When confronted with the evidence that Eisenhower was a flaming Liberal (by today's standards) a few on the Right have responded by claiming that John F. Kennedy was a Conservative - because he cut taxes.
It has been said that JFK's tax cuts were the greatest in history; that may be true, but I haven't seen an actual analysis that supports or refutes it. But let's put JFK's tax cuts into perspective:
- JFK cut the top tax bracket on earned income (wages) from 90% to 70%. Today, Bush has cut this tax to half of that, or 35%.
- JFK's tax package treated capital gains (e.g., profit from stocks, bonds, and other investments) the same as earned income - 70% tax. Bush has reduced capital gains taxes to 15%. Most of the income of the wealthy comes from capital gains, not wages.
All told the wealthy paid 70% of their income in taxes under JFK. Today, the wealthy pay less than 20% (combining wages and capital gains).
A 70% tax rate on the rich makes JFK a Conservative? Hardly! Can you imagine if a candidate today wanted to raise taxes on the rich from 20% to 70%? Would he or she be called a Conservative?
