30 Years Ago Today: The Day the Middle Class Died By Michael Moore

[proud2BlibKansan]

From time to time, someone under 30 will ask me, "When did this all begin, America's downward slide?" They say they've heard of a time when working people could raise a family and send the kids to college on just one parent's income (and that college in states like California and New York was almost free). That anyone who wanted a decent paying job could get one. That people only worked five days a week, eight hours a day, got the whole weekend off and had a paid vacation every summer. That many jobs were union jobs, from baggers at the grocery store to the guy painting your house, and this meant that no matter how "lowly" your job was you had guarantees of a pension, occasional raises, health insurance and someone to stick up for you if you were unfairly treated.

Young people have heard of this mythical time -- but it was no myth, it was real. And when they ask, "When did this all end?", I say, "It ended on this day: August 5th, 1981."

Beginning on this date, 30 years ago, Big Business and the Right Wing decided to "go for it" -- to see if they could actually destroy the middle class so that they could become richer themselves.

And they've succeeded.

On August 5, 1981, President Ronald Reagan fired every member of the air traffic controllers union (PATCO) who'd defied his order to return to work and declared their union illegal. They had been on strike for just two days.

more . . . http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/30-years-ago-today

[Sarah Ibarruri]

1. THREE FRIKKIN DECADES. He's 100% correct. nt

[socialindependocrat]

92. Cheated out of wages for 30 years

I was watching some MORON from S&P this a.m. and he said they wanted to see the entitlements cut. what an obvious GOP scam job. Who the hell are these people anyway? They - They are hurting the country and for what. Why didn't someone say something - Why didn't they tell congress what they wanted in order to hold the rating up at AAA? Where's the communication? Instead congress plays games and they raise the debt limit and then S&P lowers the rating anyway? This is to hurt Obama - Guess what - He has an 85% support level and I'll vote for him again because it's the GOP that is turning this country into a slum!
I may be wrong but, I've only heard of ratings of AAA, AA and A - SO where did this AA+ come from - Was this just created so that S&P could downgrade us but only a little? If they think the country is going to have a tough time paying it's debts now then, why did they lower the rating and make it more difficult??? why do we suffer because of a JUDGMENT CALL by some organization who is obviously trying to hurt the President???? This is a GOP plot and they need to be voted out next election!!!!

THIS IS UTTER BULLS@@@IT

OUR COUNTRY HAS LOST IT'S MARBLES!!!!!!

[classof56]

110. I say you are right on, and welcome to DU.

Of course the blame for this mess is going to be cast on Obama. That's a given. I'm guessing Boehner and cronies will be saying it's Obama's fault because he should have stood up against them and not given them 98% of what they wanted. With them, Obama can't win no matter what. As for me, he has my vote. I just hope we can turn things around before the GOP completely destroys our country. As Moore points out so eloquently, it's been a long time coming. I pray it's not too late.

Tired Old Cynic

[Jim__]

2. Michael Moore is right again. - n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. As he usually is

Love Michael. :loveya:

[crazyjoe]

100. was he right when he called for $12 a gallon gasoline?

[proud2BlibKansan]

112. Do I need to define "usually" for you?

:)

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Reagan hadn't been in office even eight months before he showed his true colors.

He never promised this when he campaigned.

[Yavapai]

19. He showed his true colors as Governor of California.

But nobody was really watching what he did during that time, they only watched (and believed) the
flood of commercials and 30 second sound bites when he ran for President. All the while
the right wing screwing machine ran Jimmy Carter into the ground.

I think it started way earlier than that. Maybe with the Kennedy assassination or even with Herbert Hoover.
Read about President Herbert Hoover.

What we need is another Roosevelt (Teddy or FDR!)

Teddy did a number on the robber barons and FDR brought us out of a republican caused depression. Both had a set of balls!

I like Bernie Sanders, or at least his rhetoric.

[izquierdista]

23. Nobody was watching?!

:mad: Don't say that within swinging distance of a UC grad of that era. After he calms down, he (myself included) will read you the riot act about how the Senile Communicator trashed the best University system the country has known.

[Yavapai]

30. Let me qualify that,

the voting public across the country only remembered the death Valley Days program
on TV.

Do you remember the bumper sticker that was popular back in the day? It read
"Reagan for president - let America share the burden".

[PufPuf23]

32. I argued with my Dad (1910-1996) more about Reagan than anything else ever.

I was an undergrad at UC Berkeley when Reagan was governor.

