Sam Brownback

[[File:Sam_Brownback_official_portrait_3.jpg|thumb|165px|Brownback]]
{{uspolitics}}
'''Sam "Reverse Robin Hood" Brownback''' {{lived|1956}} is an [[United States|American]] former [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[United States Senate|Senator]] and former Governor of [[Fun:Kansas|Kansas]]. He retired from the Senate in 2010, due to self-imposed term limits. This meant he promptly became Governor.

He used to be a pure opportunist. Then he [[Zeal of the convert|became a zealot.]]<ref>Schieber, Noam, [https://newrepublic.com/article/63583/the-many-conversions-sam-brownback-the-apostle17 "The many conversions of Sam Brownback: The Apostle"], New Republic December 2006.</ref> However, nowadays, he's bitter and believes the things he says, if only to be stubborn. He [[2008 U.S. Presidential Election|failed at becoming President]], so he's going to make his mark however he can. If that means driving the state off a cliff, so be it.

As a mouthpiece for the [[Tea Party movement|Tea Party]], his views on [[immigration]] are considered to be at odds with the general [[conservative]] view; apparently, he likes them because of what the [[Bible]] said about welcoming strangers.  He also tried to pass measures to allow Republicans to impeach Kansas judges who [[Judicial activism|oppose his laws]].<ref>http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2016/04/01/3765654/kansas-supreme-court-impeachment-bill/</ref> He had to be ordered by them to fully fund K-12 education; he would never do it, unless at gunpoint.

==Mandate==
For some wondering how Brownback got reelected, Brownback essentially ran solely against an old, white housewife's [[Strawman argument|image]] of Obama.<ref>[http://www.rga.org/homepage/rga-launches-first-ad-in-kansas-governors-race-few/ "Paul Davis is LITERALLY Obama"]</ref> Because elderly voters make up so much of the population, it is nearly impossible for Republicans to lose.  They don't run on records; those don't appeal to Kansas voters. Instead, they use the word "liberal" a lot and run all sorts of [[bullshit]] negative ads:

{{quotebox|Paul Davis frequented a <big>'''STRIP CLUB'''</big> <sup>16 years ago</sup><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45W50JhmTyk "Paul Davis wants strip clubs near churches!"], Republican Governor's Association.</ref>}}

{{quotebox|Paul Davis wants to appoint <big>'''MORE JUDGES'''</big> that <big>'''LOVE [[Willie Horton|BLACK MURDERERS]]'''</big> and let these [[Black brute|<big>'''BLACK'''</big> men <big>'''GO FREE'''</big>]] in <big>'''YOUR HOME TOWN'''</big> where <big>'''YOUR DAUGHTER'''</big> goes to <big>'''SCHOOL'''.</big><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm0FZnUT9hY "Remember the Carr Brothers?"]</ref>}}

Informed voters know that Brownback gutted [[public education]] and crashed the economy, but old white Republicans have nothing to balance it out. And who can blame them? The news, [[Advertising|ads]], newspapers, radio, TV all work against them, and they'll never get exposed to another viewpoint in small-town Kansas. The [[Koch Industries|Koch]]/[[Fox News|Murdoch]]-backed candidate has a massive lead in every election.

==Economic policies==
{{Cquote|This is exactly the sort of thing we want to do here, in Washington.|20px|20px|[[Mitch McConnell]]<ref name="Hotmess">[http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/brownback-scrambles-clean-his-mess Brownback scrambles to clean up his mess]</ref>}}
He is a strong proponent of [[Reaganesque]] [[supply-side economics]] which implemented in Kansas in the form of extensive [[tax cuts]], resulting in extremely high deficits due to tax revenues being approximately cut in half, which have resulted in not just one, but <b>two</b> debt rating downgrades.<ref name="Hotmess"/><ref>[https://m.moodys.com/mt/www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-downgrades-Kansas-issuer-rating-to-Aa2-from-Aa1-notched--PR_298383?WT.mc_id=NLTITLE_YYYYMMDD_PR_298383&un_jtt_redirect Rating Action]</ref> Brownback responded to this situation by blaming [[Obama]]<ref>[http://www.kansas.com/2014/04/30/3431703/kansas-revenues-off-92-million.html  Kansas tax revenue off $92 million in April]</ref> and proposing to double down on the hot mess he created. He appeared to be headed towards doing this after being reelected in 2014 and claiming a mandate, though some Republicans showed resistance.<ref name="Hotmess"/><ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/09/kansas-sam-brownback_n_5570793.html Kansas Governor Wants To Double Down On Massive Tax Cut That Tanked State Finances]</ref> If he had his way, the doubling-down was going to include raiding $95 million from the state highway fund, raiding $41 million from the state teacher pension fund, and cutting agency budgets by 4%.<ref>[http://www.kansascity.com/news/government-politics/article4383920.html Sam Brownback unveils plan to close budget gap]</ref><ref>[http://news.yahoo.com/kansas-governor-unveils-plan-close-budget-gap-174044686.html Kansas governor unveils plan to close budget gap]</ref>

