Was Nixon a socialist?

[Manc Skipper]

The top marginal rate while Nixon was in office was 70%. Yes, thats a 70% income tax rate on any income over 200,000 dollars a year.

It astounds me how ignorant many hardcore conservatives are of history. You guys throw around the terms fascism, socialism, and communism, yet you have no idea what those systems really are and what they really entail. Its just something to paint those you disagree with. Its really a slap in the face to people that did have to live under communism and fascism that you guys throw those terms around like you do.

Ah, memories!

 

[Hatuey]

Got a link, spunky?

The Nixon-Kennedy Health Care Plan: How Richard Nixon and Edward Kennedy Worked For American Health Care

By the time of President Richard Nixon’s election to office, the debate over health care had once again resurfaced. In the same vein as Teddy Roosevelt’s proposed “Square Deal”, which had first broached national health insurance as a political topic in 1912, Nixon proposed a plan that would provide health insurance for all Americans. Similar to the situation faced by President Johnson, partisan opposition to Nixon's policies was firmly entrenched. In this instance, few were prepared to label the renowned anti-communist president as an advocate for socialism. Instead his opponents, such as Senator Edward “Teddy” Kennedy of Massachusetts, attacked Nixon on the grounds that he was offering a deal that would see the insurance companies benefit.

Read more at Suite101: The Nixon-Kennedy Health Care Plan: How Richard Nixon and Edward Kennedy Worked For American Health Care The Nixon-Kennedy Health Care Plan: How Richard Nixon and Edward Kennedy Worked For American Health Care

 

[ALiberalModerate]

It is just absolutely ridiculous how hardcore conservatives ignorantly throw the terms "socialism" and "communism" around.

You want to know what communism is like, then read a book like Mao, The Unknown Story. Then you can see what communism in practice is like.

Lets just say for the purposes of argument that the most hard core liberal in the Democratic Party won the presidency in 2008. Seriously, lets say that god forbid, Dennis Kucinich was our president today. Not only that, lets say that Dennis Kucinich got everything he wanted from congress. In such a scenario what would the United States become? Another Communist China? No. Another Soviet Union? No. Another North Korea? No. Another Socialist Norway? No. We would basically become another Canada. I certainly would not be happy with that, but lets return to the real world here. The state of the debate is whether we want to be a nation more like we were prior to the New Deal on one extreme, and a nation like Canada on the other extreme. That is basically the spectrum of the debate.

 

[faminedynasty]

No of course he wasn't a socialist. "Socialist" is code for he's-a-Dem-and-I-don't-like-that-and-WAAH-WAAH-WAAH,-it-doesn't-sound-so-awful-to-point-out-that-he-wants-to-raise-the-tax-rate-3%-or-whatever,-so-let's-just-call-him-a-"socialist"-because-it-will-make-people-think-of-Stalin.

Actually "socialist" is merely a socially acceptable substitution for a certain racial slur that is no longer socially acceptable.

 

[Australianlibertarian]

Tricky Dicky, ended the Brenton Woods agreement (that was semi-gold standard), replaced it with full fiat current, established the EPA, was probably interested in creating universal health care insurance, met Mao to piss of the Soviets, expanded then got out of Vietnam, placed high taxes out the top earners, drank, allegedly made anti-semitic remarks.....

The man was a a very bright but highly neurotic man. His actions were statist, but where they fall within the spectrum I have know real clue. However I do get the feeling that his stand on social issues was probably more liberal than other presidents due to the influence of his quaker background. Just a thought.