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Sunday, June 29, 2014

Brownback--and Brownbackistan--in more news today


Yessirree, ol' Kansas Governor Sam Brownback just keeps getting the news coverage lately, doesn't he?  Just seems it's nothing he's going to like. Here's another, today, from The New York Times:
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With the wonderful byline:

Kansas Tax Cut Leaves Brownback With Less Money

Gee, imagine that.

Except isn't that what a lot of people SAID would actually happen?

A bit from the article:

Kansas has a problem. In April and May, the state planned to collect $651 million from personal income tax. But instead, it received only $369 million.

In 2012, Kansas lawmakers passed a large and rather unusual income tax cut. It was expected to reduce state tax revenue by more than 10 percent, and Gov. Sam Brownback said it would create “tens of thousands of jobs.”

In part, the tax cut worked in the typical way, by cutting tax rates and increasing the standard deduction. But Kansas also eliminated tax on various kinds of income, including income described commonly — and sometimes misleadingly — as “small-business income.” Basically, if your income results in the generation of a Form 1099-MISC instead of a W-2, it’s probably not taxable anymore in Kansas.


The idea of the Right Wing and Republicans that if you cut taxes, more companies want to come to your state--and Kansas, at that?--is just silliness, if not absurd.

That whole "trickle down" theory of Ronnie the Raygun's was just so much patent hokum.  From the time he was elected--1980--to now, we've had 3 decades to see this play out, economically and for the nation.

Except it's anything but played out.

It's left us with fewer jobs, higher profits for corporate America and the wealthy, low growth and at least as low demand for goods and services in the marketplace. It has famously actually shrunk the middle class.

But the Samster wanted more of it.

And for a while, his cronies in the Republican Party and even Kansans gave it to him.

But the chickens are coming and have come to roost and it isn't pretty.

Less money in the coffers. Less money in the budget. Less money for schools.

Fortunately, it seems like Kansans are finally waking up and they aren't liking what they have, what they see and what they're left with.


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