Then was a career Fed and quit age 33 because of POTUS Reagan and what was going on in the Agency.

I sometimes wonder if my ragging on Reagan so much while at Cal and being hippie / anti-war minded turned my Dad into a Republican.

My Dad loved FDR and was Democrat WWII vet who finished 8th grad and turned into a Reaganite and Bill Clinton hater. He had always voted Democrat until 1980 for POTUS.

[Mosaic]

34. I'll bet it was our corporate media that changed his mind

Yes most tv was corporate, brainrotting trash even back then.

[dotymed]

93. Reagan had "The Fairness Doctrine" shit-canned.

He decided that " free enterprise should determine the content of network news programs."

Prior to that, the "news" was required to be honest and allow people with different viewpoints to appear on the program to rebut commentary. We used to be a true Democratic country. A well informed society, as well.

Until we shake off the apathy, get mad as hell and take to the streets, nothing will change.

[liberalmike27]

107. Yes, the repeal of that Fairness Doctrine is Bigger than Most

Give it credit for. People ask (on the media, ironically enough, since they should know being they are responsible for it) "Why are people so, so polarized" with artificial concern dripping from their talking head voices. People think it just allowed FOX, or Rush in particular to spring to life, and yes those where the major problems. Rush broadcasted for 5 years before he ever made a profit. That kind of throws a spoke in the wheel of the moronic idea that they only put on programs people will listen to, as keeping a failing guy on for 5 years while losing money, well that'd be a little insane, wouldn't it? But anyway, with no FD, all the rich man's media, the oligarch's brainwashing tools were set into place, the acceleration of injection of right-wing thought into the minds of Americans can begin. The pretense that there are really two parties, so vastly different, for instance. After about 20 years of pretty much all right-wing, and chastising of media for being so "liberal" that the liberals actually began calling themselves "progressives" knowing the word had been so demonized, finally a "representation" of a liberal station came on, in MSNBC. Even it is a pitiful example of a shallow media, unable to actually criticize the system, the general workings of the government, or the military industrial complex. Is MSNBC more liberal than FOX--My God yes. Is it really liberal? No, it's just the "pretend" left. Even Rachel sucks up to the military, and wars constantly, and when someone does suggest something different, like Keith, Cenk, Donahue, Ashleigh Banfield, they get the axe without hesitation. Still those media filters are in place. Corporations that run the media put a lot of those ideas into your heads, and they don't want the pretend left to do much to knock them out.

[liberalmike27]

106. Hard to Believe

Reagan and Bill Clinton were so much alike. It sounds like he bought into the fake two parties being so massively different like they portray them on television, when in truth the only differences that matter much now are social issues, democrats being accepting of gays, and womens' rights.

Clinton got GATT, NAFTA, and the WTF passed, and signed into law the repeal of the 1933 act, which essentially helped along this real estate BS that has gone on in the last few years.

[dotymed]

131. Ironically, it seems that more gay people belong to "party of

Lincoln." IMO. because of our warped social mores, they have become used to lying. Many people have bought into the Fantasy, and found that by persecuting others, all suspicion is off of them...,just a theory.

One's sexuality has absolutely no bearing on their ability to lead or be moral.

[pink-o]

119. My dad was an FDR dem who became a Nixon Repug. He was born in 1924

and after voting for JFK and LBJ decided to switch parties. He hated the Great Society Programs and the civil rights changes in the 60s. Now he defends Gay Marriage, lives in a diverse neighborhood and yet STILL votes Repug and watches Faux. It just makes me crazy. And I doubt I caused my dad to dig in further, so you probably didn't either. It's just Old Man sensibilities, we can't fight 'em.

But since you were a Career Fed, d'ya know about The Campus Files? How Hoover pretty well groomed Reagan to become our Gov because he thought Jerry Brown's father was too soft on all you Berkeley Free Speech Movement types? The Chronicle reporter spent 17 years getting the facts under the Freedom of Information Act...and it states directly how Reagan was illegally shoved into that office.

Here's the link. Take the afternoon off, it's a long (but highly informative) read!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/06/09/MNCF3.DTL

http://www.sfgate.com/news/special/pages/2002/campusfiles/

(edited to add the whole stack of articles)

[PufPuf23]

129. Thank you for this post and links. The links should be an OP.

Read the first link and the 2nd link is lots of info.

