Gov. Easley announced a plan to increase teacher salaries over the
next three years to $52,000 (excluding the generous pension and other
benefits). The Charlotte Observer
notes: “Easley, a Democrat, said the state can afford the pay increases
without a tax boost if the economy keeps growing.” Of course, neither
the paper nor the governor mentions the $400+ million annual tax boost
the state already gets by continuing the half-cent sales tax or the
$180+ million annually from the cigarette tax increase.
Nor do
they mention that the economy will eventually hit a bump and stop
growing for a year or two, then tax will go up–a lot–to pay for this
and other largess, just as in the downturns of 1991 and 2001.
