Ronald Reagan's Legacy

[Solidarity]

Ronald Reagan's Legacy

Mark Weisbrot's Column
June 7, 2004

Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services - June 7, 2004


Ronald Reagan was a man who fought for what he believed in, and he changed the world more than probably any American in the twentieth century. He changed not only the conservative movement, the Republican party, his country and the world -- but also his opponents, known as liberals. As a result of his achievements, the typical liberal Member of Congress today sits to the right of Richard Nixon on a number of economic issues, including tax policy.

His death has unleashed a torrent of commentary on the significance of this revolution, and so it is important to set the record straight. His economic policies were mostly a failure. Partly this was because he had promised something arithmetically impossible: to increase military spending, cut taxes, and balance the budget. He kept the first two promises, delivering the largest peacetime military build-up in American history, and cutting taxes massively, mostly for upper-income households.

Mr. Reagan also helped redistribute American income and wealth with a bold assault on American labor. In 1981 he summarily fired 12,000 air traffic controllers who went on strike for better working conditions. This ushered in a new and dark era of labor relations, with employers now free to "permanently replace" striking workers. The median real wage failed to grow during the decade of the 1980s.

The Reagan revolution continues today: the "war on terror" has replaced the Cold War as pretext for intervention abroad, including the disastrous war in Iraq. Tax cuts for the rich and huge increases in military spending have revived the era of giant budget deficits. As the Great Communicator used to say, "There they go again."

http://www.cepr.net/columns/weisbrot/mark_weisbrot_6-7-04.htm

[BlueEyedSon]

1. kick kick kick

[emulatorloo]

2. Ronald Reagan's Personal Legacy to Me

I used to think that Democrats and Republicans were "the same."

RR's second term proved to me that I was sorely mistaken.

[IrateCitizen]

3. I know that Weisbrot was space-limited, but he left out a few things

1. Global gag rule -- refusing to fund any family planning operations in developing nations that even mentioned the word "abortion" -- resulting in a collapse in women's health care in developing nations.

2. Ignoring the AIDS crisis until it became a full-blown epidemic.

3. Making greed and selfishness fashionable once again.

For these reasons, and the ones Weisbrot mentioned, Reagan will be viewed as a failure in the long arc of history -- especially in the aftermath of the collapse of America as we now know it, which will most likely be in the next 15-20 years, IMHO.

[BeFree]

4. The Reagan revolution continues today

The root of our problems lie in that revolution.

It is that revolution we must conquer before any progress can be made.
RRevolution lives, we must put the RRevolution in the grave, once and for all. We must drive a stake through it's heart before we can ever again rest. Until then that vampire will continue sucking on the blood of our freedoms.