How Tea Party tax cuts are turning Kansas into a smoking ruin

"States considering deep tax cuts in hopes of sparking a surge of economic growth should look carefully at Kansas," ...  Yes, look carefully -- and run the other way!

By Michael Hiltzik
LOS ANGELES TIMES

Sam Brownback, the Republican governor of Kansas, doesn't just believe in whistling past the graveyard--he's willing to stroll past it in full-throated song.

The graveyard is where the economy of Kansas has been buried since 2012, when Brownback and his Republican state legislature enacted a slew of deep tax cuts in a tea party-esque quest for economic "freedom."

Our new pro-growth tax policy will be like a shot of adrenaline into the heart of the Kansas economy.

"Our new pro-growth tax policy will be like a shot of adrenaline into the heart of the Kansas economy," he promised then. Brownback's tax consultant, the supply-side guru Art Laffer, promised Kansans that the cuts would pay for themselves in supercharged economic growth.

Instead, job growth in Kansas trails the nation. The state's rainy-day fund is dwindling to zero. Month after month, revenue comes in even lower than fiscal officials' most dire expectations.

In the rest of the country, school budgets are finally beginning to recover from the toll of the last recession; in Kansas, they're still falling. Healthcare, assistance for the poor, courts, and other state services are being eviscerated.

Who's benefiting? The rich, including those proud offspring of Wichita, Kan.: the Koch brothers.

Despite all this, Brownback resorted to an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal a few weeks ago to declare that "the early results are impressive." Among other statistics he cited, "In the past year, a record number of small businesses — more than 15,000 — were formed."

Yes, but as shown by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington economic think tank, 16,000 disappeared. And many of those businesses that Brownback crowed about were surely created to take advantage of one of the tax-cut quirks Brownback enacted. This is the elimination of all taxes on partnerships, sole proprietorships, and LLCs that pass through their tax liabilities to their owners. That allows everyone from freelancers and petty contractors to huge partnerships to avoid any state income tax at all, as long as they're organized as a certain type of "small business."

Brownback's policy, and his claims about its outcome, define the term "ideological" -- the imposition of preconceived notions on a contradictory reality.

The record of Kansas since 2012 shows the folly of such draconian cuts in revenue. It's one thing to enact targeted cuts in tax rates during an economic upswing, when such a policy can add fuel to job generation. It's quite another to do so blindly during a slump, when cuts in state services undermine efforts at recovery.

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....

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He has yet to find a conspiracy theory that he doesn't like or could support. His latest "false flag" theories behind the Boston Marathon  bombing are quickly becoming legend and are crumbling by the minute with news of the killing of  suspect #1 Tamerlan Tsarnaev  and the emanate capture of suspect #2, his brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

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I understand the need to keep your constituents informed, but I think that things are getting a little out of hand. 

Whether it is a lunch at the White House with the President or over seas on a SECRET mission to Iraq, do our Representatives need to constantly inform us of their every activity? Are they trying to impress us  so much that they have become oblivious to there surrounds?  

Twitter is a social networking site where friends, family, and co–workers can communicate and stay connected with each other.  Members of Congress should not be abusing their privileges by divulging their activities as they happen. Not only is it rude to their host,but  how can they concentrate on what is being told to them?

The following  post from Think Progress is an excellent example of my point. While on a secret mission to Iraq, Congressman Pete Hoeksra let the followers of his Twitter account know exactly what he was doing, when no one was supposed to know that there was on entourage of congressmen in Iraq.

 

Rep. Pete Hoeksra (R-MI), the ranking member of the House intelligence committee, revealed classified intelligence information on Twitter when he reported on his “congressional trip to Iraq this weekend that was supposed to be a secret.” “Just landed in Baghdad,” messaged Hoekstra, who was part of a delegation led by John Boehner (R-OH). CQ reports, “Before the delegation left Washington, they were advised to keep the trip to themselves for security reasons. A few media outlets, including Congressional Quarterly, learned about it, but agreed not to disclose anything until the delegation had left Iraq.” Hoekstra not only revealed the existence of the trip, but included details about their itinerary. In a May 2006 op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, Hoekstra wrote:

But every time classified national security information is leaked, our ability to gather information on those who would do us harm is eroded. … I regret that I see little sign of intolerance for unauthorized disclosures of intelligence to the media from some of my Democratic colleagues today. … We are a nation at war. Unauthorized disclosures of classified information only help terrorists and our enemies – and put American lives at risk.

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The Disabled American Veterans said that in 2006, he voted for only one of the five spending bills the group considered most important -- 20%. The four he opposed would have increased funding for veterans' services and benefits.

Barack Obama on the other hand did not attend the convention, but addressed the convention with a video presentation, was rated at 80%  by the group. 

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To read the article about the Disabled American Veterans convention from the LA Times click on the headline