TPMDC
Republican Candidate For Ted Kennedy's Seat Invokes John F. Kennedy In New Ad
President John F. Kennedy
Share
Send to a friend!
Massachusetts state Sen. Scott Brown, the underdog Republican candidate in the special election for the late Ted Kennedy's Senate seat, has a new ad that ties him to the Kennedy legacy. To be specific, Brown is linking himself to the John F. Kennedy legacy, using the common depiction by modern Republicans of President Kennedy as a supply-side conservative.
The ad opens with footage of Kennedy proposing a tax cut in 1963 1962, and then fades into Brown reciting the words of Kennedy's speech about how tax cuts will spur growth:
Besides the obvious joke that Scott Brown is no Jack Kennedy, it should be noted that any tax cut being proposed today is no Kennedy tax cut (or more properly a "Kennedy-Johnson" tax cut, since it was proposed by Kennedy but not enacted into law until LBJ came into office), and the circumstances are wildly different. At the time of the Kennedy-Johnson tax cuts, the top marginal income tax rate was over 90%, which was then lowered to 70 percent. By modern conservative standards, this would be considered a tyrannical socialist regime plotting to confiscate all private property.
Today, the current top federal income tax rate is 36%. If the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire for the upper brackets, the top rate will be 39%. Even if the Democrats were to propose increasing the top income taxes beyond that, it's hard to imagine them going anywhere near the tax rates of the Kennedy-Johnson era.
Comments (7) | Join the Conversation!
Leave a comment
Follow us!
Most Popular
TPM Stories Now Surging on Digg.com
TPM Top News
© 2010 TPM Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Dorn76
December 30, 2009 1:47 PM
People in Mass ought to be smart enough to see this is a sham, and punish him for tarring JFK with a GOP feather.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
TaylorB1
December 30, 2009 1:48 PM
Same GOP rubbish as usual...it used to be that they would try to assume the mantle of FDR...then they wanted you to think they were like Truman...now it's JFK. I can imagine in another fifteen or twenty years that the bright young things of the GOP (if there still is a GOP) will want to convince you that they are the second coming of Bill Clinton...or Barack Obama.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
ericf
December 30, 2009 2:56 PM
JFK didn't just cut rates, he closed loopholes, and actually got more revenue. He campaigned saying people like him weren't paying anywhere close to 90%.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
vamonticello
December 30, 2009 10:07 PM
WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH Martha Coakley? I heard she has not aired any ads. Is she that crazy?
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
sconset
December 31, 2009 12:03 AM
Brown is going no where in this state....Martha Coakley will be the next senator from Massachusetts. Brown is a jerk who has no substance and merely repeats GOP talking points that we have heard for the last umpteen years.
Also, the national committee and the NRSCC hasn't given him much help at all.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Angel1
December 31, 2009 2:50 AM in reply to sconset
I've heard it reported that Scott Brown was considered too liberal according to the right-wings we already havve in the senate. I don't now if this accurate or not, since the
right-wing fringe from DC are keeping silent. I don't think they like it that he has a long history of crossing party lines, and gets along with Democrats in Massachusetts.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Angel1
December 31, 2009 2:38 AM
I'm a very progressive and consider myself to be a feminist. I initially voted for for Martha Coakley in the primary because she said she would refuse to vote for a health care bill with anti-bortion language. She gots many votes from pro-choice voters, and lots of donations from pro-choice organizations, including Emily's List.
I feel like a fool for voting for Martha Coakley. She LIED. She now says she will vote for the final bill with Ben Nelson's with restrictions on abortion funding.
I am furious that she lied and fooled to many women.
Many very progressive people are refusing to vote for Martha Coakley on January 19. I've had ammny people tell me they are going to vote for Scott Brown to stop Martha Coakley from selling out women. Senator Kennedy was a champion for pro-choice. She is obviously not. Spare me from telling me you are pro-choice, then turn around and vow to vote for a final bill with anti-choice language proposed by a zealot like Ben Nelson.
My brother lives in Scott Brown's district. He is actually one of the few republicans to be voted in for office in this democratic-leaning state. He is actually pro-choice.
Martha Coakley is refusing to do 1on 1 debates with Scott Brown.
He is very articulate and bright. I would love to see them debate 1 on 1. I want him to question her on her sell-out to women who voted for her and gave her money. I would also like to see what she has to say about the Amirault case when she a prosecutor, and an innocent man went to jail.
I'd also like Martha Coakley to answer why she refused to bring charges about Speaker Sal Demasi and politicians who engaged in criminal activity while they were politicians in this state. Unlike a former Attorney general we had in Massachusetts, she DIDN'T want to prosecute her own party. I am glad that the federal prosecutors stepped in, so these politicians will get prosecuted. She had years to prosecute these scum, but looked the other way because she didn't want to lose the support of her own party.
Thanks for letting me rant. it feels good to get my feelings out. I am very sad about Martha Coakley. I really thought she would stand up for women's reproductve rights. It's devastating for Massachusetts to lose Senator Kennedy as an advocate in our state. He was a champion and an advocate for the most vulnerable.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?