Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:37:30 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Jack Kemp :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/authors/Jack+Kemp istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/keep-the-internet-tax-free/57417/ Wed, 27 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EST Ronald Reagan said famously, "The trouble with those on 'the left': if they see something move, they'll tax it, if it keeps moving, they'll regulate it, and if it stops moving, they'll subsidize it." We would add, as longtime "tax cutters," that unfortunately, all too often, that phenomenon is also occurring on "the right." Senators Grassley and Baucus are co-sponsoring a bill to tax private equity firms that go public, as "ordinary income," not as a partnership. Senators Graham and Schumer are... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/working-for-lieberman/38756/ Tue, 29 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EST What a sad spectacle these last few days, as Sens. Hillary Clinton and John Kerry and even Al Gore have been falling all over themselves in condemning their old friend Joe Lieberman as he dares to run as an independent for the U.S. Senate from Connecticut. Their criticism of Mr. Lieberman and their endorsement of Ned Lamont is for one purpose only, and that is to take the side of the anti-war, "get out now" crowd that is in control of the Howard Dean wing of the once-great Democratic Party... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/know-nothing-party/35787/ Tue, 11 Jul 2006 00:00:00 EST The small minority of Republicans who derailed the vote to renew the Voting Rights Act of 1965 are in danger of being portrayed as members of the "Know Nothing" Party of the 1850s, whose hypocrisy President Lincoln said he could never stomach. These were nativists who disdained Catholics and immigrants while dismissing African-Americans as three-fifths of a human being. When asked about their party's position, they would reply: "I know nothing." Today's opponents of renewal of the Voting Rights... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/better-future/35224/ Wed, 28 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EST One year ago the Supreme Court decided the Kelo case, upholding a controversial use of eminent domain. Kelo has precipitated a widespread and healthy debate across the country about when and how this important but intrusive government power should be used. There is no doubt that there have been abuses, including cases where homeowners, farmers and small businesses have been forced to sell their property for use by developers to build massive distribution centers and shopping malls. And there... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/what-i-really-think/34835/ Wed, 21 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EST Watching our USA soccer team tie the Italian team last week and on Sunday watching the athleticism of the Brazilian team, I'm hereby publicly acknowledge that soccer can be interesting to watch, as Frederick Kempe wrote about Henry Kissinger on June 17, 2006, in the Wall Street Journal summing up Kissinger's love for the sport. Kissinger states that, "soccer is more of an unrelenting drama, with no timeouts, commercials or water breaks, and limited opportunity for substitutions." Kissinger... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/vital-spirit/34369/ Tue, 13 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EST On Sept. 11, 2001, America entered a new world war. Our nation had been violated by the barbarism of a new dark age. The Free World had been shaken to its core. In the days and weeks immediately following the horrific attacks on our homeland, it seemed there was no telecast or broadcast, no newspaper or magazine that did not mention the name of Winston Churchill. The gatekeepers of information looked for guidance, inspiration and hope to the memory of one man who rallied a nation in peril to... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/civil-rights-issue/33560/ Tue, 30 May 2006 00:00:00 EST In the late 1850s, as the Republican Party was being formed out of an amalgamation of "free soilers", "whigs" ,"Liberals", "Know Nothings" (some of which are still around today) and "Black Republicans" who were Anglo, but labeled "Black" because they favored full and immediate emancipation. Mr. Lincoln stitched together enough of a coalition to win the Republican Party's nomination and eventually and thankfully the 1860 presidential election. As Mr. Lincoln traveled in March of 1861 from... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/100-misunderstanding/32173/ Thu, 4 May 2006 00:00:00 EST There's an old saying that it is better to be thought ignorant than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt. This has never been more evident than in the debate over oil companies, gasoline prices, oil profits and windfall profits taxes. Some in the GOP leadership suggest everything from $100 rebates and windfall profit taxes to Federal Trade Commission investigations and congressional hearings on so-called price-fixing and/or gouging. I'm reminded of Richard Nixon in the early 1970s, when he... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/absolute-necessity/31674/ Wed, 26 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EST Having traveled to Israel recently and many times over the past 35 years or so, I take profound exception to the accusations leveled at Israel by my old friend and syndicated columnist Robert Novak, particularly his most recent column titled "Walled Off Christians." It's not fun taking on Bob Novak, as he's been a family friend since I first went to Congress in 1971. In fact, I was one of his guests at the celebration of his 75th birthday, delivering a toast to his years of high profile and... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/weve-come-a-long-way/31184/ Tue, 18 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EST With the permission of my oldest granddaughter, who recently turned 16, I'm sharing with all my readers my birthday message to her on that glorious occasion. I'm be writing a second one to my grandson Kolby in just a few days as he reaches 16. My Dearest Jennifer, Happy 16th birthday! Believe it or not, I was 16 once, a long time ago, back in the dark ages of the 1950s. I turned 16 in 1951, and I'd like to share with you what it was like from my 70-year-old rearview mirror. Harry Truman was... