A poll will be released this morning showing considerable interest in Arkansas in the state government bankruptcy.

Let me qualify this: it could be that survey respondents are ready to avoid bankruptcy, but only by doubling – to 14%, perhaps – a regressive tax that, at 6.5%, is already the one of the highest states in the country. sales tax levies.

Ditching income tax – which the poll finds hot – and living with the huge loss of income – for which the poll appears to be widely accepted with glee – should have the effect of ending the destructive dive of the state in an unreasonable policy. conservatism.

Then we could start the long climb back to math and other reason-related disciplines.

That looks on the bright side for a state tasked with a far-right legislature that seemed almost ready last week to secede for the right to spread a virus.

The survey comes from Talk Business and Politics and Hendrix College. It was due to be unveiled this morning on the “Talk Business” news program on stations statewide.

With an allowance for the weighting, it shows that 54% of the 916 people surveyed by SMS on September 21-22 responded “support” when asked if they supported or opposed “the elimination of the personal income tax in Arkansas “. Only 25.5% opposed it.

In a way, the support seems weak. After all, the question was superficial and hypothetical as to whether one would prefer to stop paying taxes on state income.

But, in another way, the number of alarms.

Half of those polled expressed at least a vague desire to withdraw almost half of the money from the general state operating budget – which goes to public schools, higher education, social services, health, prisons and state police, none of which are easily funded – and either eat up the draconian consequences or make up for lost income with higher alternative taxes much harder on the poor than income taxes .

I say this because a follow-up question asked favorable respondents how they would respond if the elimination of income tax meant other taxes had to be raised or government spending had to be reduced. Favorability fell only five points, to 49%, and opposition rose only five points, to 30.

The question matters because current Republican gubernatorial candidates are talking about doing more than Asa Hutchinson’s gradual reduction in income tax rates tied to rolling-level budgets.

Attorney General Leslie Rutledge reportedly intends to campaign for a constitutional amendment by pledging to drop the tax altogether by 2030. But that could just be a desperation tactic.

She is trying to stay in the race against heavyweight Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who also appears to favor the removal of state income tax on an unspecified timetable, especially if she can find a way to blame the tax on radicals outside the state. leftists from whom it must protect us.

Apparently, the goal of getting rid of state income tax – at least according to mainstream conservative economic rhetoric – is that wealthier states like Texas and Florida have no income tax. income and that Arkansas would probably get rich like them if it didn’t. have a.

The theory holds that the rich will come to the state because of the lack of income tax and use those savings to start businesses.

So in theory we would generate more economic activity to generate income to offset the income tax eliminated and we would need less government money because there would be less need for public assistance.

Runoff has never worked like this.

Florida and Texas have become economically vibrant for reasons that go beyond income taxes. And you can get really rich in Arkansas now, as it has been famously demonstrated.

But it is the prevailing income tax aversion that fascinates.

Of all the taxes generally applied, those on income are the fairest. You only pay if you have income, and you only pay if you earn more income.

Sales tax will catch you on a pair of jeans no matter how much money you have. And everyone needs clothes.

But it usually comes in small increments as an addition to a retail price.

Income tax shows up every week, or every two weeks, like a line on a paycheck or direct deposit record. It advertises itself as a recurring subtraction of the money you would have without it.

So, it annoys people more.

The property tax in Arkansas is one of the lowest in the country. But it is a county tax, not a state tax, and its rate of increase is narrowly limited by Amendment 59. We would need a constitutional amendment for the domestic regime to shift income taxes. state to county property taxes.

I remember that crisp old senator who once muttered, “Just raise the sales tax. The poor are used to suffering.

John Brummett, whose column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, is a member of the Arkansas Writers Hall of Fame. Email him at [email protected] Read his Twitter feed @johnbrummett.