[FloridaJudy]

75. My UC diploma has Ronnie's signature on it

Along with Max Rafferty's. Remember him? If not, Google is your friend. I kept trying to hide the thing, but every once in a while an employer demanded it, so I had to dust it off. Now that I'm retired, I guess I can go ahead and burn it.

Those signatures are as close to a decent education as either of those @!#$% ever got. And they did their damnedest to make sure no one else got one either.

[LuckyLib]

109. Yes, indeed. We protested regularly at the capital in Sacramento. What many

Californians could not believe was that the rest of the country thought this bullshitter was the real deal. We knew better. He was indeed a calculating, amiable dunce.

[Confusious]

44. I was

I was in junior high when he started. By the time I was in high school I hated him.

I think, in part, people voted for him because they were desperate. Desperate people do stupid things.

The Republicans learned, and they've been trying to keep us desperate for the past 30 years.

[MrMickeysMom]

68. ditto (to the tenth power)

I understand Herbert Hoover is a dirty name to Republicans and JFK is a risky name to a lot of people in general.

In any case, you're right.

[dotymed]

89. Bernie Sanders IS our great hope,IMO.

His "rhetoric" has been backed up by his votes. During the HC debate, he (mistakenly) let President Obama, talk him in to compromising his values. That was a bad move on Bernie's part.

In his defense, at that time, most of us were willing to give President Obama the benefit of the doubt. We all desperately wanted a President that we could believe in and who would put the majority before the wealthy.

Bernie, like most of us, learned the hard way. Thankfully, he did learn though.

[truebrit71]

4. Just one more reason to despise that miserable excuse for a human...

..His girlfriend in Britain was no better....Fuck them BOTH...:grr:

[SleeplessinSoCal]

53. I voted for him and he was human. Too many other actions proved it. I regret my vote though.

[awoke_in_2003]

122. I do not regret my vote...

or the feeling of pride I felt when I cast it. If he hasn't lived up to his word (on this like public option) then it is on him.

[ThomWV]

5. Just the name Ronald Reagan makes my blood boil.

Filthy union-busting asshole.

[jaysunb]

42. +1 n/t

[nineteen50]

66. You didn't like

Mr. Greed is good?

[villager]

6. absolutely -- and the Dems started their crave enabling then, too

...and, sadly, haven't let up, either.

Both parties have been complicit in the now-irrevocable collapse of American empire...

[defendandprotect]

50. Agree -- In '78 Dems colluded with GOP to break tax code for benefit of wealthy ...

and Dems were in full power !! And well before Reagan -- !!

See: Wm. Greider -- "Who will tell the people?" -- Pg 80

[Dappleganger]

7. Interesting, just yesterday I was sharing this info with my daughter

who wanted to know when unions had begun their downward spiral in this country, and this is just what I'd told her: it happened when Reagan fired the air traffic controllers when they went on strike. Everything else has been downhill. Our kids will probably never know just how big a part that unions played in the lives of the middle class.

[sinkingfeeling]

16. Apparently, half of all Americans don't realize how that act changed America forever.

[defendandprotect]

52. It did ... but it also relied on Goebbels' style propaganda to convince the public to let it happen!

As I recall it there was huge public support for the firings -- am I wrong?

Only later the public may have rethought it when they discovered that the strike

has been about increasing airline safety for the public!!

Just more proof that RW propaganda does work --

Remember "Welfare Queens" and SS as a "Ponzi scheme" -- ?

"Partial Birth Abortion" --

Where was the Democratic Party's reply to all of that -- ?

Firing PATCO workers did make a huge NOISE -- agree --



But unions were undere attack from the time of Truman -- right?

Taft/Hartley?

NYC also saw a lot of anti-union activity with transit workers, newspaper workers

and Fire Department -- as far as I recall it?


And what of Reagan in California -- did he have any impact on unions there?


Also remember that in America we only reached 39% of unionization -- ever --

and think now it's 7% or less?

[H2O Man]

8. Recommended.

I remember the day well. I was in California at the time.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

36. I was just out of high school...

... and headed to college. Reaganism really torqued things up and made the Gladstonians into a bunch of jerks and haters. They still are to this day, ha.

[cordelia]

43. I remember that day well, too.

I was working for Eastern Airlines at the time.

reagan always was and always will be the lowest form of scum that ever drew breath.

[Carolina]

126. and to think those repuke bastards renamed

Washington National Airport for that POS.

