The good news is that Gov. Mitch Daniels was right all along, actual state tax revenue is far off from earlier projections. The bad news is that Gov. Mitch Daniels was right all along, actual state tax revenue is far off from earlier projections.  Abdul was there and posted on the press conference.

This morning Gov. Daniels revealed that state tax revenue is now $310 million short of the projections upon which the current state budget was built. State revenue has fallen short of projections each of the first fourth months of the new fiscal year. The governor again called on state agencies to find places to reduce spending.

It must be hard for Daniels to not just get up and say “I told you so” to Democrats, led by Speaker Pat Bauer, who spent the 2009 legislative session trying to spend the state into bankruptcy. Democrats spent last session trying to raid the Major Moves trust fund, spend down the $1.4 billion surplus, and pass a dubious state stimulus program that would have blown a hole in the budget that only a tax increase could have closed.

The announcement last month that revenues were down $250 million in the first quarter didn’t dampen Indiana Democrat’s tax and spend spirit. Speaker Bauer’s response to the October report was that the state wasn’t spending enough of your money. If $250 million didn’t convince Democrats that taxpayer protection should be their only priority, $310 million isn’t too likely to change their minds.