Help me explain the Reagan years to my 20 year old

[ismnotwasm]

We just had a brief discussion. She knows bush is a corrupt, evil mofo that needs to be impeached, but somehow she has got the idea the Reagan "was manipulated, and she kind of feels sorry for him" She of of course didn't live thought those years, I have a couple of books, like "Sleepwalking through History", but I think she needs a succinct, simple explanation on what exactly went on. Any ideas? (I have a few books, but I don't think she's read them at this point) I don't have total recall of everything, I'll have to brush up on my history myself, but if anybody can help out I'd appreciate it. You can pick any of the many topics on why he sucked. I'm on three hours sleep and don't have the energy.

[BrainRants]

1. "Greed is Good"

Line from the movie "Wall Street" which (IMHO) summed up the Reagan years. Corporate backstabbing of the little guys was Reagan's modus operandi.

[justinsb]

2. The Reagan years were pretty much the same as the * years

If you figure it out, and why Americans decided to do it again, could someone explain it to me.

[Felix Mala]

33. Except Reagan and Bush spent 10 year making sure Saddam

had every weapon he wanted.

[wli]

87. remember

October surprise, anyone?

[knitter4democracy]

3. What finally got through to me, having been a kid then . . .

Was reading up on what happened to the four martyred churchwomen in El Salvador and talking with teachers who knew, loved, and worked with Sr. Dorothy Kazel and still mourned her death. That opened my eyes, big time.

It also helped that I travelled to Nicaragua in college on a mission trip and talked with everyone. One town we stayed in was Leon, a Sandinista stronghold with anti-US murals and plazas and everything. When I heard their side of the story, I was sick. I couldn't believe my government had done anything so horribly wrong. I wasn't the only one who felt that way--and this was a group from an evangelical Christian college.

[ismnotwasm]

8. Cool, that's a good place to start

The whole South American fiasco seemed so convoluted, I couldn't pull up facts out of my head. I can start researching, I want her to be able to think for herself with facts, and draw the obvious conclusions. She needs a little help with detail, as do I at this point

[IndyOp]

19. Same cast of characters in Reagan & * administrations...

Reagan was the first to put John Negroponte in charge in South America - and Negroponte started the death squads that were responsible for murders like these. Negroponte then went to the UN to enforce sanctions responsible for deaths of 100,000's of Iraqis, and then to Iraq after the * invasion and okayed the same sorts of strong arm tactics they used in South America.

Watch "Power of Nightmares" - it explains how the cast of characters responsible for 'made up' intelligence in the Reagan administration is the same cast of characters responsible for the 'made up' intelligence that has lead to the horror that is Iraq. If there is no evidence that the Russians have technology that can make their nuclear subs impossible to detect - then that proves that they do have it and we have to make more weapons and face the Evil Empire toe-to-toe.

For "Power of Nightmares" scroll down to the pic of Osama bin Laden.
<http://www.thedossier.ukonline.co.uk/video_september11.htm>

The Presidency is not about one person's character - it is about the whole team. This team makes evil happen.

[neohippie]

45. show her the following

Movies

El Salvador
Romero

also suggest the following books

Our Own Backyard: The United States in Central America, 1977-1992


Assasination on Embassy Row (pre-reagan but shows the influence of US foreign policy...Also Poppy Bush was director of CIA at this time)

[knitter4democracy]

54. Those are good.

If she wants to talk to someone, PM me, and I'll give you the e-mail of a couple of teachers who could tell her more about it.

[Inland]

4. Bush is Reagan distilled into pure evil and incompetence.

Bush sees himself as completing the Reagan Revolution, which has less to do with Reagan as a person than it does with ideologies that reject various parts of the modern world.

[drbtg1]

5. One huge part of the Reagan years:AIDS, bigotry, and death

Something that was unforgivable.

I'd recommend "And the Band Played On" by Randy Shilts. There was also an HBO movie based on the book.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312241356/qid=1121353431/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl14/102-8515066-8956130?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005AQMJ/qid=1121353431/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl74/102-8515066-8956130?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846

[TlalocW]

6. Reagan was a scumbag who used subtle racism

To get elected.

First as California governor where he made it a point to be captured by cameras eating grapes with a shit-eating smirk on his face during Cesar Chavez's/grape-picking unions boycott and then when he kicked off his campaign for the presidency in Philadelphia, Mississippi, where 3 civil rights activists were killed back in 1964, for which Edgar Ray Killen, was finally tried and sentence for in June of thsi year. This was another subtle nod towards the "good ol' boys," as Philadelphia, Mississippi, has no claim to fame other than the killings and would never be considered as a place to kick off something as large as a presidential campaign even if nothing had happened there.

TlalocW

[KansDem]

29. Thanks for the reminder...

As a Californian during that time, I forgot about Reagan's "grape-eating" stunt, and I didn't know about his appearance in Mississippi to kick off his campaign.

I do remember his speeches during this time in which he invited what was later known as "Reagan Democrats" to "come over to our side!"

[lastliberalintexas]

61. It wasn't all that subtle if you were a Southerner

I remember adults talking about it at the time, and believe me, every single solitary last Southerner knew exactly what he meant when he went to Philadelphia, MS and praised the concept of "states rights". He took Nixon's Southern Strategy and kicked it into high gear.

[Blue_In_AK]

77. Hey, do you remember...

"If you've seen one redwood, you've seen them all," and "If there has to be a bloodbath, then let's get it over with." That's what I remember from the Reagan-as-guv years.

[Zorra]

81. Here, in his own words, is THE shining example of what a RACIST ASSHOLE

what an ignorant, egotistical, and malicious, fascist boob, that Reagan really was.

