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92-704: Plastic Man was created by writer-artist Jack Cole, and first appeared in Police Comics #1 (August 1941). One of Quality Comics' signature characters during the Golden Age of Comic Books , Plastic Man can stretch his body into any imaginable form. His adventures were known for their quirky, offbeat structure and surreal slapstick humor. When Quality Comics shut down in 1956, DC Comics acquired many of its characters, including Plastic Man. The character starred in his own Saturday morning cartoon titled The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show from 1979 to 1981 and

184-518: A portmanteau of Reagan and economics attributed to Paul Harvey ), or Reaganism , were the neoliberal economic policies promoted by U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s. These policies are characterized as supply-side economics , trickle-down economics , or "voodoo economics" by opponents, including some Republicans, while Reagan and his advocates preferred to call it free-market economics . The pillars of Reagan's economic policy included increasing defense spending, balancing

276-680: A 1996 report of the Joint Economic Committee of the United States Congress, during Reagan's two terms, and through 1993, the top 10% of taxpayers paid an increased share of income taxes (not including payroll taxes) to the Federal government, while the lowest 50% of taxpayers paid a reduced share of income tax revenue. Personal income tax revenues declined from 9.4% GDP in 1981 to 8.3% GDP in 1989, while payroll tax revenues increased from 6.0% GDP to 6.7% GDP during

368-416: A Martian) and was temporarily melted. In some versions, Plastic Man is also vulnerable to chemicals such as acetone , which melts and destabilizes his malleable form, although he eventually regenerated when the chemicals are gone. Furthermore, he is initially unable to change the color of his body, requiring great concentration to do so. Plastic Man was once a very talented professional thief, specializing as

460-524: A baseline without the cuts) were at least partially offset by phased in Social Security payroll tax increases that had been enacted by President Jimmy Carter and the 95th Congress in 1977, and further increases by Reagan in 1983 and following years, also to counter the uses of tax shelters. An accounting indicated nominal tax receipts increased from $ 599 billion in 1981 to $ 1.032 trillion in 1990, an increase of 72% in current dollars. In 2005 dollars,

552-519: A baseline without the cuts, approximately $ 111 billion (in 1992 dollars) on average during the first four years after implementation or nearly 3% GDP annually. Other tax bills had neutral or, in the case of the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 , a (~+1% of GDP) increase in revenue as a share of GDP. The study did not examine the longer-term impact of Reagan tax policy, including sunset clauses and "the long-run, fully-phased-in effect of

644-518: A brief period in the 2009 Justice League of America vol. 2 series written by Len Wein . After joining up with the team following the events of Final Crisis , Plastic Man has his effectiveness questioned by his teammate Dr. Light , which starts a fight between the two, which Vixen breaks up. Vixen reassigns Plastic Man to team up with Dr. Light to stop the Royal Flush Gang robbery. Though they experience some control issues between them,

736-518: A burglary ring, specializing as a safecracker. During a late-night heist at the Crawford Chemical Works, he and his three fellow gang members were surprised by a night watchman. During the gang's escape, Eel was shot in the shoulder and doused with a large drum of unidentified chemical liquid. He escaped to the street only to discover that his gang had driven off without him. Fleeing on foot and suffering increasing disorientation from

828-481: A constantly wisecracking and almost ineffectual idiot, the now "normal" Eel O'Brian struggled with the criminal tendencies he had suppressed as he had become comfortable with his role as a superhero and wondered if he had actually changed for the better at all or this was just part of the super-hero "act". Ultimately, Eel was the driving force behind the other transformed Leaguers banding together to re-join with their superheroic selves, noting that Bruce Wayne in particular

920-469: A door, using his fingers to pick conventional lock, compressing himself into a ball to ricochet off of things, and inflating his body. He can also use it for disguise by changing the shape of his face and body, contributory to his work as a sleuth. Due to his fluid state, Plastic Man can open holes in his body and turn himself into objects with mobile parts. In addition, he can alter his bodily mass and physical constitution at will, creating virtually no limit to

1012-456: A father because he was enjoying his new life as a hero, or because he was afraid of becoming a parent for his son. Batman later intimidates Luke into returning home, and informs Plastic Man that he is disappointed in his cowardice, imagining that Eel would have shown Luke fatherly love; in reality, Plastic Man chose only to hide in Batman's utility belt during the whole encounter with Luke. During

