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 Policies o 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 wealthy o They will have money to invest in businesses o Economy should grow quickly enough to pay for its own tax cuts o Turns out to be problematic Invest it in get rich schemes Many of it is spent disposably Conspicuous consumption no reinvestment o GOP strategist Kevin Phillips a profit funnel for the rich Deficits Lower taxes but no cuts in Social Security or military spending o 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 forests o 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 Policy o Staunch believer in the Cold War and Vietnam Reasons for increasing military spending o 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 Iran o Iran has just finished a rebellion Kidnap 9 Americans Trading with the enemy weapons for Iranian hostages o Must do it secretly o Reagan claimed in the 1970s he would never negotiate with terrorists o 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 were o Saw them as Godless world powers o Your enemy s enemy is not your friend
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