"THIRTY years ago today, when he threatened to fire nearly 13,000 air traffic controllers unless they called off an illegal strike, Ronald Reagan not only transformed his presidency, but also shaped the world of the modern workplace." http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/03/opinion/reagan-vs-patco-the-strike-that-busted-unions.html?_r=2 Best Union busting move ever!!! Seneca
Yeah we are broke as a result of Reagan busting some unions 30 years ago, i think your quote applies perfectly here, You sir, have outdone yourself. If only we had a bunch more government unions which were even stronger then the ones in place, then we would no longer be broke, then we would be thriving as a nation. One of the dumbest comments i have ever seen.
As the OP posted, his actions shaped the modern day work place. Millions have lost their jobs as a result over the decades since past. That results in lost tax revenue, and lot's of it. So yes, Ronnie boy blazed the trail for us to arrive where we're at, broke. There were many along the way that kept things going in the wrong direction, but he definitely kicked it off.
LOL, yeah if only we had stronger unions that were really sticking it to the corporations, maybe that would have prevented the offshoring of jobs. Do you really believe that Millions have lost their jobs as a result of weaker unions? Actually its quite the opposite, most unions like the UAW have put their own employees out of work by being greedy pigs.
Following Reagan's firing of the ATCs, the US went on to have probably one of its best economic runs ever. That run stopped IMO when Bush II started a couple of wars while cutting taxes. Also, it must be noted that the ATCs were threatening an ILLEGAL strike and Reagan fired them for breaking the law. If you want an example of what unfettered public unions could do, please review the history of NYC's Mayor John Lindsay caving in to them and the bailout by the FEDS it necessitated later. S
Plus, we the taxpayers had to bail GM and C out. When the monkeys run the zoo as happened at GM, you get total labor rates of $70+/hr while the competition is in the 40s. Seneca
His Union busting tactics were but a small part of a bigger anti employee, anti America policy. Let's not forget his illegal alien amnesty program which lead to millions upon millions of illegals hording into this country over time. How much has that cost us in lost jobs, health-care, schools, and all the programs we bitch about? His crazy, de-regulate everything policies first lead to the S&L crisis, and set things in motion for the latest economic disaster. Trillions lost due to those policies. His mis-adventures in the middle-east, backing and supporting terrorists pushed us down a very expensive path in both life and treasure over the years. So yes, I would say that he and his administration must bear the brunt of the blame for our current conditions. Reagan was hardly the Saint and Savior the neo-con's claim. More like an economic devil to be clear.
Spurious correlation. If you are interested in causality, then just look at what was happening on the right side of the government's balance sheet at the time of this economic run.