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1104-518: A fluid state, neither entirely liquid nor solid. He has complete control over his entire molecular structure. He can stretch his limbs and body to superhuman lengths and sizes. There is no known limit to how far Plastic Man can stretch his body. He can shrink himself down to a few inches tall (posed as one of Batman's utility belt pockets) or become a titan (the size of skyscrapers). He can contort his body into various positions and sizes impossible for ordinary humans, such as being entirely flat to slip under

1196-494: A large coalition of heroes on an unsuccessful mission to trace Maxwell Lord . He had been seemingly cured of his condition, and was shown retaining his normal shape without issue or pain. Later, he aids the JLA on their mission into Hell, where he helps Batman defeat Geryon . The League learns Satanus ' plans to use Dante 's mask to become powerful. Plastic Man grabs the mask, which possesses him. The Leagues combines forces to remove

1288-476: A payroll tax increase on Social Security and Medicare hospital insurance. In 1984 another bill was introduced that closed tax loopholes. According to tax historian Joseph Thorndike, the bills of 1982 and 1984 "constituted the biggest tax increase ever enacted during peacetime". With the Tax Reform Act of 1986 , Reagan and Congress sought to simplify the tax system by eliminating many deductions, reducing

1380-576: A percentage of GDP slightly less (16.08% vs. 16.86%). In the 1980s, industrial productivity growth in the United States matched that of its trading partners after trailing them in the 1970s. By 1990, manufacturing's share of GNP exceeded the post-World War II low hit in 1982 and matched "the level of output achieved in the 1960s when American factories hummed at a feverish clip". Real GDP grew over one-third during Reagan's presidency, an over $ 2 trillion increase. The compound annual growth rate of GDP

1472-487: A safecracker. Although no longer a criminal, he has thorough insight into their mindset, enabling him to be an effective sleuth. He is also considered to be a lateral thinker and much smarter than he lets on. Plastic Man has fought many enemies in his comics: Similar characters Police Comics Police Comics was a comic book anthology title published by Quality Comics (under its imprint "Comic Magazines") from 1941 until 1953. It featured short stories in

1564-399: A substance similar to liquid plastic. His unique physiology makes him impervious to conventional means of harm such as bullets, blasts, and blunt force. He is also able to withstand corrosives, punctures, and concussions without sustaining any injury (although he can be momentarily stunned). Batman once mentioned that he could presumably even withstand a nuclear detonation. This is mainly due to

1656-620: A super hero again when they needed his shape-shifting skills and immunity to telepathy to defeat the Martian Manhunter, who had regressed to a racial memory of the long-forgotten 'Burning Martians' after overcoming his weakness to fire. After a few more cases, Plastic Man is present at the memorial service held after this incarnation of the Justice League officially disbands during the Infinite Crisis storyline. In

1748-524: A visible problem in U.S. urban centers. According to Don Mitchell , the increased cuts to spending on housing and social services under Reagan was a contributing factor to the homeless population nearly doubling in just three years, from 1984 to 1987. In the closing weeks of his presidency, Reagan told David Brinkley that the homeless "make it their own choice for staying out there," noting his belief that there "are shelters in virtually every city, and shelters here, and those people still prefer out there on

1840-399: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Reaganomics [REDACTED] Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other Reaganomics ( / r eɪ ɡ ə ˈ n ɒ m ɪ k s / ;

1932-581: Is frozen and shattered into pieces by Ra's al Ghul 's League of Assassins, as part of an attack against the Justice League. (He Joins the Avengers for a short time) Though he is put together again, this experience traumatizes him severely and when it is discovered that the assassins were following methods devised by Batman, Eel joins Wonder Woman and Aquaman in voting Batman out of the League. The heroes reconcile in following issues. The fact that Plastic Man

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2024-671: Is no longer organic. It's untouchable by telepathy". Plastic Man does not appear to age; if he does, it is at a rate far slower than that of normal human beings. In the aftermath of the Justice League story Arc "Obsidian Age", Plastic Man was discovered to have survived for 3,000 years scattered into separate, individual molecules on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean without decaying or being otherwise affected at all. He can autonomically detect ultrasonic frequencies because his body will start to "ripple" when an ultrasonic frequency

2116-423: Is through Eclipso. He is later freed of this corruption by Bruce Gordon. Plastic Man makes his next appearance within the pages of Green Arrow/Black Canary #8 by Judd Winick , having been freed from a stasis tube by Green Arrow. His DNA is taken by Sivana and used to augment an amnesiac Connor Hawke , in a bid to turn the young hero into a brainwashed slave with a strong healing factor. Plastic Man appeared for

