From today's LA Times: Kansas vs. CA on taxes.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

This is a very well-written op-ed about the effects of taxation on Kansas and California.

"Republican legislators in Kansas did the unthinkable this month: They voted to raise income taxes, ending a painful five-year experiment with an extreme anti-tax agenda introduced by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback. The Republican-held Legislature had to override a veto by the governor to pass the emergency tax increase, now crucial to prevent deep budget cuts for schools and other essential public services.

Kansas embarked on its trickle-down experiment in 2012. Brownback slashed taxes across the board, calling his plan “a shot of adrenaline into the heart of the Kansas economy.” Five years later, the state’s economy is on life support, and government expenses are expected to outpace income by $1.1 billion through June 2019. Instead of a poster child for the small-government theories championed by economist Arthur Laffer, tax reform activist Grover Norquist and the rest of the Republican Party, Kansas has become a cautionary tale about what happens when you expose their economic ideas to sunlight.

Meanwhile, a state that Republicans love to mock – California – has done just the opposite. In November of 2012, the same year Kansas plunged into its tax-slashing experiment, more than 54% of California voters approved Proposition 30, a measure that temporarily raised income taxes for the state’s wealthiest residents and increased the sales tax in order to fund schools and pay down debt. The tax hikes helped California erase $27 billion in debt, and the state has since enjoyed some of the strongest economic growth in the country. (Of course that growth isn’t due to tax hikes alone; the state has a robust tech sector, among other factors.)

If states can indeed serve as laboratories of democracy, as Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis suggested, there’s no question which state embarked on the more successful test.
Why do Republicans want to replicate Kansas’s failure on a national scale?"

All of it at the link: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-steyer-kansas-tax-cuts-brownback-california-20170622-story.html

[Gothmog]

1. Trickle down economics do not work

Yeah for California

[TheBlackAdder]

6. Ask Trump which is better, a trickle or a warm streaming flow? He'll know.

[Wounded Bear]

11. Trickle down economics does exactly what it is meant to do...

slash government revenues and alleviate taxes on the wealthy. They are not really meant to "stimulate" anything beyond the 1% ers bottom line.

[NCTraveler]

2. Thanks for sharing.

Short but revealing article showing just how foolish the direction of the Trump administration is in this area. Trump: Double-down on failed policies.

[Bengus81]

3. And let's get ALL the truth out about these supposed Kansas "tax hikes"

This is NOT a tax hike,it's merely restoring a tax rate for Corporations/LLC/SCorps that Brokeback set to zero in January 2013 with the help of Kansas Republicans. In fact the tax rate they will begin paying is LOWER than what they were paying in 2012 before this latest edition of tinkle down began. If your cable company for example gives you a couple of free months and then you pay the regular rates that is NOT a rate hike by the Company,you just begin paying once again what you were originally paying each month.

Tax hikes? YEAH,two of them in the form of Sales tax over the last four years which will remain the same and NOT revert back to 2012 rates. Of course we all know how sales tax hikes HURT lower income people the most as you pay and pay and pay on everything.

[greymattermom]

4. because some very rich folks

in Kansas are doing very well, and they are the only ones who matter to Republicans. It makes perfect sense.

[Bengus81]

5. Another FUN fact about Brownbacks zero Corporate tax rate.........

80% of ALL of those in the Kansas Legislature HAS a corporation of some kind,be it a LLC or SCorp etc. He ALSO zeroed out tax's on rentals. Imagining owning 20 houses paid for or not,collecting all that rent and paying ZERO income tax on the State level??

Meanwhile all other hardworking people get to pay and pay and pay each week in sales tax hikes AND State income tax. No wonder him and Trump are buds.

[procon]

7. I hear my rightwing family grouse about California's taxes,

and I throw facts at them. Like, with more than 39 million people, we are the most populous state in the county and we have the sixth largest economy on the whole planet. We must be doing something right to attract and keep all those residents, and obviously having all those consumers is what keeps all those business booming and pumping up our economy. They are not suffering, believe me, they just want more money. Understandable, but not sustainable, all things considered.

Its about focusing on uplifting the poor and the working class, getting more spendable money into the hands of the middle class so they can afford to buy the things they want and improve their lives. That in turn drives business growth, it doesn't work in reverse like Kansas tried... and completely failed. They only proved that wealth generates greed and the only goal was for the rich to get richer so they can make bigger donations to their friends in the GOP.

[n2doc]

9. Of course those who complain about paying California's taxes are free to move elsewhere

Move to Kansas. See how much 'better' off one is. Just better make sure one does not need to use the school system or drive on the roads without a 4x4....

[chaplain_M]

8. Once this becomes common knowledge, Mr. Trump and his supporters will finally see the light

...and stop making the mistakes they've made.



Just kidding. They'll actually keep cutting revenue and shifting the tax burden onto the working people.

[BSdetect]

10. Its not all sunny in CA re taxes

Our Property Tax jumped 20% this year - around $1000 extra.

These taxes are crippling home buyers. Prices rise and rise and the Property Tax goes up and up.

Its hard enough to save a deposit never mind finding about $500 per month just for PT if you do manage to get a loan.

Rents are also ridiculous.

There are few houses worth buying in my area due to their age, condition and high prices.