© 2024 KMUW
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Zipping Along At Warp Speed

Bill Gracey, flickr Creative Commons
The governor's tax experiment was supposed to have us all buzzing around like manic hummingbirds on sugar water, not unlike the one seen here.

Well, hello there, fellow Kansas heartlanders…I was just sitting here gulping espresso and trying my darnedest to (big yawn) stay awake and alert. After all, our pulse rate here in the heart of Kansas was supposed to be zipping along at warp speed by now. Gov. Sam Brownback’s great trickle-down economics experiment, in which he gave a massive tax cut to the rich and eliminated business taxes, was supposed to have us all buzzing around like manic hummingbirds on sugar water.

I know this because I just reread a Wichita Eagle op-ed piece by Governor Brownback from way back in 2012. In case you’ve been so busily caught up in our rocketing Kansas economy that you’ve forgotten the Governor’s words, allow me to remind you of exactly what he promised us in writing.

(And I quote): “Our new pro-growth tax policy will be like a shot of adrenaline into the heart of the Kansas economy. It will pave the way to the creation of tens of thousands of new jobs, bring tens of thousands of people to Kansas. Woo-hoo!" (Ok, he didn’t say “woo-hoo” but I think it was implied.)

Here’s the truth: Kansas lost 3,000 seasonally adjusted non-farm jobs in August and more than 5,000 the month before. We’re lagging the country and our region in indicator after indicator.

I used to have asthma and made a few trips to emergency rooms where they gave me shots of adrenaline. Folks, I am here to tell you that what’s going on with the Brownback-Kansas economy is not an adrenaline shot. The only thing trickling down in Kansas is a shot of Nyquil.

(Big yawn)

Excuse me!

Richard Crowson is not only a editorial commentator for KMUW. He's also a cartoonist, an artist and a banjo player.