I lived in DC for 40+ years and to this day, when someone says Reagan Airport, I correct them with: "You must mean Washington National. After all, the main airport to the seat of US government should not be named after a PATCO-Firing-Anti-Government-Actor."

[woo me with science]

10. K&R

[whatchamacallit]

11. Well Reagan's biggest fan occupies the White House now

Lucky us.

[Enthusiast]

80. From now on we will ask a prospective

presidential candidate how they feel about Ronald Reagan. If they answer like Obama, they are out!

[dotymed]

97. Unfortunately, it may be a little too late for that approach.

First we MUST take back our election system. Verifiable, hand counted ballots. Each voter should get a receipt. That voter can do with it as he/she pleases. The main argument to receipts is that they can be used to prove a vote

and therefore, prove that they voted as they were possibly paid to vote. Of course, that is one possibility. The other possibility is that if a candidate "wins" an election, and the "win" is contrary to what the extremely accurate, post-

polling data shows, then the voting public has a way to prove whether the election was honest. IMO, the last scenario is vastly more important than the first one.

[FiveGoodMen]

12. I would argue that it died just after that

When 'Murkins woke up from their Morning-in-America hangover and DIDN'T say, "What the F... Why did we vote for that piece of shit? How do we get rid of him?"

When THAT didn't happen, EVERYTHING good died.

There are some terrible players behind the scenes but don't forget that your worthless, traitorous, motherfucking neighbors voted for this again and again and again.

We're a lot more screwed up than we realize.

[Divine Discontent]

41. most people have to be told something is bad for them. they didn't see massive outrage, so they in

turn, weren't outraged. sickening...

[bertman]

55. I agree with you, FiveGoodMen. We are just as selfish, unthinking, and foward-thinking as the rest

of the homo sapiens on the planet PLUS we have one big thing going against us--we are hypnotized and propagandized into the ground by the Corporate Media. Most Americans have no clue. They view the NEWS as the truth.

Until we wake up and a big chunk of us unite and say NO MORE we will continue down the same path.

[KeyserSoze87]

13. 1980 will always be remembered as the worst year in American history.

Pretty much all the problems this country faces right now--the economy, terrorism, right wing extremists, energy crises, deficits, the increasing gap between the rich and poor--began with the actor/idiot that was elected president on November 4th of that year. Electing Reagan was by far the worst decision the American people have ever made.

[bvar22]

14. Like Michael Moore, I also peg this event as the Beginning of The End.

There was little response from the Opposition Party,
and the next Democratic administration (Bill Clinton & The DLC New Democrats) made no effort to undo the damage.
Full Speed Ahead!


"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans.
I want a party that will STAND UP for Working Americans."
---Paul Wellstone

photo by bvar22
Shortly before Sen Wellstone was killed


"By their WORKS you will know them."



-------------------------------------------

[Armstead]

24. Yep -- A bi-partisan Titanic

[sabrina 1]

15. Michael Moore is right again.

And we have two parties promoting his policies now, instead of one. Maybe it all has to totally be destroyed before the people finally wake up?

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[RagAss]

18. Michael Moore has never been wrong ! He is the oracle under our noses that we do not recognize !

I watched "Roger and Me" last night on Current TV...it was made in 1989 and he predicted the life we have today. Flawlessly !

[pa28]

27. MM is a national treasure. He told us about our own future in that movie.

Also, don't forget when he won the academy award and then used his victory speech to slam the "fictional war" we were about to embark on in Iraq. He got booed off the stage but everything he said was prophetic.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

37. I watched Roger and Me...

... as soon as it was out on VHS video (remember those?) much to the antagonization of my Citibanker wife at the time. Split shifts, night shifts, "comp days" really did a number on our relationship, hence the divorce, although we are still friends and doggy sit for each other. :smoke:

[defendandprotect]

54. It was actually on TV the other night -- might have been "Current TV" ... ???

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

39. Dupe...

...sorry, dang blasted lousy Midcontinent Communications broad band is cutting out terrible today. Remember to never patronize this company for internet and cable, it cuts out, too.

[Uncle Joe]

20. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, proud2BlibKansan.

[Octafish]

21. Firing PATCO sent a clear message...

...to labor, a message old Pruneface learned from GE:

Reaganomics Revealed

EXCERPT...

