Readers React: Kansas’ experiment with business-friendly, supply-side tax policy

To the editor: I usually find Michael Hiltzik’s columns interesting and balanced in their perspective. Given that, I was disappointed to read his “gotcha” piece about Kansas’ tax cut. (“How Tea Party tax cuts are turning Kansas into a smoking ruin,” July 10)

To say that the disappointing results Kansas had with cutting taxes and attracting new business is an indictment of supply-side concepts is a very narrow reading of the facts. There’s no real debate about the fact that companies relocate because of corporate taxes.

If the political leaders in Kansas did something wrong, it was to assume they would be the only state trying this. In fact, its neighbor to the south, Texas, also instituted many business-friendly policies.

You might argue that Gov. Sam Brownback oversold the prospect of business relocation to Kansas, given the advantages that Texas has, but to say Kansas’ experiment means tax-based, business-friendly policies don’t work does not jive with all of the facts.

Jay Prag, Claremont

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