By The River

As we head into an almost certain repeat of the Pennsylvania state budget stalemate of 2009, I would urge the press to be honest about the Republican Party when it publishes its day-by-day stories of Gov. Rendell's failure to pass his budget.

Last year's coverage made it seem like the the budget wasn't being passed because the legislators were, oh, out golfing or drinking at the Pep Grill. Most stories implied that the fault for not passing a budget was equally shared by Democrats and Republicans. In fact, the reason it took so long was because the modern Republican Party refuses under almost any circumstances to raise taxes, insisting instead that valuable programs be cut to the bone or eliminated.

If you recall, Gov. Rendell last year wanted to raise the state personal income tax by a modest amount. The great thing about the income tax is that you have to have income to be taxed. If you are unemployed during a recession, a state income tax increase has no effect on you. Unemployment compensation is not taxed by the state, although thanks to Ronald Reagan, it is by the federal government. The property tax has to be paid whether you are working or not. Pennsylvania has a long history of raising the income tax during recessions and cutting it back when times improve. It's a no-brainer.

Today's Republican Party sees that sort of compromise as the work of the Devil. They use the same arguments during good times and bad. Taxes can only be cut, because to raise them would (stop the good times) (choke off the recovery). Because of this, Rendell was forced to cut funding to the bone for libraries and other services a modern society needs and lay off state employees. If he really plans to increase education funding this year, we can expect more of the same.

The press needs to start including the Republican core belief that taxes can never be raised in every story they do about the budget stalemate so the public can decide whether they want these irresponsible radicals running state government. To pretend that this core belief against raising taxes isn't relevant is dishonest reporting. It isn't "liberal reporting." It isn't "taking sides." Republicans boast about it. Why shouldn't you report it? It is central to everything they are as a political party.

This has reached ludicrous proportions in the reporting of the Republican refusal to approve a tax on Marcellus shale gas extraction, which every other gas-producing state, including Texas, levies. They have actually made the argument that a tax will choke off this "young industry" before it has a chance to get started, as if the people drilling for gas in northeastern Pennsylvania were garage tinkerers and not Exxon and Halliburton and other giants of the energy industry.

Modern economies need sufficient tax revenue to provide the infrastructure and services people want and need, and which private industry can't or won't provide. Republicans used to be responsible about taxes. We are headed for banana republic status if they continue down the path they are on and the public is not given the information they need to evaluate whether they can be trusted with the reins of government.