#1518 Ronald Reagan, It Turns Out, Was Bad
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 5 October 2022
⏱️ 65 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Air Date 10/5/2022
Today, we take a look at the life and legacy of President Ronald Reagan, the last transformational U.S. president who's regime we are still living in. Between his neoliberal economics, anti-government ideology and white supremacist appeal to authoritarians, he did more to shape the last 40 years of the politics of the country and conservative movement than anyone else.
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SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: 40 years later, is this the end of Reaganomics? - Make Me Smart - Air Date 12-14-21
It’s been just over 40 years since newly elected President Ronald Reagan declared, “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to the problem, government is the problem.”
Ch. 2: The Democracy We Think We Live In - On the Media - Air Date 8-9-19
Adam Serwer, staff writer at The Atlantic, on the catastrophic, deadly idea that "only white people are fit for self-government."
Reagan didn't invent trickle down economics and the original metaphor was even more demeaning.
Prof. Joseph McCartin and former PATCO spokesperson Elliot Simons discuss the anniversary of the firing and Ronald Reagan's betrayal
Ch. 5: When American Presidents Go to Trial - On the Media - Air Date 9-9-22
Rick Perlstein, a journalist and author of The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan, explains the continuing impact of Gerald Ford's decision to pardon Richard Nixon for his crimes.
We scrutinize Reagan's famous quote "the nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”
Ch. 7: How Ronald Reagan's Regime Led To The Jan 6th Capitol Riot - The Majority Report - Air Date 7-17-21
The Capitol insurrection on January 6th was a long time coming. Back in 1980, Ronald Reagan's campaign was laying the groundwork for what would become Donald Trump's platform.
MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)
Ch. 8: America’s Right Turn with Rick Perlstein - Why Is This Happening? - Air Date 9-1-20
How did America’s modern conservative movement come to power? Historian and author Rick Perlstein’s prolific work has traced the arc of modern electoral politics, and specifically has laid out how modern conservatism arose.
Ch. 9: Why the "Reagan Regime" Endures - The United States of Anxiety - Air Date 3-7-22
Presidencies are rarely transformational, and neither Biden nor Trump have lived up to their supporters’ dreams. So what does it take to really change our politics? Host Kai Wright is joined by political theorist Corey Robin to confront that question.
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 12: Final comments on my first debate about Reagan
TAKE ACTION!
MIDTERMS MINUTE 2022 - Installment #1:
Today’s focus is on toss-up House races in California, New York, and Ohio, and OPEN or NEW seats that are *leaning* Democrat or Republican: GET FULL DETAILS AND ACTION LINKS
Researched & Written by BOTL Communications Director Amanda Hoffman
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)
SHOW IMAGE:
Description: A large portrait of former American President Ronald Reagan in a dark suit and red tie is framed on a wall in a dim, museum-like room. His smiling face is softly lit with a spotlight.
Credit: “President Ronald Re[a]gan” by LunchboxLarry, Flickr | License: CC BY 2.0 | Changes: Slightly cropped
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to this episode of the award-winning Best of the Left podcast in which we shall |
| 0:06.8 | take a look at the life and legacy of President Ronald Reagan, the last transformational US |
| 0:12.8 | president whose regime we are still living in. |
| 0:17.0 | Between his neoliberal economics, anti-government ideology, and white supremacist appeal to |
| 0:22.1 | authoritarians, he did more to shape the last 40 years of the politics of the country and |
| 0:28.2 | conservative movement than anyone else. |
| 0:31.5 | Clips today are from Make Me Smart, on the media, the Tom Hartman program, the real news, |
| 0:38.2 | the professor Buzzkill History Podcast, and the majority report with additional members |
| 0:42.8 | only clips from why is this happening and the United States of anxiety. |
| 0:48.6 | By the way, the midterms are right around the corner, so be sure to check out these show |
| 0:52.5 | notes for our midterms minute section highlighting key races across the country and how to get |
| 0:58.5 | involved. |
| 0:59.5 | Today's focus is on toss-up house races in California, New York and Ohio, and open or new seats |
| 1:06.1 | that are leaning Democrat or Republican. |
| 1:08.7 | Remember, voting is not enough, so get involved and help get out the vote. |
| 1:19.4 | I think we need to define terms, because these terms get batted around a lot. |
| 1:23.2 | Regynamics trickle down, supply-side economics, and in nutshell, what are we talking about? |
| 1:27.5 | In a nutshell, you're talking about the 1981 Economic Recovery Act. |
| 1:31.4 | If there's a singular statement of Reaganomics, that's it. |
| 1:35.2 | It had a whole bunch of stuff that was meant to fit together and kind of dead, but in a really |
| 1:39.9 | peculiar way. |
| 1:41.5 | The first one was tax cuts for business. |
... |
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