12mo ago

Why was Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan so bad for the American people?

74 comments

There are quite a number of good articles on the subject if you want a thorough answer, but some of the main things are:
He's responsible for a massive deregulation of financial institutions that were a precursor to the Wall Street issues that led to the giant government bailout.
He pushed "trickle down economics," which is the theory that if you cut taxes on corporations and the wealthy, they'll succeed more and create more jobs so that everyone wins. This is something conservatives always push and it's always a horrible failure that results in a bigger and bigger income gap.
He funded his big tax cuts (mostly for the wealthy) by slashing federal assistance programs, including low income housing subsidies and mental health support, resulting in an unprecedented surge in homelessness that we're still wrestling with today.
Nancy Reagan was the "Just say no to drugs" lady - the figurehead of the largely failed war on drugs which was like trying to prevent teen pregnancy with an abstinence only education program.
There's a lot more, but those are some of the big ticket items.
- Reagan was massively anti-labor and oversaw the air traffic controller strike and fired employees who were striking for better wages and conditions. It was a harbinger of things to come for labor unions, many of which were then so gutted by outsourcing and neoliberal Clinton passing NAFTA, the single most anti-union, anti-middle class piece of law ever. Reagan set the table against labor, Clinton and the Dems delivered the death blow. Organized labor now only accounts for less than 10% of jobs in the US, and only with Coronavirus-driven alignment and efforts is labor finally starting to regain its legs. 40 years Reagan helped kill the American middle class.
  
  I almost added a bullet about killing unions, but it was hard to know where to stop. He also wasn't great for the environment, but I think it's generally accepted that he wasn't the environmental train wreck that people thought he'd be.
- The Gays would kindly ask this list include the HIV crises.
  Thank you!
- Trickle down economics, which is the "Horse and Sparrow" economic theory. Also known as "Let the masses eat shit".
- Yes definitely "some". One rather big one though that I'd like to add.
  Reagan was a sponsor of international terror. Selling arms to iran. Circumventing a US embargo.To arm Nicaraguan rebels, trying to overthrow the government that had ended the American occupation. Training and arming the mujahedeen in Afghanistan. Who were part of a group many might recognize al'queda. Run by some guy called Osama Bin'laden. I think I've heard of him maybe..... All because "the commies" whom Regan and all Americans were pavlovianly trained to become apoplectic about at the mere mention. Marched into Afghanistan, failing and flailing much like the United States just finished doing. And that's only two of the bigger ones.
  Also it bares repeating but Reagan has a large part of the blame for the aids epidemic nationally like Mike Pence did in Indiana. Simply because they were both raging homophobic racist bigots.
  The HUD rigging scandal was another good one. Did I mention Reagan was a hyper partisan dog whistling racist bigot yet? Either way it's not repeated enough. Rewarding HUD contracts to Republican doners as quid pro quo.
  Sooooooooo many scandals at the EPA.
  Savings and loan scandal. A nice cancerous outcropping of Reagan's deregulation that still harrows us to this day.
  He's literally a bottomless pit of harm and scandal.
  
  Don't forget destroying the budget of mental health facilities, causing people to be sent out on the streets in droves, without resources. That is the biggest reason for our homeless crisis to this day.
- What about the cut on public education spending? Because Reagan was afraid that educated young people will rebeal against the government. Fuck Reagan

So many things.
Refusing to say AIDS for years , let alone doing anything
Iran -contra
Making a deal with Iran to continue holding the hostages until after he becomes president
Breaking PATCO the air traffic controller union
So
Many
Things
- The war on drugs, just say no, Regan pushing crack on the streets with the CIA

He and Thatcher were instrumental in bringing neoliberalism into mainstream politics. Neoliberalism differs from classical liberalism in that its about freeing capital and not people. This directly led to all the problems we face today with a government that used to be by and for the people but now the only people the government serves are the corporations we gave out rights to.
- So on point, thank you!

