If you ever wondered why we pay taxes, and what happens when young voters do not turn out to have their voices heard, then you can look no further than Kansas. My native state has recently fallen on hard budgetary times due to our lovely Governor Sam Brownback. Governor Brownback, a hard-charging Reaganomics-loving Republican, assumed office while I was still in high school in 2011.
The new governor had previously served as United States Senator and began his charge to end the liberal-centric practice of taxing the wealthy and small businessmen. While he did not completely eliminate these taxes, Governor Brownback tried his hardest. Under his guidance the state passed a bill that slashed state income tax from 2012-2017 by $5.7 billion. The cuts were, and are, primarily aimed at the wealthy, reducing the highest income bracket from 6.25 percent to 4.5 percent and cut lower tax brackets from 3.5 percent to 3 percent. At the heart of the bill was a provision to cut the income, tax of sole proprietorships, limited liabilities and other types of small businesses to zero. This means that no matter how large the business, as along as the business is not structured as a corporation — as over 190,000 businesses were at the time — the owner would have no tax liability. This is the heart of Neo-Liberal economic leaning, which believes that by putting money back into the hands of those who could expand their businesses, they will expand their business and employ more people.
Instead, what seems to happen, as is the case in my family, is the owners merely use these funds for conspicuous consumption — such as a trip to Mexico that normally would not have been taken. So, instead of a boom for the economy, the tax cuts have led to the early closing of schools across the state, a lack of funds that extends well into the future even if the tax cuts were reversed, and a surplus turned into a deficit of over $1.1 billion.
During his push to end public goods, Brownback also took a shot at welfare reform. In a highly publicized move, Kansas Republicans attempted to place strict controls on how welfare benefits could be accessed and spent. Namely, they tried to ban the use of welfare funds on “luxury items” such as steak and seafood and preventing them from patronizing certain businesses such as movie theaters and massage parlors. His push to end these benefits was a clear pandering to the Republican base — while ignoring the fact that his tax-cutting policies may be responsible for putting more citizens into poverty.
The worst part of it is that Kansas elected Governor Brownback not once, but twice so far.
Kansas is just over 59 percent Republican if you look at the data gathered by Fivethiryeight. It is the lockstep vote of these hardcore Republicans who keep the Governor, who has an approval rating of 18 percent compared to the state’s 28 percent approval of Obama, the liberal Horseman of the Apocalypse in many circles. Despite the low ratings and the clear ineffectiveness of his policies, Brownback was re-elected due to strong party loyalty in the state.
Impoverished men and women continue to vote for a party that looks out only for the interests of those on top, and will continue to do so into the future.
If you were wondering if Brownback had a hard time in the 2014 elections after the drastic failure of his policies, he won 50 percent of the vote, losing only six counties out of 105.
Aidan Conley, a contributing writer for the Voice, can be reached at aconley16@wooster.edu