What Is The Impact Of Ronald Reagan's Economic Policy

Today Ronald Reagan is remembered as one of the most charismatic presidents in American history. His rousing speeches, wide smile, and humorous attitude made him very popular leader at the time of his presidency. He easily got along with politicians and bureaucrats but yet still reigned with a firm hand. In 1981 when the nation’s air traffic controllers threatened to strike Reagan set aside his easygoing leadership style and became the firm leader that nation needed. He immediately fired all of air traffic controllers, who were threatening to strike, and hired new ones to prevent a potential shutdown of U.S. airways. While his actions infuriated many unions and citizens it was the necessary action at that time. The economic and safety implications
This posed a serious threat to his promises of reform he spoke of during his campaign however Reagan did something that only a select few presidents have been able to do as effectively as his. He worked side by side with the opposition party to pass legislation. During his campaign Reagan presented his economic plan which called for decreased taxes for individuals and businesses, increasing defense spending, and reforming the nation's welfare system. All of these ideas were contrary to the beliefs of the democratic party but through compromise Reagan was able to pass reduced versions of his proposals through congress. When it came to tax reform Reagan had originally proposed a 30% reduction over all in taxes but eventually congress agreed to pass a bill which reduced taxes by 25% but also eliminated several loopholes that allowed richer Americans to pay less taxes. While this was less of a decrease than Reagan had hoped for it still achieved his goals while keeping democrats happy. Reagan was less successful when it came to reducing the federal deficit. He had originally envisioned reducing spending by an annual rate of 4% by privatizing social security, providing reform to medicare, and deregulating but all of these points drew serious contention from congress. Unwilling to reform welfare program the way Reagan had wanted welfare remained mostly the same and social security even partially expanded under Reagan. In return for this expansion Reagan and keeping other welfare intact congress funded one of the largest peacetime expansions of the military and still slightly decrease the deficit. Reagan was so effective at getting legislation passed that 6% percent of bills proposed by congress were enacted into law compared to the 2% average in recent years. Reagan also efficiently used his bully pulpit by encouraging the