Barak Obama is the ANTI-REAGAN

In his column today Dinesh D'Souza describes a debate between Oliver North and Bob Beckel about Senator Obama as compared to President Reagan. D'Souza points out that Reagan like Obama campaigned on a platform of change but Reagan had big Ideas:

But Reagan was a man of large ideas. He positioned his career against the big idea of the twentieth century, namely collectivism. Reagan saw collectivism in a menacing Soviet empire abroad, and an expanding welfare state at home. When I first came to America the national ethos had been set by John F. Kennedy who told young people that if they were idealistic and caring, they should join the Peace Corps. To Kennedy it was the government servant who was the true noble American. Reagan disputed this. To him it was not the bureaucrat but the entrepreneur who was the embodiment of American idealism and greatness. Reagan sought to bring about a cultural shift in America in which parents would rather see their children become inventors and business owners rather than paper-pushers in the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Reagan also had concrete ideas about how to bring about his grand aspirations. He sought to roll back the Soviet empire by deploying Pershing and Cruise missiles in Europe. He sought to deploy missile defenses to shoot down Soviet missiles and also to invite the Russians into a defensive arms race that he knew they couldn't win. He proposed bringing the top marginal tax rate down from 70 percent to 28 percent. He proposed a 30 percent across-the-board tax cut. He sought a restrictive monetary policy to wring inflation out of the economy, combined with tax cuts to unleash entrepreneurial initiative. He backed privatization of government activities that could be better performed by the private sector. Source:
Obama's No Ronald Reagan

Let me suggest to you that while the above is true, that is not the most significant difference between Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama. Reagan was America's biggest cheerleader, he always spoke of his trust in the greatness of the people and their ability to rule in a democracy. He believed that the United States was the best damned country in the world. Ronald Reagan believed in America so America believed in Ronald Reagan. Just look at some of the things he said:

Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have.

I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will always eventually triumph. And there's purpose and worth to each and every life.

"[The Democrats] say that the United States has had its days in the sun, that our nation has passed its zenith.… My fellow citizens, I utterly reject that view."

"We are the showcase of the future. And it is within our power to mold that future-this year and for decades to come. It can be as grand and as great as we make it. No crisis is beyond the capacity of our people to solve; no challenge too great."

Obama's message of change comes from not believing in America and the cynical part is that he usually sends this message of American Malaise through his wife, in the past month she has been quoted as saying:

For the first time in my adult life I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback.”

We’re a country that is “just downright mean,” we are “guided by fear,” we’re a nation of cynics, sloths, and complacents. “We have become a nation of struggling folks who are barely making it every day,” she said, as heads bobbed in the pews. “Folks are just jammed up, and it’s gotten worse over my lifetime. And, doggone it, I’m young. Forty-four!”

From these bleak generalities, Obama moves into specific complaints. Used to be, she will say, that you could count on a decent education in the neighborhood. But now there are all these charter schools and magnet schools that you have to “finagle” to get into"

Folks that is the REAL difference between Obama and Reagan. To Ronald Reagan America is Great and could only get greater. He lifted America to new heights. Obama is trying to sell us on an America that is somehow mean and nasty and he is going to fix it. He wants to beat us up and fix us. There is no comparison. Obama does NOT believe in America which is why he could never truly lead America. To suggest that the two are remotely similar is totally absurd.