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In reply to the discussion: I was 19 years old when Ronald Reagan was first elected... [View all]yurbud
(39,405 posts)I read that he shifted the emphasis of college financial aid from Pell grants to loans, and realized he was screwing me.
Without federal financial aid, I would not have been able to go to college and then grad school, and if I did, I would be even further in debt than I am now.
That was the first step toward breaking from the GOP for me.
The second was when I went to work as a commercial fisherman in Alaska one summer, but ended up wiping oil off rocks and collecting dead birds instead. One day a helicopter landed on the beach, and a Coast Guard admiral or whatever got out with a greasy looking, young Exxon exec. Since Exxon did the damage, I expected the Coast Guard guy to be leading the exec around and rubbing his nose in the mess they made, but instead, he was "yes, sir!" and "no, sir!" to the Exxon guy, and the Exxon guy got to declare the beach we were working on clean.
I had great respect for the military as a kid, and to see it at the command of a company clearly in the wrong pushed me further to the left.