Tag: Sam Brownback

Trump’s New Ambassador Sam Brownback Could Weaponize ‘Religious Freedom’ Around the World

The following commentary by Jay Michaelson was posted on the Daily Beast webstie January 26, 2018:

The post is partially symbolic, but it has significant power to affect the lives of millions of religious minorities, women, and LGBT people outside the U.S.

Credit: BILL CLARK/GETTY

Sam Brownback is now the United States Ambassador at Large for Religious Freedom. Because of Brownback’s extreme views on religion and civil rights, his confirmation took six months, resulted in a 49-49 tie broken by Vice President Mike Pence, and has alarmed women’s and LGBT activists.

But what can Brownback really do in his new post? Actually, more than you might think. Dr. Shaun Casey, who served as director of the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Religion and Global Affairs (RGA), told the Daily Beast that Brownback weaponizing the State Department against Muslims, women, LGBT people, and human rights activists is “a real possibility here and a terrifying prospect.” Continue reading “Trump’s New Ambassador Sam Brownback Could Weaponize ‘Religious Freedom’ Around the World”

Avoiding Another ‘Brownbackistan’

The following column was posted on the Roll Call website October 24, 2017:

Tax cuts in Kansas led to an economic train wreck

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback’s tax cuts are a cautionary tale for Washington lawmakers who are hitting the gas to get a tax reform package completed by the end of the year without paying much attention to details, Patricia Murphy writes. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

“Economic gold rush? Or fiscal wreck?” That was the question the Kansas City Star asked on May 23, 2012, the day after Gov. Sam Brownback signed a sweeping series of state tax cuts into law. Five years later, the Kansas tax cuts are looking a lot more train wreck than gold rush, with a $900 million deficit and Brownback’s fellow Republicans stepping in to reverse the cuts he pushed.

Kansas also offers an awfully timely cautionary tale for Washington lawmakers, who are hitting the gas on getting a tax reform package — any tax reform package — done by the end of the year in order to chalk at least one win on the board for 2017, but who don’t seem to be sweating the details just yet.

Continue reading “Avoiding Another ‘Brownbackistan’”

Kansas is Very Important

The following article was posted on the TrumpAccountable.org website August 14, 2017:

With the House and Senate set to take up tax reform with Donald Trump’s White House this fall, the story of Kansas and their dramatic experiment in supply-side tax policy needs to be told and understood. Those who claim that reducing taxes will create economic growth need to be able to answer the following question: Why should we as a country adopt an economic strategy that failed spectacularly in Kansas?

To review, in 2012 Kansas governor Sam Brownback along with the Republican majority in the legislature passed enormous tax cuts for small businesses, a reduction in personal income tax, and the elimination of taxes for a variety of goods and industries. The result, Brownback promised, would be increased disposable income, more jobs, and people moving to Kansas for work and business. “It will pave the way to the creation of tens of thousands of new jobs, bring tens of thousands of people to Kansas, and help make our state the best place in America to start and grow a small business,” Brownback claimed. “It will leave more than a billion dollars in the hands of Kansans. An expanding economy and growing population will directly benefit our schools and local governments.” Continue reading “Kansas is Very Important”