Ronald Reagan: Maybe we made a mistake
APRIL 18, 2001
Text of remarks by President Reagan at Moscow State University. May 31, 1988.

"Let me tell you just a little something about the American Indian in our land. We have provided millions of acres of land for what are called preservations -- or reservations, I should say. They, from the beginning, announced that they wanted to maintain their way of life, as they had always lived there in the desert and the plains and so forth. And we set up these reservations so they could, and have a Bureau of Indian Affairs to help take care of them. At the same time, we provide education for them -- schools on the reservations. And they're free also to leave the reservations and be American citizens among the rest of us, and many do. Some still prefer, however, that way -- that early way of life. And we've done everything we can to meet their demands as to how they want to live. Maybe we made a mistake. Maybe we should not have humored them in that wanting to stay in that kind of primitive lifestyle. Maybe we should have said, no, come join us; be citizens along with the rest of us. As I say, many have; many have been very successful.

"And I'm very pleased to meet with them , talk with them at any time and see what their grievances are or what they feel they might be. And you'd be surprised: Some of them became very wealthy because some of those reservations were overlaying great pools of oil, and you can get very rich pumping oil. And so, I don't know what their complaint might be."

http://www.indianz.com/News/show.asp?ID=pol/4182001-1d

Well there ya have it. Sad, but true.

But there's lots more:

Ronald Reagan's Criminal Administration:
Ronald Reagan's Cabinet

"By the end of his term, 138 Reagan administration officials had been convicted, had been indicted, or had been the subject of official investigations for official misconduct and/or criminal violations. In terms of number of officials involved, the record of his administration was the worst ever."

http://liberalslikechrist.org/about/reagan.html

Reagan was as rotten as they get. Only G. W. Bu*h rivals him as Great Fascist Destroyer of American Democracy.

[HughBeaumont]

7. I only have this to say -

Garn/St. Germain Bill, and when Saint Ronnie signed it, he said something like "All in all, I think we've hit the jackpot" For those not familiar, this bill lifted FDR-era restrictions on thrifts, more or less allowing Wall Street speculators to use S & L's as their own personal mints and swindled billions in retiree dollars. They took these billions and placed them in the riskiest investments possible - to the taxpayers. Congressmen were paid with this thrift cash to back off looking into it. The resulting bailout totalled something like 1.2 trillion when all was said and investigated. Chuck Keating was jailed and the congressmen were let off with a slap on the wrist.

The relaxing of these regulations, along with the financial piracy of dickheads like Mike Milken and Ivan Boesky, ushered in the era of rampant white collar crime the Reagan years were known for, and we'll be paying for that shit for the rest of our lives, all thanks to Teflon Ron and his allowance for unbridled capitalism.

The best explanation for the great S&L Robbery comes in comic form in The Big Book Of Scandal.

[ismnotwasm]

9. Great so far, thank you guys, I'm having her read these posts

It's helping.

[Democrat 4 Ever]

13. Wish you could find a copy of "The Emperor has no Clothes"

I found it years ago at Waldenbooks and grabbed it up. Probably out of print but it should be a classic for Dem reading material.

It was published right after Raygun left the White House and it was nothing but reprints of newspaper coverage of the Reagan years. It was hilarious without any need for comments. It showed what a doofus Reagan was and how corrupt his administration was while the Gipper pretended to be deaf. It is also very clear that he had early signs of dementia in his first term with increasingly more symptoms all the way through his second term.

Reagan and Chimpy have a lot in common - both wooden actors who was/is just a front for the repugs. Expect a move by the repugs right after Chimpy leaves office to name a major government property after DimSon so that the "masses" will think what a great leader he was. Somehow, in Kool Aidland, having an airport or big building after a repug erases all the terrible things they have ever done.

[gulfcoastliberal]

70. Great post!

The S&L swindles cost how many trillions of dollars to the US taxpayers? Very important point of one of the many ways Reagan ruined life in America.

[Number9Dream]

90. Neil Bush S&L involvement?

Wasn't Neil Bush involved up to his eyeballs in the Silverado S&L scandal, and (naturally) was pardoned of all wrongdoing? Big surprise.

[HughBeaumont]

93. Oh yeah . . . because you just KNOW

there's been a Bush involved in anything shady the past six decades, and this was no exception. I forgot to mention it because I was trying to give a brief summary of the S&L scandal, and I felt that not naming the key players (Neil being one of them) would reduce the complexity of it all.

Really, when you think about it, there were only two parties that got punished in that fiasco: Chuck Keating (deservedly) and the taxpayers (undeservedly). Everyone else got off scot-free.

[ThomWV]

10. It Was The Handover Of Presidential Authority

To the highest bidder.

Ronald Reagan was a fool and like the fool in office now he simply handed over policy decisions to the political contributor that would do him the most good at the moment.

Reagan not only led the pack in giving up our Government to private interests but he put in place the bedrock foundations of the current bunch of egomaniacs in power right now.

[oneighty]

11. Small things

As a commercial fisherman I witnessed these things.

1. Highway tax applied to our fuels-gasoline and diesel.

2. Loss of (Of a type of old age) government health care for crews serving on documented commercial fishing vessels.

3. Government subsidies to the wealthy for building large and very expensive (shrimp trawlers)which in the end provided tax write offs for business and out fished we small boat owners.

4. Our crews had worked on our boats for shares of the catch. No catch no pay. Each crew member was responsible for their own SS/Taxes. Reagan changed that. The owner then became responsible.

A few examples of reagonomics affecting those small fishermen such as my very own self.