2208-585: Is triggered. As stated by the Black Lantern corpsman Vibe, Plastic Man's internal organs (such as his heart when Black Lantern Vibe tried to rip it out) couldn't be removed, unlike many of the Black Lanterns' victims. This perhaps implies that Plastic Man is himself more like one giant, living organ than he is a "whole" made of component parts and organs, etc. His semi-liquid form remains stable at relatively high and low temperatures, provided that

2300-696: The Blackest Night crossover, while still suffering from his deteriorating state, Plastic Man had his heart torn out by the Black Lantern , Vibe , seemingly killing him. However, due to his power of near-invulnerability, he was able to survive such an attack, albeit badly wounded. Vixen states that Plastic Man was being taken care of at STAR Labs , and that he would be unable to return to the League. Plastic Man later appeared in Justice League: Generation Lost , helping

2392-490: The Great Depression and FDR's New Deal policies. At the same time he attracted a following from the supply-side economics movement, which formed in opposition to Keynesian demand-stimulus economics. This movement produced some of the strongest supporters for Reagan's policies during his term in office. The contention of the proponents, that the tax rate cuts would more than cover any increases in federal debt,

2484-522: The Phillips Curve grew. Political pressure favored stimulus resulting in an expansion of the money supply. President Richard Nixon 's wage and price controls were phased out. The federal oil reserves were created to ease any future short term shocks. President Jimmy Carter had begun phasing out price controls on petroleum while he created the Department of Energy. Much of the credit for

2576-410: The national debt from $ 997 billion to $ 2.85 trillion. This led to the U.S. moving from the world's largest international creditor to the world's largest debtor nation. Reagan described the new debt as the "greatest disappointment" of his presidency. According to William A. Niskanen , one of the architects of Reaganomics, "Reagan delivered on each of his four major policy objectives, although not to

2668-408: The 14th-century Arab scholar Ibn Khaldun as an influence on his supply-side economic policies, in 1981. Reagan paraphrased Ibn Khaldun, who said that "In the beginning of the dynasty, great tax revenues were gained from small assessments," and that "at the end of the dynasty, small tax revenues were gained from large assessments." Reagan said his goal is "trying to get down to the small assessments and

2760-400: The 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths , a 1988–1989 four-issue Plastic Man miniseries by Phil Foglio introduced a new version of Plastic Man: Eel O'Brian, abandoned by his criminal gang after being shot and exposed to the unidentified chemical, wandered the streets as his new powers developed, frightening others and bringing the police and National Guard down on him as a dangerous monster. Eel

2852-438: The 2006 " One Year Later " DC Comics crossover storyline that followed the " Infinite Crisis " crossover, a young man with similar appearance and powers as Plastic Man appears briefly in the superteam series Teen Titans Vol. 3, #34 written by R.J. Carter. The character wears a white costume with red goggles, similar to that of Offspring , Plastic Man's son in the earlier 1999 DC miniseries The Kingdom by Mark Waid. While

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2944-433: The 2024 trading days under Reagan, compared to 10.4% during the preceding 2024 trading days. The business sector share of GDP, measured as gross private domestic investment , declined by 0.7 percentage points under Reagan, after increasing 0.7 percentage points during the preceding eight years. The federal government's share of GDP increased 0.2 percentage points under Reagan, while it decreased 1.5 percentage points during

3036-501: The Justice League; writer-artist Kyle Baker , who wrote and illustrated an award-winning Plastic Man series; and Frank Miller , who included him in the Justice League in the comics All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder and The Dark Knight Strikes Again . Plastic Man was a crook named Patrick "Eel" O'Brian. Orphaned at age 10 and forced to live on the streets, he fell into a life of crime. As an adult, he became part of

3128-788: The League of this era: with the Titans ( The Technis Imperative ), Young Justice ( World Without Grownups ), the Justice Society of America ( Virtue and Vice , where he is one of the heroes to be possessed by one of the Seven Deadly Sins), the Avengers (the JLA/Avengers crossover) and even the Looney Tunes (in the humorous Superman & Bugs Bunny miniseries). In the " JLA: Tower of Babel " arc, Plastic Man

3220-590: The Plastic Man logo and suggests it is time to release him. In The Terrifics series, Plastic Man joins the eponymous group, consisting of himself, Metamorpho , and Mister Terrific , in traveling the Dark Multiverse after being sucked into Simon Stagg 's portal. They also encounter Linnya Wazzo , an alien who had been trapped in the Dark Multiverse since she was young. After the Terrifics defeat

