It’s tempting to dismiss Governor Easley’s proposed “sin tax” increases: Spoken like a man who’s not up for reelection.

But give the Governor credit here. He pushed for higher taxes his first term, and he survived the predictable Republican challenge that resulted.

Besides, he needs a good word. He had a tough spring, with the mental health story, the email war with the media and Hillary’s 14-point loss here despite Easley campaigning harder for her than he ever did for himself.

Easley may be on to something. He’s proposing a simple trade: higher pay for teachers and more mental health services in exchange for higher taxes on cigarettes and alcohol. The voters might like that deal.

Marc Basnight and Joe Hackney immediately bailed on Easley. Their caucus members – the people who elect them President Pro Tem and Speaker, that is – are up for election. And Democrats have been burned by tax hikes before.

But the “caucus-ization” of legislative politics brings to the fore a maxim of, I believe, Douglas MacArthur, who said something like, “In a council of war, the scared voice is always the loudest voice.”

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