Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Is there another Reagan out there?

James Pethokoukis penned this article, opining that the slumping economy could remain sluggish for 20 years. For those of us old enough to remember, we experienced a similar period of economic stagnation during the 1970's, propagated by notions of price controls (a Nixonian brainfart), higher taxes, regulations, increased government meddling, etc; only to see Ronald Reagan literally ride to the rescue by lowering taxes and encouraging the private sector.

Well guess what? We're witnessing the same tired liberal dogma in practice again, this time by one Barack Obama. My question is: does America have another Ronald Reagan it can offer us?

We obviously need someone who can inspire the country, reinvigorate our economy, start exercising some financial restrain (and thus, force Congress to do so). The entitlement nonsense must end, as must this reluctance to cultivate our natural resources.

Unfortunately, when I look at potential "next Reagans," I see few noteworthy candidates; Sarah Palin (too polarizing); Tim Pawlenty (maybe); Bobby Jindal (choked on the national stage in his last big spot); Paul Ryan (perhaps); Jim Demint (perhaps).

Who else is there?