Breaking News Kennedy Dead

[USCG76]

Sen. Ted Kennedy is Dead
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TedKennedy/story?id=6692022

[MaskRider]

Wait a second... Hold on... still looking... still looking...
Nope. Can't find a sad emotion or thought. Don't know whats the matter with me.:emot-angel:

[USCG76]

:dead::dead::dead: Is this better? I couldn't find a giggling Devil.

[RickN]

I did not like his politics or personal history, but a man is dead, can we show a little class please?

[MaskRider]

"can we show a little class please?"

Nope. Can't do that either. My dislike for Ted Kennedy went far beyond disliking his politics. Ted Kennedy was a scoundrel- in the worst sense of the word. I disliked the man and won't pretend to respect or mourn him.

[Snuffy]

... a man is dead, can we show a little class please? Our definitions of "a man" seem to differ Rick. And as far as a "little class" ... Kennedy had as 'little class' as you can get, he doesn't deserve it in return, because he didn't earn it ... He should have been at the bottom of a lake a long time ago ... but instead someone else took his cheating ass place. Very little class .. sorry. I'm not making a mockery of this.

And good riddance ... R.I.H. (Rot In Hell) By far the biggest whiner crybaby voice in the congress ... now maybe we can get back on track?

:p

[von Bek]

Has anyone seen that godamm bridge?

[Snuffy]

Has anyone seen that godamm bridge?

Meaning?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chappaquiddick_bridge.jpg

Of course at the time of Kennedy's driving off the side of it, they claim it didn't have guard rails (verified in this body of text http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chappaquiddick_incident#Events_of_the_night_of_Jul y_18.2C_1969)

[Toastmaker]

I didn't like him or his politics either. But - he lost two brothers to violent homicide. If he loved his brothers even half as much as I do mine, he's suffered tremendously like few of us know.

[RickN]

Agreed Toast, and while the man was scum I like to think I am at least a little better then he was, and I damn well know most people who post here are.

[Panthera Pardus Nigresco]

It was interesting to hear Nancy Reagan just state how good friends her and Ronald were with Ted...outside of the office...

[bzhyoyo]

I can tell you the discrepancy between what is said here and in the French media about the man is quite staggering!

[RickN]

I can tell you the discrepancy between what is said here and in the French media about the man is quite staggering!

We expected that the French media would love the guy. :emot-angel:

[Toastmaker]

In what way, Bzhyoyo ?

[Blue Devil]

I didn't like him or his politics either. But - he lost two brothers to violent homicide. If he loved his brothers even half as much as I do mine, he's suffered tremendously like few of us know.

...and don't forget his nephew John Jr., ...who was murdered on the eve of his announcement to run for the U.S. Senate seat in New York, ...that he would have won by an almost unanimous land-slide, ...and would have held for the next 50 years...
.
.
.
...That Hillary (Fort Marcy Park (http://whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/FOSTER_COVERUP/foster.html)) Clinton wanted, ...and got.


As for Respect for the Dead, ...the Democrats and the MSM didn't even wait until the body was cold before they started using the corpse to further their Socialist Political agenda.


As for Teddy...

He was an angry, spiteful little ****.

A spoiled prince, ...denied his rightful place as king of America.

His father was a bootlegger in the 30's, ...earning an honest living shipping goods and war-stuffs to Britain, ...and then amassing a huge fortune and empire shipping boot-leg British and Canadian liquor back into the U.S. in the returning ships...

...and he wanted to make a King.


The Kennedy's where Democrats, ...but moderate Democrats.


But little Teddy ****ed up. (because he was a ****-up)

On an adulterous fling he drove his car off a bridge, ...and fled the scene to save his own anointed skin, ...in exchange for the slow suffocating death of his mistress.

The Public, ...and the drunken people of Massachusetts, ...forgave him...

...But WE, ...the PEOPLE never did.


...and the little **** spent the rest of his political life punishing WE for it.

He used the poor, ...the sick, ...the worker, ...the stupid and lazy, ...the immigrant, ...the impoverished foreign country...

...against WE, ...the tax-paying Voters.

Anything that was bad for the Tax-paying Voter, ...was a cause to champion.

...and we payed.


R.I.H. little Teddy, ...I am sure Mary-Jo is waiting for you...
.
.
.
...in the car...

[Scratch]

I normally don't comment negatively on the recently deceased, but this guy was one of the most hateful politicians that we have ever had. His behavior, both professionally and privately was as repugnant as it could be. He was one of the most self serving elected officials that has ever held office.

