According to the Mayan “long count” calendar, the final day on Earth is less than a year away, on Dec. 21, 2012. While we wait to see if that apocalypse occurs, a more reliable prediction includes an end of a different sort.

The economic stimulus pipeline from Washington to the states is about to run dry. This means many governors can be expected to ask their legislatures, or voters, to raise taxes for “essential” programs. To government, all programs are “essential.”

According to the National Taxpayers Union (NTU), Washington state is planning to put a tax-increase proposal on its ballot in March, while California voters are likely to vote in November on raising taxes. California is a certifiably insolvent state. It is in deep debt because Democratic politicians won’t stop spending, not because taxpayers aren’t paying their “fair share.”

We are hearing—or will soon hear—that state governments have cut spending to the bone and disaster will occur if more is cut. It’s never true, but fear has always worked to squeeze more money out of the people who earn it.

True, Medicaid continues to be the main driver behind state spending, but that’s a reason for fixing what ails Medicaid, not pouring more money into it.

Consider construction projects, which are snarling traffic around the country. According to a study by 22 Gannett newspapers, published earlier this month in USA Today, “The federal government spends $40 billion a year on highway construction but does not track how many projects are over budget, how much goes toward overruns or whether the record is getting better or worse. The result is a patchwork pattern of planning lapses and design errors that sends some states back for more money again and again. …”

…All governments should be regularly audited by outside auditors. Their sole interest should be saving taxpayers money. Any program or agency that wastes money ought to be updated or eliminated.

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