I was reflecting on the aftereffects of Reagan, now that he has passed away. I think his greatness is often overestimated. He is considered the "Great Communicator," and I will concede that he was a good charismatic speaker. But actions speak louder, and his actions have left our country heavily and unnecessarily in debt. The late USSR would have eventually imploded economically had we not built so many nuclear missiles, for example. Even if it hadn't collapsed, the USSR would have eventually recognized that communism is not as efficient as capitalism, and changed as China has. There are tons of interesting statistics on the effects of Reaganomics on-line. His outrageous deficit spending set a precedent that has been followed to a lesser degree by subsequent presidents and congressmen. Balanced budgets are never made. I'm afraid that in decades our country may be drowning in debt. Our taxpaying citizens shall waste an increasing fraction of our domestic product on the interest. The debt is currently over 7 trillion dollars and climbing.
ADDENDUM 2004-06-08 10:00:
I have been getting several hits by people looking for information about Reagan's lies. Rotten.com has a bio of Reagan, with some discussion of the Iran-Contra lies. It is not the most comprehensive, but I enjoy reading Rotten.com's biographies.