It's always amusing when conservatives try to portray increasing government revenue as fiscally irresponsible. But the ridiculousness reached its height in Carly Fiorina's Demon Sheep ad against her Senate opponent Tom Campbell, which portrayed his past support of tax increases to balance California's budget as such.
But of course, when lawmakers are actually faced with the real consequences of governing, tax increases are an important tool for maintaining important things, like schools. That's the choice facing Illinois lawmakers, who are considering Gov. Patrick Quinn's budget, which raises income taxes by 1 percentage point, from 3 percent to 4 percent.
A targeted increase for higher earners might be better, but it's a minor increase that would preserve the education budget at current levels. The article in The New York Times said Democrats in the state Legislature, which are the majority party, were so far noncommittal. But it's telling that the biggest criticism came from the Republican leaders from the outside, who hope to retake the state this year. The state party chair, Pat Brady called the budget irresponsible and portrayed the tax increase as a 33 percent raise, a true number but one that makes it sound bigger than it is.
But Quinn seems to be hoping a tax increase won't play that way on the campaign:
'That 1 percent will be enough to restore our education budget to current levels,' he said, 'and allow us to get caught up on some of the millions of dollars we owe to our public schools, to our community colleges, to our four-year universities. I believe this 1 percent for education makes sense, and I think the people of Illinois will understand.'
--Monica Potts