3312-480: The Presidential nomination in 1980, George H. W. Bush had derided Reaganomics as "voodoo economics". Similarly, in 1976, Gerald Ford had severely criticized Reagan's proposal to turn back a large part of the Federal budget to the states. In his 1980 campaign speeches, Reagan presented his economic proposals as a return to the free enterprise principles, free market economy that had been in favor before

3404-543: The Reagan period, compared to a $ 1,270 increase during the preceding eight years. After declining from 1973 through 1980, real mean personal income rose $ 4,708 by 1988. Nominal household net worth increased by a CAGR of 8.4%, compared to 9.3% during the preceding eight years. The percentage of the total population below the poverty level increased from 13.0% in 1980 to 15.2% in 1983, then declined back to 13.0% in 1988. During Reagan's first term, critics noted homelessness as

3496-721: The Royal Flush Gang is defeated and Plastic Man and Dr. Light finally stop arguing. During a massive battle at the Justice League Satellite in Justice League: Cry for Justice , Prometheus injected Plastic Man with a chemical that badly damaged his plastic body. The chemicals caused Eel to suffer from a condition where it took great concentration to keep himself in his usual, semi-solid state and caused him pain when he even thought about changing shape, thus leaving him in an infirm state. In

3588-519: The Teen Titans story itself does not identify the character, page two of a published script supposedly by writer Geoff Johns ' specifies it is "Plastic Man's son, Offspring". Plastic Man's son is also shown in costume, and identified as Offspring, in the 2006 weekly series 52 in Week 35 (written by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka and Mark Waid) when he is injured while rescuing a number of

3680-562: The Terribles, Plastic Man's son Luke, Element Dog, and Miss Terrific join the roster. Obscura later recruits Plastic Man to investigate a multi-dimensional conspiracy led by the Cabal. Plastic Man's powers are derived from an accident in which his body was bathed in an unknown industrial chemical mixture that entered his bloodstream through a gunshot wound. This caused a body-wide mutagenic process that transformed his physiology. Eel exists in

3772-580: The annual deficits averaged 4.0% of GDP, compared to a 2.2% average during the preceding eight years. The real (inflation adjusted) average rate of growth in federal spending fell from 4% under Jimmy Carter to 2.5% under Ronald Reagan. GDP per employed person increased at an average 1.5% rate during the Reagan administration, compared to an average 0.6% during the preceding eight years. Private sector productivity growth, measured as real output per hour of all persons, increased at an average rate of 1.9% during Reagan's eight years, compared to an average 1.3% during

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3864-672: The cover and the lead from issues #5–102. Other notable characters featured in Police Comics include Manhunter , who was introduced in Police Comics #8; 711 , who was introduced in Police Comics #1; and Will Eisner 's The Spirit , in the form of reprints of the character's newspaper comic strips. After the popularity of superhero comics waned, Police Comics shifted with issue #103 (December 1950) to more naturalistic detective and crime-themed stories. The series ended in October 1953 with issue #127. This comics -related article

3956-450: The decline in wages over this period, Reagan's critics often argue that his neoliberal policies were responsible for this and also led to a stagnation of wages in the next few decades. In nominal terms, median household income grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5% during the Reagan presidency, compared to 8.5% during the preceding five years (pre-1975 data are unavailable). Real median family income grew by $ 4,492 during

4048-435: The depowered Everyman heroes. Eventually, Plastic Man and Offspring come together as father and son and briefly even had an idyllic family set up until Plastic Man was convinced that he couldn't deny his destiny as a super hero. In Countdown to Mystery #1 (2007) written by Lilah Sturges, Plastic Man is seduced by Eclipso , being made to believe he is a joke among his fellow heroes, and the only way for him to get some respect

4140-399: The effective tax on activities previously specially favored by the code. Federal revenue share of GDP fell from 19.6% in fiscal 1981 to 17.3% in 1984, before rising back to 18.4% by fiscal year 1989. Personal income tax revenues fell during this period relative to GDP, while payroll tax revenues rose relative to GDP. Reagan's 1981 cut in the top regular tax rate on unearned income reduced

4232-519: The end of the "World War   III" arc, he is the only member other than the 'Big Seven' heroes (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash, Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern) to retain full-time membership in the JLA. Plastic Man has also been instrumental in defeating several foes by himself, such as a Jokerized version of Doctor Polaris and the 'Burning Martian' persona of J'onn J'onzz (Martian Manhunter). He has played substantial roles in nearly every major team-up and crossover featuring

