Brewer might be a bit too 2008

Gov. Jan Brewer is "moderate" and "nonpartisan" like President Barack Obama, and that's why she's advocating for a statewide tax increase. Right?

Well, let's think this through. First, lets understand that the budget battle going on within Arizona's bankrupt government serves as an interesting microcosm for the dilemma facing our entire nation. All across the country, the economy is spiraling downward; state governments (as well as our federal government) are bankrupt. And American citizens are having to decide what to do about this problem.

The showdown at the state Capitol is all the more intriguing, because the battle lines are not drawn along party lines. Our Republican governor is insisting that raising taxes will fix our state government's problems, while our Republican-led Legislature is insisting that raising taxes will be counterproductive, and instead, our government needs to cut spending. This is a philosophical divide, not a political party divide, and Arizonans - just like all other Americans - have to decide which "philosophy" will produce the best possible outcome.

As for Brewer, she's been promoting tax increases since before taking office. Recall that in early January, when it appeared that former Gov. Janet Napolitano would be moving to Washington to work for the incoming Obama administration, then-Secretary of State and heir apparentBrewer began floating the idea of a "small" and "temporary" tax increase as a means of solving the budget crisis that Napolitano was leaving behind.

In terms of sound policy, Brewer is standing on faulty ground, and her reasoning is illogical. Sure, it's a natural inclination to think as she apparently is - "our government needs more money, so we'll pass a law to mandate that government can take away more money from our private citizens, and then our government will have the amount of money that it needs" - and Brewer is not alone with this rationale. But economics doesn't work this way, and time and again, this way of thinking has been proven to be wrong.

The reason for this is as follows: when government increases tax rates, and in so doing leaves private citizens with less money to spend, private citizens invariably spend less money. And when there is less money spent by private citizens, there are fewer taxable sales, fewer income-tax-producing jobs created, and so forth. In other words, government may be successful with increasing the rate at which people are taxed, but that doesn't mean that government collects more revenue - it usually collects less in such circumstances.

But never mind the realities of economics. Brewer's willingness to defy the Republican Party and raise taxes sounds good and demonstrates to Arizona's voters that she's "moderate," just like the ever-popular Obama. Right?

Well, that might have been a fair political assumption seven months ago, but not so much today.

A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll indicates that increasing numbers of Americans believe Obama is "more liberal than they realized when they voted for him" and are losing confidence in his approach to handling the economy. Furthermore, the poll suggests that increasing numbers of Americans are skeptical that Obama's governmental redistribution of money is stimulating the economy as he had planned, and are becoming alarmed by the rate at which the U.S. deficit has expanded since Obama took office.

Add to this Vice President Joe Biden's admission that wasting some of our hard-earned money on nonproductive stimulus expenditures is just "inevitable," Rep. Barney Frank's admission that with some of the corporate bailout funding our government ended up "rewarding failure," and Sen. Chuck Schumer's claim that the American people "don't really care" about government wasting our hard-earned money - and a backlash from a stressed-out American electorate may be in the works.

Brewer says that the people of Arizona should decide directly whether or not a tax increase is the path to our collective prosperity. That's why she wants a statewide ballot initiative.

But given current national trends, it may be that Arizonans have already made up their minds about higher taxes.

Austin Hill of Gilbert comments on political and social issues every Sunday.Contact him at info@Austinhill.net.