Posted on 02/08/2008 7:15:11 AM PST by meandog
I am constantly amazed (and annoyed) when the Right claims that the US has been hijacked by the Left over the past few decades. This is utter nonsense - the actual evidence indicates that we've moved far, far to the Right.
Consider the case of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States (1953-1961), Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during World War II, and a Republican. Funny thing is, by today's standards, Ike would be a flaming liberal, to the Left of all recent serious contenders for the Democratic Party presidential nomination.
Ike on Taxes First, a quick definition of earned income vs. capital gains.
Earned income is income made from a job.
Capital gains, in contrast, is money made from the appreciation in value of something one owns (assets such as stocks, property, art, ...), rather than money earned from a job.
Average folks gets most of their income from their jobs, and thus the tax rate on earned income is most important to them. Rich people get most of their income from the appreciation of assets, and thus the tax rate on capital gains is more important to them.
Earned Income Tax: Ike's Time vs. Our Time
The highest tax bracket on earned income today is 35%. During Ike's administration, the highest tax bracket was 92% in 1953, and 91% thereafter [1]. Yes, taxes on the Rich were almost three times higher under the Republican Eisenhower compared to our current President, or compared to the Democratic administration of Bill Clinton!
Capital Gains Tax: Ike's Time vs. Our Time
It is considered to be almost the gospel today that capital gains should be taxed at a far lower rate than earned income. Today the maximum capital gains tax rate is a whopping 15% on assets that have been held for at least a year since purchase. This is why the middle class, who are dependant on earned income, effectively pay taxes at a higher rate than do the wealthy.
In Ike's day, capital gains were not treated differently from earned income, so the rich paid 91% tax on capital gains. From 91% to 15% - another reason why it's good to be rich!
Note that in 1955, in the middle of Ike's presidency, the typical (median) family paid less than 20% in all taxes [2]. By 2003, the total of all taxes paid by a typical family had more than doubled, to almost 40% of income.
So in Ike's day, the rich paid a lot of taxes, the middle-class paid a little taxes, and somehow it all worked out.
But Did Ike Want To Tax The Rich?
You might be curious as to whether Ike actually wanted such a high tax rate on the Rich, or was somehow forced into it by, say, a Democratically-controlled Congress. It turns out that when Ike ascended to the Presidency, both houses of Congress were indeed controlled by a single party - the Republican party. Republicans controlled the Presidency, the House, and the Senate - they could have done anything they wanted. And some in Congress did pressure Ike to roll back taxes on the rich, but he held the line, saying:
"We cannot afford to reduce taxes, reduce income,until we have in sight a program of expenditure that shows that the factors of income and outgo will be balanced."
Ike on Defense Ike was one tough hombre, the toughest of the tough. As Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, he had led millions of troops to take back Europe from the Nazis, and he got the job done. An astonishing feat, an honest "Mission Accomplished". Ike was President during the early part of the Cold War - a war where our opponent had actual weapons of mass destruction pointed at us. Let's see some of the things that Ike had to say about war, the millitary, and... Halliburton. Would Ike's views be considered to be Liberal or Right-wing today?
On the millitary in general "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms in not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense."
On the Iraq War "All of us have heard this term 'preventative war' since the earliest days of Hitler. I recall that is about the first time I heard it. In this day and time... I don't believe there is such a thing; and, frankly, I wouldn't even listen to anyone seriously that came in and talked about such a thing."
On Halliburton "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."
Ike on the Labor Movement We'll let Ike speak for himself on this one:
"Only a fool would try to deprive working men and working women of their right to join the union of their choice."
" . . . Workers have a right to organize into unions and to bargain collectively with their employers, and . . . a strong, free labor movement is an invigorating and necessary part of our industrial society."
and while we're at it:
"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H. L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."
Ike and Socialized Medicine
In 1960 Eisenhower signed into law the Kerr-Mills Bill, generally considered to be the forerunner of Medicare. For the first time, Kerr-Mills provided for government payment of medical bills of 70% of citizens aged 65 and older. When was the last time you heard of even a Democrat suggesting an expansion of socialized medicine?
Ike And Unilateralism Eisenhower knew the value of working closely with allies, and specifically of working out problems peaceully through the UN. While the Right would have you believe that the UN is some sort of recent liberal plot to displace the US, the reality is that the UN grew out of the alliance of 26 nations forged to fight the axis powers in WWII. Eisenhower was, in effect, the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe for the United Nations. For example, when President Truman announced the surrender of Germany he said “General Eisenhower informs me that the forces of Germany have surrendered to the United Nations”.
Here, again, are Eisenhower's own words:
"The world must learn to work together, or finally it will not work at all."
"If the United Nations once admits that international disputes can be settled by using force, then we will have destroyed the foundation of the organization and our best hope of establishing a world order. "
"The people of the world genuinely want peace. Some day the leaders of the world are going to have to give in and give, it to them."
_____________________________________
If only there were a Republican running...
Wow....Great catch. I never knew about this.
