'Kennedy’ once meant ‘tax cutter’

Boston Globe ^ | 08/30/09 | Jeff Jacoby

[nhwingut]

HIS NAME was Kennedy. He was the preeminent figure in the Democratic Party. And he was a resolute supply-side tax-cutter.

[nhwingut]

Over the course of Ted Kennedy’s long Senate career, his party’s ideological center shifted hard to the left. It goes without saying that a JFK today could never be the Democrats’ presidential candidate. The question is, would he still be a Democrat?

JFK would be a Republican, IMO.

[Clara Lou]

But you have to understand Teddy. I’m pretty sure that Teddy, being who he was, made some variation of this promise: “God, if you’ll just give me a pass on the Mary Jo thing, I promise to lead a life of doing good, taking care of the poor.” And that’s what he did. Teddy used taxpayer money to buy his way into heaven.

I imagine that he’s figured out by now that he didn’t get that pass from God.

[101voodoo]

"JFK would be a Republican, IMO."

At the very least a blue dog Dem. JFK was a tax cutter and understood both the need for a strong military AND the importance of a strong business community to America.

[GOPsterinMA]

“Gay” once meant “Happy”.

Them days are LONG gone...

[Gaffer]

.....meant tax cutter.....

At least partly right..........the 'cutt' part, anyway.....as in 'Cutty Sark'.

[chippewaman]

“JFK would be a Republican, IMO.”

He would have been at least a conservative Democrat or moderate. He cut taxes, was pro-military, was tough on Communism (threatened the USSR) and had to take no stance on abortion since it was illegal, IMO. I wonder if he would have recognized today’s hard left party of Pelosi and Reid. The 1960 version of the “Old South Democrat” has been hijacked by the socialists, communists and radicals.

[aliquando]

He was buying indulgences. Just like The Church used to have back in the day.

[Mr. K]

I agree- I listened to some of his old speaches and he sounded more like Reagan than his fatass drunken brother

I read somewhere that Kennedy had made a speach, one week before his death, where he promised to reveal something about a ‘hidden government’ controlling things.

How can we look up something lie that?

[TShaunK]

WoW!
This was in the Boston Globe?
Boston Globe is usally makes Pravda look like the National Review with its leftist views.

[barkeep]

Back in the day when news magazines actually reported news, U. S. News and World Report published the entire 4 page speech JFK gave to the Economic Club of New York. I have and treasure it.

One quote summarizes the whole thing. “In short, it is a paradoxical truth that tax rates are too high today and tax revenues are too low- and the soundest way to raise revenues in the long run is to cut rates now.” Dec. 14, 1962. Article was published Dec. 24, 1962.

Reagan never said it this well. Kennedy fought his own Party for nearly a year before his proposal passed. LBJ was given the first budget surplus in 30-some years...and it took his guns-and-butter policies less than two years before he put forth a 10% income tax bite leading to the disaster of the 70s.