Great article by Thom Hartmann (whose articles are always worth reading).Ā Hartmann argues that Reaganās deregulatory, uber-free market, pro-corporate, anti-labor, anti-higher education, and/or low taxation for the rich policies ultimately contributed to:Ā
Greater generational income inequality.Ā āBoomers in their 30s [inĀ 1990] owned 21.3Ā [%] of the nationās wealth,ā whereas āMillennials in their 30s today own 4.6% of the nationās wealth.āĀ
Wage stagnation. This occurred because of āright to workā anti-union laws enacted in Republican controlled states.Ā Of the 27 states that have passed these laws, 23Ā are below the mean U.S. household income, 8 are in the poorest national quintile (state rankings of 41-50), 6 are in the second poorest national quintile (state rankings of 31-40), and 9 are in the third poorest national quintile (state rankings of 21-30).Ā
Increased student loan debt and inability to wipe out debt via bankruptcy. Reagan led the way as governor of California in cutting aid to public higher education and in putting an end to āfree tuitionā at the University of California. āAs president, [Reagan]Ā began the methodical process of eliminatingĀ federal and state support for [college] tuition.āĀ Furthermore, in a massive GOP āgiftā to banking, people can no longer ādischarge student loans through bankruptcy.ā
Price gouging (which contributes to inflation).Ā āInĀ 1983, President Reagan ordered the federal government to stop enforcing the anti-trust laws,āĀ resulting inĀ āmerger mania,ā which allowed for the growth of huge monopolies that ācrushedā small businesses, including startups, and allowed for price gouging with impunity.
Increased individual medical debt (and bankruptcies), increased spending on healthcare, and lower life expectancy in the U.S. compared with other developed nations.Ā This all occurred because the āReagan RevolutionāĀ encouraged the end of state ānonprofit requirementsā for āhealth insurance companies and hospitals,ā to be replaced by āfree market principles.āĀ
Excessive pharmaceutical prices. Because of the āReagan Revolution,ā drug companies were allowed to become āmonopolistic monolithsā that could charge whatever they wanted for drugs.
Excessive housing costs.Ā The GOP Congress under New Gingrich āāderegulatedā the financial industry.ā Thatās why todayĀ ātrillion-dollar hedge funds and investment groups are purchasing as many as halfā¦of the available-for-sale housing, so they canĀ turn them into rentals and then, when theyāve cornered the market, jack up the prices.ā
A large ātransfer of real wealthā to the ātop 1%.āĀ āReagan dropped the top income tax rate on the morbidly rich from 74% down to 27%, and cut corporate tax rates from 50% to functionally nothingĀ [ā¦]Ā This 42-year-long process, with Reaganās original massive tax cuts amplified by trillions more in tax cuts for the morbidly rich from the George W. Bush and Donald Trump administrations, has produced a $50 trillion transfer of real wealth from the middle class to the top 1%.ā
Hartmann also describes other ways that Republicans since Reagan have continued to destroy our nation (and in terms of climate change, potentially the planet):
Climate change denial. āRepublicans, right across-the-board, continue to deny [climate change], in deference to the fossil fuel industry and its billionaires that funds their elections. Theyāve put money and power above the fate and future of your and your childrenās planet.ā
Politicians for sale. Through theĀ āCitizens Unitedā decision, the Republican appointed conservative Supreme Court justices have allowedĀ ābillionaires and corporationsā to virtually buy politiciansāmaking it hard for anyone in Congress (especially Democrats) to pass any laws not approved by the oligarchs who āownā members of Congress [mostly Republican but some Democrats too].Ā
Promoting autocracy, trying to overturn legal elections, and trying to rig future elections. Trump and his Republican cronies ātried to end our 240-year experiment in democratic self governance, and are now actively embracing neofascist autocracy, openly trying to emulate the rightwing strongman governments that have taken over Russia and Hungary.ā Republicans are also attemptingĀ āto rig our elections by purging millions of minority, Boomer, and Millennial voters from the rolls.ā
Limiting reproductive rights. [Republicans, through the appointment of conservative Supreme Court justices have] āsucceeded in overturning the right to abortion.ā [Some Republicans, including Justice Thomas, are also threatening to go after birth control.]
āOpenly embracing homophobia and misogyny.ā [Hartmann didnāt elaborate on this but some āDonāt Say Gayā laws and anti-trans laws have passed or are being considered in red states. Some in the GOP want to overturn ObergefellĀ and Lawrence so they can do away with same sex marriage and can re-criminalize homosexual behavior. Not only are the challenges to reproductive rights misogynistic but many of the educational gag order bills/guidelines in red states prevent the discussion of sexism in public education.]
Gun culture run amok. [Thanks to the efforts of the gun lobby and the conservative Supreme CourtĀ HellerĀ and Bruen decisions, pandoraās box has been opened and we are stuck with the]Ā ā400 million guns drenching our country [in] blood, and⦠Republicans [being] unified across-the-board to prevent any further action to stop gun violence in America.ā
White supremacy, racism, and a āwhitewashedā American history. āAnd now, these Republicans are trying to marinate your children in their white supremacy and racism by forcing teachers to push a false narrative about American history.ā
Still, Hartmann tried to end this depressing narrativeĀ of the āReagan Revolutionā legacy on a positive note.Ā
The good news, however, is that, increasingly, [Boomers and Millennials] are working together to throw Republicans out of office and elect progressive Democrats who understand these issues and know how to do something about it.
From the 80-year-old Senator Bernie Sanders to 19-year-old progressive candidate for the Ohio House Sam Lawrence⦠progressives are growing in political power at the same time America is waking up from the fog of bullshit Republicans have been crop-dusting over us since 1981.
All is not lost; change is in the air.
Get out there. Get active. Tag, weāre it!
[My only objection to this article is that Hartmann doesnāt tell the full story about Boomers and Reagan. He neglects to point out that a large percentage of Boomers (like myself) never voted for Reagan in 1980Ā or inĀ 1984. Reagan was more popular in 1980 with the older Silent and Greatest generations. In fact, in the 1980 election, most Boomers (unlike the two older generations) were evenly divided between Carter and Reagan. Furthermore, the youngest Boomers werenāt yet old enough to vote in 1980. However, that changed in the 1984 election, when a majority of Boomers voted for Reagan. Still, about 41%Ā of us (including myself) voted for Mondale. Many of us Boomers realized that Reagan was bad news. So please donāt blame all the Boomers for Reaganās awful legacy.