The Conservative Resurgence: Introduction

1. The Conservative Resurgence: Introduction

2. ENTRY # 60 Make a Compare/Contrast List: In modern times, where do the two leading Political parties fall on issues and topics? Make a list of 5(+) Comparisons Democratic Party VS. Republican Party LIBERAL CONSERVATIVE

3. During the late Twentieth Century, the differences between the two Major parties grew more pronounced… Democratic Party VS. Republican Party LIBERAL CONSERVATIVE Big Government Shrink Government Increase Taxes Reduce Taxes (esp. at top) Increase Programs/gov’t. spending Decrease programs/gov’t. spending Less military spending More military spending Cooperate with UN more Cooperate with UN less More Environmental regulation Less Environmental regulation “Traditional Values” less important “Traditional Values” more important Nationalization of Industry/Health Care Privatization of Industry/Health Care Pro-Gun Control Anti- Gun Control Pro-public education Ed. Vouchers/Defund public education Pro-Choice Pro – Life Not pro-Israel; Pro-Israel; Pro-LGBT Less Pro-LGBT More Restrained Foreign Policy More Aggressive Foreign Policy Less Restrictive Immigration Policy More Restrictive Immigration Policy

4. NEW RIGHT: By the late 1970s, Middle and Working-class Americans, especially in the South had grown tired of Liberal programs and trends, such as: • Busing (Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Ed.) • Affirmative Action (Regents of Univ. of California v. Bakke) • No established prayer in schools (Engel v. Vitale) • Unfundedfederal mandates • “Degeneration” of youth (counterculture; Roe v. Wade) The American Conservative movement included both religious conservatives and fiscal (economic) conservatives…1970s saw shift in the South from Democratic to Republican

5. Moral Majority • Founder Jerry Falwell (1979) • Religious organization for political change (or a political organization working to fulfill religious goals?) • Supported “Traditional” and “Mainstream American” values.

6. Ronald Reagan 1981-1989 • B Movie Actor (and Governor of California) • Old Man (oldest president ever) • Stood for lower taxes, traditional American values, and military preparedness (especially vs. USSR, which he called “The Evil Empire”) • Conservative Resurgence coupled with bad economic times in the late 70s, helped Reagan win the 1980 Presidential election. • “Government is not the solution, government is the problem.”

7. “Reagonomics” Supply-Side (trickle-down) economics: • Cut taxes (and thus domestic/social spending*) so that the private sector would invest more, leading to increased production, jobs, and prosperity. • Cutting taxes to the rich was seen as especially useful (why?). • Economic Recovery Act: Cut overall federal taxes by 25%; 28% for the wealthiest Americans. • Also reduced government regulation of industry *Note that the spending savings was greatly offset by dramatic increase in military spending

8. Results of Reaganomics • Economy sputtered from 1981-82, but greatly improved by 1983. • Rich got richer (yuppies), but the number of poor increased, and the middle class standard of living remained stagnant or slightly decreased. • The return of American prosperity, even if not fully shared by all Americans, earned Reagan a landslide victory in his 1984 re-election bid • Deficit spending -Budget deficits (and therefore the national debt) increased dramatically between 1981 and 1986…but that would be dealt with later, by Bush Sr.

9. The End of the Cold War

10. Reagan Built Up the Military • Reagan significantly increased military spending in the Cold War, both nuclear and conventional arms increased. • Increased military spending from 100 billion to 300 billion per year during his presidency. • Believed (correctly) that the USSR could not compete with this type of spending

11. SDI • Strategic Defense Initiative: meant to create a system of anti-missile defenses to protect the United States. This was something the USSR could definitely not pursue, economically…may have ben the last straw for them.

12. Fought Communism • Supported the Contras: anti-communist rebels in Nicaragua (funded by 1986 sales of arms to Iran … Iran-Contra Affair Scandal…oops) • Removed a leftist dictator from power in Grenada • Supported a right-wing government in El Salvador against leftest rebels • Continued to aid Afghanistani anti-Soviet rebels.

13. Why Change in the Soviet Union • Huge economic problems in the USSR • Their war in Afghanistan had drained their economy • Gorbachev (to power in 1985): Perestroika (economic reform) and Glasnot (openness)

14. Gorbachev and Reagan • Met four times between 1985 and 1989 to discuss arms reduction, Soviet pull-out of Afghanistan and diplomatic cooperation…The two men turned out to be friends.