180

[Ron Green]

12. Fear is easy. Democracy is hard.

Reagan promulgated a vision, although apparently benign, of a fear-based world in which the "Other" is dangerous to us. This is of course true on a childish level. Jimmy Carter had just spent 4 frustrating years valiantly seeking to push an agenda of love rather than fear, and people respond more immediately and viscerally to fear.

That's what happened.

[CottonBear]

14. Iran-Contra scandal, allowed AIDS to spread, ketchup is a vegetable. n/t

[symbolman]

15. Tell him that Evil affable appearing

ZOMBIES actually roam the earth wreaking damage to all living things - that Cheney doesn't count because he's more like an EVIL CYBORG.. :)

[ismnotwasm]

31. LoL

She's a HER, but I'll mention it...

[uppityperson]

16. People want a King, Reagan was charismatic. Here's my opinion

Reagan was handsome to many. He was charismatic. Papa bush and his evil minions ran things. I felt sorry at times for Reagan, but he did ok all the bad things that happened. He confused his movie roles with reality, using examples of who he played as an actor to illustrate things, but thought they were real. His administration was concerned with the domino theory in Central America (if 1 nation falls to communism, they all will). They used this as an excuse to liberate several governments there, killing, you guessed it, many innocent people. Then they lied about it.

Repetitively.

Ollie North is no hero. He was the fall guy, the patsy who took the blame for selling arms to Iran and using this money to covertly fund terrorists in Central America.

And Reagan, while not the brightest lightbulb in the box, knew and agreed with it all. He may have been manipulated by Papa bush, but he also thought it was all a good idea.

He believed that spending more meant you saved more, and that StarWars would keep us safe. Money was diverted from social programs into the military. People died, many people who shouldn't have. Money was king. Power was king.

Good things happened around the world during his rule, but they were going to happen anyway, regardless of what he did.

[kath]

43. "Papa bush and his evil minions ran things" - do you have some more info

on this? It's mentioned twice in this thread, and it's come up multiple times on DU before, that Poppy Bush was responsible for much of the evil during the Reagan years, and that he was the one actually running things. I mentioned this to my mom when I was visiting her last week (after she said Poppy wasn't such a terrible guy), and she really scoffed at it, saying she'd never heard such a thing. I'd LOVE more evidence on this to send her way.

[uppityperson]

82. Do a search on papa bush's administration

start with george bush and dick cheney. You might be interested in seeing who has stayed on. Poppa bush was sneaky. Very sneaky. Way sneaky. sneak sneak sneak "who, me? I wasn't involved". I am no conspiracy theorist, but he was the brains behind the Reagan yrs, the papabush yrs, the shrub yrs.

[Spider Jerusalem]

17. Bush the younger is esentially the unholy bastard child...

of Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. He has all of their negative qualities and none of their good points (not that they had many; Reagan could speak well and looked good in a suit, and Nixon was intelligent in a devious and Machiavellian way).

Now on to Reagan: as noted above, Reagan opened his 1980 campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi, and spoke on "state's rights" (subtle way of supporting racism and segregation). Reagan also supported the apartheid regime in South Africa throughout his presidency.

Then there was Iran-Contra...sell weapons to Iran, use the money to fund rightist guerillas in South America, move massive quantities of cocaine into American cities and use THOSE profits to fund yet more covert ops...this doesn't happen without Presidential approval. Reagan said he was "out of the loop", but incompetence isn't much excuse.

Not to mention the lack of research, funding, or even any Presidential mention of the worsening AIDS crisis...Reagan didn't say a single word about AIDS until Rock Hudson died, and only THEN because it was known the two had been friends and he had to say SOMETHING.

There's a lot more in the same vein; you don't really have to look far to find ample evidence that Reagan was an evil bastard.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

18. Deficit spending, high interest rates, rise in payroll taxes

In 1981 at the start of the Reagan administration the deficit was about 2.5 percent of the national economy. By the end it was about 5 percent of the national economy. Interest payments just on that debt went from $69 billion in 1981 to $169 billion at the end of the Reagan administration. This lead to a huge recession in 1990 and 1991.

Inflation was out of control in the early '80s, so the Fed raised interest rates. People were taking out mortgages at 18%, and I was a student with massive debt of student loans.

Middle-class and working-class Americans in the 1980s began paying more in payroll taxes. Ronald Reagan and Alan Greenspan enacted a very important reform that raised Social Security taxes. So even though income tax decreased, payroll taxes wiped out any benefits for working Americans.

The gap between the rich and the poor began to widen during the Reagan administration. Trickle-down (supply-side) economics didn't work. Massive deregulation of the financial markets lead to the savings and loan crisis.

Because of Reaganomics, we ended the '80s with record deficit and started the '90s with massive debt. Also, don't forget the breaking of unions, most notably the air traffic controllers' union.

[xxqqqzme]

51. 'Middle-class and working-class

Americans in the 1980s began paying more in payroll taxes.'

single parent in '84; my tax rate was 17% of my paralegal salary of $17,000/yr. w/ kids in elem & jr high school. My tax rate was higher than a 'family' tax rate even though I had the same expenses. Single mothers were punished thru-out the st ronnie years.

[bemildred]

20. Bushite policies are 100% Reaganite.

You can't dislike Bush and approve of Reagan, and Reagan did tremendous harm to the the little people of this country, so like Bush he can take the "nice" label and shove it into a dark, smelly place. Nice is something you do, and if what you do is not nice, then YOU are not nice.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

21. Google Paul Krugman-he is fiercely critical of Regan's economic policies

[NewJeffCT]

25. and, wasn't Krugman...

Wasn't Krugman part of Reagan's Council of Economic Advisors?