This country and the world is a much better place without him. I wonder if he remained unrepentant regarding his pro choice stance until death. If he did then according to his own faith he should be in hell now. It disturbs me that the hallowed ground of Arlington will now be polluted with the carcass of a man who took every opportunity to degrade our military personnel.

As much as I disliked the man, I sincerely hope he showed some repentance for the damage he did to this country before he died.

[bzhyoyo]

In what way, Bzhyoyo ?

he is described as someone who had a gift for negotiations and reaching a consensus with his opponents.

[MaskRider]

Big deal. The same can be said of Al Capone, Sam Giancanna, Lucky Luciano, Stalin and Hitler, etc., etc..

[Hans Jaeger]

I feel no sense of loss.

[Blue Devil]

Along with him personally inserting "Chain Migration" into the '65 Immigration Bill, ...and promising that it would in no way affect the landscape and composition of the American population, ...which is exactly what it did with 50 Million Illegal Aliens...

...There is also this:

Letter Details Kennedy Offer To USSR (http://sweetness-light.com/archive/kgb-letter-details-kennedy-offer-to-ussr)


This letter which details Senator Edward Kennedy’s offer to help the Soviet Union defeat Reagan’s efforts to build up the nuclear deterrent in Europe was unearthed by a Times of London reporter in the 1990s after the KGB files were opened.


They should bury his fat carcass in Red Square...

...or ass-up in Arlington, ...so WE have someplace to park our bikes, ...and stand our AMERICAN FLAGS...

[Snuffy]

Nuff said ...

1969

[Blue Devil]

Can't say enough about a 50 year case of Congressional Diarrhea...


...Teddy, ...the Red **** stain on America...

[Blue Devil]

The Fiscal Hypocrisy of Edward M. Kennedy (http://antiprotester.blogspot.com/2006/01/fiscal-hypocrisy-of-edward-m-kennedy.html)


Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) at the January 9 Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Judge Samuel Alito's Nomination to the Supreme Court said:

"So I have serious doubts that you'd [Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito] be that kind of justice. The record shows time and again that you have been overly deferential to executive power, whether exercised by the president, the attorney general or law enforcement officials.

...Judge Alito, we need to know whether the average citizen can get a fair shake from you when the government is a party, and whether you will stand up to a president -- any president who ignores the Constitution and uses arguments of national security to expand executive power at the expense of individual liberty; whether you will ever be able to conclude that the president has gone too far."

Senator Kennedy's concern for the "average citizen," typified by his "tax the rich" voting record, is contradicted by the Kennedy clan's extraordinary efforts to protect their fortune from the exorbitant federal taxes the Senator supports.

The Kennedy family's wealth, investment decisions, and lifelong efforts to shelter their inheritances from the Internal Revenue Service are not as well known as their public pronouncements on behalf of the "downtrodden" and the average person.

The Kennedy clan has never paid the confiscatory federal tax rates often advocated by Senator Kennedy and his liberal allies. Indeed, Senator Kennedy's empathy for the "average citizen" is a
faux pose intended for maximum public effect while he and his family's private investment decisions are about maximizing personal wealth and protecting that wealth.

Peter Schweizer, author of Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy, devoted an entire chapter to the shenanigans of the Kennedy clan, with specific attention paid to the Senatorial windbag of the sanctimonious American Left. Since there are so many examples from which to select, it is difficult to choose the most galling case of Kennedy-esque arrogance. However, among the more egregious is the Kennedy clan's successful evasion of inheritance taxes, an evasion that contradicts the Senator's political posturing and rhetoric.

The Senior Senator from Massachusetts belongs to a family clan blessed with a net worth of nearly $500 million. Back in 1935, Joseph Patrick Kennedy, Sr., purchased Merchandise Mart, a Chicago real estate company, and according to Schweizer:

"...in 1947, he divided its ownership among family members and put it in the form of a trust.... [it] was not set up in their home state of Massachusetts, New York, Florida, or even California. This trust wasn't even domiciled in the United States. Instead the Kennedy trust was set up in ... Fiji."

Now why establish a trust on an island best known for headhunters? The Fiji-based trust allowed the Kennedy's to avoid "...the possibility of scrutiny by the IRS and federal authorities," according to Schweizer. Worse, the sanctimonious Kennedy clan that demands the rich pay their fair share has "an intricate web of trusts and private foundations" that helps the family avoid the IRS.

For example, the family paid only $134,330.90 in estate taxes despite a family fortune thought to be between $300 and $500 million at the time of Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.'s death in 1969. That was a tax bill of .04 percent, and Schweizer informs us that the figure is based on the lower end of the estimated family fortune.

