It's just getting worse and worse with each day that passes. Sam Brownback knows he's driven the state budget into the ground, and now he's begging TeaPublicans in his legislature to please, please fix it for him.
LOL, Governor Brownback. You rolled around in the Koch mud, and now you're stuck in it.
Kansas faced the prospect of deep cuts to schools, prisons and other programs after the Republican-controlled House soundly rejected Thursday a proposal supported by Gov. Sam Brownback that would hike sales and cigarette taxes to close a budget deficit.
But Brownback pleaded publicly with GOP legislators to avoid those cuts and other fiscal problems, and Republican legislators drafted a new plan late Thursday night.
In past years, legislators backed the GOP governor by slashing personal income taxes in an effort to stimulate the economy, but those policies contributed to a deficit that ballooned this year.
With a constitutional mandate against operating in the red, Brownback's preferred solution got little support this time, even from his own party. Early Thursday, the House voted 95-20 against a plan that would generate more than $400 million in revenue over the fiscal year beginning July 1, largely by increasing the state's sales tax from 6.15 percent to 6.55 percent and imposing a 50 cents-per-pack hike on cigarettes.
Brownback spoke to an afternoon meeting of GOP legislators, with aides laying out potential fiscal problems, including a possible downgrade of the state's bond ratings, if the budget isn't balanced by Monday.
"You've just got to act," Brownback said. "I'm pleading with you, really, to just one more time, just get in the saddle."
No worries on the school cuts though, because Brownback signed the legislation to defund the Kansas Supreme Court if they don't vote his way on the school legislation.
Also, no worries on voter fraud either, because Brownback signed legislation giving race-baiting Kris Kobach prosecutorial power to go after registered voters if he suspects fraud.
It's a totalitarian's paradise, that place where Charles Koch lives and conducts business. Gee, I wonder why.
