I lived those years. Reagan was key in criminalizing poverty and government "government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem" and encouraging the push for local control, with all of its racism and other -isms in exchange for having local communities do their own funding. He was practical and backed down from what he truly wanted to do when unpopular, but that doesn't change his true intentions or the cultural impact he had, with ancillary voices like Limbaugh's furthering his messages.
I also lived through those years. I mostly reject your interpretations of Reagan's intentions.
I agree he wanted to decentralize power and return it to the states, in accordance with the clear intent of the Constitution - but in that respect he mostly failed. And he never got around to encouraging states to raise their own revenue - I suspect that might have been part of his program for years 7 and 8, which fell victim to his encroaching Alzheimer's. In the end, his Republican successors turned to a dogmatic program of tax cuts at all levels, both federal and state - something that is sometimes falsely attributed to Reagan.
Encouraging states to raise their own revenue? He was speaking Jim Crow the whole time. We certainly have different interpretations the guy. He had big money's interests and advertised for them effectively, started out as GE's mouthpiece. He knew what he conveyed when he used certain terms and phrases. I remember the impressions the Gipper's softly spoken unkind words left:
Reagan also trumpeted his racial appeals in blasts against welfare cheats. On the stump, Reagan repeatedly invoked a story of a тАЬChicago welfare queenтАЭ with тАЬeighty names, thirty addresses, [and] twelve Social Security cards [who] is collecting veteranтАЩs benefits on four non-existing deceased husbands. SheтАЩs got Medicaid, getting food stamps, and she is collecting welfare under each of her names. Her tax-free cash income is over $150,000.тАЭ Often, Reagan placed his mythical welfare queen behind the wheel of a Cadillac, tooling around in flashy splendor. Beyond propagating the stereotypical image of a lazy, larcenous black woman ripping off societyтАЩs generosity without remorse, Reagan also implied another stereotype, this one about whites: they were the workers, the tax payers, the persons playing by the rules and struggling to make ends meet while brazen minorities partied with their hard-earned tax dollars. More directly placing the white voter in the story, Reagan frequently elicited supportive outrage by criticizing the food stamp program as helping тАЬsome young fellow ahead of you to buy a T-bone steakтАЭ while тАЬyou were waiting in line to buy hamburger.тАЭ [from Salon]
I'm not defending Limbaugh. I'm defending Reagan. Stop trying to conflate them.
I lived those years. Reagan was key in criminalizing poverty and government "government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem" and encouraging the push for local control, with all of its racism and other -isms in exchange for having local communities do their own funding. He was practical and backed down from what he truly wanted to do when unpopular, but that doesn't change his true intentions or the cultural impact he had, with ancillary voices like Limbaugh's furthering his messages.
I also lived through those years. I mostly reject your interpretations of Reagan's intentions.
I agree he wanted to decentralize power and return it to the states, in accordance with the clear intent of the Constitution - but in that respect he mostly failed. And he never got around to encouraging states to raise their own revenue - I suspect that might have been part of his program for years 7 and 8, which fell victim to his encroaching Alzheimer's. In the end, his Republican successors turned to a dogmatic program of tax cuts at all levels, both federal and state - something that is sometimes falsely attributed to Reagan.
Encouraging states to raise their own revenue? He was speaking Jim Crow the whole time. We certainly have different interpretations the guy. He had big money's interests and advertised for them effectively, started out as GE's mouthpiece. He knew what he conveyed when he used certain terms and phrases. I remember the impressions the Gipper's softly spoken unkind words left:
Reagan also trumpeted his racial appeals in blasts against welfare cheats. On the stump, Reagan repeatedly invoked a story of a тАЬChicago welfare queenтАЭ with тАЬeighty names, thirty addresses, [and] twelve Social Security cards [who] is collecting veteranтАЩs benefits on four non-existing deceased husbands. SheтАЩs got Medicaid, getting food stamps, and she is collecting welfare under each of her names. Her tax-free cash income is over $150,000.тАЭ Often, Reagan placed his mythical welfare queen behind the wheel of a Cadillac, tooling around in flashy splendor. Beyond propagating the stereotypical image of a lazy, larcenous black woman ripping off societyтАЩs generosity without remorse, Reagan also implied another stereotype, this one about whites: they were the workers, the tax payers, the persons playing by the rules and struggling to make ends meet while brazen minorities partied with their hard-earned tax dollars. More directly placing the white voter in the story, Reagan frequently elicited supportive outrage by criticizing the food stamp program as helping тАЬsome young fellow ahead of you to buy a T-bone steakтАЭ while тАЬyou were waiting in line to buy hamburger.тАЭ [from Salon]