Paul Krugman reintroduces us to idiot right-wingnut politicos whose insane Cut Taxes! economic policies destroy their own states, — and to the American Legislative Exchange Council… Two years ago Kansas embarked on a remarkable fiscal experiment: It sharply slashed income taxes without any clear idea of what would replace the lost revenue. Sam Brownback, the governor, proposed the legislation - in percentage terms, the largest tax cut in one year any state has ever enacted - in close consultation with the economist Arthur Laffer. And Mr. Brownback predicted that the cuts would jump-start an economic boom - Look out, Texas, he proclaimed. But Kansas isn’t booming… There’s an important lesson here - but it’s not what you think. Yes, the Kansas debacle shows that tax cuts don’t have magical powers, but we already knew that. — The real lesson from Kansas is the enduring power of bad ideas, as long as those ideas serve the interests of the right people… So how did the charlatans and cranks end up dictating policy in Kansas, and to a more limited extent in other states? Follow the Money. For the Brownback tax cuts didn’t emerge out of thin air. — They closely followed a blueprint laid out by the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC...
Posted on: Mon, 30 Jun 2014 04:10:57 +0000
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