The No Tax chickens have come home to the Republican roost in Kansas.

Schadenfreude,  Schadenfreude . . .  (sung to the tune of "Edelweiss" from "The Sound of Music."    Ah, what a sweet tune -- the pleasure we take in another's suffering.

Republicans have brain-washed the faithful for so long that it's become like a religious cult, where "tax cuts" are the Kool-Aid.    And now those chickens have come home to roost.

We're seeing it most starkly in the Kansas legislature.   Called into special session to deal with the enormous budget deficit, a monster they created by slashing state taxes, offset by draconian cuts in government spending.   But the cuts were so devastating to the state schools that the courts stepped in and ordered them to restore some of the funds.   Even so, some schools had to end the school year early for lack of funds.

They have to do something, but they are paralyzed -- because the only solution is to raise taxes, while they're still singing the hymns on the evils of taxes.

Listen to the rhetoric from Republicans in official legislative session:    One referred to anyone who would raise taxes as "a socialist."    Another one passionately declared:   "Taxes are evil."   A third said, "Taxes are thievery, nickel and dime thievery."

Gov. Sam Brownback has reluctantly said they need to raise taxes.    House leaders offered a plan for a 1% business tax.    Conservatives walked out of the room.

No question, the Republicans own this.   They can't find a solution, because the only solution is to raise taxes.  They have such majorities that they don't need a single Democratic vote to defeat any bill and even to over-ride a veto.

What a mess,    What a monster.    What Schadenfreude.   (I love that wonderful German word.)

Ralph

[UPDATE:  In the waning hours of the special legislative session, Kansas lawmakers bowed to the inevitable and raised taxes . . . a little bit and mostly on the backs of those least able to afford it.    Most of the correction to their over-zealous income tax cuts will come in the form of a jump in sales tax, without the exemptions that most states have for food and other necessities.   So the overall picture looks like this:   big cut in income taxes and big increase in sales tax.   The wealthy still get the good news, and the ordinary people get the bad news.]