I am a Conservative because Conservative policies have worked in the past and will work if we elect smart leaders to our leadership. Without Conservatism, we wouldn’t have that much freedom today and that the world will be a different and less safe place. I grew up in Liberal California and I have seen the failures of liberalism. High taxes, high crime , illegal immigration, high unemployment, a failing public education system, high debt and deficits, less freedom and a society that id broken. That is one of the reasons why I am a Conservative because it relies no common sense solutions and planning compared to Liberalism. Thankfully, I escaped California this year to a more conservative states and it is much better with more freedom as people in my new state are normal and the economy is much stronger and crime is lower than California. Today, I will prove why Conservatism has worked in the past and why it will work in the future if we elect the right leaders.
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Economy:
One of the main reason why I am a Conservative is because their economic policies have worked successfully. When Ronald Reagan became President in 1980, he faced a situation similar to what’s happening today. Low Labor Participation rate, high taxes, high debt and deficits, high unemployment, and increased spending on domestic welfare programs. President Reagan with the help of a coalition of Republicans and Conservative Democrats in Congress manage to fix and reform the American economy in 8 years. President Reagan cut taxes significantly on Businesses from a high of 70% to a low of 28% allowing them to create 20 million new jobs. This along combination of deregulation, and expansion of free trade lead to the following:
*A sustained economic expansion, the greatest American sustained wave of prosperity ever.
*The American economy grew by more than a third in size, producing a $15 trillion increase in American wealth.
*Consumer and investor confidence soared.
*Inflation dropped from 13.5% in 1980 to 4.1% by 1988.
*Unemployment fell from 7.6% to 5.5%. The Labor Participation Rate increased from a low of less than 64.0% in 1980 to 66.7% in 1990.
*Net worth of families earning between $20,000 and $50,000 annually grew by 27%. Real gross national product rose 26%.
*The prime interest rate was slashed by more than half, from an unprecedented 21.5% in January 1981 to 10% in August 1988.
*The misery index, defined as the inflation rate added to the unemployment rate, shrunk from 19.33 when he began his administration to 9.72 when he left, the greatest improvement record for a President since Harry S. Truman left office.
*In terms of American households, the percentage of total households making less than $10,000 a year shrunk from 8.8% in 1980 to 8.3% in 1988 while the percentage of households making over $75,000 went from 20.2% to 25.7% during that period.
*The U.S. economy 32 straight quarters and 92 consecutive months of growth from 4Q1982 to 3Q1990 with annual GDP growth averaging around 3-4%.
*The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which, in real terms, had declined 70 percent from 1967-82, nearly tripled from 1983-89.
*Women went from earning 60 cents for every dollar a man earned to 71 cents, and their employment and median earnings outpaced their male counterparts. Women enrolled in college in record numbers.
*Welfare spending was reduced especially on food stamps, Medicaid and public housing as many Americans returned to employment.
President Reagan’s Conservative economic policies have also helped minorities and young Americans as well:
*Real income for a median African-American family had dropped 11 percent from 1977-82; from 1982-89, coming out of the recession, it rose by 17 percent.
*In the 1980s, there was a 40 percent jump in the number of black households earning $50,000 or more.
*Black unemployment under Reagan in the 1980s actually fell faster than white unemployment.
*The number of black-owned businesses increased by almost 40 percent, while the number of blacks who enrolled in college increased by almost 30 percent (white college enrollment increased by only 6 percent).
*The number of Hispanic-owned businesses in the 1980s grew by an astounding 81 percent, and the number of Hispanics enrolled in college jumped 45 percent.
*The peak period of youth unemployment for 16-24 year olds under Reagan was 1982, when it was 17.3%. Reagan reduced it to 10.9% by 1988.
*The unemployment data for 16-19 year olds is even more pronounced. Under Reagan, it fell from 24% in 1982 to 14.8% in 1988.
*The numbers for black Americans aged 16-19 are even stronger in Reagan’s favor. They fell from 49.4% in 1982 to 31.9% in 1988.
Overall, President Reagan’s successful economic policies have proved to me that Conservative economic policies of low taxes, deregulation and government spending cuts have worked. During the presidency of Democrat President Bill Clinton, the Republicans took control of Congress and encouraged President Clinton to cut taxes, spending, and passed welfare reform. The Conservative economic policies that the GOP Congress lead by Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich enacted under a Democrat President lead to the following:
*The GOP Congress reduced the top marginal long term capital gains tax from 28% to 20% which in part lead to a job creation boom of 18.7 million net new jobs, 92% of them in the private sector
*Overall unemployment dropped to the lowest level in more than 30 years, down from 6.9% in 1993 to just 4.0% in January 2001 averaging 4.2% in Clinton’s 8 year presidency. The unemployment rate was below 5% for 40 consecutive months.
*President Clinton worked with the Republican-led Congress to enact Conservative welfare reform. As a result, welfare rolls dropped dramatically and were the lowest since 1969. Between January 1993 and September 1999, the number of welfare recipients dropped by 7.5 million (a 53% decline) to 6.6 million.
*Also due to Conservative welfare reform, the Labor Participation Rate increased from 66.0% in 1993 to to a record high of 67.2% in 2000.
*Also due to Conservative welfare reform, the poverty rate declined from 15.1% in 1993 to 11.8% in 1999 leaving 7 million fewer people in poverty than there were in 1993 as they returned to employment.
