Shocking, no?

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

Kansas' Tax Cut Disaster


"The largest tax cuts went to those at the top, and Kansas actually raised taxes on the lowest-income families. Nothing in the Kansas economy’s subpar performance since these tax cuts were enacted suggests the benefits have “trickled down” to ordinary Kansans."

Comments

[unnamed525.livejournal.com]

That's what happens when economics becomes a matter of faith.

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

Are you suggesting sir that ALEC is putting ideology above sound economic theory?

[unnamed525.livejournal.com]

No. I'm flat-out stating it. :D

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Absolutely: see below in the comments for proof of that.

[usekh.livejournal.com]

It's almost like, trickle-down economics doesn't work*gasp*

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

Ah, so people are finally getting what they are really worth,
good job!

-- right-wing mind.

[lafinjack.livejournal.com]

This didn't work because they didn't act conservatively enough.

[johnny9fingers.livejournal.com]

Those fuckers don't want to conserve anything.

[lafinjack.livejournal.com]

Conservation of societal power.

[blackdwarv.livejournal.com]

Conserve the feudal system.

[chron-job.livejournal.com]

Get it in the bathtub!

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

Kansas is running into two problems:

1) The state court ruling that requires them to do more education funding. This means that there's a spending gap created that was not originally in place.

2) The fact that Brownback has opted not to cut spending significantly. It's like the George W. Bush problem except that states can't go into deficit spending.

Brownback's only done half the job, and is getting screwed in unanticipated ways as well.

[oslo.livejournal.com]

1) The state court ruling that requires them to do more education funding.

Could you try to be less mendacious, for once? You're talking about Kansas's Supreme Court ruling that it was unconstitutional under the state constitution for the legislature to be underfunding their schools the way they were. This isn't some activist judge in a forgotten court trying to make a name for him or herself. This is the state's highest legal authority on the question.

2) The fact that Brownback has opted not to cut spending significantly.

You can keep arguing that they haven't gone far enough, but at some point you're going to have to face the fact that "far enough," on your view, is so politically unpalatable that you can't even get Kansas to implement the desired policies. So you're going to have to come up with a new schtick, if you want to talk about reality.

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

What's the end game here? Do they really want a weak & impoverished populace?

[blackdwarv.livejournal.com]

Precisely. At what point do we stop cutting? When we can't pay the police or fire departments (http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2011/12/07/9272989-firefighters-let-home-burn-over-75-fee-again)anymore? When we can't afford to light the streets at night (http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/12/15/390562/ohio-lights-off-budget-cuts/)?

We tried privatized education. We tried privatized police and fire. It. Doesn't. Work. More, from various other examples, privatization is often more expensive (http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/08/05/3084363/aqua-nc-seeks-192-percent-rate.html)then public options.

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

Obviously, they are going to have to change their
constitution and drop that education thing, which
is only annoying in a Red State anyway.

[peristaltor.livejournal.com]

Yes. An impoverished populace is desperate, and desperate people work for less. They also don't have time to pursue ideas above their station (whatever station that might be considered by those who are not impoverished and therefore find themselves with some bargaining power).

[telemann.livejournal.com]

I'm happy someone brought those points out. I knew about the court decision and the reasons why, but didn't bother. So I'm glad you did.

You can keep arguing that they haven't gone far enough, but at some point you're going to have to face the fact that "far enough," on your view, is so politically unpalatable that you can't even get Kansas to implement the desired policies.

That's is extremely telling, isn't it? That gives you an indication how extreme Jeff's views are on the political scale.

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

And several other states that were blindly following along are now reconsidering.

[deborahkla.livejournal.com]

Extreme, and also oh-so-old and out-of-date if you're someone whose political views are fact-driven rather than ideology-driven. You don't end a recession by cutting spending; you end it by pouring more money into the economy. That's how it's always worked. Look at Australia. Their minimum wage is around $14.00 and from what a friend tells me, few people make less than $20. They're one of the few countries to emerge relatively unscathed from the worldwide recession. But we're utter barbarians--we don't even have national healthcare, for goodness' sake. But it's as I've always said: we are the raucous, splay-legged, ill-mannered boors at the world's table.

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

It's now extreme to want to cut spending along with taxes? That's extremely telling, yes.

[enders-shadow.livejournal.com]

He clearly has no interest whatsoever in talking about reality.

[angelcerv25.livejournal.com]

I've noticed Jeff will not engage with Oslo, though Oslo tries valiantly. Jeff knows it's pointless.

[unnamed525.livejournal.com]

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

Hopefully being touched by a tentacle will convince that puny human to avoid firing again upon that beautiful life form.