CARNAHAN THE TAX MAGICIAN

When Gov. Mel Carnahan announced a few months ago that growth in state revenue -- largely due to the massive tax increase for schools he engineered -- would trigger refunds under the state's tax-limiting Hancock Amendment, there were plenty of scoffs. After all, this is the governor who wants it not just both ways in this election year. He wants it every which way.

The thinking in the governor's office is that announcing a future tax refund can't help but soften voters. The problem is, calculating the refund under the Hancock Amendment is no simple process, and it looked like no checks would be in the mail until 1997 -- after this November's crucial vote on who will live in the governor's mansion.

So, the Democrat-controlled General Assembly has devised a plan to change the rules so the refund checks can be sent out about six months earlier. Or, just before voters go to the polls.

This scam is only the tip of the iceberg. Carnahan is the governor who pushed the huge Outstanding Schools Act tax early in his term and this year was the cheerleader for a tax limit recently approved by voters. Of course, taxes still can be raised $50 million a year without a vote. And Carnahan has even proposed a modest tax cut to prevent the need for further refunds.

Meanwhile, no one in Jefferson City wants to talk about the real issue: general and meaningful tax cuts. The state is bloated with spending -- nearly $14 billion proposed for the next fiscal year -- and Missourians are footing the bill while the governor plays tax hocus-pocus.