American Elephants

Last week President Barack Obama was interviewed on Noticias Univision ‘s 23, the network’s Miami affiliate newscast. Obama pushed back against the accusation that is made in some corners of south Florida’s Cuban-American and Venezuelan communities that he wants to instill a socialist economic system in the United States. The president says he believes few actually believe that.

I don’t know that there are a lot of Cubans or Venezuelans, Americans who believe that. The truth of the matter is that my policies are so mainstream that if I had set the same policies that I had back in the 1980s, I would be considered a moderate Republican.

President Obama often makes statements that are, um, surprising, but that he would consider himself a moderate Republican in the 1980s, is too funny.

In 1980 Ronald Reagan was elected with a huge majority. In 1981, he signed the largest tax cut in history. In 1982, the Equal Rights amendment was defeated by Republicans, and EPA administrator Anne Gorsuch was cited for Contempt of Congress for failing to produce documents relating to Superfund. In 1983 President Reagan signed a bipartisan bill to save Social Security from bankruptcy. Mot much in common there.

But here’s the real similarity: In 1987, President Ronald Reagan produced the nation’s first trillion dollar budget.  In 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 President Barack Obama produced a trillion dollar budget every single year.