Reagan’s story at GE is, to a startling degree, the story of labor relations executive Lemuel Boulware. When Boulware hired Ronald Reagan he was a conventional, patriotic, anti-communist liberal Democrat. He was not thought to be particularly well-informed or articulate. Under Boulware’s guidance, Reagan sparred with GE’s unionized employees and received what he termed his “post-graduate education in political science” from 1954 to 1962. He became thoroughly familiar with basic economics, and came to share Boulware’s strong conviction that business performs an essential public service. He also thought about a wide range of other public policy matters stretching even to the core concept of what was to become the Strategic Defense Initiative.

SOURCE: The American Enterprise Institute

The same GE that today doesn't pay a dime to the IRS.

Coincidently, the same company's president now advises President Obama on "labor issues."

What a small world.

[Romulox]

22. It was America turning its back on the UAW which gutted Michael Moore's Flint.

How many of our PATCO supporters drive foreign iron? :hi:

[Recursion]

26. PATCO endorsed Reagan in 1980

Sigh.

[defendandprotect]

57. No reason why Detroit couldn't have competed with foreign made cars --

their alliance with the oil industry also has kept us low on MPG --

and Congress has permitted it --

Global Warming, anyone?

[Romulox]

64. Just like there's no reason air-traffic controllers can't "compete" with scabs

Asleep on the job, anyone? :shrug:

[defendandprotect]

67. Only YOU are suggesting that -- !! Foreign cars were a legitimate business ... Detroit was making

garbage in comparison -- not the fault of the unions, however.

Don't know what the tariffs were, either --

but obviously we needed better cars from Detroit --

and you can't expect people to buy an inferior product when a better product

is available.

Detroit was allied with the oil industry -- and all this has gotten us is

Global Warming --

That had nothing to do with the unions --

"Scabs" are not legitimae competition -- you and I know that --


We should also rehash some of the attacks on unions --

they were destroyed by every rw trick imaginable -- including using MAFIA.

We also had MAFIA infiltration of the unions way back when --

NOT THAT UNION WORKERS BENEFITED IN ANY WAY FROM IT -- it was just another way

to gradually sell out union workers.

[Romulox]

124. Look up. This is a thread about the *decline of the labor movement*

These threads aren't designed to accommodate the sort of stream-of-consciousness style debate you seek. This thread is about the decline the of labor movement! :hi:

[defendandprotect]

130. .. and MAFIA and other RW attacks on labor unions had nothing to do with it ... ???

:rofl: -- :rofl: -- :rofl: --


Presume you also think that Obama/Duncan attacks on public education and

teachers and their unions will also have nothing to do with unemployment

increase -- and decline of unions!!


Wow --

[Recursion]

25. Our first, last, and only President who had been in a union

Go figure. Ironically, he was instrumental in getting a lot of CA state workers' unions organized. He just really, really hated strikes.

[MedicalAdmin]

28. He may have been in a union and even the president of that union...

... but he was also a backstabbing scab even back then. He used his position as the head of the union to squeal to the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities about actors (etc.) to be blacklisted. The man was scum from birth as far as I can tell.

[defendandprotect]

58. +1 --

[EFerrari]

31. Where he served as a snitch for FBI/McCarthy.

Reagan was a POS.

[defendandprotect]

59. +1 --

[defendandprotect]

60. Unions, Social Security, Unemployment Insurance -- New Deal -- greatest stimulus package ever -- !!

Capitalism is a ridiculous "King-of-the-Hill" system

intended to move the wealth and natural resources of a nation from the

many to the few -- and it succeeds at doing that very well --

Unregulated capitalism is merely organized crime --

[Little Star]

29. There you go again....

Michael Moore, telling the truth!

I agree the demise of the middle class began in earnest when Reagan fired the air traffic controllers. I can still remember that as clear as if it was yesterday.

One of my best friend's brother's was fired.

[santamargarita]

33. And for 30 years Goddamn and Reagan have been one word!

[proud2BlibKansan]

40. LOL

[Major Hogwash]

114. Ain't it the truth!

My grandfather even said he was the worst "B" rated actor to ever get elected to the White House.
When Reagan started spouting off about "trickle down economics", my grandfather said he had heard about that idea before when it was called Hoover's "plan for prosperity" the first time he heard of it.

[Carolina]

127. LOL +2

[Sherman A1]

35. K&R

:kick:

[Riley18]

38. I remember the minute when I first heard what reagan had

done to unions that day. It felt like the country had flipped upside down because before that stunt unions could always negotiate. Coming from a strong union family this was a very sad day. Nothing was really ever the same since those people were fired.

