State Tax Hikes

California has raised sales tax, vehicle registration has been tripled, and the budget is a major mess. Governator Arnold and his liberal tactics that hardly echo the Republican fiscal princles the "R" after his name suggests he would follow have destroyed California's state government in ways that even Gray Davis could not have imagined. Tom McClintock, the person I voted for during the election for Governor, gave Arnold all kinds of advice, but the Governator rejected all of it.

Problem is, California is not alone. At least ten states are considering some kind of major sales or income taxes increases, and interestingly, all but one of them have a history of liberal left rule. The final one, Arizona, is moderate enough that it is hardly a fiscally conservative state. The list of states include Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin. California and New York have already agreed to raise taxes, and they went into effect earlier this year.

The outrage by taxpayers is that these increases are only adding to the financial burdens that the people must carry during an already difficult time period that some are calling a recession. Also, in the scramble to increase revenue, the state's leaders are not recognizing that historically increases in taxes decrease revenue in the long run, and further destabilize already fragile economic systems that are in need of growth, not hinderance.

A number of other states plan to balance their budgets by cutting spending. Plunging revenues, however the state plans to attack the problem, are becoming a major problem as the economy continues to worsen, and the federal government's proposed solution continues to be heading our nation further into debt, and expanding the size of government.

-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary

More States Look To Raise Taxes - Wall Street Journal