Fiscal Restraint is Feasible

We simply can’t afford our government at its current size and scope. Given our fiscal and economic situation, it’s impractical.

RALEIGH (By John Hood, Carolina Journal Online) – Whatever happens in the November elections, the North Carolina General Assembly will be under intense pressure by the state’s spending lobbies to raise taxes.

You can already see the outlines of the argument now: given that most of the state budget goes to education, health care, and public safety, there is no feasible way to close next year’s $3 billion+ budget deficit without tax hikes.

If Democrats hold on to one or both chambers of the General Assembly on Election Day, they’ll be urged to raise taxes because the voters have implicitly approved previous tax increases to balance the budget. And if Republicans win one or both legislative chambers, they’ll be urged to raise taxes because the voters couldn’t have known that the GOP’s no-new-taxes promise was infeasible.