Something weird has happened to Kansas...

[kentuck]

Kansas, the Taxpayer's Paradise...

Chris Hayes just had a segment about Kansas and how they were doing since they cut income taxes to the lowest in the nation. Senator Sam Brownback, the truest believer in supply-side taxcuts, is in political trouble because his state is now in deep financial trouble. Last year, they had $700 million less in revenues than the year before. Small communities are closing their schools. The poorest people are asked to give up some of their tax breaks to raise a little revenue. Kansas is in deep trouble.

Brownback attempted to put the theory of lower tax rates create magic in the economy into practice and it has failed miserably. He has put Kansas into a deep recession with his supply-side theories. It has failed miserably and there is no one else to blame.

[Chan790]

1. I have just one question.

Since it's inevitable now anyways...is Kansas electing a Democrat to statewide office a sign of the Apocalypse?

[pipoman]

9. Kansas has a history of some dems and some moderate thugs

as governor. ...Brownback is as far right as I remember. ..

[Art_from_Ark]

91. One of the state's most memorable governors was Robert Docking,

a Democrat who served from 1967 to 1975 and who was "known for his commitment to farmers, small business owners, and the environment."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Docking

[DarthDem]

17. No

I assume you've heard of Kathleen Sebelius, right? She was the governor of Kansas, elected twice, before accepting the HHS job. And Sebelius wasn't even the first female Democratic governor of Kansas; a lady named Joan Finney, now deceased, was elected to the position in 1990 and served one term before running for the Senate.

Ms. Finney is also, IIRC, the answer to an interesting political question: she was the first-ever woman, anywhere in the United States, to unseat an incumbent governor in a general election.

So, no: there's quite a bit of precedent - even recent precedent - for Kansas having a Democratic governor.

[hatrack]

61. You may be thinking of presidential elections in terms of shock value

Kansas hasn't voted for a Democrat since




(wait for it . . . . . )




1936

[beerandjesus]

77. 1964, actually

[kiri]

84. dwelling in Kansas counties and communicating

It is easy to send a message:

The email addresses are here: http://ksgop.org/county-party-information/

Kansas republican party
ksgop.org

[PatrynXX]

87. in Iowa....

Got a fire?
Waterloo and Cedar Falls have had to have what one would call Rolling blackout days. This firestation is temporarily closed due to budget cuts call 911 for another one. got mini Republican made Benghazi's in every town now. that and then there's those who remember Brandstad longer than I do. Supreme idiot in the spending dept.. by the time Iowa figures this out we'll be in such a mess.

[Skidmore]

2. The state rep he spoke with really sliced and diced Brownback's claim that

he has brought all of this new business to Kansas. Apparently, there are a large number of small businesses submitting paperwork to change their tax status in response to the changes in tax laws there.

[hfojvt]

24. Who was it?

Anybody I know?

Was it Davis?

Because he is running for Governor, and supposedly has a good shot, although I am mostly seeing signs for the Republicans around here.

[Skidmore]

27. It was actually a senator.

Don't know my KS politicians well. It was Anthony Hemsley from Topeka.

[hfojvt]

39. ah yes, the minority leader

He's very knowledgeable. Longest serving politician in Kansas history too, I think. Hensley. Been in office since 1977 (I had to look that up).

[pipoman]

3. And, of coarse, refused medicaid expansion. ...

I have seen the results of this first hand. ...the effect on the elderly. ..

[rurallib]

4. dumb enough to believe in something called the "Laffer" curve

it's a laffer.

[Brigid]

26. You mean he gets his economic ideas from a teen comedy?

[snot]

5. I just hope voters there are actually, finally seeing the light . . .

[BillZBubb]

43. I wouldn't hold my breath on that.

They'll just say Brownback was an incompetent and it had nothing to do with his party. Then they'll just elect another right winger. The light isn't going to reach Kansas for a long, long time.

[alfredo]

80. There's always God, Gays, and Guns

[leftyladyfrommo]

67. I don't think they are yet.

Maybe after public services all start going to hell because there is no money to fix things.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

6. There are times I find it hard to put together any sizeable amount of sympathy

for people who seem to want to send themselves into self-annihilation.

And I just have to sit back, take a few deep breaths, and tell myself most of us are self-destructive in one way or another.

I offer up my condolences to the people of Kansas, and hope they find the courage to abandon their notion of 'faith-based governance' in the face of brutal empirical evidence. I honestly hope they learn from their mistakes, and can work their way back out of the grave they've been digging for themselves.

