In yesterday’s New York Times, Elizabeth McNichol, a senior fellow with the State Fiscal Project at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, attempts to make the case that when it comes to cutting state spending, Connecticut is leading the way.

McNichol writes:

"Connecticut’s Gov. Daniel Malloy is cutting spending but also increasing revenue by raising the top income tax bracket and closing loopholes, thereby averting deeper damage to education, health care, and other necessities."

Really? Connecticut is cutting spending? As I noted recently in the Daily Caller, the budget recently signed into law by Gov. Dannel Malloy, in addition to containing two dozen tax increases, represents an 8% spending increase from the current biennium. I don’t know about McNichol, but when spending goes up that’s not referred to as a cut. In fact, Connecticut is actually ending the current fiscal year with a surplus thanks to the tax increases passed by Malloy's predecessor, liberal Republican Jodi Rell.

McNichol then goes on to deride Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker for balancing their budgets without raising taxes, claiming that those states will be worse off economically.

The Texas House and Senate recently passed budgets that impose real cuts, not the imaginary kind like we saw in Connecticut. In fact, the new Texas budget being worked out in conference committee will represent a reduction in spending from the previous biennium. According to McNichol, this spells disaster for the Lone Star State. Yet just this month Chief Executive magazine named Texas the number one state in the country to do business based on a survey of 550 CEO’s.

And the economic doom and gloom that Wisconsin’s tax-hike-free budget portends for the Badger State? Yesterday the Wall Street Journal noted the following about Wisconsin’s ranking in the aforementioned survey of CEO’s:

"Wisconsin made the biggest jump of any state, and one of the largest in the history of the survey, rising to 24th from 41st in 2010 and 43rd in 2009."

My only question for McNichol: Really?

Posted by Patrick Gleason on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 9:42 AM EDT

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