The Wizard of Odds

On November 5, 2014, no one could have been more surprised than your humble host to learn that Kansas Governor Sam Brownback (R) and all of the Republican members of his legislature were re-elected.  As ballotpedia.org noted: “there was no change to the majority control of the Kansas House of Representatives. The Republican Party increased their number of seats held from 93 to 98. The Democratic Party lost five seats, dropping from 32 to 27 following the election.”

Off-year elections often are met with apathy and yield conservative results.  In my mind, however, given the current state of financial affairs in the great state of Kansas, that was surprising to me.  Who in the world would support the same cast of lunatics who created ridiculous tax cuts that resulted in cuts to EVERYTHING including schools, state office hours, primary and secondary jobs, government staff pension plans and public services?

Apparently, Kansans's primary source of news and information is almost singularly generated by Fox News and its ultra-conservative culture of unreasonable insanity.

If you are not familiar with the economic results of the work of the Governor and his minions since 2009, let me enlighten you, gentle reader.  The State of Kansas decided to adopt the Laffer Curve.  (I wish I could make that name up, but it always makes me smirk.)  This is heady economic stuff so, stick with me.  Economists love models and Arthur Laffer decided that he could generate a model in which a government(s) could reduce tax revenue and, as a corollary, generate increased revenue.  Isn't that confusing?  How?  The whole idea is that if you put money back into peoples’ hands they will support the economy rather than using the money for personal benefit.

Right.  Sure.  Humans always think of helping others.  There is no evidence that the Laffer Curve ever worked.  Effectively, it is laughable.

But what happened in Kansas?  I believe it was (a field of poppies) or an economically predictable response that led merchants in the state-split city of Kansas City, Missouri to run across the border to generate new businesses so that they could reduce their state tax burdens.  The new rules created competition.  And Hallelujah! Investors.com heralded the exciting news that “Tax Cuts Work!”  There was job creation! (Who is surprised?)  Toot that horn.  (Please, don't get me wrong. I'm happy for the 9,800 people who are now gainfully employed.  Good for them.)

Forbes followed up the next day on the gush of affection for statistical job creation with a report (including awesome charts and graphs) of their own.  Down in the end of that article, (clearly the part that no one reads) is the truth:

“To be certain, there is still a lot of work to be done by state officials, the legislature, and the governor in order to correct a projected $600 million shortfall. According to the Associated Press report, the legislature is considering changes related to public pensions (a projected $9.8 billion gap), increasing fees charged by top managed health care companies from 1 percent to 5 percent (which could bring in an additional $80 million annually), and improving management of mental health drugs for Medicaid recipients, which Brownback believes could save the state more than $8 million. Also being considered is a variety of tax increases.”

So, essentially, all of that happy talk about job creation is misdirection.  There is a $600 million gap and the Kansas kids want to close it by going after retirees and the mentally ill while increasing the cost of health care for everyone. Excrement is always warm when it is fresh and always smells just as sweetly.

As Shakespeare said: “There’s the rub.” Or, as Sting and the Dire Straits sang in their 1985 music video there will be:  “Money for nothing’…”

Go get 'em, Governor Brownback. The next thing he will do is axe elementary school programs... Oh, wait.  He already did.