Great things come by change: part 3

Ronald Reagan was a democrat before he was elected republican governor of California. In fact, he was an ardent supporter of John F. Kennedy and, yes, he even raised taxes while he was governor.

Before running for President in 1976, Reagan switched parties chanting, “I did not leave my party, my party left me.”

Reagan liked Kennedy not simply because Kennedy was a great leader, but because Kennedy believed in the power of the individual. Kennedy believed that freed from the burden of high taxes and government regulation, the American people would prosper. And, following Kennedy’s tax cuts, the economy of the 1960s soared to new record highs. In fact, the GNP nearly doubled.

Reagan also liked Kennedy’s stance on foreign policy. Kennedy, a WWII hero, believed that America needed to keep a strong and powerful military and, at times, needs to show it military might abroad. Kennedy proved this by starting the Vietnam War and the Bay of Pigs.

When the democratic party started to get away from Kennedy’s views, when that party started to represent the breaking up of our great military and tax hikes to support a BIG government, Ronald Reagan decided the Republican party better represented his ideas. So, he changed parties.

Still not far removed from the ideals of Kennedy, Ronald Reagan cut taxes and built up our military. Then he placed a load of pressure on the Soviet Union. He placed so much pressure on them, in fact, that the Soviet economy collapsed, and thus the Cold War was ended.

And, as a result of Reagan’s tax cuts, the economy in America soared even higher than in the 1960s. The GDP in the 1980s doubled., so that the U.S. government made more money after Reagan’s tax cuts than following any tax increase, and the people prospered as unemployment dropped to record lows, jobs grew at a record pace, wages rose, the stock market soared, inflation remained stable and relatively low, and so forth.

Senator Richard Shelby, in a press release paying tribute to Ronald Reagan, wrote, “President Reagan’s eternal optimism gave our country a renewed sense of self – a belief that the American dream was possible and that every individual had the opportunity to create his or her own success. Ronald Reagan believed that each new day was filled with high purpose and opportunity for accomplishment. He gave America back the hope we had lost for many years.

“President Reagan’s leadership and courage,” he continued, “were central to ending the Cold War. He was certain that freedom and democracy could prevail in all corners of the globe if only the one country with the capacity to do so would step in and show the way.”