American Presidency Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

American Presidency - Essay Example An interrelated program of domestic-policy reforms characterized the Reagan policy agenda. We see this in the administrations work to reduce the size and scope of the federal government, which entailed lowering federal taxation and domestic spending as well as the deregulation and returning of the power to the states.i The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 was the first of changes that Reagan launched in his pursuit of his domestic policy. This legislation brought about far-reaching budget cuts and policy shifts and is considered to be one of Reagan’s major achievements in domestic policymaking. Besides significantly trimming domestic spending and trimming the federal government’s role in domestic program areas, the legislation had two other significant effects: first, it substantially changed welfare programs, and second, it increased the proportion of federal grant funds that are channeled to the states and reduced the share paid to local units of government.i i Reagan’s experience as governor of California, prior to his election as President, influenced his attitude toward domestic policy. As governor, Reagan became convinced that the states could play the major role in running domestic programs such as welfare. He saw in this experience that domestic policy choices are best made at the state level and that this philosophy became the foundation of his New Federalism. Reagan emphasized this in his 1982 State of the Union address: Our citizens feel they have lost control of even the most basic decisions made about the essential services of government, such as schools, welfare, roads, and even garbage collection. They are right. A maze of interlocking jurisdictions and levels of government confronts the average citizen in trying to solve even the simplest of problems. They do not know where to turn to†¦ who to hold accountable.iii For Reagan

Historical Geography of North America Journal Review Essay

Historical Geography of North America Journal Review - Essay Example Mann's sources are recognizable experts in this arena and the article cites them prolifically. While many of Mann's points make enough logical and reasonable sense to dispel the widely held romantic version of the early settlements, the author's arguments rely on a connect-the-dots logic in the absence of a complete historical record. The author succeeds in making the point that the early American settlers were not faced with the typically romantic ideal of cooperation with the environment and struggling against Mother Nature. Instead, he paints a stark picture of famine, disease, and constant hardship replete with starvation and cannibalism. His vision of the Europeans being able to stave off hostile attacks from the Natives is based on the theory that the Natives had been severely weakened by Malaria. Mann also dispels the myth of Pocahontas saving the life of John Smith in 1607. However, this is a literary story that is part of America's myth and hardly an historical moving revelation. The real power of the article is the sense the author gives us that, "Much of what we learned in grade school about the New World encountered by the colonists at Jamestown turns out to be wrong". It demands further investigation and invites a more deeply researched debate. The author contends that the ecology of ... s little evidence offered for the damage done by the earthworm purportedly imported in European soil, it has been long held that the agricultural practices of Europe had a profound effect on the New World. The author also magnifies the destruction that domesticated animals did to the native's farmland, and the resulting tensions between the Natives and the Europeans. Here again, the author gives a reasonable view of animal farming in New England of large animals running wild and destroying the crops of the Natives. However, the evidence is anecdotal and does not consider the viewpoint that it may have been more likely that the animals were restrained and managed as they were in England, as that would be in the best interest of the settlers. However, Mann's point that they altered the ecological landscape cannot be refuted. The strength of the article, apart from its intellectual stimulation, is its contention that European farming and agricultural practices forever transformed the landscape. Mann explains why the different approaches held by the Natives and Europeans to the concept of property ownership came at odds and favored the Europeans. The Native culture believed in a constantly evolving landscape where property rights would shift according to need and use. The Europeans believed in private property ownership and were thus able to accumulate property. The introduction of new plants and controlled agriculture invaded the New World and left a permanent change on the face of America. There can be little argument that tobacco and corn changed the soil, the land, the people, and the economy of the New World. In conclusion, this article is a well-written consensus of a number of noted experts. While it may be somewhat shy of hard evidence, the incomplete historical