I have often argued that not only was Reagan the worst and most disastrous president to ever live, he killed the prosperous middle class with policies that let the wealthy to run free. Just look at one example that was presented on Jon Stewart’s new show recently. SOURCE: EPI.org
Notice it pretty much goes FLAT right when Ronnie takes office.
Reagan firing the air traffic controllers. Reagan’s tax policies. The minimum wage was stuck at $3.30 per hour during the entire Reagan presidency, too. AND, then tie all of this to Jack Welch’s view of the stock market back then, which became popular within the business community, that corporate America should be concerned only about what the stockholders think of the companies and not what the customers or employees thought, which resulted in a total casino atmosphere on Wall Street as well as causing boardrooms to second guess and take greater risk taking and further annual report manipulations to make companies look better in their annual reports to Wall Street then they might be, that then resulted not only in a greater greed mentality within the business community, but also contributed to two major stock market crashes between ’87 and ’08, which then led to a further shockwave declines of the American middle class.
Reagan did to America what the Soviets could have only dreamed about doing, which was to perpetrate the collapse of the American middle class, which in turn has and will destroy our democracy – if we can’t restore the American middleclass – and then our preeminence in the world as the leader of the West and as the key promoter of democratic values throughout the entire world.
Agreed!
So we’re now hashing over the economy from 30+ years ago? The president is putting people out of work inflation is rampant and your liberal hero’s are attempting to add 5 trillion to our already 25 trillion and YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT RONNY REAGAN?
The middle class makes up most of Sioux Falls and You are bitter because you’re laziness kept you from joining it.
Literally the dumbest most petty people are in charge of our country right now.
Mean tweets and cheap bacon looks pretty good to most of Americans right now.
Look at the chart, it really gets up your gander because that’s what the right wingers are very afraid of, facts. For approximately 32 years wages have gone up with productivity, this is a good thing. Then Ronnie stepped into office and the only time it even bumped up a little was when Dems were in charge. You seem to want to blame a 9 month old president for the massive unneeded tax cuts to the wealthy under Trump that created a 5 trillion dollar debt over the past 4 years. The infrastructure plan could have been easy. It is spending 350 Billion dollars a year over the next 10 years and paid for by increasing taxes on the wealthy. Seems pretty simple to me, and fair. The talking points from the right make it sound like they are going to spend the entire amount of 3.5 trillion in one day, that is ludicrous and a lie. Oh, and I have been a part of the middle-class for a very long time. But the only reason I achieved that status was working 60 hours a week for 20 years and paying off my debts. I certainly wasn’t because I was being paid well.
There was a time when a single breadwinner could sustain a middle class lifestyle for a family of four or even more. Those days started to vanish little by little with the reagan policy of trickle down. Todays Argus, pg 1, above the fold article on daycare a prime example. Also, it needs to be noted, more than half the kids in the SF school district are on free and reduced lunch programs. Why? It’s a simple question. WHY?
Guys like ljl know the answer. It’s called the American Dream. (You have to be asleep to believe in it.)
From George Carlin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB4QpuuNF6c
The Jon Stewart clip isn’t connected to the EPI graphic. At all.
As to the EPI graphic and an examination of decades-old history of the US economy, a more salient question which comes to mind – productivity and compensation were closely linked, post WW II. While still closely linked, both productivity and compensation stagnated beginning in the mid 70s.
Why?
I wonder what Nancy Reagan astrology would have to say about the present. To me Trump was worse than Reagan. His cult was dangerous, tweets obnoxious, and the side deals with Russia. Biden seems senile but sanity and respect returned. I’ve paid attention to China lately. They’ve been busy with infrastructure and moving the poor into the middle class. They’re on their way to becoming the number one power. Democracy here needs work and soon.
Yes, we will still talk about Ronny Reagan. Obama back in ’08 referred to Reagan as a transformational president, which he was, but unfortunately it was not a good transformation.
