State Revenues at Record Levels

Two years ago Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) described a catostrophic crisis in state budgets, calling it "the most severe economic crisis since the Second World War to hit the states." Virginia Gov. Mark Warner used this as a golden opportunity to raise taxes, despite today's huge surplus.

According to the WSJ this morning:
"While taking Uncle Sam's checks last year, the states increased spending 3% and still ended up with $18.5 billion in their rainy day funds. Thanks to the economic expansion, this year Americans will pay $12 billion more to their state governments than they did a year ago, while state spending is expected to climb 4.5% and reach a total of $547 billion, according to the most recent fiscal survey by the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers. At no point in the recession and slowdown earlier this decade did overall state spending decrease from one year to the next."

Let this be a lesson to all those doomsayers who insist on raising taxes to solve their problems. Read the story in the WSJ.