A Touch of Class

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how the Tax Reform Act of 1986 divided Americans according to class lines and how their particular allegiance varied according to where they lived, in what business they were employed (or not employed), and what they believed to be the purpose of government. It analyzes the theory of "Supply Side Economics," in which cuts in capital gains taxes for the wealthy would provide a stimulus for the entire economy, and how benefits accrued from the excess capital would "trickle down" to the masses. It concludes with how together with other tax cuts, the rich would grow richer, while the poor and the not-so-rich would alike grow poorer.

From the Paper:

"But wealthy industrialist, arms manufacturers, and oil tycoons do not make up the majority of voters. The growing population of the warm areas of the South and West, coupled with the rapid rise of the Christian Right gave Reagan Republicans a huge and powerful new foundation of public support. Suddenly, politics was no longer a Northeastern preserve. With the reapportionment of congressional seats, and Ronald Reagan's landslide victory in the 1980 Presidential election, the liberal views of the Eastern elite gave way to Christian fundamentalism and all its attendant precepts. The evangelically-inclined populations of the South and West gave the new Republicans the edge they needed."

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