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/soak-the-rich/30910/ Thu, 13 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EST As I've often said before, the only thing one learns from history is that no one ever learns from history. While I don't accept this Hegelian pessimistic view of human nature, it's increasingly clear that the Republican Party may prove the German philosopher Hegel correct. How so? Republican members of Congress are floundering around in a post-Tom DeLay world, wondering what to do about an agenda when they have yet to extend the Bush tax-rate cuts. It's still about "the economy, stupid!" And as... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/nation-of-immigrants-and-of-laws/30367/ Tue, 4 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EST "My dear fellow immigrants," with these words President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sent greetings to the annual convention of the Daughters of the American Revolution, after the organization banned the great black contralto, Marian Anderson, from singing at their Constitution Hall in 1939 simply because of the color of her skin. Marian Anderson chose the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to deliver her concert just days later, appropriately ending the concert with "God Bless America." Turning hate... JACK KEMP, DON RITTER and MAHMOOD KARZAI http://www.nysun.com/opinion/afghan-upside/29520/ Tue, 21 Mar 2006 00:00:00 EST Americans may be surprised, in contrast to conventional wisdom, to learn of the comparative peacefulness of Afghan cities when compared to other big cities around the world. The coverage on cable news of blood and guts resulting from an explosion or a shooting in Afghanistan is likely to be equivalent to that of network news or front pages across the country. Most often, commentators or pundits are responding to what others have reported. The same is true of government or academe. Violence in... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/golden-opportunity/27980/ Wed, 22 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EST It may be too early to tell but it could be we have seen a leveling off of the gold price and maybe even a downward break away from its recent high. If so, we are at a turning point for monetary policy at just the moment a new chairman, Ben Bernanke, takes over at the Federal Reserve Board. The danger is that the new Fed chairman could squander this golden opportunity to place gold back at the heart of monetary policy. If he fails to watch the price of gold and other price-sensitive indicators... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/dynamic-analysis/27666/ Wed, 15 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EST Vice President Dick Cheney is energetically carrying the supply-side banner forward by insisting the bureaucrats perform "dynamic analysis" to properly estimate the effects of changing federal tax policy. In his address to the Conservative Political Action Committee in Washington recently, Cheney began to push back against decades of bureaucratic inertia when he put the bureaucracy on notice that the days of "static analysis" are coming to an end: "The president's tax policies have strengthened... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/beware-the-third-rail/26475/ Wed, 25 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST "What fate for Social Security reform?" That was the question Sean Tuffnell asked in a recent insightful opinion column for the Washington Times. He concluded, based upon his work heading up a voluntary educational-outreach initiative on Social Security around the country: "While Washington is reluctant to talk about Social Security, there is a tremendous interest outside the Beltway." The White House may already have gotten that message. Several weeks ago, the president's chief of staff... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/leaders-wanted/26163/ Thu, 19 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST The Wall Street Journal recently leveled a devastatingly accurate assessment of congressional Republicans: "House Republicans have become more passionate about retaining power than in using that power to change or limit the federal government ... a strategy (that) has maintained a narrow majority, but at the cost of doing anything substantial." The Journal was exactly right that Republican leaders "have become ever more preoccupied with process, money and incumbency," a frame of mind in which... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/conservatism-in-need-of-an-agenda/25630/ Tue, 10 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST The modern conservative movement was built on a foundation of ideas generated by intellectual giants such as Russell Kirk, Richard Weaver, William F. Buckley Jr., and Robert Nisbet, and Nobel Prize-winning economists such as Milton Friedman, James Buchanan, Frederick Hayek, and Robert Mundell. These thinkers were scholars and university professors, but they remained aliens inside the academy for 30 years after the end of World War II because socialists and modern-day liberals controlled the... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/no-time-for-small-ball/25324/ Wed, 4 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST As year two of President George W. Bush's second term dawns, predictably, efforts to make him a lame duck are well advanced, efforts apparently abetted by well-meaning but misguided White House aides. Last week, the Washington Post characterized the president's plans for comprehensive tax reform as "dead or comatose" when it revealed conversations with White House insiders who claim Bush has decided that "overarching initiatives such as restructuring Social Security are unworkable in a time of... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/keep-the-front-door-open/25127/ Thu, 29 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST The so-called Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005 (H.R. 4437) currently under consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives is so overreaching that, in my opinion, it could become the Proposition 187 of the 21st century. It should be recalled that Proposition 187 was a Draconian effort in the mid-1990s by the state of California to drive undocumented aliens out of the country and deter their entry by cutting them off from all public services... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/defining-prosperity-down/24472/ Wed, 14 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST The United States government has wisely refused to yield to pressure by other industrialized nations to enter into formal negotiations that would create new binding limits on so-called "greenhouse-gas" emissions to take effect in 2012. The government did, however, agree to engage in "open and nonbinding" discussions with 200 other nations on global warming and carbon dioxide emissions. The Bush administration deserves enormous credit for resisting this thinly disguised attempt to disadvantage... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/negating-the-naysayers/24047/ Tue, 6 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST In more than three decades of political involvement, I've never witnessed such pessimism, gloom and doom over the nation's economy emanating from people who should know better. If it's not Warren Buffett shorting the dollar because of trade and budget deficits, it's Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan bad-mouthing our economy at the G7 meeting in London and Congress failing to bring much-needed assistance to the Gulf Coast region because of wrangling over budget cuts and deficits. It's actually the... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/moderate-republicans/23721/ Wed, 30 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST Please don't take tax advice from New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, the New York Times editorial page or those on the left who tell you we can get more revenue by raising tax rates on capital gains and dividends. We can't, and if we try, we will do incalculable harm to the economy and ultimately drive the deficit through the roof and the economy into a slump. The Times recently editorialized that it is "lunacy" and "ludicrous" for Congress to act this year to prevent tax rates on capital... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/asbestos-reform-now/23415/ Tue, 22 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST I applaud Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who recently announced that, "Asbestos reform will be the first major piece of legislation that we consider in late January when we return." That is great news for Americans like Mike Carter, owner of Monroe Rubber and Gasket Co. in Monroe, La., who has 75 asbestos lawsuits pending against his company, which never manufactured the product. For many years we have been operating in a system in which people who aren't sick are demanding compensation... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/breaking-the-monopoly/23072/ Tue, 15 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST President Bush has embraced a pro-growth economic policy focused on lower marginal tax rates, open markets, ownership and light-touch regulation. But one critical part of our nation's economic policy — the implementation of our antitrust laws — needs addressing by policymakers. Antitrust laws aim to promote consumer welfare through robust competition. But the antitrust laws can't be divorced from economic policy. Antitrust policy and economic policy are inextricably linked for the ultimate... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/doc-greenspans-nostrums/22758/ Wed, 9 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST Since Alan Greenspan became chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, the value of the dollar has declined by more than one-third. A dollar in 1985 is worth only 64 cents today. That is a record of colossal failure by the Fed to maintain a constant value of our currency. Curiously, despite having presided over the failure to maintain a stable unit of account, Greenspan remains a revered figure in Washington. His advice and counsel are sought after by politicians on both sides of the aisle, not... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/no-compromise/22455/ Wed, 2 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST "The current (federal) tax system is indefensible - it is beyond repair - it is impossibly complex, outrageously expensive, overly intrusive, economically destructive, manifestly unfair, and it severely limits economic opportunity for all Americans." Those were the words of the National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Reform in 1996, which I was privileged to chair. The Kemp Tax Reform Commission (of which Treasury Secretary John Snow was a valuable member) recommended to the Congress and... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/new-start-2005-09-21/20356/ Wed, 21 Sep 2005 00:00:00 EST Three cheers for Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Democratic party leader Donna Brazile, who are rising above politics to help the president in attempts to rebuild the Gulfport region of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Both Obama and Brazile have made dramatic statements that reflect a common commitment for racial reconciliation and for waging war on poverty to restore hope to people and families in Biloxi, New Orleans and other cities and communities in the hurricane-ravaged region. In the... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/to-grow-the-majority/19345/ Tue, 30 Aug 2005 00:00:00 EST A couple of weeks ago, I pointed out that President Bush has a golden opportunity right after Labor Day to advance the ownership society by repealing the death tax and giving working men and women the opportunity to own personal retirement accounts, which would both get a better rate of return and be inheritable by their families. The administration's general position on both issues is well known - it supports both - but where it stands on the legislative strategy remains a mystery. That's a... