Another writer comments about Kansas:
I liked the recent study which showed that standard Republican policies (cut income taxes, cut corporate taxes, reduce regulations, etc.) actually result in a poorer business climate. Strangely, it seems that happy, healthy employees and productive, non-economically stressed customers and local citizens are actually better for business than a tax cut. Who would have guessed? Certainly not the Republicans, apparently. Which is why Wisconsin is dead last for creating new businesses.
Since the tax cuts benefit the rich far more than the poor, the economy’s improvement would depend on the greater spending of the rich. But do the rich need to spend? No – they have what they need in terms of long-term purchases, and how much more can they buy in the area of consumables?
Chris Reeves @ The Daily Kos has some juicy quotes from the more conservative Republicans:
In the Kansas House last night, Rep. Rubin (R-Johnson County) spoke up and said “Taxes are evil. They are evil” at one point, which brought strong approval from the anti-tax ralliers in the balcony.
I asked them as the debate wore on what they thought and their position was clear “Taxes like this are the things socialists do, not a free country.” …
Kasha Kelley (R-Ark City) in her speech to the floor earlier: “This is the first step toward socialism”. (House)
Greg Smith (R-Johnson County), Senator, “Taxes are thievery, nickel and dime thievery.”
The last quote reminds me of holding a similar, if less extreme, position twenty years ago. I bring this up to observe that part of the problem (and it’s a hard one) is a moral system in which goods & services are either obtained through trade (good), or they are taken by force (evil). In at least my educational venues, very little attention was given to any other economic transaction and its moral/ethical facet, such as whether or not taxation falls in the good or evil. Since taxation doesn’t immediately fall into the category of good, it must be evil, no?
Well, no. Senator Smith has evidently not given any thought to the positive contributions of government to the citizenry, from defense to services; his assertion, if indeed a true quote and not out of context, would leave me shaking my head and suggesting it’s time to replace them.
But the real point is a more nuanced discussion about the role of taxation in society, how it benefits society, and how they can be misused – this sort of thing is far more necessary to counter the mindless mantra that
TAXES ARE EVIL!
