Welfare queens and the Reagan revolution

DAVID CAY JOHNSTON: Yes. Well, Ronald Reagan, whether you love Ronald Reagan or you hate Ronald Reagan, was a great leader. He did, in fact, dramatically change the country.

Between 1945 and the election of Ronald Reagan, we had a government that was focused on creating and nurturing the middle class. When I was a young man, I was able to go to college only because it was free.
(...)
But I'm asking the question in Free Lunch: Are you better off than you were in 1980? And on the surface, America is much better off. The country is more than twice as wealthy in real terms as it was in 1980. Per person, adjusted for inflation, the economy now puts out $1.70 for every dollar that it put out in 1980. Those are absolutely tremendous economic numbers.
(...)
And by the way, the average income of the bottom 90 percent of Americans, what I call the vast majority, is smaller today than it was in 1980. And since the year 2000, when we really got serious about this tax cut business, the average income of Americans every year—2001, '02, '03, '04, '05—has been smaller than it was in 2000.
(...)
And, you know, our national myth that Ronald Reagan ran for office on was that there were all these welfare queen Cadillacs—welfare queens driving Cadillacs out there. I think there was, in fact, one scam artist who went to prison. But what's really going on is welfare at the top, and way beyond what's been reported in the news media as corporate welfare. We have built into the scaffolding of the new economy rules that funnel money to the top.

Playlist:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfQDBjVhMzA&feature=PlayList&p=5EF4E9A...
Book:
http://books.google.com/books?id=iuKyGAAACAAJ&dq=david+cay+johnston+free+...
NPR interview:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17808622

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• ronald
• reagan
• conservative
• revolution
• titel
• insurrance
• mortgage

[m015094]

As far as "welfare queens" go, they exist.  They may not be driving Cadi's, but they are scamming the system. Every time you see a person on welfare (now called section 8 or WIC (food stamps)) that has a smart phone, ipod, Air Jordans, jewelry - they are cheating the system. They spend money on these items and then claim they don't have enough to buy food. Basically, they are stealing from the tax payer. I see this every day in NYC. It's not our biggest fiscal problem, but it is one.

[madashelldude]

@m015094 Johnston is 100% correct: when he went to college you didn't have to take out loans. Today, I don't care what college you go to most americans take out $30-$130k loans which guarantees that a good portion of their top earning years will be wasted on interest rates paid for some rich wall street bastard who's not contributing to the real economy. Instead that money should be going on buying a house and starting a family much earlier because that's what's stimulating the real economy.

[yahlers]

@madashelldude

are you anti-Ron Paul?

[madashelldude]

@yahlers You mean am I well informed?! I think I am ;)

[yahlers]

@madashelldude

How informed can someone be if they think they already know everything?

[madashelldude]

@yahlers not getting fooled by demagogues is hardly "knowing everything". It's just not being a child.

[JawsJaws]

Michelle has 26 servants.

[Mr40acresandamule]

@KingSlimjeezy Truth hurts!

[KingSlimjeezy]

@Mr40acresandamule your name says it all

[KingSlimjeezy]

@Conduit13C every generation says that

imagine if you lived at the start of world war two! You'd probably shit yourself into the stratosphere

[KingSlimjeezy]

@madashelldude but you still want children to pay for you?

[Mr40acresandamule]

@cessnafan100 Our nation is paying the price for "Reaganomics." The problem is with both parties. The working class plays into this perpertual myth that government is the problem. The problem is that corporations and financial oligarchs are the problem.

[cessnafan100]

Reagan was a fraud

[betatalk357]

Sure, government loans can help you get into college. But what good are they went the public hasn't heard about them because Wall Street crammed THEIR loans down our throats' with the government's blessing so they can charge high interest rates? Or, even after college, due to the recession, you can't get that high-paying job you hoped for because Wall Street again, sent those jobs overseas? Other countries thrive off our generous hands, now we're getting screwed by Wall Street's GREEDY hands!

[betatalk357]

True, wealth can't save them, it'll just give them a softer cushion to lay on for a while before they show up at the soup kitchens like everyone else. Let's do them a favor, treat them as they do us, and eat all the fucking soup before they show up!

[betatalk357]

Nobody couldn't have done anything about the recession??? BULLSHIT!! Look at Germany- they gave workers 6 months' pay from the taxpayers pocket and the companies they worked for paid them for 6 months rather than laying them off. Because the German government gave Main Street a bailout, they avoided the misery of this recession and are now out of debt. US? We'll forever be in debt and nobody will get jobs now.