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/ministry-of-the-hammer/19037/ Tue, 23 Aug 2005 00:00:00 EST I first fell in love with Habitat for Humanity in 1989 when Habitat's founding visionary, Millard Fuller, called me during my first week as secretary of Housing and Urban Development for President Bush 41. Fuller asked me to fly to Atlanta to help dedicate a Habitat built home in the low-income community of Sandtown. As Fuller, his wife Linda, local dignitaries, local Habitat volunteers, and building partners gathered around the new home of a young single mother who was holding the keys for the... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/renew-it/18665/ Tue, 16 Aug 2005 00:00:00 EST This month 40 years ago, August 6 to be exact, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 finally was enacted into law after a century of congressional stonewalling on fully implementing the 15th Amendment and granting full suffrage to African-Americans. Prior to enactment of that law, some states in the South had used poll taxes, literacy tests, and outright intimidation to deny blacks their legal right to vote. The Voting Rights Act put an end to those abuses. It abolished poll taxes and literacy tests... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/kill-the-death-tax/18352/ Wed, 10 Aug 2005 00:00:00 EST When Congress returns from its summer recess, it will take up two core components of President Bush's second-term domestic agenda: making repeal of the death tax permanent and creating personal retirement accounts. The administration's general position on both issues is well known - it supports both - but where it stands on the legislative particulars remains a mystery. If the president hopes for legislative success on these two controversial issues, it is time for the White House to forcefully... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/threatening-the-expansion/17938/ Tue, 2 Aug 2005 00:00:00 EST The federal government's strong economic report on second quarter GDP growth is proof positive the Bush tax-rate reductions continue to fuel a robust economic expansion. In fact, overall economic activity in the second quarter of this year was even more vigorous than the reported 3.4% GDP growth announced by the Bureau of Economic Analysis at week's end. According to the BEA, private businesses reduced their inventories, but there is no indication that this inventory draw-down resulted from a... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/no-argument/17564/ Tue, 26 Jul 2005 00:00:00 EST Before Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced her retirement, both sides were gearing up for a battle royale over the next justice, only to discover there isn't much to fight about in President Bush's nomination of Judge John Roberts to the nation's highest court. Well-known Democratic lawyer E. Barrett Prettyman Jr., who worked closely with Roberts in private practice, says Roberts is both judicious and predictable. "He respects the court greatly and would not ignore precedent,"... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/repairing-the-breach/17213/ Tue, 19 Jul 2005 00:00:00 EST "I see an America where all our children are taught the basic skills they need to live up to their God-given potential ... where every citizen owns a stake in the future of our country, and where a growing economy creates jobs and opportunity for everyone ... where most troubled neighborhoods become safe places of kinship and community ... where every person of every race has the opportunity to strive for a better future and to take part of the promise of America. And I believe the government... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/let-them-participate/16842/ Tue, 12 Jul 2005 00:00:00 EST Recently, the China National Offshore Oil Co. made a bid to purchase the U.S. oil and gas producer Unocal. From the alarmist and jingoistic reaction of many in Congress, one would think that the Chinese government had launched a hostile takeover bid of the American economy. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Mich., went so far as to offer an amendment to an appropriations bill to prevent the traditional government review process - known as CFIUS - of the proposed deal from ever taking place... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/stop-the-raid/16233/ Wed, 29 Jun 2005 00:00:00 EST Senior members of the House Ways and Means Committee, its chairman, and the entire House leadership, along with a dozen senators, recently announced their intention to introduce legislation to stop the raid on Social Security surpluses and begin saving them in personal accounts for workers' retirements. What a huge achievement for the GOP, and what an important victory for President Bush, who wants to further democratize our capitalistic economy. This legislative breakthrough is an even greater... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/greenspans-conundrum-fed-back-on-the-beam/15873/ Wed, 22 Jun 2005 00:00:00 EST By tightening monetary policy during the past year, the Federal Reserve Board has gotten back on track, but it should refrain from further tightening. There are signs the Fed believes the economy is growing too fast, so it sends signals that it will continue to raise short-term interest rates in an effort to slow down our economy. Big mistake! The supply-side tax-rate reductions of 2003 continue to create powerful incentives for work, saving, and investment, which are driving economic growth... JACK KEMP http://www.nysun.com/opinion/tale-of-two-tax-cuts/15467/ Wed, 15 Jun 2005 00:00:00 EST The latest budget data confirm once again what I've been saying for the last 30 years: Cutting tax rates in the right way creates jobs and boosts economic revenues. On the other hand, attempting to revive economic growth by just "putting money in people's pockets" through tax credits, deductions, and rebates not only fails to increase growth but also creates disincentives to work, save, and invest, which ends up costing the government lost revenues. The historical record couldn't be clearer...