Newsweek's Michael Hirsch: "Jack Kemp: The dangers of amateurism"

Newsweek ^ | 5-04-09 | Michael Hisrch

[Justaham]

Note: Old post but worth posting to show everyone how retarded Newsweek is by disrespecting the dead! No wonder their circulation was cut in half!)

One does not want to be disrespectful of the dead, and Jack Kemp was an admirable man in many ways. If the Republican Party had only followed his advice about reaching out to the inner cities and underclass—and ignored his happy talk about supply-side economics—the GOP might not be in nearly the fix it is today. Unfortunately the opposite happened. Kemp, a consummate professional as a football player, was a classic case of an amateur econo-cultist whose understanding never reached quite deep enough. In mid-life, when he decided to switch from sports to politics, Kemp became enamored of simplistic free-market ideas, in particular a toxic combination of Arthur Laffer and Ayn Rand. He then sold another gifted amateur, Ronald Reagan, on the idea that drastic tax cuts would so stimulate the economy that the ensuing growth would more than make up for the loss in revenues.

[mbraynard]

Well, it did make up for the loss of revenues. http://www.heritage.org/research/features/budgetChartbook/Images/taxes-tax-rates_02-580.jpg

Futher, economic growth lowered the cost of debt so that the government could borrow at a better rate, as well.

[andy58-in-nh]

I’d like to see just how long second-hand vultures like Michael Hirsch would survive if all of the “simplistic free market” producers would stop working and thus paying for his insults. Jack Kemp had it right: there is no such thing as a free lunch and government is not the source of wealth. Were it not for the wealth and opportunities created by free minds and markets, people like this jerk would starve.

[Lets Roll NOW]

gifted amateur, Ronald Reagan

Newsweak can’t go broke fast enough.

[mowowie]

And newsweek wonders why they are going under.

unfortunately the ignorant hoards that infest this country eat this crap up like gospel.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

Here:



Clearly the guy who wrote this thing has no trouble with tax rates approaching 100%, nor has he considered the common-sense consequences of such confiscatory taxation. The genius of the Laffer Curve is its simplicity. Tax rates are, at some point, inversely correlated with tax revenues. So simple, but so obvious.

[Theodore R.]

The GOP did follow the Kemp suggestions for the most part, including running him for V.P. He could not deliver the voters.

[joma89]

Does anyone even read Newsweek anymore? I heard their circulation is down to virtually nothing.

JoMa

[Lou Budvis]

“gifted amateur, Ronald Reagan” - What a joke. Ronald Reagan spent decades working on his ideas. His worldview was so much more informed and thought-out than 0bama’s communism for dummies that he gulped down whole from Ayres, Wright et al it isn’t even funny.