SAM BROWNBACK IS THE GOVERNOR OF KANSAS ñ OR, HE WAS.
I'M GOING TO TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM IN A
SECOND, AND WHAT HE DID WAS AN EPIC DISASTER IN KANSAS,
AND EVEN REPUBLICANS ADMIT THAT.
IN FACT, THEY ARE NOW REVERSING HIS POLICIES.
HE'S GOT A NEW JOB.
KANSAS GOVERNOR SAM BROWNBACK WILL LEAVE THAT ROLE AS GOVERNOR
IN FAVOR OF A JOB IN THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION.
GREAT, YET ANOTHER INCOMPETENT PERSON JOINING THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION.
THAT'S WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCED ON WEDNESDAY.
SO, HOW BAD IS BROWNBACK?
HE'S A DEEPLY REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR, AND A DEEPLY
REPUBLICAN STATE OF KANSAS, AND HE GOT TO DO ALL THE THINGS THAT
REPUBLICANS ALWAYS HONEST, WHICH IS TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH
AND CORPORATIONS.
HE DID IT, AND IT WAS SUPPOSED TO TRICKLE DOWN ALL OF HER
KANSAS.
IT DID, BUT NOT IN THE WAY THEY WERE EXPECTING.
SO, HE'S A REPUBLICAN SENATOR IN A REPUBLICAN STATE, SO YOU
SHOULD LOVE HIM, RIGHT?
NO.
SAM BROWNBACK SHOULD THANK CHRIS CHRISTIE, BECAUSE THAT'S THE
ONLY REASON HE'S THE SECOND LEAST POPULAR GOVERNOR IN
THE COUNTRY.
HE'S COMING IN AT NUMBER 49 BECAUSE CHRIS CHRISTIE IS
SHUTTING DOWN BEACHES AND LYING ALL OVER NEW JERSEY.
SO, IF YOU CAN'T BE A POPULAR REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR IN KANSAS,
YOU REALLY SUCK AT YOUR JOB.
SO, I THINK HE'S AT WHAT, 27% APPROVAL RATING?
66% DISAPPROVAL.
THOSE NUMBERS ARE MISERABLE.
BY THE WAY, HE'S MORE UNPOPULAR THAN RICK SNYDER, WHO POISONED
FLINT MICHIGAN.
SO WHY DID THE REPUBLICANS TURN ON HIM IN KANSAS?
HE DID A TAX-CUT BILL WHEN HE CAME IN, TAX CUTS FOR THE
RICH, IN 2012, AND HE DID A CUT OF $3.7 BILLION OVER FIVE YEARS.
NOW, FOR A STATE LIKE KANSAS, THAT'S A JUMP ñ
THAT'S A GIANT NUMBER.
BUT HEY, THIS IS WHAT REPUBLICANS HAVE BEEN
TRYING TO DO FOR YEARS, AND SO DID IT WORK?
NO, IT WON'T CREATE DEFICITS, IT WILL MAGICALLY CREATE SURPLUSES.
SO, DID IT?
NO.
SO, BETWEEN 2014 AND 2017, NOT THE WHOLE FIVE YEAR SPAN, $715
MILLION IN DEFICITS.
OOPS.
SO THEN THEY HAVE TO PRINT MUCH BUTCHER EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE
BUDGET, TO GET TO A BALANCED
BUDGET.
SO THEY ARE THROWING THINGS OVERBOARD.
I'LL GIVE YOU ONE EXAMPLE.
EDUCATION BUDGET CUTS IN JUST ONE YEAR, 2015,
TOTALED 44 1/2 MILLION DOLLARS.
SO, WHEN YOU THROW PEOPLE'S KIDS OVERBOARD, BECAUSE YOUR
DUMBASS TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH DIDN'T WORK, WELL THEN
PEOPLE START TO GET MAD.
SO, RIGHT BEFORE HE LEFT ñ AND I'LL TELL YOU HIS JOB IN A
SECOND ñ IN A STUNNING BLOW TO BROWNBACK'S LEGACY, TPM REPORTS,
KANSAS LEGISLATORS OVERRODE THE GOVERNOR'S VETO IN JUNE 2 AS A
BILL THAT WOULD REVERSE --
SO, THAT IS NOT A DEMOCRATIC LEGISLATURE, THAT IS A DEEPLY
REPUBLICAN LEGISLATURE.