===The Kansas Experiment===
Brownback's economic policies under his governorship, which chiefly consisted of [[supply-side economics]] style tax cuts, are today known as the {{wpl|Kansas experiment||.}} It is widely regarded as a massive demonstration of how implementing hard-line supply-side economics policies is a sure path to failure, and how the supposed benefits of supply-side economics preached by its advocates are a mirage.<ref name="cbppkansas">[https://www.cbpp.org/research/kansas-provides-compelling-evidence-of-failure-of-supply-side-tax-cuts "Kansas Provides Compelling Evidence of Failure of "Supply-Side" Tax Cuts"] by Michael Mazerov, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2018 January 22</ref>

The "Kansas experiment" ended up producing the following results:
* Sluggish economic growth, even compared to neighboring states<ref name="brookkansas">[https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-kansas-tax-cut-experiment/ "The Kansas tax cut experiment"] by William G. Gale, Brookings, 2017 July 11</ref><ref name="cbppkansas"/>
* Slashed government revenue, in contrast to what proponents of [[trickle-down economics]] would tell you.<ref name="brookkansas"/> The [[Koch]]-funded<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-kansas-gov-sam-brownback-puts-tea-party-tenets-into-action-with-sharp-cuts/2011/11/02/gIQAkbnOAP_story.html "In Kansas, Gov. Sam Brownback puts tea party tenets into action with sharp cuts"] by Annie Gowen, Washington Post, 2021 December 21</ref> [[libertarian]] {{wpl|Kansas Policy Institute}} predicted that Brownback's tax cuts would generate a windfall of $323 million in revenue. In fact, by June 2014, the tax cuts produced a staggering loss in revenue — $687 million, or nearly 11 percent of the budget.<ref name="nrkansas">[https://newrepublic.com/article/119574/sam-brownbacks-conservative-utopia-kansas-has-become-hell "This Is What's the Matter With Kansas"] by John B. Judis, New Republic, 2014 September 19</ref>
* As a result of the revenue loss, brutal cuts to government programs were made.<ref name="brookkansas"/>
* As schools consume roughly half of Kansas' budget, education was hard hit. Brownback cut $200 million in the state's spending on education — the largest such reduction in the state’s history.<ref name="nrkansas"/> This meant that multiple schools were closed or were consolidated.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/2017/10/25/560040131/as-trump-proposes-tax-cuts-kansas-deals-with-aftermath-of-experiment "As Trump Proposes Tax Cuts, Kansas Deals With Aftermath Of Experiment"] by Jeremy Hobson, Dean Russell, Samantha Raphelson, NPR, 2017 October 25</ref> [[Missouri]] capitalized on Brownback's educational system disaster by placing giant recruitment billboards in Kansas encouraging teachers to leave the state.<ref>[https://www.ksn.com/news/billboards-recruiting-kansas-teachers-for-jobs-in-missouri-school-district/ "Billboards recruiting Kansas teachers for jobs in Missouri school district"] by Brittany Glas, KSN Witchita, 2015 July 2</ref>
* Multiple credit rating downgrades (for example, {{wpl|Fitch Ratings|Fitch}} downgraded their debt rating on Kansas from AA+ to AA in August 2014, then from AA to AA- in 2016).<ref>[https://governor.kansas.gov/fitch-ratings-releases-first-kansas-credit-rating-at-aa-citing-fiscal-responsibility-championed-by-governor-kelly/ "Fitch Ratings Releases First Kansas Credit Rating at AA, Citing Fiscal Responsibility Championed by Governor Kelly"], press release, Kansas Office of the Governor, 2024 January 5</ref>
* A significant amount of tax dodging (by people re-characterizing income from labor to business in order to take advantage of the 0 percent income tax rate for businsesses).<ref name="brookkansas"/><ref name="cbppkansas"/>
* To make up for some of the lost revenue, Kansas raised their regressive sales tax to the second highest level in the nation.<ref name="latimeskansas">[https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-kansas-hard-times-snap-20161121-story.html "Hard times for Kansas and its schools as economic ‘experiment’ creates gaping budget hole"] by Nigel Duara, Los Angelese Times, 2016 November 21</ref>
* As a result of the above, by 2016, Brownback was the most unpopular governor in the nation.<ref name="latimeskansas"/>

