By Todd Zimmerman

During the 2016 presidential cycle, both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump gained enthusiastic supporters by stating “the system was rigged.” Sanders’ supporters were mostly urban and suburban white-collar workers, while the majority of Trump’s supporters were rural blue-collar workers. Do they share a common bond? What did they mean by a rigged system? If the system is now rigged, when did the system work for the majority of Americans?

Republicans and Democrats had different economic policies during the Great Depression. Hoover practiced laissez-faire to keep the government out of the economy. The Smoot-Hawley tariff spread the Depression to the world. FDR created a New Deal where the government stimulated growth by creating jobs. While the New Deal helped, World War II ended the Depression.

American leaders feared that when the war ended, European factories would restart making consumer products, thus hurting American manufacturing and propelling the country back into a Depression. That is what happened after World War I. However, World War II lasted longer. Many women who became a “Rosie the Riveter” had saved a lot of money since consumer goods were rationed. When the men came home from the war, they also had a lot of money saved.

Additionally, the government created a system where all Americans could benefit. Truman and Eisenhower created an “unwritten social contract” between government and business; government and the people; and between business and the workers. Congress passed the GI Bill allowing for college tuition and guaranteed low mortgage rates for the military returning home. Government informed big business and the wealthy that they would be paying high taxes to pay down the massive debt from the war. Businesses promised the workers that they would be rewarded by their employers — health care; paid vacations; and for longevity, a pension to supplement their Social Security. Eisenhower’s construction of the interstate system along with the growth of suburbia unleashed a major economic boom.

In 1973, OPEC embargoed oil against the U.S. due to America’s support for Israel during the October War. The price of oil jumped 400 percent, and America faced its first major recession since the Great Depression. In 1979, the Iranian revolution caused another doubling of oil prices, and another recession. This is when the system started to break down. Ronald Reagan took office in 1981. His major economic policy, “Reaganomics,” cut the taxes on the rich and corporations. The theory, they will spend the savings from taxes and invest in new plants, and new jobs will be created. Thus, the tax cuts will “trickle down” to the working class.

Instead, many corporations sought to lower their expenses by moving plants from northern union areas to less expensive nonunion Southern states. Big business broke the social contract with its workers, and the nation’s debt tripled under Reagan’s presidency. The policy continued under George H.W. Bush, although he was forced to raise taxes.

Bill Clinton would compromise with Congress and gain a federal surplus for a few years. However, lobbyists started a push for free trade agreements. Now the corporate leaders had Mexico’s cheap labor, which even hurt the Southern states.

George W. Bush would re-enact Reagan’s tax cuts in 2001, and the country went back into major deficits, which resulted in the Great Recession of 2008-09. The system now favored the rich and corporations, which sent lobbyists to give congressmen money for re-election if they support their favored status. The people responsible for the mortgage scam never went to jail. Instead, their companies were bailed out by the taxpayers. This led to the “Takeover Wall Street” protests by urban and suburban white-collar workers, and led to the Sanders and Warren movement.

So how do Americans de-rig the system?

America needs to focus on three key reforms. First, both parties need to be cleansed of political elites. We should create a new amendment for term limits. Perhaps a congressman could serve a maximum of seven or eight terms.

Once a congressman is elected, they are already seeking money for the next election in two years. What if Congress served four-year terms?

Half would be elected every two years. For a Senator, what about a maximum three terms for 18 years.

Does everyone remember former Sen. Robert Byrd from West Virginia? Do you think he had all of his faculties in his 90s? Term limits would ensure new faces with newer ideas working for the people. Second, a newer Congress would need to pass comprehensive campaign finance reforms.

The 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court ruling stipulated that corporations were people and the wealthy can fund an unlimited amount of money into PACs, thus furthering their special requests. While I agree that corporate tax cuts were necessary to compete with foreign countries, the rich walked away with massive tax cuts. Look at what the Trump tax cuts are doing to the deficit again. Remember what happened under George W. Bush?

Finally, all states need to end gerrymandering. The drawing of congressional maps should not be in the hands of politicians. Independent commissions of nonpartisan people should oversee fair maps that are not based on race, ethnicity or socio-economic levels.

It should be based on a county’s geography. Once these three reforms are implemented, then we will have a system in place working for the workers, and the parties can compromise on other major issues that have hindered our growth.

Todd Zimmerman is an adjunct instructor of history at LCCC/NCC.