According to Peter Schweizer,

"...the current (2005) inheritance tax rate is 49 percent on any money passed to your children after the first $2 million...a farmer or small businessman worth $2.26 million who didn't have the benefit of Kennedy tax shelters and foreign-based trusts would pay the same amount in estate taxes as the Kennedys did on their entire half-billion-dollar fortune."

Amazing hypocrisy abounds. Imagine, a farmer or small businessman, with a net worth of $2 million, paying the same amount of taxes as a family clan worth a half-billion dollars. This is not the stuff of liberal "economic fairness." It most certainly is not the kind of outcome Senator Kennedy would boast about to his so-called "progressive" liberal supporters.

The Kennedy clan maintains most of their fortune "in trusts today which are structured to keep
the family from paying higher taxes... [Senator] Kennedy receives nice checks every year from trusts set up in 1926, 1936, 1978, 1987, and 1997," says Schweizer.

Senator Kennedy and his family have adopted other means besides trusts to avoid paying higher taxes. In one particularly sordid case in 1980, Senator Kennedy benefited from a political connection to Cook County, Chicago's Democratic tax assessor, Thomas Tully. Mr. Tully had assessed the Kennedy-owned Merchandise Mart's property value at $22.8 million when in fact its true value was $35 million. The discrepancy meant the Kennedys saved an estimated $8 million over a two year period. It also meant that Cook County's public schools were short-changed a few million dollars in property tax revenues. Given Senator Kennedy's long-standing support for public education, one would expect this example of hypocrisy to have a sobering impact on his supporters.

We should not begrudge Senator Kennedy and his family their wealth. Envy is one of the most destructive forces of the human soul. But we should maintain a variety of tax deduction options for families that wish to shelter their fortunes from exceedingly counter-productive taxes. These fortunes often are intended to be passed down several generations, and one of the most important incentives to wealth creation is the ability to accumulate and pass on wealth to one's offspring.

There is a fine line between a destructive nepotism and the needs of the commonweal; we have been engaged for two centuries now in trying to balance those two competing interests. Also, as part of this tension, there is the everlasting battle between merit and nepotism.

As Sociology Professor Paul Kamolnick has noted in his book, The Just Meritocracy: I.Q., Class Mobility, and American Social Policy, the battle to balance those two powerful, diametrically opposed forces is part of the

"...fundamental conflict [that] exists between a principle of pure meritocracy that demands promotion based on ability regardless of kin-relatedness and promotion, significantly if not wholly prejudiced by concerns of inclusive fitness and kin-relatedness...In essence, each human family is an institution designed to selfishly maximize its own allocative [sic] advantages via traditional nepotistic channels. Promoting its own regardless of merit versus not promoting the most meritorious person not its own is the very goal of every normally functioning human family. This
fundamental tension between lineal-inheritance and meritocracy - that is, selection
governed by familial connection versus selection by superior ability, objectively determined - should lead libertarian conservatives to make common cause with liberal democrats in opposition to such kin-based, nepotistic selection. Yet just as liberal-democratic policy offers shelter from pure meritocracy via governmental subsidy and entitlement, libertarian conservatives provide similar shelter from impartial meritocracy via defense of the unfettered inalienable right to lineal inheritance."

Ironically, it is that very same conservative ethos of protecting accumulated familial wealth that the liberal Kennedy clan adopted decades ago. Senator Kennedy and his family espouse economic justice; promote tax and spend policies and entitlement liberalism, but practice the time-honored and perfectly legitimate game of defending both self-interest and lineal-inheritance. The only part of this fact that we must vigorously criticize is Senator Kennedy's hypocritical posture as champion of the "little guy" juxtaposed next to the reality of his and his family's tax-evading trusts and other tax shelter schemes. His conduct here truly is a case of "do as I say, not as I do" liberal hypocrisy.

R.I.H. Teddy...

[Blue Devil]

Political Corruption 1: Ted Kennedy (http://www.libertylounge.net/forums/5337-political-corruption-1-ted-kennedy.html)


I was thinking of making a website dealing with corrupt politicians. I’m from NJ and it’s running rampant here. Motivez is making a local news site. I was thinking of the same, but realized the vast majority of my stories would evolve around NJ corruption. So I decided why stop at NJ corruption? So I’m gonna talk about political corruption as a whole. Singling out individual people and writing about them. This is my first writing and it’s basically brainstorming and throwing out ideas. Not exactly a finished piece. In fact, it will be written in roughly 15 minutes.

