Opinion: Kansas (pop. 2.9 million) has no lessons on low taxes for California (pop. 39 million)

To the editor: Tom Steyer’s op-ed article is amazing for its arrogance and misleading conclusions. Trying to compare Kansas (population 2.9 million) with California (population 39 million) is ridiculous. (“Kansas’ tax cuts are a spectacular failure. Meanwhile, in California …,” Opinion, June 22)

California is no success story when it comes to income taxes. We have one of the highest income tax rates in the country and about one resident in three is on some kind of government assistance. In 2015, the Annie E. Casey Foundation found that the child poverty rate in California is 21%.

Furthermore, as noted by Times columnist George Skelton, Californians only like taxes that other people pay. That is exactly the situation with Proposition 30 and the recent tobacco tax referendum. When you throw in the fact that the structural deficits for under-funded pensions in the state exceed $300 billion, many roads and bridges are in a state of disrepair and housing is largely unaffordable, the inescapable conclusion is that only Democratic billionaires like Steyer could ever believe that California is a progressive paradise.

Kansas — with no oceans, little geographic diversity, poor weather and no Silicon Valley of its own — is to be pitied, not invidiously compared to California.

Frank Edsall, Temecula

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To the editor: Republican economic orthodoxy is that tax cuts and deregulation encourage growth and prosperity. But this is a theory, not a fact, and theories must be tested to see if they work.

Steyer explains how the Republican theory on tax cuts failed the test of reality in Kansas, while tax increases passed the test of reality in California.

Moreover, the Republican philosophy of deregulation was the primary cause of the Great Recession. The subprime mortgage market was unregulated and the financial industry was deregulated. The reckless behavior of these industries led to the near collapse of our financial system. As a result, millions of Americans lost their jobs, homes and savings.

Reality has shown that tax cuts and deregulation do not lead to prosperity. It’s time for Republicans to stop being ideologues and accept reality.

Michael Asher, Valley Village

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To the editor: Steyer misrepresents what the real issue was with Kansas’ tax cuts.

The primary tax cuts were directed toward businesses in order to grow and create jobs, and they arguably worked well. Unfortunately, the law did not prohibit accountants, lawyers and hedge fund operators (like Steyer) from gaming the system.

Had that flaw been fully addressed, the budget issues in Kansas would have been modest or nonexistent. California’s tax-and-spend polices will eventually destroy the middle class in this state, and for that we can thank “progressives” like Steyer.

Kip Dellinger, Santa Monica

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