[Kathy in Cambridge]

36. Yes, he was.

:-)

[yurbud]

22. Reagan was a slightly subtler but much nicer pitchman than Bush

fronting for the same interests.

Like Bush, he was a figurehead, but his guy in the basement really running things was papa bush, not cheney.

Hillbilly Hitler art:



Blog:

[Mandate My Ass]

23. Union buster

He fired something like 10,000 striking air traffic controllers, some of whom were indicted and fined, after writing this letter to the head of PATCO during his campaign:

Dear Mr. Poli:

I have been briefed by members of my staff as to the deplorable state of our nation's air traffic control system. They have told me that too few people working unreasonable hours with obsolete equipment has placed the nation's air travellers in unwarranted danger. In an area so clearly related to public safety the Carter administration has failed to act responsibly.

You can rest assured that if I am elected President, I will take whatever steps are necessary to provide our air traffic controllers with the most modern equipment available and to adjust staff levels and work days so that they are commensurate with achieving a maximum degree of public safety....

I pledge to you that my administration will work very closely with you to bring about a spirit of cooperation between the President and the air traffic controllers.



(In)Sincerely,
Ronald Reagan

[ismnotwasm]

34. Now THAT one I remember in full detail

Union busting bastard

[EC]

24. Aids is a gay disease...

Every f**kin year, with every f**kin report during this administration would say this, telling people that if you weren't gay, you were safe and not to bother with protected sex...caused the spread of this disease, and did nothing to help...

Colleges once again were for the rich, grants were cut.

Actually the economics were much the same as this administrations...

The spreading of Aids was the big one for me, they just closed their eyes not seeing the harm, because as far as they were concerned it was taking care of the hated gays and they didn't care...


Oh Yeah...Nigroponte...the disappearing of people in South America, and Gernada...we attacked a country for nothing...

On edit: And the way he won the office, making a deal with Iran, for the release of the hostages, at the same time he was taking his oath...and much deregulation of businesses, the breaking of the air controllers union, tax overhauls including not allowing the writing off of interest on Credit Cards, no more interest on savings accounts (it used to be we'd get 5-6% interest on our savings) on and on, whatever they could think up to break the average man, and enrich the filthy rich....

[Ganja Ninja]

26. Give your kid a while and she will be living them. n/t

[NewJeffCT]

27. Reagan's image was that he was manipulated...but...

But, didn't his recently released notes indicate he was much more hands on than most people thought?

So, instead of blaming others, like Bush or Ollie North, we can now lay all the bullshit of the Reagan years - IranContra, trickle down economics, corruption up the wazoo, etc - at the feet of St. Ronnie.

[Felix Mala]

32. His AIDS policies(?) alone should be enough to relegate him

to the dustbin of history. By the time Reagan even mentioned the disease in public (1987)more than 200,000 Americans were infected. Every day brought news of more deaths. I've looked for something similar in our history, but the sad fact is that no other president has let a disease run rampant in our population, killing thousands of people, without lifting a finger to do anything. Quite the opposite, public health officials were encouraged by the administration to ignore the disease.

[lastliberalintexas]

62. Do you remember that SNL skit about Reagan?

In front of an audience, he seemed out of sorts, grandap-ish, etc. Then he went through the Oval Office doors and became a hard ass business person. It was much funnier than my description of it! :)

I think it's a mistake for people to think of either Reagan or Bush II as stupid. They just play it on tv.

[NewJeffCT]

86. Yes, I remember that

I have never thought of Bush as stupid. Maybe not a deep thinker, and certainly no genius, but not stupid by any stretch.

I'm not stupid, either, but I know if I try to speak in front of crowds, I'd likely sound almost as bad as Bush. Granted, Bush has had years of training and still sucks at public speaking, while it's rare that I have to speak in front of groups...

[Felix Mala]

28. He was the mask of happy, heavily made up, all-American optimism

that hid the dirty workings of a bunch of greedy, sycophantic, anti-human, anti-constitutional, anti-environment, right-wing fanatics.

[lectrobyte]

30. Just dig up a copy of this movie and it will help explain a lot

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094291/

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

35. "It was the worst of times"

:evilgrin:

[newportdadde]

37. From what my father has told me.

1. 1980 was the worst year of my fathers life. He was a farmer, had borrowed money to plant the 80 crop, watched has a horrible drought hit and he lost it all, then had to borrow more to try to plant a crop in 81. Took over 10 years to come back from that.

I was 4, mom was pregnant with my sister, so broke we could go on food stamps(although he refused out of pride) my father went to work at the downtown post office in KC, first during the day then the nightshift several years later at a closer PO. I still remember as a kid my father coming home with blisters on his feet from carrying mail all day, he didn't get a chance to spend the checks from the new job on anyting it all went to interest and debt. He still works nights at the post office and farms during the day, 2-3 hrs sleep etc.

He actually voted for Reagan in 80, he deeply regrets it now, his only Republican vote in his life. He says he did it because he was just so mad, the gas price, grain embargo etc, he knows now he was foolish.

2. Interest rates were insane. He paid 18% on a loan for a combine he paid over double what the combine initiall sold for in the end. I also have an aunt and uncle who felt 'lucky' to borrow money from a relative at CD rates in the middle double digits.

3. Reagan destroyed the unions not just the controllers but set in motion what would soon destory all unions and placed into the American public that unions were evil.

One thing good from it though is my dad came to hate interest and owing money so much that he instilled that in me and in a few years I should be debt free(including house).