[SnakeEyes]

45. The sentinment is there but

MM is wrong on one thing. Reagan didn't declare their union illegal. The ATC were fired because its illegal for government employees to strike. Didn't matter that they were only on strike for two days.

You have to pick and choose your battles and methods carefully and within the law and work within the system to effect change easiest. Greater resistance otherwise.

[destes]

82. Really?

"You have to pick and choose your battles and methods carefully and within the law and work within the system to effect change easiest. Greater resistance otherwise."

There is no historical precedent of important change fomented by such methodry. It was the failure of all union members in the US that allowed the shut down of PATCO. Whether from complacence born of comfort or because the country was still emotionally whipped, reeling from the unthinkable, "we lost a war to little yellow people?", the various unions opted to remain mostly silent and totally inactive in their response to RR's terrorism. General strikes across the country would have saved the day. Imagine how CEOs across the country held their breath and then, in amazement, realized they'd gotten away with it. It was indeed a new dawn in Amerika.

[SnakeEyes]

116. General strikes tend to not play well with the

non-union public.

And we know that any other government workers that would have went of strike would have also been fired. You would have opened up a chance for Reagan to literally destroy the unions, as Thatcher did, rather than put them on a path to being destroyed. We could be in even worse shape now had that happened.

[liberation]

123. So what happens if the laws are wrong and immoral?

Well, I guess Washington and friends should have just submitted the triple form petition certificate for the pre-appication for royal audience, raise 10 million signatures, and get the loan for the half million pounds needed for the stamps for the royal hearing audience form, and wait for the King's 10 year approval period and queue politely to get going the process for the reviewing of the empire's taxation and representation of its transatlantic colonies . Shame on our founding fathers for breaking the law!!! Right?

[happyslug]

125. So was the Post Office Strike of 1970 AND most strikes at one time

While the right to strike was known by the time of the Civil War, it was viewed as illegal in every state. The problem was employers wanted the employees to work for them, the dispute was at what pay rate, thus it was rare to see such workers fired en mass, shot at, bayoneted, machined gunned but not fired. Employers prefer to use terror to end strike then to use the courts. This changed with the Wagner Act passed during the Great Depression, but shooting of miners during miners strike continued till after WWII (and some questioned then, employers no longer did such acts openly after the Passage of the Wagner Act).

The Letter Carriers went on strike in 1970 for higher wages, Nixon threaten to jail the leaders of the union, but it was clear the leaders of the union had done all they could to PREVENT a Strike. The Strike was spontaneous from the Letter Carriers themselves, and unlike the Air Traffic Controllers could NOT be ready replaced by Military personal (The heart of the strike was New York City, were most of the carriers were eligible for food stamps do to their low income, Housing and Feeding the National Guardsmen while they "replaced" carriers in New York City was astronomical even then, thus Nixon had to back down and give in to the strike demands, worse what was being demanded was reasonable, given the Carriers had had no pay raise for almost 10 years, given a time of low but Steady inflation).

More on the Post Office Strike:
http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/month101&div=99&id=&page=

http://upload.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8207364
http://libcom.org/library/notes-postal-strike

[Initech]

46. Reagan - worst president ever.

[SnakeEyes]

47. Harding.

[leeroysphitz]

48. I know, I know Nader bad blah blah blah but I hope he's right. Primaries are all we've got. n/t

[defendandprotect]

49. Agree/Disagree -- it began on 11/22/63 with rw political violence ---

[Carolina]

128. agree with you and MM

eom

[totodeinhere]

51. What a national treasure Michael Moore is. n/t

[defendandprotect]

61. +1 --

[bertman]

56. Big Rec. nt

[Jakes Progress]

62. Right on every count but one.

Most of the young people I encounter don't know of this mythical time. They know that it use to be better, but they don't know why. They don't know about the sacrifices, including beatings and murder, that union people went through to get that kind of life for their kids and grandkids. Now those grandkids buy the reagan era crap about unions. They even blame unions for causing the problems. They have no history.

One of those is our president now.

[russspeakeasy]

63. ronnie was crazy before he was sworn in.

he got his fucking policies from his horoscope.

The only myth is that that asshole was good for this country. only george w was worse

:nuke: :nuke:

[southerncrone]

65. Yep.

I hate that most of my adult life, we have be going down a drain because of Raygun/HW. We are so far in the sewer now, that I don't know if we will ever be able to crawl back up the drain to where we were in 1978 when I graduated from college.
These Repukes have sucked the very life (& money)out of our country since then.

