Republican dominance and its opponents, 1981-92

• Omnibus Reconciliation Act


  - 1981- Cut gov spending to 300 programmes
• Spending cuts?

  Cut by $963bn 1981-7
• Food stamps?

  Cut by 13% 1982-5
• Number of people defined as poor?

  Increased from 12% to 15% 1979-82
• Office of Surface Mining?


  Lost 40% workforce 1981-2
• Air Traffic Controllers?

  1981: 11,000 went on strike and were fired by Reagan
• Federal Debt?

  Increased by $321bn during Reagan presidency
• Annual defence spending?


  Increased from $171bn to $242bn 1981-6
• National Debt?


  Increased from $214bn to $2.7tn
• Trade Deficit?


  $170bn by 1986
• Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act

  1985: failed
• Bush: Taxes


  - "Read my lips, no new taxes"- 1990: income tax increased 28% to 31%
• Gramm Rudman Act


  - 1985- Fed gov to balance budget
• How many votes could Reagan get from evangelical christians?


  50-60m
• Jerry Falwell


  - Old Time Gospel Hour: 1.5m audience- Moral majority: raised £100m for rep party
• Religious Right: Abortion


  - Pressure on Rep candidates to be pro-life- Used reformed sinners- Chastity clinics
• Webster v Reproductive services Missouri

  - 1989- restrictions on abortion- only 3 states followed ruling
• Planned Parenthood v. Casey

  -1992- Re-affirmed Roe V Wade
• Pat Buchanan


  1992 election- Republican leader- declared cultural war against gays, feminists, and supporters of abortion rights
• Georgia Law


  - 1986 SC upheld Georgia law that criminalised sodomy
• Drug use?

  40m used illegal substances, 12,000 annual deaths
• Just Say No campaign

  - Nancy Reagan- 1988 Drug free at the workplace act
• Student drug use?


  decreased from 6% to 4%
• Marijuana use?


  decreased from 10% to 3%
• Nintendo?


  - 1985
• Atari 2600


  - 1977
• Space Invaders


  - 1980
• IBM 5150

  - 1981- 16kb on floppy disks- $1600
• Walkman


  - 1979- 1989: 50m sold
• MTV


  - 1981- Madonna, Michael Jackson
• Phillips CD100


  - 1982: first CD player
• CD Sales?


  $103m 1984
• Language on TV?


  Profanity every 6mins on over-the-air tv but every 2mins on cable
• MTV: Criticisms?

  - Black artists rarely shown- Women objectified in videos
• Music: Criticisms?

  - Rap music: anti-authority e.g **** the police 1988- 1988 Voluntary rating system
• How many deaths was AIDS responsible for?


  46,000 by 1989
• Bowers v Hardwick


  - 1986- SC upheld Geogia Law that outlawed gay sex
• Conteversial films

  - 1983: The Day After: Nuclear warfare- 1988: Rain Man: Autism- 1989: My Left Foot: Disability
• Harold Washington


  - First Black mayor of Chicago in 1983- Added 10,000 new voters 1982-3
• Jesse Jackson


  - Ran for Democrat party nomination 1984 and 1988