Making A Killing
or: the ramifications of the hypercapitalist state
1981-1989: Ronald W. Reagan / George H. W. Bush (Republican)
1980 def: James E. Carter / Walter Mondale (Democratic), John B. Anderson / Pat Lucey (Independent)
1984 def: Walter E. Mondale / Geraldine Ferraro (Democratic)
1989-1990: Ronald W. Reagan / Clint Eastwood (Republican)
1988 def: Jesse L. Jackson / Dianne G. B. Feinstein (Democratic), Ronald E. Paul / Andre Marrou (Libertarian)
1990-1991: Clint Eastwood / vacant (Republican)
1991-1993: Clint Eastwood / James E. Thompson (Republican)
1993-1997: Clint Eastwood / Alan Simpson (Republican)
1992 def: Mario Cuomo / Toney Anaya (Democratic), Richard Boddie / Mary Ruwart (Libertarian)
1997-2005: William W. Bradley / C. Thomas McMillan (Democratic)
1996 def: Peter V. Ueberroth / Jack F. Kemp (Republican), Mary Ruwart / Andrew Napolitano (Libertarian)
2000 def: Jack F. Kemp / Frank Keating (Republican), Mary Ruwart / Dennis L. Lacy (Libertarian), John C. Rensenbrink / Winona LaDuke (Green)
2005-2009: Pete H. Coors / Russell D. Feingold (Republican / Democratic)
2004 def: Pete H. Coors / John Ashcroft (Republican), Kathleen Brown / Russell D. Feingold (Democratic), Mary Ruwart / Sonny Landham (Libertarian)
2009-2013: Russell D. Feingold / Bill White (Democratic)
2008 def: Pete H. Coors / Patrick Bateman (Republican), Sonny Landham / R. Lee Wrights (Libertarian)
2013-2017: Michael Bloomberg / Jim Bob Duggar (Republican)
2012 def: Russell D. Feingold / Bill White (Democratic), R. Lee Wrights / Peter Schiff (Libertarian)
2017-2025: Mark Cuban / Claire McCaskill (Democratic)
2016 def: Michael Bloomberg / Gary E. Johnson (Republican), Austin Petersen / Darryl W. Perry (Libertarian)
2020 def: Carlos Latuff / Jonathan Dine (Republican / Libertarian), Michael Render / Jeff Connaughton (Green), Josh Romney / scattered (Independent)
2025-2026: John McAfee / Bruce Poliquin (Republican / Libertarian)
2024 def: Jamie Dimon / Steven Quezada (Democratic), Michael Render / Doris Starr (Green)
2026-2026: Bruce Poliquin / vacant (Republican)
2026-2027: Bruce Poliquin / Robert Sarvis (Republican / Libertarian)
2027-2029: Bruce Poliquin / Robert Sarvis (Conservative Alliance)
2029-2033: Bruce Poliquin / Mike Gates (Conservative)
2028 def: Jan Parker-Marks / Jerry Cisneros (Democratic), Nathan King / Turner Carraway (National Republican Remnant), Rick Burr / Artur Jensen (Green)
2033-2037: Stephie Schiff / Chris Joseph (Democratic)
2032 def: Robert Sarvis / Blanche Dulles (Conservative), Nathan King / Jay Carter (American Enterprise), Artur Jensen / Mark Burr (Green)
Either Guy Vander Jagt's efforts are successful or the 22nd is never repealed full stop, take your pick. Anyway, Ronnie runs in 1988 in spite of massive opposition, including from Bush who takes the decision to step down from the ticket after taking a serious amount of heat regarding the Iran Contra scandal. Anyway Reagan goes generally unchallenged aside from a half hearted bid from Ben Fernandez yet again, and in the general, is able to sail to another easy re-election in the face of a radical Democratic ticket headed up by the black pastor Jesse Jackson and the Jim Jones affiliated Dianne Feinstein. Ron Paul's Libertarians come very close to hitting that sweet 5% with a strong message against government overreach which resonates with those in opposition to the third term movement. As expected in hindsight, Reagan's third term ends on a sour note with his sudden removal from office due to a stroke. Thrust into the Oval Office is Vice President Clint Eastwood, selected to bring back some nostalgia for the runs of '76 and '80. Eastwood chooses not to invade Iraq and instead initiates harsh sanctions in accordance with the Prevention of Genocide Act. He also signs into law a number of economic reforms including further banking deregulation and subcontracting of many state schools. He wins re-election due to a lingering sympathy effect and a feeling that he has his hand on the tiller. Eastwood still faces difficulties in his second term when he attempts to bring a more market orientated focus to the healthcare scene, including abolition of cost sharing and medicaid vouchers. It succeeds but only in a vastly watered down form, a fate that also befalls Eastwood's attempt at wide ranging gun control, which comes under heavy fire (no pun intended) from gun rights groups who disparage Eastwood. He ends his term with an even more Democratic house and a successor in Bill Bradley.
