What Happens When Conservative Ideologues Get to Run Their Own States

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/what-happens-when-conservative-ideologues-get-run-their-own-states

It would be hard to blame liberal-minded Americans for feeling a sense of despair as we begin a new year. The Republican Party is ascendant and reinvigorated after its smashing victories in 2014 at nearly every level of government. The NYPD is in near open revolt against one of America's most progressive mayors while police departments around the country seem immune to basic reforms.

But in spite of conservatism's seeming upswing, there are signs at a statewide level that its ideology is coming apart at the seams. Even conservatives are starting to take notice and worry.

First and foremost is the laughingstock that extremist Republican Sam Brownback has made of Kansas. Brownback slashed social welfare spending and implemented steep regressive income tax cuts, promising that his Laffer curve-based supply-side economic experiment would bring jobs and prosperity to Kansas while increasing government revenue.

In fact, the opposite has happened. Revenue projections in Kansas are in freefall, and the economic growth benefiting the rest of the country--including economically similar areas in surrounding states--has bypassed the Sunflower State. Just in the last week Kansans received another flurry of bad news: revenue projections are even worse than the disastrous figures projected last month, forcing even deeper cuts to education and other services. But that won't be possible, as a panel of judges has ruled that Kansas is already shortchanging K-12 education. In desperation, Brownback has proposed further reductions in state funding to its already woefully underfunded public employee pension system, a move that is meeting with stiff resistance even from his fellow Republicans.

[Katashi_itto]

1. Other adjoining states really need to fence Kansas off to prevent migration from what will be a 3rd

hellhole.

At the rate Sam is going, rampant starvation will set in by the end of the year. Other states should view this as a threat to their own economic stability and consider shooting fleeing Kansans or deporting them back to Kansas.

Kansans voted this guy in they can't be trusted with anything.

[RKP5637]

3. They kept electing him as senator, then as governor, they saw and felt the disastrous results, so

they reelected him again as governor. It must be what they want. It is a hellhole and apparently many Kansans are quite happy with that. Really, a couple of times could be a mistake, but this now is no mistake. And this guy wanted to be president of the US.

[Shrike47]

2. The Kansas citizenry who bothered to vote re-elected him last November. Presumably, they agree.

Kansas stands as a shining example to the rest of us and I hope the country takes note.

[sendero]

4. Ok.......

.... THIS is why I get amused at those who get the vapors when right wing Democrats are eschewed for real Republicans.

When right wing Democrats get elected, we get nothing. Nothing but having our brand tarnished by their dysfunctional viewpoints.

Let the Republicans win, let them do their stupid shit (they absolutely cannot govern), let them take "credit" for it and watch them be out of power for decades. Will it be fast? No. Will people get hurt? Yes. But there really is no alternative I can see.

That's why I'm voting for progressives from now on, or I'm just not voting.

[Gothmog]

5. Brownback just proved that the Laffer curve is a joke

[Skittles]

6. Democrats will end up having to clean up repuke messes

what is new?