In a country with several hundred million people, there are bound to be differences in ideologies. When large groups of people have separate opposing political ideas, they spilt up into separate political groups called parties. In the United States of America, we have two major parties, the Democrats, and the Republicans. As children we are taught that we cannot have everything for ourselves, and would have to share with others. This has been taught to us in the form of compromise. When different groups or individuals have opposing opinions, and something has to be done, they collaborate and compromise. In a two party system such as in the United States, compromise is vital for the wellbeing of all. If one were to go back in time to the 1980s, …show more content…
they would be able to see how the democratic party communicated and compromised with the republican party, and vice-versa. Nowadays, this level of cooperation and compromise is almost unheard of. Since the 1980s, the political environment has evolved from a platform of cooperation and organization of deals, to one that revolves around bunkering down and refusing to associate with the other party. The political environment back in the 1980s were a much simpler time, when politics functioned the way they should have.
Chris Matthews’ novel Tip and the Gipper: When Politics Worked gives insight on Ronald Reagan’s presidency, his relationship with democratic Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill, and how his time in the White House was made easier due to the cooperation between the Democratic and Republican party. In this short excerpt of the novel, Matthews describes how President Reagan and Speaker O’Neill both had different opinions about the issue of social security, and were willing to compromise on the …show more content…
issue: Reagan’s people, especially Jim Baker, were eager to have Social Security be a non issue as the 1984 campaign started to get under way. Once again, an election had produced two kinds of verdicts, depending on which side was receiving it. The most recent contest for voter loyalties had told the Republicans they needed to call it quits when it came to targeting Social Security as a way to reduce the federal deficit. For Tip O'Neill and the democrats, the message was, “never be blamed for hurting the system.” Both parties needed to keep Social Security sound. That meant making adjustments in the present to assure its solvency for future generations. Before the modern era, this was how politics worked.
Both parties had clear differences on what they should do for social security. Instead of wasting their time by arguing with each other, they would look into the future of the United States. In order for there to be a prosperous nation, the two opposing parties would set aside their grudges and strive for a compromise. President Ronald Reagan was a master at compromise. Before his negotiations with social security, he would offer change in one of the Republican party’s most important stances-taxes. Republicans always believed in cutting taxes, however Ronald Reagan would consider the opinions of the Democratic party, and, “On January 3, the Washington Post reported the following: “Administration sources have suggested that Reagan is signaling his willingness to consider tax increases as part of a bailout, while O’Neil apparently has sanctioned a compromise proposal that postpones benefit increases for three months.”” The sheer fact that Reagan was willing to compromise with the Democrats on one of the Republican’s most strongly endorsed ideas demonstrates the level of bipartisanship witnessed during the time period of the 80’s. The cooperation between the parties allowed for domestic economical issues to resolve, and ended up digging the United States out of the recession of 1982. The period after the recession was defined by economic growth and prosperity, all thanks to the bipartisanship
showcased. Fast Forward to the modern era, the political landscape has changed drastically. There are new, terrifying obstacles present for the new presidents to handle. The election of 2008 ended up being the election where Barack Obama, the first ever African-American president was selected to lead the country. Unfortunately, he was greeted with the worst financial depression since the Great Depression. His goals were simple, to fix the economy, and to accomplish that with the help of the Republican party. As seen in the frontline video, he devised his financial reform plan, in the form of an economic stimulus package, and offered the idea to the Republicans by going to the Republican caucus meeting himself. His gigantic 800 million dollar stimulus package would appeal to the Republicans as it consisted of many tax cuts, which Republicans favor. However, before Obama met with the republicans, they already held a meeting, and agreed to say no to the stimulus package. This lack of cooperation and compromise essentially proves how little the two parties care about bipartisanship. The modern political game has devolved from helping each other to trading insults and staying as far away from each other as possible. Ultimately, one can see how much the political landscape has changed over the past few decades. No longer are Republicans and Democrats working together to create new deals that benefit everyone. Now, they are focused on catering the country to suit their own needs, completely oblivious to the fact that the other half of the country disagrees with them. Both parties are at fault, and need to change for there to be unity among the United States. If the two parties could compromise just fine 35 years ago, then we can do it today.
