The Reagan Revolution

Liberal

Liberal or conservative ideal? Government should regulate the economy

Conservative

Liberal or conservative ideal? Authority (police) should regulate social behavior

Revenues

Sources of income for the federal government

Spending

Government's use of money

Deficit

When spending is greater than revenue for a given year

Debt

The collected deficits of a nation over time

Graduated income tax

The concept that one will be taxed at a higher rate as income increases (our federal income tax)

Flat tax

The taxation concept in which all are taxed at the same rate (state and local taxes are examples of this)

Reaganomics

Also known as supply-side economics or trickle-down economics, the idea that big tax breaks for the wealthiest will stimulate the economy through increased spending by the top income earners

Kemp-Roth Tax Act

The first major tax cut of the Reagan presidency which lowered top tax rates from 70% to 50%.

Tax Reform Act of 1986

The second major tax cut of the 1980s which dropped the top tax bracket from 50% to 28%

Savings and Loans banks

Banks that took advantage of deregulation by making increasingly risky loans; this would end up in a government "bail out" of $160 billion.

Boland Amendment

A congressional action which stopped funds from being channeled to the Contras

LaBelle disco

West Berlin dance hall frequented by US service personnel that was the site of bombing in retaliation for naval dispute in the Gulf of Sidra (Libya)

Strategic Defense Initiative

Known as "Star Wars," this Reagan's sci-fi plan for defending against nuclear missiles from space

Glasnost

The Soviet policy which meant "openness," increased freedom for the Soviet people

Perestroika

The Soviet economic reform that allowed more individual ownership and decision-making for the Soviet people.

Cocaine

An increasingly popular street drug of the 1980s

AIDS

a disease of the immune system spread through blood and through sex that swept the world in the 1980s

We are the World

A music effort to raise money for African poverty; this along with Band Aid, Farm Aid and Live Aid became celebrity social activist causes

MTV

The first music television station

"Read my lips"

George Bush's campaign promise. This was followed by "no new taxes." He would eventually raise taxes which caused a major drop in the polls

1980 Election

Reagan (R) defeats Carter (D)

1984 Election

Reagan (R) defeats Walter Mondale (D)

1988 Election

Bush (R) defeats Michael Dukakis (D)

1992 Election

Clinton (D) defeats the incumbent Bush (R)

"The Evil Empire"

Ronald Reagan's nickname for the Soviet Union

McKinney-Vento Act

the nation's first law to provide assistance to homeless persons

Live Aid

1985 concert broadcasted around the globe to gather benefit funds to help the Ethiopian famine

Farm Aid

Willie Nelson's country music and pop music festival to raise money to help the family farmers stave off bankruptcy