I don’t think people are out of work right now. If anything, there are not enough workers.
Inflation? Ya, thanks to the covid policies of 45.
Is there really a middle class in Sioux Falls anymore? I think it’s more like a working class and an upper middle income class that exist in this town now. 57th Street in many ways is the dividing line between these two realities as well.
l3wis offers a successful road map for achieving middle class, but doesn’t underscore something I would assume also to be true in his economic ascent – an emphasis on living within one’s means.
WP asks “why more dual income families?”
One take (a “Dave Ramsey-type of precept” with which VSG may agree, but will detail as an example of Dave Ramsey making millions to dispense “common sense”) – participation by many in an endless race of “keeping up with the Joneses”.
Families no longer satisfied with the standard of living provided by a single income (e.g. unable to cash flow leases on two new vehicles, wanting to eat more meals outside of the home and unable to afford to take expensive destination vacations) choose to place two household members in the workforce.
Slavery to the Master (househould debt to provide the chosen lifestyle) places the household in a postion to accept that which is immediatrly available. They work for the compensation available because they must. They must because they are in service to their Master (household debt).
Full agreement – and to LJL – I’m sure you Are familiar with the old saying about learning from history. History is, of course, something that you are the Snow Queen governess do NOT want presented accurately – or preferably AT ALL if possible, because the lessons about “conservative” behavior and its impact become all too apparent. You’re “just focus on the moment, focus on the moment, focus on the moment” mantra is a form of cultural hypnosis. You depend on the submission of your targets for success – not collaboration, not cooperation, not GOOD MANAGEMENT principles, let alone small d democratic principles.
I love this. Scott, who would have trouble spelling his way out of a wet paper bag, is now an authority on economics.
Let’s remember, the Democrat Party controlled much of Congress for most of Ronald Reagan’s 2nd Term (1985-1989). They could have reversed many of Reagan’s policies from his first term anytime they wanted. Let’s remember, it was the Democrat led Congress that granted Amnesty to millions of Immigrants, lets remember Reagan created tons of JOBS, WEALTH, and Prosperity thus enlarging the Middle Class, which ultimately brought back millions if not billions of tax dollars to the Federal Govt. Lets remember, Reagan had the Grace Commission Report that found how the Federal Income Tax was a Scam perpertrated upon Americans as it does not even pay the interest on the national debt, and finally, lets remember, it is the Liberal Progress laws, policies that have placed this nation in debt, not so much the Conservative, more Traditionalist mantra of those on the right.
“Let’s remember, it was the Democrat led Congress that granted Amnesty to millions of Immigrants, lets remember Reagan created tons of JOBS, WEALTH, and Prosperity thus enlarging the Middle Class, which ultimately brought back millions if not billions of tax dollars to the Federal Govt.”
THAT’S JUST NOT TRUE. SUPPLY SIDE ECONOMICS NEVER ENHANCES THE GOVERNMENT’S COFFERS.
REAGAN’S ECONOMIC BUMP BETWEEN ’83 AND ’87 WAS CAUSED NOT BY HIS TAX CUTS, BUT RATHER BY THE CONFIDENCE THAT THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY HAD IN A NON-REGULATORY PRESIDENCY (REAGAN’S) AND THE END OF INFLATION DUE TO VOLCKER’S INTEREST RATE POLICIES, WHICH WERE ACTUALLY BEGUN UNDER CARTER. AND KEEP IN MIND TOO, THAT VOLCKER WAS THE ONLY MAJOR CARTER APPOINTEE THAT REAGAN REAPPOINTED. A COURSE, REAGAN EVENTUALLY RUIN HIS OWN ECONOMIC BUMP DUE TO THE ’87 STOCK MARKET CRASH WHICH WAS CAUSED BY HIS NON REGULATORY POLICIES.
