Voters: No education cuts, temporary taxes OK

by David Safier
Arizona is going to be an interesting place for the next few months, maybe all the way to November, 2010. "Interesting," of course, is a two-edged sword. It makes for lots of good blogging, but "May you live in interesting times" is usually thought of as more of a curse than a blessing.

A poll from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and KAET-TV indicates that Arizonans don't want a penny cut from education, and they're willing to put up with a sales tax hike to balance the budget.

Look at this question. There are no prompts to lead anyone to one answer over another. And look at the response.

Unprompted, almost 70% say, leave education harmless.

The next question about a sales tax hike is more directed, but it doesn't lead the responder to one answer over the other:

If this is for real, Republicans could be in for some trouble. Their line of defense against the "Don't cut education" push is to say, we're not cutting very much, just 1 or 2%. The answer in the poll results: don't cut education at all. Republicans say, No New Taxes. The answer in the poll: we need new taxes. The responses are in the 60-70% range on the questions, which has got to include a large chunk of the state's independents as well as a sizable handful of Republicans.

It will be "interesting" to watch how the Rs act in the face of this kind of polling. Lots of them have dug in their heels with their No New Taxes pledge, and they've said our schools, K-12 and college, can absorb some cuts. If they back down, that shows the Dems are right. If they hold their ground . . .

Rock, meet hard place.

UPDATE: Talk about rocks and hard places! Take a look at this interview with Paton by an Arizona Guardian reporter yesterday about the Republican budget proposal. Mr. Talking Points looks completely lost. While he's making statements that say as little as possible, his eyes are pleading, "Can I go home now?"