UAW President Shawn Fain’s rhetoric, amplifying calls for a reversal of 1980s-era economic policies that have harmed American workers and fueled rising inequality, will be familiar to New Jersey residents, who may recognize echoes of the long-standing advocacy of Democratic activist Lisa McCormick.
Fain’s recent comments on the ongoing decline of American manufacturing and the struggles of blue-collar workers mirror McCormick’s long-standing criticism of “Reaganomics”—the economic framework pushed by President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.
Fain pointed to plant closures, job losses, and corporate outsourcing, which he claims have left working-class Americans vulnerable for over four decades. His remarks reflect a growing frustration with policies that prioritize corporate profits over the well-being of everyday workers, a sentiment McCormick has consistently voiced in her push for reform.
“Corporate America has gone on the offensive, shutting down plants and cutting jobs since the 1980s,” Fain said in a Washington Post column. “For 40 years, American workers, especially in manufacturing, have been under attack.”
This critique aligns closely with McCormick’s argument that Reagan’s tax cuts, deregulation, and trade policies contributed directly to the erosion of the middle class and the widening wealth gap.
McCormick, who led Democrats for Change in a 2010 challenge to the Union County political establishment and took nearly four of ten ballots cast in the 2018 Democratic primary away from incumbent US Senator Bob Menendez, has been outspoken about the negative effects of trickle-down economics—the foundation of Reaganomics.
She argues that tax cuts for the wealthy, deregulation, and trade deals like NAFTA have benefited the rich while undermining the economic stability of the working class.
“America had top tax rates of over 90 percent with a booming economy & a large, prosperous and growing middle class. Since adopting Reaganomics, nothing good has trickled down to average workers,” said McCormick. “Most Americans have lost ground while a tiny fraction has grown immeasurably rich, using wealth to further isolate the top one percent. This has destroyed the concept of equality, corrupted our government, and denied justice to the people.”
“Reaganomics is the root of all our dramatic losses in the United States,” McCormick said, pointing to the stagnation of wages, the concentration of wealth, and the shrinking social safety net.
“President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal helped pave the way for the nation’s recovery from the Great Depression,” said McCormick. “The ‘Share Our Wealth‘ platform, proposed by Senator Huey Long during the Great Depression, was a more radical extension of Keynesian ideas, focused on wealth redistribution. Long advocated for capping personal fortunes, instituting a guaranteed minimum income, providing free education, and guaranteeing social welfare to ensure that wealth was distributed more equitably across society.”
Both McCormick and Fain condemn trade policies that they argue have gutted American manufacturing, with Fain specifically criticizing NAFTA for closing factories and hollowing out communities, but McCormick suggested that domestic legislation that supports labor union organization is a better way to protect workers than tariffs.
The two share a critique of the growing wealth gap, which they say has been exacerbated by tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and corporate deregulation.
In 1968, the federal minimum wage was $1.60 per hour, which had the highest purchasing power in U.S. history, roughly equivalent to $13.40 per hour in today’s dollars. By the time Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, the federal minimum wage of $3.35 per hour had fallen in real value of about $9.40 in today’s dollars.
Today, the federal minimum wage stands at a rate unchanged since 2009, $7.25 per hour, which is far below the peak purchasing power of the minimum wage in 1968 and does not even keep up with the cost of living.
McCormick says the massive tax cuts of the 1980s, shielded the wealthy from paying their fair share while contributing to the country’s rising national debt and the weakening of programs like Social Security.
McCormick’s call to “reverse Reaganomics” includes restoring tax fairness, reintroducing regulations on big business, and investing in social programs that benefit working families.
She stresses the need for policies that create living wages, universal healthcare, and greater investments in clean energy—issues that align with Fain’s concerns about stagnant wages, job losses, and the corporate-driven decline of American manufacturing.
“President Donald Trump’s signature policies will do almost nothing positive for less-educated Americans or significantly improve the lives of most others,” said McCormick. “The rich will get richer, the richest will get a lot richer, and everyone else will contend with higher inflation, cuts to public services, and the effects of runaway deregulation. At the same time, too many Democratic elected officials are vying for campaign contributions from wealthy donors instead of striving to revive the working middle-class.”
Both leaders argue that the U.S. economy has been rigged in favor of the wealthy elite, leaving ordinary Americans to face job losses, wage stagnation, and the dismantling of crucial social services. They contend that the time for minor changes is over and that bold action is necessary to create an economy that works for everyone—not just the wealthy few.
Fain and McCormick’s shared vision of economic reform advocates for a shift away from the policies of the past, focusing on economic justice and policies that ensure prosperity for working-class Americans.
Their unified message underscores a growing demand for change in U.S. economic policy, highlighting the need for a fairer, more equitable future.