Republican Kansas Governor Sam Brownback ran his gubernatorial campaign on the message he would cut taxes. He was elected and he kept his promise. Taxes were cut and the economy in Kansas has tanked.
In 2012, Gov. Brownback and fellow GOP legislators enacted a series of deep tax cuts in the name of economic “freedom.”
“Our new pro-growth tax policy will be like a shot of adrenaline into the heart of the Kansas economy,” Brownback promised.
That isn’t what happened.
Rather than seeing tremendous growth, the economy in Kansas is in deep trouble. Revenue is down by 7.3 percent. Moody’s has downgraded the state’s credit rating. Job growth trails the nation. Schools are closing and existing school budgets are falling as well as healthcare and assistance for the poor. The state’s reserve is speeding toward zero.
Chris Hayes reported “The state Supreme Court recently ruled that Kansas had been unconstitutionally underfunding its schools.”
The tanking economy is crushing the middle class and the poor. Those who are benefiting, are not surprisingly, the rich and more specifically, the Koch brothers, who happen to reside in Wichita.
Brownback refuses to acknowledge his grave error and in fact, penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal a few weeks ago declaring “the early results are impressive,” and “In the past year, a record number of small businesses — more than 15,000 — were formed.”
The LA Times reported:
“Brownback’s tax policy came right out of the conservative playbook. His 2012 package cut the top two personal income tax rates from 6.45% (on income over $60,000) and 6.25% (on income between $30,000 and $60,000) to 4.9%. The rate on income under $30,000 was pared to 3% from 3.5%. Pass-through business income was made fully tax-exempt. The law increased the standard deduction, but also eliminated several tax credits that assisted the poor.”
Brownback is now trailing in the polls to his Democratic challenger, state House Minority leader Paul Davis.
Chris Hayes does an excellent job of reporting this story. Watch it here:
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Kimberley A. Johnson (BIO) is the author of The Virgin Diaries and an activist for women’s rights. Like her on Facebook, Twitter or follow her on FB HERE. |
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