When taxes go up, does revenue go down? Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., argued as much during his fascinating face-off with Reagan budget director David Stockman on ABC’s “This Week With Christiane Amanpour,” as Stockman argued that the deficit is so out of control that the nation will need to slash entitlements, defense spending and foreign aid and raise revenue, too. Pence said: “Anybody who is familiar with the historical data from the IRS knows that raising income tax rates will likely actually reduce federal revenues.” The experts consulted by the nonpartisan PolitiFact.com website “said the economic theory Pence is drawing from doesn’t apply in the current situation, and an increase in tax rates would not cause tax revenues to decline.” Pence’s theory also failed Kansas’ real-world test: Since state sales tax increased by 1 percent at the beginning of the new fiscal year in July, revenues have exceeded projections by 2.9 percent.
Reading President Bush’s memoir “Decision Points,” former Bush campaign adviser Mark McKinnon recognized the man he knew and admired. “Contrary to conventional wisdom, President Bush is very smart, quietly reflective, often contrite, and deeply humble. He is also a strong leader who, while relying on the strong counsel of many around him, makes his own decisions. He was secure enough to hire a vice president like Dick Cheney, and strong enough that it was never in doubt who was the boss,” McKinnon 
Observers including The Eagle editorial board suspected that the ouster of Kansas Health and Environment Secretary Rod Bremby last week had something to do with the pending air-quality permit for the Sunflower Electric Power Corp. coal-fired power plant expansion near Holcomb. The timing of Bremby’s departure certainly looked as if Gov. Mark Parkinson might be trying to pre-empt a second permit denial or expedite a permit approval before Jan. 2, when new federal rules for greenhouse-gas emissions will kick in. Parkinson defended himself in a Follow us