[RKP5637]

10. Trying to bring sense to kansans is like trying to walk out of quicksand IMO. n/t

[hfojvt]

38. the thing about Brownback is

that he really didn't run on his tax plan.

So it's not like voters approved of that in 2010.

The media just kinda spread the message that his victory was inevitable, so he never had to really sell himself. He ran TV ads that just said "here's how you can do a mail-in ballot, I need your vote". He didn't try to sell his plan, or bash his opponent.

Our sitting Governor, a former Republican, was too scared of losing to run himself, and then the KDP had a hard time finding a candidate. I like the guy who eventually ran, but he started late in the game, and didn't have statewide name recognition or a lot of money.

[hatrack]

62. Dear Old Sam also effectively purged moderate Republicans in the last primary cycle

Y'know how sitting governors generally don't get involved in party primaries? Well, not Governor Brownstain.

During the 2012 elections, he worked hard to endorse and support hard-right Tea-Clowns, who then successfully removed most of the remaining non-Tea-Clown GOP legislature members.

So you have this little rump group of legislative Democrats, a substantial majority of knuckle-draggers, and hardly anyone in between.

[KamaAina]

81. Brownstain?

I thought it was Brownshirt. Or Throwback.

[RKP5637]

7. And, Kansas TPTB thought this recipe would be great fo all of the US, and

Brownback would he a hero of all heroes, presidential material. Yes, Kansas can be a strange place. Brownbackistan.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

15. For awhile there

it seemed as if his tax "ideas" (i.e. abolishing income taxes) were going to be spreading like wildfire all over the country, starting with the Southern states. Does anybody else know how many states have been adopting similar policies and what their outcomes have been so far?

The saddest thing about this is that they will find some way into deluding themselves into believing that it *should* have worked if they had only done......................something different or that Brownback just messed it up and that's why it didn't work- and keep trying it no matter how many times it fails until somebody takes away their power and keeps them from continuing to harm their states.

[RKP5637]

22. They are like CEOs that drive their companies into oblivion, because their egos can't

comprehend and tolerate they were wrong, so they keep trying and trying until the company is rescued by the board of directors/stock holders or as is often the case, fades into oblivion. Hopefully, the voters will come to their senses. I heard some remarking once that the Brownback administration had not been conservative enough. My god, just now far rightward can they go until falling totality out of reality.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

25. How far?

It's amazing that there's still more room for them to go. Everytime they reach the bottom of the barrel, they find some way to go even lower. Of course, you know it's bad when kooks like Glenn Beck, yeah GLENN PSYCHOTIC INSANE BECK, are getting death threats from some of his extremist wingnut listeners for being slightly less insane than them.

[arcane1]

31. If they follow the standard model, they'll believe it failed because they didn't cut ENOUGH!

That's their sickness.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

47. That's right!

n/t

[hatrack]

63. That's the model - PRIVATIZE!! CUT TAXES!!

And if it's a total freaking disaster, if your Bold Economic Leadership Plan burns, falls over and then sinks into the swamp, it's only because you didn't PRIVATIZE!! and CUT TAXES!! enough.

[jmowreader]

78. Oh man, you hit it right on the nose

At last year's fair I asked a GOP True Believer why Reagan's tax cuts caused the national debt to triple.

"Because he didn't cut taxes enough. He should have made a 10 percent flat tax. Why is 10 percent good enough for Jesus but not for the government?"

'Jesus doesn't buy submarines.'

Laffer Curve Believers will tell you that it says "if you cut tax rates tax revenue will increase in all circumstances." The fact it has never happened is problematic, but more problematic is what the Curve actually says: Laffer claims there is One Perfect Rate for taxes to be. If the rate is above it tax revenues will go down due to tax evasion, and if it's too low revenues will go down because the rate isn't high enough. Problem is, people prone to evading taxes will evade them no matter how low they are. If you want proof come to Idaho and look for Priuses with Tea Party bumper stickers on them. There are a lot, and their drivers are probably working on a way to roll coal in them. I got a chance to ask one of them why a loyal Tea Party member would drive a hippie wagon. "Because gas taxes are lower in it - trade a car that gets 15 mpg in on it and the government gets a third the money it did before."

[Snarkoleptic]

8. Well, at least the Wichita-based Koch brothers are happy.

Is it time for the pitchforks and guillotines yet?