I figured who could I start off with? I would need someone easily able to research and someone prominent in today’s politics. The goal of this site would be to talk about things that people can’t readily find all over the internet. For this reason I decided to start out with Ted Kennedy. It’s no secret I despise the man. Many on this forum have defended him until the end of eternity saying he’s a good politician who gets results. It is true he accomplishes a lot. But is he a corrupt hypocrite? I believe so. In fact, I believe he is one of the most hypocritical and corrupt politicians in today’s government.

I guess I’ll get Chappaquiddick out of the way. You can’t write a piece about Kennedy without throwing this out there. Everyone knows the story, so I won’t get too much into detail. Basically, Ted Kennedy left a party with a younger employee and drove off a bridge. He escaped the car and went back to the party. He attempted to find an alibi. He went back and told a few friends what happened and rather than calling the police they ran back to the scene of the crime. They decided not to attempt a rescue and left her there without ever calling any authorities or rescue workers. She suffocated in an air pocket in the passenger foot well. It is widely believed they could have saved her had they called for help. It was now very late. Kennedy was tired from driving off a bridge and running around back and forth and dealing with the night’s events. So he decided to go back to his hotel. Only problem is he was checked into a hotel on an island and the ferry had stopped running at this point. So he literally swam back across the river and went to bed. Later on he saw on TV that his car was being pulled out of the river. He called the authorities and reported the accident.

He was found guilty for his crimes. Yet the judge only sentenced him to 30 days. And then waved those 30 days and said since he was a Senator it would be better off it Kennedy didn’t serve any time. It is absolutely amazing that Kennedy has remained in office for so long and repeatedly accuses others for their integrity on the Senate floor.

The next issue to deal with is the wind power dispute. This is another commonly known issue of Kennedy. Essentially Kennedy is all for alternative energy, except when it’s in his back yard. A proposal was set to use wind power roughly six miles from his house. Kennedy adamantly opposed it. A lot of people think the turbines would be placed in his view and it was an aesthetic complaint Ted Kennedy had. This is not true. He would not have been able to see them from his house. Instead is seems other options were more probable. Robert Kennedy Jr. complained vehemently that the turbines would be built in their families favorite sailing and yachting area. Kennedy called for further studies to be done while privately trying to get the plan cancelled. The Army Corps of Engineers released a 3800 page study that took into account every environmental and economic aspect of the turbines. The final result was that the project would have extremely minimal environmental and wildlife conflicts with compelling economic benefits for the area. Kennedy then went on a rampage calling for greater federal regulation of wind farms and partnered up with Republicans such as John Warner (R-VA) to get the project and more strict wind farm laws passed. Mary Jo Kopechne was not available for comment.

Now the deep dark secret to Kennedy. OIL. That’s right, Ted Kennedy and the Kennedy’s have profited in the tens of millions through the oil industry. Kennedy tries to keep this information secret and liberals writing about American oil companies regularly ignore the fact that he owns two oil companies. This comes as a shock since Kennedy is constantly trying to impose taxes on oil companies and attacks their integrity on their means of making money. In fact hasn’t he proposed bills to increase taxes on the oil companies? Yes. But if you actually read the bill he sets clear and distinct standards for smaller companies and larger companies. Guess where he drew the line? That’s right, just above his company so that he could continue to make millions off oil without seeing any hits from his increased tax bill. Now the Kennedy’s including Ted Kennedy have a history setting up trust funds in Fiji and all kinds of crazy means to prevent themselves from paying taxes. I’d have to spend years of my life going over all their tax fraud. But something of note here that might give some a chuckle. In order to prevent paying taxes on their oil business they eventually came up with the brilliant idea to convert the company’s holdings into a “royalty trust.” Why change from corporate status to a royalty trust? Simple… corporations are forced to pay things like corporation taxes. So by changing the name, he essentially saved himself in taxes. They pay no income or corporate taxes, just a flat 15% on capital gains which is far less other oil companies.

Some people are probably wondering I’m talking about with the Fiji above. That’s a simple enough story. When Joe Kennedy died he was worth roughly $500 million. Rather than pay the inheritance taxes that Ted Kennedy wanted to increase, they each set up a trust fund in Fiji so that it would be untouchable. All they had to pay was $134k in estate taxes. That’s basically .025 percent to inherit their fortunes. Pretty good deal huh? But wait, isn’t this senator who is the champion of attacking businesses and the rich from avoiding taxes? It’s he the leader and champion of take from the rich, give to the poor?