HE VETOED THE BILL, THEY OVERRODE IT.
THOSE TAX-CUT THAT THEY TOLD YOU WOULD EVENTUALLY HELP THE
MIDDLE CLASS, THEY DIDN'T GOT IT WAS A GROTESQUE FAILURE.
WE ADMIT IT'S A FAILURE, WE'RE GOING TO OVERRIDE HIS VETO
AND MAKE SURE WE DON'T DO TAX CUTS ANYMORE.
WHAT HAVE WE BEEN TELLING YOU ALL THIS TIME?
IT DOESN'T WORK.
THEY GOT EVERYTHING THEY WANTED, THEY DID THEIR EXPERIMENTS,
AND IT WAS AN EPIC FAILURE.
SO, WHERE IS BROWNBACK GOING NOW?
HE HAS A VERY IMPORTANT JOB AT THE TRUMP WHITE HOUSE.
HE'S GOING TO BE AMBASSADOR AT LARGE FOR INTERNATIONAL
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.
IF YOU'RE WONDERING WHAT THAT IS, YOU'RE NOT ALONE.
THAT LOOKS LIKE A MADE UP JOB.
NOW, IT'S NOT, WE LOOKED INTO IT.
THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION CREATED THIS POSITION AT THIS
OFFICE.
YOU ARE AN AMBASSADOR, WORK AWAY.
HOW DO YOU WORK TOWARDS INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM?
BY THE WAY, THEY PICKED THE WRONG GUY.
TALKING POINTS MEMO EXPLAINS, IN MARCH OF LAST YEAR, BROWNBACK
SIGNED INTO LAW A MEASURE ENABLING STUDENT GROUPS AT
PUBLIC COLLEGES TO DISCRIMINATE ON THE BASIS OF RELIGION.
ONLY CHRISTIAN STUDENTS, FOR EXAMPLE, COULD JOIN A
CHRISTIAN ORGANIZATION.
YOU MIGHT AGREE WITH, HEY CHRISTIAN STUDENTS ONLY GET
TO JOIN CHRISTIAN GROUPS, THAT'S FINE, BUT WHAT HE SAID WAS,
YOU ARE ALLOWED TO DISCRIMINATE BASED ON RELIGION.
HIS NEW JOB IS TO MAKE SURE THAT NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO
DISCRIMINATE BASED ON RELIGION.
THE ACLU OF KANSAS NOTED IN A STATEMENT ON WEDNESDAY
THAT, THROUGHOUT HIS TO MULCH WAS TENURE, GOVERNOR
BROWNBACK WORKED TIRELESSLY TO ERODE THE PRODUCTIONS THAT
THE FIRST AMENDMENT AFFORDS FOR SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE.
IT ALSO SAYS THAT YOU SHALL NOT ESTABLISH YOUR RELIGION, OR YOU
SHOULD HAVE FREEDOM OF RELIGION.
BECAUSE OF YOU HAVE ESTABLISHED YOUR RELIGION, YOU HAVE
ERODED THE CONCEPT OF FREEDOM OF OTHER RELIGIONS.
OVERALL, LOOK, HE'S LEAVING FOR AN INCREDIBLY ON IMPORTANT JOB
WITH ALMOST NO RESPONSIBILITY, BECAUSE SHE HAD TO GET THE HELL
OUT OF DODGE.
DODGE IS ACTUALLY IN KANSAS, SO IN THIS CASE IT'S A PERFECT.
HE'S LIKE, I DON'T WANT TO BE GOVERNOR ANYMORE, IT'S SO
EMBARRASSING, PLEASE, PLEASE, GET ME ANYTHING, AND THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION IS LIKE, HEY WE GOT THIS, SAM COME HERE.
WE'VE GOT VIDEO OF SAM IN HIS NEW IMPORTANT ROLE.
SAM, HOW IS THE BEST OF YOUR POLITICAL CAREER GOING?
LISTEN TO MY VOICE.
YOU NEED TO FOCUS.
YOU NEED TO DETACH.
I CAN'T SEE YOU ANYMORE.
DO IT NOW.
HOUSTON, I'VE LOST VISUAL.
THERE GOES SAM.
AMBASSADOR AT-LARGE.
THERE'S REPUBLICANISM FOR YOU.