Back in 2012, at the
behest of conservative Governor Sam Brownback, Republican majorities in Kansas
set the state’s income tax on a “march to zero” and eliminated taxes on
companies whose owners filed their taxes as individuals—a loophole exploited by
thousands of businesses that resulted in plummeting revenue to the state’s
coffers. Brownback, a former U.S. senator and presidential candidate, hailed
the policy as “a real-live experiment” in conservative governance. But in the
eyes of all but Brownback and his staunchest supporters, the test failed.
Economic growth never materialized, and the state legislature could not summon
the political will or overcome legal roadblocks to cut spending to match the
lower revenue. With annual deficits in the hundreds of millions, Kansas has
been mired in a perpetual budget crisis ever since. Now, it seems that Republicans in Congress
are thinking about trying the same thing but on a national scale, and Kansas
Republicans say they are worried that Congress and the Trump administration
will repeat the mistake they made in enacting budget-busting tax cuts. Joining me today to talk all about the failed
Kansas experiment and the danger that it will be repeated is Russell Berman, who is a senior
associate editor at The Atlantic.
As more and more
information and accusations come out in Harvey Weinstein story, we are learning
that not only was Weinstein harassing and assaulting women for decades, but his
actions and behavior were an open secret in the world of Hollywood and the
media with many people acting to protect the film industry executive from
facing the consequences of his actions.
Now, according to a new report from Yashar Ali and Lydia Polgreen of HuffPost,
we are learning that even top NBC Executives were in on the cover-up and worked
to quash the bombshell story. Yashar
joins me today to talk all about the Harvey Weinstein story and the months of
opposition Reporter Ronan Farrow faced from his home network before ultimately
taking the piece to The New Yorker.
Since the Presidential
campaign, we have been hearing talk of and seeing reports about the massive
online campaign orchestrated by Russia to influence and interfere with our
election. From covert propaganda posts
on Facebook, which were likely seen by anywhere between 23 to 70 million
people, to wannabe YouTube stars working for the Kremlin, Russia’s broad
campaign to influence American politics is staggering. Joining me today to talk all about this
online Russian operation and its tactics is Senior News Editor at The Daily Beast, Ben Collins,
who has been following and writing on this story for months.
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