The tax reform train

Gary Pearce today suggests that Bev Perdue could make a name for herself by getting out in front on the tax reform agenda in North Carolina, and he may be right. Except for the fact that the train is already leaving the station, as you can see in the recent budget passed by the legislature (see page 238 - PDF).

STUDY OF NORTH CAROLINA'S SALES AND INCOME TAX STRUCTURE
SECTION 27A.7. The President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives authorize the Finance Committees of the Senate and the House and other designated members to meet during the interim to study and recommend legislation to reform North Carolina's sales and income tax structure in order to broaden the tax base and
lower the State's tax rates.

According to Pearce, jumping on the tax reform issue could be the equivalent a hail Mary pass for Bev, which, he suggests, she could soon be needing.

But isn't that kind of thinking really part of the problem with North Carolina politics these days? So many pundits and influential insiders thinking more about how to lift an official's sagging ratings instead of focusing first on doing the right things?

Call me naive, but with so many politicians taking so much self-serving advice, it's a wonder things aren't more screwed up than they are.