Still the Matter with Kansas

By Bill Maher

Sam Brownback is an awful governor with an 18 percent approval rating. Much of his unpopularity can be traced to his horrific tax policies, which promised trickle down dreams that (of course) never materialized and ended up causing the state to have to cut millions out of popular programs to make up the difference. 

And the people of Kansas get it. Sort of. 

In a recent poll, 61 percent of Kansas voters felt Brownback’s tax policy had been “a failure” or “a tremendous failure.” About one-third of respondents said it was “neither a success nor failure.” Only seven percent said it was “a success.” (0.2 percent said it was “a tremendous success”, though that’s just because 0.2 percent of Kansas’ population is Sam Brownback.)

But here’s the strange part: after living through this failed fiscal experiment, when asked as if they now favor “somewhat lower” or “much lower” taxes and spending in Kansas, the same number, 61 percent of respondents, said yes, give us more of that Brownback formula we just told you was a disaster.

And I don’t mean to pick on Kansas. Well, maybe a little bit. You did re-elect the guy. But if these polls don’t capture the American voter’s schizo fantasy world, I don’t know what does.