Reagan's view on gov't Flashcards
What were Reagan’s views on the government/what did he want to do?
Why did Reagan think ‘big government’ reduction is clearly beneficial?
Reagan felt;
- Not the solution to all our ills
- Decrease size
- Decentralise
- Spend less money on the central govt.
Reagan believed that reducing ‘Big Government’ would benefit the USA
- New federalism would produce less federal interference in state and local affairs
- These changes seem positive, but could be interpreted as less funding for the state and local government projects
How was “big government” reduced in the short term?
- Federal regulations cut by half, removing 23k pages from the Federal Register, which had 87k pages when Reagan came to power, compared to 14.5k in 1960
- Helped bring down the cost of petrol and heating fuel by deregulation
- Created a federal strike force to combat govt fraud and waste that had saved $2 billion in six months
- Replaced federal agencies with private sector ones and federal employees with volunteers
Why did Reagan focus on the small details of federal spending?
When did Carter’s executive order to deregulate oil and fuel prices come into effect?
When did Reagan pass his executive order to stop wage and price regulation?
-Part of his media spin was to use everyday images when he discussed change. Small-scale savings were more realistic to the public than cut of $2bn. His discussion of deregulation was also very media-focused: by the time he got to office, Carter had deregulated airlines, and drafted bills on deregulating trucking, railways + some areas of finance, although he talked about it as if it was something he instigated (although Carter had introduced some across-the-board regulations e.g. on working conditions)
-Carter passed his executive order 28 January 1981
-Reagan passed his executive order 29 January 1981
When did Reagan pass his executive order to set up the Presidential Advisory Committee on Federalism?
When was the Foreign Trade and Competitiveness Act passed, and what did it do?
8 April 1981.
-23 August 1988 Allowed the President more rights in making trade treaties to benefit the USA.