4324-430: The extent that he and his supporters had hoped", and notes that the most substantial change was in the tax code, where the top marginal individual income tax rate fell from 70.1% to 28.4%, and there was a "major reversal in the tax treatment of business income", with effect of "reducing the tax bias among types of investment but increasing the average effective tax rate on new investment". Roger Porter , another architect of

4416-464: The fact that he has full control over his density, so he can willfully increase his durability as he wishes. His bodily mass can be dispersed, but for all intents and purposes, it is invulnerable, even from many forms of magic in the DC Universe. He is able to regenerate or assimilate lost or damaged tissue, although he needs to be reasonably intact for this process to begin. For example, Plastic Man

4508-425: The federal budget and slowing the growth of government spending , reducing the federal income tax and capital gains tax , reducing government regulation , and tightening the money supply in order to reduce inflation . The results of Reaganomics are still debated. Supporters point to the end of stagflation , stronger GDP growth, and an entrepreneurial revolution in the decades that followed. Critics point to

4600-537: The grates or the lawn to going into one of those shelters". He also stated that "a large proportion" of them are "mentally impaired", which he believed to be a result of lawsuits by the ACLU (and similar organizations) against mental institutions. During the Reagan administration, fiscal year federal receipts grew from $ 599 billion to $ 991 billion (an increase of 65%) while fiscal year federal outlays grew from $ 678 billion to $ 1144 billion (an increase of 69%). According to

4692-532: The great revenues." Reagan lifted remaining domestic petroleum price and allocation controls on January 28, 1981, and lowered the oil windfall profits tax in August 1981. He ended the oil windfall profits tax in 1988. During the first year of Reagan's presidency, federal income tax rates were lowered significantly with the signing of the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 , which lowered

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4784-451: The guise of the Joker , which he does successfully. He notably engages in combat with the goddess Circe , proving immune to her magical ability to turn humans into animals. He is later made a full-time member of the League and aids the League in several battles, including against Prometheus , Julian September, General Wade Eiling , an upgraded version of Amazo , a White Martian who assumes

4876-427: The gunshot wound and the exposure to the chemical, Eel eventually passed out on the foothills of a mountain near the city. He awoke to find himself in a bed in a mountain retreat, being tended to by a monk who had discovered him unconscious that morning. This monk, sensing a capacity for great good in O'Brian, turned away police officers who had trailed Eel to the monastery. This act of faith and kindness—combined with

4968-478: The highest marginal rates, and reducing the number of tax brackets. In 1983, Democrats Bill Bradley and Dick Gephardt had offered a proposal; in 1984 Reagan had the Treasury Department produce its own plan. The 1986 act aimed to be revenue-neutral: while it reduced the top marginal rate, it also cleaned up the tax base by removing certain tax write-offs, preferences, and exceptions, thus raising

5060-468: The identity of Bruce Wayne, and Queen Bee . During this period he becomes close friends with fellow new members Steel (due to the fact that they are both "lateral thinkers") and Zauriel (Plastic Man later implies in the JLA: Heaven's Ladder graphic novel that his Catholic upbringing is a factor behind this, and Zauriel's existence is a testament to his faith). After the extended League dissolves at

5152-462: The mask, which is incinerated, seemingly killing Plastic Man. It is later revealed that Zauriel transported him into another dimension before helping the League escape Hell. In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Plastic Man is considered as one of the candidates for the United Nations -sponsored Justice League International . He is denied a spot on

5244-651: The maximum capital gains rate to only 20%   —   its lowest level since the Hoover administration ( 1929 – 1933). The 1986 act set tax rates on capital gains at the same level as the rates on ordinary income like salaries and wages, with both topping out at 28%. Reagan significantly increased public expenditures, primarily the Department of Defense, which rose (in constant 2000 dollars) from $ 267.1 billion in 1980 (4.9% of GDP and 22.7% of public expenditure) to $ 393.1 billion in 1988 (5.8% of GDP and 27.3% of public expenditure); most of those years military spending

5336-477: The name 'Plastic Man' after a reporter misinterpreted his first choice of 'Elastic Man'. Eel and Woozy set up a detective agency in New York City and go on to have various misadventures together. Plastic Man was made a prominent member of the Justice League during Grant Morrison's run on the title. The story arc "Rock of Ages" shows Batman recruiting Eel to infiltrate Lex Luthor 's Injustice League in

