HIST 2112“Morning in America”: The Age of Reagan, Part II- Reagan and the 1980s – a “Generation of Swine?”o Generation of big wallets and little back bone- Liberalism is not dead- Argument of what size the federal government should be- Criticisms of Reagan’s Domestic Policieso Reaganomics The good: whipping inflation with high interest rates and North Sea oil- Conquered inflation- Around1984-1985- Return to a period of growth that lasts until 2008 roughly “Supply-side” problems- No tax break for lower incomes- Cut taxes for the wealthyo They will have money to invest in businesseso Economy should grow quickly enough to pay for its own tax cutso Turns out to be problematic Invest it in ‘get rich’ schemes Many of it is spent disposably- “Conspicuous consumption” = no reinvestmento GOP strategist Kevin Phillips – “a profit funnel for the rich” Deficits- Lower taxes, but no cuts in Social Security or military spendingo Attempts to cut social security Democrats and Republicans are not pleased Amped up military spending- Cuts in social programs, but not much else- Replacing “tax and spend” with “borrow and spend”o Reagan’s assault on federal environmentalism Hated aggressive environmentalism and environmental regulation James Watt and Anne Gorsuch Burford- Used them to destroy the EPA and privatize national parks and forestso Civil rights = benign neglect Not a racist Did not see any need for attention though No major civil rights legislation in the 1980s- Criticisms of Regan’s Foreign Policyo Staunch believer in the Cold War and Vietnam Reasons for increasing military spendingo “Rollback” and funding questionable “Freedom Fighters” El Salvador: US support for Duarte and “death squads”- Letting “anti-communism” trump support for democracy Nicaragua and “the contras” The Iran-Contra Affair, 1987- Numerous terrorist groups in the Middle East supported by Irano Iran has just finished a rebellion- Kidnap 9 Americans- Trading with the enemy – weapons for Iranian hostageso Must do it secretlyo Reagan claimed in the 1970s he would never negotiate with terroristso Ends up doing so- The Boland Amendment – “no aid to Contras”o Money from the Iran weapons trade is dropped in Nicaragua to support the fight- Oliver North and his secret plan Supporting the (future) Taliban, Saddam Hussein, etc.- Armed the Middle East because they were enemies of the Soviets- They were not fighting them for the same reasons we wereo Saw them as Godless world powerso ‘Your enemy’s enemy is not your
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