We are back in Harrisburg and as I write this from my office, our leadership is meeting with the other caucus leaders and the Governor to discuss the budget. No one expects much to come out of this meeting tonight given the recent comments and actions of the Governor. He still thinks that he can get the votes for a massive tax increase and can scare the public into thinking that the sky is falling with the cuts that will have to be made. From most accounts, the people, and largely for the first time a lot of the media, doesn’t see it that way. My calls and emails are still overwhelmingly telling me not to raise taxes. We have a unique opportunity to make bold changes to the direction of our state and we can’t afford to blow it this time. The Governor wants us to tax more and spend more. His plan will put us in an even deeper hole in two to three years than we are now. If we make the difficult cuts this year and don’t raise taxes, we can tackle the upcoming problems and work our way through them. Taking an easy way out for the next year and a half and sticking the taxpayers with a huge long-term mess is not even thinkable to many of us in Harrisburg. I just hope that the rest of the General Assembly wakes up before it’s too late.
- John
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