# Good Things Accomplished By Republicans **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 20, 2016, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-things-accomplished-by-republicans/775208 "2016-12-20T04:26:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-things-accomplished-by-republicans/775208/21 "2016-12-20T13:02:47Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Winning the cold war. …and then, thirty years later, gift-wrapping the country and handing it to Russia. I agree that Eisenhower is vastly underrated, though (not for the Hitler thing, but as President). ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-things-accomplished-by-republicans/775208/22 "2016-12-20T13:05:24Z")
It seems there is unlikely to be universal agreement on “good things.” For example, in my view the vast increase in state-level “shall issue” concealed carry permit laws and the increase of open-carry states is a good – nay, a great – thing. But I doubt that this will receive universal approbation here. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-things-accomplished-by-republicans/775208/23 "2016-12-20T13:13:21Z")
Welfare reform, balancing the budget, some [tort reform](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_Securities_Litigation_Reform_Act), placing Scalia and Thomas on the Supreme Court. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-things-accomplished-by-republicans/775208/24 "2016-12-20T13:21:05Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Winning the cold war. Gorbachev was a Republican? Who knew? The GOP catechism is bullshit. There is no evidence that the Soviets were increasing their military spending to keep up with the US, it’s just that the government no longer had the stomach to keep the iron boot on the masses. If Putin had been in power then, the USSR would still be here. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-things-accomplished-by-republicans/775208/25 "2016-12-20T13:39:22Z")
I’m definitely not a fan of his, but George W Bush contributed on the environmental front. > **[Protecting Our Nation's Environment](https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/environment/)** > > Provides an overview of President Bush's environmental policies. A few examples: [ul] [li]Designated nearly 140,000 square miles of coral reef ecosystems and surrounding waters in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, which contains more than 7,000 species, many of which are found nowhere else on earth, as the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument – giving the area our Nation’s highest form of marine environmental protection.[/li][li]Designated three areas of the Pacific Ocean, covering more than 195,500 square miles, as marine national monuments: the Mariana, Pacific Remote Islands, and Rose Atoll Marine National Monuments.[/li][li]Announced the expansion of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary by 775 square miles to include the Davidson Sea Mount.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-things-accomplished-by-republicans/775208/26 "2016-12-20T13:39:43Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > They came back shaking their heads at how frightened the US government was at such an obviously dysfunctional and failing country. It’s the dysfunctional, failing countries with big militaries that you SHOULD be scared of. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-things-accomplished-by-republicans/775208/27 "2016-12-20T13:45:38Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > There is no evidence that the Soviets were increasing their military spending to keep up with the US… Wrong. [Cite](https://fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/agency/mo-budget.htm). And > [@](#): > > A central instrument for putting pressure on the Soviet Union was Reagan’s massive defense build-up, which raised defense spending from $134 billion in 1980 to $253 billion in 1989. This raised American defense spending to 7 percent of GDP, dramatically increasing the federal deficit. Yet in its efforts to keep up with the American defense build-up, the Soviet Union was compelled in the first half of the 1980s to raise the share of its defense spending from 22 percent to 27 percent of GDP, while it froze the production of civilian goods at 1980 levels. [Cite](http://wais.stanford.edu/History/history_ussrandreagan.htm). Reality has a well-known Republican bias. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-things-accomplished-by-republicans/775208/28 "2016-12-20T13:46:24Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > It seems there is unlikely to be universal agreement on “good things.” For example, in my view the vast increase in state-level “shall issue” concealed carry permit laws and the increase of open-carry states is a good – nay, a great – thing. > > But I doubt that this will receive universal approbation here. Holy shit, if conservatives loved humanity the way they love their fucking guns, what a better world it would be. More permits=more guns carried=more blood in the streets. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-things-accomplished-by-republicans/775208/29 "2016-12-20T14:49:44Z")