[madrchsod]

69. carter started deregulation...

trucking and the airlines. the teamsters lost their hold on the trucking industry and small carriers lost their route rights.

[snagglepuss]

70. IVery interesting detail. nt

[destes]

83. A bit more on that>>>>>>>>>>>

"The deregulation of the trucking industry began with the Motor Carrier Act of 1980, which was signed into law by President Carter on July 1, 1980."

"A particularly interesting aspect of this legislation is that it was implemented more aggressively (in a pro-competitive direction) than it was written."

Perhaps President Carter failed in regard to this legislation in that he also failed to be re-elected. The future is a challenging thing to control while mired in the present.

[MichiganVote]

71. At this rate, we'll all be selling dope before long.

[colsohlibgal]

72. Two Markers

Yes, the 1st was 11/22/63 bundled with that following work of fiction "The Warren Report"

2nd, and I'm not sure of the date, but it's the date the "October Surprise" treason/scheme was hatched....without it Carter sails into a 2nd term, no class B actor starting us really down the path to where we are now.....complete with all those confused tea party whack jobs carrying water for billionaires....and a republican party today that would not even accept Reagan as far right enough.

As an aside, I'm not sure "Beatlemania" would have been as manic, or even happened, minus the JFK hit, but we were ripe for something loud and infectious to wash away, at least in a peripheral sense, the darkness of Dallas....the timing makes sense.

[awoke_in_2003]

73. but nixon's buddying up with China...

made it all possible. Unions built the middle class, and as they die, so do we.

[indurancevile]

76. yeah, the opening to china looks rather different in retrospect. including

the involvement of kissinger & the bush family in that opening.


poke around a bit, there are more interesting names involved as well.

[orbitalman]

74. K & R

[andym]

77. The road to doom started with his election

and 8 years he had to convince Americans that the "government is the problem, not the solution."
The Tea party really is his spiritual descendant, ready to destroy the "evil" government for the "good" of the country.

[deacon]

78. k/r

[Enthusiast]

79. Michael is exactly right. nt

[libmom74]

81. K&R

[B Calm]

84. I was a standing member in AFLCIO Local 1470 in 1981. Shortly after

Raygun busted PATCO, we took it in the ass. We had two different wage freezes, benefits slashed, and the company still ended up pad locking the doors and moved to Mexico. Who could forget the golden age of Raygun. .

[Hubert Flottz]

85. After that the unions changed over night.

Conditions started to suck almost by the next morning. Reagan was the Anti-FDR.

[chervilant]

86. Sadly

the vast majority of this nation's citizenry has been fed a steady pablum of patriotic propaganda, at least through high school. Sadder yet, how many among us cling tenaciously to this perverted patriotism (a great many of these people assault Mr. Moore's patriotism!).

So, each time someone criticizes the United States, vociferous defenders of the Benevolent and Awesome Grand America get their wee panties in a wad.

I would encourage such individuals to read Walter LaFeber's 'The American Age,' and ponder why virtually every other person on the planet thinks US citizens are clueless, arrogant, GREEDY wankers.

Then, perhaps these poor souls might consider how many other industrialized nations have universal health care, how many other nations provide five weeks or more paid vacation, how many other nations have lengthy PAID maternity leaves, and how many OTHER nations fully subsidize college or trade school educations (Michael Moore's "Capitalism, A Love Story" is a great tragicomedy documentary on this).

You think there's not a connection (addressing the poor wee souls now...)?! Our citizens are among the most poorly educated, ego-inflated, easily manipulated, propaganda snarfing, hate-mongering and fear-mongering souls on this planet!

Look how handily we've been trained to regurgitate militaristic propaganda: "they deserved what they got!"; or "Hussein had WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION!" (that phrase alone highlights the pathetic gullibility of so many among us...). Or, how about, "Japan and Germany kinda f***ed up," as though this justifies using nuclear weapons on two heavily populated cities, and killing hundreds of thousands of civilians, some of whom likely did NOT support their government's attack on the US.

As our species witnesses the inception of our own extinction event, I pity those among us who persist in thumping their chests when confronted with the embarrassing reality of our 'great' nation's relentless posturing as the Big Bully in the World's Sandbox. Is it REALLY something about which we can be proud?!

