Ideologue Johnny 1.0

Merriam-Webster defines an ideologue as:  an impractical, blindly partisan adherent of a particular sociopolitical program. 

Then you find a picture of our own Wonder Guv, John-Boy Kaysuck. 

And if there's one sociopolitical program that wingnuts like him adhere to, it's tax cuts.   Kasich and his merry band of Baggers take it as an article of trickle-down faith that tax cuts are always in order -- the magic cure for any perceived economic ill.

Hence, Kasich's proposed state budget is a study in conservative tax ideology, and in John-Boy's fervent desire to say, "I cut taxes."  So he does.

His budget would cut state individual income tax revenue by $3.1 billion (with the biggest rate drop for the top income bracket).  It would cut state business income tax revenue by $1.2 billion. 

It would cut the state sales tax rate to 5.0%, down from 5.5%.  However, sales tax revenue would actually increase $3.2 billion, because a lengthy list of services and products would now be subject to sales tax:  parking fees, movie tickets, haircuts, laundries, dog grooming, downloaded e-books, and on and on.

It is, in essence, just a shifting of the tax load -- a move away from a progressive income tax and toward a regressive sales tax.  It will impose a larger burden (relative to resources) on lower-income citizens and a smaller one on those with higher incomes.

Adding a 5% sales tax to a whole host of previously untaxed things inevitably raises prices, and often by more than just the 5%.  Will the $13 haircut now be $13.65?  Nah, screw those odd cents.  Make it $15, and it'll all come out in the wash.  Speaking of wash, is the 75-cent load at the coin-op laundry now going to be 79 cents?  How's that gonna work?  It won't, so let's just make it a dollar.

Who can more easily withstand all these little price increases, the rich man or the poor man?

John-Boy's income tax cut has a similar end result:  The rate on a $40,000 taxable income drops from 4.109% to 3.287%, producing a tax savings for that individual of $329.  (Every little bit helps, but not exactly huge.)  The rate on $250,000 of taxable income goes from 5.925% to 4.740%, yielding a $2963 tax savings.  (The guy who needs it the least benefits the most.)

There is not a shred of evidence that this sort of tax "policy" has any positive impact on the economy.  It's just a rich-get-richer shell game, pure ideological flim-flam.