<\/a>It\u2019s fun to live in a zip code that politicos view as split between Republicans and Democrats. I get phone calls, door knocks and mailings from both sides. And this week, I got a doozy: the 2015 Reagan Ranch calendar.<\/p>\n

Each month features a photo of saint Ronald himself engaged in a ranch-y activity: Reagan cutting a log with a chain-saw. Reagan paddling a canoe. Reagan riding a horse. If I hang this on the wall, I can relive those wonderful days of yesteryear, when all was right with the world, before the evil interloper Barack Obama took away our freedoms, became a dictator and simultaneously didn\u2019t do his job.<\/p>\n

Sadly, there are no pictures of Reagan killing PATCO, the air-traffic-controllers\u2019 union\u2014a very visible opening salvo in the continuing war on working people and collective bargaining. No pictures of him tripling the national debt, or of the giant Reagan Office Building in Washington DC that gives the lie to Reagan\u2019s espousal of smaller government. And no pictures of Reagan\u2019s closest advisors sabotaging Jimmy Carter\u2019s efforts to release the hostages held by Iran, or of Iran-Contra. That he worked on some of these issues and crises at the Ranch\u2014also known as the Western White House during his term in office\u2014makes me cringe even more.<\/p>\n

The four-page letter accompanying the calendar comes \u201cfrom the desk of Michael Reagan,\u201d Ronnie\u2019s son, to whom has fallen the job of preserving the former president\u2019s saintly image and his 688-acre ranch in southern California. You see, gripes Michael, \u201cthe Clinton administration had no interest in saving the site. The California assembly passed up the opportunity to preserve it,\u201d too.<\/p>\n

That should tell us something. But Michael presses on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThankfully, Young America\u2019s Foundation\u2014the premier conservative student outreach organization in America\u2014stepped in to save the Ranch\u2026They recognized the powerful impact the Ranch could have in teaching our nation\u2019s youth about conservative principles.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026In these days when the leftists in Washington are expanding government and radically transforming our nation, it is vitally important that America\u2019s youth understand my dad\u2019s vision of freedom, so they can fight back against socialism.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Let\u2019s see: I seem to recall that when Ronald Reagan was a \u201cyoung American,\u201d he was a Democrat and a union leader–in fact, a six-term president of the AFL-CIO affiliated Screen Actors Guild. As late as 1980, early in his presidency, he spoke out against Poland\u2019s crackdown on labor unions, saying,\u201d one of the most elemental human rights [is] the right to belong to a trade union.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

Reagan also expanded Medicaid<\/a> several times during his presidency and signed legislation that laid the foundation for what is now the Affordable Care Act.<\/p>\n

Ignoring these facts, Michael wants me to donate so that young people can go to the ranch for seminars led by \u201ctop conservative speakers, such as: \u201cTed Cruz. Rand Paul. Dr. Ben Carson. Senator Mike Lee. Steve Forbes. Michelle Malkin. Gov. Scott Walker. Ed Meese, and Senator Rick Santorum.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a rogue\u2019s gallery of some of the worst right-wing conservatives, whose policies hurt young people [especially if they are non-white and\/or economically disadvantaged], and restrict their freedoms, such as voting. The young Ronald Reagan\u2014maybe even the older one\u2014would have been shocked.<\/p>\n

So, sorry Michael. I know you loved your daddy. But I won\u2019t be contributing $15, $25, $50, $100, $500, or$1,000 \u201cto ensure that President Reagan\u2019s freedom philosophy and accomplishments are passed on to today\u2019s youth and future generations.\u201d Even if I have to pass up the opportunity, for $1,000, to have my name \u201cengraved on the Freedom Wall at the Reagan Ranch.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s fun to live in a zip code that politicos view as split between Republicans and Democrats. I get phone calls, door knocks and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":29743,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[172,202],"tags":[1482,1864],"class_list":["post-29741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-republicans","tag-conservative-talking-points","tag-reagan"],"yoast_head":"\n