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Leaders of the Republican Party never liked the New Deal, which began in 1933 with the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt, because it shifted wealth, power, and prestige from the business community to the government. President Eisenhower preserved the reforms of the New Deal because he knew they were popular with the voters. This is what he wrote in a letter to his brother:
“Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H. L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas.4 Their number is negligible and they are stupid.”
Letter to Edgar Newton Eisenhower
According to Pew Research in 1964 about 75% of Americans trusted the government to do the right thing all or most of the time.
Section 1: Trust in Government 1958-2010
Most Americans saw the government as the organization that had ended the Great Depression, won the Second World War, and was managing an economy in which nearly everyone’s standard of living rose nearly every year.
Barry Goldwater ran against that consensus, and promised to roll back the New Deal reforms. As a result President Johnson won 61% of the popular vote, and the Democrats won two to one majorities in both houses of Congress. In 1964 the Democrats had mandates to preserve the basic reforms of the New Deal, and to avoid war with the Soviet Union.
The Democrats over stepped their mandates by expanding the welfare system and by reducing the likelihood and severity of punishment. This resulted in five years of black ghetto rioting, and a doubling of the crime rate from 1960 to 1969.
United States Crime Rates 1960 t0 2019
The result was a backlash against Democrat policies on race and crime, but not on the reforms of the New Deal. These remained popular.
The GOP has learned that a direct assault on the New Deal will fail. Their new policy is to cut taxes, promising that the tax cuts will generate so much economic growth that they will balance the budget. When this does not happen they use the increases in the national debt for which they are responsible, in an effort to reduce popular middle class entitlements.
When the Second World War ended in 1945 the national debt as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 114%. In 1980, which was the last full year of President Carter’s presidency this had declined to 32%. During this time the top tax rate never got below 70%, and was often much higher. The per capita national debt as a percentage of gross domestic product declined during the wars in Korea and Vietnam.
U.S. National Debt by Year
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/02inpetr.pdf
As a result of Republican tax cuts for the rich, the national debt as a percentage of GDP was 124% in 2021.
U.S. National Debt by Year
The leaders of the Republican Party like a growing national debt because it prevents the Democrats from helping their constituencies. Republicans win elections when white blue collar workers think, “The Democrats never did me any good. At least the Republicans won’t take my guns.”
“Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H. L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas.4 Their number is negligible and they are stupid.”
Letter to Edgar Newton Eisenhower
According to Pew Research in 1964 about 75% of Americans trusted the government to do the right thing all or most of the time.
Section 1: Trust in Government 1958-2010
Most Americans saw the government as the organization that had ended the Great Depression, won the Second World War, and was managing an economy in which nearly everyone’s standard of living rose nearly every year.
Barry Goldwater ran against that consensus, and promised to roll back the New Deal reforms. As a result President Johnson won 61% of the popular vote, and the Democrats won two to one majorities in both houses of Congress. In 1964 the Democrats had mandates to preserve the basic reforms of the New Deal, and to avoid war with the Soviet Union.
The Democrats over stepped their mandates by expanding the welfare system and by reducing the likelihood and severity of punishment. This resulted in five years of black ghetto rioting, and a doubling of the crime rate from 1960 to 1969.
United States Crime Rates 1960 t0 2019
The result was a backlash against Democrat policies on race and crime, but not on the reforms of the New Deal. These remained popular.
The GOP has learned that a direct assault on the New Deal will fail. Their new policy is to cut taxes, promising that the tax cuts will generate so much economic growth that they will balance the budget. When this does not happen they use the increases in the national debt for which they are responsible, in an effort to reduce popular middle class entitlements.
When the Second World War ended in 1945 the national debt as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 114%. In 1980, which was the last full year of President Carter’s presidency this had declined to 32%. During this time the top tax rate never got below 70%, and was often much higher. The per capita national debt as a percentage of gross domestic product declined during the wars in Korea and Vietnam.
U.S. National Debt by Year
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/02inpetr.pdf
As a result of Republican tax cuts for the rich, the national debt as a percentage of GDP was 124% in 2021.
U.S. National Debt by Year
The leaders of the Republican Party like a growing national debt because it prevents the Democrats from helping their constituencies. Republicans win elections when white blue collar workers think, “The Democrats never did me any good. At least the Republicans won’t take my guns.”
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