The effort by Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Wichita, to end tax breaks and subsidies for alternative energy while lowering the corporate tax rate recently gained some heft when House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., signed on as a sponsor to Pompeo’s Energy Freedom and Economic Prosperity Act. Writing in the Washington Times, Americans for Tax Reform’s Christopher Prandoni also endorsed Pompeo’s approach as he criticized a bill sought by T. Boone Pickens to benefit natural-gas vehicles and fueling stations: “Conservatives looking to clean up America’s energy market and tax code should follow Mr. Pompeo’s lead.”
Gov. Sam Brownback is finalizing a plan to reduce income taxes, particularly on the wealthy. But a majority of Kansans favor higher taxes on the top earners, according to a survey from the Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays State University. It found that 58 percent of respondents favored tax increases on top earners. Also, 63 percent support tax increases on large corporations. A majority favored keeping current tax policies for the middle class and small businesses.
The issue isn’t whether Secretary of State Kris Kobach has the right to moonlight as a lawyer on top of his $86,000-a-year state job, noted Kansas City Star columnist Steve Rose. Under current state law, he does. “The issue is, is this right? Is there a latent abdication of responsibility in trying to do two unrelated, highly complex jobs — one public and one private — at the same time? Is there something wrong if Kobach is leveraging his secretary of state position to enrich himself? I think so.” Unable to get an answer about Kobach’s outside compensation by calling his office, Rose suggested Kobach make his tax return public each year. “The public may or may not care how much he makes on the side, or whether he does,” Rose wrote. “But at least the citizens of Kansas deserve to know the extent of his extracurricular activities.”
The effort by Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Wichita, to end tax breaks and subsidies for alternative energy while lowering the corporate tax rate recently gained some heft when House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., signed on as a sponsor to Pompeo’s Energy Freedom and Economic Prosperity Act. Writing in the Washington Times, Americans for Tax Reform’s Christopher Prandoni also endorsed Pompeo’s approach as he criticized a bill sought by T. Boone Pickens to benefit natural-gas vehicles and fueling stations: “Conservatives looking to clean up America’s energy market and tax code should follow Mr. Pompeo’s lead.”
