On Wednesday, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) reminded Americans that former President Ronald Reagan once warned about the type of claim that current President Joe Biden made Tuesday.
Rep. Jordan tweeted quotes from the two presidents on the subject of “help”:
President Reagan: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help.”
President Biden: “Help is on the way.”
“More help is on the way, for real,” Biden declared on Monday, kicking off his “Help Is Here” tour celebrating Democrats’ $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan,” billed as a COVID-19 relief measure, at a stop in a Philadelphia, Pa. suburb:
“Initially, at the very beginning of the Paycheck Protection Program, you'd go to a big bank, they'd say, ‘Do you have an account with us? Have you borrowed money from us? Do you have a credit card from us?’ They didn't want to deal with people who were on the short side of things. But, you've really made it work.
“And I think you should be aware: More help is on the way, for real.”
But, as Pres. Reagan famously told a press conference back in 1986, Americans should be terrified of any promise of government “help,” since it inevitably does more harm than good:
“Some sectors of our farm economy are hurting, and their anguish is a concern to all Americans. I think you all know that I've always felt the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.’
“A great many of the current problems on the farm were caused by government-imposed embargoes and inflation, not to mention government's long history of conflicting and haphazard policies.”
