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* I briefly mentioned the Jacobin Magazine story about Chris Kennedy yesterday. The mag describes itself as “a leading voice of the American left, offering socialist perspectives on politics, economics, and culture.” Here’s an excerpt…
To wit, Kennedy also appears to be a firm believer in the doctrine of centrist both-sidesism: that the problem with politics is that both major parties cater to their extremes, and what’s required is a politician who will bravely walk the middle of the road.
“In the sixties and seventies, it was really a fight for the middle, that is . . . undecided voters, let’s say independent voters,” he told WGN Radio in 2014. “Today it’s all about trying to motivate the extreme ends of the spectrum, trying to get hardcore liberals or hardcore conservatives to turn out, and that creates a gulf where we need a bridge.”
Of course, Democrats have employed this kind of rhetoric as justification for drifting further and further to the right — despite the fact that the general population is far more inclined toward “extreme” left-wing policies than many politicians and commentators will have you believe. Kennedy’s worldview appears to be one of reflexively tacking to the center at all costs — much like another recent Democratic politician for whom that tactic failed miserably.
Um, Hillary Clinton won Illinois by 17 points. She screwed up badly in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, but she most certainly didn’t “fail miserably” here.
The hit piece was written by a reporter who lives in New Zealand, and it really shows.
* For instance…
While it’s still early going, Kennedy has some key institutional backing for his run. He appears to have the backing of Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan, who said Kennedy would make an “excellent candidate,” and whose staffers met with Kennedy during the DNC last year.
That was almost a year ago. These days, Kennedy is trashing Madigan and being interviewed by long-time Madigan haters.
The piece also dredges up the Bill Ayers, Steven Salaita and James Kilgore controversies, which would probably only be important to extreme leftists. It also does things like try to make a big deal out of a $1,000 campaign contribution.
* I did find this interesting, however…
Along with the rest of his family, Kennedy has also continued to benefit from a piece of accounting wizardry that has inoculated his family’s wealth from taxes. As Carol O’Donnell of Forbes outlined, the Kennedys have long used “dynasty trusts” to both protect their wealth from the greed of individual family members, as well as shield it from the government’s busy hands.
But upon selling Merchandise Mart to Vornado Realty in 1998, the family also potentially avoided paying capital gains tax on the sale by entering into an “operating partnership unit” with the company, giving the Kennedys an ownership stake in Vornado. This also means that individual Kennedys have been reaping millions of dollars in dividends for years. Given that Chris Kennedy was the Vornado Realty Trust’s executive officer from 2000 to 2011, it’s likely he did, too.
The Pritzker family also has a lot of these sorts of trusts. We could all be learning much more about this subject in the coming months.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jun 14, 17 @ 2:37 pm
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we should also be learning about border taxes and a one time VAT. there is tax talk about those things as well at Treasury.
Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Jun 14, 17 @ 2:41 pm
I’m pretty far left, but the coffee shop liberals who sit back on their computers (in this case on the other side of the globe) and write uninformed, generic, uninspiring hit pieces on solidly liberal candidates is perhaps the most annoying thing in politics today.
The Jacobin piece is not particularly original, and borders on non factual. It’s just another attempt to be the loudest and most liberal voice in the endless void of crappy online political blogs.
Glad I have CapFax to subscribe to and can tune out a lot of these other sources.
Comment by Franklin Delano Bluth Wednesday, Jun 14, 17 @ 2:44 pm
Real talk, vornado makes fantastic space heaters
Comment by John Rawlss Wednesday, Jun 14, 17 @ 2:44 pm
When I read Mother Jones from time to time, I may not agree with them but I get where they are coming from…
Jacobin, on the other hand, strikes me as being from a lefty land that is a bit too ‘out there’
Comment by Oneman Wednesday, Jun 14, 17 @ 2:47 pm
The author totally missed the mark on this one. LOL
For what it’s worth though I know a lot of Jacobin readers who are academics so they might appreciate the bits about Ayers, Saliata, and Kilgore.
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Jun 14, 17 @ 3:20 pm
This is the lamest hit job ever. Seriously. Even if everything it says were 100% true, you’re left going, “And?????????”
Comment by Chicago Cynic Wednesday, Jun 14, 17 @ 3:22 pm
Do readers have any idea of the taxes the kennedys would have paid on the Merchandise Mart. Joe Kennedy bought it for a song, according to his bio. It was one of the best, if not the best, investment he ever made and he made a lot of great deals. the taxes would have been in the many millions of dollars, dollars better kept within the family than allowed to be spent by the yahoos who run this state.
Comment by jim Wednesday, Jun 14, 17 @ 3:37 pm
Well, the trusts are what they are. Both of these “old money” guys have this advantage. Isn’t this sorta baked in already? Not the specifics, but yes the Kennedy’s and Pritzker’s are really rich and dodge taxes because of that.. Their legacies man, we gotta let them in. As an aside, New Zealand has brought us Crowded House and Flight of the Conchords so let’s not be too harsh…
Comment by Echo The Bunnyman Wednesday, Jun 14, 17 @ 3:41 pm
The John Birch society of the left.
Comment by Saluki Wednesday, Jun 14, 17 @ 4:25 pm
I guess it isn’t just the Russians planting stories like these to influence our elections. But, alas…New Zealand??
Comment by A guy Wednesday, Jun 14, 17 @ 4:41 pm