Download Foundations of Government

Unit 11—Chapters 19 – 20
The 1980s to the Present
CSS 11.8, 11.9, 11.10, 11.11
Part One
The Neo-Conservative Movement
Issues
pro-choice
pro-military
anti-illegal immigration
stem cell research
labor rights
police force
Minimum wage
gun rights
death penalty
environmentalism
Liberal
Democrat
Universal health care
laissez-faire
Conservative
Republican
Gay marriage
social programs
affirmative action
euthanasia
freedom of speech
personal drug use
Moderate
Centrist
low taxes
censorship
pro-life
Christian value
little/no regulation
The People
urban
Elderly
55+
PhDs
veterans
women
unions
White
Catholics
Conservative
Republican
Liberal
Democrat
under 35
African American
Moderate
Centrist
men
Moral Majority
single
married
Gays-Lesbians
Hispanic
Protestant
rural
Asian
Cubans
Reagan’s Domestic Policy
• Ronald Reagan
• charismatic, humorous ex-CA
governor
• the Great Communicator
• the Teflon President
• age 70 at the beginning of his
presidency
• shot by John D. Hinckley in 1981
• Reagan restarted the arms
race and raised the debt
• called the USSR the Evil Empire
• he fought for “traditional”
American values
Election of 1980
• Reagan beats Carter
• Are you better off
than you were four
years ago?
• “Reagan democrats”
helped elect a
republican president
and a republican
senate
R
Ronald Reagan
43,899,248
489
D
Jimmy Carter
35,481,435
49
I
John B. Andersen
5,719,437
--
Reagan’s Domestic Policy
Liberal
Conservative
•national government
•state government
•higher taxes on rich
•reduce taxes on rich
•social programs
•feared growing debt
•regulation of industry •deregulation
•diplomacy
•strong military
Reagan’s Domestic Policy
• New Right
• new coalition of
conservative voters
• lost faith in Great
Society
• suburban voters
• southern whites
• Moral Majority
Reagan’s Domestic Policy
• Moral Majority, 1979
• Rev. Jerry Falwell got
religious people to
register and vote
• 2 million new voters in
1980
• issue “report cards” on
candidates
• abortion, gay rights, school
prayer
Reagan’s Domestic Policy
• Reaganomics
• Reagan cut taxes by 25%
• less taxes leads to more
investment which leads to
more jobs
• unemployment rose to 10% in
1982 but fell after that
• hit blue collar and farm workers
the hardest
• new jobs make up for the tax
cuts
• GDP grew 4-5% every year after
that
Reagan’s Domestic Policy
• Reaganomics
(continued)
• increased military
spending
• cut $40 billion from the
budget (mostly social
programs)
• deregulated banks,
airlines, and
telecommunications
Reagan’s Domestic Policy
• Black Monday, 1987
•biggest single-day
stock market drop of
all time
•508-point stock
plunge
•Federal Reserve
Bank stepped in to
avoid collapse
Reagan’s Domestic Policy
• Savings and Loan Crisis
• de-regulation of banks led to
fraud, abuse of power by CEOs
• about a 1000 Savings and Loans
failed
• cost $200 billion to “bail out” the
S&Ls
• the “Keating Five” were five senators
accused of tampering with federal
investigations of the S&Ls
• they had received $1M in campaign
donations from S&Ls
Reagan’s Domestic Policy
• budget deficit
• the amount the
government is short at
the end of the year
• $79 billion in 1981
• $221 billion in 1986
• national debt
• the amount the national
government owes
• rose to 2.5 trillion
Reagan’s Domestic Policy
• Sandra Day O’Connor
• Reagan appointed her
to the Supreme Court
in 1981
• held the deciding vote
on the court for several
years
• Reagan appointed 3
justices and named
Rehnquist as chief
justice in 1986
1986 - 2005
Election of 1984
• “It’s Morning in
America”
• Mondale chooses
Geraldine Ferraro
as his VP
R
Ronald Reagan
52,609,797
525
D
Walter Mondale
36,450,613
13
Reagan’s Domestic Policy
• Air Traffic Controllers’
Strike, 1981
• Reagan threatened to fire
air traffic controllers and
replace them with the
military
• illegal for federal employees
to strike
• conservatives said Reagan
was strong and decisive
• liberals feared he was
destroying the power of
unions
1980s Culture
• Cosby Show
• Family Ties
• Rambo
• Indiana Jones
• Ramones
• Michael Jackson
1988
Bush’s Domestic Policy
• George H.W. Bush
• WWII fighter pilot and
ex-CIA director and VP
• Bush had high approval
for his foreign policy but
low marks for raising
taxes in 1990
• “Read My Lips”
• VP Dan Quayle misspelled
“potatoe”
• Also wanted to speak Latin
in Latin America
R
George Bush
48,886,588
426
D
Michael Dukakis
41,809,485
111
Bush’s Domestic Policy
• Americans with Disabilities
Act, 1990
• rights of America’s disabled
• access to places of business
and to employment
• Wheelchair ramps, Braille, etc.
• followed by Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act,
1990