Anti-gun laws. Ok I don’t have too much. But basically Kennedy is for banning just about every type of firearm in the nation. However, his personal bodyguard was arrested for carrying an unregistered weapon… wait, weapons. It wasn’t a simple pistol and backup in his ankle. He was arrested for carrying two submachine guns with 150 rounds of ammunition. When asked why he was carrying them, he said the Senator wanted him to.

I could really go on and on about his corruption and hypocrisy, but there are other fish to fry. I hope people learned something about their Senator from Massachusetts. If you're interested in learning more, look into the no-bid Fourth and D street buyout where he and his family refused to uphold the minority clause from the land purchase that required him to lease to a certain percentage of minorities (essentially a built in affirmative action clause on the buyout).

R.I.H. Teddy

[Uncleal]

I hope his spirit finds Mary Joe Kopeckni at the Pearly Gates as he tries to enter Heaven. Try talking your way past her, Ted. :BS: :laugh:

[Blue Devil]

Kennedy and immigration: He changed the face of America (http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/08/28/kennedy-and-immigration-he-changed-the-face-of-america/)


The next round of immigration reform promised by President Obama will be the first in more than 50 years that does not involve Sen. Edward Kennedy.

His record on the issue has quite literally changed the face of the nation.

From the 1965 overhaul that ended a system of national quotas to the failed drive launched in 2007 for comprehensive reform, Kennedy has been at the front lines making the case for a more open immigration system.

Taking a long view – compromising when needed, reaching for more the next time – he achieved it.

Senator Kennedy’s tactics varied and coalition partners shifted during his 47 years in the Senate, but the core principle he defended never varied: The US is a nation of immigrants, he said.

“I look across this historic gathering and I see the future of America,” he said at an immigration rally in Washington on April 10, 2006.

In speeches, Kennedy often invoked the Golden Steps he could see from his Boston office, where new waves of immigrants, including his eight grandparents, came off the docks into East Boston – and a world where “No Irish Need Apply.”

1965: Quotas

In 1965, Kennedy led the drive for immigration reform in the Senate. Although some Irish groups lobbied against the bill, Kennedy said the current system of national quotas that favored northern Europe violated the American values.

“This bill goes to the very central ideals of our country,” he said during floor debate. “Our streets may not be paved with gold, but they are paved with the promise that men and women who live here – even strangers and new newcomers – can rise as fast, as far as their skills will allow, no matter what their color is, no matter what the place of their birth.”

In response to critics, he also famously claimed that the change to a system opening immigration to all nations and favoring family unification would not change the mix of the country.

“The bill will not flood our cities with immigrants. It will not upset the ethnic mix of our society. It will not relax the standards of admission. It will not cause American workers to lose their jobs,” he said during the Senate debate.

In retrospect, the mix of immigrants, legal and illegal, shifted dramatically in favor of Latin America and Asia – a fact that Kennedy, in later years, would attribute to illegal immigration.

“That 1965 law was first big thing that that he really drove himself. Since then, he’s been making immigration policy for the country,” says Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington.

1980: Refugees

In 1980, Kennedy drafted the Refugee Act of 1980, which set up a system to qualify for political asylum consistent with international law. The numbers seeking refugee status – 1.1 million in the first 10 years – exceeded expectations.

1986: Amnesty

In the campaign for the 1986 amnesty law, Kennedy predicted that the law would grant citizenship to no more than 1.3 million people. “We will secure the borders henceforth. We will never again bring forward another amnesty bill like this,” he said.

But by 2007, the number of people in the country illegally had jumped to more than 12 million.

His later years

Kennedy also drafted legislation in 1990 to expand opportunities for citizenship to skilled workers and, more recently, to open doors for Iraqi refugees.

At the end of this Senate career, he was working on a comprehensive immigration plan that would propose a path to citizenship for some 12 million people now in the US illegally, as well as stronger border enforcement and employee sanctions.

In a failed 2007 bill, “what was driving him was that we had the chance to bring 12 million people out of the shadows,” said Mary Giovagnoli, director of the Immigration Policy Center.

His persistence was evidence of his incremental approach to comprehensive reform. “He really did believe that there were issues you could give on and then come back later and fix,… that when you didn’t get all you wanted the first time, you kept coming back and making it better,” she says.

His impact on the individual lives of immigrants in the United States was profound, advocates say. “I was always struck by the sheer number of immigrant families in Massachusetts who have been helped by the senator,” says Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum. “Senator Kennedy was legendary for helping people move through the system.”

And he kept his money in Fiji, ...so he wouldn't have to pay for it...

...WE would.

Rot In Hell, ...Teddy