[barb162]

38. supply side economics (a total failure), tax cuts for the rich,

star wars defense initiative (total boondoggle for the defense companies), Iran Contra (Reagan should have been impeached), the S&L scandal ( he should have been tarred and feathered for deregulating S&Ls as it cost this nation billions), invasion of Grenada (a terrirtory of Britain without consulting Britain), the list is nearly endless. One screwup after another costing this country hundreds of billions of dollars. But people really liked him...they thought he was a genuinely nice guy. bwa

[kwolf68]

39. The best way

Smash a helpless bug and hope 20 bucks comes out of its ass when it dies....if that happens, you've just explained the Reagen years.

[JHBowden]

40. Reagan illegally sold weapons to Iranian TERRORISTS

to illegally fund central American death squads.

That says it all.

[DiverDave]

41. Ketchup is a VEGETABLE

for federal school lunch programs.
Gotta get that tax cut for the rich from SOMEWHERE.
Oh, nancy consulted astrologers for guidance.
She HAD to pass some of that claptrap on to ronnie...she was his "best adviser".
Fucking repukelicans are EVIL, and have been since raygun

[Tommymac]

42. Reagan would have been Bush*

except he had a Democratic House of Representitives to keep him somewhat in check.

[HughBeaumont]

44. Another good dossier from TBTM -

MOURN St. Ronnie. THAT is an order!

[DiverDave]

47. That is a GREAT piece

thanks

[proud patriot]

46. Before Reagan you didn't see homeless people on the street as much

I grew to adulthood under Reagan . My first vote
was against poppy who won his first term .

Just say no ....... was pounded into our heads
and promptly ignored .

The T.V. evagalists were scandel ridden and always
made fun of on the radio and SNL ie. church lady.

Our Rock n Rollers were in court defending their lyrics
against busy body crispies . Think Ozzy and Rob Halford.

Heavy metal got no Air play on the radio in the 80s
but by the 90s we had won our right to be on the radio.
I thank Metallica and Pearl Jam for that .

[burythehatchet]

48. Ronald Reagan made it OK to hate

[bribri16]

50. Yours is probably the best characterization.. And this...

greed, high clandestine taxes, high interest rates, mentally ill tossed to the streets.

[MisterP]

49. "The Clothes Have No Emperor," by Paul Slansky. Out of print, but in-

valuable!

[Lilith Velkor]

52. Reagan was the false prophet foretold in the book of Revelation

You know, the one that comes before the Antichrist.

[Zinfandel]

53. Fucker Reagan ... deregulation for ALL corporations, and breaking Unions.

The ultra right-wing conservatives wet dream, was the asshole pig Reagan...

No regulations for corporations (meaning corporations police themselves). They can pollute, overcharge, lie steal do whatever they want because who is there to regulate them? Only themselves. Deregulation gave us Enron, and the republican (Pete Wilson) deregulation of energy in California.

Breaking Unions (the air traffic controllers union was his most notable) the lying piece of shit Reagan, love to encourage breaking up of Unions. The only representation and strength the working person has. Surely it NOT management, who cuts wages, cuts safety regulations, cut health benefits, fires anyone who speaks up...Again the fucker Reagan did this for the corporations...

The same assholes in power now, were all there under Reagan, Bush is just carrying Reagan's tune and crushing the workers in favor of multi-national corporations and business interest.

Iran-Contra was as slimy as it gets and Reagan was top dog, Just like the moron Bush, Reagan was a puppet, a spokesman, a "cowboy" (republicans love to feed Americans the "cowboy" image). Reagan, who would do ANYTHING to further the corporations and the military agenda, fucker the poor and the middle class.

Fact: Reagan gave the largest deficits in American history (until Bush of course) Reagan also gave us the largest tax increase in history up until that point. (pappy Bush then gave us the largest).

The biggest bullshit lie is he brought down the USSR. EVERY president since Truman had increase the military budget to new records levels in every single administration...Reagan was no different, After Reagan was out of office for three years (1991) is when Gorbachev knew he was bankrupting the Soviet Union and had to stop the military spending madness or face total collapse...Reagan had no more to do with it than Ike, Kennedy, Nixon, Carter or Truman. This is fact!

You want more? I can go on for hours what a lying prick,the asshole Reagan was.

Ask ANY right wing robot, to name one thing, just one thing Reagan ever did for the poor or the middle class?

[HughBeaumont]

55. Father got laid off twice during Reagan

Once during Poppy.

Don't let anyone fool you - Repukes are exTREMEly anti-worker and Ransack Reagan was the 2nd worst of them (The worst is, of course, Presidope Lancelot Link, who pretty much plays stupid when it comes to his policies regarding labor. I mean, it's pretty bad when your Secretary of Labor, who's supposed to care about the needs of the workers of the United States, supports job offshoring).

'twas shitty times for everyone except the rich.

[jeffrey_X]

56. Reagan made it "okay" to be racist again....

Reagan stopped most of the civil rights/racial progress of the 60's and 70's.

Cutting social programs and declaring war on drugs were basically attacks against the black community.

[yurbud]

58. didn't he tell the story of the welfare queen picking up multiple

welfare checks in a brand new Cadillac?

He could say that Archie Bunker stuff with a smile though, which made him a smoother transition from the relatively more progressive 70s to the jackboot era. If they had gone straight to a vindictive goon like Bush, it wouldn't have worked.




Hillbilly Hitler art:



Blog:

[yurbud]

57. Reagan fooled me until he cut college financial aid

he said he wanted to shift it from grants (that you don't pay back) to loans (that you do).

My parents weren't helping me out with college, so that was a pretty big deal.

I liked the guy on defense (kids love war, weapons, and tough talk), but he was screwing me. That's when I started looking askance at every pols propaganda and doing at least cursory research.



Hillbilly Hitler art:



Blog:

[fob]

59. That's when "Trickled-on Economics" was actually given credence

as an ACTUAL economic plan.

raygoon years in a word - SUCKED.

