Since Ray-Gun's election in 1980, can anyone name 1 conservative achievement that advanced humanity?

[Union Yes]

This question is more intended for lurkers, visiting Freepers, lurking moderates. But all are invited to comment.

Name 1 conservative and/or Rethug achievement that didn't drown us in debt or turn budget surpluses into deficits. Name 1 achievement that has advanced human rights. Name 1 achievement that has made life better for the little fella. Name 1 achievement that has protected the worker, the blue collar, the middle class.

That's a direct challenge to any conservative that might read this.

I'm expecting crickets. Not because we don't have any Cons that read DU. We do.

It's because there are no conservative achievements that have bettered humanity or advanced life for ALL Americans.

Democratic achievements:

1. A balanced budget and budget surpluses in the mid-late 90's. All destroyed by the irresponsible Bush tax cuts of '03.

2. The strongest value our dollar had ever seen in that same time frame. Destroyed by Booooosh.

3. The only time that our nation had actually paid down our national debt, in that same time frame. Vaporized by Boooosh.

4. Historically low unemployment rates in that same time frame. Obliterated by Boooosh.

5. Starting in 1993 under the order of Pres Clinton, the downsizing and reorganization of our military into a leaner, meaner fighting force that also saved us a ton of money and helped lead to balanced budgets.

6. Proving that a tax increase signed by Clinton and enacted in 1993 was followed by the strongest economic growth in American history.

Based on achievements, conservative Rethugs couldn't hold a Democrat's jock.

Reich Wingers, put that in your pipe and smoke it.

:patriot:

[WonderGrunion]

1. The Family and Medical Leave Act

But I consider that to be a fluke, and most Repukes don't consider Poppy to be a real conservative.

[Louisiana1976]

3. Besides it's unpaid leave.

[Union Yes]

4. I was going to include that but it was so heavily pushed for by Dems..

in congress that I really didn't consider it to be a conservative achievement. Cons in the House and Senate were very opposed to the FMLA.

But Bush deserves a nod for signing it into law. 1 act of a tiny amount of good that he did as president. And also one of the main reasons why Bush isn't regarded very well among Con circles.

Thanks for mentioning that.

Peace

[Selatius]

9. The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law in 1990 by HW Bush as well.

The definition of being disabled under the law was expanded further by none other than George W. Bush himself at the beginning of 2009 when the law was amended to reverse a number of Supreme Court decisions that restricted the law's interpretation.

[Samantha]

12. Your response kind of threw me for a loop since I thought for

sure that was passed under Clinton. I remember the Republicans were furious because they said businesses did not have the resources to fill in for those employees out on this type of leave. That gave rise to the famous "You got to be a team player" slogan, meaning you do your job and your co-worker's job as well if he or she is out on leave. So I went to Google to check this out and this is what I found:

"By the time Reagan assumed the presidency in 1981, the family had already made its way onto the national political agenda. As a result, the new occupant of the White House was confronted with at least two very challenging questions related to families that could not be ignored. First, what was the status of America's families? Were they strong and stable or weak and vulnerable? And second, what role -- if any -- should government play in addressing the needs of families? That is, where do we draw the line between what families are expected to do and what government is obligated to do? And, more specifically, what level of government (federal, state, or local) is obligated to do what?

"Beginning with his inaugural address in January, 1981, combined with his success in getting major cuts in social welfare under the 1981 Omnibus Reconciliation Act (OBRA), Ronald Reagan made it clear to all that government, and the federal government in particular, should not be expected to solve many of the nation's problems. According to his thinking, government was the problem, not the solution. Soon the policies of new federalism (now commonly referred to as devolution), deregulation, privatization, retraction, and retrenchment were rooting themselves deep within the political landscape. Whatever momentum Carter created for a national family policy was quickly shifted into reverse by Reagan.

