Perry takes swipe at Ron Paul
A newly released ad by Ron Paul ‘s presidential campaign took a swipe at Rick Perry’s Democratic roots while emphasizing Paul’s links to President Reagan, but Perry’s campaign is now accusing the Paul team of seeing the past through rose-colored glasses. “Ronald Reagan was one of the most significant presidents of our generation, and a proven fiscal conservative,” Perry spokesman Mark Miner said. “Like President Reagan, Gov.
Jul 31, 2020173.4K Shares2.3M Views
A newly released ad by Ron Paul‘s presidential campaign took a swipe at Rick Perry’s Democratic rootswhile emphasizing Paul’s links to President Reagan, but Perry’s campaignis now accusing the Paul team of seeing the past through rose-colored glasses.
“Ronald Reagan was one of the most significant presidents of our generation, and a proven fiscal conservative,” Perry spokesman Mark Miner said. “Like President Reagan, Gov. Perry has cut taxes and freed employers from government regulations that kill jobs.”
The Perry campaign has uploaded a screen shotof page 11 of the March/April 1987 Libertarian Party News. The page features the text of a letter sent to Frank Fahenkopf, then-chairman of the Republican National Committee, by Paul, who made the switch from GOP to Libertarian.
“Rep. Paul’s letter is a broadside attack on every element of President Reagan’s record and philosophy. Paul thought President Reagan was so bad, he left the GOP,” said Miner. “It will be interesting to hear Rep. Paul explain why Reagan drove him from the party at tomorrow’s debate on the grounds of the Reagan Library.”
In the letter, Paul discusses how he supported Reagan in 1976 and again in 1980, but “since 1981 … [has] gradually and steadily grown weary of the Republican Party’s efforts to reduce the size of the federal government.”
“„Since then Ronald Reagan and the Republican Party have given us skyrocketing deficits, and astoundingly a doubled national debt. How is it that the party of balanced budgets, with control of the White House and the Senate, accumulated red ink greater than all previous administrations put together? Tip O’Neill, although part of the problem, cannot alone be blamed.
“„Tax revenues are up 59 percent since 1980. Because of our economic growth? No. During Carter’s four years, we had growth of 37.2 percent; Reagan’s five years have given us 30.7 percent. The new revenues are due to four giant Republican tax increases increases since 1981.
“„All Republicans rightly chastised Carter for his $28 billion deficit. But they ignore or even defend deficits of $220 billion, as government spending has grown 10.4 percent per year since Reagan took office, while the federal payroll has zoomed by a quarter of a million bureaucrats.
“„… It was tragic to listen to Ronald Reagan on the 1986 campaign trail bragging about his high spending on farm subsidies, welfare, warfare, etc. in his futile effort to hold on to control of the Senate. … Reagan’s foreign aid expenditures exceed Eisenhower’s, Kennedy’s, Johnson’s, Nixon’s, Ford’s and Carter’s put together. …
“„The chickens have yet to come how to roost, but they will, and America will suffer from a Reaganomics that is nothing but warmed-over Keynesianism. …”
In the letter, Paul attacks the growth of the Internal Revenue Service under Reagan’s oversight, as well as a Republican attack on personal and financial privacy through the war on drugs.
“If Ronald Reagan couldn’t or wouldn’t balance the budget, which Republican leader on the horizon can we possibly expect to do so?” asked Paul. “There is no credibility left for the Republican Party as a force to reduce the size of government. That is the message from the Reagan years.”
Rhyley Carney
Reviewer
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