Morning in America the Age of Reagan I II The 1980s Conservatism seizes the brass ring a Ronald Reagan as the Anti FDR i Born in Illinois in 1911 b First decade of conservative cultural political dominance c Growing racial fears among northern whites The Political Odyssey of Ronald Reagan a The Hollywood years i Bedtime for Bonzo ii The Gipper b Reagan the Liberal i Headman of new right conservatism 1 Wants a conservatism revolution 2 roll back the legacy of the 1960s the great society and maybe even the New Deal ii New Dealer Union member 1 Staunch liberal admired FDR iii HUAC testimony 1 secret FBI informant c Reagan s Move to the Right in the 1950s i Begin to drift politically to the right during the Red Scare d 1960s Reagan enters politics i The Goldwater campaign of 64 and The Speech ii Elected governor of California 1966 III IV Enter the Bummer Decade a Conservatism rushes in to fill the void The 1980 Election and after a Got 40 of union members vote and 50 of blue collar workers vote b Four Reagan Administration goals i Revive traditional patriotism 1 Vietnam as noble cause 2 Pledge of allegiance in schools ii Massive increase in military strength 1 Rollback the new containment 2 Vastly increased military spending up 40 iii Staunch support for aggressive capitalism opposition to regulation unions 1 Unapologetic supporter of the wealthy 2 Reaganomics to make life easier for business 3 Tax cuts supply side and trickle down a Supply side economics if you cut taxes then business profits will go up and businesses will invest the extra money to make the businesses bigger and the workers will make more money to spend etc b i e the benefits will trickle down 4 Social welfare cuts 5 Deregulation a Getting rid of any gov t rules and regulations about how businesses are run iv Promote traditional values 1 Women stay at home 2 School prayer 3 Against homosexuality abortion drugs etc V Critics attack Reagan s Domestic Policies a Said Reagan s policies were a funnel to the rich b Criticisms of tax cuts supply side and trickle down c Deficits i Massive expansion of government debt borrow and spend ii Unwilling to make necessary cuts to balance the iii budget Increased military spending AND lowered taxes increased debt iv Cuts budget for welfare job training etc in programs that the new right doesn t like but it s not enough v 15 of Americans fall below the poverty line VI Critics attack Reagan s Foreign Policy a The embrace of monolithic communism b Support for anticommunist dictators and other unsavory folks i El Salvador Guatemala Nicaragua the Taliban Iran Contra Scandal 1986 the biggest since ii Watergate
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