Republicans control the Senate. Without Republican votes, no tax increase will pass. Without an increase in taxes, the state's facing a massive budget deficit in 2008. Plus, if Republicans think they'll pass an SBT replacement with a tax cut (yes Nick, a tax cut), they'll be starting the year even further in the hole. Now that we've run through all of the one-time funds and accounting gimmicks, that leaves only major cuts to major programs to balance the budget.

Are Republicans ready to head back to their districts to tell voters how they balanced the 2008 budget by slashing funding for schools or local governments or health care for the poor or maybe even prisons? Fat chance of that in an election year. No, Saul, some of your boys and girls in the Senate are going to roll and vote for a tax increase. Those imaginary savings that the Mackinac Center pulled out of thin air aren't going to materialize and some day, your party is going to have to come back to the reality-based world where state government and state services actually have to be paid for with real money, not IOUs.