The title is a quote from the book (p. 316), An American Life, I’m reading.  President Reagan is talking about his economic policies that he implemented in his first year in the Oval Office.  His economic plan (called Reaganomics by those who did not like his economic policy) included a 25% reduction in income tax rates over three years, along with cutting the government spending, and a few other things.

His economic plan was passed by Congress on July 29, 1981.   If you know anything about the economy you should know this:  It takes a while for a change to come.  Especially when you’re moving it out of the great recession of the 1970′s and early 1980′s (from under the Carter Administration).

Less than 6 months after the ecomonic plan was passed into law the Democrats in Congress were calling it a failure and saying there needed to be tax increases.  Even Republicans in the House were claiming there needed to be tax increases and cutting the defense budget.  Just six months after implementing the plan they wanted to abandon it.

In his journal, on Feb. 22, 1982, President Reagan wrote this: “The Press has done a job on us [about the economic plan] and the polls show its effect.  The people are confused about economic program.  They’ve been told it has failed and it’s just started.”

If I think back to January of this year I remember hearing every night on the news that the President’s troop surge in Iraq had failed.  It hadn’t even started yet, and the press told us it failed.  I read this article the other day about how people already don’t trust a report that will come out in September from the top General in Iraq about how the war is going.  They don’t trust it when they haven’t even heard it.  The Press is doing a great job on this one!

It seems like daily we hear about how the war in Iraq is, according to the press, going down hill.  We have the US Senate Majority Leader telling us that the war in Iraq is lost.  The media telling us virtually the same thing.  President Bush’s poll numbers are down.

Let’s look at the similarities between President Reagan’s economic plan to President Bush and the war in Iraq (more specifically the troop surge):

1. The Media says the plan is not working before it has had a chance to start.
2. Democrats in Congress say the plan is not working before it has had a chance to start.
3. The Presidential poll numbers are down.
4.  Both Presidents are Republicans.
5. Republicans in Congress jumped ship and join the Democrat side saying the plan is lost, because the President’s poll numbers are down.
6. Members of Congress appear to be worried more about their political life than they are about letting something work.

Those are just some of the similarities between the two.

President Reagan lead the nation out of the recession and made America strong again.  If you believed the poll numbers and what the Press were saying you wouldn’t think that’s possible.

Is it so far fetched to think that President Bush’s plan will work?  I believe it can, and it will.  Even though Democrats (and some Republicans) and the Press are saying it’s failed and it’s “lost”.

Give the plan some time.  Give it a chance.  Feel free to post your thoughts.