"From a national study of state initiatives in family policy completed in 1990, we learned that during the Reagan and Bush administrations states were extremely active in addressing family issues. More than half the states created special commissions or task forces on families, for example. Thirty-two states passed child abuse and neglect laws, 31 states adopted stronger child support enforcement legislation, 30 states passed special child care and early education laws, 20 states reformed their domestic violence laws, and 18 states enacted legislation to address teen pregnancy (Wisensale, 1990). By the time Bill Clinton assumed the presidency in 1993 and signed into law the nation's first family leave bill, 27 states had already adopted such a policy." (emphasis added)

From:

http://www.abanet.org/publiced/focus/f96poli.html

[salin]

33. My memory as well - not a GOP enactment..

[WonderGrunion]

43. Holy brain cramps Batman!

I'm losing it in my old age. The aforementioned ADA was what I was thinking of. I knew HW was responsible for some type of sweeping civil rights legislation and for some reason I thought it was FMLA. I need to start looking stuff up before I respond and not rely on memory so much. Thank you for the much needed correction.

[edhopper]

45. GHW Bush

vetoed it. TWICE! Passed by a Dem Congress, signed by Clinton.
Jeez, I'd expect that kind of rewriting of history on Fox.

[JackRiddler]

2. Their support for the wonderful, temporary rejection of the Bankster Plunder Bill.

[Taverner]

5. Our invasion of Grenada. Oh - wait you meant 'greatest' not 'suckiest'. Never mind. N/t

[sam sarrha]

19. dont forget Panama.. released Cali Cartel Bankers, released the East German ship full guns for drugs

after the Cali cartel bankers were released, the Bank President was appointed President of Panama. the amount of Cocaine shipped out of Panama to the USA increased by 6X in just months

the ship full of guns from the GDR was bought with the Stinger Missiles made with Tax Payer money, illegally sold to Iran, a Terrorist nation, Scooter was the Bag man, nearly all Bush43's Cabinet were involved. Reagan obviously was given a Lobotomy to prevent him from testifying in the Iran Contra investigation.. you just don't get Alzheimer's that fast, and Casey's Brain Operation, and the dead CIA people that all washed up at once.

[Orrex]

6. A few years ago I asked if W had done anything good, because I couldn't think of anything.

One reply indicated that he'd done something to improve and/or streamline the adoption process, so I'd have to call that a good thing.

A fluke, to be sure, and not much of a c.v. after eight years in office, but there you have it.

[goclark]

26. Is that why Angelina and Co. go all over the world to adopt?

:shrug:

[Botany]

7. Nancy Reagan's stand for stem cell research

Barry Goldwater's stand for gay rights.

Charlie Crist standing up and allowing early voting in Florida's 2008 vote.

The outstanding comedy value of Mike Huckabee's audience at his T.V. Show. :sarcasm:

The republicans who helped to count and rule on the vote that made Al Franken Minnesota's Jr Senator

Arnold Schwarzenegger's work with a senior citizen's home during a California wildfire season

Republicans and Democrats who worked so hard as Americans during the nasty late winter / early spring
floods in 2009 around Fargo, N.D..

[sam sarrha]

21. dont forget....... "JUST SAY NO.!!!"

[Historic NY]

35. yeah but that was for drugs, now its all the GOP stands for.

[leveymg]

8. Jogging. Definitely not a liberal invention. But, so good for you . . .

The corporate right-wing is really into gyms, physical fitness, stairmasters, and shit like that. Keeps your mind off the state of the world. Beautiful bodies ready to work some extra hours for the privilege of being fit and eternally young.

Now, lets go shopping, another pleasant Right-wing invention . . .

[sam sarrha]

23. jogging Was a ReThug invention... it evolved as a linear form of dancing around the Facts

[leveymg]

25. Professional sports is the ultimate evolution - Vegas sets the spread and calls the plays

Everyone else -- the refs, the players, the coaches, the fans -- are just there to . . . execute.

[SIMPLYB1980]

10. K&R

[bbinacan]

11. Fall of the Berlin Wall and

the final nail in the coffin of the Soviet Union.

Cool song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z6dxQVhE8o

[GoCubsGo]

13. That was Solidarity....

...Lech Walesa/John Paul II, and Gorbachev/Glastnost/Perstroikaz... Conservatives here had very little to do with that, as much as they would like to give Raygun credit for it.

[bbinacan]

18. It was all part

of the process.

[Usrename]

22. wow, I thought you were being sarcastic.

:hide:

[Usrename]

20. Yep, they were the last to know about it.

It was the last thing Reagan's cronies wanted.