[calimary]

11. Didn't their credit rating get lowered on his watch - because conditions have become so lousy?

That's on you, sammy baby. You and your IDIOT ideas. Pie-in-the-sky from snake-oil salesmen like him quickly turns into pie-in-yer-eye. And it's shit-pie, too.

[kentuck]

13. Yes.

Their credit rating has also been lowered.

[japple]

12. Time to start talking about Dwight Eisenhower, who was reared in Kansas

and had a much better approach to just about everything...

[bluedigger]

14. Interesting, but what was the weird part?

I thought maybe Kansas isn't flat anymore. Is that it?

[kentuck]

16. Brownback is the weird part...

Perhaps the weirdest?

[bluedigger]

20. He seems to have more free reign than other governors, for sure.

I like to think Kansas is taking one for the team.

[47of74]

34. I call him Sam Brownshirt.

[Old Codger]

29. Looks to me

Like it is more "concave" now

[hfojvt]

41. the eastern part

actually is not flat. Worse for bicycling than the driftless region of Wisconsin. The driftless region, where I lived for ten years is called that because they had no glaciers during the most recent ice age. Well the glaciers had the effect of scraping the land down, whereas the driftless region has had another 10,000 years of erosion - thus it has some monster hills and valleys.

But even there, the roads will often follow a valley and thus be relatively flat for miles and miles, at least if you get on the right roads. Here they all seem to constantly go up and down and up and down.

One of my cousins from Wisconsin said the same thing about western Missouri/eastern Kansas - it reminded her of Wisconsin.

[broadcaster75201]

18. You're so stupid that you vote Rethug, this is what you get.

I'll get back to you when I feel sorry for them. Don't hold your breath.

[arcane1]

32. Most of them literally know not what they do. Their televisions and pastors tell them what to do.

[broadcaster75201]

42. Yeah.

I know. Sad.

[madokie]

19. Between Roberts, Moran and Brownback

the people are getting what they voted for. Same as here in Ok with our congress critters. No one to blame but ourselves

[kentuck]

21. It does seem...

that a lot of people bought into the Great Flim-Flam....

[madokie]

23. without 'm the pukes wouldn't even be able to have a quorum

Education is the key

[Kablooie]

37. What are you talking about? It's Obama's fault, obviously.

and Benghazi.
You can't argue with that!

[gratuitous]

28. Whaddya mean "no one else to blame"?

The Republicans may suck at all forms of governance, but by the Christ, they can find a scapegoat, even if they have to dig up the festering corpse of a political philosopher no one's ever heard of. Besides, there's a blah man in the White House, and they can blame him for pert near everything.

[rickyhall]

30. Compare Kansas & Colorado - pick the better one

[KurtNYC]

33. but is this just phase one of privatizing?

The old bankrupt the government, then sell off the assets to your buddies kind of thing?

[WorseBeforeBetter]

35. Read "What's the Matter with Kansas."

There's plenty of blame to go around, not just Brownback. Is all of Kansas in trouble, or is Cupcake Land doing well?

[Notafraidtoo]

36. I know why they think this will work.

They believe that if the wealthy and upper middle class have extra money they will invest and spend, the problem is they make too much to spend what they have, they have everything they want and dream about buying already, extra money isn't going to make them want more things. It's true they might often invest, but the earnings they make on those investments which often come from productivity ( lower labor cost) are not spent either, which has a horrible effect of taking from those that will spend and give it to those that don't. The wealthy just don't spend enough, that's why they need to be taxed and forced to pay their workers more, hording money is a huge problem in a capitalist democracy and is often done for no other reason than irrational fear.

[wiggs]

40. Another problem with the rich having more than they could possibly

need is that they don't really invest...they speculate. They have money they can risk...money they want to really beat the market...money that goes to driving up commodities, real estate, etc.

More inequality = more bubbles = more instability = more inequality

[Spitfire of ATJ]

44. What would be weird would be if it worked.

[BillZBubb]

45. I don't think anything weird has happened to Kansas

What has happened there is what anyone with any sense could have predicted. The weird thing is that the voters of Kansas keep supporting right wingers and watching their state circle the bowl.

[delta17]

48. I live in Kansas.

Most conservatives are single issue voters, with the single issue being abortion. Lots of them actually have moderate to liberal views on the economy, but they won't vote for anyone who is pro choice.

[BillZBubb]

50. Well, then they are fools and deserve what they get.

Unfortunately, you and those like you have to suffer along.

[leftyladyfrommo]

68. Don't you feel like there are more conservatives now.

Or the conservatives have gotten more conservative on some issues?

