Sam Brownback's Yellow Brick Road

After 16 years of D.C.'s emerald haze, former Sen. Sam Brownback is finding there's no place like home. This year he returned to Kansas as governor and has moved to remake the state's politics and provide a possible blueprint for the rest of the country.

Brownback had to deal with a whirlwind of problems including a $550 million deficit and a long-term trend of rural counties losing jobs and population. Most states faced much larger deficits: California, $28 billion; Illinois, $15 billion; New Jersey, $10.5 billion. Those states tried jury-rigged combinations of spending cuts, tax increases, and structural reforms, but Brownback, aided by a strongly Republican legislature, has tried to develop a consistent conservative program.

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