5428-664: The percentage of households making over $ 75,000 went from 20.2% to 25.7% during that period, both signs of progress. The job growth (measured for non-farm payrolls) under the Reagan administration averaged 168,000 per month, versus 216,000 for Carter, 55,000 for H.W. Bush, and 239,000 for Clinton. The annual job growth percentages (comparing the beginning and ending number of jobs during their time in office to determine an annual growth rate ) show that jobs grew by 2.0% annually under Reagan, versus 3.1% under Carter, 0.6% under H.W. Bush, and 2.4% under Clinton. The unemployment rate averaged 7.5% under Reagan, compared to an average 6.6% during

5520-461: The pieces and restoring Plastic Man. Plastic Man had been conscious the entire time but unable to move, which had a profoundly negative effect on his mind. He admitted he had lost his nerve and quit the JLA, hoping to live a regular life. This return to normalcy was made easier after a new encounter with his now-teenage son, which made Eel feel that the boy needed a father and a normal life. Eventually, Batman convinced Plastic Man to return to his life as

5612-430: The preceding eight years. The annual average unemployment rate declined by 1.7 percentage points, from 7.2% in 1980 to 5.5% in 1988, after it had increased by 1.6 percentage points over the preceding eight years. Nonfarm employment increased by 16.1 million during Reagan's presidency, compared to 15.4 million during the preceding eight years, while manufacturing employment declined by 582,000 after rising 363,000 during

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5704-544: The preceding eight years. Federal net outlays as a percent of GDP averaged 20.27% under Reagan (01/20/1981 - 01/20/1989), compared to 21.14% during the preceding eight (01/20/1973 - 1/20/1981) years. During the Nixon and Ford Administrations, before Reagan's election, a combined supply and demand side policy was considered unconventional by the moderate wing of the Republican Party . While running against Reagan for

5796-562: The preceding eight years. Reagan's administration is the only one not to have raised the minimum wage. The inflation rate, 13.5% in 1980, fell to 4.1% in 1988, in part because the Federal Reserve increased interest rates (prime rate peaking at 20.5% in August 1981 ). The latter contributed to a recession from July 1981 to November 1982 during which unemployment rose to 9.7% and GDP fell by 1.9%. Additionally, income growth slowed for middle- and lower-class (2.4% to 1.8%) and rose for

5888-458: The preceding eight years. Declining steadily after December 1982, the rate was 5.4% the month Reagan left office. The labor force participation rate increased by 2.6 percentage points during Reagan's eight years, compared to 3.9 percentage points during the preceding eight years. Following the 1981 recession, the unemployment rate had averaged slightly higher (6.75% vs. 6.35%), productivity growth lower (1.38% vs. 1.92%), and private investment as

5980-499: The program, acknowledges that the program was weakened by the many hands that changed the President's calculus, such as Congress. Spending during the years Reagan budgeted (FY 1982–89) averaged 21.6% GDP, roughly tied with President Obama for the highest among any recent President. Each faced a severe recession early in their administration. In addition, the public debt rose from 26% GDP in 1980 to 41% GDP by 1988. In dollar terms,

6072-478: The public debt rose from $ 712 billion in 1980 to $ 2.052 trillion in 1988, a roughly three-fold increase. The unemployment rate fell from 7% in 1980, to 5% in 1988. The inflation rate declined from 10% in 1980 to 4% in 1988. Some economists have stated that Reagan's policies were an important part of bringing about the third longest peacetime economic expansion in U.S. history. During the Reagan administration, real GDP growth averaged 3.5%, compared to 2.9% during

6164-496: The realization that his gang had left him to be captured without a moment's hesitation—fanned Eel's longstanding dissatisfaction with his criminal life and his desire to reform. During his short convalescence at the monastery, he discovered that the chemical had entered his bloodstream and caused a radical physical change. His body now had all of the properties of rubber, allowing him to stretch, bounce and mold himself into any shape. He immediately determined to use his new abilities on

6256-541: The resolution of the stagflation is given to two causes: renewed focus on increasing productivity and a three-year contraction of the money supply by the Federal Reserve Board under Paul Volcker . In stating that his intention was to lower taxes, Reagan's approach was a departure from his immediate predecessors. Reagan enacted lower marginal tax rates as well as simplified income tax codes and continued deregulation . During Reagan's eight year presidency,

6348-509: The same period. Both CBO and the Reagan Administration forecast that individual and business income tax revenues would be lower if the Reagan tax cut proposals were implemented, relative to a policy baseline without those cuts, by about $ 50 billion in 1982 and $ 210 billion by 1986. According to a 2003 Treasury study, the tax cuts in the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 resulted in a significant decline in revenue relative to

