Transcript Conservative Policies Under Reagan and Bush

CONSERVATIVE POLICIES
UNDER REAGAN AND BUSH
MR. WHITE’S US HISTORY 2
MAIN IDEA AND OBJECTIVES
• Main Idea: Presidents Reagan and Bush pursued a
conservative agenda that included tax cuts,
budget cuts, and increased deficit spending.
• After this section, we should be able to:
– Summarize Reagan’s economic programs
– Describe the changes that occurred in the makeup and
decisions of the Supreme Court
PART I: REAGANOMICS TAKES
OVER
BASED ON POLICIES OF REDUCING THE FEDERAL BUDGET, CUTTING TAXES, AND
INCREASING DEFENSE SPENDING, RONALD REAGAN SPONSORED HIS ECONOMI C
POLICY, NICKNAMED REAGANOMICS.
REAGANOMICS
• In his first televised speech, Reagan outlined his
program to help bring the economy out of
recession – would become nicknamed
“Reaganomics”
– Cut the federal budget – decrease expenses federal
government expenses and entitlement programs
– Cut taxes – this would encourage private investment, and
help the economy recover
– Increase defense spending – this would allow the United
States to stay ahead of the Soviet Union in military power
DECREASING GOVERNMENT EXPENSES
• Reagan’s strategy for decreasing government
expenditures included deep cuts for social
programs, but not all
– Social Security, Medicare, and veterans’ pensions – largely
kept intact
– Urban mass transit, food stamps, welfare benefits, job
training, Medicaid, school lunches, and student loans – cut
in large amounts
• Some criticized Reagan’s measures as
discriminatory – the programs he kept intact
benefitted middle class Americans, while the ones
that he cut tended to benefit poor or working-class
Americans
SUPPLY-SIDE ECONOMICS
• Reagan’s policy relied heavily on the idea of
supply-side economics:
– If people paid less in taxes, they would save more money
– Banks could then loan this money out to businesses, which
could invest the money to increase productivity
– This increase in productivity would drive the supply of goods
up, and the prices would decrease
• Congress lowered income taxes by 25 percent over
a three-year period
MILITARY SPENDING
• Reagan authorized increases to military spending
that more than offset the money that he had saved
from cutting social programs
• Reagan revived development on two controversial
weapons systems
– MX Missile – ICBM developed for delivering nuclear
warheads
– B-1 Bomber – Bomber developed for delivering nuclear
warheads
• Reagan also asked the nation’s scientists to
develop a defense system that would use satelliteand ground-based system to shoot down nuclear
missiles
– This system never went into operation
ECONOMIC DOWNTURN
• As Reagan was working on his economic policies,
the country again hit an economic downturn
– Lasted from July, 1981 (just before Mr. White’s birthday) until
November, 1982
• In early 1983, consumers started to spend more,
and this boosted the economy
– Tax cuts, declining interest rates, and lower inflation
bolstered their confidence in the economy
• The Stock Market dropped briefly at the end of this
upswing, but then it started to climb again
DEREGULATION
• Reagan also pursued a policy of deregulation,
which means the reduction of laws, regulations,
and restrictions on economic practices
– Removed price controls on oil
– Eliminated federal health and safety inspections for nursing
homes
– Deregulated the airline industry – allowed airlines to
abandon unprofitable air routes
– Deregulated the savings and loan industry
• These measures did increase competition, an often
resulted in lower prices for consumers
REAGAN DOWNSIZES THE EPA
• Reagan also cut the budget of the Environmental
Protection Agency
• James Watt, Reagan’s secretary of the interior, sold
millions of acres of public land to private developers
• Watt also:
– Opened up off-shore oil drilling
– Encouraged timber cutting in national forests
– Eased restrictions on coal mining
RISING NATIONAL DEBT
• Even though the economy was doing well, there
were still some economic problems for the country
– Tax cuts had benefitted the rich, while social program cuts
had hurt the poor
– Even though Reagan had made budget cuts, federal
spending was still more than what it took in – budget deficit
• By the end of Reagan’s first term, the national debt
had almost doubled
PART II: JUDICIAL POWER SHIFTS
TO THE RIGHT
RONALD REAGAN APPOINTED SEVERAL JUSTICES TO THE SUPREME COURT, A ND
SHIFTED THE COURT TOWARDS A CONSERVATIVE ATTITUDE.
A MORE CONSERVATIVE SUPREME
COURT
• Reagan was able to further his conservative goals
by appointing many new, conservative justices to
the Supreme Court
– Sandra Day O’Connor – first woman on the Supreme Court
– Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, William Rehnquist
• After Reagan, President George H. W. Bush
nominated David Souter
• Bush also nominated Clarence Thomas
– Anita Hill, a law professor, testified that Thomas had sexually
harassed her when she worked for him in the 1980s
– Thomas was still confirmed as a Supreme Court Justice
SUPREME COURT MEASURES
• Through Reagan and Bush, the Supreme Court
became much more conservative and much less
liberal than it had been in the past
• Restricted abortion rights for women
• Imposed new restrictions on civil rights laws
• Narrowed the rights of arrested persons
PART III: CONSERVATIVE
VICTORIES IN 1984 AND 1988
IN 1984 AND 1988, CONSERVATIVES CONTINUED TO
STRENGTHEN THEIR POWER I N THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
REAGAN’S SUPPORTERS
• Reagan and his supporters had been able to
construct a large coalition of conservative voters
who approved of his policies
– Businesspeople – supported economic deregulation
– Southerners – welcomed the limits on federal power
– Westerners – liked Reagan’s deregulation of the mining,
timbering, and grazing laws
– Reagan Democrats – agreed with limiting the federal
government, and felt that the Democratic party had
become too liberal
1984 OPPOSITION
• In the 1984 election, Walter Mondale and Geraldine
Ferraro, the first woman on a presidential ticket, ran
against Reagan and V.P. George H. W. Bush.
• The economy was still strong – this was a good sign
for Reagan and Bush
• Reagan and Bush won in a landslide
ELECTION OF 1988
• In 1988, with the economy still strong, many people
attributed this to Reagan and Bush’s policies
• Michael Dukakis ran as the Democratic candidate
against George Bush, Republican
• Many people didn’t feel a need for a change, and
supported Bush
– Bush promised to continue the policies of Reagan
– Bush attacked Dukakis as soft on crime, and unpatriotic
• Bush won the election with 53% of the popular vote, and
426 electoral votes
• Bush’s election appeared to many people to be an
endorsement of conservative policies
MAIN IDEA AND OBJECTIVES
• Main Idea: Presidents Reagan and Bush pursued a
conservative agenda that included tax cuts,
budget cuts, and increased deficit spending.
• After this section, we should be able to:
– Summarize Reagan’s economic programs
– Describe the changes that occurred in the makeup and
decisions of the Supreme Court
WRAP-UP
• So…
• One of the things Reagan wanted to do to help the
economy was…
• And he carried this out by…
• One of the reasons that Ronald Reagan appointed more
conservatives to the Supreme Court was that…
• And the Supreme Court carried out a conservative agenda
by…