Just in case my previous post entitled "On Claiming Reagan" shows Mr. Reagan in too warm a light, let me share with you a further recollection of our former president given by Lynn Parramore in Salon, which originally appeared at New Deal 2.0 She writes:
War Room
Wednesday, Feb 23, 2011 15:01 ET
"Reagan’s history is better known -- or so you would think. His firing of 13,000 striking workers was, as Washington Post columnist Harold Meyerson put it, "an unambiguous signal that employers need feel little or no obligation to their workers." After Reagan, employers were emboldened to illegally ditch workers who sought to unionize, replace permanent employees who could collect benefits with temps, and ship factories and jobs abroad. Ever-smiling with his friendly cowboy image, Reagan tried to lower the minimum wage for younger workers, weaken child labor, job safety and anti-sweatshop laws, and do away with training programs for the jobless. He also did his best to replace thousands of federal employees with temps without civil service or union protections. Under his watch, the share of the nation’s wealth held by the richest 1 percent of Americans went up 5 percent richer. Guess whose declined?"
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/02/23/parramore_union_shlaes
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