The failed experiment

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Two things stick out for me from this whole failed experiment. One, the consequences of Brownback's tax policy have essentially exposed the very same people who voted for it as being as much of "liberal" big-government leeches as they used to accuse everyone who opposed the experiment and who didn't agree with their libertarian tax-free utopia.

And two, it finally provided the real-life example that we've been hearing in discussions with libertarians all the time. You see, libertarian paradise is possible, only, big government won't allow it to be tried and tested anywhere, for fear that it might actually work. Well, there you have it. Kansas is your case-in-point that you so much hoped for.

It's curious how an entrepreneur who was interviewed in relation to this no-tax experiment, said that having no taxes wouldn't really incentivize him to hire more workers and thus fulfill the libertarian prediction that lower or no taxes means more jobs. "Just because we got a tax cut didn't mean we needed to hire more people. We put the money in our pocket. Why hire more people if you don't need them", he said. Another myth debunked, then?

Basically, this is all government-shutdown redux all over again. The greedy right-wing politicians and their gullible layman supporters who were in favor of the shutdown in fact turned out to be the ones who were hurt the most by the shutdown, as their lifestyle was dependent on the government more than they'd ever admit. (Not to mention that the deep-red states of the South which are the most opposed to government hand-outs for states and have in some cases turned government money back for ideological reasons, are actually generally the biggest government-fund takers rather than contributors to the federal budget). Now the libertarian experiment in Kansas has hurt that sort of politicians too, after they were so eager to give it a shot and, well, ultimately shoot themselves in the leg.

Let's not fool ourselves. Republicans like to spend taxpayer money, too. Hell, even long-time staunch Republicans are now voting against governor Brownback, solely on the tax-cutting austerity. Curiously, it was exactly what these Kansas Republicans asked for, and duly got it. I'd say keep the tax cuts in place and live with that choice for, like, a decade or so. This, more than anything else, will convince people to think more thoroughly through their politics. Perhaps that would deter many of them from blindly clinging to a party solely based on partisan identity, stop being useful idiots, and vote for their true interests eventually. Wouldn't that make DC a tad more functional a place than it currently is? Oh, keep dreaming...

Of course, one might also argue that most states (Wisconsin, Texas, Florida, Indiana) that have cut taxes to help their citizens and their economies have actually done better, while the Kansas case was a mere exception, and things were only able to eventually slide downhill due to poor management - which doesn't necessarily make ultra-conservative policies bad or detrimental. Well, here's a news-flash: Germany, which has long been cited as an example of prudent austerity policy, may be already risking to relinquish its role as Europe's juggernaut driving engine, all thanks to Merkel's tightening-the-belt policies. In fact, they're already seriously contemplating changing the approach and getting divorced with the austerity trap that they've put themselves and probably much of the rest of Europe into. I may write a separate post detailing that a bit later, because that's a whole big separate story of its own.

On a slightly side note, I find this article quite intriguing. In a nutshell, it discusses how Sam Brownback brought his Koch brand of Christian fundamentalism to Kansas. Even before he became governor, his time in Senate was characterized by his "righteous absolutism" and "ultra-conservative voting pattern", and of course "tax cuts and military adventures". He was then only able to implement his libertarian pipe dream in Kansas, thanks to a compliant Republican legislature and a strong mandate.

Now things have turned around and his plan is quickly falling apart. Because his decision to slash taxes to the bone except for the bottom 20% ended them up paying more than before. His mentor, the now discredited Arthur Laffer, made bold promises about "enormous prosperity", but they, just like the meme that less tax means more jobs, turned to be utter bullcrap. As of last June, Kansas was already faced with a deficit of $700 million.

Now Brownback's semi-anonymous Democratic opponent is being endorsed by an alarmingly growing list of prominent Republicans. Even the ultra-conservative Breitbart acknowledges that these have become a formidable horde now. Apparently, even they're capable of recognizing bullshit, especially when it affects their pocket.

All that said, I'm being told that if anyone's still wondering how come a sufficient number of folks in Kansas keep voting for this lunatic, perhaps reading What's The Matter With Kansas by Thomas Frank could help somewhat. A related issue is how, through culture wars, Kansas could rapidly go from pink or blue to deep red. There've also been other articles about how the Koch bros have skillfully been shaping public opinion to their liking, Brownback being yet another stooge for them, having been the latest tool to drive their ultra-libertarian agenda. But that's a slightly different topic.