Firstly

I never considered blogging until the last Presidential election. I have to say I found a new addiction. As much as I admired John McCain, war hero, I was drawn to the new young and hopeful message of one Barrack Hussein Obama.

 

Let me flashback to my former life as a radio personality at a very small radio station in Central Utah. Among my other duties was to be a newsman (there are very few duties at a small radio station you -don't- have including vacuuming the floor).  The fall of 1980 was a heady time.  Jimmy Carter’s economy (stupid) nearly had us in the coal age and the hot new idea was “Trickle Down”, with the ultimate communicator, Ronald Reagan running for President.

The message a’ la mode was a commercial from the RNC about the bloated, white haired politician, tax and spend incarnate, who’s time had come and gone.  It was about sweeping change and smaller government.  Utah even had this VERY buy, Congressman Gunn McKay, who was a older, white haired, hefty Democrat.  He was the guy.  Lean up-and-comer Jim Hansen was running against him as a fiscal conservative, term limit advocate, Republican.

It was exciting to interview both of these men, compare and contrast and get a feel for them in person.  Jim Hansen even petted a stray dog that materialized out of nowhere in front of the radio station, and I thought, “what a great, common man”.  He insisted he was going to make sure Congressmen had term limits too.  Career politicians=bad. 

Too bad he was lying.   He hung around for multiple terms, and after the euphoria of Reaganomics dissolved we gradually morphed into the conservative nation that lead us to one George W. Bush.   In hindsight, it appears Reagan’s revolution was a façade. 

http://www.amazon.com/Tear-Down-This-Myth-Distorted/dp/141659762X

Tax cuts do benefit some.  Just not we regular folks.  Oh sure, the very wealthy have done, well,  you tell me how they’ve done.  Which brings us to the election of 2008 and me deciding to get really “into” politics.