Originally posted by: Motorheader
Originally posted by: Amused
Originally posted by: Motorheader
Changed tax law's and that only benefitted the top 5-10% of wage earners. The trickle-down economics policy - ended up more like the "pee-on" the middle class policy. Countless military scandals and defense spending that we will NEVER pay for. The fall of the banking system, FDIC default, and the raid of Social Security to pay for that fall. Black Monday - October 19, 1987. The selling off of America that resulted in the U.S. being a debtor nation. The "war on drugs", or the lack thereof, and the resulting influence(s) of cocaine/crack on society.
Yeah, those were good times:disgust:
Are you kidding? His tax laws closed the loopholes that allowed the top 5% to escape paying most of their income taxes. In fact, it was the loss of these shelters that only benefited the rich that was a major contributor to the savings and loan crisis.
Finally, those laws (Tax Reform Act of 1986) were sponsored by two liberal democrats (Richard Gephardt and Bill Bradley)
And to blame Reagan for Black Friday is absurd. Markets around the world dropped dramatically. Interestingly enough, though, the gains in the years after Black Friday were historical.
And Reagan didn't start the war on drugs any more than Clinton did. He merely attempted to fight it. To not do so is political death, unfortunately.
Mmmm...yeah right.
A Mortgage in 1972 - 5%-6%
A Mortgage in 79-81- 16%
A Mortgage in 1985- 8%
I was in Real-Estate during the Reagan Era. It wasn't the loss of the shelters for the rich that prompted the S&L failure, it was the lack of foresight (just like now) during this time that led to and influx of money through the banking system and then when the bills came due - a tremendous number of people couldn't pay. The predominant politics of the time led to Black Friday. Money first - all else comes secondary. Six years of Reagonomics led to the Savings and Loans Scandal, which came to the forefront at the same time the Federal Tax Laws were overhauled, which came the time that the bottom dropped out of the stock market.
The politics and monetary policies during that Reagan era led to a greater gap in what one earned and what you could save and comfortably spend. Not everyone can be chiefs with no Indians to follow, so since everyone's wage expanded slower than the rate of inflation and the cost of goods at the time, it became easier to ship production facilities and jobs outside of U.S. borders, make it overseas, and ship it back, while Americans retained their "status quo" lifestyle. More women went to work, which again was necessitated by the rise in real-estate, higher taxes per dollar on the middle-class, and the decline of the family core. Who in the hell lives within their means now.
The flood of drugs that came into U.S. borders was a result of the inability to address the problems here at home in the U.S. The lack of true vision led to the failed war on drugs and the spineless and toothless "just say no" campaign that resulted.
Urban plight led to more people moving to the suburbs, lower real-estate value for cities, lower taxes coming in for those cities, and the flight of jobs and businesses to "safer" and more business friendly areas.
So much for America first and trickle-down economics.