he also voted for Bernie Sanders
That's good!
gave away the Panama Canal
What do you mean "gave away?" And why was that a bad thing?
passed $30 billion in stimulus spending
That's not very much even adjusted for inflation.
and hiked taxes.
So did Reagan. Many more times than Carter and far more consequentially, in fact.
Not expanding government by as much as Johnson or Roosevelt (especially in the context of the already apparent failure of those policies) does not make Carter a moderate.
Apparent failure? I suppose you could say that about some of Johnson's policies, which were largely means-tested and relied too much on deficit spending in the context of escalating the Vietnam War ("guns and butter") at almost the precise moment the post-war economic boom ended.
I don't deny that Carter was a faithful Christian, or that remained true to his wife.
Good...
But I do not believe a politician can abuse the power of government to take hundreds of billions of dollars from the American people and be considered good despite that barring extraordinary circumstances.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understand it in the American system the President cannot directly create fiscal policy.
1. Bad!
2. The Panama Canal belonged to the US, and then Carter signed a treaty that ceded it to Panama. Pretty simple.
3. $300 billion (as a % of GDP) isn't a lot of money?
4. Nope, Reagan cut taxes on net. Carter raised them.
5. Yeah, the war on poverty was a total failure and the New Deal hindered economic growth throughout the 30s. Unfortunately, the failure of the New Deal received less public appreciation, but voters definitely recognized that the great society didn't work by 1976.
7. Sure, but he has the power to veto and pass legislation and the ability to influence congress.
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