Well at least one Democrat understood the value of tax cuts…and he was the party hero for decades, but his wisdom is forgotten in today’s world of tax and spend.

In a 1963 message to Congress on tax reduction and reform, JFK stated: “Our tax system still siphons out of the private economy too large a share of personal and business purchasing power and reduces the incentive for risk, investment and effort–thereby aborting our recoveries and stifling our national growth rate.”

Similarly, the quote given in the picture above was made in a 1963 radio and television address to the nation on his tax reduction bill. President Kennedy knew high taxes were putting people out of work. Taxes got so high people couldn’t afford to buy much of anything. Companies couldn’t sell their products, so people got laid off and other people never got hired.

His effort was not how to divide the economic pie but how to enlarge it for everyone. Helping business profits led to more jobs. Helping consumer income led to more sales. When presented, it was a tax reform and tax reduction bill. When it was finally reported out [of the House], he had his major tax cuts bill with a little tax reform. More reforms, he agreed, were overdue, but they could not even pass committee.

The President went on television once again. He illustrated how the bill’s tax cuts would reduce the taxes of a typical family, and how their tax savings would be used to create more jobs. Ten thousand new jobs had to be created every day; recessions have occurred on the average every 44 months since World War I. “We need tax cuts to keep this present drive from running out of gas.” The speech was a success and so was the bill. The Kennedy tax bill, enacted with the help of his successor, and the unparalleled period of expansion stand as a monument to his economic wisdom and political tenacity.

The best way to enlarge the economic pie for all is to have government get out of the way–including getting out of the citizens’ pockets!