American democracy is fluid; it is constantly evolving and changing. The earliest divide in American politics stems from the very establishment of the government. Regardless of the hope the American founders possessed, political parties began to form almost immediately as the country began to take shape. Today, the two main parties are the Democrats and the Republicans, however each party was not always the same at their start as they are currently.
But if there is one thing to say about both men, that they equally accomplished even though both did it different ways and by different means, is that they worked with Congress flawlessly. Both had the undivided support of their Congress in their actions. Whether it be leading Conservatives supporting Reagan and his foreign policy or Roosevelt when it came down to making changes in policies to better the public, they had the full support of those behind them. Both men seemed to be extremely charismatic when it came to this. It was almost as if that instead of choosing their Cabinets, they had managed to pick their Congress.
The New Deal sought to create a more progressive country through government growth, but resulted in a huge divide between liberals and conservatives. Prior to the New Deal, conservatives had already begun losing power within the government, allowing the Democratic Party to gain control and favoring by the American people (Postwar 284). With the Great Depression, came social tensions, economic instability, and many other issues that had to be solved for America’s wellbeing. The New Deal created a strong central government, providing the American people aid, interfering with businesses and the economy, allowing the federal government to handle issues they were never entrusted with before.
Immediately after being sworn into office, Reagan implemented the first of many tax cuts. The Economic Recovery Tax Act passed in 1981 took 20% off taxes from top income levels and 25% off taxes from all lower income levels. Additional tax cuts, enforced in 1986, lowered taxes for those with high incomes by another 28% and those with lower incomes by 15%. These cuts were enacted based on the principle that tax breaks for the upper echelon of society would encourage investment and spending, creating new jobs for lower income individuals. Though these acts helped America during an economic low, they had consequences which are still being felt today. During Reagan’s presidency the distribution of wealth shifted unfairly towards individuals...
This was the final straw for many Americans, and enough to push them to the “right” side of the political spectrum, Republican. The election of 1980 brought the re-nominated Democratic candidate, Jimmy Carter, against the newly nominated Republican candidate, Ronald Reagan. While Carter ran a rather “gloom and doom” campaign, Reagan came into the election upbeat and with high hopes of rebuilding the military. Americans, weary of the liberal government, elected Ronald Reagan. Reagan came into the Presidency wanting to restore United States leadership in world affairs with a “get tough” attitude.
Reagan became president when the country was experiencing economic troubles; mainly inflation was at 13 percent and the unemployment rate climbing. Reagan developed a relief act and policies that became known as Reaganomics. Marc Cornman states “that there was no positive to the policies unless you were rich.” Interesting perspective, meaning that the policies covered lowering income and capital gains taxes, encouraging businesses to do business in the United States hoping to boost spending and in turn the economy. Mr. Cornman remembers more negatives, “Unemployment and the first recession, he raised taxes and eliminated deductions but continued to lower taxes for the wealthy.” He also recollects that President Reagan fired thousands of air traffic controllers for going on strike and that Reagan implied that unions were no longer needed this harming the economy even more. He feels ...
There have been many different parties on the surface since the beginning of the American political system. They all have different thoughts, policies, and motivations. Each party has their own agenda; some have made significant contributions and others have not. The first split, and beginning of the party system, came with the variation between the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans. These two parties were extremely different in thought, strategies, and status of people involved, such as their leaders and beliefs on how to run the government.
In the United States we are divided by the left and right side on the political spectrum; even further divided into political parties such as Republicans, on the right, and Democrats, on the left side. These two political parties show philosophical differences through their viewpoints on major topics such as the economy, separation of church and state, abortion, and gun control.
Since the late 1700’s, an era where the formation of political parties began, people have come together based upon similar views or opinions, otherwise known in the political world as factions. Factions have created political parties, factions have also created freedom. Madison claimed that there were two methods of relieving the mischiefs of factions; removing its causes or controlling its effects. “There are again two methods of removing the causes of faction: the one, by destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence; the other, by giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the s...
