>>>>>who was really the last good Republican leader who was actually committed to reducing the size of govt
>>>
>>>My good friend Mike, a staunch Obama hater, agrees with you about Ford.
>>>Mike never misses an opportunity to tell me that Obama has us on the road to socialism.
>>>Mike is retired and his Social Security and Medicare, a VA disability pension for injuries he got in artillery when added to a small retirement income from his self employment, allow Mike to live with dignity.
>>>Mike learned his profession - Land Surveyor - while going to school on the GI bill.
>>>90% of the work that Mike did in his profession involved State or Municipal funded projects.
>>>But, boy, is Mike down on socialism!
>>>
>>>Regarding anti-government Gerry-
>>>He served with distinction in WWII and thereafter served 13 terms in the House of Representatives before running for VP.
>>>Except for jobs he held prior to the WWII and a brief fling with the law, to the best of my knowledge, he never earned a dime as a civilian.
>>
>>But he did turn down a chance to play pro football ( which of course was not the road to riches in the late 1930s) He had a scar on his face from tackling Jay Berwanger.
>
>Actually Gerry was directly responsible for one of the best investments I ever made.
>I was working in NYC during the mid-70's when he refused to pursue federal backing of NYC bonds which were then in danger of default. Because they were issued by the Municipal Assistance Corporation, they were derisively called Big Mac's.
>After his refusal the price on the Big Mac's fell to somewhere in the 30's or 40's and I bought a slew of them- triple tax exempt -non callable- with a 10% coupon.
>Later he changed his mind and had the feds guarantee the bonds and they shot through the roof.

I admire that. At that time I was carefully investing all my money in high-maintenance women, bad habits and second best poker hands <g>