Sleep deprivation is a tactic CIA operatives use to extract confessions from would-be terrorists. They make their captives stay awake for an ungodly length of time until they are so weary they will agree to any cockamamie idea just so they can get some peace. CRITICISMS launched against ultra-conservatives for breaking their promises not to raise taxes are unfair.
In the wee hours of Friday morning — 4 a.m., to be exact — Kansas representatives yielded to Gov. Sam Brownback’s demands to raise the state sales tax by an unprecedented amount. Only 24 hours earlier, when saner minds prevailed, the House had rejected the very same measure by an overwhelming majority.
It was nothing less than extortion.
Either they fund the budget his way or Brownback threatened to make across-the-board cuts of 6 percent, truly threatening the viability of the state’s schools, prisons, hospitals and social services.
Unfortunately, the majority caved in, giving Brownback and the interests of big business a hands-down victory.
Now, Kansas will have the fifth-highest sales tax in the nation, and the highest for food. Everything — from milk and eggs to automobiles and refrigerators — will go up in price.
Clearly, some additional form of funding needed to be done to bridge a $400 million budget gap. But increasing the tax on what we buy will hit the poor and middle class the hardest and have a detrimental effect on the overall economy. People will simply stop buying everything but the bare essentials.
Legislators never entertained addressing the root cause of the state’s financial fiasco — the massive personal and business income tax cuts passed in 2012.
Meanwhile, other leaders are using Kansas as an example of what not to do.
In her effort to reduce the income tax rate, South Carolina’s Gov. Nikki Haley promised legislators, “We are not doing what Kansas did.”
Here are the national headlines:
“The Dysfunction of Oz” — U.S. News & World Report
“Sam Brownback guts Kansas even more: This is life under America’s worst Republican governor” — Salon
“Kansas’s Failed Experiment” — The Atlantic
“Kansas reaps the whirlwind of its right-wing experiment” — The Washington Post
WHAT ANGERS most Kansans is how legislators avoided tackling the budget until the very last moment, thus precluding any time for thoughtful — and public — debate.
It was no accident.
That’s why lawmaking is akin to making sausage. You don’t want to know what goes in there. But in this case, the flavor is downright repugnant.
In their defense, they were also waiting for leadership from their Governor.
Instead, Brownback worked the angle that legislators are to blame.
“You must act,” Brownback pleaded with legislators Thursday night.
“I’m pleading with you, really, to just one more time, just get in the saddle.”
Meanwhile, he’ll be able to ride off into the sunset unblemished.
— Susan Lynn
House caves; Brownback maintains stranglehold on party
