Tax revenues drop for the second month in Pa.

Ed Rendell is in a corner sulking today.

Pennsylvania took in $135 million less than it projected in tax revenues for the month of June. That's $135 million less for Rendell to spend.

It's the second month in a row that tax revenues came in below state estimates, a sure sign that the state's economy is slowing down.

As reporter Sharon Smith notes in today's Harrisburg Patriot-News, "Pennsylvanians are spending less, driving less, not changing homes, cutting back on cigarettes and buying fewer cases of beer. That's not necessarily bad. But the state government counts on the tax revenue associated with those activities to finance its operations, so state taxpayers might have reason to be concerned about any decline in that revenue."

To borrow a phrase from Barack Obama's spiritual adviser, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the chickens have come home to roost.

Six years of runaway spending, higher taxes and massive borrowing under Rendell have left the state in a precarious financial situation.

According to The Patriot-News, the state collected $2.6 billion for the general fund in June, 4.9 percent less than expected. In May, the state collected $1.8 billion in the general fund, or 7.2 percent less than anticipated, the newspaper says.

Despite the warning signs, Rendell and the Pennsylvania Legislature are about to sign off on a $28.2 billion general fund budget for the 2008-09 fiscal years.

Some believe the massive spending plan during an economic slowdown will end up costing taxpayers.

Matthew J. Brouillette, president of the Commonwealth Foundation in Harrisburg, told the Patriot-News he is concerned that a tax increase is in Pennsylvania's future because the 2008-09 budget plan includes a 3.8 percent increase in spending (not to mention $2.8 billion in new borrowing.)

"This is exactly why they should be enacting a fiscally responsible budget," Brouillette told the newspaper. "Particularly if we continue in the economic downturn we're already in."

Let's bring this down to our level. Let's say your household income has taken a serious hit because of rising energy and food prices. Do you go out and buy a new car, new appliances and hire someone to put an addition to hour home? Of course not.

You live within your means. But this is state government we're talking about. And this Ed Rendell, a spend-a-holic. The man can't help it. Spending other people's money is in his DNA. Rendell has increased state spending by more than $8 billion since he took office in 2003.

If his goal is bankrupt the state and drive more taxpayers out of their homes, he's well on the way to accomplishing it.

Read more about the state's sagging tax collections in The Patriot-News.