Obama vs. Reagan

Back in 1981 an extremist conservative was inaugurated President of the United States in the middle of a teeth-rattling recession and immediately executed on a program of spending cuts, income tax rate cuts, deregulation, strong defense, and continuing the Volcker policy of hard money.

In 2009 an extremist liberal was inaugurated President of the United States in the middle of a teeth-rattling financial crisis and immediately executed on a program of increased spending, tight regulation, and easy money.

We know now that President Reagan's policies were followed by an astonishing boom that continued more or less for the next 20 years. We do not know what the economy will look like 20 years after President Obama's 2009 policy mix, but things are not looking good.

Columnist David Limbaugh experiments today with a column imagining President Obama admitting that he got everything wrong.

I'm going to ask my party to join with Republicans in focusing on the national debt instead of ginning up envy, jealousy and animosity among people who earn different amounts of money... It may involve some cuts in benefits, but if we don't do this now, eventually everyone will lose his benefits, because Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are headed for insolvency -- and much sooner than we thought.

Limbaugh's imaginary president continues: "Endless government spending, I now see, will not stimulate economic growth... I'm also going to get real about discretionary spending cuts because trillion-dollar deficits are hardly sustainable." Forget defense spending cuts. "I can now see... that my [ObamaCare] will in fact increase costs... I'll also have to temporarily back off my demand for high-speed rail... [and] my various quixotic renewable energy ruses... My party was instrumental in pushing affordable housing on everyone, which was the biggest culprit in our financial meltdown. I was in the Senate for much of this time, and I went along with Barney Frank and others in obstructing remedial action proposed by President Bush."

Put like that, you can see why the president's Wednesday news conference was such a bust. There he was, mouthing empty but presumably focus-group tested political insults at the Republicans, demonstrating to all the world that he is fresh out of ideas.

The best thing for the nation is a blowout election next year that will cure the Democratic Party for a generation of its tax and spend and subsidize and divide big government politics.

After that blowout, my fellow Americans, by all means put the Democrats back in power. For now, you have the opportunity to teach them a powerful lesson.

But only if you really want to.