15. Berlin Wall Fell in 1989 • “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall”…East Germans were at last allowed into West Berlin. • Bush Sr. President by this time

16. The Soviet Union Broke Up in 1991, and the Cold War Was Officially Over

17. Sandra Day O’Connor • 1986 • First female appointed to the Supreme Court. Moderate Conservative Supreme Court Justice • Her appointment, along with three others, was meant to make the court much less liberal-minded

18. Social Security AIDs Reform Act • Beginning of the AIDs epidemic first appeared in 1981 (See Rent) • The president remained mostly silent on the issue of the AIDS epidemic. • Bush 1 will promote funding for research on the disease • As the number of elderly grew, the Social Security System began to pay out more than it took in. • 1983, Reagan Signed the Act, raising the minimum retirement age from 65 to 67 and increasing payroll taxes to cover the payments. • Social Security remains a difficult issue. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV4vFRaVQIA

19. Iran-Contra Affair https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9czSmg3Ry40 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiA-0HHDIAc • A political scandal in the that occurred during the second term of the Reagan Administration. Senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran (which was the subject of an arms embargo). They hoped thereby to secure the release of several U.S. hostages and to fund the Contras (anti-communists) in Nicaragua (See Containment Policy). Further funding of the Contras by the government had been prohibited by Congress. • The situation began as an operation to free the 7 American hostages being held in Lebanon by a group with Iranian ties. It was planned that Israel would ship weapons to Iran, and then the United States would resupply Israel and receive the Israeli payment. The Iranian recipients promised to do everything in their power to achieve the release of the U.S. hostages. Large modifications to the plan were devised by Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North of the National Security Council in late 1985, in which a portion of the proceeds from the weapon sales was diverted to fund the Contras, in Nicaragua. • While President Reagan was a supporter of the Contra cause, the evidence is disputed as to whether he authorized the diversion of the money raised by the Iranian arms sales to the Contras -Wikipedia

20. George H. W. Bush (Sr.) 1989-1993 • Most famous for his foreign policy work and his “patient diplomacy”, building multinational coalitions against international “bad guys” like Saddam Hussein. • Of his foreign policy work he is most famous for the Persian Gulf war or “Operation Desert Storm” in 1991. • “Read my Lips…NO NEW TAXES!”…Bush would be forced to go back on this campaign pledge to start paying off the national debt…combined with 1990 economic recession => one term president

21. War on Drugs • During the Bush Administration, the US “War on Drugs” expanded, especially in Latin America. • Included a December, 1989 invasion of Panama to arrest Panamanian dictator, Manuel Noriega

22. William (“Bill”) Clinton 1993-2001 Domestic Policy Gun Control: The Brady Bill & Assault Weapons Ban Comprehensive gun control laws. The first, named for a Reagan’s aide hurt during the assassination attempt, required background checks on gun purchasers. The second banned the production and sale of some semi-automatic firearms to civilians. Healthcare Clinton would have passed a law that guaranteed medical care for all Americans, but it was defeated in Congress. NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement: brought down all barriers to trade in North America(US, Canada, Mexico)) Note: Scandals in the Clinton White House led to a Republican Congressional victory in 1994

23. Clinton Foreign Policy • 1994 (Haiti): US sent troops to Haiti to put the democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide back into power after he was overthrown by a military dictatorship. • 1994 (Middle East Peace) Encouraged peace treaty between Jordan and Israel and return of home rule to Palestinians in the Gaza strip • 1995 (Bosnia): American troops sent (with NATO forces) to stop ethnic cleansing and secure peace during a civil war between Serbs, Muslims and Croats in what used to be Yugoslavia. • 1995: Reestablished diplomatic relations with Vietnam

24. George W. Bush (2001 – 2009) • Inaugurated in January, 2001, after a close and controversial 2000 Election • Faced with new realities after the attacks on 9/11, Bush was left with the task of strengthening US National Security against the “Axis of Evil”: • Patriot Act and Department of Homeland Security (2001) • War in Afghanistan and 2nd Iraqi War (2001-present) (2003-present) • Current Economic Downturn (Severe Recession began later in Bush’s second term, probably costing Republicans the Presidency in 2008 .

25. ENTRY # 62 (5/4-5/16) Read the Security Vs. Liberty Timeline. Then, evaluate the First 10 Amendments during our country’s history…When specifically (provide 3= examples), and in what types of situations have the Bill of Rights, and which amendments (see pages 47-49 in textbook) been cast aside?