As just about everyone knows no one is more adroit than a politician when it comes to using a euphemism to hide bad news.

The Mayor and his two liberal allies on the City Council – Russ Stephenson and Thomas Crowder – have a euphemism they’re using for raising taxes: Impact Fees (The News and Observer, 7-11-07). But a rose by any other name is still a rose. By saying he’s raising Impact Fee on developers what the Mayor’s really doing is avoiding the political consequences of saying he’s putting a tax on new homes.

He’s also laying a little groundwork for his next campaign. Last election, he used developers as a foil, blaming them for most of the evils in Raleigh. With a new election around the corner he’s back at it, asking the City Council to hike ‘Impact Fees’ again – after raising them 72% last year.

But another 72% increase turned out to be a bit much even for two of the Mayor’s fellow Democrats on the City Council. Democrats James West and Joyce Kekas joined Republicans Philip Isley and Tommy Craven to vote against the Mayor’s new taxes. Whoops. Impact Fees.