[TheRealVille]

PATCO was prohibited by federal law from striking. Reagan warned them that he would enforce the law (back when presidents took their oaths of office seriously). They struck and they were fired. Reagan enjoyed strong support from blue collar workers. The economy was horrible from the Nixon presidency through the Carter years and early in Reagan's first term.

The term "misery index" became popular during the Carter years because of the sky high unemployment, interest, and inflation rates. By the time Reagan left office, all of those indexes had sharply dropped to their lowest rates in many years. I am sure that there were exceptions, but most working men who struggled to put food on the table during the Carter years fared much better under Reagan.

I remember my short time working in the UMWA very well. Because of illegal strikes and roving pickets, I was able to work about every other day. As a member of management, I worked at some great UMWA operations. At other union operations, I worked with some of the laziest and least productive workers that I have ever encountered anywhere. Sometimes union workers deserve to be fired just like other people who take no pride in their work. Reagan did his job, IMO. He was not anti-union and he had once been president of the Screen Actors Guild.

The Carter years were a boon for construction and coal mining. My dad was involved in both at that time. As I said, the Reagan years were almost starvation for construction.