The operative word in that statement is "has", IMO.
The excesses of party power are coming home to roost. A pox on both their houses from me, any way!
But I will not be sitting home on election day. Don't know who I will be voting for as I live in a very strongly Democrat held district, but will still make my wee itty bitty voice heard, if by no one else, self.
As for McCain, believe I already stated the only scenario I could see myself voting for him.
Bad comparison. Obama is a Jack Kennedy type, actually he is more effective than Kennedy. Stevenson was something of a mama’s boy type The president in Dr. Strangelove was modelled after him. Obama will win in November big time if the Democrats are smart enough to nominate him.
I respect Ike to a degree Ike, but he was always a mushy moderate. Hell, he would have fired Patton if Roosevelt, Marshall, and Churchill had not liked Patton so much. Ike also fired Patton for not kissing Russian Arse and for using former-low ranking nazis (the non-murdering ones) to keep critical services going. Ike did not even attend Patton’s funeral. If you read any books about Patton (and love and respect the man like I do), you get a real ambivalent feeling for Ike and a deep hatred for Beadle Smith. Ike was a political CEO type and was not a warrior.
The 82nd Congress under Truman saw both Houses controlled by the Dems. During Ike’s terms of office, the 83rd Congress brought a small majority for the Republicans in both Houses. For the rest of his years in the White House, both Houses of Congress were controlled by the Dems (84th, 85th, and 86th). The 87th Congress with John F. Kennedy in the White House brought a Dem controlled Congress. They controlled both Houses until the 97th Congress when the Republicans were given control of the Senate. Split control of the House and Senate continued until the 100th Congress when the Dems regained control of both Houses. This continued until the 104th Congress when the Republicans had control of both Houses. And we all know the history since then.
I think as you do about Obama's chances against McCain, especially if there are more than two televised debates. If we are right then God help us all.
Ike did fire Patton. And to top that, he did not attend his funeral. One of the last words Patton said to his wife Beatrice before he died from injuries sustained in a car accident was ....”I want you to promise me that that Son-of-a-Bitch Beadle Smith comes nowhere near my funeral.”
Fired him for what? It was the 1940s for crying out loud. Public statements misinterpreted should not kill a general’s job.
Disagree. The US probably has a stable 2 party system because it reflects the way power is divided in our constitutional form of government. Executive vs. Legislative. Senate vs. House. See what I mean?
Every once in a while a 3rd party gains a little bit of traction, yet it gets absorbed within 2 election cycles. This is probably due to the way the R's & D's conspire to limit ballot access. Parlimentary democracies usually have a plethora of parties - forcing coalition government. Italy & Israel spring to mind, but most any European country also fits the bill.
Your right. The US military was officially de-Segregated in 1947 by order of Harry Truman. But there were still all-Black infantry regiments at the outset of the Korean War (1950).
I think whoever gets elected has very little maneuvering room on the border issue. I think the border is going to get ‘sealed’ as a first step to any immigration policy that might get adopted. The constituency for an open border is as much a non-starter with the majority of Dems as it is for conservatives.
Frankly I think Ike had a bit of an inferiority complex when it came to officers who ranked him in the Regular Army. Patton would have been at the top of that list since he was the nearly the oldest general officer retained by the Army at the outset of the war. MacArthur was a former Army Chief of Staff and Ike didn’t like him either.
Patton outranked Eisenhower in the Regular Army almost to the end of WW2. It was only in late ‘44 or early ‘45 that permanent RA rank was conferred on Eisenhower. Had he been cashiered (say the Normandy Landings had failed) Ike would have gone stateside as a BG. Patton was a MG in the RA having commanded the 2nd Armored in the 1940 Maneuvers.
That’s right, he canned Patton over his statement that some Nazis were “more or less” like the Republican or Democratic parties at the same time we were uncovering the evidence of the “camps.” But my point is that he did let Patton have 3rd Army and Patton’s troops “more than less” loved old Blood and Guts.
I agree with both you and Tallguy. I admit I am biased for Patton as both my Grandfather’s served under Patton and both had a great deal of respect and admiraton for the man. One Grandfather got to drive the General around a couple of times and the other met him while on guard as an MP.
I wouldn't say he was THAT confident. JFK's popularity was waning considerably as the '64 elections approached. He was in danger of losing the South en masse (one reason that precipitated his trip to Texas to try to mend fences. He was about as popular as AIDS in Dallas, which had a very Conservative anti-JFK Republican representing it, Bruce Alger, whom is still alive today at almost 90, a year younger than JFK would be). JFK's assassination did more to bolster the Democrats than anything else. Had he lived, it was quite possible he might've lost or only narrowly prevailed, with considerably reduced Dem numbers in Congress (as it was, the Dems swept gargantuan majorities in the House and reelected most of the 1958 Senate flukes who won in reaction to Ike's 6th year).
Patton also had a pitbull (bullterrier) riding with him in the front of his jeep...
I think I saw your marbles on ebay or craigslist.
Just telling ya in case you want them back.
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