a conservative coalition of northern Republicans and southern Democrats opposed all efforts at reform
gave up the fight for health care in the Senate and settled instead for a modest increase in the minimum wage and the passage of manpower training and area-redevelopment legislation
relied on informal wage and price guidelines to hold down the cost of living
president proposed a tax reduction of $13.5 billion – “the unrealistically heavy drag of federal income taxes on private purchasing power” was the “largest single barrier to full employment”
massive tax cut led to sustained economic advance for the rest of the decade
critics pointed to the Kennedy administration’s failure to close the glaring loopholes in the tax laws that benefited the rich and its lack of effort to help those at the bottom by forcing redistribution of wealth