*Federal spending fell to 18.4 percent of GDP in 2000 from 22.2 percent in 1992 with more than $255 billion in spending cuts enacted by the GOP Congress leading to President Clinton to claim that “the era of big government is over”.
*Due to spending cuts enacted by the GOP Congress, the federal budget was finally balanced with surplus in fiscal year 2000 of $237 billion—the third consecutive surplus and the largest surplus ever.
*Inflation rates were reduced to 2.3%
*Real median family income increased by $6,338, from $42,612 in 1993 to $48,950 in 1999
*Real GDP per capita increased from about $38,000 in 1994 to about $45,000 in 2001
*Average GDP economic growth of 4.0% per year. The economy grew for 116 consecutive months.
*Unemployment for Hispanics fell from 11.8% in October 1992 to 5.0% in 2000
These successful statistics occurred due to the successful Conservative economic policies of both Republican President Ronald Reagan and Democrat President Bill Clinton (due to the GOP Congress lead by Conservative Newt Gingrich). This is why Conservative economic policies work. Low taxes and reduced government spending on failed welfare programs equals more money for businesses to spend on salaries and wages for the working middle class and more money for businesses to invest in research and development to create more innovation for America and around the world. Liberals in power today have usually pointed to President George W. Bush for “failed” Conservative economic policies but liberals failed to mention that President Bush was not really a Fiscal Conservative as he is a “Compassionate” Conservative that increased spending on all failed government programs. We need to return to these polices because they have worked before and will work again which is the primary reason why I am a Conservative.
Foreign Policy:
A realistic Conservative Foreign Policy has worked successfully in the pass under the great presidency of Ronald Reagan. President Reagan built up the military in his “peace through strength” plan which scared the Soviets. President Reagan identified the root causes of the threats of his time by calling the Soviets the “evil empire” and explained why Communism is bad. This and the failures of Soviet Communism forced the Soviets to elect a more moderate leader which President Reagan embraced into negotiating a end to the Soviet Union. President Reagan with his tough rhetoric on the Communist Soviets and his tough negotiations with them as well as a strong U.S. military lead to the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union. During President Reagan’s tenure, the U.S. was safe from terrorism and the world respected us in a great way. President George W. Bush tried to implement Conservative-like foreign policy ideas but he did it in a very unrealistic and wrong way as he had the wrong advisers and faulty intelligence and cooperation and was not implemented in a smart way but despite his mistakes, he kept our country safe after 9/11. We need a real strong Conservative foreign policy right now like as President Obama has failed completely in protecting our country and our allies from terrorism by gutting the military, a confusing strategy to defeat terrorism and most importantly, his failure to identify the root causes of today’s terrorism which is Radical Islam. A more realistic Conservative foreign policy will keep us safe from Radical Islamic Terrorism, Cyber Terrorism, Economic Terrorism and Domestic Terrorism with a strong and smart military and foreign policy
Immigration:
A Conservative immigration plan will work because our borders will be secured with a fence/wall built along the Mexico border. Most GOP candidates support increased funding for border patrol and an e-verify system to prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants. Most candidates also support a tougher visa entry tracking system which causes 40% of illegal immigration. Conservatives believe Illegal immigration is a national security issue because we all know that terrorists and dangerous criminals are crossing the border. If we secure our borders, then illegal immigration will be stopped. A Conservative immigration plan has never been tried or implemented before but it will work if we all work together in a smart fashion.
Social Issues:
A more socially Conservative society has worked in the past and is sadly being destroyed. Under a socially Conservative United States, people respected our country, our law enforcement, our veterans and our service members. Kids respected their parents and respected their teachers. Kids knew the differences between bad and good. Kids did not curse or play on their phones the whole day. Most families had a father which prevented their kids from committing crimes or being in poverty. Americans embraced the work culture and did not depend on government assistance. During the presidency of Ronald Reagan, people of all races were united and people did not judge each other by skin color. Americans went to church every week and did not tolerate any crazy behavior or ideas. The most important part of a Social Conservative America is your freedom. Our founding fathers would be Conservatives today because they believe in our Constitution and that government can not infringe in all of our rights especially the 2nd Amendment which protects us from criminals who receive guns illegally mostly from Mexico. Conservative states tend have more personal and economic freedoms than liberal states because us Conservatives know how bad behavior and evil start with a lack of a father, an education, lack of discipline at school and a lack of religion. Conservatives tend to be happier and healthier because we know the differences between bad and good. We desperately need to return to a Socially Conservative America that worked because we are heading in the wrong and could be deadly direction socially.
Our country is going to hell due to the current Liberal leadership on both political parties in Washington D.C. There was a time during the 1980s & 1990s where both parties worked together in implementing Conservative Economic & Foreign Policies that worked successfully creating an economic boom. All of the work done during he 80s & 90s are being destroyed by Liberal President Barack Obama and it has led to the lowest labor participation rate ever and declining wages as well as a failed foreign policy. Today, I outlined why real Conservatism has worked in the past and will work if we return to the real Conservative policies that made america great during the 1980s & 1990s. I am a Conservative because Conservative policies have worked and I hope America wakes up in electing the right real Conservative leadership to save America from destruction.
Andrew's Journal 