The Short of TPP

[pampango]

7. Reagan talked the talk of 'free trade' but tariffs rose under him and his only 2 'free trade deals'

were with Israel (1985) and Canada (1988), neither of which is much mentioned or criticized today. Tariffs had declined under Carter and later did under Bush I and Clinton. But his talk did set the stage for later, more controversial trade agreements.
The modern decline in tariffs began with FDR and Truman. Tariffs rose significantly under Eisenhower then declined again under Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon/Ford and Carter before rising again under Reagan.

The only 2 administrations which saw an increase in tariffs since Herbert Hoover in 1930 were Eisenhower and Reagan. And Eisenhower never talked about 'free trade' like Reagan did. He was certainly more hypocritical about it than Ike was.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tariffs_in_United_States_history

I blame Reagan heavily for what the middle class has been reduced to ...

Agreed. He smashed unions, cut taxes for the rich and pushed deregulation and 'trickle down economics', all of which devastated the middle class. All those are policies that FDR and modern progressive countries avoid in favor of empowering unions, taxing the rich, regulating corporations and 'bottom-up' economics. Manufacturing employment and wages plunged during Reagan's 8 years. He deserves the blame.