How strong is Sam Brownback's tea?
Barb Shelly
“If you want to know what a Tea Party America might look like, there is no place like Kansas.”
So begins this Washington Post story, which contends that Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is taking the lead in bringing low-tax, small-government principles to Kansas.
Brownback probably appreciates being acknowledged in that manner. And Kansas Democrats and others would doubtlessly agree with the premise of the story. But the reality is more nuanced.
The story notes: “In the past year, three state agencies have been abolished and 2,050 jobs have been cut. Funding for schools, social services and the arts have been slashed. The new Republican governor rejected a $31.5 million federal grant for a new health-insurance exchange because he opposes President Obama’s health-care law.”
That’s all accurate. But the Republican Brownback is hardly the only governor to eliminate jobs, slash funding and seek efficiencies in government operations as the economic downturn wears on. Over in Missouri, Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon has assumed the mantle of “cutter in chief” for his many budget rescissions.
Brownback’s elimination of the Kansas Arts Commission makes a stronger case for tea party radicalism. And, while I think his rejection of the $31.5 million grant to develop the infrastructure for a health insurance exchange was petty and shortsighted, Kansas is not the only state to balk at creating the federally mandated exchanges.
I think we have to wait until Brownback unveils his plans for income tax reform next month to really assess how determined he is to radically move the state toward the uber-free market principles espoused by his benefactors in the Koch conglomerate.
On school reform, Brownback has shied away so far from overt promotion of vouchers or tax credits for private schools. His plan to reform the school financing formula actually allows districts to bring in more property tax money if residents agree to it.
In a meeting with The Kansas City Star’s editorial board this week, Brownback surprisingly started touting the benefits of the federal wind production tax credit, which he said needs to be continued in order to make wind energy viable. It was a bit surreal hearing him advocate for a federal tax credit to promote alternative energy, especially since he’d just finished telling us that loopholes and exemptions in Kansas’ income tax code constituted “social engineering” and need to be removed. But Brownback said he’d voted for the wind production tax credit while in the U.S. Senate. “My first focus is this is great for Kansas,” he said.
I think at the core Brownback is a rock-solid religious conservative and a true believer in limited government principles. He and his staff have a ruthless streak, which will be on full display in 2012 as the governor’s political operatives work to dislodge the moderate Republicans who are standing in the way of full legislative cooperation.
But my sense is also that Brownback wants to be the successful governor of a successful state. He will push his principles as far as he can, but he may not push them as far as his opponents fear, or as far as some of his supporters may wish.
JR Beillenhouser
1 year, 5 months agoKansas is thriving, KC, Mo and it’s liberal politics has made it a ghost town. It’s alright Barb, you can say your liberal economic beliefs are wrong. The proof is in the pudding. What better than to have an experiment in economics played out on the state line.
How’s this, if Kansas fails, I’ll be the first to stand up and say the conservative policies don’t work. Will you say that they work if it succeeds?
Just like: Fannie and Freddie were at heart of crisis
Read more here: http://voices.kansascity.com/#storylink=cpy
you tend to be a little late to the party.
Kansas economics is and is going to succeed. KC MO and its politics shows us that doing the same thing over and again and expecting different results is the definition of stupidity.
Kent Mueller
1 year, 5 months agoAnonymous……What’s up with the Fannie and Freddie reference? The failure of Fannie and Freddie led to the mortgage debacle. The failure of Fannie and Freddie is directly attributable to the Democrats, most especially Frank and Dodd. The Republican tried to reform the GSE’s, but the Democrats stood in their way. There is ample proof of that all over the internet. Lot’s of congressional hearings to listen to that all point to the Democrats.
Willie Green
1 year, 5 months agoAs a lifelong Roman Catholic, I don’t know how Governor Brownback reconciles his Tea Party ideology with Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical “Rerum Novarum — On the Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor”
http://www.vatican.va/holyfather/leoxiii/encyclicals/documents/hfl-xiiienc15051891rerum-novarum_en.html
As a recent convert to Roman Catholicism, I would hope that the Governor would take the time to read and reflect on the message contained in this encyclical.
JR Beillenhouser
1 year, 5 months agoWillie -
Would you rather have Sebilius back in there with her views on abortion? The Church has stated on many occasions that that is absolute evil.
Additionally, while the the Church is against unmitigated Capitalism, it is shown that it is against State run governments intent on destroying the family unit and forcing it’s residents to support the governments goals which are often contrary to the morality of the Church.
I fail to see how spending money that we don’t have is against anything the Catholic Church promotes. Is it more charitable to continue to devalue the dollar with unlimited spending so that the middle class falls into poverty and the poor fall into deeper into poverty. And when the markets collapse, who will get hurt most by that?
The Church is about Private Charity and not just Government Welfare.
Mark Hastert
1 year, 5 months agoLooks like Brownie’s PR machine is hard at work for ‘16.
Larry Dysart
1 year, 5 months ago“Right, because conservatives always admit when their policies don’t work. They would never pick a scapegoat, like say Fannie and Freddie, to blame rather than take responsibility for their rhetoric.”
Actually if you had read the recent STAR editorial, which nearly gave me thrombosis, they acknowledged FNMA’s major role in trashing the ENTIRE economy. Since I work in the Finance industry, we saw it coming for some time. Check out the NYT article Sept 1999 about Billy Bobs tinkering with FNMA…..and later Bush’s failed attempts to reform it.
So will you acknowledge the failure of EVERY MAJOR LIBERAL AGENDA??? New Deal deepened and lengthened the Depression, Great Society wasted trillions and poverty is 50% higher than when it started, Clinton selling military secrets to China, the Odummer stimuLESS that, according to the CBO, actually HURT the economy, not help it!
Yeah didn’t think so. Libs have had a avg. 55% majority in Congress since 1932–how’s that working for us?
Larry Dysart
1 year, 5 months agoAt least you know how to throw down a challenge then run like a little girl when its picked up
Sorry, I know facts are anathema to Libs…my bad!