The New Republic: Brownback’s Right-Wing Experiment is Bankrupting Kansas

There’s a much better way for Kansas to fulfill its constitutional duties and avoid these yearly budget shortfalls: give up on its failed tax cuts and raise revenue. And that revenue should come from the richest Kansans. Between 1979 and 2012, the top 1 percent of Kansans has nearly doubled its share of income, from 9.8 percent to 18.6 percent. In fact, the top 1 percent pay just 3.6 percent of their income in state and local taxes, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. The middle 20 percent of earners pay 9.5 percent.

Read more