One More Reason to Be Happy? You're Not in KANSAS!

I don't mean to make light of other people who are in greater misery (and are apparently even stupider) than we are in Florida. But if you're ever feeling down, you can always have a look at the state where the Tea Party program is being executed to its fullest -- and that's in Kansas, under Governor (and former United States Senator) Sam Brownback.

When Rick Scott was simultaneously cutting taxes and budgets early in his first term, the hue and cry became so great that he turned generous on us and restored many of the worst cuts. I happen to believe that is in part because he is a man without principles. Sam Brownback, in contrast, seems to have some degree of principle in him, and despite hue and cry in his own state when the damages piled up, he stuck to his guns.

The result? You can see it reported in papers from the area. Kansas is going into a deep revenue hole, and as a result will have to severely cut government services at some point in the near future -- including vital projects related to infrastructure, and education. Like Florida, Kansas has a balanced budget requirement, so there's no way for them to get around it. Brownback has said he refuses to consider reversing past tax cuts, or cancelling future tax cuts that are part of his plan, even though his utopian vision of businesses flocking to Kansas with more jobs has yet to come to pass. 

In fact, Kansas is a very, very good example of how tax breaks for businesses don't lead to jobs, even moreso here than in Florida. Wichita, Kansas is  the home of the industrialist Koch brothers, who have enough cash to wipe their rear ends with $10,000 bills every day. They also have more than enough money to start new businesses in Kansas that could employ every single unemployed Kansan for years to come, even if they never turned a profit. But as our blog host has remarked more than once, there's no reason for a business to hire anyone unless they need to. They sure won't hire someone just so they can give them a job and pay for, you know, unimportant stuff like food and shelter.

One more thing about Kansas to make you feel better about Florida. Opposition to Brownback in Kansas was even greater than opposition to Scott in Florida. In fact, opposition to Brownback was downright bi-partisan. So how did Kansas voters respond to this rare display of unity? Why, they re-elected Brownback of course -- and by an even larger margin (50% to 46.1%) than Floridians re-elected Scott.

Now don't you feel a WHOLE lot better?