Yesterday, the New York Times reported that Republican governors across the country have toned it down after a rough 2011.
Of course, they note that is not true of Sam Brownback. Brownback just keeps plugging ahead with his roadmap to ruin, and he doesn’t seem to really care what you think about it.
Think he should focus on putting Kansans to work? Nah, he prefers tax cuts for corporations.
Think he should restore some of the crippling cuts that public schools have suffered over the last few years? Nah, he think’s the state’s doing enough for kids and teachers. But hey, if you want to pay more property taxes, that’s cool with him.
And I bet you probably think the Governor of Kansas should be open and honest about his agenda, and not try to work things out behind closed doors where the public and the press can’t see what’s being said or what deals are being struck.
Governor Brownback disagrees with you. Heck, today his attorney declared that the Governor can’t even violate the Kansas Open Meetings Act!
So what if he has dinner parties for the Republicans from key committees at Cedar Crest?!
What could possibly come up at dinners where all the Republicans from the House and Senate Tax Committees meet with the Governor over dinner days after he introduces his Tax plan to make working families pay for tax breaks for wealthy Kansans?
And just how closely linked are the Governor’s Tax Breaks for the wealthy and the coming assault on Kansas workers and their rights? The Republicans on the tax committees that will hear the Governor’s tax bills shared private dinners at Cedar Crest with the Republicans from the House and Senate’s respective Commerce committees.
Those committees – chaired by Anthony Brown and Susan Wagle – will be looking at different ways to attack Working Kansans like Paycheck Deception, eliminating work comp eligibility, ending collective bargaining, reducing unemployment benefits and a whole host of other bad ideas.
So, when the Governor touts the benefits of a tax plan that increases income taxes on working families up to 5000% while cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy, you can be sure that you’re only hearing part of the story.
The other half of his rotten plan is to strip workers of many of their basic rights.
