AFTER YEARS OF SUFFERING, KANSAS'S TAX PROBLEMS MIGHT
FINALLY GO AWAY, AT LEAST IN PART, AFTER REPUBLICANS THIS
WEEK OVERRODE THEIR OWN PARTY'S GOVERNOR'S VETO OF A TAX
INCREASING BILL.
BASICALLY WHAT HAPPENED WAS BACK IN LIKE 2014,
BROWNBACK COMES IN, REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR, HE DECIDES WE HAVE
THESE FANTASIES AS A PARTY OF MASSIVE TAX CUTS, AND YOU KNOW
WHAT?
I'M GOING ALL IN.
SO HE SLASHED TAXES FOR INDIVIDUALS,
CORPORATIONS, MASSIVELY CHANGING THEIR TAX CODE, AND THE DEFENSE
AT THAT TIME WAS THAT THIS WILL STIMULATE SO MUCH ECONOMIC
ACTIVITY THAT YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THE LOSS OF
REVENUE, IT WILL FIX ITSELF.
NOW, PROGRESSIVES LIKE US HAVE
BEEN TELLING YOU, AND PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TELLING YOU FOR
DECADES, THAT THAT'S NOT ACTUALLY HOW IT WORKS.
THEY HAD
THEIR EXPERIMENT IN KANSAS AND WE SAW THE RESULTS, I WENT TO
KANSAS A YEAR OR TWO AGO WITH A UNION OF TEACHERS ON THE 50TH
ANNIVERSARY OF THE BROWN V THE BOARD OF EDUCATION BECAUSE THEIR
EDUCATION SYSTEM HAS BEEN DEVASTATED BY LOST REVENUE,
TRANSPORTATION, ROAD MAINTENANCE, ALL OF THAT
DEVASTATED BECAUSE THEY AREN'T MAKING THE MONEY THAT USED TO.
NOT ONLY ARE THEY GETTING LESS TAX REVENUE BUT THERE ARE SO
MANY LOOPHOLES THAT MANY INDIVIDUALS ARE RECLASSIFYING
THEIR INCOME AS SMALL BUSINESSES, AND IT'S BEEN A
DISASTER FOR KANSAS.
CREDIT TO THE REPUBLICANS AT LEAST IN SOME
PART, THEY'VE BEEN TRYING TO FIX THIS FOR A FEW MONTHS, TRYING TO
PASS AT LEAST SMALL INCREASES IN TAXES, REPEALING SOME OF THOSE
TAX CUTS, BUT BROWNBACK HAS STOPPED THEM UNTIL THIS WEEK,
WHEN THEY WERE ABLE TO GET A VETOPROOF MAJORITY.
WE AREN'T
TALKING ABOUT A LOT OF TAXES, VERY SMALL NUMBERS --
THAT IS THE PROGENITOR OF MANY OF THE LOOPHOLE
PROBLEMS THEY HAD.
I KNOW THOSE PERCENTAGES DON'T SEEM LIKE MUCH, BUT THEY DO HAVE
A VERY LARGE IMPACT IN TERMS OF RAISING REVENUE FOR THE STATE.
I
DO WANT TO GIVE STATE LAWMAKERS, PARTICULARLY RIGHT-WING STATE
LAWMAKERS, A GREAT DEAL OF CREDIT FOR DOING WHAT THEY ARE
DOING, FOR FIGHTING ON THIS ISSUE, EVEN AFTER THE GOVERNOR
VETOED IT.
I LOVE THE FACT THAT THEY GOT TOGETHER AND FOUND A
WAY TO OVERRIDE HIS VETO, AND ESSENTIALLY THEY DID THE RIGHT
THING.
THEY REALIZED IT WAS HURTING THEIR STATE, THEIR
CONSTITUENTS, AND I LOVE THAT FOR ONCE POLITICS WERE PUSHED
ASIDE AND REGARDLESS OF POLITICAL IDEOLOGY THESE
LAWMAKERS DECIDED TO REPRESENT THEIR CONSTITUENTS AS OPPOSED TO
BIG BUSINESSES.
WITH THAT SAID, THERE ARE SIMILAR PROBLEMS IN
OTHER STATES INCLUDING BLUE STATES LIKE CALIFORNIA.
SO IN
THE LATE 1970S -- AND THIS IS DIFFERENT BECAUSE IT'S NOT A
GOVERNOR COMING IN AND CHANGING THINGS UP -- BUT IN THE LATE
1970S, CALIFORNIA PASSED A BALLOT MEASURE KNOWN AS PROP 13,
AND THAT DRAMATICALLY CUT TAX REVENUE TO THE STATE IN THE FORM
OF PROPERTY TAXES, IT CAPPED PROPERTY TAXES AT I BELIEVE A
LITTLE OVER 1.5% OF THE VALUE OF A HOME.
THINK ABOUT IT --
EDUCATION IS FUNDED THROUGH PROPERTY TAXES, SO THE LAUSD,
FOR INSTANCE, WAS ONE OF THE BEST SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN THE
COUNTRY, AND AFTER THIS BALLOT MEASURE PASSED, THE SCHOOLS
SUFFERED BECAUSE THEY LOST A BUNCH OF REVENUE.
