Ronald Reagan's Big Mistake

OtisGraham.com ^

[skeeter]

The Republican Party had two souls, one devoted to law and order and respect for the institutions of family, church, and nation; the other and more animated one steering not by those cautious and preservative instincts but by a libertarian, free-market, government-hating ideology. The latter quickly understood that immigration reform meant strong government somewhere, so with religious conviction they moved quickly from a total lack of interest in the subject to vigorous opposition.

What the "latter" refuse to recognize is it isn't a choice between strong enforcement & big government. In fact, weak border enforcement today means ever more oppressive governement tomorrow, as ethnic identity politics & the welfare state continue to grow out of control.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

All the more reason to follow a conservative guide as much as possible... mistakes will still happen because Man is not perfect, but at least in our belief, we stand a better chance of learning from our mistakes...

That's the whole point, since that amnesty was basically a first there was no real historical guide that might indicate it would become the disaster it turned into. But now that we know it's unbelievable we have many in the GOP who want to do it all over again. It's that belief of mine Reagan would not make the same mistake that separates him the pro-American conservative from those who only claim to be today.

[ntnychik]

ping

[Disambiguator]

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

;^)

[pawdoggie]

Will there ever be another 'chance' to reform immigration?

Yes, unfortunately it will happen right after the next 9-11. I think that the real missed opportunity was in the immediate aftermath of the 9-11 tragedy. President Bush could have tightened border security, and none would have dared to challenge it. Unfortunately, as it regards protecting our borders, a former Governor of Texas was the wrong man at the wrong time to be President of the US. He was far too sympathetic to the plight of the illegal immigrant, and far too desirous of building a national consensus around the War on Terrorism, to attack this problem head-on at the appropriate moment in history, with our national security at risk. Now it will take another 9-11 type incident to our government to sanity.

[pawdoggie]

last sentence should read, "...to restore our government to sanity".

[Happy2BMe]

Let me take it to it's final conclusion . .

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"In fact, weak border enforcement today means ever more oppressive no United States of America governement tomorrow, as ethnic identity politics & the welfare state continue to grow out of control."

[international american]

RR 's biggest mistake, but no President since has done anything but pour gasoline on the fire for 19 years!!!!

[Happy2BMe]

Your #25 is accurate. However, how much more would this country be overrun had we never had a 9/11?

[Happy2BMe]

I don't blame the current state of affairs on President Reagan - hardly.

I place it square upon the shoulders of the living.

[Happy2BMe]

"But now that we know it's unbelievable we have many in the GOP who want to do it all over again."

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This blunder occurred in 1986 - 24 long years ago.

Most in our current leadership were not even out of college then. Most were educated in a system that trained them to think on a "Global Community" mindset with the best interests of the United States as a distant thought.

We reap what we so. And we're sowing so abundantly in illegal migration there are not enough cities towns to house them.

[international american]

Absolutely.

[CGVet58]

Truer words have not been written. Bluntly and painfully so.

I do have hope that this can - and is currently - be turned around. No, I don't look to the Senate for evidence of this, especially after this recent compromise... instead, I see news of growing conservative movements on our campuses, and am heartened by David Horowitz's Educational Bill of Rights initiative which stresses intellectual diversity. Nor is this my only hope... my warrior kin put payment to any lies from the left; FreeRepublic... and my children.

But most of all, (the following is morbid and brutal, but true...) "REAP WHAT YOU SOW" does not just apply to us; it is a Universal Law. The self-anointed man-gods from the left must obey this law as we do.

The fruits of a leftist ideology are denial of God - leading inexorably to nihilism; and defined by a love of Death - Proudly (for them) trumpeted from beginning to end of life by their cornerstones, Abortion and Euthanasia.

They breed themselves out on both ends, and the remainder - no-matter-what-they-accomplish here and now - cannot escape the reaper any better than the rest of us. And this, my friends, is a good thing. Not for any selfish schadenfreude; that would make me no better than they... but simply because it is the truth.

[Reaganwuzthebest]

I place it square upon the shoulders of the living.

Absolutely, especially when many of the same parties to that 1986 amnesty, who know its results want to do it all over.

[Happy2BMe]

That picture brings back many memories of the 1970's.

(Those weren't such bad years after all.)

[wallcrawlr]

I really dont remember too much. I was born in 72.
I liked that pic too.

[Happy2BMe]

The 70's were the worst and the best of years. We never knew if we would live to see the next day for the Russian nukes but lived each day like it was our last.

:~)

[NewRomeTacitus]

Yes, the Reagan Administration inadvertently sqaundered a window of opportunity. No man is a god, hindsight is 20/20 and all that (at least he was trying to lead instead of vying for "Prom King"). The primary problem and pivotal point was the 1965 Immigration Reform Act that replaced sensible criteria with "gateway citizens" destined to harbor millions of illegals thanks to geographic proximity and decades of limber-tailed representatives crumpling before the racism onus. This will go down as the greatest victory obtained by the mental tyranny of "Political Correctness". And all it took was saturating our educational system with leftists for forty plus years.

As far as that "swimming in a sea of liberalism" crack goes - I consider that true but only because Reagan couldn't help that having come up through Hollywood California politics. The man was also prone to delegating responsibilities where he should have been more involved ("What's that North fellow doing down in the basement? Funds, you say? Keep up the good work.")

While JFK exhorted us to "Ask not what your country can do for you" his surviving brother seems to feel crippling our country's future still wasn't enough to pay for the man's death. He lacks the decency to stop the damage long after his brain has become a scientific marvel of ethanol pickling. His continuing survival and pestilence is the best argument I know for Satan's existence and intervention in our world. Would Holy Water evaporate before it touched Ted or would it sizzle off?

Inquiring minds want to know.

[Happy2BMe]

#38

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"Would Holy Water evaporate before it touched Ted or would it sizzle off?

Inquiring minds want to know."

[Reagan Man]

Passage into law of the IRCA of 1986 turned out to be a big mistake and it opened the flood gates in the 1990`s for even greater liberal immigration policy becoming the law of the land.

However, the objective today is not to keep hammering Reagan for signing the IRCA of 1986 into law, its to make sure that the current president doesn't make the same foolish mistake all over again.

Reagan wanted tough enforcement of IRCA laws that held employers responsible for hiring illegals in the first place. To date its not happened. If all the immigration laws on the books were enforced, we could make significant headway in solving the problem with illegals crossing into the US. The current crop of politicos seem more concerned with liberalizing US immigration policy then solving the problems associated with illegal immigration.