Bradley continues on from his work in the senate by pushing for even more overhaul of the tax reform system (packaged as the Fair Tax) and the introduction of a series of subsidies for state hospitals. It was under Bradley that the law banning third terms came into fruition. Bradley would combat the 'tech-cession' of 2001 and the rise of the Libertarians, who won a scattering of state judicial and city council seats across the country. The deficit would not budge despite cuts to income tax, probably due to a lengthy spell intervening in the Iraqi Civil War. It was in 2004 that a negative film about Republican vice presidential candidate John Ashcroft was brought to the Supreme Court, which ultimately sided with the film-makers and essentially opened the floodgates for a wave of dark money to impact Washington (repealing campaign finance laws passed in the mid to late 90's). The deadlock that ensued during the election produced the mismatched Coors/Feingold administration, which would juggle the business of more deregulation as well as entrance into Libya. Coors undid some of Bradley's tax increases, and stripped wall street regulations to the bone in an effort to encourage business to flow. Feingold wins a term of his own right in 2008 after a huge economic crunch hits but is impeded by conservatives in his own party as well as a GOP congress stonewalling his agenda after 2010. Feingold loses re-election to a truly strange candidate in Michael Bloomberg.
Bloomberg was never really the same after being injured in a construction accident at the Sears tower in 2002. Some allege that he suffered a complete personality change. Whatever the case, Bloomberg came into office with a new hypercapitalist vision and a very willing congress. He oversaw a rollback in regulations to the point where wall street was quickly becoming a new Wild West. Medicare was whittled down with a series of funding cuts and vouchers, while the same was attempted but failed with Social Security. The nascent Sovreign Union invaded the neighbouring nation of Iran, which in recent years had become a staunch US ally. Minimum wage laws weren't lowered, but they were turned back to the states, while gun control laws were also strengthened. One area which did see a boom would be the tech industry, which received a considerable funding boost as Bloomberg wanted to see a significant increase in broadband coverage. On education, Bloomberg all but subcontracted every state-assisted school in the country and busted teacher's unions to the shreiks of education activists. In 2016, Bloomberg would be laid low by a minor scandal involving his VP's pedophilia and reports that he was planning to introduce a series of cameras across the country. The Libertarian party would finally cross the 5% mark here, after having built up a presence nationwide, holding five seats in congress and more in state legislatures.
Cuban wouldn't be any better than Bloomberg it would seem. Though he passed some token reforms like healthcare coverage expansion (body-mods would begin to be popular during Cuban's time) and cap/trade to fight climate change. Another tech boom would occur over the course of the Cuban administration, as private tech companies built their own space shuttles and made serious attempts at constructing space elevators. Other sectors lagged behind however. The business regulations of old had been gone for many years, and for some it was a return to the bad old days of yore, with lax working conditions and poor wages aplenty. Despite this, CEOs sought to up their ante and took advantage of minimalistic labo(u)r regulations to hire even more undocumented immigrants from both Mexico and abroad. Cuban would also end the War on Drugs by passing legislation decriminalising many major stimulants and putting more emphasis on rehabilitation. Nevertheless, the scourge of private prisons grew in strength and size. A perplexing sea-storm ravaged the east coast, and Cuban's adept response allowed him to win re-election against the fledgling Republican-Libertarian Alliance (hey, can't beat em, join em). In his second term, Cuban would fight a War on the shores of Venezuela as government affiliated crackpots committed a series of bomb attacks across the southern border. The Venezuela War became one of attrition in spite of Brazil's help, and victory would finally arrive in 2024 but only in Pyrrhic fashion as socialist guerrillas ravaged the countryside and the emergency government found itself over-run. A Cuban administration wracked with problems went down in defeat as Treasury secretary Jamie Dimon lost to tech magnate John McAfee, already an extremely controversial figure. McAfee spent a year of his term tearing the life out of the security state as much as he could, while withdrawing from Venezuela and cutting the defense budget (to an extent). He also abolished the Department of HUD, something Bloomberg couldn't even do. In 2026, he was detained on charges of murder in relation to his activities in Venezuela pre-war and in Belize. He fled the country, never to be found again. Stepping up to the plate was his more emphatically state orientated VP Bruce Poliquin, who started construction on an ever more stronger border fence in his first act as president (the idea of a McAfee committee was ludicrous, he said). He also committed to a more resolute line on the matter of rising socialism in South America, deploying drones and other advanced military equipment there. Poliquin would also take the controversial decision of finally merging the two right wing parties into one unitary force. It drew criticism, but it was also a masterstroke that reinforced Poliquin's authority. In 2028, he scrapes to re-election, and with the news of Green party members being elected to the senate in Maine and California, maybe there's a chance of the longstanding political consensus becoming upended.