Easley Budget Stings Sinners - Settles Scores

 By Keith Isley

 In May, Gov. Mike Easley delivered his $21.4 billion budget for 2009, and by now the Democrat-controlled General Assembly has made a few adjustments and rubber-stamped it into law. The governor’s proposed budget would increase spending by a billion dollars over the final 2008 budget, nearly a five percent jump.

 Proposed sources for the additional money include the so-called sin taxes. Cigarette smokers would pay for higher teacher salaries, while wine, beer and liquor consumers would fund mental health reform. The governor flipped this telling remark: “My thought is if four cents a can, if that causes somebody economic hardship, then they are probably drinking too much and are going to be customers of mental health, substance abuse centers anyway.”

 His budget might be bloated, but Gov. Easley’s comment is beautiful for its economy, a neat condensation of essential liberalism: The nanny state (alcohol consumption is degenerative behavior requiring control), tax-and-spend (fleece poorer citizens to fund corrupted programs), and elitism (state programs are the solution to society’s flaws) all rolled into one sentence.

 The governor also proposed inequitable pay raises for state employees. Teachers would get average seven percent increases, and government workers would have to make do with a 1.5 percent bump. Why the disparity? Government employees endorsed Gov. Easley’s opponent in the last election.

 Beyond the line item details, a budget is really a statement of the executive’s values, priorities and worldview. Gov. Easley’s eighth and final budget proposal shows that classical liberal attitudes and political grudges remain at the core of his agenda.   

             Keith Isley works as a data analyst. He and his wife Maria live in Raleigh.