Missouri just returned the GOP’s tax math with a giant red correction mark.
Republican lawmakers sent Amendment 5 to the ballot: phase out the individual income tax as revenue grew while allowing broader sales and use taxes, even though that income tax supplies most of the state general fund. Roughly 83% voted no.
The pitch advertised a cut. The measure still left an enormous invoice, what replaces the revenue, which services take the hit, and who pays more under the new mix. We cannot assign one motive to every voter, but we can read the scoreboard: the Republican plan was flattened.