His policies on economy are responsible for billionaire class existing in the US. There is a good read on America only had a handful of billionaires 40 years ago. We’re now creating ‘centibillionaires’–and unless we tax them, trillionaires.

his election came out of treasonous interference overseas, his policy was to bailout people who made too many bets oil prices would never rise, his tax policy was to shift the burdens to the middle class and away from the rich, the current real estate laws that favor investors were created then, he illegally funded south american genocides, he oversaw a domestic crackdown on unions that is ongoing, his administration was run by the ghouls who later invaded iraq under false pretenses, and the guy was was also a huge piece of shit.
I'm sure I left out a lot.
- also got rid of the fairness doctrine, explicitly to allow the creation of Fox News and forever change news media for the worse.
  
  The Fairness Doctrine only applies to network television, which Fox News need not abide by.
  The report by the Congressional Research Service notes that broadcast is "distinct from cable, satellite, and the Internet, which are all services for which consumers must pay.
  "It does not appear that the Fairness Doctrine may be applied constitutionally to cable or satellite service providers," it continues.
  https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/11/28/fact-check-fairness-doctrine-applied-broadcast-licenses-not-cable/6439197002/
- Don't forget that he deliberately slow-walked any response to the AIDS crisis...until his friend Rock Hudson contracted it. Then it was all-hands-on-deck.

Sorry to be that guy, but I’m trying to promote a community here.
The title should ask, “Why were Ronald Reagan and Nancy…”
This is because the subject, Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan, is more than 1 person.
If anyone wants to learn English I’m moderating lemmy.ml/c/englishlearning
I’m happy to answer any questions.
- Great and useful way to advertise the community lemmy.ml/c/englishlearning
- You should format the link as !englishlearning@lemmy.ml, so people on other instances can use it too.
- Bruh it’s a title to a social media post. It’s not an essay and this isn’t English class. I really don’t understand why we need perfect English for a god damn social media post.
  Waiting for the asshat to come in and correct my grammar or something else I couldn’t give a fuck about since this isn’t English class.
  
  Me speak good, how dare
  
  Some people actually use social media to learn or practice another language, so some may appreciate the tip and the correction.
  As well, it just looks better when content is written properly. If the questions here were all stuff like "how is babby formed wen women is pragnant", it wouldn't seem like the kind of community made for people who are genuinely trying to find answers to their questions.
  
  Pretty sure English class is for daily life, so we don't revert to grunting cave people. This sentiment is what fuels poor Grammer, and it doesn't really take too much brain power to write/say things correctly
  
  My family and I did not know any english when we came here as refugees. I learned english from watching television, lots of television. I appreciate people maintaining a modern linguistic standard so we don't revert back to shakespearean or god forbid Canadian. (I am Canadian, I'm sorry)

It might be easier and quicker to digest in podcast form from people who did the research: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-bastards-29236323/episode/part-one-ronald-and-nancy-reagan-29967299/
In short: deregulation, wealth transfer to the rich, harming rights of labor, and genocide.
- This policy is exactly the same policy being implemented today. What are the odds of that? Examples; Deregulation: railroad crash toxic chemical huge spill, wealth transfer to the rich: patriot act and covid economic response, harming rights of labor: making railroard strike illegal, genocide: supporting israel with money and weapons...
  
  Yes, these things are all happening because Reagan paved the way for it.
  
  War on drugs, aids epidemics badly managed because it mostly affected "sinners".

Everytime we let a celebrity be president they make things worse.
- Populism doesn't work. Except for the guy in the spotlight.
  
  And the people who can exploit that popularity for a while.
- Ukraine seems to be the exception to the rule.

Trickle down economics
- To expand, their policies were harmful and we're still dealing with the consequences of them
  "trickle-down" policies, which widened income inequality and increased national debt
  initial inaction during the AIDS crisis made the epidemic and stigma a lot worse. It's only recently that we're starting to effectively deal with the illness
  "War on Drugs" got worse under Reagan, with mass incarceration that disproportionately affected minority communities. Also the "Just Say No" campaign oversimplified the issue instead of addressing the underlying causes. Again, we're only now starting to shift those policies into something that's more productive

He signed in the Omnibus Reconciliation Act on the heels of killing Carter’s Mental Health Systems Act.
Basically killed a chunk of fed assistance for heath care, punted it to the states with a nebulous “we’ll figure it out” which they promptly didn’t. So state mental housing disappeared and now you have mentally ill homeless everywhere.
And on top of everything else, throwing money at rich people, tax cuts for rich people, trickle down, throwing money at the military, and we haven’t even gotten to Gingrich’s bullshit “contract with America” that helped the Regan years push us towards the evangelical and fringe right we have to deal with today.