“Let’s remember, the Democrat Party controlled much of Congress for most of Ronald Reagan’s 2nd Term (1985-1989). They could have reversed many of Reagan’s policies from his first term anytime they wanted”
ACTUALLY, THE DEMOCRATS CONTROLLED THE US HOUSE DURING THE ENTIRE REAGAN PRESIDENCY. THE DEMOCRATS TOOK THE SENATE BACK IN ’87 FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS OF THE REAGAN PRESIDENCY. AND IT IS TRUE THAT DEMOCRATS, LIKE DASCHLE, VOTED FOR REAGAN’S KEMP-ROTH 1981 TAX CUT, WHICH HELPED TO GET IT PASSED. BUT THAT DOESN’T MAKE IT RIGHT. IF ANYTHING IT IDENTIFIES THE MISSION CREEP OF THE DEMCRATIC PARTY OVER THE LAST 40 YEARS WHICH HAS HELPED TO DESTROY THE AMERICAN MIDDLE CLASS, BUT IT WAS REPUBLICAN REAGAN WHO INSTIGATED IT AND LEAD US TO THIS REALITY.
No doubt “Keeping up with the Joneses” is a part of the problem. That’s why I obsess with some fun about all of the new state-of-the-art car washes in this town. What happen to the days when a “poor American” washed their own Cadillac? 😉
Also, I think women’s lib and allowing Mom to go to work, which was a good thing in its own right, caused most of us to initially ignore the collapse of family incomes, because two incomes were seen as one or enough for a family to stay ahead or at least survive. This initial hidden collapse in income, which was simultaneous with Mom going back to work, allowed for the growing collapse of the American middle class to go unnoticed or ignored for sometime until it was too late to do anything about it in the short run.
AND, now we are where we are. But let’s not forget that our trade policies and the anti-union attitude of many of our political leaders over the last 40 years have also led to the collapse of the American middle class, which would then include, to be fair, the Clinton presidency for severe critique as well.
BUT, when it is all said and done, it was Reagan who instigated all of this with the help of some enabling Democrats. Without Ronny, the transformational president, it would have never happened.
“I think the anti-quotation boy should go find a food truck and then stuff himself”…. “You know what “stuff” means in the UK, don’t you?”….
Funny, I haven’t washed my car the entire summer and it looks just as clean. I blame global warming, I simply park my car on the street before a storm and the downpours we have received keep it clean as a whistle.
As for something else, I think the high rate of regressive taxes such as the sales taxes and property taxes has really been a burden on the middle class. Just look right here in SF where we hand out millions in property tax cuts to the super rich while the rest of us have to make it up with our property taxes and sales taxes.
A tax is a tax, period. I rather have a sales tax than a income tax, I wll never pay an income tax as much as humanly possible.
Businesses do pay good wages, yet alone WE as automotive shops are paying our mechanics based on Commission, Flat Rate Per Job, and offering to pay 30, 40, 50% of our labor rate, which is pushing $100-120/hour today. Mechanics can make good money, but very few do cuse they are NOT motivated to work, this happens in all trades, PEOPLE need to be motivated.
Stop paying hourly wages, and start paying commission, and you will get more Motivated workers.
The reason people have to work hourly is because they need healthcare benefits. If we went to a Medicare for single payer system you would see more people working under your model.
Or maybe some people just don’t like working for an a-hole.
Oh no, we do not need medicaid for all, and I have no idea why so many people think the employer needs to provide all the benefits, I have always gotten better rates on my own terms, shopping for insurance
MZ,
For auto repair shops run as book hour shops, the $/hour for labor charge listed on the shop invoice tells only a portion of the story.
Nonetheless, that you are sharing larger portions of retail labor charges with shop employees is a good thing.
As for a commission structure in auto repair – as a consumer, I’ll take a hard pass on an auto shop mechanic who I know to be motivated by the size of the repair/maintenence bill paid to the shop for which he/she works.
Do Girl Scouts get commissions on their cookie sales? Because at times, they can be very aggressive.