The tax plan, revealed

In 2009, the gross domestic product of the state of Nevada fell 6.4 percent, the worst such decline in the nation. It is conceivable -- considering continued joblessness, plummeting real property values and the fact companies are cutting work hours and requiring furloughs -- that the state's economy fared as badly or worse through 2010 and on to today.

But in Carson City, majority lawmakers are shouting: Roll out the barrel and grab the bungstarter, boys, there's got to be a few drops left in the bottom! We've locked the bartender in the basement. There ain't no closing time. Drink up!

The colorful, cliché-filled 45-page Democratic general fund budget proposal would pile $1.5 billion in tax increases into Gov. Brian Sandoval's plan.

In addition to ditching the governor's proposal to spend some one-time funds, the Democrats' spending spree would take those "temporary" tax hikes passed in 2009, which are scheduled to relax their stranglehold on job creation on June 30, and instead extend them beyond the horizon. That would suck $626 million out of the private sector over two years.

The rest of the money would come from, first, imposing a 1 to 4 percent tax on services (How long before that's 8 percent, on everything from a haircut to lawn-mowing to the guy who does your taxes?), while temporarily rolling back the existing tax on sales by 1 percentage point, thus netting $300 million for government to spend.

Second, they throw out something called a margin tax that will be a full-employment act for accountants and lawyers. This Rube Goldberg contraption would impose a tax of no more than 1 percent (we are assured) on any business revenue in excess of $1 million. The tax would be assessed on whichever is less: 70 percent of revenue, total revenue less wages or total revenue less cost of goods sold. It would be administered by the Nevada Department of Taxation. How many more revenuers will have to be hired to handle the collection and paperwork was never addressed, but the plan estimates it nets the state $315 million after phasing out the modified business tax on company payrolls.

A margin tax will hit consumers especially hard because it imposes the tax on every aspect of doing business. The farmer who grows the wheat pays the tax. The miller who grinds the wheat into flour pays the tax. The baker who uses the higher-priced flour, eggs, yeast, salt and sugar pays the tax. Bottom line: The customer pays all the taxes.

Ever-droll Assembly Speaker John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, said, "There have to be cuts to our budget and major reforms, but there has to be a careful balance."

What cuts?

In 2005, the Legislature passed a budget of $5.8 billion. This was followed in 2007 by a budget of $6.8 billion, which in turn was followed by a slight trim to $6.5 billion in 2009, but that amount was not spent because the revenue lagged as a result of the economic slump. Now the Democrats want to increase state spending 30 percent in six years and call it cutting.

Government at every level should be able to subsist at a certain percentage of the community's gross domestic product. When GDP declines, government spending must, too.

These lawmakers live in a fantasy world where they think their continued demands for more and more from those with less and less will not drive some businesses and families over the brink and spiral the economy even further into recession, leaving less wealth for them to redistribute.

What can you do with a drunken sailor?