I saw a television commercial this morning whacking Assemblywoman Shirley Horton on the Republican delegation's refusal to vote for tax increases to balance the state budget. The ad stars a number of teachers who complain that their schools don't have any money, and a parent who says "I'm a Republican, but..." then calls for Horton to vote to "raise revenue" ie hike taxes and to do the "right thing" not what Republican leadership wants her to do.

First, it's increasingly obvious that the teachers union's hunger for more and more money is without end, but they have no desire to reform the system at all. Second, does anyone really believe higher taxes are going to improve our schools? How about a little accountability instead? Third, are new taxes really the solution during an economic downturn? How about the teacher's union instead spends a little of their cash finding waste in the state budget (starting with the education dept), so that we don't need to crush the middle class.