Art Laffer was used to wearing the black hat. For much of 2014, as polls showed Kansas Governor Sam Brownback in danger of losing re-election, progressives expected supply-side tax cuts to be rejected. That meant a rejection of Art Laffer, the Steven Spielberg of supply side, the man whose napkin illustration of how lower taxes meant higher revenue changed American policy forever in 1981. A generation later, Laffer stumped with Brownback, endorsing his deep tax-cut plans because "states without income taxes have grown much, much faster."
Most people expected Brownback to lose. Plenty of columnists, including Tom "What's the Matter with Kansas?" Frank, pre-wrote the obituary of supply-side. And then Brownback won, taking 98 of Kansas's 105 counties. Laffer's verdict on the election?