Introduction Reagan, Ronald Wilson (1911- ),the 40th president of the United States (1981-1989), enforced the policies that reversed a general direction of movement toward greater government involvement in economic and social regulation. Reagan as the younger of two sons, was born in Tampico, Illinois and spent most of his childhood in Dixon, Illinois. After studying at Eureka College,a small Disciples of Christ college near Peoria, Illinois, he majored in economics, and became the president of the student body, a member of the football team, and captain of the swimming team. He had special drawings toward acting, but after the graduation in 1932 the only job available related to show business was as a local radio sportscaster. In 1936 he became a sportscaster for station WHO in Des Moines, Iowa. A year latter, Reagan went to Hollywood and began an acting career that spanned more than 25 years. He played in more than 50 films, including "Knute Rockne"-All American (1940), "King's Row" (1942), and "Bedtime for Bonzo" (1951). Early political career Reagan's first political activities were associated with his responsibilities as a union leader. As union president, Reagan tried to remove suspected Communists from the movie industry. When the U.S. House Committee. Began an investigation in 1947 on the influence of Communists in the film industry, Reagan took a strong anti-Communist stand testifying before the committee. Reagan emerged on the national political scene in 1964 when he made fervent television speech supports for the Republican presidential candidate, United States Senator Barry Goldwater from Arizona. Although the election was lost, Reagan's speech brought in money and admiration from Republicans around the country. After the speech a group of Republicans in California persuaded Reagan to run for governor of California in 1966. Reagan appealed to traditional Republican voters. He defeated Edmund G. (Pat) Brown, Sr., Democrat, by almost a million votes. The election of 1980 Reagan spent years making political friends at party fund-raising dinners around the country. In the election of 1980 for the president, the candidates were Carter and Reagan. The contrast between the television personalities of two candidates was very important to people. Carter’s nervous manner had never been popular to people, while Reagan’s charm and happy face was a call for return to patriotism, which appealed to the public. Many voters believed that Reagan was forceful leader who could get their lives in shape and who could restore prosperity at home.
- In the 1990's conservatism strife to reduce the size of government, reduce public spending, reform the taxation laws to encourage investments, deregulate business to promote economic growth, and manage the fiscal and monetary sides of the economy
There was general prosperity in America following the Second World War, however in the 1970s inflation rose, productivity decreased, and corporate debt increased. Individual incomes slipped as oil prices raised. Popular dissent surrounding the economic crisis helped Reagan win the 1980 election under promises to lower taxes, deregulate, and bring America out of stagnation. Many New Right supporters put their faith in him to change the system. To start his tenure, Reagan passed significant tax cuts for the rich to encourage investment. Next he passed the Economy Recovery Tax Act that cut tax rates by 25% with special provisions that favored business. Reagan’s economic measures were based on his belief in supply-side economics, which argued that tax cuts for the wealthy and for business stimulates investment, with the benefits eventually tricking down to the popular masses. His supply-side economic policies were generally consistent with the establishment’s support of free market, ...
The Social Security Act was passed by President FDR as one of his programs to fight the Great Depression. The Social Security Act was enacted August 14, 1935 (Social Security Act). The current problem is the fear of what will become of Social Security as the baby boomers generation begins to retire. As millions of baby boomers approach retirement, the program's annual cash surplus will shrink and then disappear. Then, Social Security will not be able to pay full benefits from its payroll and other tax revenues (Social Security Reform Center – Problem). This is causing the U.S. government to think about reform and changes for the ...
The United States of America was founded on disagreement. The authors of the Declaration of Independence fought extensively over issues such as foreign policy, natural rights, and governmental structure. As several viewpoints clashed, they synthesized in order to create values that reflected the intentions of all the people. Human ability to disagree is arguably what causes us to progress as a society, as can be seen with the creation of this great document that all people can agree on. However, there comes a point where disagreement can turn into blood feud between opposing ideologies that hinders progress from being made.
Lyndon Johnson was the next president to make significant advances in social welfare. He launched his War on Poverty, aimed at turning America into a Great Society, one without homeless on the streets or hungry children. In order to accomplish these goals he established liberalized requirements for government money. Over the next thirty years, Johnson’s dreams of a society without poverty were not realized. Time showed his programs did more harm than good, raising the nation debt to staggering proportions. In 1996, Bill Clinton signed a Welfare Reform bill as passed to by a Republican Congress. Reform in 1996 meant cutbacks in aid to the peopl...