PRESIDENTS: And now, some facts

I have just read the letter to the editor by Stanley Kwake titled "Voting: It's not difficult." If only it were so easy; if only his memories of presidential accomplishments were accurate. A rundown of facts rather than memories:

1. Eisenhower...5 Star General. Buildup of nuclear weapons. Eisenhower Doctrine.

2. Kennedy...Navy World War II. Purple Heart. Pulitzer Prize. Peace Corps. Cuban Missile Crisis. Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

3. Johnson...Navy World War II. Silver Star. Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968. Voting Rights Act of 1965. EEOC. Medicare and Medicaid. Escalation of Vietnam.

4. Nixon...Navy World War II. EPA. End of Vietnam. OSHA. Watergate.

5. Ford...Pardoned Nixon.

6. Carter...Navy officer. Dept. of Energy in response to Three Mile Island. Camp David. 1979 Peace Treaty. Deficit 2.7 percent of GDP. Dept. of Education. Energy Crisis. Iran Hostage Crisis. Continuing inflation and recession. Nobel Peace Prize.

7. Reagan...Top tax rate cut from 70.1 percent to 28.4 percent. Lowered Windfall Profits Tax on oil. 1981 tax cuts followed by two large tax INCREASES. 1982 rollback of corporate tax cuts and smaller rollback of individual income tax cuts. 1982 INCREASE undid a third initial tax cut. 1983 instituted a payroll tax on Social Security and Medicare. Significantly reduced maximum tax rate for highest earners. National Debt increased from $997 billion to $2.85 TRILLION. U.S. went from the world's largest creditor to the world's largest debtor. Deficit 4.2 percent of GDP.

8. Bush Sr...Navy World War II. ADA. Desert Storm. Removed Noriega. Savings and Loan Bailout. Raised taxes despite "No New Taxes."

9. Clinton...Family and Medical Leave Act. NAFTA. Largest peacetime economic expansion. Budget surplus of $68 billion in 1998, $126 billion in 1999 and $236 billion in 2000. Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act cut taxes for 15 million low income families, 90 percent of American businesses and raised taxes on the wealthiest 1.2 percent of taxpayers. Illegal Immigration Reform & Immigrant Responsibility Act. Operation Desert Fox. State Childrens Health Insurance Program. Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

10. Bush Jr...Patriot Act. No Child Left Behind. Broad tax cuts 2001-03. 2007 beginning of largest post World War II recession. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Death of Saddam Hussein.

11. Obama...American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Recovery and Job Creation Act of 2010. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Ended War in Iraq. Ordered Military Operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. Added the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to the deficit (Much of the costs for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have not been funded through regular appropriations bills, but through emergency supplemental appropriations bills. As such, most of these expenses were not included in the budget deficit calculation prior to FY2010.)

It's not difficult. Take the time to do your homework and evaluate the facts for yourself. Don't rely on false memory created by the millions spent by groups such as American Crossroads/Crossroads GPS or Americans for Prosperity.

DEB PHILP

Coeur d'Alene