Re: "Romney in 2016" [Letter, Village News, 10/2/14]

Before deciding to nominate and elect Romney (or any other GOP hopeful), you should examine the evidence to see if any of it supports such a choice. Kansas Governor Sam Brownback provides very strong evidence against it.

Brownback took office in 2010 and began implementing a Tea Party dream, slashing income taxes, slashing funding for social services and education, and busting unions. He proclaimed: “Our new pro-growth tax policy will be like a shot of adrenaline into the heart of the Kansas economy. It will pave the way to the creation of tens of thousands of new jobs…”

The reality is that the tax cuts simply reduced state revenue: that’s all. The job creators came forward to look, like people do when there’s a train wreck. Having looked, they decided not to get involved. With revenue reduced and no relief in sight, Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s lowered Kansas’ bond rating. We saw how costly that is when the Tea Party shut down our government last year. Kansas’ job creation rate now lags the US average and that of most of its neighboring states.

What I find amazing is that Brownback called on Art Laffer to help him develop his tax plan. Laffer is the “economist” who sold Reagan on supply-side economics and is still hawking it to people like Brownback. How many times is it going to take before the public understands that supply-side economics is a hoax – a cruel hoax?

John H Terrell