Jack Kemp?
Jack Kemp was a brilliant and articulate advocate of free enterprise economics and limited government. He fought against exactly the same job killing tax and regulatory insanity that Trump is now vowing to eliminate.
If Jack Kemp had a failing it was that he was a bit ahead of his time and was out maneuvered by centrists in the Reagan administration. In the early 1980s it was Kemp who had Reagan’s ear on economic policy - and his advice was right on the money.
It was a heartbreaking time though, waiting for an economic boom that Kemp correctly predicted but which was unfortunately delayed a decade by the ill-advised phasing in of the tax cuts. Bill Clinton got to reap the benifits, confusing the debate over economic policy for decades - the democrats still think Clinton was such a wise and clever fellow. Give me a break.
Kemp strongly advised against phasing in the tax cuts because investors will naturally delay all transactions for years if necessary until the rates are at their lowest. This halt in capital investment was the exact opposite of the intended “supply side” effect that Reagan’s tax cuts were designed to produce, prolonging the recession and discrediting Kemp and his ideas.
As HUD secretary, Kemp came up with one of the most brilliant political ‘bait and switch’ schemes of all time, known as enterprise zones. Cloaked as social welfare programs and government giveaways, these zones won the support of democrats by targeting poor and underprivileged minority nieghborhoods. These impoverished neighborhoods were exempted from all major of tax and regulatory compliance, so they appeared as leftist government welfare programs.
Really, they were laboratories of free enterprise, which proved once and for all that even the poorest and least educated (or rather, especially the poorest and least educated) were far better off without the government’s “help”.
I believe Kemp’s enterprise zones did much to further the cause of limited government conservativism.
Later in his career, I’ll admit he seemed to have lost heart and had no fight left. He took some confusing positions, as I recall, and he and Dole made a less than inspiring pair.
But I loved Kemp ever since I heard him speak at the Financial Executives Institute in Philadelphia in 1980. He had a keen wit, and could articulate conservative economic principles and policy better than anyone around at the time.
Everyone was sure he’d be picked as Reagan’s VP - there were even Reagan Kemp bumper stickers for sale in 1979 - I had one on my car.
If you want to appreciate Trump’s great job so far in picking his cabinet, just imagine (or remember) how we felt when Reagan picked Bush instead of Kemp! What a let down that was.
Trump does not have quite the paternal gravitas and warmth that Reagan had, but he is not letting us conservatives down - he seems more conservative by the day.
You make excellent points about Kep's tax and economic policies. But he is now most quoted for his support of unrestricted immigration and open borders. Such as Paul Ryan.., who said this right before his plan to bring the Gang of 8 Amnesty to the House -- a plan derailed by the defeat of Eric Cantor...
Speaker Ryan Pushes Conservatives To Back His ‘Jack Kemp’ Pro-Immigration Economic Agenda
As Breitbart put it...
Jack Kemp was a libertarian GOP leader in the 1980s, who favored large-scale immigration into California and other states.
When Kemp was active, California was dominated by U.S.-born mainstream voters who elected Republicans. Now, after Kemp helped overcome public opposition to large-scale migration, California’s politics are dominated by minorities, including poor immigrants, ensuring the state is dominated by Democratic politicians. But Ryan’s speech still touted Kemp’s policies.