Romney’s Reaganism Part 3

     

     In 1980, President Reagan’s economic aim was to empower corporate America, for he believed that the central key to creating a vibrant economy was greater freedom for the businesses community. They needed, in his judgment, less government restrictions (or greater freedom) to act more confidently and more assertively in all areas of business.Reagan believed he could create this level of empowerment for the business community by reducing the amount of government regulations, reducing the number of workers’ unions, eliminating equal opportunity and civil legal actions, and reducing corporate taxes. He believed these steps would allow corporations to grow, take additional risks, and ultimately investing in the American economy by hiring new American workers. However, Reagan’s belief, in my judgment, had one huge flaw:  President Reagan truly believed that the leaders of American corporations shared his deep love and 100 percent, patriotic, commitment to the United States of America. He assumed that the red, white, and blue streams of patriotism, which ran through every fiber of his body, also ran through the veins of American corporate leaders. He was wrong! His world of loyalty to America and fellow Americans, where the big guys looked out for the small guys and corporate leaders ensured that workers enjoyed the rewards of their labor, was rapidly becoming extinct. Instead, a new corporate mindset was emerging – especially in the days following the downfall of the Soviet Union: Corporate America, which became keenly aware that military actions by the Soviet Union would no longer pose substantial threats to American interests abroad, felt greater freedom to invest in less expensive, less regulated, and cheap-labor global markets. But Reagan seemed to be unaware of it, so he started Reaganism.

     He cut and cut corporate taxes, and taxes on capital gains. He appointed a conservative Supreme Court, including Clarence Thomas and Chief Justice Rehnquist, which proceeded to roll back all the civil rights and equal opportunity gains of the 60’s and all the environmental laws of the 60’s and 70’s, for minorities and women. Additionally, Regan made massive cuts in entitlement spending, while at the same time drastically increasing the size of the military budget. Consequently, as a direct result of these policy actions by Reagan four major trends in American economy started: 1. The richest Americans and corporate America began to make an enormous amount of money. 2. Although employment increased, the real wages of American workers decreased. 3. The number of Americans living in poverty increased, including many with jobs whose wages were too low to allow them to maintain a minimum standard of living. And 4. Our nation debt drastically increased, and run-away deficit spending started in America.

     These four trends continued under the Bush tax cuts, gained a four-year extension under the Obama and Democratic submission to the Republican-Tea Party blackmail and coercion tactics, and will become the end of the American free market economy under Mitt Romney.

     God help us!

by

James A. Porter