6440-426: The side of law and order, donning a red, black and yellow (later red and yellow) rubber costume and capturing criminals as Plastic Man. He concealed his true identity with a pair of white goggles and by re-molding his face. As O'Brian, he maintained his career and connections with the underworld as a means of gathering information on criminal activity. Plastic Man soon acquired comic-relief sidekick Woozy Winks , who

6532-591: The sizes and shapes he can contort himself into. There is nothing he cannot alter his body into, which includes basic shapes or dangerous weapons, avatars of other superheroes, and functional automobiles. These stretching capabilities grant Plastic Man agility, flexibility, and coordination far beyond the natural limits of the human body. He can alter his strength by growing or adding more muscle. Plastic Man's powers extraordinarily augment his durability. Some stories, perhaps of anecdotal quality, have showed him susceptible to surprise attack by bullets, in one case oozing

6624-420: The split. Later, Batman comments that it was a wise move "under the circumstances". Later, Plastic Man approaches Batman for help when he learns that Eel's estranged ten-year-old son Luke has fallen in with a gang of criminals, and has inherited his father's shape-shifting abilities, possibly to an even greater degree than Plastic Man's own. Plastic Man admits to Batman that he doesn't know if he ran away from being

6716-448: The story arc "The Obsidian Age", Plastic Man and the other main members of the JLA were transported through time thousands of years earlier to the beginning days of Atlantis. During a battle with the antagonists, Plastic Man was frozen and then shattered into pieces. Having no way to locate all the pieces, much less fix him, with the technology of the day, the JLA returned to their own time. There they were eventually successful in finding all

6808-427: The superhero, crime and humor genres. The first issue of Police Comics featured the debuts of Plastic Man , Phantom Lady , Human Bomb , Firebrand , and Mouthpiece , all of which (except the latter) are characters that continued to be published decades later by DC Comics after it acquired Quality's properties. Firebrand, the initial lead feature, was soon eclipsed by Jack Cole 's popular Plastic Man, who took

6900-560: The tax bills". The fact that tax receipts as a percentage of GDP fell following the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 shows a decrease in tax burden as share of GDP and a commensurate increase in the deficit, as spending did not fall relative to GDP. Total federal tax receipts increased in every Reagan year except 1982, at an annual average rate of 6.2% compared to 10.8% during the preceding eight years. The effect of Reagan's 1981 tax cuts (reduced revenue relative to

6992-471: The tax receipts in 1990 were $ 1.5 trillion, an increase of 20% above inflation. Reagan was inaugurated in January 1981, making the first fiscal year (FY) he budgeted 1982 and the final budget 1989. Nominal after-tax corporate profits grew at a compound annual growth rate of 3.0% during Reagan's eight years, compared to 13.0% during the preceding eight years. The S&P 500 Index increased 113.3% during

7084-521: The team for being too unpredictable. This cameo appearance was later retconned by "Eel" O'Brian's proper New 52 introduction in Justice League (Vol. 2) #25 (February 2014). In 2016, DC Comics implemented another relaunch of its books called " DC Rebirth " which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to " The New 52 ". In Dark Days: The Forge , Batman unveils a containment unit to Mister Terrific in The Lunar Batcave bearing

7176-487: The temperature change is gradual. A sudden change induces a complete change of state, creating a truly solid or truly liquid form. Plastic Man was incapacitated in the JLA story arc "Tower of Babel" when mercenaries froze and shattered his body. Once thawed and reassembled, he was physically unharmed. In the JLA story arc "Divided We Fall", Plastic Man is shown to have some weakness to extreme heat (intense heat vision attack from

7268-405: The top marginal tax bracket from 70% to 50% and the lowest bracket from 14% to 11%. This act slashed estate taxes and trimmed taxes paid by business corporations by $ 150 billion over a five-year period. In 1982 Reagan agreed to a rollback of corporate tax cuts and a smaller rollback of individual income tax cuts. The 1982 tax increase undid a third of the initial tax cut. In 1983 Reagan instituted

7360-450: The upper-class (2.2% to 4.83%). The misery index , defined as the inflation rate added to the unemployment rate , shrank from 19.33 when he began his administration to 9.72 when he left, the greatest improvement record for a President since Harry S. Truman left office. In terms of American households, the percentage of total households making less than $ 10,000 a year (in real 2007 dollars) shrank from 8.8% in 1980 to 8.3% in 1988 while

7452-413: The warm safety of a straitjacket and padded room. Eel and Woozy decided to work together and capitalize on Eel's new powers to make their fortunes (Eel wanting to get rich quick, Woozy just wanting his "old room" back), but couldn't decide whether there was more money in crime or crime-fighting, and resorted to flipping a coin to choose serving the law (though Woozy had his doubts early on). Eel ended up with

