Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: I'm tired of living POOR! I'm gonna be a New Democrat! [View all]Octafish
(55,745 posts)16. I'm one of those avoid-the-boiling-frog kind of guys.
JFK tapes offer lesson in income inequality
By Tom Putnam | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT JANUARY 24, 2012
DURING THE last days of his presidency, John F. Kennedy had a number of concerns on his mind. In tapes being released today by the Kennedy Library, we hear, for example, the president focus on his reelection and issues of economic inequality. What can we do, he asks his political advisers, to make voters decide that they want to vote for us, Democrats? What is it we have to sell em? We hope we have to sell them prosperity, but for the average guy the prosperity is nil. Hes not unprosperous, but hes not very prosperous. Hes not . . . very well-off. And the people who really are well-off hate our guts. As questions about growing social inequity increasingly dominate our current political dialogue, it may be instructive to look back at how these issues played out a half century ago.
Having witnessed the country survive the Great Depression and World War II, JFK understood the economic and military vulnerabilities of democratic capitalism. Though insulated by his familys wealth, JFK was affected by the poverty he witnessed on the 1960 campaign trail. One of the memorable lines from his inaugural address if a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich helps explain his first executive order: increasing surplus food allotments to poor communities across the nation.
Once in power, his economic policies were ideologically balanced, combining, for example, a proposed tax cut to stimulate the economy with efforts to raise the minimum wage and expand unemployment benefits. Like the current incumbent, JFKs legislative efforts - especially those designed to help the poor and advance civil rights - were often stymied by members of Congress. During his 1962 State of the Union address he reminded his congressional colleagues: The Constitution makes us not rivals for power but partners for progress. . . It is my task to report the State of the Union - to improve it is the task of us all.
In terms of his administrations relationship with the really well-off, his most famous confrontation came during the steel crisis in 1962. Having helped to negotiate a non-inflationary wage settlement with the United Steelworkers Union, Kennedy thought he had an agreement with industry executives that, in exchange, they would not raise the price of steel that year.
CONTINUED...
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2012/01/24/jfk-offers-lessons-income-equality/ST1GsaQM77N0mWXoG8GT4L/story.html
By Tom Putnam | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT JANUARY 24, 2012
DURING THE last days of his presidency, John F. Kennedy had a number of concerns on his mind. In tapes being released today by the Kennedy Library, we hear, for example, the president focus on his reelection and issues of economic inequality. What can we do, he asks his political advisers, to make voters decide that they want to vote for us, Democrats? What is it we have to sell em? We hope we have to sell them prosperity, but for the average guy the prosperity is nil. Hes not unprosperous, but hes not very prosperous. Hes not . . . very well-off. And the people who really are well-off hate our guts. As questions about growing social inequity increasingly dominate our current political dialogue, it may be instructive to look back at how these issues played out a half century ago.
Having witnessed the country survive the Great Depression and World War II, JFK understood the economic and military vulnerabilities of democratic capitalism. Though insulated by his familys wealth, JFK was affected by the poverty he witnessed on the 1960 campaign trail. One of the memorable lines from his inaugural address if a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich helps explain his first executive order: increasing surplus food allotments to poor communities across the nation.
Once in power, his economic policies were ideologically balanced, combining, for example, a proposed tax cut to stimulate the economy with efforts to raise the minimum wage and expand unemployment benefits. Like the current incumbent, JFKs legislative efforts - especially those designed to help the poor and advance civil rights - were often stymied by members of Congress. During his 1962 State of the Union address he reminded his congressional colleagues: The Constitution makes us not rivals for power but partners for progress. . . It is my task to report the State of the Union - to improve it is the task of us all.
In terms of his administrations relationship with the really well-off, his most famous confrontation came during the steel crisis in 1962. Having helped to negotiate a non-inflationary wage settlement with the United Steelworkers Union, Kennedy thought he had an agreement with industry executives that, in exchange, they would not raise the price of steel that year.
CONTINUED...
http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2012/01/24/jfk-offers-lessons-income-equality/ST1GsaQM77N0mWXoG8GT4L/story.html
Mass Denial in the Assassination of President Kennedy
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
44 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
RecommendedHighlight replies with 5 or more recommendations
That was a description of the Democratic party, but you can apply it to the GOP too.
JRLeft
Jun 2016
#14
One of my most politically advanced friends said we must forget she's owned by Wall Street...
Octafish
Jun 2016
#38
As a rule, they arent interested in people unless they are a multinational corporation.
Baobab
Jun 2016
#32
If you have any job at all, you are probably already connected to one of these corporate entities.
Jitter65
Jun 2016
#5
Time for you to stop being a deadbeat! Book a quarter million dollar speech to wall street and
Doctor_J
Jun 2016
#25
"An honest public servant can't become rich in politics." - Harry Truman
Cheese Sandwich
Jun 2016
#35