[Union Yes]

29. Damn straight! Well said.

[Union Yes]

27. Like Cubs said, Solidarity-Decades of activism brought down the wall..

Jimmy Carters embargo of the Soviet Union set the stage and led to the downfall of the SU's economy.

Spending in an arms race with America doomed the SU in an already ailing economy. Ray-Gun spent us into $3.5 Trillion in debt by 1988. An unfathomable number in 1988 dollars. Experts warned that we would never pay off that debt.

Guess what?

21 years later and we have hardly touched the principle of that debt. Imagine the interest generated on 21 years of a 3.5 Trillion dollar debt.

Ray-Guns arms race was no achievement.

[Union Yes]

28. "that didn't drown us in debt or turn budget surpluses into deficits." -is the key here.

[Lorien]

38. Oh my. No, I'm sorry. That wasn't Reagan

no matter how much the GOP might try to convince themselves that it was.

[Selatius]

42. So, I take it Truman, Eisenhower, JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Ford, Carter, and George HW Bush did nothing?

It was a group effort. The fall of the Soviet Union is beyond any single person to claim it as all their own.

[Kansas Wyatt]

48. Maybe if JFK was not assassinated...

The Soviet Union would have not been a problem for so long, we wouldn't be tied to so much blow-back, and we would be better off today.

Unless you are a defense contractor, corporation, or you are rich.

[bbinacan]

49. That's what I meant

by "last nail in the coffin".:toast:

[B Calm]

14. Do not call list.

[ShamelessHussy]

15. They haven't started WWIII

yet, though they are certainly try'n their damndest, or so it seems from the cheap seats :evilgrin:

[sam sarrha]

24. but... Iraq lasted longer than WW3 would have..!!! that is a score.

[ShamelessHussy]

36. 'a score'?

in a neoCONs wet dream, maybe :shrug:

[BrklynLiberal]

16. When Jesse Helms died.

[eppur_se_muova]

41. +1 nt

[Usrename]

17. all they ever do is break stuff

or blow stuff up

they never build anything, they don't even try

[struggle4progress]

30. James Watt pleaded guilty in 1996. I thought that was a high point for conservativism

[UTUSN]

31. RAYGUN's "election" was a victory?!1 n/t

[Libertas1776]

32. He did end

the Iranian Hostage Crisis...




although not because the Iranians were afraid of big bad Ronnie as the Conservapologists would have you believe, but rather, simply, because he agreed to unfreeze the Iranian governments overseas banking accounts that had been frozen by Carter. Wow, he sure did make them knuckle under and lick boot, didn't he? :sarcasm:

[ezgoingrl]

34. Roads, sewers, brought peace...

oh wait, that was the Romans, nevermind.

[Kievan Rus]

37. Nope. But here's what they did:

1. Promoted hatred towards minorities, women, GLBT persons, the disabled, liberal Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and in some cases, non-Protestant Christians (Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox).

2. Staunchly supported radical Jihadists in Afghanistan and armed them with Stinger missiles to shoot down Soviet attack choppers and aircraft; most scholarly works on that war will state that changed the balance of power and won the war for the Jihadists. Osama bin Laden got his start from Raygun's policies.

3. Previously mentioned foriegn policy hawks also armed Saddam Hussein when he fought Iran.

4. CEO pay has skyrocketed while average worker pay has stagnated and had no adjustments for the standard of living.

5. Enormous Federal debt.

6. All of our manufacturing jobs have been shipped overseas.

7. Billions of dollars have been wasted on the absurd "War on Drugs" while small children starve in Africa.

8. Our planet has gotten hotter and faced more pollution, all the while cons could care less about the environment.

[Lorien]

39. The Endangered Species Act and the clean air and water act

though Nixon had bipartisan support on those.

[moobu2]

40. No. They come up with some catchy little slogans, but their ideas DO NOT WORK

[superduperfarleft]

44. The Federal Do-Not-Call list.

Other than that, I got nothing.

[etherealtruth]

46. Neither do they ....

:)

[Lucky Luciano]

50. we have a winner! I knew there had to be at least ONE thing! Nt

[DainBramaged]

47. Bush leaving office in january.....................