Ronald Reagan in To Save America, by Newt Gingrich
On Budget & Economy:
1981: abandoned Keynesian interventionist policies
In 1981, newly elected President Reagan abandoned long-fashionable Keynesian economic policies--the interventionist, big-government, "stimulus" approach that had produced these dismal results. Instead, he explicitly campaigned on, and then implemented,
four specific economic policy components that became known as Reaganomics:- Tax cuts to restore incentives for economic growth. The top income tax rate of 70 percent was cut leaving just two rates--28 percent and 15 percent.
-
Spending reductions, including a $31 billion cut in 1981. This was close to 5 percent of the federal budget then, or the equivalent of about $180 billion of spending cuts in year nowadays.
- Anti-inflation monetary policy emphasizing the value of
the dollar and restraining money supply growth, which led to much lower interest rates once inflation was tamed.
- Deregulation, cutting red tape, and reducing bureaucracy saved consumers an estimated $100 billion per year in lower prices.
Source: To Save America, by Newt Gingrich, p.158-159
May 17, 2010
On Energy & Oil:
1981: Eliminated price controls on oil & natural gas
Reagan's first executive order eliminated price controls on oil and natural gas. Production soared, and the price of oil declined by more than 50 percent. This was a remarkable contrast to President
Carter's gasoline rationing, which limited us to buying gasoline every other day depending on the last number of our license plate. From scarcity of gasoline to abundance in six months--this was one of Reagan's first evident accomplishments.
Source: To Save America, by Newt Gingrich, p.159
May 17, 2010
On Foreign Policy:
1976: passionately advocated for retention of Panama Canal
Reagan contrasted his clear, profound beliefs with the temporizing "realism" of the Republican establishment in his 1976 presidential primary campaign against President Jerry Ford, when Reagan passionately advocated
America's retention of the Panama Canal. His utter refusal to appease the Panamanian dictator was a stark divergence from Ford's "realistic" policy of negotiating the canal's surrender.
Source: To Save America, by Newt Gingrich, p.155
May 17, 2010
On Principles & Values:
1975: conservative banners of bold colors, not pale pastels
Ronald Reagan understood the importance of clear statements for real change. That is why, in February 1975, in the depths of the Republican collapse after the Watergate scandal. He told CPAC, the annual conservative convention, that conservatives had to
nail their cause to banners of bold colors and avoid pale pastels.Reagan used this strategy throughout his political career. He had defeated a popular incumbent California governor by more than a million votes because Reagan boldly and clearly
declared his opposition to more spending and higher taxes, and his commitment to bringing efficiency and eliminating waste in Sacramento.
He again contrasted his clear, profound beliefs with the temporizing "realism" of the Republican establishment in
his 1976 presidential primary campaign against President Jerry Ford. And in 1980 Reagan again offered Americans a clear choice between his vision of a resurgent America and President Carter's focus on adapting to American decline.
Source: To Save America, by Newt Gingrich, p.154-155
May 17, 2010
On War & Peace:
1981: Strategy against Soviet Union: We win; they lose
In 1981, when President Reagan replaces the strategy of d‚tente and accommodation toward the
Soviet Union with a strategy of victory (or as he described the strategy, "We win, they lose"), his approach was replacement, not reform. The result was the decline and collapse of the Soviet Union.
Source: To Save America, by Newt Gingrich, p.151-152
May 17, 2010
Page last updated: Feb 25, 2019