Newsgroups: alt.activism,talk.politics.misc Subject: Reverse Robin-Hood II -Stats on Reagan/Bush years (Ralph Nader) References: <8160@tank.uchicago.edu> Reply-To: harelb@daisy.UUCP (Harel Barzilai) Distribution: The following statistics are excerpted from an article by Ralph Nader and Mark Green (New York City Commissioner of Consumer Affairs) in which they examine, with a large dose of statistical information, the legacy of the Reagan-Bush decade. ["Passing on the Legacy of Shame", from The Nation, week of April 2, 1990] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ** Under Reagan/Bush, the income share of the Poorest fifth of American households: fell to 3.8%, the lowest since the 1950's; Richest fifth of American households: rose to 46.3%, the highest ever ** Since 1981 the percentage of children living in poverty soared to almost 20 percent, the worst record in the industrial West. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ** Under Bush's proposed capital-gains tax, 66% of the benefits would flow to the TOP **1%** of all taxpayers (including himself); ** Bush personally saved $303,516 in federal income taxes between 1980 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ [revealed by Citizens for Tax Justice] and 1986 by using the old capital gains tax break. ** The percentage of American families owning their homes actually *fell* in the 1980's for the first times since World War II ** The United States' infant mortality rate is now: **19th** in the world. ** The U.S. recently ranked 14th out of sixteen industrialized ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ countries in elementary and secondary education spending, yet our "education president" proposed only a 1 percent increase (after inflation) in federal education spending. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Some quotes from the article (emphasis added is mine) ---------------------------------------------------------------- "Homelessness, which had virtually disappeared by the 1970's grew in significant part only after Reagan cut federal appropriations for low-income subsidized housing by **82** percent.... Because funding of discretionary low-income programs fell by FIFTY-FIVE PERCENT (after inflation) between 1981 and 1989, there were *three* *million* more poor Americans at the end of the 1980's than at the start of the decade." Investing in Bombs, Not Bridges. "Because of tax cuts for the wealthy coupled with a $2.2 TRILLION military spending binge (including **$30 BILLION** for unneeded spare parts), unpaid bills mounted in the 1980s. In an unprecedented series of reports issued right after the 1988 election, the General Accounting Office documented the deterioration of the nation's infrastructure because of inadequate capital investment. The G.A.O.'s estimated bill for repairing America comes to $500 Billion to renovate bridges and the interstate highway system, $150 B to clean up toxic dumps, $100 B to $130 B to decontaminate nuclear weapons facilities, $20 billion for new public housing, and more." NOTE: The "defense" budget is now (drum-roll, please:) $ 3 0 6 , 9 0 0 , 0 0 0, 0 0 0 of your tax dollars Consumers Away "Promising in his 1980 campaign to "get government off our backs", Reagan got government (read: law and order) off the backs of corporations by sabotaging the health and safety agencies that were supposed to assure safe food, drugs, pesticides and water, and by immobilizing antitrust laws in the midst of the greatest merger wave of the century. Further, the Reagan-Bush Administration rescinded protections such as a tougher crash standard for motor vehicles that was slated to start saving an estimated 11,000 lives per year on the highways in 1981. This delay has directly caused tens of thousands of serious injuries and deaths on the highways." "In 1981 the United Started was the world's leading creditor nation, with a $141 billion net international investment credit; after eight years of Reagan-Bush, it had become the world's largest debtor, with a total debt of more than $700 billion. The nation's personal saving rate plunged by one-half, real wages fell and in nine years the federal debt grew three times as much as it had since the birth of the Republic. As a result of this borrowed prosperity, `America is losing its ability to compete in world markets,' according to John Young, chairman of a presidential Council on Competitiveness." ******************************************************************* To read the entire article, look up The Nation in your library; better yet, subscribe. Some weeks back (before a temporary absence) I posted an article by Guatemalan journalist Julio Godoy which appeared in The Nation, and gave subscription information. Has anyone here given The Nation a try since then? I hope so. The Mass Media today is depressingly far from being an open, free, honest press. As the "90% of Americans pay more taxes" article I posted demonstrated, much important information is suppressed or ignored; outright falsehoods are not uncommon, either, as several letters to the editor I've posted show. While the Nooz-Media dominates, publications like The Nation survive from year to year, like many public television and radio station, only through the generosity of some of its subscribers who provide additional funding. Yet The Nation *has* continued survive, since 1865 [sic], often as a voice of sanity in a sea of dissemblers (to quote someone else) So, while I will try to post excerpts of articles (or entire articles, for which I need to reach The Nation and get permission) again, I encourage people to give The Nation a try; subscriptions are $36 per year (47 issues); Students: $24. Sent checks payable to "The Nation": The Nation Box P12 72 Fifth Ave. New York, NY 10011 [OR: $15 for half a year] Precisely because I'm not associated with The Nation, I have no way of knowing what the response from the UseNet community is, so if you have decided to try (one can cancel) a subscription, I'd appreciate if you dropped me an email note; or let me know if you already subscribe. Given the large percentage of liberal/progressive people on the UseNet, we should be able to get a large response (then maybe we'd be able to post Nation articles regularly (*and* be supporting them)); I worry, however, that too many people out there don't bother subscribing, despite their convictions. By doing so, too many of us are both less informed than we could be, and are also perpetuating the Nooz-Media. Fight the Sound Bite. Fight disinformation, double-standards, doubletalk, and doublethink. Get a breath of fresh air with The Nation. What are you waiting for, the Nooz-Media to "get real"? Harel [I will continue to provide articles and addresses from other alternative publications and sources from time to time (when I have some)]