Longtime readers of this blog will remember my opposition to tax rate increases to solve our mammoth state budget deficits. That’s because in an economic crisis like this, increasing tax rates will never collect the same level of tax revenues, and will almost always make the problem worse, since it disincentivizes the economic activity that produces tax revenue.

Sure enough, that’s what happened. In the first quarter, California’s tax revenues lagged projections by $300 million. Not a small amount of money, but if that trend had continued for the remaining three quarters of the year, we would have been short $1.2 billion.

Then the new tax increases went into effect on April 1, and the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office just announced that tax revenues actually lagged projections by $1.8 billion dollars in April alone. That’s 6 times the rate of decline as the previous three months combined!

If this doesn’t cure those who believe that raising taxes is the solution to California’s massive budget deficits, you may be beyond help.