[lastliberalintexas]

60. Reagan implemented the tax on unemployment benefits

so that being unemployed wouldn't be quite so attractive. :eyes:

That, and the *Philadelphia, MS* campaign stop where he extolled the virtues of "states rights" (Southern code for racism), tells you everything you really need to know about Reagan and domestic policy.

However, there was of course more. Reagan attempted to deal the Constitution a death knell, when he ignored Congress' instructions and illegally funneled money to Nicaragua by illegally selling arms to Iran. Separation of powers? Checks and balances? The Constitutional mandate that all US spending originate in the so-called people's chamber, the House of Representatives? Pshaw! That was so 18th century.

Reagan was a union buster who hated the working man. In addition to the tax on unemployment compensation, Reagan eliminated various deductions which helped middle America, like being able to write off the interest paid on credit card debt or from financing a vehicle. Federal taxes on earned income rose during his years, while the taxes on all forms of unearned income were cut sharply.

And that's just a small sample from someone who was 8 years old when Reagan was elected. I hated him every second of those next 8 years, and grew to despise Tip O'Neill for refusing to go after the bastard with impeachment charges. Nothing Nixon did comes close to Reagan's actions in Iran Contra (at least as far as the foundation for our entire government is concerned). Nothing.

[robertpaulsen]

63. Like W, Reagan was a master of distraction.

Those horrible evil Hezbollah! They just slaughtered hundreds of innocent Americans! In retaliation, to prove that America is not a paper tiger to be trifled with, I've decided to declare war on...

GRENADA!


Sound familiar?

[B Calm]

64. The Reagan years was a war against labor.

My own personal experience with the Regan Era:

1982 Union took a 9 1/2% wage and benifit concession to keep the doors open.

1984 Union employees asked to give the company back one week vacation per year for the next 4 years.

1985 Union employees took another 9% wage and benifit concession.
Corporation sells the company to a crook with good banking connections.

1986 Pension plan was dropped.

1987 Contract up and we take another 5% wage and benifit concession for the first two years, third year we were suppose to get a 3% raise.

1989 New owner declares all profits as his salary and never puts a dime back into the company.

1990 New owner defaults on his loans, files bankruptcy and slams the door shut on a factory with over 300 employees.

[noiretextatique]

65. reagan presided over two of the most corrupt adminstrations..ever

"By the end of his term, 138 Reagan administration officials had been convicted, had been indicted, or had been the subject of official investigations for official misconduct and/or criminal violations. In terms of number of officials involved, the record of his administration was the worst ever. The corruption of Ronald Reagan's administration was so massive that it requires a separate web page all unto itself."
http://www.liberalslikechrist.org/about/reagan.html

i guess "the great communicator" didn't communicate anything about ethics :shrug: another aminable front-man for a bunch of theives, lunatics and murderers.

and the bushistas were up to their ears int he S&L scandal.

http://www.rationalrevolution.net/war/bush_family_and_the_s.htm

"Jeb Bush defaulted on a $4.56 million loan from Broward Federal Savings in Sunrise, Florida. After federal regulators closed the S&L, the office building that Jeb used the $4.56 million to finance was reappraised by the regulators at $500,000, which Bush and his partners paid. The taxpayers had to pay back the remaining 4 million plus dollars."

Neil Bush was the most widely targeted member of the Bush family by the press in the S&L scandal. Neil became director of Silverado Savings and Loan at the age of 30 in 1985. Three years later the institution was belly up at a cost of $1.6 billion to tax payers to bail out.

:grr: so much for "personal responsibiity."

[catmandu57]

66. I've spent years trying to forget this shit

Reading these threads have sent chills down my spine and i'll probablly have nightmares tonight. I spent the raygun years on the absolute bottom, I didn't start there I was in decent shape to start with.
I lost my job, I lost my car, I lost my house, I lost my fiancee, I lost myself.
I became a homeless alcoholic, wandering the country in search of work, always hungry, smoking cigarette butts I found on the street, begging, always begging.
The thing was then the rich loved him they made money, and all of our present ills can be traced to this monster. The only difference between the chimp* and rayguns is that the chimp is a viscious sociopath.
The only reason i lived through the eighties was that I was young and could take the hardships, there is no way in hell I could do the same today.
It's a hell of a way to live, to be afraid all the time, but everyday I expect the rug to be jerked out.
Ronald Rayguns I hope is sucking j edgar hoover's dick in hell.

[ismnotwasm]

67. Wow!

I've running around working on the house, I just wanted to thank you all for taking the time to answer. My daughter has gone to work, but we'll have a long talk when she gets home. She likes to be informed. Before she left I mentioned how he mishandled/lied about the AIDS crisis. She has many gay friends, and always marches in the pride parade. God he was such an asshole. I've been thinking about the current asshole so much, I had forgotten some of that stuff.

[leftchick]

68. welfare queen was coined by raygun

and I remember the Doonesbury comics at the time always with the homeless folks outside raygun's WH.

[expatriate]

69. Deregulation of gasoline prices

was part of Raygun's policy. This devastated the American oil industry. I lived in South Louisiana at the time, where the oil industry was an enormous part of the economy.

Unemployment in towns dependent on the oil industry went as high as 35%. People committed suicide because they had lost everything. Towns like Houma, Louisiana, became virtual ghost towns. People who had worked for the oil industry for years were suddenly without jobs and with no prospect of employment.

I worked for an employment agency during that period, and I had grown men literally suicidal and sobbing in my office every day, desperate for any job they could get. People lost their houses every single day. Some people just packed up in the middle of the night and slunk out of town, completely destroyed financially. Mortgage interest rates in Louisiana went as high as 21.5%.

