A lion we can live without
It should come as no surprise that I do not mourn the loss of any statist politician, except to the extent of any concern I have that they might be replaced by someone even worse. In that vein, the death of Teddy Kennedy is no cause of sorrow for me, and Don Boudreaux points out one of Kennedy's final acts of despicable political maneuvering here: Lion of the Senate.
So Kennedy first pushes to restrict the power of the governor while that position is occupied by Mitt Romney (a statist of a different stripe) and then pushes for more power for the governor when his own brand of statist holds the office. Just one last abuse of power in a long career of such abuse.
Kennedy was a consummate politician in the truest sense of the word. Politics relates to the use of government power to coerce others, and a politician is one who practices such actions. Kennedy used his position in the political world to escape what would almost certainly have been a prison sentence for someone less well-connected in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, as well as to get away with things like drunkenly harassing college girls in D.C. bars (as witnessed first hand by a friend of mine a few years back). He also pushed some of the most atrocious abuses of government power, including minimum wage laws, confiscation of wealth from those who earned it to transfer it to those who did not (with the government taking its cut, of course), violations of the 2nd Amendment, and increased government control and regulation of business, education, and the health care process.
That's not to say he didn't take non-statist positions on some things (women's rights, immigration, gay rights, etc), but his overall effect was massively destructive of human freedom and prosperity. Just ask John McCain, who said Kennedy was "the single most effective member of the Senate if you want to get results." When the Senate 'gets results,' that usually involves expanding the size and scope of government (that is, increasing the overall level of coercion in society).
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