This question could easily be a college thesis, if not an entire course. I think anyone asking this question and learning more about Reagan is on the right track to better understanding... I really want to say 'everything'. Politics, human nature, consumerism, economics, negotiation, propaganda, cover ups, racism, homophobia, the fallacy of Democracy, and so so much more.
If you're any more interested in the subject than reading through a handful of comments on the internet, I recommend the book "The Man Who Sold the World: Ronald Reagan and the Betrayal of Main Street America".
- The podcast, "Behind the Bastards" did an excellent series on Reagan and the damage he did. I believe they referenced this book quite a few times in their research.

He tried to "starve the beast". https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starve_the_beast
The beast being the government itself. The idea is that the government is somehow overspending in comparison to the tasks carried out and it needs to be fixed by cutting funding.
The result is obviously that the government will function even worse, so it's a self fulfilling prophecy.
- For most of the Republican members of my family, the government is always out to get them. Something Reagan taught them.

In addition to all of the above they would literally consult their "psychic/astrologer" on policy decisions.
- really?
  
  Yarp. Her name was Joan Quigley.
  2 important excerpts:
  Joan herself in her memoir:
  Not since the days of the Roman emperors, and never in the history of the United States presidency, has an astrologer played such a significant role in the nation's affairs of State.
  The chief of staff dude who found out and got pissed:
  Virtually every major move and decision the Reagans made during my time as White House Chief of Staff was cleared in advance with a woman in San Francisco [Quigley] who drew up horoscopes to make certain that the planets were in a favorable alignment for the enterprise.
  There's a Behind the Bastards episode about it. Highly recommend.

He pushed the whole "the government is the enemy" mentality which has made it almost impossible to have national healthcare among other things. The republicans also jumped into bed with Christian fundamentalists at this point and the NRA went from being for gun regulations to no regulations. It was a continuation of the backlash against the 60s that started with Nixon.

I think Iran (let's leave the contra side out) was pretty bad. The US had been helping Sadam Hussein fight Iran by selling them weapons for years, only to discover they also started selling them to Iran too. Talk about hateful... Supplying weapons to both sides so they can go kill each other.
It's why Sadam was so distrustful of the US, especially when Shrub (Bush Jr) came knocking a couple decades later.

I guess it also warrants asking, what good, if any, did Reagan do for America?
- I thought as much, thanks.

Reagan, like Trump and Bush43, was the face guy connecting to people while behind the scenes the wrecking crew drafted their EOs and delivered on their patronage's shadow agenda.
A lot of what Reagan's admin did was foundational- as head of the executive (which includes regulatory agencies) he had the power to quietly dismantle regulatory agencies, and in so doing hamstring America's capacity to regulate its own affairs at the request of lobbyists that didn't want their industries regulated. His legislative affairs team gutted budgets and raided social security while he charmed audiences and the media.

Sabotaged Iran hostages being released during Carter’s administration. And the stuff others said. Check Hell of Presidents on the Chapo Traphouse patreon feed. I found it super interesting (I’m a history nerd).

If you have Paramount+, don't mind doing a free trial, or like to sail the seven seas, you can watch The Reagans documentary series. Another documentary that gives you some insight into the type of people they were is the Rock Hudson one. The TL;DR on that one is that they had been good friends for decades, especially Nancy, and the moment it came out that he had AIDS, they pretended he had never existed.
Ronald was basically an idiot but Nancy was a truly foul human being.
- The ol' throat goat.

He was so popular he convinced democrats that they needed to move to the right if they wanted to win an election ever again.

I think Reagan can be summed up as the start of "burn it all down". He defined the government as the problem and the solution was to demolish it.

Reagan cut taxes while increasing spending, despite talking like his goal was to reduce government excess. As a result, the national debt increase for the first time since WWII and has not stopped in that trend since then.