AND THE OTHER
PART OF THAT BALLOT MEASURE WAS THAT IN ORDER TO INCREASE TAXES
YOU NEEDED A TWO THIRDS MAJORITY TO VOTE IN FAVOR OF INCREASING
TAXES, WHICH NEVER HAPPENS, WHICH IS INCREDIBLY TOUGH.
SO
CALIFORNIA SUFFERS IN A SIMILAR WAY EVEN THOUGH THE TAX CUTS
WERE DONE IN A DIFFERENT METHOD.
OR THROUGH A DIFFERENT METHOD.
I'M GIVING YOU ALL OF THAT BECAUSE THIS IS A PROBLEM
THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, I LIKE THAT KANSAS IS TAKING A
STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
THIS ISN'T THE TAX PLAN I WOULD HAVE PASSED IN KANSAS, BUT
THIS IS KANSAS AFTER ALL.
IT'S THE REPUBLICANS FELT THEY HAD
THIS PROBLEM IN THE FIRST PLACE, BOTH THE GOVERNOR AND THE STATE
LEGISLATURE, BUT AT LEAST TO SOME EXTENT THEY FIXED IT.
THIS
IS CONSEQUENTIAL NOT JUST FOR KANSAS BUT FOR THE U.S. AS WELL.
IF THERE IS ANY REASON IN THE WORLD, IF PEOPLE ARE RATIONAL AT
ALL, IT WILL MATTER, BECAUSE THIS ISN'T JUST THEORETICALLY
LIKE THE REPUBLICAN TAX PLAN, LIKE TRUMP'S TAX PLAN HE WANTS
FOR THE ENTIRE COUNTRY -- MANY OF THE PEOPLE WHO CRAFTED
BROWNBACK'S PLAN ARE ECONOMIC ADVISERS FOR DONALD TRUMP.
THEY
ARE TRYING TO DO TO THE COUNTRY WHAT THEY DID TO KANSAS.
WHAT
KANSAS SUFFERED UNDER FOUR YEARS, AND WHAT THEY HAD TO COME
UNDER EMERGENCY CONDITIONS, FIX.
WE CAN THEORETICALLY GET IN
FRONT OF THAT IN THE U.S., WE DON'T NEED TO ALLOW THEM TO PASS
THAT TAX PLAN AND CUT CORPORATE TAXES DOWN TO ONE THIRD OF WHAT
THEY ARE NOW, WE DON'T NEED TO DECIMATE THE FEDERAL DEPARTMENT
OF EDUCATION, TRANSPORTATION, HEALTH AND ALL THAT, WE DON'T
NEED TO GO DOWN THAT ROAD.
WE CAN LEARN FROM KANSAS'S EXAMPLE
AND MAKE SURE THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN IN THE FIRST PLACE.
THIS
SHOULD BE A LEARNING EXPERIENCE NOT JUST FOR KANSAS BUT FOR
ALL OF US.
I FEEL LIKE FEDERAL POLICY IN REGARD TO TAXES SHOULD HAVE
SERVED AS A CASE STUDY FOR WHY CUTTING TAXES DOESN'T MAKE
SENSE.
DID IT STIMULATE THE ECONOMY WHEN WE CUT TAXES FOR
THE WEALTHY?
WHEN WE CREATED CORPORATE TAX LOOPHOLES THAT
ESSENTIALLY ALLOW THE BIGGEST CORPORATIONS IN THE COUNTRY TO
NOT PAY A SINGLE DOLLAR IN INCOME TAX?
I WILL HAVE TO CHECK.
WE KNOW WHAT THE ANSWER IS.
I'M NOT IN AGREEMENT WITH ANYONE
WHO THINKS TAXES NEED TO BE INSANELY HIGH FOR PEOPLE WHO
EARN THE MOST MONEY, BUT IF YOU ARE A MILLIONAIRE OR
BILLIONAIRE, PAYING YOUR FAIR SHARE OF TAXES WILL STILL ALLOW
YOU TO REMAIN A MILLIONAIRE OR BILLIONAIRE, YOU WILL BE FINE.
ONE FINAL THING, BROWNBACK OBVIOUS LEE THE BAD GUY IN THIS,
BUT HE'S EVEN WORSE THAN YOU MIGHT THINK BASED ON JUST THIS
ISSUE --
-- THAT WAS A PRIOR ATTEMPT TO FIX THE SITUATION --
AGAIN, MEDICAID, A PROGRAM
THAT THEORETICALLY HELPS SOME OF
THE MOST VULNERABLE KANSANS, REPUBLICANS TRIED TO DO AT LEAST
SOMETHING APPROACHING THE RIGHT THING, BUT NO, THEY'VE GOT
BROWNBACK SO IT DIDN'T ACTUALLY HAPPEN.
TOO BAD FOR KANSAS.
AT THIS POINT IT'S UP TO THE CONSTITUENTS OF KANSAS TO MAKE
THE RIGHT CHOICE IN FUTURE ELECTIONS.
BROWNBACK IS NOT
LOOKING OUT FOR YOU, IT'S CLEAR.
SO IF EVEN THE GOP LAWMAKERS IN
THAT STATE ARE BUTTING HEADS WITH HIM, THERE IS SOMETHING UP.