> [@](#): > > **Good Things Accomplished By Republicans** Remember that meme “the world’s shortest books”? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-things-accomplished-by-republicans/775208/30 "2016-12-20T14:54:07Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Wrong. [Cite](https://fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/agency/mo-budget.htm). > > And > [Cite](http://wais.stanford.edu/History/history_ussrandreagan.htm). > > Reality has a well-known Republican bias. > > Regards, > Shodan For every cite there is an equal and opposite [cite:](http://www.theatlantic.com/past/politics/foreign/reagrus.htm) > [@](#): > > The Soviet Union’s defense spending did not rise or fall in response to American military expenditures. Revised estimates by the Central Intelligence Agency indicate that Soviet expenditures on defense remained more or less constant throughout the 1980s. Neither the military buildup under Jimmy Carter and Reagan nor SDI had any real impact on gross spending levels in the USSR. At most SDI shifted the marginal allocation of defense rubles as some funds were allotted for developing countermeasures to ballistic defense. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-things-accomplished-by-republicans/775208/31 "2016-12-20T15:10:48Z")
> [@GreenWyvern](#): > > Remember that meme “the world’s shortest books”? "How about this leaflet, “_Famous Jewish Sports Legends_?”. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-things-accomplished-by-republicans/775208/32 "2016-12-20T15:17:10Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > "How about this leaflet, “_Famous Jewish Sports Legends_?”. This is looking like a short thread. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-things-accomplished-by-republicans/775208/33 "2016-12-20T15:25:51Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Nixon was one of the most environmentally friendly Presidents of all time. He helped usher in the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 which set the stage for further environmental policies with real teeth. If you want to talk about environmentalist Presidents, you have to start with Theodore Roosevelt. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-things-accomplished-by-republicans/775208/34 "2016-12-20T15:39:58Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It’s the dysfunctional, failing countries with big militaries that you SHOULD be scared of. point taken. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-things-accomplished-by-republicans/775208/35 "2016-12-20T15:42:59Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > "How about this leaflet, “_Famous Jewish Sports Legends_?”. Jews make up less than 2% of the US population. [List](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jews_in_sports)of significant Jewish sports figures (some are a lot more significant than others) ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-things-accomplished-by-republicans/775208/36 "2016-12-20T15:46:22Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Holy shit, if conservatives loved humanity the way they love their fucking guns, what a better world it would be. More permits=more guns carried=more blood in the streets. You really think it’s concealed carry permit holders who are causing all that “blood in the streets”?? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-things-accomplished-by-republicans/775208/37 "2016-12-20T15:46:35Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > If you want to talk about environmentalist Presidents, you have to start with Theodore Roosevelt. I always remember the bit where Teddy told a friend how much he wanted to defenestrate a robber baron that came to the White House to talk/pressure him to not rein on the trusts, monopolies and corporations of the day. With the environment taken into account If Teddy was the president today I do think that the fossil fuel international corporatists would had been. ---
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-things-accomplished-by-republicans/775208/38 "2016-12-20T15:47:42Z")
GWB gave us an extra 2 weeks of daylight savings time\*. That makes him a hero in my book. Actually, that was really stretching it. What I meant to say is, that’s one of the few positive things I can say about the guy. \*Yes, I know it’s debatable whether that’s good or bad but I’m going with “good”. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-things-accomplished-by-republicans/775208/39 "2016-12-20T16:38:45Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > The fact that Hillary Rodham Clinton will never be the President of the United States should rank as one of their greatest achievements. (Although to be fair to her Clinton did a lot of the heavy lifting herself on this one.) I know it’s going to be impossible to completely avoid such, but let’s try to dispense with the cheap shots in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-things-accomplished-by-republicans/775208/40 "2016-12-20T16:48:21Z")
There was a time a few years ago when a large factory on Lake Michigan in northern Indiana wanted permission to put even more pollution into the lake. The first criticism of that by a politician that I heard was a press conference given in Chicago, at the lakefront, by Mark Kirk. I don’t have the specifics, but I recall the increased pollution never happening. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-things-accomplished-by-republicans/775208.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-things-accomplished-by-republicans/775208.md?page=3)