Study: "Having a Republican Governor is Associated with Lower Rates of Growth!" Walker's Austerity and Tax Cuts Folly Proof.

Trickle-down true believers continue to repeat their voodoo incantations, despite overwhelming proof they've been wrong for years. Now the new real world numbers are in, again, and the news is even more unsettling.

This embarrassingly clueless comment from state Rep. Dale Kooyenga, who like Dumb Ron Johnson is a former and failed accountant, is just more gut wrenching trickle down BS:

But Kooyenga's theory is so very wrong. Low tax states don't do better, but states with liberal governors? See for yourself:

The Atlantic: The idea that lower income taxes spur economic development is a mantra for many Republicans and fiscal conservatives ... lower tax rates provide the needed financial incentives that attract capital, entrepreneurs, businesses, and talented people. But is this actually true?

A new study by Tulane's James Alm and Janet Rogers of Nevada's Department of Budget and Planning takes a close look at the effects of tax and spending policies at the state level. Entitled "Do State Fiscal Policies Affect State Economic Growth?", it examines 50 years of data (from 1947 to 1997), tracking  the effects of state tax policies, spending policies, and political orientation on economic growth. 

Get ready for "the bomb:"

They found "moderately strong evidence" that a "state's political orientation, as indicated by whether the governor is Republican or Democrat, whether the state has enacted tax and expenditure limitation legislation, and whether the state frequently elects a governor of the same party as the incumbent, have consistent, measurable, and significant effects on economic growth."  

And then they drop their bombshell: "Having a Republican governor," they conclude, "is associated with lower rates of growth." They qualify their conclusions slightly--but only slightly--noting that past measurement errors may have introduced some distortions into the record.

Taken together, these findings seem to support the spending orientation favored by liberals and pose a rather stark challenge to Republican governors who are embracing austerity.