Republican state governments look to shift taxes from corporations to low-income people

If you live in North Carolina or Louisiana, you might be asking yourself, "Can my state government get any worse?" Fear not. They're trying. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal wants to end the state income tax and corporate taxes and raise the sales tax to compensate. Ditto North Carolina Republicans:

[North Carolina state Sen. Bob] Rucho and other like-minded lawmakers have a plan to do away with all state individual and corporate income taxes. The plan would replace lost revenue with a new business license fee and a higher sales tax on goods and services not now taxed by the state, such as legal, accounting and spa services, and food.

In his inaugural address on Saturday, Republican North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory promised to work with business "as partners" to eliminate taxes and regulation that stifle growth.

Rucho's plan would remake the North Carolina budget, which now derives 65 percent of its $18.5 billion in total tax revenues from individual income and corporate taxes.

To make up for that much lost revenue, the state sales tax rate would have to rise to 6.53 percent from 4.75 percent, according to a supportive study done by a consulting firm run by Arthur Laffer, a former adviser to Republican President Ronald Reagan and one of the fathers of "trickle-down" economics.

Arthur Laffer being behind this should tell you most of what you need to know. But in case it doesn't, consider this: All those times Republicans have told poor people to just eat cheap, live on rice and beans? Now they're trying to raise taxes on rice and beans to fund a giant corporate tax cut.

Republicans really are trying to turn our country into some kind of corporate dystopia.