I'm in KC and I was really surprised at just how far right Kansas has gone. I didn't expect that.

[MrScorpio]

46. Obviously the solution to this problem is more tax breaks.

The other ones simply didn't go far enough, according to Republican logic, of course.

Cut more taxes for the job creators, so they can create more jobs.

Cut, cut, cut! Who needs all of that bloated state government anyway? The moochers, you betcha.

The moochers are the problem.



If you need the sarcasm smiley, you're taking this much too seriously.

[delta17]

49. Taxes aren't really a hot button issue here.

Tax rates were pretty low before Brownback. Politicians here campaign on cultural issues, and accuse Washington and liberals (and moderate Repubs) of being pointy heads who are out of touch with the good people of Kansas. It has become an us vs. them mentality, with them being Democrats and moderate Republicans.

[hrmjustin]

51. Brownback was 7 percent behind his Democratic opponent in the last poll that came out a week ago.

[Beartracks]

52. Do Kansans generally now acknowledge...

... that supply-side theory -- that lower tax rates creates economic magic -- is what has put Kansas into its current recession? 'Cuz people need to learn -- not just think or believe, but see for themselves and REMEMBER -- that RW economic policies are just plain bunk.

=======================

[BobTheSubgenius]

53. Didn't work, huh? Imagine.

At some point, this has to work, doesn't it? Of course it doesn't, and that conclusion isn't theory, it's empirical evidence. IT NEVER HAS. Never once. Ever.

Hoping to gain a little insight that might not be available to the layman, many years ago, I asked my sister about supply-side theory.

Now...she is no Paul Krugman, but she's got some game. Won an award at the end of 3rd year that had never before been won by someone without at least being in a Master's program. Her Master's dissertation was on the economic history of the North Atlantic Triangle (US, UK and Canada), which she did at Oxford on a full ride scholarship....and it wasn't for football.

So......she's been in an economics class once or twice. And, in who knows how many lectures and seminars, had never heard the phrase uttered in an academic context.

My inescapable conclusion is that adherents are either idiots, or have an agenda that doesn't include you or me.

[Fred M]

54. Aw, don't worry:

Just like any other red welfare state, they'll get bailed out by the federal government. And then complain about it.

[DeSwiss]

55. ''....and there is no one else to blame.''

- And since when has this ever stopped the Republicans? Seriously. Especially when -- ''Thanks Obama!'' -- still works so well with the non-cerebralled.

K&R







Brownback will now forever be remembered as: ''Governor Brownstain.......''

[Wolf Frankula]

56. It Was The Tornadoes

Too many of the smart people got blown to Oz, and the morons but asses like Brownback in office.

Wolf

[Enthusiast]

57. These silly extremists continue to claim that lower taxes result in increased revenue,

despite decades of proof to the contrary.

I guess you could call them True Believers®. True Believers® in the Reagan miracle®, another complete fallacy. I was there, Reagan was a fucking disaster—his policies ultimately cost me my job.

[socialist_n_TN]

90. That's called ideology.........

For whatever reason if the belief system doesn't square with the facts, then it's the facts that are wrong. The definition of an ideology.

[Enthusiast]

93. That definition works for me.

[Gothmog]

58. Brownback is an idiot

[raccoon]

59. Sorry to hear that. Too bad for the enlightened people in KS. nt

[B Calm]

60. I believe it's all in their plans to privatize everything and reinforce

their argument that big government doesn't work.

[KrazyinKS]

64. He thinks tax cuts are going to attract businesses-that's not going to happen

I don't think any growing business is going to get the talent to move to Kansas. Not when they have other options.

[DURHAM D]

65. Did Chris talk about the increase in Property Taxes

that is now happening so the counties can cover revenue losses? Property taxes on farm land have always been ridiculously low and in no way connected to actual value or revenue generation. Now the reddest (rural) counties are increasing property taxes at an alarming rate and it is getting everyone's attention.

I just spent some time there and more than one farmer told me that the Democrats who live in Wichita, Lawrence, Topeka, KC, etc. are the ones actually benefiting from Brownback's income tax reductions and everyone else (read that Republican voters) is being punished through property taxes and sales tax.

[allinthegame]

66. Voters

Put him in office and he was pretty obvious about his plans.
The takeaways on this experiment are two
A. You can't live happily ever after without paying taxes
B. You reap what you sow

Think those lessons have been learned? Doubtful.

[packman]

69. Girl Flees Kansas

Teams up with a heartless guy, a coward a brainless man and a con man to kill and steal from the sister she killed on arrival.

