News coverage of political history from 1980-1989


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OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Budget & Economy     Ronald Reagan: Laffer curve appealed to Reagan's beliefs, not his economics.     Rev. Jesse Jackson: Reagan's recovery was for corporations, not the poor.

Civil Rights     Dick Cheney: Co-sponsored bills for equal rights for women in education.     Rev. Jesse Jackson: ERA will pass if we all come together.

Crime     Dick Cheney: Co-sponsored bills for stricter & mandatory sentencing.     Joe DioGuardi: Mandatory sentences for violent felonies against the elderly.

Drugs     Joe DioGuardi: Authorize army to intervene in anti-drug operations.     Dick Cheney: Request media participation in War on Drugs.

Energy & Oil     Joe DioGuardi: No import fee on crude oil.

Environment     Dick Cheney: Added 671,000 acres to Wyoming wilderness despite objections.     Dick Cheney: Co-sponsored bills on acid rain & unleaded fuel.     Dick Cheney: Sponsored numerous bills for flood control & dams.

Foreign Policy     Ronald Reagan: Limit UN role; withdrew from UNESCO.     Richard Nixon: Nixon Doctrine: sell arms to resist aggression abroad.     Joe DioGuardi: Push the UN to address human rights abuse in Cuba.     Bill Clinton: 1980: Criticized for letting Cubans escape from prison.     Dick Cheney: Hard-liner towards Soviet Union in 1980s.     Rev. Jesse Jackson: Mutual respect over gunboat diplomacy.

Free Trade     Richard Nixon: 1985: Reduce Japan's non-tariff barriers.     Dick Cheney: Supported export promotion & import tax relief.

Government Reform     Joe DioGuardi: Constitutional Amendment for Line Item Veto.     Elizabeth Dole: Defederalized Dulles and National Airports.     Dick Cheney: Sponsored bill for line-item veto on budgetary proposals.

Homeland Security     Ronald Reagan: Share SDI instead of MAD.     Ronald Reagan: Reykjavik: refused to trade SDI for nuclear disarmament.     Libertarian Party: Support resistance to the draft.     Dick Cheney: Co-sponsored SDI; “peace thru strength”; base closings.     Richard Nixon: USSR tries to beat US by weakening our will.

Principles & Values     Hillary Clinton: 1986: Prepped Bill's race; denied her own political ambition.     Bill Clinton: 1988: Stayed neutral on Al Gore vs. Mike Dukakis primary.     Rev. Jesse Jackson: America is a patchwork quilt, not all the same texture.     Rev. Jesse Jackson: Choose the human race over the nuclear race.     Dick Cheney: Pragmatic conservation insider image in Congress.     Rev. Jesse Jackson: Rainbow coalition: Don't leave anybody out.     Walter Mondale: Selected first woman candidate for major party V.P.

Social Security     Dick Cheney: Raise annual IRAs to $2,500; more cost-of-living increases.

Tax Reform     Walter Mondale: 1984 election: Reagan will raise taxes, and so will I.     Ron Paul: 1986 tax simplification made tax code more incomprehensible.     Dick Cheney: Keep mortgage bonds; loosen capital gains rules.     Rev. Jesse Jackson: Reagan's tax cuts went to big business & hurt small business.

War & Peace     Rev. Jesse Jackson: Talk with all 22 nations in the Middle East.

Click for quotations from other sources by: Bill Clinton Democrat Dick Cheney Former Republican Vice President Elizabeth Dole North Carolina Former Cabinet Member (Labor Sec'y) and Senator Hillary Clinton Democratic Presidential candidate Joe DioGuardi 2010 Republican Challenger New York Libertarian Party Rev. Jesse Jackson Richard Nixon Ron Paul Republican (Libertarian 1988) Ronald Reagan Walter Mondale Former Democratic Challenger and Vice President (1981) Minnesota