[oldbanjo]

87. How many lives were put in danger by that strike,

We had a Union where I worked but we couldn't strike because it would have been harmful to the security of this Country. I hated to see the people be fired but I don't see where he had a choice. If we had of gone on strike we would have lost our jobs.

[LeFleur1]

88. I Wore a Black Armband to Work

the day Reagan was elected.

[B Calm]

95. To answer your question, NONE

[GCP]

96. I think more people were put at risk by all the amateurs they brought in

To substitute for the PATCO air traffic controllers.

[oldbanjo]

90. Reagan built up the Military

in this Country, Remember the problems that Carter had, nothing worked. Reagan built a 600 ship Navy. Without Reagan we would not have what we had when we first went into Iraq.

[The Midway Rebel]

91. Yes, and the country has been on a downhill slide ever since. eom

[Johnny2X2X]

94. Depressing

These are the darkest days in US history IMO. There is no return, no way back to the Great American Middle Class lifestyle. Americans are now merely subjects to the whims of corporations.

The American Dream is dead and buried.

[tomp]

98. obama's hero.

non wonder he can't find his comfortable shoes.

[KansDem]

99. "and that college in states like California and New York was almost free"

My last semester at San Diego State University, full load, was $80 and some change.

That was 1975...:(

Hell, some folks put that much in the gasoline tanks now days. :grr:

[fortyfeetunder]

101. And Air Traffic Control in general has never been the same

Remember the sleeping ATCs of recent?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/17/air-traffic-controllers-sleep-rules-faa_n_850182.html

[paparush]

102. Kickin it for M.M. Preach it, brother, preach it!

[glinda]

103. That co-incides with when my degree became useless. Just before I graduated.

[lonestarnot]

104. K & R!

[coalition_unwilling]

105. I remember it like it was only yesterday. When the AFL-CIO and

Teamsters decided to obey Taft-Hartley and not shut the country down with a general strike, what followed was eminently predictable. I was just a sophomore college student at the time and date the beginnings of my political activism from Reagan's first term in office.

[dash_bannon]

108. Stagnant Wages

What Michael Moore is saying is true.

In 1970, the average home prices was 3 times the average median household income.

By 1990, it was 4 times the median household income.

By 2000, it was 5 times the median household income.

Today, its 6 times the median household income.

(You can look at the data at www.bls.gov.)

This is the Reagan and Wall Street legacy to America.

What can we do to change this?

[Harriety]

111. And the majority of American's recently chose this man to be our greatest President????

[Major Hogwash]

113. Thanks Michael, I couldn't remember what day it was.

They've been busting unions ever since.
The misnamed "Right to Work" movement passed laws allowing people to join unions without paying union dues, and a rightwing court upheld the constitutionality of such fucked up laws.

It's been a continual downhill slide ever since.

[Irishonly]

115. I remember it so well

What was not brought up is the Rail Roads started this...
Even before the Air Traffic Controller were fired by Reagan..
Reagan and his Administration were left inept by the Power of the Rail Roads to shut down during Contracts negotiations..
The Fear was that the Rail Roads had this power to shut down commerce almost completely all over the entire Country simply by shutting them all down... This was the real beginning of the end of Unions destroyed by Reagan..
The Final blow was the Air Traffic Controllers Union..
Reagan convinces all that these Folks should never be in the position to shut down entire Airports..

The deminization of Unions was started with full speed and swept America by storm..

[southernyankeebelle]

117. When I saw the title I new immediately when we lost the middle class. It

was that date. They went for them first, the everyoneelse after until finally the teachers, police and firemen. Now everyone is bitching when we should have been in the streets in 81. Because it effective everyone wheter union or non-union. We have to get back on the streets and fight for the middle class but not with violence. United we stand and divided we fall.

[certainot]

118. that was just one event- the real problem started when reagan killed the Fairness Doctrine and RW ra

radio was born. its continuing success can be attributed the fact that the left ignores it, the right's best weapon, as it kicks our internet ass.

[Fire Walk With Me]

120. Ronald Wilson Reagan = 666.

I'm partially serious. I WOULD spit on his grave.

[midnight]

121. President Obama embraces this Corporate spokesman who

let the corporations run the country.

Richest americans income tax cut in half... Today GE pays no tax at all..

Insurance and pharma greed pushed health care cost out of the hands of the avg. American... Today it continues on track to keep the avg. American from accessing health care... Some Nurses can't even afford the health care system they work for....