Congress cooperate with President Bush rather than merely continuing to fund obsolete, wasteful, and redundant programs, there is no limit to the prosperity that Americans can generate.

Peter Sperry is the Grover M. Hermann Fellow in Federal Budgetary Affairs in the Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation.

President Reagan meeting with Henry Kissinger in the residence. 6/10/81.

Little known facts about our presidents:

1. At 325 pounds, William Howard Taft (1857-1930), who was dubbed “Big Bill,” was the largest president in American history and often got stuck in the White House bathtub. His advisors had to sometimes pull him out.^b

Warren Harding once lost priceless White House China playing poker

2. Harding was obsessed with poker and once bet an entire set of priceless White House China and lost it.^k
3. During his second run for presidency, Teddy Roosevelt was shot by a would-be assassin while giving a speech in Milwaukee. He continued to deliver his speech with the bullet in his chest.ⁱ
4. Thomas Jefferson was convinced that if he soaked his feet in a bucket of cold water every day, he’d never get a cold.^k
5. Calvin Coolidge liked to have his head rubbed with petroleum jelly while eating his breakfast in bed.^b
6. Woodrow Wilson (born Thomas Woodrow Wilson, 1856-1924) would paint his golf balls black during the winter so he could continue playing in the snow.^a

President Reagan and Nancy Reagan talking with Bob Hope during the State Dinner for Prime Minister Thatcher at the White House. 2/26/81.

HALT:HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth.com

I really did have a fondness in my heart for these old school Hollywood actors of long ago. I still tape the Bob Hope Road movies and watch them from time to time.

In 1977, two huge events made national news at the now titled “Danny Thomas Memphis Classic.” First, President Gerald Ford made a hole-in-one during Wednesday’s Celebrity Pro-Am. That event is now referred to as the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World.” Two days later, Al Geiberger shocked the golf world with his record low round of 59 on Friday of the tournament. The 13-under-par round still stands as a PGA TOUR record. (Chip Beck and David Duval have since tied the mark.)

I had the chance to hear the roar that came from the crowd that day that President Ford hit the hole in one (on hole #5 at Colonial Country Club in Cordova, TN). Just a few holes later I saw Danny Thomas walking around saying with slurred speech, :”This is the ball, this is the ball” while he held up a golf ball. I thought he was going to fall on me as he passed by.

Then just two days later I saw the last 5 holes of Al Geiberger’s 59. He was walking around with this silly grin on his face because almost every putt was going in.

What a great group of performers that our country was blessed with. That is why I am including so many pictures on my posts. Enjoy them. (The one on the bottom of the post is one of my favorites.)

I really got a lot out the article “The Real Reagan Economic Record: Responsible and Successful Fiscal Policy” by Peter Sperry. In the next few days I will be sharing portions of this article.

The Real Reagan Economic Record: Responsible and Successful Fiscal Policy

Published on March 1, 2001 by Peter Sperry

President Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday anniversary

Former first lady Nancy Reagan watches the casket bearing former president Ronald Reagan be placed on a caisson on Constitution Avenue near the White House. The funeral procession led to the Capitol where he would lie in state. Reagan died June 5, 2004, at the age of 93 after a decade-long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

President Reagan greeting Walter Cronkite for an interview in the Diplomatic Reception room. 3/3/81.

President Reagan and Nancy Reagan attending “All Star Tribute to Dutch Reagan” at NBC Studios(from left to right sitting) Colleen Reagan, Neil Reagan, Maureen Reagan, President, Nancy Reagan, Dennis Revell. (From left to right standing) Emmanuel Lewis, Charlton Heston, Ben Vereen, Monty Hall, Frank Sinatra, Burt Reynolds, Dean Martin, Eydie Gorme, Vin Scully, Steve Lawrence, last 2 unidentified. Burbank, California 12/1/85.

____________________________________________

Little known facts about our presidents:

1. Thomas Jefferson had a family of plants named after him, Jeffersonia diphylla, which is also known as twin root or rheumatism root.^k
2. Thomas Jefferson wrote “The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth,” which was discovered after his death by his daughter. It argues that Jesus Christ was a great thinker, but that he was devoid of other worldly qualities that made him the center of Christianity.^k
3. James Madison (1751-1836) was the shortest president of the United States, standing at only 5’4”. He never weighed more than 100 pounds.^j
4. George Washington made the shortest inauguration speech on record—133 words and less than two minutes long.^b

William Harrison served the shortest term of any president

5. William Henry Harrison (1773-1841) holds the record for the longest inauguration speech in history at 8,578 words long and one hour and 40 minutes. Unfortunately, he gave the speech during bad weather and a month later, he was dead from pneumonia, making his the shortest presidency on record.^j

HALT:HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth.com

Supply-Side Tax Cuts and the Truth about the Reagan Economic Record

by William A. Niskanen and Stephen Moore

Bob Dole’s proposal for a 15 percent income tax cut has reignited the long-standing debate about the economic impact of Reaganomics in the 1980s. This study assesses the Reagan supply-side policies by comparing the nation’s economic performance in the Reagan years (1981-89) with its performance in the immediately preceding Ford-Carter years (1974-81) and in the Bush-Clinton years that followed (1989-95).

On 8 of the 10 key economic variables examined, the American economy performed better during the Reagan years than during the pre- and post-Reagan years.

• Real economic growth averaged 3.2 percent during the Reagan years versus 2.8 percent during the Ford-Carter years and 2.1 percent during the Bush-Clinton years.
• Real median family income grew by $4,000 during the Reagan period after experiencing no growth in the pre-Reagan years; it experienced a loss of almost $1,500 in the post-Reagan years.
• Interest rates, inflation, and unemployment fell faster under Reagan than they did immediately before or after his presidency.
• The only economic variable that was worse in the Reagan period than in both the pre- and post-Reagan years was the savings rate, which fell rapidly in the 1980s. The productivity rate was higher in the pre-Reagan years but much lower in the post-Reagan years.

This study also exposes 12 fables of Reaganomics, such as that the rich got richer and the poor got poorer, the Reagan tax cuts caused the deficit to explode, and Bill Clinton’s economic record has been better than Reagan’s

Reagan at Bob Hope’s 80th birthday.