By 2017, even Kansas ''Republicans'' had enough of Brownback's crappy economic policies. After an election where many hard-line supply-side legislators were swept out of office,<ref name="latimeskansas"/> on June 6, 2017, the Kansas state legislature overrode Brownback's veto to repeal much of the "Kansas experiment."<ref name="cbppkansas"/> In the 2018 Kansas governor elections, in what was seen as electoral blowback for Brownback's economic policies, [[Democrat]] {{wpl|Laura Kelly}} defeated the [[Donald Trump]] endorsed<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/06/us/politics/kris-kobach-trump-kansas.html "Trump Backs Kris Kobach for Kansas Governor, Against Republican Advice"] by Jonathan Martin, New York Times, 2018 August 6</ref> [[Republican]] and former secretary of state {{wpl|Kris Kobach||.}}<ref>[https://www.vox.com/2018/11/6/18056676/midterm-election-results-kansas-governor-laura-kelly-winner "Democrat Laura Kelly wins in Kansas, defeating Kris Kobach"] by Libby Nelson, Vox, 2018 November 7</ref>

Despite the clear disaster caused by the Brownback tax cuts (and other supply-side disasters like the failed tax cuts of British prime minister [[Liz Truss]]), supply-side true believers like [[Arthur Laffer]] still insist that their pseudo-economic theory is correct. (In fact, according to Laffer, the problem with Kansas was that Brownback ''didn't cut taxes enough.'')<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2022/11/02/laffer-truss-trump-tax-cuts/ "Art Laffer still thinks he was right about tax cuts"] by Paul Schwartzman, Washington Post, 2022 November 2</ref>

==God as his co-pilot==
Back in 2007, he wrote a less than stellar editorial for the ''[[New York Times]]'' about how he thinks [[evolution]] is false.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/31/opinion/31brownback.html?ex=1183608000&en=8284581302d4fa95&ei=5070 Brownback's New York Times editorial]</ref> Here's what he had to say on man's origins.

{{quotebox|While no stone should be left unturned in seeking to discover the nature of man's origins, we can say with conviction that we know with certainty at least part of the outcome. Man was not an accident and reflects an image and likeness unique in the created order. Those aspects of evolutionary theory compatible with this truth are a welcome addition to human knowledge. Aspects of these theories that undermine this truth, however, should be firmly rejected as an [[atheistic]] theology posing as science.<ref>[http://edge.org/conversation/don-39t-know-much-biology DON'T KNOW MUCH BIOLOGY]</ref>}}

One might retort that this was a bit of dogmatic theology posing as reasoning.

Although he is very pro-[[Intelligent design|ID]], he still maintains a "[[teach the controversy]]" view in the political arena. Brownback is a [[Young Earth Creationist]] and supporter of the [[microevolution|microevolution but not macroevolution]] argument.<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/denialism/2007/05/31/what-sam-brownback-thinks-abou-1/ What Sam Brownback thinks about evolution]</ref><ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/05/31/sam-brownback-defender-of-the/ Sam Brownback, defender of the faith]</ref><ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/tfk/2007/05/31/brownback-on-evolution/#more Brownback on evolution]</ref> He is also afraid that those evil atheist geneticists will create man-animal hybrids and, by golly, he's going to put a stop to that.<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/loom/2006/05/17/grandma-manimal/ Grandma Manimal]</ref>

Brownback resigned as governor of Kansas for a post in the [[Donald Trump|Trump]] administration as Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious 
Chestbeating
 Freedom.<ref>[https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/lgbtq-groups-slam-confirmation-brownback-religious-freedom-ambassador-n841481 LGBTQ groups slam confirmation of Brownback as religious freedom ambassador] by Brooke Sopelsa (Jan.26.2018 / 2:59 PM ET) ''NBC News''.</ref> Doing so saved him the embarrassment of being a Republican and losing an election in Kansas to a Democrat.<ref>{{wpa|2018 Kansas gubernatorial election}}</ref><ref>http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/11/kris-kobach-sam-brownback.html</ref>

==Stopped clock moments==
*In his presidential campaign, he supported a stalled immigration-reform bill unpopular among conservatives.{{cn}}

==External links==
*{{wpl|Sam_Brownback#Positions|Wikipedia, for a full list of his political positions}}

==See also==
*[[Blogs 4 Brownback]]
*[[Sam Brownback: What I Think About Evolution]]

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

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Categories: 2008 US Presidential candidates, Anti-abortion activists, Atheophobia, Catholics, Chickenhawks, Creationists, Fundamentalists, Former United States Governors, Former United States Representatives, Former United States Senators, Government incompetence, Gun nuts, Homophobes, Islamophobes, Kochsphere, Lawyers, Living people, Pseudoscience promoters, Racists, Sexists, Tea Party, Transphobes, Trump administration, United States politicians, War on science, We're on a mission from God