7544-535: The widening income gap, what they described as an atmosphere of greed, reduced economic mobility , declining real median wages , and the national debt tripling in eight years which ultimately reversed the post-World War II trend of a shrinking national debt as percentage of GDP. Prior to the Reagan administration, the United States economy experienced a decade of high unemployment and persistently high inflation (known as stagflation ). Attacks on Keynesian economic orthodoxy as well as empirical economic models such as

7636-489: Was 3.6% during Reagan's eight years, compared to 2.7% during the preceding eight years. Real GDP per capita grew 2.6% under Reagan, compared to 1.9% average growth during the preceding eight years. The average real hourly wage for production and nonsupervisory workers continued the decline that had begun in 1973, albeit at a slower rate, and remained below the pre-Reagan level in every Reagan year. While inflation remained elevated during his presidency and likely contributed to

7728-686: Was about 6% of GDP, exceeding this number in 4 different years. All these numbers had not been seen since the end of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War in 1973. In 1981, Reagan significantly reduced the maximum tax rate, which affected the highest income earners, and lowered the top marginal tax rate from 70% to 50%; in 1986 he further reduced the rate to 28%. The federal deficit under Reagan peaked at 6% of GDP in 1983, falling to 3.2% of GDP in 1987 and to 3.1% of GDP in his final budget. The inflation-adjusted rate of growth in federal spending fell from 4% under Jimmy Carter to 2.5% under Ronald Reagan. This

7820-546: Was also a recurring character on Batman: The Brave and the Bold from 2008 to 2011. Although the character has never been a significant commercial success, Plastic Man has been a favorite character of many modern comic book creators, including writer Grant Morrison , who included him in their 1990s revival of the Justice League ; Art Spiegelman , who profiled Cole for The New Yorker magazine; painter Alex Ross , who has frequently included him in covers and stories depicting

7912-430: Was approaching a mental breakdown as he struggled with his rage over his parents' murder – having lacked the ability to do anything about it, as Batman was the identity that had 'inherited' his skills. Eel demonstrates this to the other divided Leaguers by savagely beating Bruce Wayne with a gun in the guise of a mugger to prove Wayne's ineffectiveness, and demonstrate the degree of psychological damage he has suffered due to

8004-491: Was at first oblivious to the changes to his body, but after realizing that he was the monster at large, he used his new abilities to escape his pursuers. Eel soon became so despondent over his new condition that he attempted suicide by jumping off a bridge. Fortunately, he was interrupted by Woozy Winks, a former mental patient who was kicked out of an institution due to lack of funding (or as Woozy put it, "something called Reaganomics "), who desired nothing more than to return to

8096-478: Was influenced by a theoretical taxation model based on the elasticity of tax rates, known as the Laffer curve . Arthur Laffer 's model predicts that excessive tax rates actually reduce potential tax revenues, by lowering the incentive to produce; the model also predicts that insufficient tax rates (rates below the optimum level for a given economy) lead directly to a reduction in tax revenues. Ronald Reagan also cited

8188-407: Was initially in the superhero business for the money has had an effect on his character development, notably in the storyline "Divided We Fall" by Mark Waid where he, along with other Justice League members, was separated into two people, his normal "civilian" identity and his superhero persona, by the manipulative wish-granting Id . While Plastic Man devolved from a person with a sense of humor into

8280-483: Was once reduced to individual, separate molecules and scattered across the Atlantic Ocean for centuries. He was only capable of returning to his usual form after the rest of the League were able to gather enough of his molecules and restore approximately 80% of his body mass, after which he began to regenerate the remaining 20% on his own. Plastic Man has proven to be insusceptible to the effects of telepathy. As stated by Batman (in JLA #88, Dec. 2003), "Plastic Man's mind

8372-494: Was originally enchanted so that nature itself would protect him from harm. This power was eventually removed from the character and Woozy became simply a bumbling yet loyal friend to Plastic Man. In his original Golden Age/Quality Comics incarnation, Plastic Man eventually became a member of the city police force and then the FBI. By the time he became a federal officer, he had nearly completely abandoned his Eel O'Brian identity. After

8464-457: Was the slowest rate of growth in inflation adjusted spending since Eisenhower. However, federal deficit as percent of GDP was up throughout the Reagan presidency from 2.7% at the end of (and throughout) the Carter administration. As a short-run strategy to reduce inflation and lower nominal interest rates, the U.S. borrowed both domestically and abroad to cover the Federal budget deficits, raising

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