This also made America far more dependent on cheaper, foreign oil.

I moved to the Northeast shortly after the deregulation, and people there were all jubilant over paying a few cents less for gasoline and fuel oil - and they didn't give a shit over the fact that the economies in several states had been gutted and that people were in desperate straits.

"But the Prez really helped us, now gas is eight cents cheaper! He's a great Prez!" was their response to any mention of the fact that the deregulation wasn't exactly the best thing in the world.

And then, of course, when the prices of oil rose - well, no regulation of prices means that the prices of gasoline, fuel oil, etc, just go up and up and up ...

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

71. Okay, I'm gonna get flamed but...

I didn't hate Reagan.:hide: I know I've read explanations of the Iran hostage situation here on DU but, as a kid I remember how Carter seemed completely impotent in dealing with that situation (and the helicopters crashed in the desert in a botched rescue) and Reagan did, even if through smoke-and-mirrors, restore some satisfaction in that situation. I now realize that some people suffered economically during those years but I don't believe he was the evil piece of crap that we are dealing with now. IMHO

Remember, the fundies still ran their OWN candidates 3rd party with Reagan...didn't see that with this POTUS currently in office. Reagan threw bones to the fundies but was able to deal with Tip O'Neil in compromises. W throws bones to the moderates and takes a hard line WITH the zealots and neocons who NEVER compromise.

I've never gotten flamed before, so be gentle.:blush:

[Spider Jerusalem]

72. Well, you know...

if Carter seemed impotent, it was because Reagan and his merry crew were already in contact with the Iranians and making promises of arms and a certain amount of military aid against Iraq.

I was a kid when Reagan was President, too, and once I grew up I realised what an evil creature he was. I didn't hate him then, but I do now. And Reagan's presidency and policies (from foreign policy to abolishing the broadcast Fairness Doctrine) paved the way for George W Bush.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

74. Thanks...

for not being too rough with me. I still think Carter was a much better former President than POTUS...he's done some great things since leaving office that I really respect.

[lastliberalintexas]

76. I'll be very gentle

Carter "seemed completely impotent" with regards to the Iran hostage situation because Poppy Bush's CIA made darn sure that the Iranian government didn't release them until after the elections. You do remember that the hostages were freed within *hours* of Reagan's inauguration, right? While he was partying, Carter was engaging in what he thought were continuing, legitimate negotiations with the Iranian government to secure freedom for American citizens held captive during his watch. And all the while, the BFEE had already secured their release- as long as it was timed "correctly".

And if you don't understand how bad Reagan, Bush, Meese, Weinberger, et al's actions were in the Iran Contra affair, then you need to do some research into the subject. Reagan presided over the most corrupt administrations in US history, even more so than those of Ulysses Grant- and Iran Contra was the largest reason for that.

The fundies didn't run their own candidate- Reagan was their candidate. I'm not quite sure where you're getting that, or if you're thinking that Anderson was the right winger? He wasn't, he was the moderate republican who ran because he and some other sane people who've probably long since left that party were worried about Reagan, Bush and just how far to the right they were taking the party.


Reagan instituted the tax on unemployment compensation so as to make unemployment look less "attractive", gave us Alan Greenspan, raised payroll taxes, lowered taxes on *unearned* income, eliminated deductions which average people needed, busted unions, more than *tripled* the national debt (which had a nice side benefit of skyrocketing interest rates), increased federal spending to then record levels, increased the annual deficit to then record levels, increased the national trade deficit to then record levels, and did nothing about the alarming numbers of farm bankruptcies/takeovers of corporate ag. Coolidge was Reagan's hero. Although Hoover gets the blame for the Great Depression, it was really Coolidge's policies that set it into motion. Great model for economic theory there.

And you say that you realize that *some* people suffered economically? Try all of us. Indeed, everything that is regressive about the federal tax code we face today was begun by Reagan.

Being young during the Reagan years was no excuse- I was only 8 when he was first elected. Go read up a little more on the man- he wasn't the nice little grandfather that he was made out to be.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

79. Points well taken.

But I still hate W more than Reagan.

[noiretextatique]

80. raygun, inc was ever bit as bad as bush, inc

you were a kid, but i wasn't. you've already gotten an earful about the iraninan hostages, but there was a lot more.
as someone else mentoned, his administration descimated tax deductions for the middle class and taxed unemployment benefits. a LOT of people suffered economically during his reign...mainly working and poor people. have you read about the S&L scam? do you know the bush brothers were up to their ears in it? do you know who footed the bill for jeb and neil's excellent adventure? WE did...the taxpayers.
not to mention the fact that reagan's administrations were the most corrupt in history...the sheer number of peole indicted from his administration is staggering.
in all honesty, i think reagan was worse than bush.

[DiverDave]

84. You see all the shit he caused

and you "don't think he's BAD??"

Look, under his watch, crack cocaine was introduced to the black community.
Which , in turn, provided money to the contras.
You know, the same group that RAPED AND MURDERED NUN'S!

Yeah, he wasn't so bad...

[dbonds]

73. Start with Nixon.

There Bush Sr learned you have to have the media, and they worked on that from the early 70s till the 80s. Then talk about the election where Bush Sr made a deal with the Iran Hostage Takers to hold the hostages till after Reagan was president (Carter's weak spot). Also he would need to know about the oil crisis during carters term, which made our economy go into double digit inflation.