So now the good people of Kansas will elect a Dem who will raise taxes to drag them out of the hole they're in and then get pissed off in a few years and reelect another guy who will promise to lower their taxes. Neverending story .

[RoBear]

70. what most don't realize..

is that Brownie's activities have made it worse for some of us.

1) The Homestead Act, which used to provide me with $300 or so each year, is now no longer available to renters--it's for homeowners only.

2) The Food Tax Refund is now only available as a deduction on tax refunds due, so since I haven't enough income (SS only), I can't get that. Another $70 or so I can't get anymore.

But thanks to Brownhole, that's all gone. And thank Dog, I assume the Koch's are making more than ever thanks to generous tax breaks!

I used to love Kansas, but the people, like most of the US, have turned ugly and unkind. I'm of an age that means I probably won't be around to see the worm turn, but I'd like to see that...

[Aristus]

71. That's not weird. That's Kansas.

What would be weird would be if they raised taxes in order to make up the debt they are accumulating and start paying to make their state livable again.

That would be weird.

[Arugula Latte]

72. No one could have predicted this brilliant plan would be a disaster!

Oh wait, yes we could have and did.

[Jerry442]

73. I'll bet if you interviewed a thousand random Kansans...

...most of them would tell you that Kansas is doing much better than other states and they'd be fine and dandy if it wasn't for that Keynan socialist wrecking the national economy. That's what Fox News tells them, and that's what they'll continue to believe even when if they're living under a tarp on the open prairie.

[littlemissmartypants]

74. Colluding with governors against progress is a dead end.

Take my Pat McCrory. Please.

[Firebrand Gary]

75. This is sad result when you give republicans power.

They cannot blame the democrats, they do this every time. Republicans like to talk about smaller government, when in reality they actually mean smaller government for corporations and the rich, which translates to everyone else being ran over by a 18 wheeler. Its too sad, but unfortunately republican voters keep doing this to themselves and the rest of us.

[blkmusclmachine]

76. Brownback is associated with THE FAMILY/THE FELLOWSHIP, a shadowy RW Cult based in Washington DC.

[rustysgurl]

79. As a longtime Kansas resident ...

... I have despaired of ever electing anybody (local, state or national) that had the interests of ALL Kansans at heart. I saw Brownback for what he was, and cried when he was elected. I have watched him take this state apart, piece by piece, cutting this and hacking that. And while I would hope that my fellow Kansans would have their eyes opened by what's going on, assuming any intelligence in this state is an exercise in futility.

We had a wonderful moderate Democrat representative (Dennis Moore) in Washington for years. He was diagnosed with Alzheimers and chose not to run for re-election. His wife tried to run in his place, but slammed against the Koch-backed Kevin Yoder, who I am sad to say is supposed to be my representative at this time. I have written to him repeatedly on issues, but have yet to receive one intelligent response. I have made it my mission to see that he doesn't win re-election this year, hoping that Kelly Kultala will unseat him.

Is there hope for Kansas? God, I hope so.

[noiretextatique]

83. welcome to DU, rustysgurl!

we ousted the governator in california, so i know kansas can do it too.

[tblue37]

82. And yet the idiot governor and his flunkies are claiming that

the problems are all caused by Obama's economic policies. Of course, that doesn't explain why other states are not experiencing the same problems and getting a Moody's downgrade in the same way that Kansas is.

BTW, Missouri's Dem governor vetoed a Repub tax bill that was intended to mimic Kansas's tax-slashing tactics. As he did so, he pointed to the damage being caused to our economy in Brownbackistan by the stupid tax policies of the Repub legislature and Repub governor.

[mostlyalurker]

85. It is truly sad.

My family is at least 5 generations of Kansas natives. And last year, I finally HAD to move my elderly mother out. Brownback's tax policy is designed to starve old people to death.

[nikto]

86. Kansas needs more fracking

Nothing makes Democrats and Liberals faster than lots & lots of local fracking.

Crank it up!

[KrazyinKS]

88. I just remember something Bill Maher said-

He loves doing shows in red states. He said it is amazing how many Dems show up. They're out there. You should see the wack jobs on my facebook page.

[jtuck004]

89. He didn't fail. He successfully implemented Supply Side. This is what it gets you.

He should get full credit for that. All he deserves. In spades.

And so should other people who evangelize for it. Just ask Timothy McVeigh. I mean Geithner.

[grahamhgreen]

92. Their goal is to destroy the govt.. They are traitors, in a way.