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President Barack ObamaPresident Ronald ReaganRonald Reagan DaySean HannityRonald Reagan's five shadiest moves.
He cut spending on public programs like Medicaid and food stamps.
5. He cut spending on public programs like Medicaid and food stamps.
While Reagan was hitting off the richest people with some juicy tax cuts, he also spent some time crippling the poor by making various financial cuts to government social programs like welfare and Medicaid. In fact, he was never shy to let his feelings be known about a "Welfare Queen" pushing a Cadillac or a "strapping young buck" who would go to the store to buy a t-bone steak. Ahhhhh, race-baiting at it's most subtle.
He made major cuts to mental institutions.
4. He made major cuts to mental institutions.
Ronnie—not a fan of the crazies. Even before he was president, as governor of California, the number of patients in mental institutions decreased from around 37,000 to 22,000 during Reagan's stay. Did people get less crazy? Or did a bunch of nutters just get thrust back onto society? Suddenly the guy at the stoplight who tried to wash your windshield with his feces makes more sense.
He didn't publicly acknowledge AIDS for years.
3. He didn't publicly acknowledge AIDS for years.
The first case of AIDS was reported in 1981, and yet Reagan didn't even mutter the word AIDS in public until 1985, by which point over 6,000 people had already died from the disease. To be fair, this country elected a former actor who made a movie with a chimpanzee, 1951's Bedtime for Bonzo. What did we expect?
He established the unfair Anti-Drug Abuse Acts.
2. He established the unfair Anti-Drug Abuse Acts.
In 1986, with crack problem worsening, the completely asinine Anti-Drug Abuse Act passed through Congress. The idea was simple: Make minimum sentences for each of the drugs. The law also would take special aim at drug kingpins and those holding weight. Too bad they completely fucking failed at this. Five hundred grams of cocaine, 100 grams of heroin, and five grams of crack each got you five years. *Scratches head.* This made and continues to make no fucking sense, considering that the only people who were holding on to five grams of crack were smokers and low-level dealers. The move was seen by most poor blacks and Latinos as just another example of racism in the United States (but really it pissed on all poor people). The law was finally changed last July; now it takes 28 grams of crack to get five years. So basically the disparity between crack and cocaine went from 100:1 to 18:1. Progress, baby! PROGRESS!!!
He was responsible for the Iran-Contra affair.
1. He was responsible for the Iran-Contra affair.
The scandal that defined the '80s and became the source of inspiration for about a million cocaine rhymers, the Iran-Contra affair was when the United States secretly sold weapons to Iran despite an arms embargo, with those profits being channeled to Nicaragua's anti-Sandinista and anti-communist Contras. Oh, let us not forget to mention that those Contras might have dabbled in drug trafficking, something the United States was completely aware of. The C.I.A. also might have introduced Rick Ross (the real one) to the Contras, as well. Admittedly, we still don't know exactly what Reagan knew since former Lieutenant Colonel (and now Fox News political analyst!) Oliver North took most of the heat. According to North, Reagan was regularly briefed about everything and approved "enthusiastically." So, um, yeah, Reagan knew, man. He knew.
