Twenty-two years ago, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman wrote for The New York Times Magazine about the era in which he and I both grew up, when the top income tax rate on the morbidly rich ran between 74 and 90 percent.
“[T]he America I grew up in — the America of the 1950’s and 1960’s — was a middle-class society, both in reality and in feel. The vast income and wealth inequalities of the Gilded Age had disappeared. Yes, of course, there was the poverty of the underclass — but the conventional wisdom of the time viewed that as a social rather than an economic problem. Yes, of course, some wealthy businessmen and heirs to large fortunes lived far better than the average American. But they weren’t rich the way the robber barons who built the mansions had been rich, and there weren’t that many of them. […]
Good to have this documented in detail to push back against too many who see “the shining city on the hill” president as the greatest ever maybe a bit higher than 45. While I despised the man and all that he represented I have to admitted he was entertaining to watch all those years of Hollywood training really paid off. Political theater has entertained human beings likely since the beginning of time from tribal leaders to the rise of great civilizations bread and circuses have excited the inner child in us all. Practical realities intrude on the fun and we collectively find ourselves being taken advantage of by those who have entertained us just like Ronny Raygun and company.
A new book has come out called “From Ronald to Donald” showing the clear distinction from Reagan to Trump’s mistaken and cruel view of America and the presidency. Reagan was no brain, but he had a nice smile, truly an actor, but in reality, he really didn’t know what he was doing. Yes, he lowered taxes excessively and then had to raise them about 10 times in his 8 years because of the problems it caused. Another factor of his presidency was his wife, Nancy. She was a snob from the get-go and despised George and Barbara Bush. She despised them so much that when a State Dinner was planned, she would actually remove their names from the guest list! How mean and cruel is that? It should teach Americans a lesson—-don’t elect actors or dishonest business people as president of this country. They really know nothing about governing, economics, foreign policy—you know, like things a president should be fully versed on. We see the result with both, especially with Trump. It is hoped that we can look forward to a safer, well-managed economic, worldly America when Harris/Walz take over the Oval Office and continue the good that Biden did for his full term.