Former President Ronald Reagan would have been 103 years old today. In his honor, we played a couple of clips from one of my favorite Reagan speeches on the show -- his announcement of candidacy for President of the United States on November 13, 1979.

In listening back, I'm struck by how much of what he talks about has a direct relevance to today's events. Take this passage:

Our leaders attempt to blame their failures on circumstances beyond their control. On false estimates by unknown, unidentified experts who rewrite modern history in an attempt to convince us our high standard of living, a result of thrift and hard work, is somehow selfish extravagance that we must renounce.

And here, Reagan echoes one of the points I often make on the show: if you really want to help people, laundering that money through the government first is one of the worst ways to do it:

We have long since committed ourselves as a people to help those among us who cannot take care of themselves. But the federal government has proven to be the costliest and most inefficient provider of such help we could possibly have.

Here's the full address:

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