Regan/Bush/Clinton The 1980s

“Government is not the solution to our problems. Government is the problem.” -Reagan

\ Rise of Conservatism

  1. Coalition of:

       1. Religous fundamentalists    2. Political Conservatives

  1. Leading Issues

       1. Lower Taxes (anti-big Gov.)

             1. Begins in California    2. Moral Revival (against declining morality

             1. Roe v. Wade       2. Moral Majority    3. “Reverse Discrimination”

             1. Bakke v. University of CA

\ Election of 1980

  • Reagan Defeats Carter
  • New Deal coalition broke up (finalized political realignment)
  • Senate dominantly conservative (end of Democratic dominance)

\ Reagan Revolution

  1. Promised

       1. Lowered Taxes    2. Reduced government spending on welfare    3. Build up the armed forces    4. Create a more conservative federal court

\ Reaganomics

  1. Supply-Side Economics

       1. Tax cuts would increase investment and prosperity    2. Contrasted Keynes    3. Reminiscent of “trickle-down”

             1. Tax cuts for all, but primarily for upper income    4. Cuts in welfare, increases in military spending    5. Deregulation

             1. On savings and loans, corporate mergers, and environmental protection

\ Results

  1. Recovery from the recession of 1982
  2. Widening gap between rich and poor
  3. Big win in the election of 1984 against Mondale

       1. Still favoring Democrats: African Americans and the poor

  1. Huge federal deficits

       1. The national debt tripled under Reagan

  1. Increased trade deflects (debtor nation)
  2. Changed the conversation: what to cut instead of what to add

\ Reagan’s Cold War

  1. Good v. Evil
  2. Military Build-up

       1. Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars)

  1. Aids “friendly” right-wing dictators or rebels in Central America (Contras in Nicaragua)
  2. Grenada coup
  3. Iran - Contra
  4. Teflon President

\ Gorbachev

  1. Easing of tensions

       1. Glasnost: openness    2. Perestroika: Restructuring of the economy

  1. Pulled out troops in Afghanistan
  2. End of Cold War at hand

\ Conservative Failures

  1. Conservative gains are limited by the popularity of programs and cultural trends of previous decades

       1. Abortion (Planned Parenthood v. Casey)    2. Expansion of Medicare and Medicaid    3. Growth of budget deficit

\ Bush

  • “Read my lips, no new taxes”
  • End of Cold War   * Tiananmen Square ‘89   * Breakup of the Soviet Union   * Start I 9 <10,000 each side), start II

\ Desert Storm

  • Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait (oil-rich)   * Threatened Western Oil sources
  • 1/2 Million American troops won congressional approval
  • Iraw concedes in less than 100 hours

\ Domestic Problems

  1. Clarence Thomas
  2. Economic Issues

       1. Savings and Loan crisis    2. Even higher deficits    3. and new taxes    4. The recession begins in 1990

\ Clinton

  1. “Its the economy, stupid”
  2. Setbacks

       1. “Contract with America” - Republican filibustering killed much reform (stimulus, campaign-finance, environmental, healthcare)    2. Successes:

             1. Compromise with zealous Republican Congress on budget       2. First surplus since 1969

\ Foreign Policty

  • What is America’s role after the Cold War?
  • Yugoslavia   * Bosnian Serbs vs. Muslim Bosnians and Croats   * Serbian dictator Milosevic, ethnic cleansing   * US steps in (Kosovo)
  • Failed action in Somalain Civil War
  • Lack of action in Rwandan Genocide

\ Modern Challenges

  • War on Terror (9/11)   * Changes in foreign policy priorities   * Questions of civil liberties and human rights   * War in Afghanistan     * Taliban in Afghanistan support AI Qaeda, hide Bin Laden     * The longest war in US history     * Connection to Vietnam

\ Iraq War

  1. Causes

       1. Intel of “Weapons of Mass Destruction”    2. Connection to AI Qauda    3. Both proven false

  1. The invasion in 2003 was successful, and Hussein was executed, but the war lasts until 2011 and destabilized the region, power vacuum for ISIS
  2. Questions of American motives (oil)
  3. Globalization

       1. Post Cold War world is much more interconnected    2. Free Trade (NAFTA) - grew economies but shipped jobs to Mexico, led to increased migration to the US    3. Mobile phones and internet

  1. Economic inequality

       1. Made worse by the 2008 Recession

             1. Easy Loans for houses = housing boom       2. Repackaged mortgages as assets for purchase (mortgage back securities)       3. Burst housing bubble hurts homeowners, banks, Wall Street firms that sold the securities, investors that purchased them, and insurers that insured the securities)       4. Obama Stimulus - needed to be bigger to be effective    2. Political polarization in 90s & 2000s

             1. Increased immigration       2. Health care reform       3. Social Security Reform    3. Dependence on fossil fuels    4. Demographic shifts

             1. Immigration from Latin America and Asia       2. Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

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