Does Jeb Bush know Ronald Reagan's record?

So here’s a brief lesson for those who think Reagan was just Dennis Kucinich with a tan.

He famously campaigned against state-sponsored welfare programs, pledging that he would “send the welfare bums back to work.” That’s the kind of toxic language that got Newt Gingrich in trouble this year, when he called President Obama “the food stamp President.”

Reagan so despised the caprice and power of organized labor that he told an entire fleet of air-traffic controllers to get the hell back to work. If Jeb Bush thinks a union-slaying hard-liner couldn’t get elected today, he should visit Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who managed to do it — twice.

Reagan was so supportive of capital punishment he could make a Texan blush today, once declaring, “Individuals are responsible for their actions. Retribution should be swift and sure for those who prey on the innocent.”…

Which brings us back to compromise, and the idea that Reagan’s ability to work with others would somehow put him outside the conservative sphere today. Compromise is a tactical strategy, not a sign of ideological weakness. Every President does it because he has to.

Let’s not forget that, unlike JFK, Reagan at times had a House and Senate that opposed him, making compromise a necessity, not a choice.