MJ - How the Kansas governor's red-state experiment could turn Kansas purple.

[TomCADem]

Nice article about what happens when the right wing gets to implement its policy wish list:

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/09/sam-brownback-kansas-paul-davis

ONE WEDNESDAY afternoon in mid-August, Govs. Sam Brownback of Kansas and Chris Christie of New Jersey stopped for a photo op—and $54 worth of pork ribs and sausages—at Oklahoma Joe's, a gas station barbecue joint on the outer fringe of Kansas City. Along with hickory smoke and diesel fumes, there was a mild aroma of desperation in the air. Brownback's approval ratings hovered in the mid-30s, and one recent poll had his Democratic opponent, state House Minority Leader Paul Davis, beating him by 10 points. Now Christie, the chair of the Republican Governors Association, had parachuted in to lend some star power as Brownback made a fundraising swing through the wealthy suburbs outside of Kansas City. A day earlier, the RGA had announced a $600,000 ad buy in support of Brownback. "We believe in Sam," Christie assured the scrum of reporters who'd accompanied the governors to Oklahoma Joe's.

That the RGA had been forced to mobilize reinforcements in Kansas spoke to just how imperiled Brownback had become. After representing Kansas for nearly two decades in Congress, he had won the governorship in 2010 by a 30-point margin. Once in office, Brownback wasted no time implementing a radical agenda that blended his trademark social conservatism with the libertarian-tinged economic agenda favored by one of his most famous constituents, Charles Koch, whose family company is headquartered in Wichita and employs more than 3,500 people in the state. Other GOP governors elected in the tea party wave, such as Wisconsin's Scott Walker, garnered more ink for their brash policy maneuvers, but in many ways Brownback had presided over the most sweeping transformation.

Early in his tenure, he said he wanted to turn Kansas into a "real, live experiment" for right-wing policies. In some cases relying on proposals promoted by the Kansas Policy Institute—a conservative think tank that belongs to the Koch-backed State Policy Network and is chaired by a former top aide to Charles Koch—Brownback led the charge to privatize Medicaid, curb the power of teachers' unions, and cull thousands from the welfare rolls.

But his boldest move was a massive income tax cut. Brownback flew in Reagan tax cut guru Arthur Laffer to help sell the plan to lawmakers, with the state paying the father of supply-side economics $75,000 for three days of work. Brownback and his legislative allies ultimately wiped out the top rate of 6.45 percent, slashed the middle rate from 6.25 to 4.9 percent, and dropped the bottom tier from 3.5 to 3 percent. A subsequent bill set in motion future cuts, with the top rate declining to 3.9 percent by 2018 and falling incrementally from there. Brownback's tax plan also absolved nearly 200,000 small business owners of their state income tax burdens. Among the "small" businesses that qualified were more than 20 Koch Industries LLCs. "Without question they're the biggest beneficiaries of the tax cuts," says University of Kansas political scientist Burdett Loomis.

[Dawson Leery]

1. k/r

[WhiteTara]

2. Among the "small" businesses that qualified were more than 20 Koch Industries LLCs.

Among the "small" businesses that qualified were more than 20 Koch Industries LLCs. "Without question they're the biggest beneficiaries of the tax cuts," says University of Kansas political scientist Burdett Loomis.

I'm glad to see the people of Kansas are not brain dead!

[napi21]

3. I sure hope the voters of Kansas KNOW the cause of their problems and vote accordingly.

And while they're at it, they can fire that nitwit who's been in the Senate his entire life!

[blkmusclmachine]

4. Brownback is a member of the shadowy rightwing Cult known as "THE FAMILY."