Then you can go into the scandals, the invasions, the assassination attempt and the media playing right into their hands. You might want to tie it into todays events by looking at Judith Millers role in the Iran/Contra scandal. You can talk about world opinion, we were hated during that time. You can talk about the giant deficit during those years , that only during Clinton's terms were solved and are again now worse than ever. Throw in the 'star wars' programs that drained our government of lots of money for corporate welfare to defense contractors. It goes on and on and on.

[Blue_In_AK]

75. Reagan was such a manipulator

that he has even my good Democratic husband bamboozled. Every time the subject of Reagan comes up, he says something like, "Well, I kind of liked old Reagan. He wasn't so bad." I cringe when he says that -- I think it's the only thing in the world we disagree on.

ed. ... It might have something to do with the fact that my H was at sea during those years and not having to experience the day-to-day awfulness of it.

[BiggJawn]

78. "I aim to Pleeze, I gave you CHEEZE!"

"*I'M* doing just GREAT! I dunno what YOUR problem is...maybe you're lazy or stupid...."

"I'm sorry, sir, we don't accept Canadian money" (FOOD STAMPS)

"Well....Let me ask you this: Are you better off now than you were 4 years ago?" (answered with an ENTHUSIASTIC kick to the front of the TV screen that has left me slightly crippled to THIS day)

And I know it's an unwritten rule of DU that the bad jazz this cat blew in his life has somehow just went off on the breeze, but I LAUGHED AND CHEERED when he finally went to his dirt nap!

[Rex]

83. Allowed lobbyist the ability to take over Congress

Defiled the U.S. Constitution, repeat offender. Let Sinatra have sex with his wife. Shitty actor, lost his mind at beginning of second term. Gave us George Bush Sr. Destroyed the U.S. economy by wasting trillions on useless weapons. Basically the 3rd worst president in history.

:(

[arewenotdemo]

85. good counterpunch article

http://www.counterpunch.org/hans06072004.html

I also want to add that the very sight of Reagan made me want to hurl. And the fetid nationalism of his "morning in America" schtick sent shudders down my spine.

In his way, Reagan was far worse than Bush.

[elaineb]

88. "Collective Amnesia or Collective Alzheimer's"

Here's a good article from the Common Dreams web site published at the time of the ODB's death:

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0607-10.htm

I just feel depressed and nauseous whenever I think of the "Reagan 80's". I guess, like today, you either agree with the self-centered, individualistic policies of conservatism, or you long for a more caring society in which social and economic justice are more important than the promotion of the individual at the expense of society as a whole. A dog-eat-dog world, or a peaceful, caring community? I'll vote and fight for the latter. I just wish those who long for the former were forced to live in such a world until most of them fell to the snarling teeth of the bigger dogs. Guess what, Reagan/Bush supporters? We HAVE a social safety net in this country, despite us being the most capitalistic country on earth. And a huge majority of Americans continue to support that safety net. Whenever oligarchs like Reagan and Bush manage to dupe enough people into electing them, that safety net starts to sag from the busy use of their scissors, but then it eventually gets mended again. Someday I hope we'll make it even bigger. We could do it immediately if we just took a small portion of the ungodly amount spent on offense (oops, of course I meant "defense"), and applied it to the very real needs here AT HOME.

Okay, sorry for the rant. I think the thing that gives me the biggest shudders about the Reagan era was hearing the details of the dirty wars we sponsored in Central America. And that was just based on what I read in news magazines at the time. The real history hasn't been written yet, except on the lives and hearts of the innocent people affected there. I hope some day the real story is told, as well as the stories about the millions of people in this country who were hurt or died through Reagan's heartless, inhumane disregard for common people. And Bush is carrying on the tradition.

To me, a great song that sums up the Reagan years is "Ignoreland" by REM. The lyrics are great on their own, but if you get the chance, listen to the actual song. It always gives me chills.

[RPM]

89. Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) PA - 1985

24% Unemployment
12% in PA
national avg was (i think) around 9%

It was a strage time watching them dismantle the economy here - I was only 9 and i could sense strange things afoot.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

91. Reaganism (and Republicanism) in a little nutshell:

While slashing, and I mean slashing, the ceiling on the upper tax brackets, Reagan instituted the taxation of service workers tips.

I think that pretty much says it all from the domestic standpoint.

[cquik18]

92. The Reagan Years in 20 words or less...

THEY STUNK!

[Jose Diablo]

94. Reagan made it fashionable to be

A bigot, a racist, greedy and self-centered.

There is, has been and always be people that have those character flaws. During the 70's those people were pretty much exposed for what they were.

Because they were rendered powerless because of being exposed for what they are, many in the old south Democratic party (remember, the party is a big tent, even then) jumped ship and joined the 'new' Republican party (which always had its own 'old time' bigots) welcoming them with open arms. Reagan became the cheerleader for these 'new' Republicans, which were actually the 'old' Democrats from the racial, bigoted parts of the south, in many cases.

To be sure, the south did/does not have a monopoly of these types of people. You can see and hear them today in all parts of the country.

But I think, to summarize Reagan, if we take every personality flaw that a person can possess, and condense that to a single figurehead personality, that personality would be Ronald Wilson Reagan.

So when Reagan went to that great cowboy round-up in the sky, well those that he left behind, the ones that loved him because Reagan made them feel good about themselves again, they had a funeral orgy of massive proportion's to celebrate his passing. Reagan after all is their own hero.

But for the more or less normal person with a developed sense of right/wrong, Reagan was just a big bag of hot air, a first class peckerhead.

I think this is a good eulogy to Reagan.

Edit: As a postscript, I should note that for the first time in America's history, we now have the bigots more or less in one party (Republicans) and the rest of us, the normal ones, in the other party (Democrats). So maybe Reagan did do us a favor by drawing the battle lines into a clear demarcation point.