Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback said tax cuts would spur an economic boom. What happened? TOTAL DISASTER.

[Cali_Democrat]

A Kansas experiment gone awry

Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once remarked that states are the “laboratories of democracy,” and if that’s the case, then the lab in Kansas is being overseen by someone more akin to Victor Frankenstein than Albert Einstein, and he’s created one dumb and menacing monster.

Elected in the tea party wave of 2010, Gov. Sam Brownback, a far-right culture warrior who had previously been a U.S. senator and undertook a short-lived, quixotic bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, pushed massive income tax cuts in 2012 and 2013 through a GOP-dominated legislature with the promise that the cuts would spur economic growth in the Sunflower State and the resulting gangbusters expansion would benefit one and all and fill state coffers to overflowing.

Yeah, right.

It’s largely proven to be the same old trickle-down dogma that George H.W. Bush denounced as “voodoo economics” way back in 1980. Sure, it’s increased the amount of change in the wallets of the well-heeled, but it’s also increased the tax burden on the middle class and has shot a massive hole in the Kansas budget, with the state taking in $338 million less than it had forecast for the 2014 fiscal year. As a result, it has had to dip into its reserve fund, which may run out of cash as soon as next year. The state’s debt has been downgraded by Moody’s, with the agency offering a vote of no-confidence in the fiscal management of Brownback and his allies.

And what of the promised economic growth? It hasn’t materialized, with Kansas lagging behind the national average and, it should be noted, also trailing New York, which has one of the country’s highest state income tax rates.

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The shambles that the Kansas budget has become has token a toll on Brownback’s political standing. Though it’s one of the reddest states in the nation – Barack Obama took only 38 percent of the vote there in 2012 and carried only two of its 105 counties – Brownback is lagging behind Democratic opponent Paul Davis in most polls, and a group of heavyweight moderate Republicans recently opted to endorse Davis rather than Brownback.

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http://www.observer-reporter.com/article/20140722/OPINION01/140729901#.U9anY2P1wuM

[Swede Atlanta]

1. That is because........

The wealthy do not invest and create jobs based on the taxes they pay. They invest and create jobs based on the profit or strategic value they get out of the investment.

The U.S. marginal rate on businesses appears relatively high by international standards but the effective tax rate is much lower with many companies such as Exxon, etc. not only not paying but actually getting taxpayer dollars for polluting.

So if a businessman gets a tax break that is just gravy but he/she will not make that investment unless the underlying investment is going to be profitable or beneficial.

This is where the GOP sham falls apart. They don't create jobs when they get a lower tax rate. They just take the same profits with the same # of employees and investment but pay less taxes.

The American people have been hoodwinked into believing the GOP line. We must find a way to counter this and Kansas is a good case study.

As well when you take tax revenue out of state (or federal) coffers you end up with what? a deficit. And the only way to address a deficit in a state is to reduce outlays or spending. Guess where they choose to cut? Yes...on anything that helps people.

[DURHAM D]

2. Brownback has repeatedly blamed Obama for their problems.

In fact, I was in Kansas in June and a clerk at the grocery store apologized for the amount of sales tax and went on to explain that it was Obama's fault that the taxes had to be raised. I did a little schooling and she was actually surprised to learn that their problems are self-created.

[KansDem]

3. "Tax cuts would spur an economic boom" is a tired, old meme that needs to die and disappear

"Trickle down" was, and is, a lie perpetuated by and for the plutocracy.

[dawg]

4. This was an easily predictable result.

I don't know why they didn't run this by one of the big accounting firms or consulting firms ... you know, the sort of people they trust ... before embarking on this ridiculous tax cut scheme that was guaranteed to result in failure.

Really, this is an indication of how insular and indoctrinated the Republican Party has become. To be a good Republican, you must believe all sorts of things that are provably false. And you have to be willing to act on those false beliefs if you get the chance. Everyone suffers.

[Wellstone ruled]

5. Yup! Told you so.

Remember another Right Wing Turd by the name Timmy Plennta or what ever in Minnesota. Tried the same crap and almost broke the state. You need revenue to just pay the major bills. Supply Side didn't work. Jobs disappeared,working folks took the brunt and woke up and realized they made a big mistake electing Rethugs. Now Minnesota has a DFL House and Senate with a DFL Governor and the state has a surplus and one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation. BTW,the Krotch Brothers are spending big time trying to over turn their state legislature.

Minnesota the state that works.