Ronald Reagan: The Liberal President We Need This November

 

Ronald Reagan entered politics when he became President of the Screen Actors Guild union in 1947. In 1960, after talks broke down with studio owners and producers, he asked the SAG for and got them to agree to a union-wide strike.  The actors agreed and a work-stop date was set: Monday, March 7th. The producers were convinced the actors were bluffing. In the 50-year history of Hollywood, there had never been an industry-wide strike. But Reagan stood firm, and the actors walked. After five weeks, the studio owners and SAG came to an agreement that gave actors more of a voice and representation in their work. It remains one of the strongest unions in the country.

When Reagan became Governor of California in 1967, he nurtured and eventually expanded Medi-Cal, the nation’s largest Medicaid program. He included the Children’s Health Insurance Plan, started in Oakland by the Black Panthers and eventually became a  nation wide initiative. Support “market-based energy reforms”? In California, Reagan established the Air Resources Board to intervene in the market and fight smog, which has resulted in Los Angeles, facing daily dangerous air quality warnings, having some of the cleanest air in the country.

As President, Ronald Reagan signed more wilderness-protections laws than any president before or since. He supported and championed a ‘path to citizenship.’  In 1986, Reagan passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act, which eventually granted amnesty to 2.7 million illegal immigrants, and he continued to speak out for immigration rights after leaving office.

Gun control? In California, Ronald Reagan banned the carrying of loaded weapons in 1967 wit the full support of the NRA. As President, Reagan was a staunch backer of the Brady Bill, urging Congress in 1991 to “enact it without further delay.”

Universal Healthcare? As early as 1961 Ronald Reagan said:  “Any person in the United State who requires medical attention and cannot provide for himself should have it provided for him.”

We need another Ronald Reagan in the White House.